Chapter 12 Therefore, it was difficult to refuse such hospitality.

Jiang Shiyuan was still clinging to him, her arms around his neck. She couldn't very well pretend to be angry and say she was trying to protect him from perverts, so she could only hesitantly say, "What else can a flashlight do? It's just... just for lighting, right..."

Huo Lan looked at her with suspicion, her eyes full of disbelief. "Lighting? That's a rather far-fetched reason."

Jiang Shiyuan reiterated that it was for lighting, and then struggled to get off him, but after a lot of effort, she was still held firmly in his arms.

Why don't you just let me go?

"Tell me exactly what it's used for."

The atmosphere between the two was silent for a moment. Seeing that Huo Lan still wouldn't let go until he got an answer, he simply told her everything, "It was Sister Qiao Wei who gave me the flashlight, telling me to keep an eye on you."

Huo Lan nodded, his expression unchanged. "Then she doesn't need to go to Huo Garden tomorrow; she can stay and work remotely with the project."

"Um??"

Did she... accidentally ruin Qiao Wei's business trip opportunity?

"No, that would be very inconvenient for work."

Huo Lan carried her back to the bedroom, saying, "If you want her to go, what will you offer in exchange?"

Jiang Shiyuan naturally knew what he liked to hear, so she pretended to be obedient and coquettish, saying, "Then how about I call you husband every day from now on?"

Seemingly surprised by her words, Huo Lan paused for a moment before an uncontrollable elation rose in her eyes, and the corners of her lips unconsciously curled up. "Do you call her that in front of Meng Kong's colleagues too?"

Jiang Shiyuan shut her mouth and didn't say anything. Huo Lan didn't press her. "Then you have to call me that when it's just the two of us from now on. If you can do that, I'll let Qiao Wei continue to come along. It's a simple request, right, baby?"

Jiang Shiyuan paused for a moment without responding to him, and when she saw that he was getting angry again, she quickly nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

Huo Lan picked her up and bounced her around mischievously before walking to the bedroom and placing her on the bed.

As soon as Jiang Shiyuan's back touched the soft bed, she was about to turn around and roll away when Huo Lan pressed down on her.

He cupped the back of her head with his palm and pressed her tightly against his body, embracing her in an extremely intimate position.

Jiang Shiyuan felt a little uncomfortable and moved her arm slightly. "Huo Lan, you're pressing down on me..."

Huo Lan smiled indulgently, feigning anger, "Why did you go back on your word after just promising it? What should you call me?"

Jiang Shiyuan opened her mouth, but suddenly realized that these two words were quite difficult for her to say naturally.

So she called out to him in a voice barely audible, "...husband."

The two were so close that she could clearly see his individual eyelashes.

The faint sound did not satisfy Huo Lan. He lowered his head and affectionately rubbed his nose against hers, then pulled his arms closer to hold her tighter in his embrace, making Jiang Shiyuan's lower abdomen feel hot from the pressure.

"No, baby, I can't hear you."

Jiang Shiyuan frowned, deliberately contradicting herself, "Then why don't you call me wife?"

To everyone's surprise, Huo Lan's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he laughed even more unrestrainedly. He then buried his face in her neck, nuzzling her and calling her name repeatedly in a sweet, affectionate voice: "Wife, wife, wife, wife..."

Jiang Shiyuan bit her lip and looked away from him, but in his eyes she was seducing him.

He lifted her head with the hand that held it, and easily took her lips, which he had already sucked until they were red, into his mouth. But unlike before, he was not as fierce, but slowly caressed and gently covered them.

Huo Lan's voice was deep and hoarse, tinged with barely suppressed anger, "Shi Yuan, don't you really want it? Then why did you seduce me?"

Jiang Shiyuan only turned to look at him after hearing the word "seduce," her eyes wide with a hint of grievance, "I didn't!"

"You clearly have..."

Huo Lan's Adam's apple bobbed violently as his gaze swept over her face, as if trying to etch her image deeply into his mind.

"Your hot breath is seductive, your rising and falling chest is seductive, your watery eyes are seductive, and your slightly furrowed brows are seductive."

