Chapter 26
◎A matter of mutual consent◎
Under Cheng Jiamo's anxious gaze, He Qingzhao smiled and walked towards her, reaching out to pull her into his arms.
“You know I had to force myself to get you, don’t you know how hard it was for me to win you over? And you still dared to be apart from me for so long?” He raised his hand and glanced at his watch. “It’s been ten minutes since you went downstairs to clear your head. Don’t do it again.”
Cheng Jiamo was initially very scared, thinking that He Qingzhao would lose his temper in public, but he didn't. Instead, he went along with her wishes and said such domineering and brainless things.
She knew He Qingzhao was saving face for her, and she was overjoyed. A sweet feeling welled up in her heart, and she couldn't help but smile. She forced herself not to laugh out loud.
He Qingzhao was pleased by the vivid expression on her face, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, making him even more compliant with her wishes.
Are you still hungry?
Cheng Jiamo leaned her face against his chest and said softly, "I'm still very hungry. There are too many people, and I haven't eaten enough."
He Qingzhao looked down at her. The girl was as soft as a pool of spring water, gently wrapping around him, making his bones feel weak and his spine go numb.
If at first he was just cooperating with Cheng Jiamo's performance, now he really wants everyone to know that the girl is his, and he can't wait to brand her with his own unique mark.
Don't tell me she just wants a false sense of face; even if she wanted the stars in the sky, he would climb into space and pluck them down for her.
"I'll take you to a private restaurant in a little while to try some fresh dishes."
Cheng Jiamo smiled and replied, "Okay."
He Qingzhao looked at her tenderly and patted her head affectionately: "I'll go upstairs to say hello. Be a good girl and wait for me downstairs."
Cheng Jiamo nodded obediently: "Okay, I'll wait for you."
He Qingzhao turned and went upstairs, and Zhong Qi quickly followed.
"Old He, are you alright?"
He Qingzhao glanced at him: "You really want something to happen to me?"
Zhong Qi explained, "That's not what I meant. What I meant was, did you really pursue that girl yourself?"
He Qingzhao smiled and asked him, "What do you think?"
Zhong Qi curled his lip: "I don't think so. You're more arrogant than anyone else. You look gentle and refined on the surface, but you're actually cold and arrogant at heart. You're like a crane that has strayed into a flock of chickens. You don't seem like the kind of person who would lower his head to chase after a girl."
He Qingzhao curled her lips slightly: "Then you're mistaken."
Zhong Qi: "..."
He Qingzhao recalled how Cheng Jiamo had leaned against him, so soft and yielding, and the tingling sensation he had just suppressed surged through his body once more.
He felt an itch in his heart from the electric-like tingling sensation, a feeling that was both itchy and restless, and he wanted to bite her to relieve the itch.
His Adam's apple bobbed rapidly, and he hurriedly reached out his hand to Zhong Qi: "Give me a cigarette."
Now he can only suppress his restlessness by smoking.
Zhong Qi handed him half a pack of cigarettes, laughing as he said, "I never would have guessed that you, Young Master He, would actually be so eager to pursue a girl."
He Qingzhao, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, took a deep drag, the smoke entering his throat and carrying a burning sensation into his body.
He exhaled a smoke ring, curled his lips into a smile, and said in a low voice, "It's not really about bowing down; it's a matter of mutual consent."
As they talked, the two climbed the spiral staircase to the second floor.
After He Qingzhao left, Cheng Jiamo continued to admire the flowers.
There was no one else in the garden, only the autumn bonsai trees in full bloom.
As for when Yang Panpan left, she didn't pay attention or care.
Yang Panpan left when He Qingzhao was hugging Cheng Jiamo and asking her, "Are you still hungry?" If she didn't leave, she was afraid she would lose control and embarrass herself in public.
She ran to the hotel's first-floor restroom, and could no longer control herself, covering her face with her hands and bursting into tears.
how so?
How could He Qingzhao like someone else?
He's always been aloof and disliked everyone, so why would he suddenly fall for an ordinary girl?
