Su Yunxi's husband, Huo Yuzhou, Third Master Huo, was notoriously difficult to deal with in Shanghai.
Rumor had it that Huo Yuzhou had connections in both the underworld and legitimate circles. Officially, he was the head of the Huo Corporation, but in the shadowy underworld, he was known by a terrifying moniker: the Living Yama. This was because he had once mobilized various forces to bring down the once-prominent Xiao family, leaving them bankrupt overnight with precise and ruthless methods, like Yama himself claiming lives.
The Su and Huo families were to be joined by marriage. According to the engagement contract, Su Yunxi's older sister was supposed to marry Huo Yuzhou. However, because Su Yunxi's older sister was in love with the eldest young master of the Xiao family, and after the Xiao family went bankrupt, the eldest young master of the Xiao family died of depression, the sister hated Huo Yuzhou so much that she would rather become a nun than marry him. The Su family had no choice but to have Su Yunxi marry him in her place.
Although Su Yunxi and Huo Yuzhou became husband and wife, they had no feelings for each other. In Su Yunxi's words, they had no common ground. The only place they could connect was in bed. Once they were out of bed, Huo Yuzhou was cold to her, constantly restricting her, forbidding her from doing this and that.
If Huo Yuzhou found out that she came to a bar to hire male escorts in the middle of the night, who knew how this cold-faced Yama would punish her when she got home.
"Ning Ning, I need your help urgently! I don't know which talkative waiter said something to Huo Yuzhou about me hiring male escorts. He's asking me to come explain!" Su Yunxi showed the message on her phone screen.
The message only contained the simple words "Come explain," yet it conveyed a sense of pressure that seemed to emanate from the screen.
"How do you want me to help?" Wen Zhaoning asked.
"Go with me. You can tell him that you were the one who hired the male escorts."
At critical moments, a best friend is meant to be a shield.
Although Wen Zhaoning was also afraid of that Third Master Huo, Su Yunxi was, after all, her best friend. When she was at her lowest, Su Yunxi had extended a helping hand to her numerous times, helping her get through the most difficult period. Now that Su Yunxi was in trouble, she naturally felt obligated to help.
"Okay."
"Ning Ning, you're so loyal! Let's go!"
Su Yunxi took Wen Zhaoning to Huo Yuzhou's private room. Huo Yuzhou was just about to come out, impatient, to question her. The three of them met at the entrance of the private room.
It was Wen Zhaoning's first time seeing someone exude such a terrifying aura. Huo Yuzhou's gaze was as if he could devour a person alive.
At this moment, Su Yunxi could no longer afford to think about sisterly affection. She unhesitatingly pulled Wen Zhaoning in front of her.
"Ning Ning..." she pleaded in a low voice.
Wen Zhaoning decided to go all out. She held her head high, protecting Su Yunxi, and said to Huo Yuzhou, "Third Master Huo, I think you might have misunderstood. Those two male escorts in our private room were both hired by me!"
Huo Yuzhou glanced at her. "You hired them?"
"Yes, I hired them, both of them for myself!" The surroundings were noisy, and Wen Zhaoning was afraid he couldn't hear clearly, so she deliberately raised her voice. "Because I'm happy about my divorce today, I thought I'd hire two male escorts to celebrate. Xixi kept trying to advise me to be more restrained, but I couldn't help myself. Please don't take your anger out on her; she's innocent!"
Huo Yuzhou suddenly hooked his lips. He turned and glanced into the private room, then said, "Huaiqin, still laughing? The fire has reached your own courtyard."
Huaiqin?
Before Wen Zhaoning could react, she heard someone from inside the private room say, "Huaiqin, you're trading a multi-billion project at Shanghai Port for her freedom, and she turns around and hires two male escorts at a bar to celebrate. Miss Wen, is this a case of moving on to the next well immediately after filling up the old one?"
A burst of laughter came from the private room.
Wen Zhaoning had a bad premonition.
As expected, the next second, He Huaiqin walked out of the private room with a dark expression.
"You hired them all?" He nodded. "Very good!"
Good what?
Wen Zhaoning just wanted to escape.
She turned and exchanged a glance with Su Yunxi. The two of them instinctively turned to run, but the next second, two long arms reached out from behind them, grabbing each of them by the side.
He Huaiqin: "Why are you running?"
Huo Yuzhou: "Why are you running?"
Wen Zhaoning: "..."
Su Yunxi: "..."
Sisters, good luck to yourselves.
Su Yunxi was taken away by Huo Yuzhou first.
However, He Huaiqin did not immediately take Wen Zhaoning away from the bar.
Wen Zhaoning's heart pounded, not knowing what else he wanted to do.
"Um... aren't we leaving?" Wen Zhaoning asked guiltily.
"Leave? Do you want to be a patron who doesn't pay?" He Huaiqin, exuding a chilling aura, grabbed her arm and walked her back into their private room.
