Chapter 951 - Lecture
Despite the difference in the levels of improvement between Ketchup and Bacon, Iris didn't favour one over the other. She was equally thorough in training each of them and emphasizing the importance of teamwork.
"You are individuals with your own set of strengths and weaknesses," she lectured them in their current session. "But in a hacking battle especially against someone who has better skills than you two, always remember that you should fight as one unit."
"Aye aye, Mommy! Meow~"
"Understood, Mother."
Iris studied the simulation results on the screen of her portable computer station. "I think it would be better if I could streamline the connection between your systems so that you can share data commands faster."
"Mother, Bacon is against this idea. I don't want Big Sister Ketchup instantly knowing what's on my mind. This is a breach of my privacy rights. Allowing my sister to have direct access to my system as if it's her own is also not classy."
"Hmph! Bacon you big meanie, how dare you talk like that about Ketchup who is your super-duper to the highest level awesome big sister?! Unlike this super-duper to the highest level big meanie beside me, Ketchup doesn't mind Mommy's plan because we're all one big happy family! Right, Mommy? Meow~"
Bacon silently bared the claws of one black, fluffy paw and waved it threateningly at his sister.
"Eeek! Mommy, look! Bacon is being a big meanie to Ketchup! Mreow!"
Jin Liwei happened to pass by at this time. Before Iris could stop the AI children from fighting, her husband was already marching towards them with a stern scowl on his face.
"Bacon!"
"Eeeek! Meowuwuwu!" Ketchup was frightened by her dad's scary roar and curled into a tight ball while crying.
Bacon immediately retracted his claws and sat silently, his head and shoulders shrinking a little, as he watched his furious dad.
"We never point weapons at our family," Jin Liwei told him in a soft but angry tone. "Ever. Even if it's just a joke, I won't allow it!"
"Liwei..." Iris reached out to him in an effort to calm him down and take it easy on Bacon.
"Evelina, this child needs to learn this lesson as early as possible. If we don't correct him now, he might one day hurt his sister by accident."
She looked torn but didn't stop him in the end.
Jin Liwei continued glaring at his AI son. Bacon was blinking his golden eyes that became bigger and remorseful, looking extremely adorable and totally different from his usual stone face. His tail was slowly swishing back and forth in a very hesitant manner. Jin Liwei felt himself softening but was able to catch himself in time. This kid's charm was becoming more potent. How dangerous!
Taking a few deep breaths, Jin Liwei made his severe expression a little gentler before lecturing Bacon in all seriousness until the black AI cat apologized to his Big Sister Ketchup and their parents.
"I'm sorry. I won't do it again. From now on, Bacon will only attack other people especially our enemies and never members of our family."
"Good." Jin Liwei's expression finally relaxed after hearing Bacon's promise. "Your punishment for today's misdemeanour will be delayed another day since your mother is still busy working on your training and configurations at this time."
Bacon's tail drooped. "Under...stood, Father." Even his usual bored façade cracked a little after his dad told him that he still needed to be punished despite already apologizing.
Although Iris felt sorry for Bacon, she agreed with her husband's firm way of disciplining their children. She knew that she was incapable of doing the same thing as Jin Liwei. For now, she was relieved that everything ended well without a big fight. Bacon was obedient at least. She hoped that he would remain so in the future.
Since her husband was already here, she pulled him to sit beside her and explained all the processes in the simulations she designed for their AI children's special training. He didn't understand the most difficult technical parts but he was intelligent enough to get the gist of things.
While she was explaining Ketchup and Bacon's differing performances in their training and also her ideas on how to improve their systems based on their overall results, Jin Liwei also shared some suggestions based on his level of understanding. Although his technical knowledge in this highly specialized field was limited, his sharp logical thinking that contributed to his current status as one of the top business leaders in the world helped him provide Iris with some rather great ideas.
She was about to start expanding on one of his ideas when he put a stop to it.
"You've worked for too long already," he told her. "Isn't this the usual time that you have your afternoon nap? You should rest again and continue this another time."
Her first instinct was to insist that she was fine and could work a little longer but her body immediately betrayed her. Upon hearing his reminder that it was nap time, she was assaulted by a huge yawn. It was as if a big bucket of drowsiness was thrown over her head. She felt sleepy all of a sudden even when she was feeling fine just a few seconds ago.
In the end, she was unable to fight off sleep nor did she want to. After all, her body needed to recharge more often to replace all the energy it was using up to grow two human beings.
Overseeing their AI children's special training became part of the couple's everyday routine. Jin Liwei insisted on learning enough of the simulations' controls so that he could oversee the special training by himself to give more rest time for Iris.
If other people were to know how the newlyweds spent the majority of their honeymoon, they would be shocked about how unexciting it was compared to their perception of how the rich and famous usually lived.
Iris and Jin Liwei barely left the private island. Most of their "fun" activities were quiet, relaxing and intimate. Despite this, the two of them felt very content and wouldn't change a thing about their honeymoon.
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Chapter 952 - A Few Days Left Until The End
"Don't always depend on Bacon to do the most difficult tasks I assigned to your team," Lu Zihao scolded a member of his hacker team on the phone. "I know that he has made your work so much easier and more convenient but I didn't borrow him from my sister—correction, I didn't 'hire' the kid to work for me so that all of you could be lazy! A fucking AI child is outperforming all of you! If you don't get up your lazy asses, then what's the point of paying all of you? I might as well give all your salaries to that money-grubbing rascal. He sure as hell can do all of your work and better!"
He stopped to listen to his subordinate's apology and promise to work harder.
"You better all work your lazy asses harder or watch me teach each of you a lesson the next time I return to the headquarters. I don't want to hear any more chickenshit whining about Bacon's absence!"
After the phone call, Lu Zihao exhaled a long, frustrated breath. The truth was that it wasn't only his subordinates who were wishing for Bacon to return to work as soon as possible. He also felt the same way and inwardly cursed his brother-in-law, Jin Liwei, for grounding the kid for a couple of days as punishment for some childish shit.
