Chapter 96: On What Grounds?

“You want us to stop, so we should stop? Why should we listen to you? Don’t I deserve some dignity?”

As Liu Qingcheng fired off her sharp three-part challenge, Qin Chuan felt his arm suddenly yanked hard, and then his palm was filled with softness.

Driven by curiosity about the unknown, Qin Chuan once again felt as though his hand had developed a mind of its own, instinctively giving it a light squeeze.

“Mmm! Her heartbeat is racing. She really was frightened.”

That was Qin Chuan’s conclusion.

Seeing the two of them still so intimate before her eyes, Lin Wanyu and Lan Jin both felt a bitter, indescribable ache rise in their hearts.

Qin Chuan, trying to keep the atmosphere from becoming too tense, knew that one of the women opposite was, in name at least, a human shield, while the other very likely possessed the rare Yin constitution. If things escalated beyond repair, that would be a problem.

“Qingcheng, there’s no need to make things so tense. We’re all family here. Why can’t we talk it out properly?”

That said, Qin Chuan’s hand still stubbornly kept to its own ideas, kneading and rubbing with even greater force than before, shaping that tender fullness exactly as he liked.

“Then why are you still holding on?”

Lan Jin was the first to spot the key issue.

Qin Chuan froze for a moment, then understood what she meant and reluctantly let go.

When he looked again, Liu Qingcheng’s eyes were already glistening with allure, her face flushed with breathtaking charm. That seductive look made Qin Chuan understand once more why there was that line about spring nights being too short and the emperor no longer rising from his bed at dawn.

With such a bewitching little expression, if she were to beckon to an emperor and coo, “Come on, Your Majesty, let’s have some fun. After all, we’ve got plenty of time,” who could possibly resist?

“Men really are all the same—none of them are any good!”

Lin Wanyu muttered under her breath.

But Qin Chuan’s hearing was far beyond ordinary, and he caught every word clearly. In a fit of inexplicable impulse, he replied, “How can you curse your father like that?”

Just as Lin Wanyu was still a little dumbfounded, Lan Jin, who had heard what Lin Wanyu had just muttered while standing beside her, blurted out in shock, “Sister Wanyu, you call Qin Chuan dad too?”

“Mmm! The word too really is used brilliantly by little Lan Jin.”

Qin Chuan silently gave her a thumbs-up in his heart.

And so, the atmosphere in the room turned strange in an instant. Lin Wanyu and Liu Qingcheng, in particular, looked at Lan Jin with especially peculiar expressions, as if they had just discovered a new world.

Lan Jin quickly realized she had misspoken and blushed so deeply she looked as if she wanted nothing more than to crawl into a crack in the floor.

Lin Wanyu, however, refused to let her friend remain so embarrassed. She immediately shifted her attack onto Qin Chuan to draw the attention away.

“What nonsense are you spouting? Who insulted my father?”

At first, Lin Wanyu had not caught on and was still pointing at Qin Chuan’s nose in accusation.

Qin Chuan patiently explained, “Isn’t Uncle Lin a man?”

“I…”

Lin Wanyu was momentarily at a loss for words. But she was not one to admit defeat easily, and soon mounted a forceful counterattack. “My dad has never gone out cheating behind my mom’s back. No matter how many temptations he faced, he always held the line. What about you? Heh!”

Qin Chuan’s mouth twitched.

Yet Lin Wanyu’s analogy seemed a little off. After all, his relationship with her was not that of husband and wife either. And yet, why did he feel such a strange sense of being caught in bed by his wife?

Qin Chuan’s mood grew complicated, but Liu Qingcheng was the first to strike back.

“I heard Brother Chuan say that President Lin has already agreed to break off the engagement with him. So why does that sound like such a jealous remark? Could it be that President Lin still has feelings for Brother Chuan?”

“You’re the one who still has feelings for him! Besides, there was never any old love between us, so there’s nothing left to be unfinished.”

Lin Wanyu’s face flushed as her thoughts were exposed, but her words remained merciless.