The two male escorts were still waiting for their "sisters" to return, but they didn't expect one sister to disappear and the other to bring back an imposing brother-in-law.
"Sister..."
Wen Zhaoning quickly winked at the male escort, signaling him not to speak.
This small gesture fell into He Huaiqin's eyes as flirting.
Good for you, Wen Zhaoning. He was already here, and she still dared to exchange glances with a male escort.
"The bill!" He Huaiqin's tone was as cold as ice.
Upon hearing this, the male escort quickly came over and stated the amount of tonight's consumption.
He Huaiqin, with one arm around Wen Zhaoning and the other hand, calmly took out a black card from his suit's inner pocket and handed it over.
The process was quick: swipe card, sign.
After settling the bill, He Huaiqin still did not take Wen Zhaoning away. Wen Zhaoning looked at him, puzzled, as He Huaiqin glanced at the two male escorts and then casually took out a stack of crisp hundred-yuan bills and threw them on the coffee table.
The two male escorts' eyes lit up. "Sir, is this a tip?"
"Yes. Answer two questions for me, and you can take this consumption money."
"Sir, please ask."
"Did she touch you?"
"No, sister didn't touch us."
The expression on He Huaiqin's face softened slightly. He then asked, "Did you add each other on WeChat?"
"No, we didn't add any contact information."
"Very good. Take the tip and leave. Service ends here."
"Yes, thank you, sir."
The two male escorts happily took the money and left.
Wen Zhaoning, however, couldn't smile at all.
Inside the private room, the lighting was dim. He Huaiqin's expression was unreadable. He walked to the sofa, loosened his tie, and sat down.
The newly opened bottle of wine on the table was only half-finished. He Huaiqin poured himself another glass and filled it.
"Divorced, indeed worth celebrating," he said, his tone betraying no emotion. "Since you like to celebrate this way, come here, let's celebrate together."
Wen Zhaoning's heart tightened. She didn't know what he intended to do.
"You..."
"Come here!" His tone carried an unquestionable command.
Wen Zhaoning slowly walked to his side.
He Huaiqin pulled her into his arms and made her sit on his lap.
He picked up the freshly poured wine, took a sip, and the next second, he cupped the back of her neck, precisely captured her lips, and forcefully transferred the strong, spicy liquor into her mouth.
Wen Zhaoning's eyes widened in shock. The wine slid down her throat, bringing a burning sensation.
She choked and couldn't help but cough.
He Huaiqin watched coldly as she teared up from choking on the wine, showing no tenderness.
"Do you still like celebrating like this?" he asked.
Wen Zhaoning quickly shook her head. "I don't like it anymore."
Seeing her flushed cheeks and her slightly panting appearance, the darkness in He Huaiqin's eyes deepened.
He hugged her and stood up, striding out of the private room.
"Let's go home, we'll celebrate in a different way!"
Both of them had been drinking, so on the way back, He Huaiqin's driver was driving.
Wen Zhaoning and He Huaiqin sat in the back seat.
At first, Wen Zhaoning was still tense because of He Huaiqin's words "celebrate in a different way." But gradually, the alcohol took over, her eyelids grew heavier, and her head began to nod like a pecking chicken.
When they stopped at a red light, Wen Zhaoning finally couldn't hold on any longer. Her head tilted, and she leaned on He Huaiqin's shoulder.
He Huaiqin turned his head and looked at Wen Zhaoning's peaceful sleeping face.
He knew she had a low alcohol tolerance.
Back when he was working part-time at a bar, Wen Zhaoning would order a lot of drinks every time she came so that he could get a higher commission, but she would always get drunk after drinking only a little.
When she got drunk, she would refuse to leave.
After his part-time shift ended, He Huaiqin still had to carry her to the car.
He Huaiqin had carried her countless times from the bar to the outdoor parking lot. They hadn't officially started dating then, and Wen Zhaoning would always take advantage of being drunk to reach into his collar and grope him. The next day, she would have no memory of it and deny everything.
When He Huaiqin just found out she had hired male escorts, the first thing that came to his mind were these memories of her touching him all over. Fortunately, she hadn't touched anyone else.
He gently pinched Wen Zhaoning's nose, pulled her into his embrace, and held her tightly.
The nameless anger in his chest finally turned into a sigh of indulgence.
Wen Zhaoning slept until dawn.
In the early morning, she woke up in a soft big bed. The moment she opened her eyes and saw the chandelier, she realized she wasn't sleeping in the guest room bed, but in the master bedroom's big bed.
The hangover made her head ache slightly. The moment her consciousness returned, the memories of last night flooded back like a tide: the bar, the male escorts, the strong liquor He Huaiqin had passed to her, and him carrying her home to celebrate... Had they "celebrated"?
