Chapter 36
Huo Junyan grabbed Chu Ci's ankle, placed it on his knee, and bent down to get the spare medicine box.
Her shirt was pulled tight, revealing broad shoulders and a narrow waist. She mischievously touched her muscles with her toes—firm and supple—and casually unbuttoned her shirt. He turned his head. "So eager?"
The driver silently lowered the barrier.
Chu Ci, adjusting her suit jacket, crossed her legs and said, "It was clearly my brother who laid a hand on me first."
He calmly took out a band-aid and put it on her.
But he didn't let go.
The man's eyes were hidden in the shadows and could not be seen. His hand, holding her ankle, caressed it, making it ticklish. His slightly warm palm squeezed her toes for a while, then moved up her calf.
Chu Ci sat directly on his lap, hooking her arms around his neck, and asked, "Brother, do you think those two can make it to the end?"
The girl's lips opened and closed, carrying the sweet scent of fruit wine. After enduring for several hours, she finally couldn't hold back any longer. With one hand supporting her lower back and the other supporting her neck, she kissed him.
The kiss lasted until they ran out of oxygen and finally separated slightly.
Chu Ci tilted her head back, her eyes glistening with tears from the brief lack of oxygen. After a few seconds of stunned silence, she cupped his face and asked, "...Hmm?"
After returning from the mountain city, he could sense the change in her emotions. He had always thought it was because her memories were slowly returning, but now this change was particularly obvious, and he suddenly understood.
He didn't give a perfunctory answer, but replied honestly: "The marriage alliance between the Bai family and the Bai family has been decided."
That is BE.
Just as Chu Ci was about to get off his lap, he continued, "We are already married, and we have children."
The marriage will take effect immediately once she signs.
The girl in my memory was radiant and unrestrained, with a vigorous vitality. She dared to think and act. Just by looking at the tricks she used to help Huo Zixi return to the Huo family, one could glimpse her spirit of going to great lengths for her friends, as well as her contempt for the authoritarian class.
He thought she didn't care about these things, but it seems he was wrong.
After returning from the mountain city, my memories of Chu Ci gradually resurfaced, and the lingering anxieties in my heart also grew stronger. Today, they have finally settled down, and I have something tangible to refer to.
Rainwater lashed against the car windows, and white mist blurred the receding street scene.
Back home, Chu Ci took off his suit, changed into slippers, and went upstairs first, lifting her skirt. Huo Junyan watched her graceful waist and hips, and the huge butterfly fluttered its wings as she went upstairs, as if it was about to fly away.
Walk?
Huo Junyan panicked for no reason and quickly chased after her upstairs, but he only caught a glimpse of her back as she entered Xingxing's room.
Time seemed to stand still. He slowed his pace and walked slowly to the door. A long line of toy cars was laid out on the carpet in the room. She sat on the edge of the bed, gazing tenderly at her sleeping son.
Suddenly, she turned her head and said happily, "I remember now, you snatched the spicy strips from the little kid."
Once the stars are asleep, they cannot be woken up by ordinary noise.
Her words were disjointed, and Huo Junyan stared at her with his deep eyes for a moment before following her words, "I'm just paying first."
That kind of spicy snack was not common. When Chu Ci picked it up, she didn't really want to eat it. She was just distracted and didn't notice that there was a child next to her staring at the spicy snack in her hand.
She only snapped out of her daze after Huo Junyan paid and the child bared his teeth at her, reluctantly taking another type.
He paid the bill and walked away with his companions. Chu Ci watched his retreating figure quietly until it disappeared into the crowd.
The packaging of the spicy snack in my hand was squeezed until it deformed, and a strange emotion welled up in my heart.
From childhood to adulthood, she was never given priority, and no one ever firmly favored her in anything.
When Chu Ning was a child, her parents were transferred to different jobs, so they could only bring her to the city when she was just starting elementary school. Soon after, Chu Hao was born, and her parents had to take care of her younger brother, so Chu Ci could only study at a primary school in the town. It wasn't until her parents had stable jobs and bought a house that they were able to transfer her to the city.
She was in fourth grade, and Chu Hao was in second grade. They were a year and a half apart, an age that even dogs would dislike. She was used to being wild, and Chu Hao was used to being alone. They would have a small argument every three days and a fight every five days.
In any dispute, not a single person ever sided with her, not even once.
She's an adult, so she should have given the bag of spicy strips to the child. If she had noticed the child first, her muscle memory would have made her give it to him.
That bag of spicy strips was the only one that someone chose when everyone else thought it should be given to the child.
Since then, she often runs into Huo Junyan when she meets with Huo Zixi.
He was always critical and wary of her, fearing that she would incite Huo Zixi to cause trouble and damage the Huo family's reputation, but she deliberately provoked him because of his criticism.
Several times the situation was tense and on the verge of conflict.
Perhaps her strange behavior eventually aroused his suspicion.
He warned her directly: Don't even think about trying to climb the social ladder.
Huo Junyan, a man at the top of the pyramid, comes from a distinguished family, is handsome and rich, and has top-notch conditions in every aspect. From childhood to adulthood, countless women have been chasing after him, so he should be used to this kind of fawning.
Did I really need to personally warn her?
Oh, back then, the Huo family all thought she and Huo Zixi were a couple, but the Huo family didn't care about Huo Zixi, so naturally they didn't care who was by his side.
