The evening glow was suffused with the faint tartness of plums, and the oncoming summer breeze rippled with the crisp coolness of beer.
Qin Yuhe stood tall and elegant among the pink and blue hydrangeas, backed by the magnificent spectacle of the boundless sunset.
The fiery clouds overlapped layer upon layer, covering the sky and earth, wrapping the whole world in a magnificent grandeur.
Yet, such a majestic and grand scenery was entirely reduced to a mere backdrop for Qin Yuhe.
Song Xinya gazed at Qin Yuhe. Her eyes could only hold him, and only him; she couldn't see a single trace of the surrounding scenery.
Her heartbeat lost its rhythm, her whole body felt light and airy, and her breaths carried a sweet, soft dizziness.
Song Xinya didn't realize that at this moment, her eyes were exceptionally bright. The bright and joyful smile on her face was like a glass filled to the brim with water, ready to overflow.
Qin Yuhe looked down at her, reaching out to cup one side of her cheek with his warm palm.
"The mortal world is clamorous, society is noisy, and everyone is engaged in deception. This garden is the pure land on earth I am gifting to you."
"If you are happy, come here to see the hydrangeas. If you are unhappy, also come here to see them. When your eyes take in this sea of flowers, you'll find that life is a little more lovely."
"Flowers are never just flowers; they are medicine, the antidote for the dark and gloomy days."
He said to her, "Song Xinya, from now on, you have a spring and summer that belongs uniquely to you."
With his deep, magnetic voice and his gently flowing, beautiful words, how could her heart not flutter?
Every corner of Song Xinya's heart rippled with the tenderness he bestowed.
Her heart swayed, just like the hydrangeas swaying in the wind.
"Mr. Qin..."
Song Xinya tilted her face up to look at him, two patches of crimson blushing across her fair cheeks.
He was very tall. Standing face to face at such a close distance, she had to crane her neck high just to see his face.
She beckoned to him. "Lean in a little closer."
Qin Yuhe: "Want to whisper a secret to me?"
Song Xinya: "Yes, I want to whisper a secret to you."
Qin Yuhe lowered his head and leaned in close to her.
Song Xinya stood on her tiptoes, her soft and tender lips pressing against his.
Her pink tongue darted out and gave his lips a light lick.
As the soft, fragrant touch swept across his lips, Qin Yuhe felt as if he had been electrocuted. A subtle current surged from the skin of his lips through his entire body. His mind went blank for a second, and his heart trembled along with it.
This was the first time she had taken the initiative to kiss him.
A kiss as light as a dragonfly skimming the water.
Accompanied by a gentle lick from her warm, soft tongue.
Her tiptoes dropped back to the ground, and her lips left his.
Qin Yuhe felt like he hadn't even had the chance to properly savor the kiss before she stopped.
"Well, how about..." One more kiss.
Before he could utter the last few words, Song Xinya opened her mouth to speak: "It is impolite not to reciprocate. You kissed my hand earlier, so now I kiss your mouth. I am acting like a true gentleman towards you."
Qin Yuhe gave a lazy, shallow smile. "So stealing a kiss from a man is called acting like a gentleman?"
Song Xinya's face instantly flushed bright red.
Why did he have to say it out loud? Didn't she need to save face?
She retorted, "Did you ask me before you kissed my hand earlier?"
Qin Yuhe: "No."
Song Xinya: "Then what's the problem with me kissing your mouth without your permission?"
The way she asked that, with such an unjustified yet confident tone, made even Song Xinya feel embarrassed.
Her slender, soft waist was wrapped in his long arm, pulling her back flush against his warm embrace. His warm lips brushed against her ear: "No problem. If you want to kiss me, I'll let you kiss me."
Song Xinya's lips curled upwards. She tried hard to purse them and said, "As if I desperately want to kiss you."
Qin Yuhe: "You didn't want to. It was my lips seducing you."
Song Xinya's eyes curved into pools of sweet honey.
Qin Yuhe's arm brushed past her waist, reaching toward the hydrangeas in front of them. "How about we pick two to put in the room?"
Song Xinya: "Flowers are best admired together on the branch; do not pluck the flower and be left admiring an empty twig."
Qin Yuhe: "Pluck the flower while it is in bloom; do not wait until there are no flowers and break an empty twig."
Song Xinya: "Alright, then let's pick them."
Qin Yuhe reached out to snap off the flowers. At this moment, he was still embracing her from behind.
