Chapter 33 This is one of his most sensitive areas...
Jiang Shan's voice was weak and listless, like a mosquito buzzing, perhaps because he wasn't feeling well.
But in the room so quiet you could hear a pin drop, Zhu Meng paused as she was about to lean down, supporting herself on the headboard.
Jiang Shan's mouth smacked unconsciously, whether he was dreaming of something delicious or was thirsty and wanted to drink water.
Afraid of startling Jiang Shan with a sound, Zhu Meng hesitantly drew a circle in the air with his hand, then rested it lightly on the headboard. He narrowed his eyes slightly, observing the sick girl in the dim light of the bedside lamp.
Her brows were still furrowed, and her lips were tight.
It didn't seem like I was dreaming of something delicious; it was more like I was dreaming of ferocious demons and monsters.
...Jiangshan had a nightmare?
Zhu Meng reached out to Jiang Shan's shoulder, instinctively about to pat him, but hesitated and stopped just before making contact.
Won't it scare her if I suddenly wake her up from her dream?
"Jiangshan," Zhu Meng leaned down and breathed softly into her ear, "Are you thirsty?"
As if sensing something, Jiang Shan squinted open his eyes, his gaze hazy, like a thin blade of grass struggling to squeeze out from a narrow crevice.
She gave a hoarse hum: "Hmm...?"
Zhu Meng pulled away slightly, his eyes fixed on her misty, rain-soaked eyes: "Are you thirsty?"
Jiang Shan had neither the mood nor the energy to reply.
After hearing his question, she nodded instinctively.
What is Zhu Mengtiao babbling in her ear at this time? Can't you see that her eyelids are barely open, and she's as sleepy as a dog that just wants to lie down?
I'm so tired, I don't want to talk, I just want to sleep.
"The empire?" Zhu Meng kept urging.
Jiang Shan was torn between his inner thoughts and his own conscience.
Zhu Meng's eyes are so wide open, can't he tell she's not feeling well? And he keeps urging her on and on. If he's just talking too much and doesn't need it, he could sew it up... But Zhu Meng is, after all, her boss's boss. If she ignores him, will he dock her pay?
Although she had a long face before, Zhu Meng didn't seem to say anything. But times have changed, and maybe he'll start to hold a grudge today?
Tsk, did you really have to force her to speak when she was feeling so unwell?
Those evil capitalists have gone too far.
"Would you like me to get you a glass of water?"
Zhu Meng's expression was gentler than the moonlight streaming in through the window. Unfortunately, as Jiang Shan regained consciousness, a buzzing sound like bees began to echo in her ears. She could only guess from the opening and closing of Zhu Meng's lips that he was probably asking her if she wanted some water.
Yes, she's been lying down for so long, and her body is dehydrated due to the fever, so naturally she's thirsty and wants to drink water.
But getting up to drink water is so tiring. She's lying on the soft bed now, not moving at all, and her limbs feel sore and weak.
Jiang Shan felt a throbbing pain in his temples, and evil thoughts began to arise in his mind.
Zhu Meng usually seems so calm and collected, you can't get a word out of him, why is he being so noisy today?
Was he this noisy back then?
Ugh, I want to fuck him even more now...
Anxiety and longing overwhelmed him like a tide, and Jiang Shan subconsciously pursed his lips. His already chapped lips were squeezed, and a faint red ooze seeped out.
Zhu Meng frowned, took a tissue from the bedside table, and gently pressed it to her lips.
The amount of bleeding was not much, but it was very noticeable.
Zhu Meng's heart felt like it was on a fast track, pounding wildly, and his vision began to blur.
Hmm, why is he fainting at the sight of blood?
He used to handle bloody meat in the kitchen without even blinking.
"I'll go get the water." Zhu Meng's Adam's apple bobbed loudly.
There was a water dispenser outside the room, and Zhu Meng returned with a cup of warm water in just over ten seconds. Seeing that Jiang Shan had closed his eyes again after just a slit, Zhu Meng silently took out a cotton swab from the medicine box left by Dr. Li.
