Lin Chu told Yan Beicheng to come outside before she whispered, "You don"t have to do this."
"Do what? I"m doing this to show respect to your family. The son-in-law is supposed to bring gifts during his first visit. Likewise, I"m being courteous by doing things that will benefit the orphanage. The old princ.i.p.al is an elderly woman. It"ll be bad for her health if she worries so much. You"ll feel relieved as well if we can lighten her burdens even by a little bit." Yan Beicheng lowered his eyes and saw Lin Chu"s hand hanging beside his thigh. It was pale and supple.
He curled his long fingers and inched them forward without making it too obvious. Lin Chu did not notice this because she was looking at Yan Beicheng the whole time. He held her hand out of nowhere and kneaded it here and there. She felt a tingle in her cheek when his rough fingertips brushed against her palm and the back of her hand. Lin Chu"s cheeks grew incredibly red.
"You"d definitely be unhappy if I refused to show respect to the Lin family. You"ve considered the old princ.i.p.al to be your own relative by treating her as if she"s your grandmother. That makes her one of your family members. As a future son-in-law, there"s nothing wrong with showing respect to my wife"s family." said Yan Beicheng with a smile. His deep voice drifted into Lin Chu"s ears along with the wind.
Lin Chu"s face burned as she blushed. Even the cold breeze could not lower the temperature of her face or scalp. She lowered her head and mumbled, "Who are you referring to as your wife?"
They walked inside after that. Yan Beicheng was still holding her hand. The pair unconsciously walked into the house while their fingers were intertwined.
Yan Beicheng had already left a good impression on the old princ.i.p.al initially, but her opinion of him had worsened when Yan Beicheng suddenly brought out a check with a large amount of money written on it. She was uncertain whether Yan Beicheng was the type of person to win people over with money. Perhaps he thought that the old princ.i.p.al was trying to rely on Lin Chu to benefit herself.
Yan Beicheng had only arrived and had been sitting for a while before Lin Chu came downstairs. The old princ.i.p.al was unable to chat with him for a long time due to that. He mentioned that he was Lin Chu"s boyfriend. She noticed from their conversation that he was very concerned about Lin Chu. The old princ.i.p.al took a liking to him because of that. There was not enough time for her to ask Yan Beicheng about his status, background, and job in detail.
He wrote the check with ease earlier. When the old princ.i.p.al saw that, she knew that Yan Beicheng was definitely not an ordinary person.
Nonetheless, this did not matter to the old princ.i.p.al because money was not everything to her. The important part was that he had a good character, unlike Cheng Ziming. If Yan Beicheng was a wealthy and confident man who would not betray Lin Chu for money, he was certainly a good person.
When this thought crossed her mind, she saw the young couple walking into the house together while holding hands with each other. Lin Chu"s face was terribly red. Lin Chu said that the weather outside was cold because of the strong wind. However, the old princ.i.p.al believed that the redness in Lin Chu"s cheeks had nothing to do with the weather outside.
She smiled as she watched the couple holding hands with each other. Lin Chu was so embarra.s.sed that she wanted to let go, but Yan Beicheng"s grip was tight around her fingers. His dark eyes were incredibly honest. He looked elegant and refres.h.i.+ng.
When they sat down, they were greeted by the old princ.i.p.al"s teasing and delighted expression. Lin Chu blushed and said, "You should keep the check. There"s no need to be modest around him."
"Yes, please think of me as your grandson-in-law," said Yan Beicheng in an extremely sincere manner. He was truly a decent, dependable, and exceptional young man.
The old princ.i.p.al accepted it without feeling pressured anymore.
"Chu Chu, why are you holding his hand?" Suddenly, a crisp child-like voice drifted over.
A pale and beautiful little boy who looked to be about five or six years old appeared out of the blue. He had clearly just woken up. His little face was still rosy from sleep, and his big bright eyes glimmered as if they were pools of water. How beautiful his eyes were!
If Yan Ningbai saw him, he would certainly say that this boy would be the most popular student at Jixia Academy if he attended that elementary school as well.
The little boy ran toward Yan Beicheng and Lin Chu. His glistening doe-like eyes glared at the couple"s intertwined hands angrily. Then, he reached his claw-like hand out and separated their hands resolutely.