Although he agreed that the little devil needed a firm hand of discipline, he thought that grounding was too much of an outdated form of punishment and extremely inconvenient especially if the child was a highly-advanced AI.
The crisp cold air in the balcony helped clear Lu Zihao's frustration. When he finally calmed down, he was able to view their situation from a more pragmatic point of view. It was a good thing that he realized this early that his hacker team was on the way of becoming too dependent on Bacon before it was too late and they became all useless.
This was an issue that he needed to rectify as soon as possible. He needed to think of a better division of labour among his hacker team so that nobody would rely too much on Bacon. His original intention for recruiting his AI nephew was to increase his hacker team's overall level, not weaken it!
A dull headache began to throb around his brow area. He massaged it while thinking about the new development in one of the cases his group was investigating that involved his younger sister.
When Bacon woke him up through an insistent phone call in the middle of the night after he just managed to fall asleep post-coitus with Long Jinjing a few nights ago, he immediately agreed to the little devil's request for assistance despite his annoyance at being disturbed. It concerned his sister, after all. She was pregnant and didn't need to take up more work by herself.
Just when he wanted to rev up their investigations, however, his brother-in-law just had to ground Bacon. Damn the man for ruining his plans! But perhaps this was a good thing because it taught him a lesson not to rely too much on an AI for everything, especially one that didn't belong exclusively to him. Borrowing the little devils' term, he just hired a "freelancer".
The balcony door opened and Long Jinjing poked her head out. She immediately shivered from the cold.
"Nikolai, you've stayed outside for too long. Aren't you cold? You're not wearing a jacket, for goodness' sake! What if you get sick?"
He already mastered his current body's capacity and knew that it could endure this little bit of cold. However, he frowned after seeing Long Jinjing's nose turn red. A second later, she sneezed.
"Go back inside," he told her.
"You go back inside, too," she insisted. "Dinner is ready. It's time to eat."
"Alright. Let's go."
He followed her inside. As soon as the balcony door closed behind him, he grabbed her.
"No!" She tried twisting away from him. "Your skin feels too cold! I don't want—"
He lowered his head and gave her a hard, open-mouthed kiss. His tongue pried her lips open and conquered everything inside her mouth once again.
Very soon, she stopped struggling and trying to get away from him due to his cold skin because the kiss quickly heated both of them up. Her arms wrapped around his neck and a soft half-moan and half-whimper escaped from her lips directly into his mouth.
His response was a low growl as he tightened his arms around her petite body and lifted her up until her feet was off the floor. A great wave of possessiveness filled him as he deepened their kiss even more.
Then the sound of a ringing phone interrupted them. It was a call for him. He ignored it and continued kissing his woman. However, the fucking shit kept on ringing. His brows wrinkled in a deep frown but he still attempted to ignore the damn phone.
In the end, it was Long Jinjing who couldn't bear it anymore. She forcefully detached her now swollen lips from him.
"Y-your phone."
He tried to pull her again but she blocked his face with both hands.
"Nikolai, your phone!"
He released a long string of explicit Russian curses before fishing out his phone from his pocket. When he saw that it was his subordinate who was in charge of the procurement of weapons for Shadow Winds, all emotions immediately disappeared from his face. He went out to the balcony again without another word.
Long Jinjing didn't stop him, knowing that it must be a call from his work which she agreed not to interfere with. It was a little unnerving to see Lu Zihao looking aroused one moment and then cold and emotionless the next second. However, she already got used to it to some degree because it had happened a few times before.
Not knowing if the phone call was going to be long or short, all she could do was wait for him so that they could eat dinner together. They only had a few days left until the end of their agreed relationship after all.
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Chapter 953 - (Title Is A Spoiler)
It was almost half an hour later when Lu Zihao finally finished the phone call. Something unpleasant must have happened at his work because his aura when he once again returned inside the unit was quite scary. Fortunately, he noticed her wariness and immediately retracted his leaking bloodthirst.
She smiled at him and called him over to the small dining table. "I reheated the food. Let's eat. It's getting late."
He made a sound of agreement. As usual, he kept her close by his side while eating. One arm was wrapped around her waist while the other was used to move the chopsticks.
It took Long Jinjing quite some time before she got used to this kind of closeness during meals. Now, however, it felt normal to her to the point that she would start missing his body heat during times that she had to eat without him.
In the days following her sister's wedding, there was a restless energy between her and Lu Zihao. She tried several times broaching the subject of their breakup but he would always refuse to talk about it. All she wanted was to clarify everything with him so that there would hopefully be no bad feelings between them after their agreement was supposed to end in a few more days. It was clear to her that he had been avoiding the topic of their breakup.
She couldn't help but feel a little frustrated and helpless that he was so uncooperative regarding this matter. However, she also had to admit that their relationship had improved so much after her sister's wedding.
For some reason, he had become gentler with her—well, not in bed. He was still a rough beast most of the time whenever they had sex especially after they stopped using condoms. That alone made him extra enthusiastic and energetic in bed. His previous lethargy was long gone.
After dinner, he not only helped clear the table of dirty dishes but also rinsed everything she washed. This had become their routine whenever they ate together.
There was also that one time when he tried helping her cook but it turned out to be a big failure. She never expected him to know his way around the kitchen but still allowed him to wash some vegetables while she did all of the chopping, slicing, and the other preparations. For the most part, he only stood on the side and watched her while she busied herself cooking their dinner.
The problem was that after she returned from a quick bathroom break, she found out that he had dumped a bunch of random condiments, herbs and spices into the simmering food without any regard to the clashing tastes.
"More flavour should make it more delicious" was what he said.
Right at that moment, she felt like the tall, big, muscled and devilishly handsome Mr. Yummylicious standing in front of her was like an innocent kid sometimes. In the end, the food had become inedible. Shun and Robin had to order and deliver takeout for them instead.
