Chapter 61: “Expensive” Watches (Part 3)
Zhao Chen's smile deepened, but his eyes held no warmth. He slowly raised his left hand, his slender fingers elegantly resting on the platinum case. With a gentle press, he unfastened the clasp. His movements were smooth and natural, with a sense of control and composure.
He took off the watch from his wrist, which everyone thought was a "very similar replica".
"A-grade goods?" He chuckled softly, his voice not loud but clearly heard by everyone, with a hint of playful sarcasm. "Manager Wang, it seems you don't know the Horizon brand well enough." He pinched the watch strap and turned the watch over, revealing the back.
On the smooth platinum bottom cover, a row of tiny English letters and a string of numbers are clearly engraved - "Horizon Deep Gaze Limited Edition No.007".
"Horizon 'Deep Space Gaze' limited edition, platinum case, equipped with HZ-001 ultra-thin high-precision movement, limited to 50 pieces worldwide."
Zhao Chen's voice was steady and clear, as if stating a simple fact. "Each watch has a unique number engraved on the back. You can check all the information corresponding to the unique number on the official website, including purchase records and authenticity verification codes."
He paused slightly, and looked at Manager Wang, whose face had begun to turn pale, with a hint of pity in his eyes.
"Since Director Wang is so knowledgeable," he casually handed the watch in his hand to Director Wang with an elegance that was almost almsgiving, "how about checking it out now?"
The color drained from Manager Wang's face instantly. She stared at the watch in Zhao Chen's hand, its cool metallic sheen gleaming under the light, the inscription "No. 007" clearly visible on the back, and then met Zhao Chen's amber eyes, deep and piercing, a chill running through her.
Of course she knew that the limited edition Horizon watch was individually numbered and verified on the official website! Her sarcasm was purely based on her disdain for Ling and her "ordinary employee" husband! She had no idea the watch was actually real?!
The gazes of his colleagues changed instantly, from awkward watching to shocked amusement. Their gazes pierced Manager Wang like needles.
Manager Wang's fingers began to tremble uncontrollably. She looked at the watch being handed to her as if it were a hot iron. Accept it? What if it was fake? If she could find out, she could save some face. But what if... what if it was real? She didn't dare think about it!
"Check it out, Manager Wang." Zhao Chen's voice was filled with a lazy urgency, like a beast teasing its prey. "It's a good opportunity to let everyone open their eyes and see how much this fake piece of jewelry my wife gave me is worth."
The pressure was like a mountain, bearing down on Manager Wang. Cold sweat broke out on her forehead. Under the silent gaze of the crowd, the overwhelming fear and shame finally overwhelmed her.
She took a step back suddenly, as if trying to avoid some ferocious beast. Her lips trembled, her face was as pale as paper, she couldn't utter a word, and her eyes were full of horror and disbelief.
"Heh." A light, disdainful sneer escaped Zhao Chen's lips. He withdrew the hand that had handed him the watch and gracefully placed the priceless "Deep Space Gazing" watch back on his wrist. The platinum clasp made a crisp "click" sound, which was particularly clear in the silent corridor.
He no longer glanced at the pale, shaky Wang, as if she were just a tiny speck of dust. He leaned slightly aside and took Yu Ling's hand. Yu Ling's palm was cold and trembling slightly.
Zhao Chen lowered his head, his gaze resting on her face. The icy coldness instantly melted, leaving only a drowning tenderness. He took her slightly cold hand and gently lifted it. Then, as all his colleagues stared in shock, envy, and disbelief, he lowered his head and placed a warm, reverent kiss on the tip of Yu Ling's ring finger.
The kiss was as gentle as a feather, yet it carried a scorching heat and the power to declare sovereignty.
"Who cares how much it's worth?" He raised his head, his amber eyes filled with starlight, reflecting only Yu Ling's figure. His voice was low and tender, clearly carried throughout the quiet corridor, "As long as it's a gift from my wife, it's priceless."
The night, as dark as ink, shrouded the terrace of the hillside hot spring villa. The vast infinity pool rippled gently, reflecting the sparse stars in the sky. Steaming hot spring vapors, carrying a faint scent of sulfur, enveloped the spacious, thickly blanketed lounge chair in the corner of the terrace in a hazy warmth.