Yan Beicheng was also stunned. He watched as the little boy squeezed himself between them stubbornly and sat there. He held Lin Chu"s hand with both of his little hands and glared at Yan Beicheng. He turned his head toward Lin Chu and said, "Chu Chu, as my future wife, you can"t just hold hands with anyone else!"
Lin Chu was speechless.
Yan Beicheng felt as though he heard one of the nerves in his brain pop. It had seemingly snapped.
He placed both of his hands underneath the boy"s armpits and carried him to the old princ.i.p.al"s arms. Next, he spared no effort to cling to Lin Chu. There was no s.p.a.ce between them now.
He put his muscular arm around Lin Chu"s shoulders and pulled her into a tight embrace. After that, he lowered his head and kissed Lin Chu"s cheek.
Fortunately, he was aware that the old princ.i.p.al was present. It would be disrespectful for him to simply plant a forceful kiss on her lips instead.
As expected, he made a loud smacking noise with his lips before shooting daggers at the little boy who looked dazed in the old princ.i.p.al"s arms. Yan Beicheng said arrogantly, "She"s my wife!"
Lin Chu did not know what to say.
The old princ.i.p.al remained silent as well.
The little boy was stunned for three seconds before bawling his eyes out and throwing himself against the old princ.i.p.al"s bosom. He looked terribly miserable. "He… He stole my wife! Bully… He"s bullying a child! He… He… He… Why is he bullying a six-year-old boy? Aren"t you ashamed of yourself? My wife… He can"t kiss my wife!"
Lin Chu still did not know what to say.
Yan Beicheng was speechless as well.
The old princ.i.p.al had no idea how to console this boy. Lin Chu could only turn to Yan Beicheng secretly and tell him that the boy"s name was Mo Jinxi. He had said that he would marry Lin Chu when he was older. Lin Chu forgot about this because she a.s.sumed that he was merely joking. She never expected that Mo Jinxi would remember it until now.
Fortunately, the other children were downstairs now because they had woken up from their naps. Mo Jinxi swallowed his tears. He did not want the others to think that he was not manly when they saw him crying.
Yan Beicheng ignored him. He did not need to pay attention to someone who tried to steal his wife.
He greeted the children and told them that he brought gifts for them. When Yan Beicheng told them that the presents were in the trunk of his car, the children followed him noisily outside.
Mo Jinxi wanted the gifts as well, but he felt that he would seem weak if he accepted Yan Beicheng"s gifts.
Lin Chu reached her hand out to him. "Let"s go and see if there"s anything you"d like. He"d already bought those gifts anyway so they"d be wasted if you refused to take any."
Mo Jinxi felt conflicted when he spared a glance at the doorway. He watched as the other kids gathered around Yan Beicheng. They looked extremely excited when they picked out their presents. He scolded himself for being useless before saying reluctantly, "I… I"ll go and take a look too."
Yan Beicheng brought out a toy car. Mo Jinxi stared at the toy with want. Lin Chu coughed gently to signify something to Yan Beicheng.
Yan Beicheng raised his eyebrows and immediately gave the toy car to a little girl. He took the Barbie doll that the girl was holding and shoved it into Mo Jinxi"s hands. He patted his head and said, "You can play with the doll and pretend that you"re husband and wife while you"re at it!"
Mo Jinxi, the little girl, and Lin Chu were all stunned speechless.
Lin Chu could not take it when she saw the pitiful expression on Mo Jinxi"s face. He was about to burst into tears. She turned to Yan Beicheng and whispered, "How could you bully a child?"
He bullied Ningbai at home and picked on Mo Jinxi when he was outside.
Yan Beicheng pouted. "Why should I be nice to him when he was brave enough to steal my wife? I have to teach him a lesson so that he won"t underestimate his rival. Otherwise, I won"t be satisfied."
Lin Chu did not know what to say.
Meanwhile, Mo Jinxi ran inside the house and climbed on the old princ.i.p.al"s leg. He started complaining about Yan Beicheng and saying bad things about him. He told the old princ.i.p.al to open her eyes wider to see what was really going on. Mo Jinxi wanted the old princ.i.p.al to stop Chu Chu from being tricked by Yan Beicheng.
