CHAPTER 265: ACHEN... THE POWER IS OUT"_1

Faintly picking up the rich scent of pine, the look in Zhou Luchen’s eyes softened slightly.

Just then, Sister Fang handed over a pair of chopsticks. "Miss Shen, you’re eating with such relish. Have a taste."

Shen Jing wasn’t so much eating with relish as she was momentarily indulging a craving for something she hadn’t touched in years.

Zhou Luchen took the chopsticks and tasted the first kernel. It wasn’t to his palate. He put the chopsticks down and pushed them towards Shen Jing. "I won’t fight you for it."

Shen Jing leaned close to his ear and whispered, "There are so many, I got hooked on peeling them."

Practically bored to death, then.

Sounds like she’s hooked, Zhou Luchen thought.

Zhou Luchen mused, "I’ll have Zhuang Ming buy some tonight."

Shen Jing nodded.

As the sun dipped completely below the western hills, the old lady slowly set down her Buddha Beads. "Sister Fang, let’s have dinner."

Dinner proceeded with the same atmosphere as last time. The Zhou Family had always been this way—understated to the point of restraint. No matter how prestigious their position, extravagant excesses were unacceptable.

After dinner, Shen Jing followed Zhou Luchen out, casually discussing where she would go back to. She usually went to Taihe when she was happy and stayed with the Shen Family when she was busy.

In the second courtyard, the retreating figures of the two walking side-by-side could be seen.

The old lady was heading to Cuiwei Pavilion when she happened to see their silhouettes disappear around the corner of the second courtyard. She turned back to look at Zhou Xiangqun, who was organizing files under the pavilion.

"Aqun, talk to me."

Zhou Xiangqun kept his head down, focused on the files. "Shanghai probably won’t agree, and neither will Father. If someone doesn’t make a good first impression, nothing can change their minds over there. If the love is strong enough, Achen can keep the Zhou Family in check. If not, it’s the opposite."

Shanghai’s Zhou Family wasn’t unreasonable. Accustomed to dominating the business world, when choosing a Mrs. Zhou, they leaned more towards capability and family background. They habitually treated it like a business negotiation, akin to selecting a contractor for a project. From the very start, they had implicitly screened out Shen Jing.

Zhou Xiangqun paused, then added, "However, it’s not as if Miss Shen feels she *has* to marry into the Zhou Family."

Shen Jing was drawn to Zhou Luchen, the man, not because he was the second son of the Zhou Family.

She simply possessed too much self-assurance, enough to walk away at any moment. Whether Zhou Luchen wanted her out of genuine affection or mere possessiveness, he couldn’t afford to gamble against her confidence.

Hearing this, the old lady stepped into the house, her expression unreadable.

After two steps, she stepped back out. "Aqun, what about you?"

Zhou Xiangqun inclined his head towards the old lady. "Great Aunt, please tell me if there’s anything you need me to do. Xiaozhang will be here with the car shortly, and then I’ll head to the provinces."

Politely composed, he feigned ignorance of her question.

The old lady Zhou wanted to ask him if he wanted it. But seeing how unperturbed the eldest young master appeared, she decided not to ask. What’s fated will eventually come to pass, she thought.

「Summer was hot.」

Shen Jing loved the cool blast of air conditioning and wearing spaghetti-strap dresses.

When she saw Xie Qinyang at a dinner party, he suddenly noticed the prayer beads hanging around her neck.

"Where did you buy those? You can actually buy something like that? Did you get ripped off by some luxury goods reseller? Tell me, how many tens of thousands did they con you out of?"

Shen Jing didn’t even look up. "Zhou Luchen gave them to me."

Xie Qinyang averted his gaze. "Sorry, forget I said anything." Then he turned back. "Are you two trying for a child?"

Shen Jing added, "For peace and safety."

Xie Qinyang laughed and looked away. "I don’t believe you."

Shen Jing smiled disdainfully. "Xie Qinyang, has being single made you stupid?"

Angry? Xie Qinyang wasn’t angry at all. Their relationship was close enough that he knew this was just their way of bantering, and he always played along with a grin. "Laughing at me for being single, huh? Oh-ho, you seem to have forgotten when we were living it up as singles at GT, right? Now that you’ve landed safely on shore, you’re mocking me for still swimming out here in the sea, is that it?"

Shen Jing sat up straight. "Don’t be ridiculous. I was swimming in the sea right there with you."

Xie Qinyang clicked his tongue, slowly opening a tin of chewing gum and popping a piece into his mouth. "Take those beads off, and I’ll trade you a flat within the Second Ring Road for them."

Turning her back to Xie Qinyang, Shen Jing sneakily tucked the beads into her collar. "You just have a big mouth. It’s a shame no one’s around to teach you a lesson."