The man's broad chest was pressed tightly against Song Xinya. She could even feel the outline of his pectoral muscles, the rhythm of his heartbeat, and the firmness of his lean, strong body.
His breath falling on her snow-white neck disrupted the rhythm of her own breathing.
Even just picking a flower, he made her so distracted and restless.
A seducer.
An absolute male seducer.
One pink hydrangea and one blue hydrangea were snapped off, held in his pale, slender hands.
The sturdy, powerful male body pulled away from her back as Qin Yuhe straightened up.
Song Xinya took a deep breath, calming her disrupted heartbeat.
"Let's go back inside," Qin Yuhe took her hand and walked toward the living room.
Song Xinya didn't know if it was just her illusion, but she felt like his tone carried a hint of urgency.
"What do you want to do?"
Qin Yuhe looked back and stared at her: "If you want to 'do' something, I promise I'll be good and won't resist."
Song Xinya really admired that mouth of his. He could turn black into white and argue the dead back to life.
"I want to do... dry pot shrimp."
Qin Yuhe: "I am pot shrimp."
Song Xinya: Oh?
Song Xinya: "I want to EAT dry pot shrimp."
Qin Yuhe: "I am dry pot shrimp."
Song Xinya: What?
.........
In the living room, Song Tingye was currently negotiating terms with four burly men.
Commonly known as: bribery.
He declared with heroic grandeur, "However much my brother-in-law paid you to monitor me and the little princess, I'll pay you double!"
Burly man: "One hundred thousand."
Song Tingye, who only had ten bucks in his pocket: "Oh, oh oh."
Qin Yuyan: "What are you 'oh'-ing about? Hurry up and take out the two hundred thousand."
Song Tingye looked at the four burly men: "Does hell money work?"
Burly man: "Hell money works for my great-grandmother who's been dead for ten years."
Song Tingye: "Oh, oh oh oh."
Qin Yuyan: "Are you out of money?"
Song Tingye: "Let's put it this way: any problem that can be solved with money, I cannot solve."
Qin Yuyan broke into a grin: "I have money!"
She pulled out a bank card: "I usually swipe this card for my expenses. I spend eight hundred thousand on a small bag without blinking. One or two hundred thousand is as trivial as ten or twenty bucks to me."
"My brother gave you one hundred thousand, right? I'll transfer eight hundred thousand to you. I just ask for one thing: when Song Tingye and I sneak some food, turn a blind eye and pretend you didn't see anything. Just let us eat a bite of meat, boohoo!"
Qin Yuyan was famished; the baby's tummy was rumbling like thunder from hunger.
She took out her phone to transfer the money to the burly man.
Ding—
A line of text appeared on the screen:
[Your bank card has been frozen.]
Qin Yuyan froze for a moment, then said, "I'll try another bank card. Another card will definitely work."
Ding—
[Your bank card has been frozen.]
She switched through three more bank cards in a row, and each one prompted:
[Your bank card has been frozen.]
Burly man: "Give it up, kid. Your brother froze all of your bank cards."
Song Tingye: "Welcome to my private island: Destitution Island."
Qin Yuyan pulled a long face and cried, "From now on, I'm no longer a little cutie, but a little pauper."
Song Tingye comforted her, "It's fine. I've been poor for seventeen years and I'm still alive. It's just a lack of money, not a lack of life. As long as you're alive, there's hope. You won't die."
Qin Yuyan asked, "Besides being poor, what else do we have now?"
Song Tingye replied, "We also have tight budgets, tight clothes, tight brows, tight time, and a future full of tightness."
Qin Yuyan's little mouth puckered into a pitiful curve of grievance. "Brother Ye, stop talking. Now, whenever I hear you speak, I just want to cry."
"Zzzip—" Song Tingye mimed zipping his lips shut.
Qin Yuyan muttered to herself in distress, "Tonight we can only eat wild weed steamed buns again. What should we do?"
"Deal with it."
A deep, cold voice drifted over from the doorway. Qin Yuhe walked into the living room and coldly spat out a few words.
"Stay hungry."
Qin Yuyan looked at Song Xinya with tearful eyes. "Sister-in-law."
Qin Yuhe said, "Calling out for dumplings won't help either."
The little girl was so hungry that her eyes were filled with tears. Crystal teardrops swirled in her eyes, making her look like a pitiful little Chinchilla kitten.
Song Xinya looked at Qin Yuhe. "Xiaoye has thick skin and tough flesh. Starving for a few days won't hurt him; he can just treat it as losing weight. But our little princess is delicate and weak. Don't let her starve until she gets hypoglycemia. Let Xiaoye starve alone, and let Yuyan eat."
