Cheng Yao’s eyelids twitched violently. She forced a dry laugh. “There’s no need to be quite that ruthless.”
After a pause, she added, “Besides, going to all that trouble over an unrelated stranger isn’t worth it.”
“No need. It would only take the lift of a finger. I guarantee no one would ever know.”
His tone was calm, as though he were commenting on the fine weather, but the murderous intent in his eyes was impossible to hide.
Cheng Yao: “…”
She shot him a coquettish glare. “He did us both a huge favor. First, he drove away those thugs. Then he introduced us to a major client. He’s our benefactor. You can’t treat him like that.”
Zhan Haoting remained unmoved. “Yes. And he achieved his purpose too.”
Cheng Yao didn’t understand. “What purpose?”
Zhan Haoting said nothing. He simply stared straight at her.
Only then did Cheng Yao realize what he meant. She pointed at herself. “Me?”
Zhan Haoting gave an almost imperceptible nod.
“Oh, please.” Cheng Yao found the idea ridiculous. “At most, he has some appreciation for me. I’m just a passerby. Am I really worth such a huge effort? He’s a good person. If it hadn’t been me today, but some other woman, he would have helped her just the same.”
“How does he know you’re just a passerby?”
Cheng Yao was rendered speechless.
Right. She hadn’t revealed her identity. Shen Xi probably thought she was a local village girl.
But in ancient times, respectable women rarely even left their homes. So what if he developed feelings for her?
He couldn’t have her, and he couldn’t even see her.
He simply wanted to help her. Zhan Haoting was the one getting jealous for no reason.
Forget it. A jealous man was not to be trifled with!
From now on, she would never mention anything like this in front of him again.
Cheng Yao pouted, but he caught her little hand.
“Go inside that place.”
“Now?” Cheng Yao glanced around. Some people were cooking, others were simmering soup, and still others were gathered in twos and threes, chatting and laughing. The entire camp was steeped in a warm, relaxed atmosphere, and no one seemed to be paying attention to the two of them.
But Feng Xianxian and Zhang Dapeng were two rabid dogs lurking in the shadows. If they happened to glance over, notice that she and Zhan Haoting were gone, and start causing trouble, it would be a disaster.
“Later.”
Zhan Haoting’s deep eyes darkened, and his voice dropped especially low. “I want to look at your leg.”
Cheng Yao’s breath caught.
The passionate scene from last night instantly surfaced in her mind. Her cheeks heated uncontrollably, and every cell in her body began to stir with anticipation.
Again?
It wasn’t as though she objected…
The corners of her lips rose so high that even an AK-47 couldn’t have forced them down. “You’re still injured. You need to restrain yourself…”
“What are you thinking?” A quiet laugh spilled from Zhan Haoting’s throat, clear as water striking jade. “My leg is a little numb. I want you to take a look.”
Cheng Yao: “…”
If he wanted her to treat his leg, then he should have just said so. Why make it sound so suggestive?
He had deliberately made her misunderstand, only to tease her afterward!
Wait. Why was she the one being seduced?
Couldn’t she be the one to seduce him?
Cheng Yao’s eyes darted around. “How numb is it? Let me see.”
Her soft little hand settled on his thigh and began to climb upward like a mischievous little snake. Cool and smooth, her fingers glided over the subtle contours of his leg with a lingering, sensual touch.
Zhan Haoting’s Adam’s apple bobbed violently. The calm depths of his eyes suddenly churned like storm-tossed seas. He seized the misbehaving hand that was creeping ever closer, and a faint flush spread across the tips of his ears.
“Behave.”
From his tone, he sounded a little embarrassed and annoyed.
Cheng Yao withdrew her hand, brushing over the faintly visible veins along his thigh. A sly smile tugged at her lips, and her voice was as sweet as honey. “Husband, your leg feels even smoother than the finest silk.”
Zhan Haoting’s chest heaved. “Stop fooling around, or else…”
He left the threat unfinished. A trace of barely perceptible irritation was hidden in his voice, yet the redness at his neck was spreading beneath his collar, and even his breathing had fallen out of rhythm.