"He"s evil!" Mo Jinxi shook his head. He begged the old princ.i.p.al earnestly and cried until he hiccupped.
Unfortunately, he was filled with sadness when he noticed that the old princ.i.p.al simply pretended to agree to him. On the contrary, she actually invited Yan Beicheng to stay for dinner. She even insisted that he should spend the night here.
Lin Chu glanced at the man who was seated elegantly on the side at the moment. She turned to the old princ.i.p.al and said, "He had just returned from a business trip. I"m afraid that he still has some work to do."
"It"s fine. I"ve settled all of my work. Moreover, it"s the weekend so I have to rest anyway." Yan Beicheng chuckled. "Would I be disturbing you if I stayed here tonight?"
"You wouldn"t be disturbing me at all. I"ll go and tidy up a place for you now. You can have the room opposite Lin Chu"s room." said the old princ.i.p.al before she happily got up and went to clean the room.
When Lin Chu saw this, she rose and went to help the busy old princ.i.p.al. The old princ.i.p.al saw Lin Chu following her inside when she turned around. She said, "Sit down. You don"t have to get up. There"s nothing much for me to do. It"s good for me to get some work done and move my legs."
The old princ.i.p.al took out a new set of bedsheets and a blanket to change the previous ones. She said, "That young man seems like a nice person to me. You can definitely rely on him."
Lin Chu blushed and remained silent. The old princ.i.p.al pulled Lin Chu over to sit at the side of the bed. "We should take the opportunity to chat for a little while since there"s no one else here now. It was difficult to talk because the children were around just now. Trust me, I"m good at judging others because I"ve lived until this age. However, at that time…"
The old princ.i.p.al recalled the incident where she allowed the Lin Family to adopt Lin Chu. She felt as though she had caused trouble for Lin Chu. "It was Old Lady Lin who had came to adopt you. Neither Lin Zhenghe nor Su Changxin was present. I noticed that the old lady"s personality was a bit weak, but I only agreed to let her adopt you because she didn"t seem like a bad person who would harm you. I never thought that… I ended up making an error of judgment that resulted in you being mistreated. You said that you"d willingly stay here. If it were up to me, why would I say otherwise? I regret those decisions now. Although the conditions here were slightly worse, at least your heart was not troubled."
"Please don"t say that. I was always clothed and fed during the years I spent in the Lin household. Hasn"t everything turned out well now?" said Lin Chu as she comforted the old woman.
"Have you really been well?" The old princ.i.p.al did not believe her. She was aware of the Lin Family"s shameful behavior all these years. "When I discovered that you were being mistreated in the Lin household, I wanted to bring you back here. But the Lin Family… The Lin Family… Oh!"
There were several times when she simply wanted to visit them and see Lin Chu, but she had been chased away by them.
"We shouldn"t think about the past. I"m doing very well now. I"m very pleased that I can stand on my own two feet," said Lin Chu.
The old princ.i.p.al nodded. She did not want to speak of the past either. She merely said, "That young man Beicheng seems like a good man to me. I can tell that his background isn"t an ordinary one. This is merely his first visit, but he brought so many things to donate to the orphanage as though it was nothing. I don"t care about his status or whether he is rich or not. Nonetheless, I can tell that he"s not the kind of person who brags or spends his money fooling around just because he"s wealthy. He"s the type that… I can tell with one look that he"s a responsible and trustworthy man. I"m relieved that he"s taking care of you. You"ve suffered so much. You deserve to be happy."
The rims of Lin Chu"s eyes turned red. She hugged the old princ.i.p.al and leaned against her shoulder. She felt as though she had found her home.
When they were having dinner at night, Mo Jinxi had been forced to sit at the furthest seat from Lin Chu because of Yan Beicheng. His gaze was filled with bitterness when he stared at Lin Chu throughout the meal.
After dinner, his mood improved when Lin Chu played with him and the other children for some time.
The children went to bed early because they were still young. They were already sent to bed at 8:30 p.m.
The old princ.i.p.al went to bed early as well because she was an elderly woman.
Lin Chu returned to her room first since there was nothing for her to do. She did not want to be alone with Yan Beicheng in the s.p.a.cious orphanage. It would be extremely awkward.
