"I was just about to comment on how smart you"ve become, as you seem to know how to deal with the Lu family now, yet here you are doing something stupid again," Yan Beicheng said in amus.e.m.e.nt.
Lin Chu"s nose was getting uncomfortable as he kept his finger on it, pus.h.i.+ng it upward. She suddenly realized how ridiculous she must have looked and immediately slipped away. Then, to his surprise, she opened her mouth and bit the tip of his index finger.
It did not hurt at all. As her clean, white teeth gently gripped his fingertips, he only felt a slight tingle.
He bent his finger and scratched the inside of her mouth, then gently pressed down with his fingers. There was a sort of hypnotic force in his eyes that burnt with pa.s.sion. Mesmerized, Lin Chu could not help but loosen her bite, eager to push his finger out with her tongue. However, he seized the opportunity and pressed on even harder.
Lin Chu backed away as Yan Beicheng"s finger slid out, but he remained still as his finger settled on her soft lips. He gently pressed down and her lips instantly glistened from his moist fingers.
Lin Chu felt her face turn hot right away. Although both of them had been together for quite a long time now, her heartbeat would still speed up whenever she looked at him, and she never failed to fall head over heels for him all over again. Having such a handsome husband was such so beneficial as she would never get sick of looking at his face. In fact, she felt that he got more and more handsome with each pa.s.sing day, and there was always something new about him that she had never noticed before.
Lin Chu felt that it had something to do with the fact that he was seemingly unable to stay mad at her.
"Who are you calling stupid? I"m not stupid!" Lin Chu muttered, her face completely red.
Yan Beicheng chuckled. His soft laughter rumbled deep in his throat like someone was plucking at it, making his magnetic laughter linger in the air.
"If the opposing party gives up at the very last second, then we"ll buy it no matter how high the price is. Although Lu Zhenghang isn"t in need of the money, we"ll be at an advantage since we dislike him. Zuo Qiu is deliberately raising the price and I"m sure that Lu Zhenghang can see that. If he thinks we"re making a fool of him and decides to stop bidding at the last minute, then we can just buy it. After this, we can jack up the news online and release it for auction once more to play with him again," Yan Beicheng suggested cruelly.
"Well, I can"t comment if Lu Zhenghang"s open-minded enough to let his thingy circulate the internet. We"ll just think of it as giving him free publicity," Yan Beicheng added.
Lin Chu"s big eyes sparkled as she finally understood. "How can Lu Zhenghang ignore it? You know that he"s a narcissist who"s extremely concerned about his reputation, right? Besides, if that thing continues to spread through the internet, it"ll eventually affect Xing Chuang too. No matter how badly he"s ridiculed and how much he embarra.s.ses himself, he"ll still have to swallow his pride and pay for it."
"That"s right, which was why I asked Zuo Qiu to feel free to raise the price. He doesn"t need to be pressured and all he has to do is challenge Lu Zhenghang"s resolve," Yan Beicheng said with a cheeky smile. "Even though he won"t get upset over losing such a small amount of money, at least he"ll learn to be wary of us."
Lin Chu pulled away his finger that was still pressed against her lower lip and bit it. "Still, that doesn"t mean I"m stupid, it"s just that you businessmen are too calculative!"
Yan Beicheng snickered as he pulled her tight into his arms and rubbed her back, but when he suddenly remembered that she was pregnant, he immediately reduced his grip as he became hesitant about the physicality of his actions.
"It"s nice that you can go slow sometimes. If you act smart at crucial moments, then it"ll be good enough. Besides, it"s quite cute when you"re occasionally this silly," Yan Beicheng said as he grinned at her.
Lin Chu, "..."
He was going in swings and roundabouts, but he was still calling her stupid.
After handing the bidding case over to his a.s.sistant, Lu Zhenghang immediately contacted Zhu Hexuan. "Is the news article finished yet? When are you publis.h.i.+ng it?"
He desperately needed the news surrounding Lin Chu to overshadow the gossip about him.
