Brown sugar rice wine poached eggs!
So fragrant!
She hadn’t eaten much at the table earlier—she had been too focused on watching Huo Xiao, afraid he might say something inappropriate.
And now…
Her stomach growled.
Huo Xiao pushed the bowl toward her.
“There’s alcohol in it. I can’t eat it.”
Then Lin Wan was not polite at all.
Wow!
Delicious!
Sweet but not cloying, with a faint aroma of wine. The poached egg was just slightly runny in the center—perfectly cooked.
Huang Guixiang’s cooking was truly amazing.
No wonder it was said to be good for replenishing blood and energy; after eating it, her whole body felt warm.
Lin Wan fanned herself with her hand, her gaze unconsciously drifting toward Huo Xiao.
This man really looked too good.
Those long legs alone were enough for her to enjoy for a lifetime.
Even his hand resting on his knee looked beautiful—long fingers, elegant joints… it could easily be a hand model’s hand.
She’d heard that finger length was related to… well…
Uh—stop.
Was she trying to die?!
How dare she even think of having improper thoughts about him.
But in the next second, she suddenly felt that Huo Xiao was seducing her.
She had evidence.
He picked up the enamel cup and took a sip of water; his Adam’s apple rolled beneath the partially visible uniform collar. His straight nose and thin lips were slightly moist, and those ink-dark eyes, though calm, seemed to hook at her when they glanced over.
The outer corners of his eyes were slightly raised—dangerously alluring.
Cold and distant in temperament.
Yet his eyes were full of emotion.
Contradictory.
A fatal, split kind of attraction.
He set the cup down and lightly patted his thigh.
Almost instinctively, Lin Wan sat down on him.
Her arms wrapped around his neck as she tilted her face up and kissed the lips right in front of her.
Soft.
Warm.
Completely different from his cold exterior.
But his lips were too tightly closed.
A wave of numbness rushed through her body, and Lin Wan felt even hotter.
She whimpered, unable to open his lips, and got frustrated.
She bit down on his Adam’s apple and ground her teeth in annoyance.
Huo Xiao’s gaze suddenly contracted.
He grabbed her waist and tried to pull her off, but she clung to him like an octopus.
Her hands were completely unruly—groping, tugging, even reaching for his belt.
“Lin Wan!” Huo Xiao snapped in a low voice, anger flashing in his eyes.
He hadn’t expected her to—
What he didn’t expect even more was that the moment she kissed him, he didn’t push her away immediately.
As if bewitched, his body reacted before his mind—wanting to sink into it.
“Hot!” Lin Wan frowned in dissatisfaction.
“Man! Are you trying some kind of push-and-pull tactic?”
“Hmph, you’ve successfully caught my attention!”
“Man, you’re playing with fire!”
Under the influence of something unknown, her rationality shattered into pieces.
Completely controlled by reckless impulses, she blurted out anything that came to mind.
Struggling in his arms, she tried her best to press against him.
“Lin Wan!” Huo Xiao noticed her flushed face and unfocused gaze and immediately realized something was wrong.
His eyes fell sharply on the empty bowl of brown sugar poached eggs.
Something was wrong with that bowl.
In an instant, he understood everything.
His gaze flickered, as if thinking of something, and the corner of his lips lifted slightly.
He reached out and pressed her philtrum.
The pain briefly brought Lin Wan back to her senses.
Their eyes met.
Still flushed and dizzy, she instantly realized her condition.
She looked at the empty bowl.
In her mind, ten thousand wild horses stampeded.
F*ck.
F*ck.
F*ck.
She…
She had been drugged!
And she had even done whatever she wanted to Huo Xiao!
She was digging her own grave!
“I… I didn’t mean it…” sob…
A charge of hooliganism could get someone shot!
Oh, mother!
You’ve really done your daughter in this time!
At this rate, she was going to exit earlier than the original host ever did!
“You… you should go first… please, just go!”
Lin Wan was barely holding herself together. The raging heat inside her body was about to consume her consciousness completely. Her hair was already soaked with sweat.
Even knowing she might die, she still couldn’t stop herself from clinging toward Huo Xiao.
She was on the verge of tears.
“Go… go away!” she cried, her voice trembling and soft, almost unbearably alluring.
Huo Xiao’s eyes darkened.
He pressed his lips together.
“I’ll take you to the hospital. Excuse me.”
With that, he struck her unconscious with a hand chop and lifted her into his arms.
He opened the door—and Huang Guixiang, who had been eavesdropping at the door, crashed straight into Lin Wan.
Seeing Lin Wan faint in Huo Xiao’s arms, she froze.
What was going on?
Huo Xiao was perfectly fine—but her daughter…
Her mind went blank.
Buzzing.
“Auntie, Comrade Lin Wan has fainted. We need to take her to the hospital.”
Without another word, Huo Xiao strode out.
Huang Guixiang hurried after him.
The neighbors immediately gathered and asked:
“Old Huang, what happened to your daughter?”
“Oh my goodness, what’s wrong with Lin Wan? Is it a serious illness?”
Huang Guixiang’s face darkened.
“You’re the one with a serious illness! Your whole family has a serious illness!”
“Our Wanwan just has a cold and fever, nothing serious…”
“Move! Don’t block the way!”
Watching them rush off, Aunt Su from across the hall spat in their direction.
“Tch!”
“Show off all you want!”
“Even if you find a good match, it depends on whether your daughter can handle it!”
“See? That’s what happens when your fortune is too weak—you can’t even hold onto a good man!”
Nearby Aunt Wu, who was on good terms with Huang Guixiang, immediately retorted:
“Old Su, you should watch your mouth!”
“Cursing a young girl like that—you’ll get it back on your own daughter someday!”
Aunt Su immediately rolled up her sleeves and started arguing with her.
Before they even finished fighting, Lin Wan had already been taken to the hospital by Huo Xiao.
Huang Guixiang got out of the car and immediately bent over, retching against a wall.
Huo Xiao had driven too fast—she was completely dizzy.
The doctor examined Lin Wan. Huo Xiao explained that she had eaten poisonous mushrooms, so the hospital urgently performed stomach lavage and blood tests.
He couldn’t say it was an aphrodisiac.
If word got out, Lin Wan’s reputation would be ruined.
In this era, issues of “conduct” were extremely serious and could be used against a person very easily.
It could be fatal.
After all the commotion, Lin Wan finally woke up after being sent to the ward and put on an IV drip.
She met Huang Guixiang’s worried gaze.
“Wanwan, you’re awake. How do you feel?”
Lin Wan weakly scanned the room and didn’t see Huo Xiao. There were no other patients either. She finally let out a deep sigh of relief.
“Mom… where’s Huo Xiao?”
“He went to pay the bill,” Huang Guixiang replied.
“The doctor said you can go home after the IV drip finishes.”
“Wait—what exactly happened?”
“Why did you eat red sugar eggs?”
“What did Huo Xiao mean by that? Does he not want to continue anymore?”
“Should we go back to looking for Guo Xuyang?”
“Oh dear, this whole thing… and you’re about to be sent to the countryside in just a few days!”
She was anxious beyond belief.
Lin Wan felt frustrated.
“Mom, you didn’t tell me! I didn’t know the red sugar eggs had a problem!”
“Huo Xiao can’t drink alcohol or anything containing alcohol.”
“You cooked it so well… I couldn’t resist!”
Fearing her mother would come up with another bad idea, she quickly added:
“Mom, I like Huo Xiao. He likes me too. Our marriage won’t fall through!”
Her mother was too anxious about her being sent to the countryside and kept making impulsive decisions.
“Don’t worry. Tomorrow, we’ll go get the marriage certificate.”