Huo Yu pressed against her body and turned around, perfectly blocking the view of the people behind them.
His scorching large palm slipped in under her somewhat short top, pressing against the thin skin of her back, and Pei Qiuxu finally broke down crying.
The girl looked so soft, and even crying, she just obediently lay against the man’s chest, sniffling quietly.
Huo Yu picked her up. Pei Qiuxu instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs caught by the man and fixed on either side of his waist, and he carried her like that toward the car not far away.
By the time Pei Qiuxu had cried herself back to her senses, she was already about to be stuffed into the car.
She kicked at Huo Yu twice while crying, leaving a small dusty footprint on his black casual pants.
Watching the man get into the car, Pei Qiuxu gave him a pitiful glance, then huddled to the side and said in a soft voice, “If you kidnap me, my parents won’t let you off.”
“Hm?” Huo Yu raised an eyebrow and reached out to settle Pei Qiuxu on his lap.
Pei Qiuxu was trembling all over, her shoulders shaking. Her long, smooth hair was a little messy from earlier, making her look like a rabbit with rumpled fur.
“I’m not kidnapping you. I want to marry you.” Huo Yu reached out and tucked the strands of hair stuck to Pei Qiuxu’s cheek behind her ear, his voice carrying a smile. “In a bit, I’ll go back with you to get your documents. We’re getting married today.”
Sobbing, Pei Qiuxu’s eyes rimmed red. “You’re insane.”
“I’m your husband,” Huo Yu said softly, nuzzling his forehead against hers.
“I have a boyfriend.” Pei Qiuxu sniffled, her voice muffled.
Huo Yu’s expression darkened. Of course he knew. Ever since he’d last seen Pei Qiuxu, he had gone through her file carefully.
Her life from childhood on was simple, and the more he looked, the more he liked every aspect of her.
Except for the boyfriend she’d started dating recently.
What was his name again—Zhong Sinian?
A son of the Zhong family. Huo Yu narrowed his eyes. It seemed the Zhong family’s place among the four great financial clans was due for a change of hands.
“Baby, how about I kill him?” Huo Yu licked the corner of her lips. “Whatever you like about him, I’ll cut it off for you to keep.”
“Boohoo…” Pei Qiuxu’s tears fell uncontrollably. She no longer knew how to communicate with the man in front of her.
Huo Yu nuzzled her face and dotted kisses to dry the tears on her cheeks.
The car fell silent in an instant, leaving only the faint hum of the air conditioning and the sound of Pei Qiuxu’s sobs.
Sensing that if she didn’t agree to this man today, she wouldn’t be getting out, Pei Qiuxu felt even more miserable.
She had never met anyone like this. No matter how terrible Zhong Sinian and the other three could be, they were nowhere near this level.
She timidly lifted her eyes to look at the man before her, her tone almost gently persuasive: “My boyfriend and I love each other very much. It would be immoral for you to come between us. That’s not right.”
“Baby.” Huo Yu chuckled softly, his lips brushing Pei Qiuxu’s earlobe, his voice very light. “This isn’t me coming between you two. If you don’t agree, he dies—and you’re still mine.”
Feeling the warm breath drawing closer and closer, Pei Qiuxu reached out a hand to block him, but it was useless.
The damp, hot kiss had already wound around her. Pei Qiuxu felt the scene before her gradually blur, and her lips slowly went numb, beginning to sting.
“Okay, okay!” Pei Qiuxu suddenly pushed Huo Yu away with force, covering her lips with both hands. “No… no more kissing.” Huo Yu narrowed his eyes, leaning lazily back against the car seat, reaching out to play with the hair scattered over her shoulders.
“But getting married now is too early. I don’t want to rush things.” Pei Qiuxu blinked, forcing a stiff smile.
Looking at the man’s unreadable expression, she paused, then reached out and tugged at Huo Yu’s sleeve. “How about it? Can we take it slow? We’ve only just met. We should start as friends, and slowly, once it feels right, we can become boyfriend and girlfriend.”
Huo Yu snorted. “Why not count from the day we were born?”
With her little scheme dragged out into the open, Pei Qiuxu lowered her head, blushing, and murmured, “Then what do you suggest? We definitely can’t get married now.”
“Then let’s start as boyfriend and girlfriend.” Huo Yu cupped her face in his hands. “How about that?”
Pei Qiuxu didn’t dare meet his eyes, but she knew this was the biggest concession this man would ever make, so she could only nod slowly.
“Then can that ex-boyfriend of yours get lost now?”
“I… I’ll talk to him.” Pei Qiuxu buried her head completely.
Huo Yu looked at the girl playing ostrich in his arms, a flicker of emotion rising in his dark eyes.
“Fine. I trust you.” Huo Yu spoke, and before the girl could breathe a sigh of relief, his next words followed: “Baby, you’d better not betray my trust.”
Pei Qiuxu stiffened all over and slowly lifted her head, saying nothing.
Huo Yu drove her home. When she got out of the car, her clothes were somewhat disheveled, and there was a small split at the corner of her lip. She licked it and hissed at the sting.
The cufflinks she had meant to give Zhong Sinian were also snatched away by the man in the car. Pei Qiuxu watched him fasten the cufflinks onto his sleeve, and suddenly felt that they seemed to suit the man before her better.
She crept quietly back to her bedroom. The way she looked right now was off no matter how you saw it.
She didn’t dare turn on the light, lifting the curtain just a crack. The car outside waited a while before driving off.
Pei Qiuxu let out a breath of relief. She sprawled back on her big bed, feeling that nothing all day had gone her way.
The wound on her lip still needed tending. If Zhong Sinian’s crowd found it tomorrow, she had no idea what she’d say.
As for what that man said about breaking up with Zhong Sinian—Pei Qiuxu rolled her eyes. Like hell she’d do that.
Setting aside whatever the man’s background was, even if he really were from some wealthy noble family, could he really be more powerful than the Zhong family?
The Pei family’s future rested on the Zhong family. If she actually broke up with Zhong Sinian, never mind whether she could withstand his fury.
The Pei family would go bankrupt in minutes. She couldn’t take that risk.
Thinking this, she picked up her phone to send Zhong Sinian a goodnight message, but Chu Xiaoguo’s words from earlier that day kept circling in her head.
She bit her finger, eyes watery. She had never been like this before.
Should she give it a try? Pei Qiuxu blinked, then remembered the look in Zhong Sinian’s eyes that day when that girl named He Jiaojiao came to school.
If she didn’t fight harder, Zhong Sinian would be snatched away.
With that thought, Pei Qiuxu drew a deep breath, picked up her phone, and took a photo of her own curled-up little feet.
She didn’t dare look at it. In a flustered hurry, she found Zhong Sinian’s profile and sent it over.
Feeling it was a bit deliberate, she held back her embarrassment and added another line: “I ran such a long way today, my feet hurt.”
At first, there was no response from the other side.
Pei Qiuxu relaxed slightly—she had actually been a little nervous.
Soon the phone chimed once, then fell silent again.