On the other end of the phone, Zhu Hexuan was extremely upset. She asked while clearly agitated, "What"s everyone talking about online? That… How can they say that that thing is yours! Isn"t this slander? Who did this?"
Lu Zhenghang was losing his patience. The last thing he needed now was for someone to bring it up, and yet Zhu Hexuan was on the call going on and on about it.
Yan Beicheng had fallen in love with Lin Chu within such a short period of time, but Zhu Hexuan, on the other hand, was unable to attract anyone at all, let alone an outstanding man. After spending some time with her, it became evident that Zhu Hexuan was nothing compared to Lin Chu. Aside from being decent-looking, there was nothing special about her.
To capture a man"s heart, having good looks was not enough.
"Who cares who did it? Haven"t you written the article on Lin Chu yet? Hurry up and publish it online to cover this up," Lu Zhenghang urged.
Zhu Hexuan noticed something fishy right away. "Was it really you? How did the person get that item? What the heck"s going on?"
Lu Zhenghang bit his lip in frustration, wanting to just hang up right away. If not for the fact that he could use Zhu Hexuan as a tool, he would have gotten rid of her long ago.
After having s.e.x with her, the woman was boring now.
"I"ll explain to you later on," Lu Zhenghang replied as he controlled his temper.
This time, the gears in Zhu Hexuan"s brain rapidly began turning. "Were you the one who gave that thing to Lin Chu? I remember it"s her birthday yesterday, and this was posted online today. You ——"
Although she knew this was a trick they were supposed to play on Lin Chu, she still had a feeling that Lu Zhenghang was hiding other intentions.
As she thought of Yan Beicheng"s lovesick expression when he looked at Lin Chu, Zhu Hexuan became overwhelmed with the desire to hit Lin Chu"s face.
"That fox! Isn"t Yan Beicheng enough? Does she still have to seduce you too? What a b*tch!" Zhu Hexuan shrieked.
"Zhu Hexuan," Lu Zhenghang interrupted coldly. Zhu Hexuan could immediately feel the iciness in his tone. "Don"t forget your place. Do you think you"re my girlfriend now? Don"t poke your nose into my affairs."
Shocked, Zhu Hexuan immediately paled as she stammered, "You… What are you talking about? Am I not your girlfriend?"
Deep in her heart, she knew that Lu Zhenghang had never directly acknowledged her. Although he had brought her along to some of his dinner parties, he had only ever introduced her as a companion.
"Wow, you didn"t have to use this opportunity to trigger me by bringing this up! This is something both of us already knew, and I"m sure you yourself know that you"re not good enough to be my girlfriend, so I suggest you just leech off me for the time being and make use of whatever advantage possible before I get married, then both of us can go our separate ways after," Lu Zhenghang sneered as he turned his chair to face the window. He used the fountain pen in his hand to hit the table as he emphasized, "Did you really think I was going to marry you?"
"Lu Zhenghang, what do you think I am? Let me tell you this, I"m not such an easy woman!" Zhu Hexuan screamed angrily before instantly ending the call.
Lu Zhenghang was not worried though. He knew that Zhu Hexuan had her moments.
At least she knew the reason behind him agreeing to get together with her.
Zhu Hexuan also knew that Lu Zhenghang was only using her as a tool while he took advantage of her occupation as a reporter. In any case, even if word got out, her status would still higher than minor celebrities or some wannabe internet star.
In reality, the piece of news had already been drafted and printed out so no matter how mad Zhu Hexuan was, she had no right to remove the article. Besides, after las.h.i.+ng out at Lu Zhenghang, she felt slightly guilty. She did not want to have a fall out with him just yet.
Now that the two of them had already addressed the elephant in the room, she could no longer put up the facade that she was Lu Zhenghang"s girlfriend and continue deceiving others.
Zhu Hexuan suspected that Lu Zhenghang had done this on purpose. He had seized this as an opportunity to make her acknowledge the truth and stop being delusional.
