Chapter 168 There's plenty of time.

In the top-floor office of the office building.

Warm sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, falling on her and outlining her increasingly exquisite and beautiful features.

Compared to before, she has shed some of her naivety, and her eyes now possess a stability and composure honed by time. Her undeniable confidence shines even brighter and more captivating.

Ruan Yi's fingertips traced the performance report on the tablet, and she couldn't hide the smile on her lips.

The Middle East sector is developing rapidly, and Nguyen Thi is now truly flourishing across the industry.

Its momentum even subtly surpassed NovaVoy's, a speed that even a mortal would find incredible.

If it were the former Miss Ruan, she would probably be happily basking in the sense of accomplishment of being an "unrivaled" business genius.

The office door was gently pushed open, and before Ruan Yi could turn around, she was lifted up from the chair by a pair of strong arms.

The man approached with his familiar warmth, sat down in his office chair, and then pulled her firmly into his arms, resting his chin on her shoulder. He showered her neck and cheek with soft kisses, his voice tinged with a hint of grievance.

"Work, work, all you ever do is work!"

"How long has it been since you touched me? I'm practically rusty."

No one knew that Mr. Fu Wang, the seemingly calm and reliable new head of Anderson, was eagerly awaiting Ruan Yi's "summons to the bedchamber" every night.

But ever since Ruan Yi threw herself into her career, the number of times she did this has decreased. The man's heart was filled with a mountain of grievances, but he couldn't bear to blame her even a little. So he could only chase after her all day long, begging for food and affection.

“No… the frequency is perfectly normal, don’t always be so unsatisfied.” Ruan Yi turned her head and rubbed her cheek against his, teasing him with a smile.

"Besides, the feeling of success is too good to be true right now, I can't care about anything else."

"These two kinds of pleasure are completely different!" Fu Wang whispered in her ear, with a hint of coquettish anger, his warm breath making her ear tips burn.

Ruan Yi smiled and ignored him, but the man persisted, gently tickling her waist with his fingertips, his voice soft and seductive.

"They've achieved so much success, shouldn't we reward the men behind their success?"

"For example... adding a husband to the household registration book?"

His words were filled with not only pleading but also deep unease. Ruan Yi had chosen him, but the other four had never given up hope.

When she went to the Middle East to explore the market, almost as soon as she got off the plane, her tagalongs came to follow her like shadows, making her feel insecure at all.

Although men often coax her into agreeing when she's in a daze, she turns her back on them as soon as it's light.

Ruan Yi felt that none of the things she said back then could be counted, otherwise how many strange promises would she have to keep?

There's no such thing as a successful person...

She was lifted up without any attempt to hide herself, and food that had already been chewed for her was fed to her bite by bite.

It would have been a fantasy to create such a large business empire in just a few short years.

How could she not know the driving force behind those "impossibilities"?

When she first arrived in the Middle East with her business plan and was trying to raise funds, she encountered many setbacks, but then anonymous investors took the initiative to approach her.

Her supply chain was maliciously cut off by competitors, and she was prepared to work through the night to work on alternative solutions. However, the raw material supplier, who had initially been tough, took the initiative to contact her.

On one occasion, several top technical experts in the industry suddenly appeared and submitted their resumes, saying, "We have long admired your abilities." After joining the company, they cooperated with us in everything we did without any impeccable skill.

The consequence of being forced to accept feeding is...

As soon as Ruan Yi got into bed, the blankets would automatically refresh, and she could only watch as a fluffy head popped out from under the covers and rubbed against her chin.

"Sister, just one kiss, please..."

They were kissing for a while and then they lost track of where they were kissing.

It wasn't until Ruan Yi couldn't take it anymore and issued an "imperial decree" that anyone who dared to help would bear the consequences that the group calmed down.

Those twists and turns that were quietly smoothed out were, in fact, compulsory lessons on her path to growth.

Although the Ruan family's position is now unshakeable and she is unlikely to be threatened again, the process has left her feeling somewhat less confident.

Ruan Yi longed to learn from the tragic heroines in those angst-filled novels and fake her own death to scare them to death, so that she could also break free from their protection and venture out on her own completely independently.

Several times, she seriously planned her "fake death escape" scheme, finding a reliable way to fake it, and then changing her identity to experience the ups and downs step by step, truly developing the hard skills to stand on her own.

But death isn't so easy to fake.

What if you fail to fake your death and end up lying on top of someone when you try to hide in your coffin?