Song Tingye's eyes widened like brass bells. Who would believe this was his biological sister!
Qin Yuyan looked eagerly at her biological brother.
Qin Yuhe said, "The first time is a mistake, the second time is a choice, and the third time is sheer audacity. Some mistakes, if not stopped in time when they first occur, will be committed countless times in the future."
He looked at Qin Yuyan and Song Tingye. His gaze was cold and sharp, like iron dipped in frost, weighing heavily upon them. The two of them didn't even dare to breathe too loudly.
"Today, I just want to tell you that if you do something wrong, you must be punished. This is the rule of this world. No matter who you are or where you are, you have to learn to accept it."
After speaking, Qin Yuhe instructed the servants, "Serve the food. My wife and I will sit and eat, while Qin Yuyan and Song Tingye will stand and watch."
Qin Yuyan: "..."
Song Tingye: "..."
Good heavens, just let a lightning bolt strike them dead!
Delicious dishes were brought to the table, and the aroma of food filled the living room.
The filet mignon was grilled with a honey-colored caramelized crust, looking bright and plump. With one bite, the crispy surface would crackle, and the meaty flavor carried the unique smoky aroma of charcoal. The scent it emitted made one's mouth water.
Starving was a form of torture.
Starving while having to watch others eat was torture on top of torture.
They were already starving to death, and now, Qin Yuyan and Song Tingye simply flopped onto the sofa, pretending to faint.
Song Xinya looked tense. "The two of them..."
Qin Yuhe said, "They're faking it."
Song Xinya replied, "Alright."
In fact, she could also tell that the two bratty kids were faking it, but she wanted to use this as an excuse to plead with Qin Yuhe for them again.
Qin Yuhe's attitude was resolute, strictly impartial, and completely unyielding.
Song Xinya understood that no matter how much she pleaded, it would be useless.
When Young Master Qin educated children, he was undoubtedly a "strict father."
After Song Xinya and Qin Yuhe finished eating, Song Tingye and Qin Yuyan were still "fainted" on the sofa.
Qin Yuhe slowly wiped his hands with a napkin, his voice leisurely. "Ten seconds. If you don't sit up from the sofa by then, I'll feed your steamed buns to the dogs."
Song Tingye and Qin Yuyan instantly sprang up, sitting perfectly straight.
Placing the snow-white napkin on the table, Qin Yuhe stood up. "Madam, let's go upstairs."
Song Xinya followed Qin Yuhe up to the second floor. As they passed the sofa near the spiral staircase, she caught sight of the two brats gnawing on their steamed buns from the corner of her eye.
Dinner remained the same: two steamed buns for Song Tingye and one for Qin Yuyan.
Song Tingye broke one of his steamed buns in half and gave one piece to Qin Yuyan.
"Half for each, our bond won't breach; even if the seas run dry and rocks crumble, it will never change."
"Eating alone won't last long; sharing makes a true friend."
He stuffed the bun into her hand.
"A relationship that only shares good times isn't necessarily real, but one that can share hardships is truly solid."
"From now on, we are in a relationship where we can share both joys and sorrows."
Qin Yuyan looked at Song Tingye with her large, clear black-and-white eyes, a bright luster floating in her pure almond-shaped eyes.
"Thank you, Xiaoye."
Song Tingye looked at her fair and tender little face and reached out to pinch it.
"You're welcome, little princess."
......
Second floor, bedroom.
While Qin Yuhe was taking a shower in the bathroom, Song Xinya leaned against the headboard, opened WeChat, and checked the messages in her work group.
In the past, every morning, Zhao Yinian would hold a cult-like ritual in the group:
[If you want to succeed, go crazy first, and charge toward money at all costs!]
[Hustle once, enrich three generations; only by risking your life can you avoid failure!]
[Gnaw on plain buns today, live in a high-rise tomorrow!]
[Sleep on the floor today, sleep with the boss tomorrow!]
Every time, the employees would roll their eyes listening to this. Still wanting to sleep with the boss? If she's so capable, why doesn't she fly to heaven!
Ever since Qin Yuhe dropped into the work group out of nowhere, Zhao Yinian immediately stopped her cult rituals and didn't dare act crazy anymore. The work group no longer had a toxic atmosphere and became refreshingly clean.
Sure enough, as soon as President Qin took action, the results were obvious.
President Qin's iron fist could suppress all monsters and demons.