At lunchtime when the Jing City Post was published, the report on Lin Chu that was based on false accusations was published. At the same time, both Jing City Post"s official website and official Wechat account simultaneously released the news.
There was the same old talk about how Lin Chu refused to acknowledge her biological mother and younger sister because of her fortune. It also touched on the small restaurant"s condition, mentioning how it was located on the first floor of a residential building.
In the article, Xu Dongguo, Dai Minhui, and Xu Jiaojiao were described as particularly pitiful, as if the small restaurant"s income was not enough for the household. The family ran their business from early morning until late at night and although Xu Dongguo and Dai Minhui were quite old, they were still unable to retire in peace because of how much work they were forced to do, despite suffering from several illnesses. It also mentioned that Xu Jiaojiao graduated from one of the top schools of the country yet was still unable to find a decent job because of her bad relations.h.i.+p with Lin Chu. With that, her expensive diploma and knowledge were all wasted as she remained a mere cas.h.i.+er at her family restaurant.
The writer even added how Lin Chu"s sister, Xu Jiaojiao, was so overwhelmed when she told her story to the point that she had to continuously hold the reporter"s hands as she burst into tears.
Basically, the article was a tear-jerker.
At first glance, it was clear that this post published in the Jing City Post had been written by Zhu Hexuan. However, she was not the one who signed off at the end of the article, it was an intern named Hu Mingrui.
Yan Beicheng threw the newspaper aside as he snorted. "Is Zhu Hexuan dumb enough to think that just because she found someone to sign on her behalf, that we"ll believe that she"s not the culprit?"
Lin Chu reacted extremely quickly as she sent the video to the designated marketing account. She even had a quote prepared, which she sent alongside the video. Furthermore, since she had developed quite a tight relations.h.i.+p with the account holder, they even gave her a discount.
After this, Lin Chu contacted several other popular marketing accounts to promote the video and ensure that it became a trending topic. It explained the entire interview from beginning to the end and showed the audience Xu Jiaojiao"s true feelings on the matter.
With that, the netizens realized how distorted the article was.
In the video, Zhu Hexuan had her back facing the camera, so she was unrecognizable, but many netizens were still aggravated at the reporter who had made a false report and twisted the truth. They complained about how unethical the reporter was by fabricating news.
Aside from this, the reporter did not consider the harm that they would cause the person concerned.
Many of the netizens turned to the Jing City Post"s official Wechat account and Hu Mingrui"s Weibo account to condemn them for their lack of professional integrity. In addition to this, some netizens praised Lin Chu"s kindness and how she returned cruelty with kindness, applauding her willingness to let go of the past.
Meanwhile, some netizens said, "She"s even willing to help her mother who abandoned her once in the past, so how can she be a bad person? There had been news discrediting Lin Chu in the past too so who knows what the culprit"s thinking? Isn"t it more likely that the culprit behind this is the bad guy in this case?"
Sure enough, once the news broke over the internet, the news surrounding Lu Zhenghang was suppressed.
Nevertheless, Yan Beicheng was not about to let this go so easily. As he and Lin Chu both split up and went to work, Lin Chu handled everything that was going on with Zhu Hexuan while Yan Beicheng contacted Wei Zilin and requested for him to bring up Lu Zhenghang"s news once again.
With that, some of the marketing accounts would update their pages with the new bidding price of Lu Zhenghang"s little toy every once in a while on Weibo.
The astounding price once again triggered the netizens" enthusiasm as they began speculating on the final bidding price.
Zuo Qiu called Yan Beicheng via video call, and with Yan Beicheng"s thumbs-up, he raised the price straight to a million Yuan.
At first, Zuo Qiu was still nervous, which Yan Beicheng scoff in response. "What are you scared about? Even if the other party backs out, the seller is Lin Chu"s friend. Is she really going to collect the money from us?"
If it came to a million Yuan, even if he forced the money into Xu Moyan"s hands, she would still refuse it.
When he heard this, Zuo Qiu immediately cheered up. He asked mischievously, "Should we raise it to five million?"
