Prev Next

Hello!  I deeply apologise for the late chapter, as mentioned in the announcement updates, my current work schedule does not allow me to release chapters quickly any longer. Therefore, it has been changed to a fortnightly one. Please read through the for more details.

Also, here’s our ! Please join us to find new light novels, chapter discussions and speculations, teasers and much more! 😀

Alrighty, without further ado, it’s… Chapter 31!

Chapter 31: The Zhao clan Although this is a rather busy chapter, what with Su Jin’s decision and Lu Xi’s next plans, who doesn’t want some food pics? 😉

The handsome facial features of the man before her were magnified, and almost instinctively, Su Jin shut her eyes.

Tenderly and reverently, the kiss lightly caressed those closed eyelids of hers, first on the left and once more on the right. Then with a stark realisation, he raised his head and her eyes fluttered open.

At that moment, with exchanged looks and ambiguous expressions, it seemed liked time came to a standstill.

"Hello, two slices of black forest chocolate mousse."

A soft girlish voice broke through the somewhat stagnated air between them and Lu Xi was startled. Then, with a raised glance, he smiled, "thank you."

Having delivered the cake to the table, the waitress' cheeks slightly blushed before retreating.

At the same time, Su Jin had awoken from her reverie and her face immediately flushed red. Unable to even deal with her most beloved chocolate mousse, in a fit of panic, she grabbed her satchel that was sitting beside the table. With a low and offhand remark of "I have something to do so I'll be leaving first," she instantly stood up and left her seat.

As the slim figure swiftly sped out into the distance without even awaiting his reply, Lu Xi simple observed the distancing figure with a lightly gaped mouth and a helpless expression.

Truth be told when his kiss had skimmed her eyelids, at that second, he had come to his senses. However, when an arrow was nocked onto a bow, it could not be withdrawn and what was done, had already been done.

At that instant, he had thought of the different possibilities of how she would have reacted: shy, surprised, pretending everything was fine, allowing it (the kiss) to happen naturally or even, anger or fear. He had also thought of the many ways to respond to her, yet the one thing he had not predicted was that this girl would actually immediately bolt.

That was right- from her initial startlement to her panic in the end and finally, her obviously quick feet in making her retreat… …

It was clear that the young lady did not know how to face him and therefore, decided to flee. Raising his head as he leaned back against the chair, Lu Xi brought his hand to cover his eyes and suddenly, with a curl of his lips, he chuckled.

If it was like this, at the very least, this proved that the young lady of his own heart was neither angry nor afraid then.

However, she had not even eaten lunch. …If he invited her out now to have lunch together, she definitely would be unwilling to. Moreover, Aunt Fu was not in the villa and Aunt Su would likely only be back by the evening… …

As he thought of this, he immediately flagged the waitress at the counter and got her to pack away the cakes on the table, then left the cafe with them boxed up.

As she huddled into herself and cuddled a pillow in the comforts of the couch in her own home, Su Jin felt somewhat foolish.

Obviously, it was he who had done something wrong, yet why was she the one to flee instead?

Even now, her cheeks were still warm and as she thought about what had happened, inwardly she rejoiced and was glad there was no one at home right now.

Blinking, she got up and padded towards the door to changed into slippers. Then, turning back, she settled herself back into the sofa in a daze.

This man truly liked her. Although she did not know how long these emotions of his would persist, at the very least and at the moment, they were definitely genuine.

But in that case, what about her?

Covering her heart with her hand, inside, some erratic and confusing throbs could be felt through her chest as she thought back to that tender and reverent kiss.

"Ding dong-" The crisp sound of the doorbell roused the bewildered Su Jin startling her. Then, she stood up and walked towards the door.

On the monitor, a familiar face appeared.

Lu Xi.

Biting her lips, she did not open up.

Standing at the door, Lu Xi had already pressed the doorbell twice. Seeing that no one had opened the door, he shook his head with a wry smile. This girl, this was within his predictions. Thankfully, before he came over, he had verified with the security guard at the gates that she had already returned home.

Bending down to put down a few bags in his hands by the door, he then turned and left.

He had given up so easily? Su Jin watched as the person on the monitor vanished and with a raise of her eyebrows, she opened the door.

Unlike what she had imagined, that person did not childishly and suddenly pop out from some corner. Only, when she lowered her head, she happened to notice the bags of food by the door.

In the dining room, Su Jin had half-rested her body against the dining table. Before her eyes, there were a few transparent food containers of food on its surface. Each and every one of them was her favourites, in addition to a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice. Beside it, there was also a piece of black forest mousse cake.

On the back of the bill found in the bag, was a message written in a bold cursive script with a black pen.