"Of course, most importantly, your biting your lip is an invitation to me. So, I can't refuse your kind invitation."

Jiang Shiyuan felt a small fire ignite within her after being provoked by Huo Lan's words, and she feared that if he continued to stir her like this, it would become a raging fire.

She stared at him for a long time with slightly trembling eyes before she realized what he meant. She could only close her eyes and shake her head repeatedly, "No, no, I didn't!"

Suddenly remembering something, Jiang Shiyuan called out again, "Where's your string of wooden beads? Quickly take them out and let's play with them!"

Huo Lan chuckled softly, "I threw it away."

"Um?"

"You're underneath me, I don't need it anymore."

"A small-leaf sandalwood with full gold flecks, it's incredibly rare!"

Huo Lan chuckled and kissed her forehead one last time before getting up from her. Instantly, she felt as if the restraints on her body had been released, and she could breathe more freely.

"It's on the table in the living room. You can wear it next time if you like. We have many other kinds of beaded bracelets at home. You can take any of them if you like."

The "home" here naturally refers to Huo Garden.

After Huo Lan finished speaking, he began to unbutton his shirt. When he unbuttoned the second button, his delicate collarbone was revealed, which made Jiang Shiyuan's heart jump to his throat again.

He looked at her with amusement. "What, your eyes are already wide open before I've even taken them off? Want to admire your husband's abs a little longer?"

Jiang Shiyuan was defeated by Huo Lan's shamelessness, so she lifted the quilt next to her and quickly crawled inside to wrap herself up tightly.

Huo Lan stopped teasing Jiang Shiyuan and turned to go to the bathroom to take a cold shower.

Jiang Shiyuan slept very soundly.

The Cloudscape Suite, valued at six figures, features a human-centered smart design throughout. The master bedroom's king-size bed is equipped with a smart system that can monitor sleep quality and adjust to the most comfortable sleeping angle at any time.

The bedding on the bed was also from the Fretted collection, made with top-quality mulberry silk, and was specially brought from Huo Garden by Huo Lan.

He has trouble sleeping in unfamiliar beds and is a bit of a germaphobe, so he dislikes using hotel amenities.

Of course, there was another reason: the bedding was brought from the Bell Pavilion where Jiang Shiyuan lived in Huo Garden, and she was very familiar with it. He wanted her to adapt to life back in Huo Garden as soon as possible.

After getting up, Jiang Shiyuan still couldn't find Huo Lan. She packed up the canvas bag containing her study materials that she had placed in the living room and then left the Cloud Realm Suite.

The black Porsche parked not far downstairs was a car. Jiang Shiyuan walked over and knocked on the window. The person inside was stunned for a long time after seeing that it was Jiang Shiyuan, and didn't open the door for her.

Left with no other choice, Jiang Shiyuan knocked on the car window again and said, "What are you afraid of? I already noticed you. Open the door and take me to work."

The person inside then unlocked the door and let Jiang Shiyuan in.

There were two people in the car. One was older and was driving in the front, while the other sat in the back next to Jiang Shiyuan. He looked young and a little nervous.

Jiang Shiyuan asked, "Did you start doing this right after graduation?"

The young man nodded. "Yes, I just graduated this year from Wancheng Police Academy."

The bodyguards in front of him also remained silent, driving the car in silence.

Logically, their mission was to secretly protect and monitor Jiang Shiyuan, so being discovered by her was a dereliction of duty.

"Don't be nervous. Mr. Huo knows this, otherwise he would have sent a car to take me to work."

Hearing Jiang Shiyuan say this, the two of them gradually felt relieved.

The young man sitting next to her was naturally outgoing and lively. After learning that Huo Lan understood and instructed Jiang Shi to ride in their car to work, he started chatting with her casually.

The man smiled brightly and introduced himself, "My name is Jiang Chen. I'm really lucky to have gotten a job at Huo Garden right after graduation."

Jiang Shiyuan nodded: "Huoyuan has always been very generous. As long as you are outstanding, you will have many opportunities. You must be very excellent to get in."