Wen Zhaoning subconsciously reached for the spot beside her. It was empty and cold. It seemed he hadn't slept there.
She breathed a slight sigh of relief, but then she noticed something even more wrong. She wasn't wearing the skirt from last night; instead, she was wearing a comfortable men's silk shirt, and beneath the shirt, there was nothing.
He Huaiqin had taken off her clothes?
It was understandable to take off outer clothes before bed, but why had he taken them off so completely?
This made her feel even more embarrassed than if they had slept together.
How was she supposed to go downstairs and face He Huaiqin?
While Wen Zhaoning was sitting on the bed, lost in thought, the bedroom door was gently pushed open.
He Huaiqin entered with a bowl of soup.
"You're awake." His tone was as usual, as if her wearing his shirt and sleeping in his bed was the most natural thing in the world. "Drink the hangover soup first."
He Huaiqin handed the hangover soup to Wen Zhaoning. Wen Zhaoning clutched the collar of the shirt and didn't take it.
"What? Do you want me to feed you?" His eyebrows slightly raised. "Like I fed you last night?"
"No need."
Wen Zhaoning quickly took the hangover soup and drank it all in one gulp.
He Huaiqin took back the empty bowl but did not leave. His gaze rested calmly on her, taking in all her awkwardness.
"Did you black out?"
"Yes, last night I..."
"You threw up."
He Huaiqin said, sounding helpless.
After returning from the bar last night, she had slept obediently in his arms the whole way. When they reached the doorstep, He Huaiqin carried her upstairs. As soon as he placed her on the guest room bed, she threw up.
His clothes, the guest room sheets, and her own clothes were all affected.
"Threw up? No way, I didn't drink that much."
"Don't you know your own alcohol tolerance?"
Wen Zhaoning immediately lost her confidence.
Indeed.
Her alcohol tolerance was really not good.
"Then my clothes..."
"I took off your clothes, I gave you a bath, and I changed you into this shirt."
Just hearing this sentence, one could imagine how much trouble it was.
Wen Zhaoning's face turned completely red. "Thank you for your trouble."
"It was quite troublesome," He Huaiqin stared at her. "It was very troublesome to hold back."
The entire process of bathing and changing her clothes was like torture for him.
Every touch ignited the embers within his body.
Last night, after taking care of this drunkard, He Huaiqin took two cold showers to suppress the restlessness within him. No one knew the intense battle of desire and reason he had endured.
Wen Zhaoning had been a little embarrassed at first, but hearing He Huaiqin's frankness, she couldn't help but smile. "To be able to hold back even in this situation, Lawyer He is truly a gentleman."
"It's not that I'm a gentleman, but that I know you'll black out when you're drunk and won't remember anything the next day."
"What does that have to do with whether I remember or not?"
"It has everything to do with it." He Huaiqin held her chin and whispered into her ear, "I want you to clearly remember whether I'm small, fast, and weak."
Wen Zhaoning had almost forgotten about this. How could he still remember it?
"You really hold a grudge," she mumbled.
"Get up, wash up, and eat breakfast."
"Okay."
Wen Zhaoning got up to wash up and went back to the guest room to get her clothes and change.
When she went downstairs, He Huaiqin had already prepared breakfast.
The breakfast was potstickers, Wen Zhaoning's favorite.
As soon as Wen Zhaoning opened the bag, she smelled the familiar aroma. On the street where He Huaiqin used to rent a room, there was a husband-and-wife shop that specialized in potstickers. Their potstickers were pan-fried to a golden crisp, with a tempting charred aroma at the edges. The inside was filled with plump filling. Each bite was crispy and juicy. Wen Zhaoning had to eat there every few days.
This packaging... it's from that shop!
He actually remembered that she loved eating potstickers from that shop.
But it was half an hour's drive from that potsticker shop. Did he go all the way there early in the morning to buy breakfast?
"These potstickers..."
"Eat up, while they're hot." He Huaiqin stirred the black coffee in front of him, interrupting her impending question.
It was obvious that he didn't want to hear her mention the past at all.
Wen Zhaoning silently sat down, picked up a potsticker, dipped it in the sour and spicy sauce, and took a bite.
It still tasted like she remembered.
The taste hadn't changed, and the person sitting opposite her hadn't changed. Unfortunately, they both had.
After Wen Zhaoning finished breakfast, He Huaiqin was still sitting there, slowly drinking his coffee, still in his home clothes.
"Aren't you working today?" she asked.
"No."
"Why? It's not the weekend today."
"Skipping work, to celebrate your divorce."
"Ah?" Wen Zhaoning said sheepishly. "It's really not necessary to waste Lawyer He's time like this."
"If I don't spend more time, you might go out and find someone else to celebrate with," He Huaiqin said. Then, he pulled Wen Zhaoning over and put her on his lap. "Are you full?"
"Full... full."
"If you're full, it's time for some exercise."
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