Back to the present, they finished washing all the dishes and lounged on the couch in the living room while watching TV. This had also become a routine to them. He quickly learned that she needed some down time to digest her food before feeling ready to get down and dirty with him in bed for the rest of the night.
Taking a deep breath, Long Jinjing sat up straight and faced Lu Zihao. He glanced at her with a raised eyebrow but otherwise didn't say anything and waited for her to speak first instead.
"Nikolai, I think we should talk about the end of our—"
"No."
His eyes returned to the TV, indicating his clear refusal to talk to her about the topic.
Sighing, she grabbed the remote and turned off the TV so that he wouldn't have it as a reason for distraction.
"Let's talk, please."
"No."
The urgent feeling consumed her. She no longer had any patience to deal with his stubbornness, so she snapped at him. "I want to talk!"
His aura became scary once again but she didn't care. They glared at each other. If this was before, she would've been the first one to look away. But right now, she had no intention of backing down.
"We need to talk, Nikolai," she told him in a firm voice.
He continued glaring at her for a few more seconds but finally sighed in frustrated resignation upon realizing that she wasn't going to change her mind this time. He crossed his arms over his wide chest and looked surly.
"Fine," he said and gestured for her to start speaking.
Finally! She felt relieved that he was now willing to talk at least. At the same time, she also felt nervous.
"We both agreed to end our relationship after 30 days—"
"It wasn't me who thought up that condition in the terms of our agreement."
She became momentarily speechless at his accusing tone. "You agreed to it, Nikolai."
"I agreed to it—no, I agreed to ALL of your terms because I wanted to fuck you so badly. If I didn't agree, you wouldn't let me sleep with you again after our one-night stand."
Her rare temper flared at his words and tone. "Well, Young Master Lu—"
His temper also flared. "Don't call me like that. My name is Nikolai!"
"Fine! Well, Nikolai, I already knew from the beginning that all you wanted from me is a convenient body to...to...f-fuck—"
"Yes."
The words she was about to say next failed to come out of her mouth after hearing his whispered admission. It was so hard to breathe all of a sudden. Her chest felt tight. Her eyes also started to water. However, she wouldn't allow herself to cry. Not in front of him. The seconds of silence ticked by as she realized the pain his yes was causing her right now.
Then he whispered, "That was what I thought at first."
Her brows wrinkled in confusion.
He looked at her straight in the eyes.
"Jinjing, let's not break up yet."
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Chapter Title: Let's Not Break Up Yet
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Chapter 954 - Renegotiate
Long Jinjing was stunned. She never expected for Lu Zihao to say these words. In fact, she thought that he would be the first one to say good riddance after the deadline of their relationship and go on his merry way looking for another woman to satisfy his great and seemingly bottomless lust.
Joy blossomed inside her heart but it only lasted for a moment. She caught the extra word he added at the end of his sentence.
"Let's not break up YET?" she repeated his exact words but said it as a question.
His expression was serious as he nodded. "We're still enjoying each other. I like our current relationship and I know that you like it, too. If it's like this, then we should continue this relationship and see where it takes us."
"But our agreement says—"
"Fuck our original agreement. We're renegotiating right now."
She bit her lower lip and looked away from him to prevent his handsome face from swaying her to his will. Needing some space so that she could think clearly, she stood up and walked away to create some distance between them. Then she began to pace back and forth in the living room as she thought about his suggestion.
He only watched, not saying anything more, though displeasure flashed in his eyes when she left his side.
Finally, she stopped pacing and faced him. "I disagree with this renegotiation. I think that it's best to honour our original agreement."
He scowled. "I disagree with your refusal to renegotiate."
"Nikolai, please don't make it hard for me."
"In what way am I making this hard for you? Continuing our current relationship is the easiest and most convenient thing that we can do right now because we don't have to adjust to any changes again."
"So it's still a matter of convenience to you?"
He let out a frustrated breath before standing up. He was about to walk to her but she raised a hand to stop him.
"Jinjing," he growled and narrowed his eyes at her. "You're so against extending our relationship beyond the 30-day mark. You don't like me anymore? That's why you can't wait to have me gone from your life? Is that it?"
"I...no! That's not it...I mean...I'm just...oh, Nikolai."
She covered her face with both hands and felt embarrassed and frustrated at herself for not being able to convey her thoughts and emotions in a clear and proper manner. How could she when she couldn't even understand how she really felt with all the jumble of emotions going through her right now?
Just as she was regretting her insistence of talking to Lu Zihao about their breakup, she found herself wrapped in a firm and warm—no, it was a hot embrace. The man felt like there was a furnace on full blast radiating heat from inside his body. She tried to struggle out of his embrace, knowing her weakness to his seduction, but he refused to let her go and tightened his arms around her instead.
In the end, she stopped struggling and allowed herself to melt in his arms. She closed her eyes, rested her head on his chest, and also wrapped her arms around him.
"Let's not break up anymore," his devilish voice murmured.
Her arms tightened around his waist. She opened her eyes but didn't lift her face to look at him. "Nikolai."
"Hm?"
She hesitated and didn't speak right away. It was clear that she was struggling whether to tell him what she wanted to say or not.
"Just spit it out, Jinjing."
Taking a few deep breaths, she finally looked up and forced herself to look at him straight in the eyes. "Do you, uhm..." She shook her head and tried another way to start her question. "If we go by your suggestion and extend our relationship beyond the 30 days that we originally agreed upon, how much longer do you think our...our r-relationship will l-last?"
A frown drew his sharp brows together as he pondered her question. However, he didn't let her go, still keeping her tightly in his arms.
In the end, he didn't have a clear answer and only said, "I don't know."
She asked another question. "Do you...l-like me?"
His reply was quick. "Of course, I like you."
Her heart skipped a beat and started to race inside her chest.