Yan Beicheng, "..."
"How stupid do you think Lu Zhenghang is? You must at least let him have some hope," Yan Beicheng sighed.
Zuo Qiu paused for a second before nodding in agreement. "Yes, that makes sense."
It was no wonder Yan Beicheng could become the president of his company whereas he remained an underling. This was where the difference in wit came into play.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhenghang"s a.s.sistant was getting annoyed at the unusual auction price. "The other party just raised it to a million,"
Lu Zhenghang had already planned everything out and was only going to make the final offer in the last few seconds of the auction, but clearly, the opposing party was not going to give him the chance. The person on the other end was having too much fun.
Several other accounts continued raising the asking price by a million with each bid, so it would be completely pointless for him to wait for the final moment.
As he stared at the numbers that were increasing by the second, Lu Zhenghang felt queasy.
At long last, when it was 11.59 p.m., Lu Zhenghang ordered his a.s.sistant, "Increase the price by one Yuan!"
Zuo Qiu did not bother to increase the price after that, so finally, Lu Zhenghang managed to win the bid by nine million and one Yuan.
When Xu Moyan looked at the final transaction price, she was completely speechless.
Lin Chu straight away phoned Xu Moyan and asked her to split the money between Zheng Yuntong and herself.
"That"s… That"s not right! I"ve never earned that much money in my entire life!" Xu Moyan protested.
"What"s not right about it? The mere thought of Lu Zhenghang disgusts me so even if you give me the money, I won"t accept it. Besides, both of you helped me through the whole thing and helped me deal with the issue; don"t worry about it, you guys deserve it. I didn"t contribute anything anyway, so stop being so courteous. You guys are planning to stay in B City for the next few years too, right? Are you guys planning to rent a place together for the rest of your time here? Perhaps it"s time to start thinking of finding your own place," Lin Chu said. Then, she realized she might be interfering too much and laughed softly/ "Anyway, I"m just giving you guys a suggestion. Ultimately, it"s still up to you on how you want to spend the money, but I"m not going to accept it and that"s final. Think of it as a small gift from Lu Zhenghang and not from me, then you guys won"t feel so confused anymore."
Right then, Yan Beicheng finished his phone call and walked into the room.
After he ended his video call with Zuo Qiu, he made a few other mysterious phone calls before entering the room.
Lin Chu cast a glance at him and continued talking to Xu Moyan, "Beicheng agrees with me too, he"ll never take any money from Lu Zhenghang."
In the end, she finally managed to convince Xu Moyan and Zheng Yuntong, so when she ended the call, she felt more at ease.
"What about me agreeing to it?" Yan Beicheng smirked as he slid beneath the covers beside her.
Now that the weather was getting cooler, although it was still quite warm during the day, the nights were much colder than before. With that in mind, Yan Beicheng dared not get too close to her as he was afraid she would find his body too cold and shrink away.
To his surprise, Lin Chu nudged closer to him and hugged him. When she first touched his cold pajamas, she s.h.i.+vered slightly.
Yan Beicheng immediate pushed her away gently, but Lin Chu held on tightly. "Hey, don"t push me away!"
"I just came in so I"m still quite cold," Yan Beicheng said softly, "You had s.h.i.+vered just now too."
"No, you"re warm now." Lin Chu wriggled into his arms a little before tugging down his collar, revealing his broad chest. Then, she rested her face on it.
His chest was not as cold as his s.h.i.+rt and his body temperature was just nice. Feeling warm and comfortable, Lin Chu smiled happily. "I"ll just keep my face here and it"ll eventually warm up."
Lin Chu wanted to warm his feet up too, but his legs were too long. When she stretched out her legs, they only reached his calves so it was pretty much an impossible task.
"Hey, bend your legs a little, I"ll warm your feet up," Lin Chu said as she rubbed her toes against his calves.
Yan Beicheng lowered his head and kissed the corner of her eyes. "My feet are quite chilly now, but you don"t need to bother."
