When Li Juechen opened the car door, he saw that Tang Lichu was sleeping soundly. Cheng Ma, who was quick to catch on, immediately understood what was going on. She tactfully got out of the car and said, “Sixth Master, please sit here. I’ll take a rickshaw home myself.”
Feng An took a silver dollar from his pocket and slipped it into Cheng Ma’s hand. After thanking him repeatedly, Cheng Ma accepted the money and hurried away. Li Yuanzhou promptly took the front passenger seat.
A faint, indulgent smile lingered on Li Juechen’s lips. He gently closed the car door, then lifted Tang Lichu onto his lap and adjusted her into a more comfortable sleeping position before quietly ordering, “Drive.”
Seeing his third brother wearing such a smile made Li Yuanzhou break out in goosebumps. He rubbed his arms and looked at Li Juechen suspiciously.
“Third Brother, are you possessed or something? Why are you smiling like… uh… never mind!”
Li Juechen shot him a warning glare. “Keep quiet. If you make another sound, get out and walk back to camp yourself!”
When they arrived at the little Western-style villa, Li Juechen gently carried Tang Lichu out of the car. His gaze remained fixed on her delicate, beautiful face. He was so focused on her that he didn’t even spare Li Yuanzhou a glance before carrying her straight inside.
Li Yuanzhou stood where he was, staring at his third brother’s retreating figure in disbelief. He patted Feng An on the shoulder and asked in astonishment, “Is Third Brother always like this?”
Feng An smiled unconcernedly. “This is nothing! A while ago, I accidentally said something that caused Miss Tang to fall. Third Master held me accountable afterward and docked three whole months of my military pay!”
“What? What happened? Tell me everything…”
Li Juechen carefully placed Tang Lichu on the bed. The little woman was genuinely exhausted; despite all the movement, she still hadn’t woken up.
A short while later, the man returned from the washroom carrying a bucket of hot water. In his other hand was a basin and a towel.
As he gently wiped Tang Lichu clean, he muttered, “When have I ever waited on anyone like this? You really know how to enjoy yourself!”
Although he complained under his breath, his movements remained incredibly gentle, as if he were afraid of waking the sleeping woman.
After wiping her hands and face, Li Juechen removed her shoes. Her delicate, fair toes were immediately exposed before his eyes, and a strange feeling suddenly stirred in his heart.
For some reason, he actually had the urge to kiss her tiny feet.
The little woman really was beautiful. From head to toe—even her toes were exactly to his liking.
Li Juechen gently lifted her dainty foot and began carefully wiping it. Halfway through, Tang Lichu, who had been fast asleep, suddenly stirred awake.
“That tickles! Chen… Brother Chen, what are you doing?”
Li Juechen didn’t stop what he was doing. With a smile, he said, “Are you blind? Obviously I’m cleaning you up. You’re all sweaty and smelly, and you still want to sleep like this?”
Tang Lichu’s pretty face instantly turned bright red. She instinctively tried to pull her foot back and hurriedly said, “Brother Chen, I can do it myself. How can you do something like this? Please let go!”
Li Juechen ignored her protests and continued holding her little foot firmly. Only after he had thoroughly wiped it clean did he finally release her, tossing the towel into the bucket beside him.
He turned to look at her.
“You’re being too shy. What’s wrong with me wiping my own woman’s feet?”
Knowing that the little woman was embarrassed, Li Juechen quickly changed the subject.
“Starting tomorrow, you don’t need to accompany Sophia anymore. That Susan can speak a little Chinese, can’t she? Let her keep her company. Foreign women are too troublesome. Stay home and get some proper rest. Don’t spend too much time with them.”
Tang Lichu couldn’t have been happier to hear that. She really had no interest in going out to have fun.
“Got it, Brother Chen. Are you staying tonight?”
A mischievous smile appeared at the corners of Li Juechen’s lips. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, “Want me to stay?”
Tang Lichu’s cheeks were still flushed as she shook her head.
“No. I know you’re busy, Brother Chen. I was just asking.”
The little woman looked so shy and adorable that Li Juechen was afraid teasing her any further would upset her. He quickly suppressed his smile, sat down beside the bed, and pulled her tightly into his arms. Gently rubbing the top of her head, he said in an indulgent, tender voice,
“I have drills early tomorrow morning, so staying here would be inconvenient. I’ll be busy for another twenty days. After that, I’ll have some time to rest. I’ll spend it all with you, all right?”
Tang Lichu quietly nestled against his broad, warm chest, greedily breathing in his familiar scent of tobacco and listening to the strong beat of his heart.
“All right.”
Li Juechen stayed with her for a while longer. Only after Tang Lichu had fallen asleep again did he get up and leave the room.
When he stepped outside, he found Li Yuanzhou already fast asleep on the sofa.
“Why are you still here?”
Li Yuanzhou opened his bleary eyes and complained bitterly, “Third Brother, what kind of thing is that to say? Your little love can stay in this golden palace, but I can’t?”
“Enough nonsense. We’re leaving.”
Li Yuanzhou snorted and muttered indignantly, “I hate her. She’s the one who stole all your affection from me. Ever since you came back from the west, you’ve changed! You’re so gentle with her that you could practically squeeze water out of you. But what about me? You either scold me or get impatient with me. You weren’t like this before!”
Li Juechen kicked him in the backside and ground his teeth.
“I’ll kick you again if you keep talking. Say one more word and I’ll transfer you to headquarters!”
The main camp of the Li Army was an absolute nightmare. Hundreds of brutal instructors were responsible for training the soldiers. Anyone who went in would come out thoroughly broken—or not come out at all.
“No, no, no! I was wrong, Third Brother! I’ll shut up!”
Tang Lichu slept exceptionally well that night. She didn’t even dream.
By contrast, Du Shiru endured a disastrous night.
After Li Juechen left the previous evening, she had seemingly lost all reason. She drank glass after glass of strong liquor. Sheng Enrong, taking obvious pleasure in her misery, had the manager send up ten bottles of Western liquor, and Du Shiru drank most of them herself.
“Ah—!”
Du Shiru suddenly jolted awake from her daze. Her eyes widened in horror when she realized that she was lying naked in a completely unfamiliar room.
Not only that, her entire body was covered in bruises, and there was a sharp, agonizing pain between her legs, as though she had been torn apart.
The scream woke Li Zhenting. He frowned, rubbed his still-groggy temples, and slowly sat up.
Looking at Du Shiru, who was disheveled and crying pitifully before him, he spoke coldly.
“Why are you screaming so early in the morning? Last night, you were the one clinging to me and insisting on coming back with me. And now you’re pretending to be innocent?”
His words struck Du Shiru like a bolt from the blue.
She frantically pulled the blanket over herself, tightly covering her naked body. Tears poured down her cheeks as she shook her head desperately and sobbed,
“You’re lying! That’s impossible! You know perfectly well how I feel about you. How could you treat me like this?”