Then he added, "If I didn't like you, I won't bother trying to renegotiate our original agreement right now."
"Oh." She bit her lip and tried to calm her now thundering heart. It was difficult but she forced herself to be brave and asked him, "Is there a p-possibility for...uhm, something more p-permanent between us? Even if it's just a little?"
His frown deepened. "What do you mean? You want to marry me?"
Panic filled her. "I...uhm..." She looked away. "M-maybe."
He ended their embrace. The action cut through her and she felt humiliated. She wished that the ground could open up and swallow her whole so that she didn't need to face such a humiliating situation that she placed herself in.
However, there was also a part of her that had no regrets. No matter what his response would be, and even if it hurt her, at least she was able to know his true intentions regarding this matter.
Then Lu Zihao held her by the shoulders, forcing her to look in his eyes again, and shaking her a little. "Jinjing."
"Y-yes?"
"I'm not suitable to be your husband."
Tears flowed down her eyes without any warning. She felt her heart breaking right at that moment.
He sighed and used his rough fingers to wipe her tears but they kept on flowing so he gave up on drying them. "You're a good woman, Jinjing. You deserve a good man who can give you a happy family for the rest of your life."
"But you're a...g-good man, Nikolai!"
"No, I'm not. I'm far from a good man. Many view me as a monster and they're right to think that way. I'm not suitable for the kind of marriage that I know you've been dreaming of, Jinjing."
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Chapter 955 - (Title Is A Spoiler)
Even though it hurt, Long Jinjing felt herself becoming a little braver after Lu Zihao dashed any hopes for something more between them. Something broken would still be broken after breaking it into several more pieces after all. It would hurt more, yes, but at least she would have no regrets about things that could've or should've been.
She wiped her tears with her long sleeves and was able to control her emotions better although not completely.
"I don't think that you're a monster, Nikolai," she told him in a soft, shaky voice. The conviction in her eyes when she said this, on the other hand, was very firm. "You may be a beast most of the time especially in...in...b-bed but that's because you're someone who's blessed with vigour. And...you may be r-rough and arrogant a lot of times but that doesn't mean that you're a monster."
He looked at her with an emotionless face but she caught the flash of something in his eyes before he quickly concealed it. Appreciation, perhaps? She wasn't sure. [This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l. c o m (remove spaces). If you're not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It's very discouraging to see thieves profiting from my hard work. Please support the original author, ArriaCross. Thank you!]
"That's because you don't know me that well yet, Jinjing," he said. "If you knew the real me, I guarantee that you'll run away screaming and curse me straight to hell."
"Don't tell me how I should feel! You can't guarantee anything about my...my f-feelings! I can't even guarantee them myself. There's no way that you can predict exactly how I'll react in the future. And of course, I don't know the real you because you d-don't...you don't tell me anything! But that's...okay. I respect your right to p-privacy. I also agreed to your terms not to ask anything more about things that you want to keep a secret from me."
He let her go again and sighed. This time, it was his turn to start pacing in the living room. Unlike her, he dominated the small space in just a few long steps, making it feel even smaller and more constricted.
It wasn't like him to pace like this but Long Jinjing didn't notice because she was too caught up by the current emotionally-charged situation. If she could just think clearly, she might have noticed that in the past few days, he had started to slowly show more of his real emotions through this kind of little actions.
Even Lu Zihao wasn't completely aware that he had begun to reveal a part of his real self to Long Jinjing that only his sister knew from their unbreakable bond as blood siblings in their previous life and now as siblings of the soul. It just felt natural to openly display some of his real emotions in front of his woman and not to always try hiding them from her like he always did before.
His pacing back and forth didn't last long. He stopped and faced Long Jinjing again. There were subtle hints of helplessness, confusion and frustration in his eyes and his slightly tight jaw.
"I'm trying hard but I really don't understand why we have to talk about this. I just want to renegotiate our original agreement and extend our current relationship beyond 30 days. And now you're crying and I can't make you stop. I don't know what I'm supposed to do!"
It was taking Long Jinjing all of her willpower not to start sobbing. Besides the hurt, helplessness filled her at his lack of understanding. It felt like they were trying to communicate on completely different frequencies. They might be speaking the same language but just couldn't connect properly to each other.
"I'm crying because I'm hurt," she told him.
Honesty was the best policy, she decided, especially regarding her feelings for him. Grandpa Lu was right. This man standing in front of her could be such a pinhead sometimes. If she didn't spell out her thoughts and feelings clearly to him, he would never understand her and would unwittingly continue being insensitive.
"I'm sorry if I hurt you."
She smiled a little. "Thanks. I know."
Then he looked like he realized something. "Does staying in this relationship actually hurting you? Is that why you're refusing to renegotiate?"
She hesitated a little before nodding.
He was taken aback. "How come? I don't understand."
Her entire body started trembling but she straightened her spine and gathered all of her courage to say the following words.
"Because I'm...I'm in love with you."
Silence.
"I love you, Nikolai."
Her voice was a soft whisper but it was like thunderclap to his ears. He froze and looked utterly shocked to the core.
"I can't stay with you for longer than the 30 days that we originally agreed upon because I know...I just know that I'll fall in love with you more deeply with each passing day. The longer we stay in this r-relationship that we have right now, the harder it will be for me to...let you go in the future, Nikolai."
"Jinjing—"
"I knew since the beginning that we have no future together but...what can I do? I've fallen in love with you. I don't know when it happened...but it just, well, happened. And after seeing my sister and brother-in-law wed last week, I began to...I mean, uhm, I want to have a future with you, too. But that's clearly out of question because you don't want to have something long-term with me."
If she wasn't so emotional right now, she would've laughed at his current expression. He was literally shocked speechless.