Zhu Meng originally intended to apply some honey to Jiang Shan's lips, but just before the cotton swab touched Jiang Shan's lips, he hesitated.
He had previously kissed Jiang Shan's hand lightly with her consent, which made her unhappy.
If she knew he had wiped her lips with a cotton swab without her knowledge, wouldn't she be even angrier?
no.
Getting angry is bad for your health.
She was already feeling unwell, and he couldn't make things worse.
Zhu Meng took a piece of paper, wrapped the cotton swab in it, placed it on the bedside table, and turned to look at the girl who had squinted again because of the noise.
"Jiangshan, get up and have some water... okay?" Perhaps feeling that his request was a bit abrupt, Zhu Meng rubbed his thumb on the edge of the paper cup twice and added, "Your lips are too dry."
Jiang Shan blinked twice quickly, then closed his eyes slightly, seemingly feeling dizzy from the bright light.
“…Oh, okay.” She nodded lazily.
Although Jiang Shan only said three words, Zhu Meng felt like fireworks were going off in his heart. He was even happier than the day he successfully acquired a rival company of similar size after two years of hard work and various business battles.
He smiled slightly and reached out with his free hand to reach for Jiang Shan's shoulder: "Drinking it directly might spill. Wait a minute, I'll go out and find a straw."
"Hmm?" Jiang Shan leaned back against the soft pillows, his face expressionless. "Oh, okay."
Why is Zhu Meng so happy that she's drinking water?
baffling.
Jiang Shan endured the inexplicable pain in his throat and drank half a glass of water. He waved his hand, pushed the glass back to Zhu Meng's hand, closed his eyes, and was about to lie down again when suddenly his phone vibrated in his pocket.
...?
Who would message her in the middle of the night?
Could it be Zhao Yi? After all, she hasn't been to the company for several days; there might be something on the project that requires her attention.
After drinking some hot water, Jiang Shan's mind cleared up a little. He reached for his phone to check his messages, but was momentarily distracted by the sender's name.
It's "Mom".
"Xiaoshan, are you still angry with your mother? I know that what I said on the phone before was too harsh and hurt our eldest daughter's feelings. I'm sorry."
Jiang Shan frowned, feeling inexplicably nauseous.
It's hard to say whether it was gastrointestinal stress caused by a low-grade fever, or how much genuine skepticism lay behind those words.
As the saying goes, "It's easier to change mountains and rivers than to change one's nature." Once a person reaches adulthood, their thought patterns are basically set.
Even she herself found it hard to change her subconscious thoughts. Did Chen Yuan really realize that her way of treating her daughter was inappropriate after reflecting on herself for the past few days and feeling uneasy about her conscience?
...Is he perhaps up to something else?
Jiang Shan wasn't really in the mood to talk to her. He originally just wanted to type a question mark, but then he thought that Chen Yuan might not understand a simple symbol, so he squinted and typed a few words.
"Is there something you need?"
Chen Yuan replied almost instantly.
"National Day is coming soon, right? Your company should be on holiday too, right? Can you come back for a visit? It's always good for our family to be together."
Jiang Shan did not believe that this was the only thing.
If she was only concerned about whether she would come back for the National Day holiday, Chen Yuan wouldn't have sent her a message in the middle of the night.
It's an intuition, there's no reason behind it.
Ha, she's been hurt so many times, she's even developed a bit of a sixth sense.
"What exactly happened?" Jiang Shan pressed abruptly.
Half a minute later, Chen Yuan sent a very long voice message.
It was a chorus of complaints mixed with local dialect.
“Oh, Xiaoshan, your cousin Chen Feng has been arrested and taken to the police station. Someone reported him for molestation, and the person who filed the report used your name… Mom knows he wronged you, but you’ve already hit him and scolded him, so you should be over it by now, right? Now that it’s at the police station, all the neighbors are talking about our family, and your mother can’t even hold her head up high.”
