"We're married now, so you can touch me whenever you want," Ning Chen said, holding Ning Jing's hand on his face, his gaze deep and lingering.
In the dim light, Ning Jing couldn't make out the emotions in Ning Chen's eyes, only feeling the intense heat on the back of her hand.
Ning Jing abruptly pulled her hand out of Ning Chen's grasp, then sat up straight, her eyes fixed on the screen.
Ning Chen reached out towards Ning Jing, but quickly lowered his hand. He watched the side of Ning Jing's face, a hint of loss in his eyes, but his gaze remained deep and lingering.
Ning Jing dared not recall the warmth of Ning Chen's palm just now, fearing she might be unable to resist being swept away and forget her place.
However, Ning Chen's sudden interruption had indeed pulled Ning Jing out of the terrifying atmosphere.
Time ticked by slowly, Ning Jing's body stiff, completely unable to focus on any of the dramatic plot twists.
Finally, when the Taoist priest caught the ghost, the film came to an end.
The person beside her remained motionless, and Ning Jing, unable to bear it any longer, cast a sideways glance at Ning Chen. To her surprise, Ning Chen caught her peeking.
Ning Jing hadn't expected to be caught so easily by Ning Chen, and for a moment, she could only avert her gaze with embarrassment and prompt Ning Chen.
"Brother, let's go home."
"Home? Don't you want to play a little longer?"
As Ning Chen spoke, he paused and pursed his lips, realizing that she probably just didn't want to be with him anymore.
"Yes, Brother, let's go home. I miss Lili, and I want to catch up with her."
Ning Chen was silent for a moment, then nodded. Remembering Ning Jing's sudden movement of withdrawing her hand, Ning Chen led the way outside.
Upon arriving home, as if to atone, Ning Jing ordered exquisite fruits and Lili's favorite oolong tea to be prepared.
Ning Chen, holding a newspaper, sat not far away, watching Ning Jing's nervous demeanor.
Lili, whose real name was Yang Moli, was Ning Jing's first friend after coming to the Ning family. She was forthright and lacked pretense.
Ning Chen, who paid "special attention" to Ning Jing, naturally knew this, but only to the extent of knowing and allowing her to be close to Ning Jing.
Seeing Ning Jing pacing back and forth, fiddling with the ornaments on her bag, and constantly taking sips of water, Ning Chen realized Ning Jing was a bit anxious at the moment.
Ning Chen frowned and subtly called an older maid to his side.
"Young Master, what are your orders?"
The elder maid, having served the Ning family for so many years, was adept at reading people.
She noticed that although Ning Chen had called her over, his eyes were on Ning Jing. She accordingly bent down and whispered into Ning Chen's ear.
"Did Ning Jing and Yang Moli quarrel recently?"
"Young Master, I haven't heard anything about that. I remember Miss mentioning on her birthday that she wanted to go to the amusement park with Miss Yang."
The maid's eyes darted to the upper right, as if recalling.
"You may go."
Upon Ning Chen's command, the maid cautiously bowed and quietly left.
Ning Chen, holding his newspaper, walked to a corner of the living room and sat down.
"Sister Zhang, how is it? Has my precious one kissed that brat?!" Not long after the maid had retreated, Ning's mother sent a message to her.
The maid was very clever and had already set her message alerts to vibrate. Su Dan Novel Network.
"Not yet, Madam."
At this moment, at the highest echelons of Ning Corporation, Ning's father sat regally at his desk, while Ning's mother lounged on the sofa beside him, idly swinging her little feet.
Seeing the few words sent by the maid, Ning's mother frowned in disappointment, then sent the maid a sticker of a cool, handsome guy with a cigarette in his mouth, looking up defiantly, followed by three words: "I'm waiting!"
In her youth, Ning's mother had been a romantic adventurer, but now she found that love was more interesting when watched from the sidelines.
Especially the combination of a demure beauty and a cool, steady soldier. Ning's mother was currently most interested in this type of pairing.
Before long, Lili finally arrived with the pastries she had made.
Ning Jing heard the footsteps and hurried to meet her.
"Heh, little girl, so you finally remembered I'm not dead yet!" Lili feigned an aggrieved tone and pinched Ning Jing's cheek upon seeing her.
For some reason, Ning Jing dared not meet her gaze and meekly allowed Yang Moli to pinch her face with her head slightly bowed.
Ning Chen, watching from a distance, lowered the newspaper in his hand, his eyes sharp and his expression hostile as he stared at Yang Moli.
"Here, these are the little pastries I made." Seeing that Ning Jing seemed to be in low spirits, Yang Moli intended to quickly bring out the pastries to cheer her up.
However, she didn't know that these little treats, made to pass the time, wouldn't cheer Ning Jing up, but rather deepen her guilt.
Ning Jing took them, staring at the golden pastries as if in a daze.
Ning Chen, who had been walking towards them, stopped upon seeing their interaction.
"Let's go inside." Ning Jing forced a smile and led Yang Moli into the living room.
The topics of girls could sometimes be surprisingly broad.
Their conversation began with a novel Yang Moli had recently been reading, then moved on to new projects, and soon to which brand of sweaters looked the best.
After an indeterminate amount of time, their conversation finally paused.
A moment later, Yang Moli suddenly remembered that Ning Jing had promised to go to the amusement park but had stood her up.
Thinking of this, Yang Moli sighed.
It was all this girl's fault for being too well-behaved; Ning Jing had forgotten to ask for an explanation when she was unhappy.
"Hey, you still owe me a day at the amusement park. Don't tell me it's because of your brother again?"
-------------------------------------
"Where did you go?" As soon as Yun Shunnian arrived at Qi Yuan, she saw Aunt Ning waiting by the door. Aunt Ning's eyes lit up when she saw Yun Shunnian's car.
"Young Madam, please go and see the Young Master. He's in a very bad state, looking for you."
Yun Shunnian froze, and without time to ponder, she hurried inside.
As Yun Shunnian pushed open the door, the strong smell of tobacco assailed her.
Mu Qi was leaning against the sofa, roughly downing red wine.
His rough actions formed a stark contrast with his refined features, a sight that pierced Yun Shunnian's heart with pain.