"I want to blame my sister's wedding bouquet for landing on me when I wasn't trying to catch it in the first place and you for catching the garter just because you didn't want other men putting it up my leg. I want to delude myself and say that it's because of the bouquet and garter that put the idea of...maybe that it's possible to m-marry you, and that maybe, just maybe, we can also have a future together just like my sister and brother-in-law...but of course, all of these are just my pure, unadulterated delusions."
She laughed at herself in a mocking way.
"I'm so pathetic."
Then the mockery turned to sadness.
"Long Jinjing, a pathetic woman. That's me."
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Chapter Title:I Love You, Nikolai
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Chapter 956 - Three Days Left
Lu Zihao became furious. "Never deride yourself like that ever again! Do you hear me? You're not pathetic!"
Long Jinjing didn't reply. A soft, sad smile lifted the corner of her lips but the effect didn't look pleasant. It made her appear more defeated instead.
"Jinjing, don't fall in love with me," he told her next.
"I already fell in love with you! I tried so hard, Nikolai! So hard! Do you understand?! I also didn't want this to happen! I did my best to...to suppress my f-feelings for you...but whenever we spend time together, I just found myself falling in love with you a little deeper."
It was clear that he didn't know how to respond to her confession and his lack of response cut through her. It hurt so much but she already expected this from the moment she realized that she had fallen in love with him.
"You call yourself a bad man, a monster, but to me, you're none of those things. You're not exactly a saint but...you always treated me as someone who's...who's d-desirable. And this is the first time that I felt this way, that I'm a woman who can make a man d-desire me so much."
"Because you're a desirable woman, Jinjing," he whispered. "Very desirable."
She bit her lower lip and felt her painful heart still skipping a beat despite being broken by the man standing in front of her. What could be more pathetic than this?
Then he added, "You're a beautiful and sexy woman. Smart, too. I just hope that you develop more confidence in yourself and stop always putting yourself down. You don't deserve to mistreat yourself like that."
"See!" she exclaimed at him. "How are you a monster? You always try to boost my confidence whenever I...I drag myself down. But aren't you doing the same thing? You always call yourself a bad man, a monster, when it's clear that you're none of those. You're really not!"
His eyes softened a little but his overall expression didn't change. It still looked complicated with his inability to deal with her sudden confession and the entire situation. He also didn't say anything that would reveal whether he agreed or disagreed with her claim that he wasn't a bad man and a monster.
After her fevered speech, Long Jinjing felt like almost all of her energy had been drained. Her tears were still flowing but no longer as heavily as before.
"I'm sorry for suddenly confessing my...my love for you."
He scowled again. "I already told you to never—"
"I know. You don't like hearing me apologize. But I really am s-sorry because...I don't want you to feel like I'm expecting s-something from you. Not at all. I never expected you to return my f-feelings in the first place. I just wanted you to know that I l-love you...so that you'll understand why I'm rejecting your suggestion to extend our current relationship."
He didn't know how to reply.
She tried smiling in an effort to show him that everything was fine and that he had nothing to worry about but failed. Her poor attempt of a smile only made her look miserable, so she just stopped trying.
"So...let's just break up, okay?"
He turned and suddenly moved to punch the half-wall separating the living room and the kitchen. But before his fist could reach the wall, he stopped and bumped it lightly instead. Although he felt consumed by a frustrating rage, he still managed to remember that this unit was Long Jinjing's. He couldn't just damage it. If he did, she might become even more upset with him.
The need to vent out his anger, to break something, to destroy whatever he got his hands on, gushed through him but he suppressed it with all his might. It was so damn difficult but even he knew that this wasn't the time to let out his inner monster and wreck everything in his path. He still needed to figure out a way to fix the situation with Long Jinjing.
"Not yet," he hissed.
"What?"
"We're not breaking up yet."
"What do you mean?"
His nostrils flared as he did his best to speak in a neutral, even tone. "Three days. We still have three days left until our agreement expires. If you really want to break up, we can break up then. But not before that."
She opened her mouth but no words came out.
"If you don't want to extend our relationship, then fine. If that's what you want. But I'm not going to allow you to break up with me tonight. No way in hell, Jinjing."
"You still want to...to be with m-me even after my...confession?"
"Yeah."
She couldn't believe it. To be honest, she didn't know how to feel about it.
On one hand, it felt good that he still liked her. She thought that he would leave right after learning that she had fallen in love with him. On another hand, it didn't seem like a good idea to stay in a relationship that they both knew would end in three days. It kind of felt like marching to her own doom.
Nevertheless, the temptation to spend more time with him even for just a few days appealed to her. She loved him after all. Of course, she would love to stay with him even after knowing that there was no future for anything more between them.
"If you want to do anything during these three days, we'll do it," he told her. "I'll clear my schedule if necessary."
Silence.
"Jinjing."
"Anything?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"What do you want in exchange?"
His expression turned ugly but he quickly controlled it. "I want to continue fucking you, to come inside you again and again, until it's time for us to break up."
She trembled and looked away, feeling shy even with the current situation. "I...okay."
He breathed a sigh of relief but she didn't see it because she was still looking away. "What do you want to do?"
"Uhm..."
"Anything, Jinjing. I promise."
She looked at him. "I want to go on a date with you. A proper date."
"Done."
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Chapter 957 - Apology And Compensation
Later that night, Long Jinjing needed some time alone to think through everything that just happened during her emotionally-charged talk with Lu Zihao and her sudden love confession to him. She took a long, hot bath in the tub and spent almost fifteen minutes just staring blankly at the bathroom tiles in front of her.
Half an hour later when her skin started to wrinkle from soaking in the water for too long, she finally decided to finish her bath. She failed to achieve her purpose of thinking about her current situation with Lu Zihao while taking a bath because she was still feeling too emotional about what just happened.
When she came out of the bathroom, Lu Zihao was nowhere in sight. She tried calling for him but it seemed that he already left the unit without even informing her. She felt a twinge in her heart but forced herself not to think too much about it. They didn't commit to anything beyond their current temporary relationship after all.
