He wants to adopt a younger sister, but his aloof wife disagrees.

It's 2 AM, late at night.

The mansions in Tomson Riviera are so quiet that the only sound is the faint humidifier spraying water mist.

Inside the guest room, only a sleep lamp was left on, its dim yellow light casting a hazy glow over the room.

Su Xiaoruan lay on the large European-style bed, her brows furrowed, her face flushed with a sickly pallor. Fine beads of sweat covered her forehead, soaking the hair at the corner of the blanket.

She has a fever.

The daytime fright, the pain of being beaten, and the ordeal in the cold rain—this girl, who seemed as tenacious as a weed, finally collapsed.

"No...don't hit me..."

"Money... I'll give you money..."

Su Xiaoruan closed her eyes, her hands gripping the blanket tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force. She was having a nightmare, a dream filled with Hong Jie's vicious slap and that dead end that seemed to have no end.

Jiang Che sat on a chair by the bed, looking somewhat tired.

He had just given Su Xiaoruan fever-reducing medicine and then used alcohol to wipe her palms and soles to physically lower her temperature.

Looking at the girl who was filled with unease even in her sleep, Jiang Che sighed inwardly.

Even though the system gave her divine beauty and dressed her in Chanel clothes worth tens of thousands of dollars, her childhood, riddled with wounds, still haunted her like a ghost.

"Don't be afraid."

Jiang Che reached out and gently smoothed her furrowed brows, his voice low and gentle:

"The trash is gone. This is home."

Su Xiaoruan seemed to calm down a little after hearing a familiar voice.

She unconsciously rubbed her face against Jiang Che's palm, murmuring indistinctly:

"Brother...don't go..."

"I want to go home... I miss my mom..."

Jiang Che's hand stiffened for a moment.

According to the records, Su Xiaoruan's mother passed away when she was ten years old. That was the only warmth she ever felt in her life.

Now, in her dream, she calls out for her mother, yet clings tightly to Jiang Che's hand.

"I'm not leaving."

Jiang Che let her hold on, and with his other hand reached for the wet towel on the bedside table, preparing to change the cold compress on her forehead.

Just as he bent down, getting close to Su Xiaoruan's face, preparing to take away the towel that had already become warm.

Su Xiaoruan suddenly opened her eyes.

Those were eyes that were burning and somewhat glazed over, even unable to focus.

In that moment of confusion, Su Xiaoruan couldn't tell if it was a dream or reality. She only saw a familiar face, one that made her feel incredibly at ease, so close to her.

Those were the hands that pulled her out of the mire.

That was the mountain that sheltered her from all the wind and rain.

That was... her god.

"elder brother……"

Su Xiaoruan murmured to herself, a primal impulse surging from the depths of her soul driving her to want to grab the person in front of her, to make sure he wouldn't disappear like her mother in her dream.

She suddenly reached out and hooked her arms around Jiang Che's neck.

Jiang Che was changing his towel when he was pulled down by this sudden force, completely unprepared.

The center of gravity is unbalanced.

Their faces were instantly close together.

"Ugh—"

Time seemed to stand still at that moment.

Jiang Che's pupils dilated slightly.

Two hot, soft lips, carrying a hint of medicine and the saltiness of tears, pressed against his lips without warning.

This was an unexpected kiss.

There was no lust, and no skill involved.

It was clumsy, inexperienced, and even somewhat reckless due to a high fever.

But this is the highest praise a desperate drowning person can give to a lifeline.

Su Xiaoruan's eyes were half-open and half-closed. The moment she touched that warmth, she let out a satisfied sigh, like a little animal that had been wandering for a long time finally returning to its den.

Jiang Che's arm muscles, which were braced against the side of the bed, tensed up instantly.

As a normal adult male, it would be a lie to say that I was completely unmoved by the initiative of such a stunningly beautiful and innocent girl.

But he didn't move, nor did he deepen the kiss.

Reason told him that Su Xiaoruan was not in her right mind, and she was still young and not yet an adult. He couldn't take advantage of her vulnerability.

Three seconds later.

Jiang Che took a deep breath, gently grasped Su Xiaoruan's wrist, and gently but firmly removed her hand from his neck, then straightened up.

"Silly girl."

Jiang Che looked at Su Xiaoruan, who had fallen back into a deep sleep but had a slight smile on her lips, and shook his head helplessly.

He reached out his finger and gently wiped away the trace of warmth remaining on his lips.

Just then, a crisp notification sound rang in my mind.

【Ding! 】

[A special bond event—"The Kiss of Vow"—has been detected between the host and their pet, Su Xiaoruan.]

[Judgment: This behavior stems from Su Xiaoruan's subconscious extreme affection and dependence, exceeding the critical threshold for loyalty.]

[Congratulations, host, on winning the interim grand prize!]

[Reward 1: 20 million RMB in cash (already deposited into account).]

[Reward Two: Proficiency in top-level musical instruments (including piano, guitar, drums, and all other categories).]

[System Comment: She grasped the light in the darkness. From now on, you are her only faith.]