When Song Xinya exited the work group, she received a message from Chen Siyan: [Sister, are you coming to work tomorrow?]
Song Xinya: [Brother, I'll go to work tomorrow.]
Chen Siyan: [I haven't seen you for a few days, Brother Yan has really missed you.]
Song Xinya: [President Qin is standing right next to me.]
A line of small text appeared on the screen:
Chen Siyan recalled a message.
Song Xinya: [Does Brother Yan still miss me now?]
Chen Siyan: [No!]
I wouldn't dare.
[Recall the messages quickly! Recall the messages quickly! Recall the messages quickly! Make sure you delete all our chat history! Let Brother Yan live a few more years, Brother Yan begs you!]
Frantic kowtowing.gif
For the sake of the other party's lifespan, Song Xinya deleted the chat history.
As she placed her phone on the nightstand, Song Xinya received a call from Song Xuanli.
"Yaya, I'm your dad."
Song Xinya: "In my heart, my dad is already dead."
Song Xuanli: "You've always had a big temper, a petty mind, and held grudges since you were a child. It's fine, Dad doesn't blame you."
Song Xinya: "As a dad, you've always been hypocritical and snobbish, with no sense of responsibility or accountability. You cheated, had affairs, and indulged in drinking, whoring, and gambling. It's fine, I will never forgive you."
Song Xuanli's blood pressure spiked instantly.
Li Cuirou: "Yingying, hurry and fetch your dad's quick-acting heart pills. Your dad's illness has flared up again from being angered by Xinxin."
Zhang Yingying: "How can Song Xinya anger even her own biological father? She's truly too unfilial. If she doesn't feel sorry for Dad, I do."
Song Xuanli took the quick-acting heart pills from Zhang Yingying's hand: "Good girl, Yingying, you really are my good child."
He said into the phone, "Not like a certain someone who treats her own biological father like an enemy, wishing all day long that her dad would die early."
Song Xinya smiled faintly, her eyes devoid of warmth. "Then you are completely mistaken. You are not worth me worrying about day and night. You are not in my heart at all, and I wouldn't even spare a thought for you."
Song Xuanli had originally planned to take five quick-acting heart pills, but upon hearing this, he swallowed ten at once.
"It's been a long time. Come back tomorrow, and let's have a meal together."
Song Xinya replied, "Didn't we just see each other at the banquet the day before yesterday? You were kicked out by the security guards, and I was watching you make a fool of yourself from upstairs."
Zhang Yingying was just about to put the heart pills away when Song Xuanli reached out to her. "Give me another ten."
Song Xinya mocked, "Oh my, treating heart pills like jelly beans? Are you addicted?"
Song Xuanli grabbed the nearby oxygen tank, placed the mask over his nose, and started breathing in oxygen.
Zhang Yingying took the phone from Song Xuanli's hand and asked, "Are you sleeping with Qin Yuhe tonight?"
Song Xinya replied, "Of course."
Zhang Yingying broke out in a nervous sweat. "How can you sleep with Qin Yuhe? You shouldn't do that. You should sleep in separate rooms."
Song Xinya laughed. "You want to control everything under the sun, and now you even want to control whether a married couple sleeps together? Why are you so possessive of someone else's husband?"
"If he doesn't sleep with me, who else would he sleep with? You? Are you even a match for him? A cheap three-for-ten-dollars set of keys is a better match than you."
If Song Xinya and Qin Yuhe were sharing a bed, and she ended up pregnant with his child, her position as the young madam of the Qin family would be absolutely secure.
Zhang Yingying grew even more anxious, pacing like an ant on a hot pan.
Zhang Yingying said, "Qin Yuhe is so busy with work; he should focus on his career. Don't act like some succubus draining a man's life force, constantly pestering him."
How could Song Xinya not see it? The other woman was desperately trying to stop her from sleeping with Qin Yuhe.
Song Xinya put on an exaggerated, theatrical tone. "Look at the time. Big sister doesn't have time to chit-chat with you anymore, because my husband promised me that tonight, we are going to go at it thirteen times."
With a thud, the phone slipped from Zhang Yingying's hand and hit the floor.
Song Xinya cheerfully hung up the phone.
She looked up, and suddenly, her smile froze.
Without her noticing, Qin Yuhe was standing at the bathroom door. He was wearing nothing but a bath towel wrapped around his waist. His lean, muscular upper body was exposed to the air, and the robust lines of his muscles radiated a raw, masculine allure.
"Mrs. Qin, you want to go at it thirteen times with me tonight?"
