The antique girlfriend of a chaebol heir

Xie Shuyun was drunk, her eyes were glazed over.

She wanted to ask more questions, but Xie Shuheng quickly covered her mouth. She struggled, making whimpering sounds, like a cat being grabbed by the scruff of its neck.

Jiang Duo sat motionless beside Shen Ci.

His fingers, holding the wine glass, froze in mid-air, his knuckles turning slightly white. He lowered his eyes, concealing all his emotions.

The boat continued onward, passing through vast expanses of reeds. Waterbirds took flight, their wings flapping across the water, creating ripples.

It was very quiet inside the boat.

It was completely different from the lively boat that Yin Kuo and his group were on not far away.

Laughter, clinking glasses, and even someone belting out an off-key song drifted intermittently across the water.

On this boat, only the rustling of the autumn wind through the reeds and the soft lapping of the water against the hull could be heard.

No one mentioned what Shen Ci had just said.

It was as if she had never said it.

Xie Shuyun tossed and turned for a while longer, but eventually succumbed to her drunkenness and fell asleep on the soft cushion.

Xie Shuheng sat beside her, his gaze falling on Shen Ci's slightly tipsy profile across from him. Then he lowered his eyes and drank the remaining wine in his glass in one gulp.

The ship slowly came to a stop and docked.

Shen Ci leaned against the side of the boat with her eyes closed.

Her breathing was light and slow, as if she were truly asleep.

As the boat docked, Jiang Duo bent down, slipped one hand under her knees and the other hand under her back, and lifted her up steadily.

"I'll take her to rest first."

After Jiang Duo finished speaking, he turned and strode away without waiting for Xie Shuheng's response.

When Yin Kuo and the others disembarked from the boat, they only saw a figure disappearing at the end of the corridor.

They watched as Xie Shuheng helped Xie Shuyun downstairs and couldn't help but ask, "What happened?"

Xie Shuheng looked at the deserted corner in the distance with a complicated expression. "It's nothing," he said, turning his gaze away. "Two girls were drunk."

Yin Kuo raised an eyebrow and scratched his head: "Xie Garden's wine isn't intoxicating either."

Xie Shuheng did not respond.

He knew his sister was a lightweight, so it wasn't surprising that she got drunk.

As for Shen Ci... he didn't know.

The scene on the boat just now kept replaying in his mind—she was leaning there, her eyes half-open, her breathing so steady that she didn't seem drunk, yet she still said those words.

He suddenly understood why Jiang Duo was attracted to her—

There was something about her, like mist, like water, like the surface of a river that was obscured at night.

You think you can see it clearly, but when you get closer you realize it's just a reflection.

When she smiles, her eyes crinkle, her gentleness just right, but what's hidden in those eyes is impossible to see through.

She is like a mystery.

In the distance, Jiang Duo carried Shen Ci through the long corridor.

The guest rooms are at the end of the corridor. Pushing open the door, you'll find simple yet tasteful furnishings.

He placed Shen Ci on the bed, took off her shoes, and put them aside.

He straightened up and looked down at her.

The woman on the bed still had her eyes closed and was breathing lightly.

He looked at her for a moment, then bent down to cover her with the blanket, tucking the corners of the blanket in with his fingertips. After a pause, he slowly moved his hand up to her forehead, gently brushing a few stray hairs aside.

His movements were extremely gentle, but his eyes were terrifyingly deep.

Yu Guangzhong noticed that the woman's exposed fingers slightly bent.

Jiang Duo stared at her tightly closed eyes and slowly leaned down.

His lips landed lightly on her eyes, carrying the coolness of the autumn night.

He then moved down and kissed her lips, initially just a light touch, as if confirming something, then gradually deepening the kiss, sucking on them with an almost greedy eagerness.

His breathing became erratic.

His hand slid under the covers, reaching down. When his fingertips touched the fabric at her waist, the woman, who should have been fast asleep, suddenly pressed his hand down through the blanket.

Jiang Duo stopped moving.

He pulled away from her lips, his lips brushing against her earlobe. His voice was low, carrying a chilling calm—

"Why did you stop pretending to be asleep?"

The woman in his arms opened her eyes; there was no longer any drunkenness in them, only a wary glint.

"I...I just woke up."

Her voice trembled slightly, like a leaf falling in the autumn wind.

Jiang Duo didn't move.

He remained in that position, one hand supporting himself beside her, the other still resting somewhere under the covers, held down by her palm through the blankets.

The oppressive feeling was so strong, like a mountain pressing down heavily, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.

"You were drunk just now," he said, his voice soft but each word clear, "and you said some things you didn't understand. Do you remember them?"

Shen Ci looked at him, pondering how she should begin.

The original owner of this body had a high alcohol tolerance, and she didn't get drunk.

She was just getting impatient.

Therefore, she wanted to take advantage of Xie Shuyun's question to perform a "drunken confession".

She wanted everyone to know that she was only after Jiang Duo's looks and background, and that she was a vain person.

The rich young master hates nothing more than having his looks and power coveted; she was betting on Jiang Duo's pride.

Shen Ci gritted her teeth and decided to play this charade to the end.

"I'm sorry," she said, her gaze shifting to the side, her voice tinged with guilt and deliberate humility, "I've disappointed you. I'm just a vain woman, I'm not good enough for you, we..."

The word "breakup" pressed against the tip of her tongue felt like two thin blades, ready to be gently spat out and sever the suffocating thread that was holding her captive.

But just as her lips moved—

The hand that was on her waist suddenly tightened.

His hand slipped inside her without her noticing, his knuckles digging into the soft flesh of her waist. He gave her a punitive squeeze, the force so strong that she gasped, the rest of her words cut off in her throat.

She abruptly turned her gaze and met his eyes.

The look in his eyes was so heavy, so intense; there was no disgust, no rage, only something that chilled her to the bone—

A sense of control.

"Are you done talking?" he asked, his voice so low it seemed to come from the depths of his chest.

That hand was still branded on her waist, like a silent lock, reminding her what she should and shouldn't say.

Jiang Duo stared at her for a long time.

It lasted so long that she could hear her own heartbeat, pounding in her chest like a drum.

Finally, he moved.

He slowly pulled his hand out from under the covers and stroked her hair.

"Looks, money, since that's what you're after," he said, his voice low and deep, as if coming from a great distance, "then keep after it, for the rest of your life."

His fingers paused for a moment, then tightened slightly, wrapping a strand of hair around his fingers.

"Since you've taken the initiative to become my girlfriend," he leaned down, close to her ear, his breath brushing against her sensitive earlobe, sending a shiver down her spine, "then behave yourself."

"Don't have any other thoughts."

"Don't make me angry," his lips almost touched her earlobe, his voice as soft as a sigh, yet carrying a chilling certainty, "You understand?"