Xie Qinyang shrugged.

「The party broke up that night.」

Feeling bored, Shen Jing decided to wander over to Taihe Villa. Just as she got out of her car and tossed her bag to the maid, Zhou Luchen happened to be returning from a social engagement.

The white Bentley sped up and stopped beside her.

The car door opened.

Zhou Luchen alighted, his suit jacket neatly folded over his arm. A pair of long eyes, deep as the ocean, gazed at her, as if surprised by her sudden arrival at the villa.

She caught the slight, fleeting smile that touched the corners of his eyes as they crinkled upwards, an indescribable sensation that tugged at her heartstrings. When a man like him shed that ascetic air, that half-genuine, half-teasing flirtatiousness was like an exotic, dangerously beautiful poppy.

However, Zhou Luchen’s gaze swept over the necklace hidden beneath her collar.

Shen Jing said, "Xie Qinyang keeps teasing me about using it to pray for children, so I’m not letting him see it anymore."

There was no need to spell it out.

Zhou Luchen, an intelligent man, walked leisurely into the villa. "Do I need to rely on a prayer bead to become a father?"

Just as she heard Zhou Luchen speak, her vision plunged into complete darkness. She had been walking normally, but now Shen Jing stood frozen in place.

The lights in the villa had suddenly gone out, for some unknown reason.

With no light, she could only reach out, fumbling to find Zhou Luchen.

It was so dark; she felt like a blind woman searching for support, not daring to move.

Shen Jing didn’t forget to reply, "That has nothing to do with me."

It wasn’t that she didn’t know; she was well aware of Zhou Luchen’s... ’prowess,’ but she couldn’t quite articulate it.

The darkness seemed to breed, the shadows before her deepening. He felt as if he were leaning down right in front of her, the sense of oppression intense. A sexy voice flowed languidly from his throat, "When you become my wife, shall I give you one myself?"

Shen Jing’s expression froze instantly. She wanted to ask what he meant by "my wife," but her throat clenched as if she had swallowed ice, completely stuck.

Was he being casual, or was it a joke?

Hearing such a flippant tone from the young master, and unable to see his expression, she couldn’t take him seriously.

No proposal, no marriage. Who would marry him without one?

Even if he did propose, she might not say yes.

The caretaker’s voice came from the direction of the main entrance. "Sir, I asked security to take a look. It might be an issue with the wiring somewhere."

Suddenly, Shen Jing felt a chill in the air as Zhou Luchen’s voice turned cold. "Don’t fix it."

Eventually, the caretaker fell silent and even closed the villa’s main door.

Once again, darkness and dead silence assaulted her.

No, she was scared. Xie Qinyang had taken her to a midnight horror movie the day before yesterday—it was a psychological thing.

Instinctively, Shen Jing’s hand reached for Zhou Luchen’s chest. Her fingertips traced the scorching heat of his body upwards to his sharply prominent Adam’s apple. That distinctly masculine feature seemed to bob and roll beneath her touch.

She really wanted to bite down on it, to hold it in her mouth.

Zhou Luchen remained still, his tall form a silent presence in the heavy darkness. "What are you doing?" he asked in a low voice.

Shen Jing’s hand froze. She retracted it, then tightly gripped Zhou Luchen’s arm. She kneaded the satin fabric of his shirt, her fingers clenching.

"Achen, the lights."

A low, indistinct chuckle came from him.

Zhou Luchen precisely placed his suit jacket from his bent arm onto the stair railing. With one hand, he caught her by the waist and pulled her into his embrace.

With a swift ZIIIIP, the man pulled down the zipper on her back. Her dress slithered to the floor.

His warm fingertips slid over the skin of her spine, unfastening the last piece of her undergarment. Instantly, Shen Jing went rigid as if electrocuted.

"Not yet," she managed.

Zhou Luchen’s breathing grew heavier. "Is it the eighth day?"

Shen Jing murmured a soft, broken assent. Even if they were to part, she always needed two or three days to cool down before... That was her own rule, and Zhou Luchen wouldn’t break it.

Zhou Luchen scooped up his suit jacket with one hand and draped it over her shoulders. Perhaps her shoulders were too smooth. As she burrowed into his embrace for warmth, the suit jacket, not yet having warmed her, slipped off and landed on the dress pooled on the floor.

Her lips trembled. She was turned and pressed against the stair railing. Her lower back slammed against the cold metal, the pain so sharp it stole her breath before she could even whimper. Then, Zhou Luchen’s strong hand cupped her lower back, and his kisses fell upon the delicate, smooth skin of her nape.

Zhou Luchen’s hands were never idle.

That feeling of having her so close, yet not truly possessing her.

He clutched her tightly in his embrace as if he’d gone mad.

...