"……so what?"
Jiang Shan listened quietly to the entire voice message, then typed with a cold laugh: "Is your reputation more important, or my health?"
"Of course your health is more important; health is the foundation of everything. However, your cousin didn't do anything substantial... and he said he won't do it again. So, could you come over during the National Day holiday to sign a letter of understanding?"
Jiang Shan listened to the second voice message word for word, and didn't even want to give her a single cold laugh.
Instead, there was calm, a deathly calm.
Even the intermittent nausea in my throat is gone.
With trembling fingers, she deleted and blocked them all in one go.
After everything was over, Jiang Shan's heart felt like it had just jumped out of a freezer and resumed beating normally.
His heart was pounding as he woke up, and his vitality was inexplicably vibrant, as if it might burst out of Jiangshan's throat at any moment.
Zhu Meng looked at her pale face and asked hesitantly.
"How are you?"
Jiang Shan was speechless, his anger rising in his chest, and just stared blankly at him.
Zhu Meng suddenly stood up.
"I'll call Li Li over."
"No." Although Jiang Shan's head was a little dizzy, he quickly realized that this person should be the family doctor who was always by the side of the domineering CEO. "No need to trouble the doctor."
As they walked, Zhu Meng patiently explained to her, "He received my salary, so naturally he has to do his job. Coming to see you at this time isn't a problem. Jiang Shan, your condition isn't good; you need to see a doctor..."
"No need!" Jiang Shan suddenly shouted.
Her voice was very loud.
It was as if, with all its might, a desperate roar was uttered from a wounded soul.
Both of them were stunned in the room.
Jiang Shan was surprised that he had suddenly shouted so loudly, while Zhu Meng was even more confused.
This was the first time in his life he had ever been yelled at.
Theoretically speaking, one should be angry.
But his first reaction was actually heartache.
Shouting so loudly about how much you care about the country, doesn't your throat hurt?
The two remained locked in a stalemate for more than a minute before Zhu Meng slowly raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
“I won’t call him over.” He spoke slowly, as if carefully choosing his words, or as if he were making a solemn apology. “…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have forced you to do something you didn’t like.”
Jiang Shan felt a strange pang of sadness in his nose.
It is said that people become more emotional at night, and that people's emotions may fluctuate even more when they are sick.
She had two of these traits, and the string of reason that had been stretched to its limit in her mind was finally about to snap.
Jiang Shan's eyes started to burn, and he covered his face tightly.
How strange, she was the one who yelled at Zhu Meng, so Zhu Meng should be the one who felt wronged, but she herself is the one who feels wronged.
What's even stranger is that she only felt better after forcing Zhu Meng, who had done nothing wrong, to apologize.
It was as if the desire for control that she lacked from her mother was obtained from another person, and only then did she finally have a pitifully small sense of security.
Sigh, is she really that dramatic?
But she's not usually like this...
After waiting quietly for Jiang Shan to adjust for a few minutes, Zhu Meng gently walked to her side.
He knelt on one knee, voluntarily placing himself in a humble position.
"Jiang Shan, I'm sorry I hurt you with my stubbornness. I apologize and you can do whatever you want with me... What do I have to do to make you stop being angry with me?"
Jiang Shan looked down at him and shook his head.
She wasn't angry at Zhu Meng; she was more angry at herself.
Why yell at Zhu Meng, an innocent person? Zhu Meng just saw that she was not in good condition and wanted to call a doctor to check on her.
Such normal words of concern.
She was upset by Chen Yuan, so she chose to delete and block her. It seemed like she had let it go, but in reality, she was still holding a grudge and had nowhere to vent it. Zhu Meng accidentally walked into the line of fire, so she took it out on him.
Sigh, she's always been objective, so why is she starting to hurt innocent people?
Impulsiveness is truly the devil.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get angry at you."
Jiang Shan sniffed, somewhat unable to look into Zhu Meng's clear eyes.