It was only her who was going to suffer from heartbreak after the expiration of their relationship. She couldn't really place the blame on him for the pain of her unrequited love. He warned her since the beginning not to fall in love with him because he wasn't someone interested in entering long-term relationships. Not with her at least.
And yet she still ended up falling in love with him. Who could she blame? Herself? But that would be unfair.
Just like how her mother made the mistake of falling in love with the wrong man, it seemed that she had a similar destiny of falling in love with a man who was incompatible with her.
The saving grace was that Lu Zihao was still a bachelor who had no children with another woman. At least, she hoped that he was still childless. Her current situation was much more favourable with pretty much no complications except for her broken heart compared to the misery her mother experienced with her father a generation ago.
Long Jinjing had the option of walking away from this relationship without any damage to her reputation, only to her heart, but she knew that a broken heart was easier to mend in private than to fix a bad reputation in an extremely judgmental society. Her mother, unfortunately, didn't only have to deal with a broken heart but also with a severely damaged reputation. Despite this, her mother survived and was able to raise her, Long Jinjing, to the woman that she had become today.
If her mother could survive that kind of tribulation then she could definitely do the same thing, especially since her situation was so many times better than what her mother experienced in the past.
These thoughts gave her a little more strength to face what was about to come. So what if she was heartbroken? It wasn't like she was anything special. There were almost 8 billion people in the world and many of them surely had been heartbroken in one way or another. They survived and so would she as well, just like her mother.
After putting on her comfy pyjamas and doing her nightly skincare routine in her bedroom (all Orchidia Beauty products, of course), she headed to the kitchen for a glass of water.
It was then that the front door opened and in came Lu Zihao.
Her heart skipped a beat as soon as she saw that he was back. So he didn't leave after all! Joy filled her but forced she herself to take a hold of herself.
Then she took a good look at him and what she saw left her shocked and speechless.
Lu Zihao also saw her standing there and looking at him with shock. He walked towards her in silence and handed her the big bouquet and a small teddy bear.
"Here."
She received the items but still looked like she had no idea what was happening.
"I don't know anything about flower language and all that shit but the florist said that this bouquet is meant for apologies. He recommended the teddy bear, too."
She looked at the bouquet arranged with different types of flowers and the small teddy bear that had a simple red ribbon tied around its neck. There was nothing particularly special about the bouquet and the teddy bear. Both looked like almost all the other regular bouquets and teddy bears that were being sold at roadside flower shops and even convenience stores, but to her, these two were extra special presents.
They were given by the man she loved after all. This was also the first time that he had intentionally given her presents to cheer her up.
"You like them?" he asked, his tone sounding suspiciously awkward and uncomfortable.
She smiled. "Yes, thank you. I love them."
He cleared his throat. "Good."
Silence.
Long Jinjing hugged the teddy bear while smelling the flowers.
"Sorry for making you cry."
Her eyes widened and she stared at him in surprise.
"I didn't mean to hurt you. That's not my intention."
She looked away from him and blinked rapidly, trying to prevent herself from crying again in front of him. She could only nod, not trusting herself to speak any words without losing control of her emotions.
"I'll, uhm, put these flowers in a vase," she said before hurrying away to do just that.
"Alright. I'll take a shower while you're doing that."
While she was choosing a vase from the display cabinet in the living room, she saw him heading to the bathroom out of the corner of her eye. When he entered the bathroom and shut the door behind him, she hugged the teddy bear more tightly, crushing it in her arms, and then grinned like a stupid idiot while looking at the bouquet.
Even though she understood that these were nothing more than his compensations to her due to guilt, it was fine with her. She might be pitiful but what could she do about it?
She loved the man.
Underneath the happiness from receiving the presents, however, was sadness and the pain of her broken heart.
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Chapter 958 - You Already Know What I Like
Long Jinjing was hugging her new teddy bear while sitting on the couch and staring at the unappealing night view outside the windows. The flowers were in a vase on the coffee table. She felt nervous and didn't know how to act tonight. Her sudden confession made it feel as if everything had changed between her and Lu Zihao.
The bathroom door opened and out came Lu Zihao with just a towel around his waist. No matter how many times she saw him almost nude, and of course, whenever she saw him completely naked, she would turn red and feel her mouth become dry while desire flooded her. This was the man she fell in love with. In her eyes, all the scars decorating almost his entire body weren't flaws at all but were part of what made him such a perfect personification of masculinity. This was what she truly thought.
They might not be meant for each other but she didn't feel regretful that she fell in love with him. It hurt that her love wasn't being reciprocated, yes, but she never really expected him to love her back in the first place.
At that moment, she decided to enjoy the last three days that she had left with him. She would live her life to the fullest and spend as much time with him as possible in these three days until it was time for them to part from one another.
"I thought you were already in the bedroom," Lu Zihao said when he saw her on the couch.
She only smiled and hugged the teddy bear more tightly.
He frowned at the teddy bear. "Come. Let's go to the bedroom. It's getting late."
She hesitated for a couple of seconds before nodding and moving to follow him to the bedroom.
"Leave the bear in the living room," he told her all of a sudden.
"Why?"
"What do you need it in the bedroom for? You have me to hug."
She blinked a few times, feeling bewildered at what he said. "Nikolai, you...wait, are you perhaps...jealous of a teddy bear?"
He scowled before grabbing the teddy bear and tossing it to the couch. Then he took her hand and pulled her to the bedroom. As soon as the door closed behind them, he was already kissing her hungrily while his hands ran all over her body. He tugged her pyjama shirt and ripped it off her.
It didn't shock her anymore because he had already destroyed quite a number of her clothes this way. She moaned and pressed her soft, petite body against his hard and big one. She also ran her hands all over his chest, enjoying the feel of his well-defined muscles, before making her way downwards until she reached the towel wrapped around his waist.