“Or else what?” Cheng Yao leaned closer. Her warm breath brushed his ear as she whispered, “Are you angry, Husband? Weren’t you the one who asked me to look at your leg?”
Her little hand had already reached his waist. He exhaled sharply and ground out through clenched teeth, “I meant go inside.”
Cheng Yao’s eyes turned sultry, her voice alluring to the bone. “How can we go inside when we’re still wearing our clothes?”
Zhan Haoting’s breath stopped. “Cheng Yao!”
When had she become so wicked?
Cheng Yao slipped her hand beneath his inner garment and stroked him. Her body was nearly pressed against his shoulder, her lips grazing his flushed ear as her voice turned syrupy and seductive.
“Oh, Husband, your heart is beating so fast and hard. Are you ill? Let me have a look.”
Zhan Haoting’s breathing grew ragged. As that little hand continued to wreak havoc against his body, an inexplicable heat spread through every inch of him.
When her hand reached his chest, the last thread of his restraint snapped.
He seized her wrist and covered her lips with his burning mouth, cutting off her startled cry.
He pried open her lips and teeth, kissing her with punishing force, pouring out all the embarrassment, fluster, and repression she had stirred within him.
Caught completely off guard, Cheng Yao’s fingers went rigid against his waist, and her mind spun dizzily. Her feet felt as though they were floating on clouds.
Only when their breathing grew hot and thick did he finally pull away. He rested his forehead against hers, his voice hoarse with desire.
“You brought this on yourself.”
Cheng Yao moved back a little. Seeing the red corners of his eyes and his faintly trembling lips, she suddenly wanted to kiss him again.
She wanted to kiss him until he cried, until he completely lost control…
A sly smile spread through Cheng Yao’s eyes. She extended the tip of her tongue and lightly licked his kiss-swollen lower lip. Her voice carried a hint of husky desire, making it all the more enticing.
“My husband’s kiss is far more honest than those harsh words of his.”
Her hand slid up to the back of his neck and drew him toward her. The tip of her nose brushed against his feverish cheek.
“You could have done that from the beginning. Why make me work so hard?”
Zhan Haoting’s eyes suddenly darkened. But before he could do anything else, Cheng Yao hurriedly rose and retreated.
As if! She had riled him up, and now she was supposed to stay there and let him have his way with her?
She had no interest in being watched by a crowd while making love.
What she didn’t know was that countless pairs of eyes had witnessed every move the two of them made.
…
Constable Wang was in charge of distributing the grain, and he was suffering a terrible headache.
Several elders of the Zhan clan demanded that it be divided equally according to the number of people, with the elderly, women, and children receiving half a ladle more.
However, seven or eight households had not gone up the mountain to work the previous day. Dividing the grain equally among them would be unfair to everyone else.
Constable Wang proposed distributing it according to the number of people who had labored.
But then some injured, solitary villagers would not receive even a single grain of rice, and several clan elders refused to accept that.
In the end, Cheng Yao said, “By rights, those who didn’t go up the mountain to work shouldn’t receive anything. You reap what you sow, after all. Where’s the fairness in people who contributed nothing receiving supplies? However, considering that some of those solitary villagers are genuinely injured or ill and unable to walk, and that they’re members of the Zhan clan as well, we can set aside several dozen kilograms of grain to distribute among them. The remaining two hundred kilograms or so will be divided according to labor. From today onward, anyone who makes no contribution will receive no supplies, regardless of their reasons or difficulties.”
Her words were reasonable, and she possessed enough authority and intimidation to make everyone obey her.
Constable Wang let out a sigh of relief. “Then we’ll distribute it that way.”
That decision was undoubtedly another knife thrust into the already blood-soaked wound of Second Master Zhan’s family.
Today, he had gone up the mountain with Zhan Jinmo and the three illegitimate children, but the food had been bought with the money from selling the grapes they picked yesterday—and they hadn’t been given any!
All they could do was watch others divide up the food, swallowing hungrily as they stared.
Second Madam Zhan was so furious that her nose nearly twisted out of shape. She shouted, “This isn’t fair!”
