Chapter Eighty-Six: No Hiding!

“Do you take me for a fool?” Wen Ren Muyue asked, looking at her brother, who sat opposite her with an air of smug triumph.

“Then guess,” Wen Ren Zhao said with a grin.

Wen Ren Muyue closed her magazine, thought for a moment, and said, “Did Qin Zongheng send you here to plead his case?”

Wen Ren Zhao stared at his sister in astonishment, his mouth falling open. “How did you know? Did Brother Zongheng call you?”

“With your nature, when have you ever been so willing to help anyone?” Wen Ren Muyue looked at the stricken expression on her brother’s handsome face and calmly laid out the reason, step by step. “The only person who could make you obey so readily would be Qin Zongheng.”

“Old Master Qin’s eightieth birthday is just around the corner, so of course he would invite a great many guests. Qin Zongheng knew that if he came to invite me personally, I would refuse. If he didn’t know how to make use of a fool like you, then he would hardly deserve the fine reputation of being called a man of rare intelligence.” Wen Ren Muyue smiled. “Go on. Did he give you Heo Yanmey’s contact information, or promise you a new Bugatti Veyron?”

“You even know that?” Wen Ren Zhao’s mouth opened wider still, almost enough to fit an egg.

Having such a sister, so brilliant she seemed almost unnatural, was truly hard to know whether to call a blessing or a misfortune.

“Of course. That sports car is the one you’ve always wanted; last time you begged me to buy it, I refused. Naturally you would think of approaching the matter from some other angle. As for Heo Yanmey’s contact information, do I really need to continue?”

Wen Ren Muyue looked at her brother, and a wave of tenderness stirred in her heart.

Because their mother had passed away early, she and her brother had lost maternal love at a young age. Perhaps because of that, she developed a fiercely independent character. As for her brother, once he grew a little older, he became infatuated with mature, sensual women.

So long as a woman was old enough, beautiful enough, full-breasted, and possessed of a rounded figure, she became one of his targets.

He did not even think of doing anything wicked; merely obtaining a woman’s contact information and having tea and conversation with her was enough to keep him delighted for days.

Wen Ren Muyue understood why those mature women attracted him. In them, he could find an emotion that was familiar, yet strangely distant.

That emotion was maternal love.

For that very reason, though she knew her brother was somewhat idle and absurd, she could not bring herself to be harsh with him.

If Qin Luo knew that Wen Ren Zhao had such tastes, the two of them might well have become instant friends. They certainly would not have quarreled so fiercely the first time they met.

Heo Yanmey had come from the south, and upon arriving in Capital City, her reputation for beauty had spread far and wide. She had even been ranked by gossipmongers as the foremost among the “three great mature ladies of Capital City.”

That Wen Ren Zhao would be interested in her was only natural.

“Heh heh, Sister is too clever. It makes me a little afraid,” Wen Ren Zhao said awkwardly. “Sister, since you already know what I want, then agree to it, all right? Brother Zongheng originally wanted to invite you himself, but he was afraid you would refuse. So he begged me repeatedly to bring you there. I even gave my word that I would definitely get you to come. You wouldn’t want me to lose face, would you?”

Wen Ren Muyue sighed and said, “Wen Ren Zhao, surely you understand what kind of scheme Qin Zongheng is plotting?”

“Of course I know. Isn’t it just that he likes Sister? Sister, I really don’t understand why you refuse to accept Brother Zongheng. In looks, character, status, and standing, he is perfectly matched with you. If there were one man in all the world worthy of Sister, it would be Brother Zongheng. No other man is even fit to serve as your attendant,” Wen Ren Zhao said with solemn seriousness.

Rarely did he put away that habitual grin.

“Whether I like him or not is my affair, and has nothing to do with you. I can agree to other things, but not this. If I appear at Old Master Qin’s birthday banquet, it will create the impression that I am about to marry into the Qin family,” Wen Ren Muyue said.

“Marrying into the Qin family wouldn’t be such a bad thing, would it?” Wen Ren Zhao said in confusion.

Wen Ren Muyue shook her head at her brother. He was usually extremely playful and never concerned himself with the major affairs of the family. Yet she had not expected that he would fail to see even the most obvious things.

“I’ve been very busy lately. Give my thanks to Qin Zongheng for me,” Wen Ren Muyue said, too weary to explain the chain of consequences her attendance at the banquet would bring to the Wen Ren family. She simply refused outright.

“Sister, please take pity on your little brother. I already told them you were coming. If you don’t go, how am I supposed to keep my face in front of them?” Wen Ren Zhao said miserably. “You’re not still waiting for your fiancé, are you?”

Wen Ren Muyue nodded and said, “Exactly.”

Knowing how skilled her brother was at being unreasonable, she simply chose this method to turn him away.

Wen Ren Zhao’s face changed color once more. His mouth hung open for a good long while before he finally closed it, and he said indignantly, “Sister, how can you possibly like him? I already told you, he’s hideously ugly. His eyes are like copper bells, and his mouth is as large as a basin. He eats several bowls of rice at every meal, and he speaks in a terribly crude manner. He cannot be compared to Brother Zongheng at all. Grandfather and I have both seen him, and neither of us is satisfied with him. Whether from the front or from behind, he is not fit for you.”

