"What?!"
Xue Jinxu was talking to Butler Lee on the phone. "It has reached that extent already?"
"Big Miss, you"re not supposed to know. The Second Young Master asked me not to tell your family about it… including you."
"That kid! What can he possibly do in this situation? He"s totally defenseless!" Xue Jinxu muttered under her breath. She was in the master"s bedroom.
"We"re already doing something to contain the situation, Big Miss." Butler Lee informed her for her peace of mind.
Chen Linyun entered with a towel draped across his shoulder, and in the act of drying his wet hair with it. "What"s the matter?" He sat beside the wife on the bed.
Xue Jinxu did not respond but ended the call immediately.
"Guangxi"s in another mess." She looked withered. She sighed.
Chen Linyun kissed her on the forehead. After a while, Xue Jinxu divulged what had happened. Without saying anything more, and wearing such a frown on his face, Chen Linyun fetched his laptop from the study and returned to the master"s bedroom.
"He doesn"t want us to know so let"s keep our silence. But we can help clean it up behind-the-scenes."
He got to work. With a speed that was impossible for the eyes to track, he worked his wonders in his laptop. He hacked the campus website and deleted every bit of information regarding the scandal. Of course, those who had it saved in their personal gadgets will still have a copy, but at least, online, it would be nowhere to be found.
"Jinxu, your brother is almost eighteen. Maybe we should step back and let him manage his own affairs? We wouldn"t be helping his character building if we are always there to protect him."
"He had to undergo the same process that everyone else experiences in order to develop a backbone, and such grit necessary for survival. Don"t meddle."
"Such speech, Chen Linyun." She rested her tired little head on his shoulder. "I"m just worried. That"s all. I won"t. We have other priorities." She landed a saccharine peck on his already flushed face.
"Behave, Jinxu. I"m not done yet here." Without sparing the wife a glance, Chen Linyun continued what he was doing with his laptop. Eyes glued to the monitor and fingers flying at inhuman speed, he deliberately saved his brother-in-law"s a.s.s, although partially only and unbeknownst to the world, except the wife. The rest of the mess would have to be cleaned up by Xue Guangxi himself.
"Finish it then. Immediately, please." Xue Jinxu laid herself on the bed, legs outstretched, and her hands on her sides tapping the bed impatiently. She stared at the ceiling. She was extremely bored.
"How much importance are you giving my brother? I"m right here beside you…" She started complaining.
Chen Linyun laughed mildly. "I"m giving him enough importance because he"s your brother."
"Hmph. Just when you said "don"t meddle"!! Eat your words! It must be tasty."
The lady climbed up the bed a few more inches were the pillows are at and tucked herself under the sheets."Continue what you are doing. I"m going to sleep. I won"t bother you anymore. Gosh, I"m such a bother!"
"Maybe we can also get divorced so that you can marry my brother instead. You seem to like him more than you can ever like me."
Silence. There was only silence in the room aside from the tapping sound from the keyboard. Chen Linyun was ignoring her completely.
"!!!"
Xue Jinxu was becoming genuinely hurt from being ignored. She curled up into a ball under the sheets. "I"m not important anymore."
She knew she was being childish but she couldn"t help feeling hurt. How could anyone feign emotions? It"s the truest manifestation of her inner self.
She heard a slight thud. Most probably Chen Linyun closed his laptop. "Done."
"Petty Jinxu. I"m done. You"re next on the agenda."
"Hmph. Forget it. I"m sleeping." Came out a muttered, breaking voice from the curled-up ball under the sheets. "He forbids me to meddle in MY brother"s affairs, but he does it anyway."
"You"re getting sensitive." Chen Linyun lied close the bundle with such a sneer on his visage while trying to coax his precious G.o.ddess out of her little fit sweetly, dotingly. "Are you pregnant already?"
"And if I am?" It seemed that Xue Jinxu was truly hurt. "Will you value the baby more than me?"
He laid on hand on her supposed head and stroked it lovingly. "Jinxu, you"re my baby right now. I"ll spoil you like crazy. You"ll always be first in my list even if our little munchkins arrive and invade our living s.p.a.ce."
"You"re on top of everyone else. On top of your brother, or my mother or anyone."
"You know it, don"t you? Even if I don"t say it often…"
He hugged the soft human ball.
Xue Jinxu revealed her signature genuine smile, her almond eyes smiling with her, and her dimple on her left cheek was showing too. "Hmmhmm…"
"But you prioritized my brother over me just now…" She whined childishly while tugging his sleeve with her tiny slender fingers.
"So are you?"
The wife"s cheeks turned lovely pink.
"Hehe… Not yet…" She was somehow apologetic. Her brows furrowed with unease.
"It"s alright." Chen Linyun planted a kiss on her forehead. "By the way, dear, I will have to go on a trip soon. I have to visit my business partners in the province in Hubei and Fujian and the nearby provinces. I need to do it personally."
"Cant you just delegate that task? Will you do that annually? Last year it took you two whole weeks. That"s long."
"I have to. It"s me who closed the deal with my business partners. It"s me whom they trusted with their investment. How would you feel if the person who wooed you into signing with a partners.h.i.+p sn.o.bs you in the long run when the business has grown so much bigger? Won"t you feel slighted or hurt? I don"t want them to harbor ill feelings towards me or the business. I also want to repay their kindness and trust in me."
"Can I come?"
"No."
"Rest well. Take care of your health. What if you"re pregnant already? Maybe you should have yourself checked in the hospital. Would you want me to take you there tomorrow, honey?"
Xue Jinxu sighed. "How I wish I"m pregnant already."
"If you"re not yet, then maybe we can try tonight." The husband suggested teasingly while inching closer to the already blus.h.i.+ng wife. She could feel the heat rising from her insides to her burning countenance. The temperature was rising. She fanned herself with her hand.
Before she could answer, she let out a little squeak. Chen Linyun was already pouncing on her, gobbling her up. She was laughing from getting tickled on her sides, and from his kisses which came raining on her cheeks, jawline, and collarbone. She was giggling and laughing and squirming.
"Keep it low, Jinxu…"
"But on second thought, just be boisterous n.o.body cares." Chen Linyun continued what he was doing.
The lady heeded his advice and comfortably let out her happy, sensual emotions. "Ahahahahaha... Eeekkkk!! Ahhh!! Hahaha!!"
Nothing could ever beat the happiness of being with her man every single day.
At the back of her mind, the thought of his impending trip disheartens her, but then it"s still looming in the future. She allowed herself to be drowned by his love he was currently showering her in.
***
In the middle of the night, Chen Linyun got up from their love nest gently so as not to wake up the tired missus that was sleeping like a log. He called someone up. "Give me an update."
Form the other line, a man"s voice retorted, "He said he cannot leave the people behind. They need him."
Chen Linyun frowned. "He"s also needed elsewhere. Alright, I"ll convince him personally. Include this side trip in the itinerary of our trip in the south."
"Copy Sir."
The call ended. Chen Linyun gaped at the dark horizon, brows furrowed together. He stood for a while at the floor-to-ceiling window of their master"s bedroom in the middle of the night.