Ye Huohuo felt a buzzing sound in her head. What was going on?
What did this man surnamed Li want?
"You… what is this?!"
Li Mohan propped his chin with one hand, turning his body to look down at Ye Huohuo beside him.
The bedside nightlight cast only a faint glow, with dappled shadows falling on Ye Huohuo’s hair. Her slightly trembling eyelashes, a result of nervousness, softened her eyes. Her light-colored, thin lips were pursed, the corners of her mouth curling into a faint arc.
Li Mohan’s fingertips slowly traced upward along Ye Huohuo’s delicate jawline, his thumb resting and gently rubbing against her lips.
The slight sting caused Ye Huohuo’s lips to part involuntarily, and his fingers naturally slipped into the gap, prying open her teeth.
"Mmm…"
A soft sensation met his fingertips. Li Mohan’s breathing hitched. He flipped over and covered her, lifting her chin and kissing her fiercely. His tongue roamed wantonly, conquering her lips and teeth.
Ye Huohuo tilted her chin slightly. Li Mohan kissed every inch of her lips with his fine kisses. His warm palm covered her flushed cheeks, which were reddened by suffocation.
He lowered his eyes, capturing Ye Huohuo’s delicate face in his sight through the dim light. Desire mingled with various complex emotions. His palm moved downward, his slender fingers brushing against her slender neck.
Hearing Ye Huohuo’s gradually deepening breaths, a smile flickered in Li Mohan’s eyes. He restrained himself slightly, then slowly leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips.
"Your senior disciple brother said this is the only way to save you! Otherwise, after midnight, you have a ninety percent chance of dying!"
"You… you’re not going to… with me…" Ye Huohuo felt like her face could be used to bake a pancake.
"I thought about it. We’re husband and wife now, and you’ve helped me a lot. If you’re in danger, I should help you."
Ye Huohuo looked at Li Mohan, who was pressing down on her. She couldn't quite articulate what she was feeling. This was her first night, and he was so rationally analyzing the cause and effect.
Yes, whatever he was doing to her was for her own good.
She finally understood what her senior disciple brother had said when he left!
She wanted to push him away; she didn’t want this cheap gift. But another voice in her heart spoke: You like him, and he can save your life. What are you being so sentimental about?
Finally, she compromised. People grow through compromise, don’t they?
Li Mohan’s kiss slid from her forehead to her lips, then lower, his breath filling her neck.
The intense heat that belonged uniquely to Li Mohan gradually enveloped her. Unknowingly, her clothes were shed.
She squeezed her eyes shut, her hands tightly gripping the bedsheet beneath her, trembling slightly from fear of the unknown.
Fortunately, he was still gentle, slowly guiding her into a painful pleasure.
Perhaps Li Mohan had been abstinent for too long, but once he started, he was unwilling to stop.
Ye Huohuo could maintain a semblance of consciousness at first, awkwardly cooperating with him. Gradually, like a small boat battered by huge waves, she eventually lost her bearings.
The night was long yet short. She felt herself hovering between sleep and wakefulness several times, being wildly dishevelled.
Ye Huohuo was woken by hunger. When she opened her eyes, it was broad daylight, and the space beside her was empty.
Looking at the mess on the bed and the conspicuous red stain on the white sheet, last night’s events flashed through her mind in fragments.
She rubbed her face in frustration. She wouldn't have felt any pressure doing this with someone she liked. The problem was he didn't like her. Last night's act was purely to save her life, to help her!
From beginning to end, his heart was occupied by only one person.
Ye Huohuo slipped on her pajamas and took a shower in the bathroom, washing herself clean.
When she looked in the mirror, she saw the marks from last night still on her neck. She had no choice but to put on a high-necked top to cover them.
Only then did she go downstairs for breakfast.
Because she woke up late, Old Master Li had already gone fishing with some old friends he had arranged to meet. Li Mohan had gone back to his room to sleep after finishing his night shift. Li Mocheng had gone to the university to check資料 for his thesis. Li Mohan had already gone to work.
In the spacious dining hall, only Li Moyan remained, eating his breakfast while looking at the news on his phone.
Hearing a sound, he looked up and saw Ye Huohuo entering the dining hall.
He always claimed to be a master of romance, whether that was proven or not, but having spent time in the entertainment industry, even if he hadn't eaten pork, he had seen pigs walk. Just by looking at Ye Huohuo’s gait and the hint of purple on her collarbone, he could tell.
Li Moyan chuckled, "Sister-in-law, you must have been exhausted last night! Is my elder brother quite energetic?"