Wen Ren Muyue sighed helplessly, opened the folder on the table, and pointed to Qin Luo’s photograph, saying, “The fellow you just described as hideously ugly, with eyes like copper bells, a mouth as large as a basin, who eats several bowls of rice at every meal and speaks in a terribly crude manner—is that him?”

“......”

Wen Ren Zhao froze, and then fled in panic.

Dealing with a sister like that was simply far too dangerous.

******************************************

After Lin Huanxi finished her two afternoon classes, she carried her bag downstairs. When she saw Qin Luo waiting beside her BMW, her expression flickered with slight surprise.

“I was too lazy to take a taxi home. I came to hitch a ride in Sister Lin’s BMW,” Qin Luo said with a smile.

Lin Huanxi opened the door expressionlessly and got in. Without waiting for her invitation, Qin Luo slipped into the passenger seat.

Seeing Lin Huanxi and Qin Luo return together, Lin Qingyuan was all smiles. He secretly gave Qin Luo a thumbs-up, indicating that he had done well.

Qin Luo could only smile wryly.

He did not want to tell Lin Qingyuan that Lin Huanxi’s condition had worsened; that would only increase the old man’s burden of worry.

Besides, the fewer people who knew about it, the better. That way, it would also be less likely to reach Lin Huanxi’s ears.

“Haha, you’ve come back just in time. Dinner is ready. Come, everyone, eat. Qin Luo, shall we have a drink tonight? Oh, right, you can’t drink. I’ll drink two myself, then. You can keep me company with some juice,” Lin Qingyuan said cheerfully.

“All right. I’ll wash my hands first,” Qin Luo said.

As though she had not heard her grandfather at all, Lin Huanxi went straight upstairs with her bag.

“This... you still haven’t made up?” Lin Qingyuan asked worriedly, looking at her retreating figure.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine soon,” Qin Luo said with a smile.

“That’s right. What is there for a husband and wife to quarrel about? A spat at the pillow ends in peace at the foot of the bed. What obstacle can’t be overcome?”

Only then did Lin Qingyuan realize what he had let slip. Seeing Qin Luo looking at him strangely, he smiled awkwardly and said, “I was just making a comparison. Haha, if you two really are to become husband and wife, I wouldn’t object.”

Lin Huanxi did not come downstairs for dinner. Qin Luo feared that Lin Qingyuan might grow suspicious, so he deliberately had Sister Li send a meal up to her room.

Fortunately, Lin Qingyuan thought nothing more of it. After happily drinking three cups of wine, he began to grow drowsy and nodded off.

After dinner, Qin Luo accompanied Lin Qingyuan in the living room for a while over tea. He used the excuse of “poor sleep quality” to explain why Lin Huanxi had looked at him that way today, and only then did he send the old man off to bed.

Back in his own room, he took a shower and changed into fresh, dry clothes. After tidying his hair in the mirror and plucking out a stray nose hair, Qin Luo finally hurried over and knocked on Lin Huanxi’s door.

Lin Huanxi opened it and, seeing Qin Luo standing there, asked, “What is it?”

She seemed to have just showered as well, and was wearing the purple open-front nightgown Qin Luo knew so well. Though the gown concealed her skin, the seductive rise and fall of her curves, along with the fragrance of a woman’s body after bathing, still made Qin Luo’s mind wander.

Her long hair, carrying a faint scent of shampoo, hung loosely over her shoulders. Her bare face, unadorned by any cosmetics, was breathtakingly beautiful.

Only the glasses that represented the window of the human soul made her eyes seem somewhat dull, lowering the overall effect of her beauty by several degrees.

If she could have cast him a coquettish glance the way Li Qingcheng would and bitten her lip as she said, “I’ve gone to take a bath. No peeking,”

Qin Luo knew he would have been spurting blood from his nose.

“Nothing. I just wanted to come and chat with you,” Qin Luo said with a grin.

“It’s late. Whatever you want to say, say it tomorrow,” Lin Huanxi replied.

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about your condition,” Qin Luo said, forced to resort to that excuse. “You may still need another course of liver detoxification. Only then can your illness be completely cured.”

“Thank you. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with me,” Lin Huanxi said, and was about to close the door.

Snap.

Just as the door was about to shut, Qin Luo placed his hand firmly against the panel.

“What do you want?” Lin Huanxi asked coldly, without the slightest trace of feeling on her face.

Qin Luo braced his hand on the doorframe, confining Lin Huanxi within a very small space. His head slowly leaned toward hers.

“What are you doing?”

Lin Huanxi looked a little panicked, trying to draw back as far as she could.

Qin Luo did not stop there, but continued lowering his head. Their cheeks drew closer and closer until they were almost touching, and Qin Luo could smell the sweet fragrance of her breath.

“You—” Lin Huanxi had never experienced such a situation before. She turned her face away, trying to evade him.

Qin Luo reached out and lifted her chin, saying, “Don’t dodge.”

As he spoke those three words, he had already forced a kiss upon her lips.

And his other hand, through the thin garment light as a cicada’s wing, moved to caress the softness at her chest.