Yu Ling, like a thoroughly stroked cat, sank limply into Zhao Chen's warm embrace. He wore only a loosely tied dark velvet bathrobe, revealing a large expanse of his firm, powerful chest. Yu Ling's cheek pressed against his slightly heated skin, and she could clearly feel his steady, powerful heartbeat, like the most soothing drumbeat.
The thrills of the day and the ultimate sweet blessing at the end seemed to have drained all her strength. Now, enveloped in the warm spring water, embraced by him, who was even warmer, her tense nerves completely relaxed, leaving only boundless laziness and peace. She closed her eyes, her long lashes casting a small shadow under her eyes. Her breathing was even and long, almost falling asleep.
Zhao Chen held her smooth shoulders with one hand, and with the other he stroked her long, still damp hair, which fell across his chest. He tilted his head slightly, resting his chin lightly on the top of her hair, his gaze fixed on the bright lights of the city in the distance, his eyes deep, his thoughts unseen.
There was only a low, soft-light floor lamp on the terrace, casting a warm halo in the mist.
A slim laptop sat on a low table nearby, its screen dimly lit. It wasn't a work interface, but an extremely complex internal monitoring screen, constantly scrolling through data and 3D modeling diagrams. The title bar clearly displayed a few cold English letters: "Horizon Global Security Network." In the lower right corner, a tiny, silver-gray watermark of the "Horizon" Group logo was faintly visible in the screenlight.
Yu Ling was half asleep, half awake, when she seemed to feel Zhao Chen's arm around her move slightly. She subconsciously shrunk closer to him, rubbing her cheek against his warm skin, and letting out an unconscious, sleepy moan.
She half-opened her hazy eyes, her gaze blurring across the lit screen on the nearby low table. The endlessly scrolling stream of complex data and 3D modeling diagrams felt like a deep ocean beyond her comprehension. Her gaze finally and unconsciously landed on the small, silver-gray logo in the lower right corner of the screen.
"Hmm..." She hummed vaguely, with a thick nasal sound, like a dream talk, and mumbled in an almost inaudible voice, "Honey, why does your game guide have the secret logo of Horizon Group..."
Her voice grew fainter, the last syllable almost caught between her lips and teeth. Her eyelids fell heavily shut, her breathing became even and long again, and she completely sank into a deep sleep. It was as if the vague mumbling just now was just an unconscious dream talk before falling into deep sleep.
Zhao Chen's fingers, which were stroking her long hair, paused slightly.
He slowly lowered his head, his gaze fixed on the defenseless sleeping face of the woman in his arms. The steam from the hot springs tinted her fair cheeks an alluring pink. Her long eyelashes were quietly covered, her lips slightly pouting, like a child naive to the world. The vague mumbling from earlier was like a feather, gently brushing against the taut string deep in his heart.
His deep eyes gazed at her in the dim light, a complex and indistinguishable array of emotions swirling within them. There was the sharp scrutiny of a moment when his core secret was touched, the moving emotion of her unreserved trust, and the helplessness of her sharp intuition revealed in her confusion. But in the end, all these emotions settled into a bottomless, thick and indissoluble tenderness.
He silently raised the corners of his lips, revealing a very faint arc that was filled with endless doting.
Then, very carefully, trying not to disturb the sleeping person in his arms, he stretched out the arm that was not around her, crossed her body, and gently touched the touchpad of the laptop with his slender fingers.
The screen went dark instantly. All the data streams, modeling diagrams, and the small, silver-gray group logo were lost in pure darkness.
After doing all this, he folded his arms again and hugged the treasure in his arms even tighter. He lowered his head and kissed Yu Ling's smooth forehead with his warm lips, very gently and with infinite care.
Warm breath brushed against her skin.
"Little fool," he whispered against her forehead in a low and tender voice that only he could hear, "That's not a secret..."
His voice paused, his eyes swept across the computer on the low table that had fallen into sleep, and then fell back on her peaceful sleeping face. The smile in his eyes was so gentle that it could drown people.
"...That's the security system upgrade plan designed for your hot spring villa." He laughed softly, with a bit of helplessness and indulgence, and kissed her brow again, his voice as light as the night wind blowing through flower petals.
"Go to sleep, my darling."
"Game guide... I'll show you tomorrow."
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