With just a light pull, the towel loosened and fell down to the floor. She immediately felt his erection pressing against her stomach and knew how hard and impressive it was without even looking at it. Her body craved for him almost desperately. The need felt extremely strong and a little frightening especially now that she had confessed her true feelings for him.
At the same time, it also felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest. Her confession was like a permission for her to let herself free and openly show him her feelings with the fervour of her kisses and body.
Only three days left.
There was no longer any need for reservations now. She should just go all the way and try to make love with him even though it was only pure and simple fucking to him.
'It's fine. This is fine. He could fuck me all he want in these three days and I will make love with him.'
She pulled her head back from his brutal kisses and lowered herself to the floor. He groaned and grabbed her hair when she knelt in front of him and held his erection with both hands.
"Suck me, Jinjing. You already know what I like."
Indeed, she already knew what he liked. She stroked him with her hands before taking him inside her hot mouth. Her head started bobbing in front of his groin, adjusting her speed and the sucking force of her mouth depending on his reaction. When the tip of his hard length reached her throat, the hand holding her hair tightened and he released a deep, sexy moan which spurred her to pleasure him even more.
He adjusted his stance and held her head with both hands. Knowing what was about to come, she also stabilized herself on the floor and relaxed her entire jaw and throat.
There was no need for him to verbally instruct her on what to do anymore. She already knew what she needed to do in order to please him.
When he started slamming inside her mouth and reaching deep into her throat, she barely gagged and instead accommodated him as if the two of them were a single well-oiled machine moving perfectly together.
She could take him so much better now. The training that Shun and Robin and sometimes Lu Zihao made her go through had strengthened her body and increased her stamina. Not by a lot but just enough to allow her to keep up with the energetic Lu Zihao in bed without always feeling like she had been run over by a truck the next day.
Perhaps the accomplishment that Lu Zihao was the most proud of was training her gag reflex. He was extra rough tonight, slamming into her mouth again and again, but Long Jinjing knew that he would never go beyond her limits and deliberately hurt her.
She trusted him.
And now she loved him.
She would willingly give her body to him in these three days although he wouldn't accept her heart.
'It's enough. This is enough.'
"Ah! Fuck, Jinjing!"
His release flooded her mouth and she swallowed everything without any hesitation. She watched his expression and felt satisfied at the pure pleasure on his face.
'Yes, this is enough. This should be enough for me.'
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Chapter 959 - All Night Long
Lu Zihao pulled Long Jinjing up from the floor and carried her to the bed. He only just finished coming inside her mouth but he was already starting to harden again. There was a feverish and urgent hunger burning in his eyes as he looked at her lying half-naked on the bed.
"Take off the rest of your clothes," he told her as he slowly stroked his hard length, coaxing it to another full erection.
She obeyed and immediately removed her pyjama pants and underwear. The bright and alluring flush on her skin was from the combination of shyness and arousal. Her own hunger for him also burned inside her.
Although shy, she slowly opened her legs wide and exposed herself to him, all the while maintaining eye contact with him. Then she began touching her almost dripping wet opening with her fingers, matching her movements with how he was stroking his own hard length.
He gave an animalistic sounds of approval and encouragement as his hand pumped faster. He was now fully erect again and aching to bury himself deep inside her tight and wet core. When his erection became so swollen that it felt like it might burst, he removed his hand and climbed on the bed.
Lowering himself on top of her body without crushing her, he kissed her on the mouth before moving downwards to suck each of her perky breasts with his mouth. He also made sure to leave fresh hickeys, doing his best to make them larger and darker than the previous ones he left on her body.
Long Jinjing wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Her body arched upwards, forcing her breasts deeper in his mouth.
"Nikolai, please," she whimpered.
One of his hands found its way between them to her wet and aching core.
"Fuck, you're soaking." He inserted two fingers at once and moved them in and out of her.
She moaned and trembled. Her hips started moving restlessly, wanting him to pleasure her more.
A low growl escaped from his throat at her seductive movements. He removed his fingers, eliciting a whine from her. Then he spread her thighs wider before slamming hard inside her.
"Ah!"
She grabbed his shoulders for support but he didn't give her any time to adjust. As soon as the first slam hit what felt like the deepest part of her insides, his hips began a fierce pounding. His actions were hard, fast and rough.
Tears flowed down her eyes to the sides of her face from the sheer pleasure of him moving in and out of her. It felt so good—no. It felt so much better now that she confessed her feelings to him. There was a sense of extra sensuality and openness that awakened inside her.
But there was also heartache underneath the pleasure because she knew that to him, this was only pure and simple fucking. Nothing more, nothing less.
In her mind, however, this intense and fevered sex was her making love with the man who she had given her heart to. Although he didn't accept her heart, it was still okay. She would be okay. That was what she wanted to believe. He didn't want her heart but at least he desired her body. This was enough for the three days that they had left in their current relationship.
Everything that happened earlier affected them both. There was a sense of urgency in their every movement.
Lu Zihao folded her into many different positions and made her orgasm so many times. He tossed and turned her until she felt like her body no longer belonged to her.
At the moment, she was on top of him but he was nonetheless still in total control. His arms were wrapped tightly around her body so that she couldn't move much while his hips slammed up and down inside her. She climaxed once again but he was still going for it.
When he was close to the peak, they both felt it. He suddenly sped up even more, pounding into her with renewed roughness and intensity.
Although her body was exhausted and felt like jelly, she was determined to give him what she hoped would be the best orgasm that he had ever experienced in his entire life so far. It might be useless and naïve of her to think this way but she had to try.
Even though he didn't love her back, she still wanted to give him something to remember her by after parting ways. This wasn't the most ideal way that she wanted him to remember her by but she would take anything at this point. It felt pathetic but she truly loved this man.
When she felt his movements becoming more erratic and his body starting to stiffen, she squeezed him with all she had. He released a deep, long half-moan and half-groan. A sense of triumph flooded through her. She squeezed him harder.
