A coquettish moan escaped her red lips.
“Uncle…”
Qi Sen captured her slightly parted lips with his own.
He kissed her deeply, passionately, and forcefully, his tongue wantonly swirling within her mouth. His attack was aggressive and invasive, as if he intended to steal even her breath away.
His broad palms kneaded her through the thin fabric.
Qiu Xiaoyue’s hands rested on his shoulders. His shoulders and neck were broad, his back muscles powerful, and her fingertips left streaks of red where they clawed at him.
Striking. Ambiguous.
She couldn’t take it anymore. Her delicate brows drew tightly together as she tilted her head back in unbearable torment, her fingers plunging into his short, coarse hair.
Wave after wave of overwhelming numbness climbed from her waist upward, all the way to the back of her head, all the way to her scalp—
She was almost there…
Qiu Xiaoyue suddenly opened her eyes.
Her body was sticky, drenched in hot sweat.
Above her was the familiar arched ceiling.
She stared blankly for several seconds before realizing that she was in Rose Mansion.
It was her third day staying at Rose Mansion, and also the third day since she and Qi Sen had registered their marriage.
That day, after leaving the marriage registration office, Qi Sen hadn’t even returned home. He had flown straight to the United States for a meeting.
Qiu Xiaoyue threw off the covers, her face still burning.
Clamping her legs together, she hurried into the bathroom and took a cold shower.
Afterward, she came out wrapped in a bath towel and opened the dressing room. Qi Sen’s clothes were on the left, while the entire row on the right was packed with clothes he had arranged for her.
She didn’t recognize a single one of those brands. Prada, Christian Dior, Chanel, Miu Miu, Louis Vuitton…
They were all English words anyway, each one longer than the last.
As Qiu Xiaoyue changed clothes, a red sports car pulled up outside Rose Mansion.
Qi Yanli walked inside while talking on the phone. “My uncle isn’t home. He flew to the United States on the very day he registered the marriage. He was obviously avoiding her. Who’d want to come home after marrying an ugly freak? Hahaha.”
“If my mother hadn’t insisted that I come take a look, do you think I’d be willing to stare at that pockmarked face?”
He reached the entrance and pressed the doorbell.
“I didn’t even dare eat much breakfast. I was afraid I’d throw up the moment I saw her…”
The door opened.
Qi Yanli’s laughter caught in his throat.
His phone remained suspended in midair. He stood perfectly still, as if someone had struck an acupoint.
He recognized her. It was Qiu Xiaoyue.
The eyes, brows, nose, and mouth were unmistakably hers.
But where were all those black pockmarks?
She wore a pearl-white spaghetti-strap dress with a satin finish that clung smoothly to her body, accentuating every curve. Over it, she had on a short pink knitted cardigan. Her thick, long hair fell in slightly curled waves over her shoulders, gleaming with a silky luster.
The woman before him was breathtakingly beautiful, beyond compare.
There wasn’t even the slightest trace of the ugly country girl she had been before.
She was more beautiful than any female celebrity he had ever dated.
Qi Yanli had no idea how he managed to walk inside.
His three souls and seven spirits had long since been spirited away by Qiu Xiaoyue.
It wasn’t until Qiu Xiaoyue invited him to drink tea that he finally came back to himself.
“People really do change as they grow up.” He forced out a dry laugh. “It’s only been three days, and I can barely recognize you.”
Qiu Xiaoyue covered her lips and smiled. “The city is full of tricks. If I hadn’t disguised myself as ugly, how could I have tested whether someone’s feelings were sincere?”
Qi Yanli regretted it so much he could have kicked himself.
When Qiu Xiaoyue handed him the tea, he couldn’t resist touching her hand.
It was smooth and soft, like tender tofu.
Qiu Xiaoyue snatched her hand back as if she had been shocked by electricity.
Qi Yanli was still savoring the sensation.
How had he never noticed before?
“Xiaoyue.” He edged closer to her. “Let’s go out for lunch, okay? I’ll treat you to a feast at a Michelin restaurant.”