He is He Qingzhao, the dream of countless girls in Beijing, and the dream of her entire adolescence. Even now, she is still immersed in the dream and unwilling to wake up.
She had liked He Qingzhao since she was twelve years old and had a crush on him for twelve years.
In order to catch up with He Qingzhao, she studied hard, skipped grades like him, and got into the high school and university he attended, walking the same paths he had walked.
Now that she has finally completed her studies and returned to China, she submitted her resume to his company, ready to walk alongside him, but he already has someone else by his side.
If he was forced to marry a socialite of equal social standing to consolidate his position or for political gain, she would accept her fate.
But he didn't date a socialite or heiress; he dated an ordinary college student.
Since he doesn't need to arrange a marriage and can find any ordinary person, why can't it be her?
She'd known him since she was ten, and started liking him when she was twelve—she liked him for twelve years! A full twelve years!
Whether considering the order of events or the depth of her feelings for He Qingzhao, no other girl could compare to her.
"Panpan".
Zhong Qi came downstairs and went into the bathroom to urinate, only to find Yang Panpan squatting on the ground crying.
"What happened? Who bullied you?" He pulled Yang Panpan up.
Yang Panpan cried until her eyes were red and her makeup was ruined.
"Brother Zhongqi, it's not true, Brother Qingzhao is just joking, right?"
Zhong Qi twitched his lips: "Whether it's true or not, I'm not quite sure yet. You know him, he's a very calculating person, and no one can see through him."
Yang Panpan wiped her face with the back of her hand: "Do you know that girl?"
Zhong Qi said, "I don't know him. This is the first time I've met him today."
Yang Panpan's eyes lit up, and she instantly saw hope again.
She excitedly grabbed Zhong Qi's hand: "Brother Zhong Qi, do you think they might be a couple under a contract?"
"What's the meaning?"
Yang Panpan analyzed with certainty: "I think it might be because his family is pressuring him to get married. After all, Qingzhao is not young anymore, he's already twenty-seven. He's so old but still doesn't have a girlfriend. General He and Secretary He must be urging him to find a girlfriend, but he doesn't want to get married so early, so he just found a girl to pretend to be his girlfriend and deliberately put on an act for outsiders."
As she talked, she convinced herself, and the more she talked, the more she believed it to be true, until she herself started to believe it.
"Yes, that must be it!"
Zhong Qi: "..."
He simply couldn't bear to expose it.
Whether it's an act or genuine emotion, anyone with discerning eyes can tell at a glance.
Besides, someone like He Qingzhao wouldn't even bother to act if he didn't like it.
His willingness to put on an act suggests that he has some genuine feelings for the character.
As for a marriage alliance, that's even more impossible.
Those who marry into the families of high-ranking officials through marriage are all useless people with no ability. Truly capable people don't need to marry into such families at all.
Zhou Jinghong married an actress with no background or connections, and no one in the Zhou family dared to say a word.
Of course, some people want to find a wife who is their equal in social standing, and that's a different story.
However, if you don't like someone but are forced to marry them by your family, it only shows that the person is useless. They don't even have the right to choose their own wife. What else can they be but useless?
However, a top-tier nobleman like He Qingzhao, who is aloof and arrogant, is even respectfully addressed as "Master He" among the young men in Beijing's elite circles, and there is absolutely no way he would be forced into a marriage alliance.
Unless he himself wants to marry a socialite, if he doesn't like her or want to marry her, no one can make that decision for him.
"Alright, stop crying and stop overthinking." Zhong Qi patted Yang Panpan's shoulder, comforting her while also reminding her, "Maybe Lao He is just having a passing fancy, he might settle down after a few days."
He made it very clear: He Qingzhao wasn't acting; he genuinely liked that girl.
However, he didn't completely rule out the possibility, which gave Yang Panpan a glimmer of hope.
Yang Panpan is not stupid. She can barely keep up with He Qingzhao's pace, which means she is smarter than most people. Naturally, she understands things very quickly.
She chuckled self-deprecatingly: "Looks like it's true."