After saying that, she looked out the window and didn't respond to him again.

Jiang Chen hadn't been with the Huo family for long, but he had heard about Jiang Shiyuan from several of the Huo family's old servants.

In their eyes, Jiang Shiyuan was a gentle and beautiful woman from Jiangnan with top-notch looks. She had a quiet and gentle personality, always smiling at everyone. She was humble and polite, and no one could find fault with her. Everyone in Huo Garden liked her very much.

She and Mr. Huo stood together, looking like a perfect couple, a match made in heaven.

But she had no family background and no parents.

The Huo family values ​​social standing above all else, so even though the Huo family employees all liked her, the Huo family masters didn't.

Huo Lan's parents disliked him, as did his uncles and relatives. They believed that Jiang Shiyuan was someone who was pretending to be kind and trying to climb up the Huo family's social ladder.

Huo Lan was absolutely smitten with her, keeping her at Bell Pavilion. Every day, he would ask for an extra set of the luxuries that were sent to Huo Lan's mother and send it to her as well.

Although she is not a young mistress, her food, clothing, and daily necessities are all top-notch.

Jiang Chen glanced at Jiang Shiyuan a few more times, then suddenly realized something was wrong and quickly turned his head away, his face turning red to the roots of his neck.

She is truly, truly a beautiful woman. No wonder Mr. Huo fell for her and still can't forget her.

Jiang Chen remained silent the entire way until they were about to get out of the car, when he finally spoke up again: "Mr. Huo said that we will be following you from now on."

The bodyguard driving in the front row nodded. He was bigger and looked older, but he was only in his early twenties.

Jiang Shiyuan asked the man in the row in front of her, "So, what's your name?"

“His name is Chen Fei,” Jiang Chen answered first. “He’s quite introverted and doesn’t talk much, but he’s a very nice person.”

Chen Fei blushed slightly after hearing Jiang Chen's evaluation and nodded.

"Sister Shiyuan, may I call you that?"

Jiang Shiyuan got out of the car, nodded in the face of the young man's burning eyes, and then walked into the detached villa of Mengkong Studio.

The bus sent by the Huo family to pick them up won't arrive until nine o'clock, and the colleagues in the studio are all gathered together chatting now.

The topic of conversation was Xu Feixuan, the matriarch of the Huo family, Huo Lan's mother, and a daughter of a scholarly family.

"I heard that she's the one who drove Stephen Hawking's father to his death!"

Jiang Shiyuan's heart skipped a beat. She put her canvas bag on her workstation and leaned over to listen carefully.

"Huo Lan's father was a playboy who was idle and didn't know how to manage a business. The Huo family's rule was that the eldest son had to inherit the family business. At that time, Huo Lan was not yet in charge of the family, so his father managed the Huo family worse year by year."

"But who is Xu Feixuan? She comes from a good family, is beautiful, and is a recognized leading lady in Kunqu Opera, a national first-class actress. Of course she wouldn't look at him. Later, the Huo family had some problems. Xu Feixuan was known for her willful and unruly nature. She argued with Huo Lan's father several times, which drove him to hang himself from the roof beam and commit suicide."

"Hopefully, when we go to Huo Garden this time, we won't run into Xu Feixuan who's involved in the project. She might nitpick and make things difficult for us."

Jiang Shiyuan couldn't listen to her colleagues' chatter as they were still discussing the matter.

So this is how Huo's father passed away?

A note from the author:

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A heads-up: This story contains a lot of original settings and is a melodramatic, wealthy family tale! Please don't take it too seriously! Because it's about a traditional aristocratic family, some parts will have a slightly archaic feel. [Hands clasped in prayer]

The next part will take us into Huo Garden, a huge private garden, where many of the book's key characters will begin to appear~ [cat emoji]

Thank you so much to the little angel [6666] for the 67 bottles of nutrient solution! I'm so happy with them!

PS: I'm currently planning when this feature will be available for purchase (V). Update schedules may change, and I'll keep you updated. I'll generally continue to update daily.