Ye Huohuo’s face instantly turned red. She picked up a spoon and took a large gulp of porridge, not expecting it to be freshly served from the pot. The heat made tears well up in her eyes.
She silently complained, thinking how out of all the Li family members, Li Moyan was the most gossipy. It was as if fate wanted her to encounter the one person she feared.
She felt meeting Li Moyan was one of her five misfortunes for the day; she was too unlucky!
Seeing Ye Huohuo's embarrassed state, Li Moyan laughed heartily. "Why are you so honest? You've already given yourself away with that one remark. Elder brother is much more composed than you. I tried everything, but I couldn't get anything out of him."
Ye Huohuo learned her lesson this time. After blowing on it several times, she cautiously took another sip of porridge. She hadn't eaten much last night and had thrown it all up. After a night like that, she was truly starving. She felt like she could devour a cow.
She slurped down more than half a bowl of porridge and three steamed buns, finally feeling somewhat full.
Ye Huohuo took a deep breath and stirred the porridge in her bowl with her spoon. "Li Moyan, I cleaned up the dirty things in your film crew yesterday. You should go to work today. Why haven’t you left?"
Li Moyan narrowed his peach-blossom eyes, a mischievous smile on his face. "What? Did you do too many bad things last night and now you’re afraid to face people?"
"Heh, why are you making such a fuss? Hasn't your elder brother ever brought a woman home to spend the night?"
Ye Huohuo asked this casually, without looking up.
Li Moyan raised an eyebrow. "What do you think our Li family is? Can just any woman be brought home? We all have our own apartments in the city. If we really wanted to casually find a woman to satisfy our physiological needs, we wouldn't bring them here.
As for women brought home, there’s only Elder Brother’s…"
He stopped mid-sentence and took a sip of milk from the table.
Ye Huohuo's pupils twitched slightly. While eating her porridge, she said naturally, "You mean your elder brother's girlfriend who died before?"
Li Moyan’s eyes immediately widened. "No way! Did Elder Brother tell you? He told us not to gossip, and he told you himself!"
"He didn't say much. What was her name? Was she your elder brother's university classmate?" Ye Huohuo mixed half-truths with the information she had deduced, making it sound like she had calculated it.
As expected, Li Moyan took the bait, thinking Li Mohan had already revealed a lot. He decided not to hide anything anymore. "Her name was Mei Yingxue. She was Elder Brother's schoolmate, a year below him. Back then, they were the golden couple of the entire university.
Oh, and Sister Mei was his distant cousin.
Sister Xue was exceptionally beautiful and studied dance. People were already approaching her for movie roles before she even graduated. We all thought she would be our sister-in-law back then. Elder Brother and she were incredibly in love.
If it weren't for Father and Mother's accident later, I might have a nephew by now."
Ye Huohuo listened calmly as Li Moyan spoke, but her hands under the table dug their fingernails deep into her flesh.
"Then how did she die?"
"Alas, she died saving Elder Brother. That year, Elder Brother was negotiating a business deal in Longcheng, and it unexpectedly touched upon the interests of some local people. They hired assassins to eliminate Elder Brother.
That day, Sister Xue was in the same car as Elder Brother. Because Elder Brother had been drinking during a business dinner and the driver had been sent back to retrieve samples, Sister Xue acted as the temporary driver.
Unexpectedly, that very night, something was tampered with in the car. When they drove onto a mountain road, the brakes failed. Elder Brother was inexplicably heavily drunk that night; he didn't even wake up in such a situation.
At the critical moment, Sister Xue unbuckled Elder Brother's seatbelt and pushed him out of the car. She herself, along with the car, crashed through the guardrail and plunged into the river below.
Later, Elder Brother was rescued by passers-by. The car was salvaged, but Sister Xue's body was never found.
Because her body was never found, Elder Brother has always believed she is still alive. Every year, whenever he has the chance, he goes to Longcheng and is still trying to find people.
But we all know Sister Xue couldn't possibly be alive. After all, falling from such a height into the fast-flowing river below, how could anyone survive?
Because of this, Grandpa has never been too pushy about Elder Brother finding a girlfriend, and we usually don't dare to mention Sister Xue in front of him. I didn't expect him to tell you himself."
Ye Huohuo took another sip of porridge. The same porridge now tasted bitter.
"No, he didn't tell me about Mei Yingxue. I calculated it myself!"
Li Moyan realized at that moment that he had been tricked by this little girl. "You…"
Just as he was about to say something, Ye Huohuo's phone rang. As soon as she answered, a loud voice from the other end shouted, "Ye Huohuo, get your butt over to Li Corporation immediately!"
A chill ran down Ye Huohuo's spine. Damn it, Second Senior Brother, you've arrived?