Zhong Qi chuckled: "Whether it's true or not is all the same. With his status, it's not unreasonable for him to keep a female student on a whim. The Tang family in Haicheng kept a female student, and not long ago he even got so angry over her that he injured a rich second-generation."
Yang Panpan calmed down, wiped her face, tidied her hair, and regained her bright and charming appearance.
“I have already submitted my resume to Yunding. If I get the job, I will see him often in the future.”
Zhong Qi smiled and encouraged her, "Yes, keep it up."
But what he really wanted to say was, why bother? Even if you see him every day, he won't like you.
Beneath He Qingzhao's gentle and refined exterior lies a cold and ruthless heart.
As long as he remains unmoved, no matter how devoted others may be, it will all be in vain.
Besides, even if he were to fall for her, it wouldn't necessarily be 100% genuine; he'd be lucky to have even a 30% fondness.
-
The silver Bentley drove eastward along Jing'an Avenue at a steady speed.
He Qingzhao had been drinking and couldn't drive, so the butler, Lü Hong, drove. He didn't say a word after getting in the car.
The car was so quiet that you could hear each other breathing.
Cheng Jiamo felt the atmosphere was heavy and oppressive, so she quietly moved to the side to minimize her presence.
"Are you trying to jump out of the car?" He Qingzhao loosened his tie and turned to look at her.
Cheng Jiamo whispered, "How could I dare?"
She wasn't reckless enough to risk her life; she valued her life above all else, otherwise she wouldn't have avoided him.
"Is there anything you wouldn't dare to do?" He Qingzhao raised an eyebrow, looking at her with a half-smile.
Cheng Jiamo knew that He Qingzhao was going to settle scores with her later.
She made fun of him in the hotel garden, but he didn't expose her and even went along with her wishes, giving her plenty of face.
He acted very affectionately at the time, which made her mistakenly believe that he didn't care. Little did she know that he only pretended not to care at the time, but actually held a grudge and had finally decided to settle the score with her now.
'Um, well, I…'
Before she could finish speaking, a blue striped tie hit her leg, silencing her words of explanation.
He Qingzhao unbuttoned two buttons on his shirt with one hand and said in a lazy tone, "Aren't you going to sit down?"
Cheng Jiamo shifted her buttocks slightly, by a maximum of two or three centimeters.
He Qingzhao had no patience for a tug-of-war with her, so he reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist, forcefully pulling her onto his lap.
"Me, domineering and unreasonable? Forcing you to be my girlfriend?" he asked with a smile. "Did I force you?"
Although his voice wasn't loud, and could even be described as gentle, and he spoke with a smile, Cheng Jiamo felt a strong sense of oppression, which made her tremble.
She shook her head and replied weakly, "No, you didn't force me. I just really like you and wanted to be with you."
"How proactive?" He Qingzhao lowered his head and kissed the corner of her lips.
Cheng Jiamo turned her face away and said in a defiant tone, "I'm shameless enough to sit on your lap willingly."
He Qingzhao pinched her chin with two fingers and forcibly turned her face: "What about your yin-yang remarks?"
Cheng Jiamo blinked, her eyes welling up with tears.
Before she could burst into tears, He Qingzhao gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes with his index finger and asked softly, "How was it? Did I give her enough face?"
Cheng Jiamo nodded emphatically and hurriedly replied, "It's plenty, plenty, plenty!" She then quickly added, "He Qingzhao, you're so kind!"
He Qingzhao smiled and said, "We Chinese value reciprocity. Since I've given you so much face, shouldn't you thank me properly?"
Cheng Jiamo quickly thanked her, "Thank you, thank you so much." To show her sincerity, she even bowed politely, "Thank you, He Qingzhao."
He Qingzhao grasped her small hand and pressed it down: "A verbal thank you is not enough, I want something practical."
"Practical?" Cheng Jiamo blinked. "Then what do you want?"
He Qingzhao grabbed her head with his large hand, put it close to her ear, and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "I want you to bite me."
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