As Jiang Che felt the flood of music theory knowledge and performance techniques rushing into his mind, his fingers unconsciously made a few light taps in the air.

Proficient in top-level musical instruments?

Jiang Che glanced at Su Xiaoruan, who was fast asleep. This girl had been humming quite nicely earlier; it seemed the system was paving the way for her future "talented woman" persona.

"Go to sleep."

Jiang Che tucked her in and turned the bedside lamp to its dimmest setting.

He stood up, stretched his stiff shoulders, and turned to leave the guest room.

……

The living room was pitch black, with only the faint light of the city filtering in through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Jiang Che had just closed the guest room door when he turned around and saw that the master bedroom door was open.

On the balcony, a red light was flickering.

Jiang Che paused for a moment, then walked over.

The chilly autumn night wind rustled the white gauze curtains on the balcony.

Shen Qingge was wearing a thin silk nightgown, with Jiang Che's black trench coat draped over it (she didn't know when she had taken it), and a glass of red wine in her hand. She was leaning against the railing, staring blankly at the night view of the Huangpu River in the distance.

Her back view looked beautiful, yet also very lonely.

Like a snow lotus blooming high up, though cold and beautiful, no one can touch it or warm it.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Shen Qingge didn't turn around. She simply raised her wine glass, took a sip, and said in a slightly hoarse voice:

"Is she asleep?"

"Yes, I just took fever reducer and fell asleep."

Jiang Che walked to her side and stood beside her.

"You really care about her."

Shen Qingge looked at the swirling red wine in her glass, a self-deprecating smile curving her lips:

"Jiang Che, sometimes I wonder, if I had relied on you like she did back then, would things... have turned out differently?"

During that year, she got used to being strong, used to being the female CEO who held everything together. She thought Jiang Che liked strong women, so she worked hard and made money like crazy.

But it wasn't until Su Xiaoruan appeared that she realized she was wrong.

What a man needs is not a comrade-in-arms to fight alongside him, but a woman who needs him and admires him.

Su Xiaoruan's cry of "Brother," her unreserved dependence, and even that unexpected kiss just now (she hadn't actually seen it, but a woman's intuition made her uneasy), were all reminding Shen Qingge—

She is losing him.

Jiang Che turned his head to look at her.

Under the moonlight, Shen Qingge's profile was breathtakingly beautiful, and her usually sharp phoenix eyes were now filled with loneliness.

Jiang Che did not speak.

He simply reached out and gently, yet irresistibly, embraced her from behind.

Shen Qingge's body stiffened abruptly.

The wine glass in his hand swayed slightly, and a few drops of red wine spilled out, landing on Jiang Che's trench coat and spreading out in a dark red hue.

"You..." Shen Qingge tried to struggle.

"Don't move, it's windy."

Jiang Che rested his chin on her shoulder, wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her into his embrace.

His body heat wafted through the thin pajamas, instantly dispelling the chill from Shen Qingge.

"Qingge".

Jiang Che's voice rang in her ear, carrying a reassuring magnetic quality:

"You don't have to be like her."

She is a sapling that hasn't grown up yet, needing shelter from the wind and rain. You, on the other hand, are a rose blooming alone, beautiful in your own right.

"I took care of her out of a sense of responsibility, and also because I saw my past self in her."

"But for you..."

Jiang Che gently placed his palm on the back of her hand and grasped the wine glass:

"You are my wife."

"No matter how far I go, no matter how many more people are in my family, this position will always be yours."

Shen Qingge's eyes instantly reddened.

All her grievances, all her anxieties, all her worries, all her anxieties crumbled instantly in the face of those words, "You are my wife."

She was no longer the decisive and efficient CEO Shen; at this moment, she was just a little woman longing for her husband's embrace.

"Jiang Che..."

Shen Qingge turned around, buried her face in Jiang Che's arms, gripped his clothes tightly with both hands, and her voice was choked with sobs:

"You're not allowed to leave me."

"Don't let that little vixen bewitch you."

"If you dare betray me, I'll... I'll..."

She wanted to say something harsh, like "I'll make sure you leave with nothing" or "I'll blacklist you," but what came out of her mouth was a weak threat:

"I'll bite you to death."

Jiang Che chuckled, looking down at the woman in his arms who had finally shed all her armor.

"Okay, you can have it."

He lowered his head and kissed away the tear stains at the corner of her eye.

This kiss was different from the accidental, awkward touch Su Xiaoruan had just given me.

This kiss was filled with deep affection, possessiveness, and long-lost passion between adults.

Shen Qingge closed her eyes and responded awkwardly but passionately.

The wine glass slipped from my hand.

"Snapped!"

A crisp sound exploded on the balcony.

But no one paid any attention.

In the dead of night after the rain.

In the guest room, Su Xiaoruan was having a sweet dream in which her brother was her guardian angel.

On the balcony, Shen Qingge completely surrendered to Jiang Che's embrace, regaining her sense of security as a wife.

Jiang Che, with the beauty in his arms, looked at the myriad lights of the city.