After a long moment, she forced out, “I shouldn’t have spied on the Lin Family. I offended first and ask Miss Lin to show mercy and spare me this once.”
“No wonder Miss Min thrives in the socialite circles. You’ve got the right touch—changing with the wind, quickly dropping to your knees. That’s quite admirable,” Lin Xiguang smiled, reclining in her chair and flipping open the fan between her fingers.
“I can spare you once, as a gesture of friendship, but…”
She would not easily let it go.
Seeing the look of panic on Min Gu Xue’s face, the smile on Lin Xiguang’s lips suddenly turned cold: “Do you think you have the right to scheme against my sister?”
Min Gu Xue, trembling, stammered, “I can apologize to Miss Lin.”
But she knew Lin Xiguang was well prepared and that now was not the time for feigned dignity.
“She knows nothing,” Lin Xiguang repeated patiently after Min Gu Xue’s near-hoarse plea, “My sister knows nothing.”
Min Gu Xue was stunned for a few seconds.
Then she finally understood Lin Xiguang’s meaning.
Lin Zhishui was pure and innocent.
The darkest shadows of this world could never come near her. Unclean things didn’t even have the right to appear before her eyes.
The two bodyguards holding Min Gu Xue loosened their grip and silently stood aside.
Min Gu Xue watched Lin Xiguang, who lazily reclined, her overly long fingers still playing with the cold jade fan.
Silent yet deadly beautiful, she wielded her charm like a weapon.
In the silent corridor, Min Gu Xue fell into a moment of clarity—Lin Xiguang had definitely come for her to settle a score today.
Trembling lashes raised, Min Gu Xue lifted her now free hand and next second, slapped herself hard across the mouth.
Lin Xiguang said nothing to stop her.
Slapping herself again and again, time stretched endlessly, blood smeared her exquisitely painted face.
Like a clown performing solo on a stage.
Only after she collapsed, exhausted, on the ground did Lin Xiguang’s gaze settle on her for a few seconds.
“Miss Min, why is your face covered in blood? How did you get hurt?”
Min Gu Xue endured the humiliation and said, “I fell myself.”
Lin Xiguang smiled, then coldly ordered the secretary by her side, “Hao Yu, take Miss Min to see a doctor. Such a beautiful, delicate star face still has magazines to shoot in the fashion circle. Don’t carelessly leave external injuries untreated.”
Hao Yu replied, “Yes, Miss.”
At this moment, after witnessing Lin Xiguang dealing with “the matter,” Lin Zhishui went to visit Cui Daiyun in the ICU and spoke personally with the attending doctor.
When she lowered her head and walked out slowly, she saw Lin Xiguang waiting in the spacious, bright corridor, seemingly for a long time.
They silently exchanged glances until Lin Zhishui slightly raised her chin.
Lin Xiguang’s smile spread from her eyes. She extended a hand, the cold jade of the fan’s tip brushing Lin Zhishui’s face, tracing from the naturally sorrowful brow to the mole near her eye, then down to her chin: “Let your sister take a good look. What’s different about eighteen-year-old Shan Shan now?”
“Look,” Lin Zhishui generously showed her face, then asked, “Do I look good now?”
“Not bad,” Lin Xiguang’s finger rubbed her snow-white translucent skin, her voice cool and lazy softening slightly, “You’ve grown a lot.”
Lin Zhishui’s glassy eyes remained unchanged—especially clear and bright.
“Tongtong, you’re really busy, huh? Are you leaving Jiangnan again soon?”
Lin Xiguang didn’t feel any deep emotion toward Cui Daiyun—just seeing him as a loyal researcher who had served the Lin Family for over twenty years.
Her coming here meant she sensed the strangeness surrounding this incident.
During their sisterly conversation, Lin Xiguang behaved normally, escorting Lin Zhishui out of the hospital.
This place held too many memories of childhood rescues—not a place worth revisiting.
When they reached the underground garage and got in the car, Lin Xiguang leisurely said, “No matter how busy, sister still has time to see you home.”
“I’m not going back to the Lin Family. I’m going to Ning Shangyu’s place.”
Lin Zhishui naturally gave the Taiping Mountain summit address to the bodyguards and leaned her cheek closer to Lin Xiguang’s shoulder.
“I’ll tell you a secret—I’m living with him.”
Lin Xiguang paused her fan play and seriously looked at Lin Zhishui’s expression.
Lin Zhishui was straightforward, then openly noticed the petal-like, deep or shallow kiss marks and teeth marks at Lin Xiguang’s collar, which stood out vividly against her pale skin.
Her pupils dilated slightly, curious to look further, but suddenly Lin Xiguang’s fan blocked her view.
“What are you looking at? Don’t you have any yourself?”
Lin Zhishui first noticed the elegant fan’s side carved with the character ‘Chu’—clearly not Lin Xiguang’s personal item—then met her eyes and said innocently, “No, Ning Shangyu and I abide by the boundaries of an unmarried couple. We haven’t gone that far yet.”
“Is that so?”
Lin Xiguang replied indifferently, “My brother-in-law and I did it the first time we met. No choice, he’s obsessed with me day and night.”
Shock rippled in Lin Zhishui’s eyes like waves.
