Chapter 233: Chapter 233: See Off
Xu Ke didn’t expect this matter to have such a significant impact on Lin Mengyao. Almost at the same time, Xu Ke felt himself overwhelmed by immense guilt.
"Yaoyao, be good, this was my oversight. I promise I won’t give other women the chance to get close to me again. Please stop crying, okay? You’re breaking my heart. Why don’t you hit me instead?" Xu Ke said as he grabbed Lin Mengyao’s hand and hit it against his chest, arm, and waist, each time harder, frightening Lin Mengyao so much she forgot to cry.
"What are you doing? I won’t hit you!" Lin Mengyao pulled her hand out of Xu Ke’s grasp and said loudly.
"I don’t want you to be upset. I want you to be happy and be my Princess Yaoyao." Xu Ke said, holding Lin Mengyao’s hand.
"Princess, in this day and age? How could you still say such clichéd lines?" Although Lin Mengyao spoke the words of disdain, her suddenly reddening ears, cheeks, and her shy eyes, unable to look directly, demonstrated the phrase ’saying one thing and meaning another’.
A sly smile flashed in Xu Ke’s eyes but quickly vanished, and in an instant, Xu Ke returned to his aggrieved self.
"But I meant every word I said. That’s truly what I think. I want to make you the happiest woman in the world, both mentally and materially. I want you to feel happy." Xu Ke held Lin Mengyao’s hands, looking deeply into her eyes as he spoke.
Lin Mengyao lowered her gaze, only exposing her very red eartips to the air, receiving Xu Ke’s playful gaze.
"Yaoyao, trust me, will you?" Xu Ke’s eyes lingered long on Lin Mengyao’s flushed eartips.
The fervent gaze of Xu Ke nearly set Lin Mengyao ablaze, leaving her with no mind to listen to what Xu Ke was saying. She quickly nodded, hoping to hurry home to cool her face in the fridge, it was just too hot.
The storm dissipated into the invisible just like that.
Xu Ke didn’t continue teasing, fearing to scare Lin Mengyao or give her the impression he felt guilty.
Xu Ke glanced again at Lin Mengyao’s red eartips, suppressed the restless impulse in his eyes, and quickly led her back to the villa.
That night.
"By the way, has the Jin family not contacted you in a while?"
As Xu Ke once again felt the urge to touch Lin Mengyao’s eartips, Lin Mengyao placed her hand on Xu Ke’s chest to create some distance and diverted Xu Ke’s attention with another topic.
"Hmm." Xu Ke responded absently, pinching Lin Mengyao’s waist softly, looking satisfied at her suddenly wide eyes and pouting cheeks.
"Don’t get handsy, I’m talking about something serious. Is the Jin family not wanting to cooperate with you because they’ve suddenly gone silent? Did they team up? Was that incident with the female star today their doing? But what’s their point in doing this, trying to use scandals to bring down the company? However, can you withstand them if the two families really join forces?"
Initially, Lin Mengyao only wanted to shift Xu Ke’s attention, but the more she thought, the more worried she became. The vibrant woman, as beautiful as a rose, revealed a hint of vulnerability and concern. She seemed, for a moment, like a lilac—an unusual sight, yet her allure to Xu Ke remained great.
Xu Ke reached out and pinched Lin Mengyao’s small and delicate earlobe, absent-mindedly saying, "The Jin family is destined to oppose us, but internally, they’re disunited, like a fishing net full of holes, nothing to worry about."
Xu Ke’s hand traveled from Lin Mengyao’s ears to her nape, pressing and rubbing here and there, unsettling her thoughts, causing Lin Mengyao to lose her ability to think. Her breath became irregular, and her face flushed, looking like a ripe Xi Hongshi, sweet and tangy.
"Xu Ke, my waist is still aching, stop it already." Lin Mengyao tried her best to open her eyes wide, hoping her eyes could express her dissatisfaction.
"It’s okay, I’ll give you a massage, and it won’t ache anymore." Xu Ke flipped over, looking down at Lin Mengyao from above, his face serious, though his actions suggested otherwise. At that moment, Lin Mengyao had completely lost her ability to move, only able to passively endure everything.
That night, it was like raindrops on banana leaves.
At the breakfast table in the morning, Xu Ke was eating with radiant spirit. Under the gaze of the hesitant Zhou sister, after swallowing the last bite of his sandwich, he said, "Yaoyao is fine, just tired yesterday. Let her sleep in, don’t wake her. If she wakes up later, make her a sandwich. I found today’s sandwich quite to her taste."
Hearing that she was fine, Zhou sister let out a big sigh of relief, her expression significantly more relaxed, "That’s good. I’ll make a fresh one for her when she wakes up."
"Hmm." Xu Ke nodded and then, as if remembering something, looked at Zhou sister and said, "A friend of mine told me he knows a foreign doctor who’s quite good with Xiaojie’s current condition. Since we can’t find a suitable kidney donor for Xiaojie locally, I thought of sending Xiaojie to the doctor recommended by my friend. The machines there are more advanced and might be better for Xiaojie, what do you think?"
"How could I possibly impose, isn’t it too much trouble? Going abroad must be quite expensive. I’m just a caretaker, the salary you and Madam offer is already very generous. If Xiaojie goes abroad, I’d feel it’s too much." Zhou sister wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes.
She also hoped Xiaojie’s illness could be cured. She wished Xiaojie could go abroad for better treatment, but...
"You don’t have to feel uncomfortable. Since you joined our family, you’ve taken great care of it, to us, you’re like family, and Xiaojie is like a sister to us. So, doing this is our pleasure, you don’t need to feel burdened," Xu Ke comforted her.
"Then, I’ll take advantage of the kindness from you and Madam to send Xiaojie abroad. No matter whether Xiaojie’s illness will be cured this time, you and Madam are great benefactors to the Zhou family. It’s an honor to be treated like family by you and Madam," Zhou sister said, wiping the tears from her face.