Huo Junyan's warning aroused Chu Ci's rebellious spirit. In a subtle and almost imperceptible moment, she also noticed that Huo Junyan was treating her differently.
So she wanted to confirm it.
"Honestly, have you been interested in me for a long time?" Chu Ci tugged at his tie, pulled him close, and pouted, as if she wanted to kiss him.
Huo Junyan picked him up immediately; he didn't want his son to wake up while he was kissing his wife.
She quickly returned to her room.
The rain pattered softly as Huo Junyan carried her to the bed, pressed down on her, and kissed her passionately. Both of them were preoccupied with their own thoughts, and at this moment, their emotions were completely replaced by their most primal instincts.
Even though they're inseparable all day, it never feels like enough, as if they'd disappear if they separated at any moment.
The Bai family may have already discovered the relationship between the young master and his adopted daughter. They are keeping a close watch on them in private, so they can only steal a few minutes at these private banquets to eagerly express their feelings to each other.
No one can predict the magnitude of the chain reaction that a tiny change in initial conditions can trigger. The marriage arrangement for the young master of the Bai family had been finalized, but his deep affection for his adopted daughter led the Lu family to change their marriage partner.
This is just the beginning.
Huo Junyan brought Chu Ci to a private dinner party today and introduced her to the public as his wife, not his girlfriend.
While everything appears to be normal, the trajectories of many people and things have actually changed quietly.
Chu Ci was well aware that Huo Junyan's marriage was a business project, no less than a listed company undergoing asset restructuring. It required negotiation and resource exchange, and was an important part of the Huo family's strategic plan.
There are too many things involved here, but love is not one of them.
Afterwards, she lay on top of him, the ambiguous atmosphere making her linger.
Chu Ci was never a hesitant person. She was always decisive and never looked back once she made a decision. She didn't dwell on things or engage in internal conflicts.
Because I was too clear-headed, I made a decision quickly. But how come the execution is like the client revising the plan again and again? I'm afraid that in the end, we'll still settle on the first version.
Her nose felt sore, like she had a bad cold. She didn't want to leave; she had already decided to go, but she was dragging her feet and hesitating.
Love is a cycle; you might understand something tonight and fall for it again tomorrow night.
Huo Junyan tried to get up, but Chu Ci clung to him like an octopus, refusing to let go. He chuckled and pulled her into the bathroom, where warm water poured down.
She was still holding him.
Huo Junyan pinched her chin and lowered his head to kiss her.
The bathroom temperature continued to rise, and the misty steam blurred vision, making it impossible to see each other's eyes. Vision was limited, but touch was magnified infinitely.
"Was this also an injury from that incident?"
He held her, his fingertips touching the edges of the scar in the hairline at the back of her neck, and kissed the top of her head.
Chu Ci clung to him, her eyes half-closed. Upon hearing this, she reached out and touched him, lazily saying, "No." Most of the external injuries left by the shipwreck were on her hands.
After thinking for a while, he said, "It was left behind when I fought with Chu Hao."
Huo Junyan opened his eyes, turned off the shower, carried her out of the bathroom, placed her on the sofa in the bathroom, and checked her body while wetting a towel.
"What are you doing?" Two hands reached out to grab his hands restlessly.
Do you often fight with your younger brother?
Chu Ci tilted her head and thought for a while, "Not often, once a week, I guess."
Huo Junyan slightly lifted his eyelids; fighting once a week was not considered frequent in her eyes.
"So, do you win a lot?"
win?
Not a single person in the family sided with her. No, not a single person was even remotely fair. She was only a year and a half older than Chu Hao, so her age advantage wasn't significant. Of course, she was more likely to lose than draw.
Chu Ci hooked her arm around his neck and got up, pulled a bath towel over herself, and smiled, "Anyway, I'll find a chance to fight back."
Of course, the outcome inevitably involves punishment from the parents.
In the following days, Chu Ci followed Huo Junyan everywhere.
His work is very busy. The official business he has to handle every day seems to have the capacity to reproduce. Sometimes he is in a remote video conference on his computer, holding documents for approval, while his secretary is next to him with other documents waiting for approval.
One minute is divided into 60 seconds.
Chu Ci watched him handle official business, and in just a few days, she had already benefited greatly. Having experience working with Zhou Yubai, she quickly realized that the Huo family's upper echelons were actually divided into factions.
The most prominent supporters were those who supported Huo Chengxun, or more precisely, those whom Huo Lao had cultivated for his eldest grandson.
From the time Huo Chengxun was born until he was completely abandoned at the age of sixteen or seventeen, for more than a decade, Old Master Huo did his best to pave the way for him. By the time Old Master Huo handed the company over to Huo Chaojiang, those people and forces that had been involved for more than a decade had already formed their own faction.
Because the change of course was sudden, Huo Chaojiang did not take any action to clean up the mess in order to keep the company stable, but instead followed the old rules.
By the time Huo Junyan gradually took over the company from his father, these people's power had become deeply entrenched. If any external forces were to intervene, they would be able to contend with Huo Junyan, the rightful heir.
Huo Junyan told her that he had been working to clean up these forces for the past five years, and now he was just waiting for an opportunity to eradicate them completely.
Or, they perish together.
Looking at the list he gave her, Chu Ci, based on her experience, knew that Huo Junyan's series of actions had hit rock bottom, and it was time for them to reveal their hand and negotiate.
To everyone's surprise, Huo Chengxun personally stepped forward to negotiate, not with Huo Junyan, but with Chu Ci.
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