Her mouth opened slightly, about to speak, but Lin Xiguang naturally asked, “Did it hurt the first time?”
Lin Zhishui instantly regained her composure, the lingering stir of emotion vanishing from the corners of her eyes.
She wasn’t so easily fooled by Lin Xiguang’s smooth talk. “I haven’t done it, so I wouldn’t know.”
Seeing her grow up made Lin Xiguang find it harder to get anything from her, so she laughed.
The enticing curve of her lips lifted faintly and switched the topic back to the matter at hand: “Mother will handle Cui Daiyun’s affairs fully. Remember what I said—whether you’re in the harbor district or Si Cheng, you must protect yourself.”
Lin Zhishui neither nodded nor shook her head.
She just quietly looked at her.
Lin Xiguang read strong dissatisfaction from those glassy eyes, then patiently explained: “Our family has some old grudges with the Qin Family. From what I know, Qin Wanyin has always dreamed of marrying Ning Shangyu. Now that new and old grudges are intertwined, everything needs to be settled.”
“If not her, I’ll settle it,” Lin Zhishui said calmly but firmly.
Her temperament was not to be trifled with.
Slowly, she added, “I don’t care about the Lin Family’s old grudges, only the new ones.”
Cui Daiyun was the one she had recommended into the Ning Clan’s core research team.
Yet now, he was in mortal danger… Beyond the fondness she usually held for him as a close elder,
If she did nothing, it would be tantamount to telling all those families relying on the Ning Clan that the mistress married into this family could be bullied, that her only value was as coldly ridiculed by Qin Wanyin—
A tool to be used like medicine.
A few seconds after finishing her words, Lin Zhishui reached out to hug Lin Xiguang, like a harmless little animal, lightly sniffing the rich and comforting fragrance on her: “Tongtong, you told me once, growing up means taking full responsibility for your own life…”
This sentence, Lin Zhishui now emphasized, even as the sacred and beautiful colors of the sunset gradually covered her raised facial contours outside the car window, her voice remained firm: “The matter of Cui Daiyun must be handled by me.”
Before the sun set,
Lin Zhishui saw Lin Xiguang off as she immediately departed back to the Chu Clan in Jiangnan.
She stood outside, quietly watching the car disappear, then turned and walked up the steps, her high heels lightly tapping.
The villa’s interior was already brightly lit. Upon entering the living room, she saw Ning Zhuoyu there, seemingly ready to leave.
He naturally greeted her, “Not staying for dinner?”
Ning Zhuoyu scrutinized her eyes and noticed the faint smile on Lin Zhishui’s face, no trace of yesterday’s lost and miserable appearance.
Apparently, her heart’s self-healing was remarkably strong.
He casually declined, “I’m busy, very busy… entrusted with a heavy responsibility to check up on you.”
“Oh.”
Lin Zhishui ignored the hint of boasting and nodded.
“Then I won’t see you off.”
She then headed straight upstairs to the study.
Upon opening the door, she saw Ning Shangyu sitting upright in the tall leather swivel chair.
Outside the window, the sunset sky had just completely darkened.
Right on time.
Lin Zhishui closed the door behind her, slowly walked toward the desk, and smiled slightly, “I’m quite punctual, right?”
Ning Shangyu raised an eyebrow, “Come here.”
Lin Zhishui asked, “Are you going to reward me for coming home on time?”
Ning Shangyu smiled and motioned for her to sit in his lap.
When she was close enough, his long fingers gently pinched her soft chin, carefully inspecting her as if handling something fragile.
After confirming Lin Zhishui was “intact,” he unabashedly kissed her lips.
In the quiet, spacious study, every sound was magnified.
Lin Zhishui’s curled lashes slowly lowered as she could clearly feel Ning Shangyu’s lips and tongue pressing deeper, softening her heart.
Only when Ning Shangyu was satisfied did she get a moment to catch her breath.
After a few seconds, Lin Zhishui lifted her eyes, drifting to his neck, where veins stood out, and his Adam’s apple.
She noticed she had accidentally twisted Ning Shangyu’s tie, so she slowly began to untie it.
Ning Shangyu lowered his head, watching her bold actions.
Lin Zhishui’s fingers played with the silver thread embroidery on the tie, thoughtfully, then softly asked, “Last time at home, I learned how to tie an Aierdeleiji Jie—a knot that looks like a flower. Want to try it?”
Ning Shangyu steadied his breath, “Depends where you tie it.”
Lin Zhishui blinked. When his hand covered her waist, she instantly understood his hint.
Sometimes, the tacit understanding between unmarried couples was spread through liquids. Being together day and night…
Her mind could easily guess some of Ning Shangyu’s more addictive peculiarities.
After thinking for a while, Lin Zhishui’s fingers twined the tie and tapped the dangerous outline, “Maybe tonight. Not now. I’m not very busy…”
She had to go out after dinner for some errands and planned to borrow Xi Yan and bodyguards from Ning Shangyu, so her tone was coaxing and playful.
“How about eleven? I’ll tie it right here.”
Ning Shangyu’s tone was calm and steady, advising caution, “If you really do, I will really do it.”
“Okay.”
Lin Zhishui’s fingertips grew warm as she traced an approximate spot on his suit pants, “But you can only go this far. Don’t cross the boundary where I tie it.”