She lay on the bed after her shower, but she could not fall asleep. Her mind was filled with thoughts about Yan Beicheng who was staying in the opposite room. As there was no bathroom in her room, she pa.s.sed Yan Beicheng"s room when she was coming back from the communal bathroom after her shower just now. She felt so guilty that she was nearly unable to the door to her room.
She pulled the blanket up to her chin now, but she could not stop her eyes from staring at the door. She was about to take her phone out and browse the web when she heard a knock on her door. Lin Chu was so shocked that she nearly dropped her phone.
Lin Chu lifted the blanket and got down from the bed. She walked to the doorway and stammered, "Who… Who is it?"
"It"s me." Yan Beicheng"s refined voice echoed from the other side of the door.
His voice sounded slightly different than when she heard it face-to-face with him. Her heart skipped a beat.
"I"m going to bed," Lin Chu muttered.
On the other side of the door, Yan Beicheng merely said three words. "Please open up."
He made his soft voice sound more seductive on purpose. It pulled at her heartstrings gently. Lin Chu"s face turned red and had actually opened the door to him.
She saw Yan Beicheng standing at the doorway, holding a pillow. He was wearing a normal pair of plaid pajamas. He looked completely harmless.
He entered without waiting for Lin Chu to say anything and closed the door behind him with ease. He lowered his head and said to Lin Chu who was still at a loss, "I couldn"t sleep so I came over to sleep with you."
Then, he had already slipped under the covers without giving Lin Chu a chance to reply. He buried himself under Lin Chu"s blanket.
He patted the s.p.a.ce beside himself. "Come here!"
He had always been a scoundrel, but he insisted on putting on an innocent face. He asked her to get into bed with him as though it was perfectly reasonable.
Lin Chu could feel that her hands and feet were trembling. However, they were s.h.i.+vering because she was anxious and not because she was angry.
Yan Beicheng was lying sideways on the place where she had just laid. The blanket was very warm since the heat from her body was still there. He placed his head in his palm while a faint smile appeared on his face. He looked incomparably charming. As Lin Chu blushed, she felt as though her heartbeat was not her own.
"I… You can sleep here. I"ll go and sleep in your room instead," said Lin Chu hurriedly, afraid to even look Yan Beicheng in the eye. She turned and was ready to leave the room.
However, just as she was about to turn around and unlock the door, a hand had appeared and pressed the door close. His fingers were slender and his joints were distinct. His protruding veins could be faintly seen on the back of his clean fair hand. His short nails were also neat and clean. It seemed as though every part of him was attractive.
Lin Chu thought that this man was extremely refined, even to the smallest detail.
The warm heat from his body radiated behind her. His burning breath sprayed against her earlobes and his raspy voice drifted inside her ears when he murmured, "I just want to hug you to sleep. I"m not going to do anything else."
Lin Chu lowered her head. She was too afraid to raise it by even an inch because she knew that the back of her neck would be flushed red if she exposed it.
Yan Beicheng released his grip from the door. Lin Chu"s hand was still on the handle, but she was not trying to open it anymore. She watched as Yan Beicheng"s beautiful and slender fingers slid down slowly and held her hand to make her let go of the door. Lin Chu stopped resisting. She was exceptionally obedient as she went along with Yan Beicheng"s actions.
He embraced her entire body from the back. Lin Chu felt the broadness of his chest as he wrapped her up. She felt an indescribable sense of comfort and relief.
"I know that this is a very special place for you." Yan Beicheng lowered his head slightly. He pressed his lips against her earlobe when he opened his mouth to speak. This made Lin Chu s.h.i.+ver tremendously. Her ear had turned scarlet. "I"m not going to try anything funny here. Also, we don"t know who"s going to stay in this room in the future. We can"t let anyone else stain the place where we"ve made love before."
"You… Don"t be stupid!" This man was certainly dreaming if he thought that they were going to make love here.
He insisted that he would not do anything to her, but those thoughts were clearly wandering through his mind.
Yan Beicheng turned Lin Chu over and held her. He lowered his head and kissed the tip of her nose. He planted a brief kiss on her lips letting out a quiet and raspy chuckle. It seemed like that noise was trapped inside his throat. It was so melodious that it was enough to make her melt to the floor.