"It's nothing." Zhu Meng shook his head, lowering his eyes to conceal the fleeting surprise he felt at Jiang Shan's apology.
He looked serious and spoke with unwavering conviction, like a steadfast missionary from the old days: "If getting angry at me makes you happy, I'd rather you get angry more often. In the future, don't bottle up your anger, just let it out, okay?"
Perhaps because of his low position, Zhu Meng's robe was slightly open, revealing a view that was perfectly within Jiang Shan's sight.
Hmm, so white, so pink.
Jiang Shan nodded blankly at Zhu Meng, who had a sincere expression on his face, when an inappropriate word popped into his head.
"Ready to eat after opening the lid".
Tsk tsk tsk, Zhu Meng looks like a total iceberg tough guy on the surface, so why is his chest so big...?
It looks delicious, I really want to eat it.
People with fevers don't have much of a rational mind, even if it's just a low-grade fever.
Moreover, Jiang Shan is a man of action.
The thought had barely crossed her mind, and before she could even lick her lips, her head was already leaning in.
Zhu Meng didn't know why she was leaning closer. He looked at where Jiang Shan was looking and had a vague feeling that something was wrong. He subconsciously wanted to back away.
He did indeed retreat again and again until his back touched the headboard.
"The empire? You... Hiss!"
Her sharp teeth, through the thin layer of her shirt, gently and slowly brushed, rubbed, and picked, much like the probe of a computer-controlled texture analyzer slowly and irresistibly pressing down when measuring the hardness and brittleness of an object placed on a tray.
Zhu Meng trembled all over, like a leaf blown into the sky by a black-level typhoon.
Aaaaaah!
Does Jiang Shan know what she's doing?
Did she know that every inch of his skin was as sensitive as a bell, sending out an itchy alarm at the slightest touch? And this was one of the most sensitive areas!
"Don't... touch it..."
Zhu Meng pleaded softly, her voice suddenly tinged with a faint sob.
Jiang Shan gave a vague "Hmm?"
For a rare moment, reason returned to her. She blinked and looked at Zhu Meng's red eyes, which were glistening with tears from the stimulation, with an almost innocent gaze.
"Why? Don't you like physical contact, and do you like my physical contact the most?"
Her tone was so calm.
It was like discussing a casual topic, like what to eat for lunch tomorrow.
But Zhu Meng, who was opposite her, was not calm at all.
Because she hadn't yet created a safe distance between them.
Zhu Meng covered her mouth with one hand, as if to stop herself from making any shameful sounds: "You're not thinking straight right now. You'll regret whatever you do."
Jiang Shan shook his head.
No, I am perfectly sober.
She didn't want to say anything more, so she grabbed Zhu Meng's broad shoulders with both hands and buried her head in his strong, white, and large chest muscles, revealing a set of sharp teeth.
To taste the fragrance.
"hiss!"
Zhu Meng suddenly arched his back, like a hedgehog that had been frightened and raised its quills, but was afraid that the quills would prick Jiang Shan, so it forced itself to straighten out its posture within half a minute.
He originally intended to abandon the country.
When Jiang Shan leaned closer with a blank expression and blatantly pressed against his chest, I wanted to push her away.
But seeing that the area behind Jiangshan was empty, with only a bare cashmere quilt and mattress, he hesitated for two seconds and ultimately couldn't bring himself to do it.
If the empire were to crash onto the bed, it would hurt.
She's not in good health; what if she falls and gets something wrong...?
Zhu Meng is cautious and hesitant, yet he has no scruples about the fate of the nation.
Taking advantage of his hesitation, she decisively pressed her advantage.
Zhu Meng felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably.
His usually calm and composed pupils dilated slightly, and his fair cheeks flushed bright red in an instant.
"Ugh!"
-----------------------
Author's note: Today's defense went smoothly. Time to start reviewing for the exam~ It's gotten colder these past few days, everyone remember to keep warm~ [hugs]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com