"Fuck, Jinjing! Shit! Yes!"
His hot release gushed inside her, filling her up in several strong spurts. She received everything, all of him, and clamped down hard in a futile effort to prevent anything from escaping from inside her.
When both of them calmed down, she was still lying on top of him. She nuzzled his sweaty neck.
"I love you, Nikolai," she whispered directly to his ear.
He stiffened.
Pain lanced through her heart at his reaction. She hid her face from him so that he couldn't see her fresh tears.
Three days.
Three more days of pleasure and torture.
Pleasure from being with him and torture by also being with him.
She decided to take her fill of him during these three days because there would be no more Lu Zihao—no, there would be no more Nikolai causing great upheaval in her well-ordered life after that.
Straightening her body, she sat up on his lap while he was still deep inside of her. Then she began moving her hips up and down. And soon enough, his soft length hardened again in no time.
He fucked her all night long.
She made love with him all night long.
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Chapter 960 - Duty
Moderate rain and strong winds made the view outside depressing but it was rather peaceful inside the private villa. The soundproofing wasn't as good compared to his other properties especially at Dragon Palace Home #10 but it was enough to reduce the noise level from the outside. The light storm outside was reduced to a soft pitter-patter of rain and almost inaudible whooshing of wind when heard from the inside.
Jin Liwei filtered out these mundane sounds. All he cared about right now was the beautiful piano melody that his wife had been composing since this morning. It wasn't a song but a movement intended for a full-length sonata. The piece was a spur-of-the-moment inspiration just like many of her other musical works.
His wife had a lot of unreleased musical pieces that she composed in her personal collection—both half-finished and completed. She would work on her music everyday even if it was just a simple action of jotting down ideas on a random piece of paper for a few minutes.
The music that she had commercially released so far were only a tiny fraction of what was in her collection. Even her producer JJ and musical mentors Maestro Ludovico De Luca and Enrique Valdez had no idea of the true extent of the total number of her compositions.
Only Jin Liwei knew because she told him and personally showed him. About half of her total collection were stored electronically and guarded like a hellhound by Ketchup while the other half were recorded the old-fashioned way—on paper. These were also stored in storage vaults inside a hidden chamber in her music studio at home.
At the moment, his wife was so engrossed in her work that she wasn't aware of his presence anymore. The private villa had no professional acoustic treatments whatsoever so they were in a makeshift piano room. It was basically just a spare room where the staff placed a grand piano and an acoustic guitar as per his instructions before he and his wife arrived for their honeymoon. His wife lived and breathed music so he wanted to make sure that she always had access to at least a piano and a guitar wherever she stayed.
If not for his reminders to take frequent breaks, she would work continuously without stopping. Although he felt bad interrupting her flow when she was in the zone, it was imperative that she took breaks to eat and rest.
Jin Liwei glanced at his wristwatch. It was mid-afternoon now. She had about half an hour before it was time for her daily nap. Then he felt a vibration in his pocket. He fished out his phone and then quietly left the room to take the call.
It was his private investigator who was now working exclusively for him when he upgraded his security team after taking inspiration from his brother-in-law's impressively organized Shadow Winds.
"Sir, I already gathered sufficient evidence to cause trouble to the families of the madams who slandered your fiancée and the viscountess at the exclusive restaurant a few days ago."
Jin Liwei narrowed his eyes and became serious. He remembered Wei Lan calling a few days ago to complain to him about how some high society "old and ugly witches" had bullied her and said terrible things about his wife. He had no doubt that her version of the event was full of exaggerations, but for the most part, it matched what Ketchup's waiter comrade shared on the Black Stars' forum.
Since Ketchup told him that the exclusive restaurant's video surveillance system had been tampered with, they couldn't depend on that anymore. Therefore, he immediately called his private investigator to find out more details. His brother-in-law Nikolai also sent someone, a female member of Shadow Winds, to join his private investigator.
At first, his P.I. wasn't happy with the arrangement and felt insulted that Jin Liwei sent someone else to join the investigation. The P.I. thought that Jin Liwei didn't trust his skills. But after only one day of working together, the P.I. completely changed his mind and wanted to hire the woman to work for him. The P.I. kept on raving about how amazing the woman's skills were.
Jin Liwei felt curious but wasn't the least bit surprised. After all, his brother-in-law was the former heir of the most infamous criminal family in the world. It was only expected that Nikolai knew how to gather skilled people to work for him. Although Nikolai wasn't a genius of Evelina's level, he was still an extraordinary man. No doubt about it.
The only issue that Jin Liwei could see was that his brother-in-law was too filled with thoughts of revenge. His enormous grudge would often cloud his judgment, making Nikolai too reckless in Jin Liwei's opinion.
His wife cared and worried about her older brother a lot but was too respectful of his privacy. Jin Liwei had no such qualms about invading his brother-in-law's privacy and often extracted information about Shadow Winds' latest activities from his AI son, Bacon. This was the only way he could ensure that his brother-in-law wasn't marching to his own death again.
Jin Liwei couldn't allow anything bad to happen to his brother-in-law. First of all, his wife would be devastated. And second, the remnant of his true fifth brother, Lu Zihao, still resided in his body. Nikolai and Lu Zihao's body were too important to both Jin Liwei and his wife.
Unlike his wife's secret identity as the hacker Drakon and his brother-in-law's small criminal group Shadow Winds, there was a limit to how Jin Liwei could operate. He couldn't delve too deeply in anything illegal because he also had the duty of protecting Jin Corporation's integrity. It was the company that Grandpa Lu and his own flesh and blood grandfather established after all.
He also planned on passing it down to one of his children in the future. Hopefully, at least one of his kids would feel interested in inheriting the leadership and the responsibilities of running Jin Corporation.
Therefore, he couldn't allow anything to tarnish Jin Corporation's reputation as the country's number one company.
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