The situation at that time might be...

She waved awkwardly and said, "Oh dear, what a coincidence, all five of you are in coffins too."

The consequence is that they will be "punished" very miserably.

Fortunately, the imperial decree did make them restrain themselves somewhat, and they stopped openly clearing obstacles for her.

But it's still impossible to control secretly, and we can't even catch its tail. There's really no other way but to let it go.

The man understood her determination to be independent and grow, her pride in refusing to bow her head, and her desire not to depend on anyone.

But love is about being unable to control that reluctance to part.

I can't bear to see her eyes bloodshot from staying up all night, I can't bear to see her frowning from being worn down by the rules of the new section, and I can't bear to see her suffer.

The outpouring of help is not a sign of distrust, but rather a genuine expression of heartache.

He would rather go against her wishes and make her angry than see her suffer. How could she possibly stand up for herself for such a reason?

Ruan Yi pulled away from Fu Wang's embrace and stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. Even though her career was already stable, she hesitated to speak when faced with the choice of "settling down".

Just then, there was a knock on the office door, interrupting her tangled thoughts.

The door was pushed open, and a tall, slender man appeared in the doorway. His silver hair gleamed in the sunlight. He walked straight to the desk and gently pushed the documents in his hand aside.

Fu Wang's face instantly darkened, his body temperature plummeted, and his tone was filled with undisguised hostility.

"What are you doing here? You're not welcome here."

Pei Lian glanced at him, a meaningful smile playing on his lips, and waved the medical report in his hand.

"It's perfectly normal for Miss Ruan's personal, private, family doctor to come and deliver her medical report, isn't it?"

He's just a doctor who shamelessly begs his clients to give him at least one full-body checkup a week.

"Vixen!" Fu Wang suddenly stood up, the air around him was frighteningly low, and it looked like the two were about to come to blows.

Ruan Yi rubbed her temples, feeling a throbbing pain in her temples. She simply didn't have the energy to deal with this pointless argument.

"I want to be alone." After saying that, she didn't look at the two men who were locked in a tense standoff anymore. She opened the office door and walked out, completely shutting out the tension behind her.

But as soon as she stepped out of the office area, a familiar warm breath pressed against her, and a pair of strong arms pulled her firmly into their embrace from behind.

A deep, magnetic voice sounded in her ear, tinged with a touch of doting tenderness: "Xiao Yi, you've been busy all morning, are you hungry?"

Ruan Yi stiffened and gently nudged him, but he held her even tighter.

Fu Jingchen released one hand and shook the insulated food container in his hand: "It's Chinese food, all your favorite flavors, and there's dessert too. Shall we eat together?"

Ruan Yi was at her wit's end. She really wanted to eat food cooked by a man, but every time she ate with Fu Jingchen, he would feed her while wiping her mouth...

Just don't wipe it with paper.

My mouth gets swollen from sucking on food.

“I’m not eating today,” Ruan Yi turned her head away from his approach, her tone tinged with weariness. “I want to be by myself for a while. Don’t follow me.”

A hint of disappointment flashed in the man's eyes, but he still let go of her hand, his gaze following her figure closely.

"Shall I take Xiaoyi home?"

"No need, I'll drive myself." Ruan Yi walked quickly towards the elevator, wanting nothing more than to escape this omnipresent encirclement.

She walked all the way to the underground parking lot, took out her car keys to unlock it, and just as she opened the driver's side door, she bent down to get in.

She was startled by the strange, warm touch beneath her, which made her freeze instantly.

She looked down and realized that the driver's seat had been adjusted far back, and Gu Zhi was sitting there steadily, acting as a car seat cushion waiting for its owner to sit down.

The color of the man's clothes blended almost perfectly with the color of the seat fabric. She had only wanted to rest and hadn't noticed anyone hiding in the seat when she opened the door.

Before she could react, the man pulled her into a tight embrace, his pleasant scent and warm breath washing over her.

He tilted his head slightly, his thin lips close to her ear, and whispered, "Sister..."

The voice was soft and sticky, with a deliberate tenderness, yet it sent chills down Ruan Yi's spine.

Ruan Yi clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white, suppressing the frustration and helplessness in her heart, but finally she couldn't hold back any longer.

He roared to the sky, "Damn it!"

There's nothing we can do. If I'm not mistaken, there's another culprit lurking in the house.

Never mind... let's leave it at that.

Her life has just begun.

Ruan Yi has plenty of time to fight them.

—End of text—