I added some honey to the orange juice. Be good, and have some lunch first before you eat the cake.

In her mind's eye, that pair of peach blossom eyes filled with laughter floated to the surface. Likely, it was in that kind of enticing and coaxing tone… …Although they had just faded in warmth, Su Jin's cheeks warmed once more.

It's alright, now she was no longer Su Jiner, but Su Jin. She had a family, had friends and a backing that could properly support her. In that case, wouldn't it be alright to indulge herself for once?

Therefore she would not restrain herself; she would nicely, sincerely like someone and accept the person's love.

As for Lu Xi, who had returned to the neighbouring villa, he was still unaware of the thoughts that had been pondered and mulled over numerous times in his young lady's heart. After eating his lunch, straightaway he had entered the study.

On the computer screen, different images flashed by. Yet, the person sitting before it slightly frowned.

Judging from the information that he had obtained, although Zhao Wenze was lascivious, he was not someone that was without brains. Then, today's incident… …

Softly leaning his head against the back of the chair, Lu Xi closed his eyes as he rapped the knuckle of his pointer finger on the surface of the table.

If the one accompanying Jin'er today wasn't him, with the way Zhao Wenze had made a ruckus, it was inevitable that rumours would have begun to be spread. At that time, the gossip would have caused a tremendous clamour. If what the Lu and Su family had between them was the ordinary arranged marriage set up to improve business relations, then he would definitely have a grudge towards Jin'er. With these sort of matters that involved pride and prestige, for this kind of family clans like theirs, it would not be out of the ordinary to break a promised marriage arrangement between them.

Breaking a promised marriage arrangement… …

Lu Xi's eyes instantly widened, as little by little the threads of thought in his mind connected together.

All along, he could not understand. In the past, between the Zhao family and Su family, there had been no enmity between them, so why would Zhao Wenhua go to such measures for Su Jin. Previously, he had deduced that it might have been because of the embarrassment that he had felt that day during the birthday evening soiree, therefore, he harboured a grudge. However, as the meticulously groomed heir to the Zhao clan, how could Zhao Wenhua be unable to bear such a minor infraction? Besides, even if he wanted to retaliate, then the target should have been him and not Su Jin who had merely been a spectator for the whole incident.

And now… …He chuckled as he shook his head, perhaps Zhao Wenhua's aim did not lie in harming Jin'er but as part of a scheme for a hero to save a beauty. With such a scheme of saving a damsel in distress, he could use this as a pretext to connect with the Su family through marriage.

The Zhao brothers. As he sat upright, he minimised the file folder on his computer, dragged it into his email inbox and then clicked the send button. After that, he made a call.

"Hello." A gentle male voice could be heard through the phone.

"Ge, have you seen the email that I sent you?" Lu Xi asked.

"I'm looking at it now." On the topmost floor of Sheng Ming's corporate offices, a man with an aloof expression sat upright before his desk. In one hand, he held his phone and in the other, he shifted the mouse in his hand downwards. After a few minutes, he curled his lips suddenly as he questioned, "what did this Zhao family do to anger you?"

"Lately, over the past few years, some people have expanded too quickly. With bigger intentions and greed, they are always deluding themselves by wanting things that don't belong to them." Lu Xi lightly let out a sound of indignation, "Ge, the information has been given to you already and you are more familiar with matters of the business world. However, I do want half of the Zhao clan assets."

"What do you want to do with half of the Zhao clan?" Somewhat baffled, Lu Jin raised an eyebrow, "previously, you weren't even willing to come to Sheng Ming."

Saying something like it was beyond his ability to manage a business, really, there was no one clearer than he of his own younger brothers shrewdness and innate talent for business.

"To bribe my esteemed future father-in-law, of course." With a curl of his lip, Lu Xi did not even feel that there was anything amiss with that reasoning.

"Alright." Helplessly, Lu Jing could only sigh, and hung up the call.

Usually for most families, when a daughter marries, it was like water poured out. Yet, oddly it seemed that it was the reverse with their family instead?(1)

(1) jià chū qù de nǚ ér pō chū qù de shuǐ (嫁出去的女儿泼出去的水) – ' pō chū qù de shuǐ', the imagery of water poured out is to denote that something is no longer retrievable. The feudal Chinese belief that has lived on until now is that when a daughter marries out, she belongs to the husband's family henceforth. Here, it is implied that Lu Xi seems to be the one married out instead.

Translated by Irisu

Edited by Ely

TLC-ed by Minodayz

Report error

If you found broken links, wrong episode or any other problems in a anime/cartoon, please tell us. We will try to solve them the first time.

Email:

SubmitCancel

Share