"Come on, hurry up!" Lin Chu was not about to take no for an answer. "I know you"re worried I"ll get cold but I"ll be upset if you"re cold too."
In the end, he could not reject Lin Chu"s request. He bent his legs as Lin Chu"s legs simultaneously stretched out before rubbing against him.
Yan Beicheng"s heart instantly melted as her feet rubbed against his. For the first time ever, zero ulterior thoughts or intentions sprang to mind as he simply indulged himself in the blissful moment.
Back when he was a kid, when the weather was not cold enough to turn on the heater, they would turn the air-conditioning on and set it at a higher temperature. Nevertheless, it was still not as warm as a heater so it would still be cold. Jiang Changdai would never bother with him so he would simply s.h.i.+ver sadly in his sleep at night, curling himself up in his duvet to warm himself up.
When he stayed at the Family Mansion, Old Lady Yan would use a heating pad to warm his bed before bedtime so that by the time he went to bed, the bed would be warm and toasty. Sometimes, she would even let his small, chubby legs curl up in her lap too.
Sadly, once he grew up, he never got to do those things again.
However, he had Lin Chu now, his wife, who was willing to warm him up on cold nights.
Although her feet were much smaller than his, he still felt extremely warm with both her feet rubbing against his.
As he continued thinking of this, he could not help but hold her tighter in his arms. He could already feel the tears coming.
"I told Moyan and Yuntong that they could have the money from the auction tonight. They"ve helped me a lot over the past few days and if I give them anything in return, I"ll seem too courteous and they might find it pretentious and whatnot. Earlier on when Yuntong helped deal with Lu Weining on the internet, she contacted some studios to get help but didn"t ask me for any money in return. I know how much she earns and I"m touched that she"s willing to spend some money to help me out due to our friends.h.i.+p. Naturally, I can"t let her lose money because of me," Lin Chu said as she played with the b.u.t.tons on his pajama s.h.i.+rt. "Besides, you wouldn"t want the money either."
When Yan Beicheng remained quiet for a long time, Lin Chu paused and looked up at him. "Are you upset I didn"t discuss this with you beforehand?"
"No," Yan Beicheng responded with a smile as he tried to hold back the urge to cry. "I was thinking of that too. You really do know me, don"t you?" He chuckled as he tapped the tip of her nose.
Embarra.s.sed, Lin Chu laughed awkwardly. "Well, I still should"ve discussed this with you beforehand and at least given you a heads up."
"Yeah, I would"ve liked that," Yan Beicheng did not disagree this time around. "It won"t necessarily be a discussion since I wouldn"t want Lu Zhenghang"s money, let alone money earned from selling his toy. But still, I wish you would"ve given me a heads up. I like that you know me well enough to recognize that I don"t want the money, but it would"ve been nicer if you would"ve told me about it."
She rarely quarreled with Yan Beicheng, and there might have been some small arguments here and there, but they were merely lover"s disputes. Lin Chu had never thought of them as fights. The most serious one was back when he had refused to tell her about Jiang Changdai.
Tonight, she was the one at fault because she had made a decision without considering him. It did not count as a fight, but Lin Chu still felt uneasy because she felt guilty. Even so, Yan Beicheng did not blame her, but only expressed his thoughts indirectly to avoid hurting her feelings.
"I"m sorry, I won"t do it again." Like a child who knew they had done something wrong, she was too embarra.s.sed to look Yan Beicheng in the eye. "I also feel that I was too presumptuous with this, maybe it"s because I"ve been acting on my own recently and it"s gotten to my head. I feel like I always know what I"m doing and unconsciously let it get to my head."
"Don"t take it so seriously," Yan Beicheng gave her a soft kiss. He could not bear seeing how guilty she looked. "Even if you"ve let it get to your head, I"d still be more than happy to let you behave as you wish. If you continue saying things like that, I"ll just feel bad for speaking up just now and making you feel guilty. It"ll make me feel like I"ve ruined the atmosphere. You"re my wife, so how can I not support or tolerate everything you do?"