Qiu Xiaoyue said, “I haven’t adjusted to the local climate these past two days. I can’t eat anything cold.”
Qi Yanli smiled obsequiously. “I’ll have them make it hot.”
Qiu Xiaoyue frowned. “Can ice cream be eaten hot? Wouldn’t it melt into water? Like pig slop. What do you city people even eat?”
Qi Yanli pressed a hand to his forehead. “It’s Michelin, not ice cream. A Michelin restaurant is a high-end restaurant rated by France’s Michelin Red Guide—the finest of the fine.”
“Oh.” Qiu Xiaoyue remained unmoved. “Not interested.”
Qi Yanli asked, “Are you busy?”
Qiu Xiaoyue replied, “I’m free. I just don’t want to go with you.”
Qi Yanli was rebuffed, and he couldn’t accept it.
That figure and that face should have been his.
He moved another inch closer and put on a concerned expression. “My uncle really is something else. Who abandons his new bride right after getting married? Your husband isn’t home, so you must be pretty lonely by yourself, right?”
Qiu Xiaoyue thought of the dream she’d had that morning. Her face flushed slightly, and she lowered her head without saying anything.
Qi Yanli thought he had struck a nerve. He grabbed her hand. “Xiaoyue, come with me. My uncle has never been in a relationship. He doesn’t know how to appreciate a woman, and he doesn’t know how to treat one well.”
Qiu Xiaoyue glared at him. “Qi Yanli, what kind of nonsense are you talking about? Let go!”
“I won’t.” Qi Yanli tightened his grip. “You were mine to begin with. My uncle is eight years older than you—we’d have a generation gap. I’m young, and I’m good in bed.”
Qiu Xiaoyue ground her back teeth together. “I’m telling you one last time. Let go!”
Not only did Qi Yanli refuse to let go, he forcefully pulled her toward him.
“Don’t believe me? I can prove it to you.”
As Qiu Xiaoyue drew near, a faint milky fragrance drifted over.
Qi Yanli’s heart itched unbearably. He wished he could have her right there and then.
Just as he was about to embrace Qiu Xiaoyue, she grabbed him with one hand, hoisted him up, and threw him over her shoulder.
“Ah!!!”
Qi Yanli was slammed squarely onto the floor in a clean shoulder throw.
The pain brought tears streaming from his eyes.
This woman looked so slender and delicate. Where had she gotten such incredible strength?
He didn’t know that Qiu Xiaoyue had grown up in the mountains. Every day, she carried more than ten kilograms of books, a lunchbox, and sweet potatoes to sell in town while climbing over mountains and crossing ridges. That was how she had trained herself into possessing such freakish strength.
“You’re a shameless dung beetle wearing a mask!” Qiu Xiaoyue cursed. “Why don’t you go pee and look at your own reflection? How dare you compare yourself to Uncle? Are you as handsome as he is? As tall? Do you have abs? You think you were the one who rejected me back then? Let me tell you the truth—I never liked you in the first place.”
Still unsatisfied after cursing him out, she kicked him several more times.
“Listen carefully. I’m your Little Aunt-in-Law! Recognize your place. If you ever lay your hands on me again, I’ll beat you into a pig’s head and then tell Grandfather Qi!”
Qi Yanli scrambled away on all fours.
The servants at Rose Mansion were all dumbstruck.
When the Steward called Qi Sen to report what had happened, his voice was still trembling.
Qi Sen’s hearty laughter came through the receiver.
The Steward froze. It had been so long since he had last heard Young Master laugh like that.
However, Qi Sen soon stopped laughing.
“Young Master,” the Steward said after a pause, “the Young Madam found a maid to help her with her makeup this afternoon. She spent a long time getting dressed and said she had an important date.”
There was a one-second silence on Qi Sen’s end.
Qiu Xiaoyue had always gone makeup-free. She hadn’t even worn makeup for their marriage registration photo.
Who was she going to see that she cared about more than marrying him?
“The Young Madam borrowed my phone and called that person,” the Steward continued, swallowing nervously. “I called the number back.”
“It was a man.”