She had her hair coiled atop her head, with two strands of slightly curled hair falling at her temples, framing her face to appear even more delicate. The slightly low neckline revealed her fair neck, and the morning sunlight bathed her pale complexion. Wen Ran stood gracefully in the light like an elegant white swan.
Si Huaiyu encountered this beautiful scene as soon as he stepped out. The woman stood before the flower bed against the light, the sun dappling her head. The way Wen Ran bent to smell the rose was like the descent of a goddess of beauty, making the man unconsciously pause to admire her.
The vibrant red rose in her hand couldn’t compare to even half of her beauty—it was a loveliness devoid of vulgar desire, purely an appreciation of something exquisite.
He hadn’t spoken to Wen Ran these past few days, but he always saw her whenever he entered or left the Si residence. The woman was either reading in the living room, cooking in the kitchen, or swinging in the backyard garden.
Though the locations and times varied, the one constant was that she was always stunning—a presence that made people stop and look, impossible to ignore.
His steps unconsciously carried him to Wen Ran’s side. Noticing someone approaching, she turned her head and, seeing it was Si Huaiyu, gave him a smile. “Good morning.”
“Morning.” Si Huaiyu moved closer and studied Wen Ran’s face carefully, noticing she had filled in her eyebrows. “Are all women so concerned with beauty? You’ve already put on makeup before eight in the morning?”
Si Yan hadn’t been home these past few days. Si Yan’s parents had taken the old master back to their hometown for ancestral worship rites, leaving Si Huaiyu as the only man currently in the Si household.
This made Si Huaiyu wonder—was Wen Ran dressing so beautifully these days to catch his attention?
He couldn’t remember whether Wen Ran used to care about her appearance before, but why would a wealthy lady who mostly stayed home put on makeup first thing in the morning?
Narrowing his eyes, Si Huaiyu had to admit that the woman before him was indeed breathtakingly beautiful.
“Ouch…” Wen Ran gasped softly as the rose thorn pricked her finger.
Si Huaiyu watched as a small drop of blood welled up from her fair fingertip, her beautiful eyes already misting over.
The man thought to himself, how delicate.
Seeing Wen Ran quickly put her fingertip in her mouth to stop the bleeding, her red lips looking soft and lush, the desire Si Huaiyu had suppressed for days began surging upward again.
Speaking of which, it was strange. Ever since that night when he had cornered Wen Ran on the sofa, Si Huaiyu had been having dreams every night he fell asleep—dreams of rather steamy scenes.
He had never been a particularly lustful person, nor did he enjoy being consumed by sexual matters. He’d never experienced anything like this before, but once it started, it became uncontrollable.
What disturbed Si Huaiyu most was that in his dreams, the woman’s face would always shift from Wen Ran’s to that Secretary beside Si Yan at the crucial moment—that woman named Ruan Tang.
“It hurts,” Wen Ran complained. “It’s all your fault for suddenly coming to talk to me. Now my finger’s cut.”
Her voice naturally carried a soft tone, but now it sounded even more like she was coquettishly whining.
Si Huaiyu felt a momentary itch in his heart, but he quickly grew wary, his gaze toward Wen Ran turning somewhat dangerous.
He had been investigating Ruan Tang extensively these past days. Being inherently suspicious, Si Huaiyu felt that there must be something wrong with either her or Wen Ran regarding these dream occurrences.
“Ranran, detecting dangerous aura from target Si Huaiyu,” the system warned. “He might be questioning whether your behavior is deliberate.””Don’t panic.” Wen Ran had long noticed his scrutinizing gaze and had even prepared her explanation in advance.
She asked, “Do you think this makeup looks good on me today? I specifically learned how to do it.”
Si Huaiyu raised an eyebrow. Oh?
He said, “Why do you ask?”
“Last time I saw that young lady by A-Yan’s side, she was wearing makeup too. I thought maybe I usually don’t bother dressing up at home, so A-Yan doesn’t like me anymore.”
Wen Ran continued, “Then how do you think I should dress up to look better?”
Throwing the topic back to Si Huaiyu, he glanced at Wen Ran and recalled how she looked last time wearing only a thin nightgown. He thought to himself, she’d look even better wearing nothing at all.
But what came out of his mouth was a very diplomatic response, “Just be yourself. There’s no need to please anyone.”
Well! Wen Ran thought his words sounded quite proper and respectable.
“Ding, Si Huaiyu’s Affection points +6.”
Si Huaiyu glanced at his wristwatch. He still had a meeting to attend, so he reminded Wen Ran to remember to use a bandage for her wound before heading to the company first.
Wen Ran asked the system, “Zha Zha, what’s Si Huaiyu’s current total Affection points?”
“It’s 39 now.” The progress was quite fast, and the Zha Zha system was very happy.
“But Si Yan’s Affection points dropped again,” it said. “In just a few days, Si Yan’s points fell from 43 to 35.”
Every time Si Yan was mentioned, Zha Zha would go on a rant, “That cheating scumbag, having affairs during marriage and not even coming home – he’s the worst!”
The drop in Si Yan’s points was within Wen Ran’s expectations. He must have made up with Ruan Tang again.
“Let’s not worry about him for now,” Wen Ran said. “There’s still one more person I haven’t met yet.”
…
In the Wen Corporation’s CEO office.
Xu Shi’an was lounging with his legs crossed on the desk, his slender fingers scrolling through his phone screen. His handsome, captivating eyes were fixed on the page, his expression growing increasingly disdainful the more he looked.
“What has this Sister Wen been doing all day?” Xu Shi’an couldn’t help but comment as he looked at her three daily Moments updates. “Did marrying Si Yan and dealing with all those other women drive her crazy?”
He looked at the links Wen Ran had posted, clicking on them one by one – articles about how to capture a man’s heart, how women can maintain their freshness.
These things made Xu Shi’an laugh, “What is all this? Has she gone mad? Losing her mind in public?”
However, he didn’t know that all these posts were visible only to him. Wen Ran had Zha Zha select the topics and content, scheduling daily posts that only Xu Shi’an could see.
When Wen Ran entered the office, she saw Xu Shi’an holding his phone and laughing heartily. She didn’t need to guess who he was laughing at.
“Shi’an,” she called out softly.
The man half-reclining in the sofa chair immediately straightened up and stood when he heard the familiar voice.
“Why are you here?” He had just been mocking Wen Ran, and now the person herself was standing before him.
Xu Shi’an glanced at the Secretary standing behind Wen Ran. The male Secretary could only explain, “The young lady suddenly came up, saying she needed to see you about something.”
The entire Wen family belonged to Wen Ran – how could their employees stop her?
Xu Shi’an suppressed his laughter, cleared his throat, and asked Wen Ran, “What do you need?”
“Can’t I come to see you?” Wen Ran said. “You are my younger brother after all.”
Hearing the word ‘younger brother,’ he frowned, appearing quite disgusted.