Even she herself could not quite understand why she felt angry whenever Qin Chuan got entangled with other women outside. Even her usually steady emotions would occasionally spiral out of control, and that made Lin Wanyu feel a little afraid.

Clearly, Liu Qingcheng had no intention of letting it rest there.

Smiling sweetly, she said, “President Lin, don’t be so excited. That was my poor choice of words. To be precise, you’ve secretly given your heart to Brother Chuan. But that’s fine. I don’t even mind if the two of you end up together. Only, before that, there’s one thing we should make clear: if I’m the senior wife, then you can only be the junior one and call me sister. Heehee!”

Liu Qingcheng laughed until she shook all over, the peaks before her chest swaying as if stirred by the wind, making Qin Chuan’s head spin a little. More than that, the words she spoke were enough to stir a man’s heart.

To be honest, Qin Chuan was tempted.

No, not just tempted.

Very tempted.

Liu Qingcheng, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, flared up all at once and instinctively snapped back, “Why?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Liu Qingcheng realized she had misspoken. But at this point, she could no longer concern herself with such details. This was far too important to allow even the slightest carelessness.

Even if she, Liu Qingcheng, intended to dissolve the engagement with Qin Chuan in the future, it had not yet been dissolved. And besides, during his treatment earlier, Qin Chuan had already seen everything. No matter how one arranged it, she was in no position to be the senior one.

“That’s right. Why should you?”

Lan Jin seized the moment to support her best friend, though whether there was also a hint of grievance on her own behalf in those words, no one could tell.

Liu Qingcheng lifted her chest proudly and said with some satisfaction, “Because we know each other’s depth and length.”

“Hey, watch your words! I don’t know your depth, all right?” Qin Chuan hurriedly corrected her.

Liu Qingcheng’s expression stiffened slightly. Thinking it over, Qin Chuan did have a point. After all, the two of them had never truly crossed that line before.

“Because I know his length.”

Liu Qingcheng quickly changed her wording, but the triumphant air about her did not diminish in the slightest.

Once the hidden meaning in her words was understood, Liu Qingcheng and Lan Jin’s momentum instantly deflated. Both of them turned to Qin Chuan with questioning looks.

But when they saw that Qin Chuan had no intention of explaining himself, the hopeful light in their eyes collapsed at once, and they drooped like defeated roosters.

“Qin Chuan, I came here today mainly to apologize to you. Last time at home, I misunderstood you. I’m sorry.”

After taking a deep breath, Lin Wanyu’s spirit lifted again. Without waiting for Qin Chuan to react to the apology, she turned to Lan Jin and said, “Jin’er, let’s go. We shouldn’t disturb people while they’re enjoying their little two-person world.”

“Okay.”

Lan Jin shot Qin Chuan a resentful glance, then followed Lin Wanyu reluctantly out of the president’s office.

Watching the two women vanish from sight, Qin Chuan felt as if something deep in his heart was drifting away from him as well.

“Brother Chuan, aren’t you going after them to comfort them? They seem really upset,” Liu Qingcheng asked considerately.

Qin Chuan opened his mouth, but in the end only let out a long sigh. Who had asked him to lose control back then? Whatever cause one sows, that is the effect one reaps. Every action comes with a price.

“Brother Chuan, you don’t need to worry about me. What I just said was how I truly feel. I really don’t mind if they’re with you,” Liu Qingcheng said with a radiant smile.

After hesitating for a moment, Qin Chuan still shook his head. “Forget it. Some things can’t be forced. Besides, I still haven’t even taken in this little fox of yours yet. How could I bear to leave?”

Though Qin Chuan spoke half in jest, Liu Qingcheng was deeply moved. If Qin Chuan had really chased after them, she could have accepted it, but she would inevitably have felt a pang of disappointment, perhaps even the sense of being abandoned.

Now that Qin Chuan had stayed, Liu Qingcheng felt that everything she had done had not been in vain. At the very least, he had not looked down on her.

“There’s one thing I’m especially curious about. Why don’t you mind if other women are with me?” Qin Chuan asked, puzzled.