Chapter 36.1

Ruan Mingfu’s body was still covered in moisture, and her hair was wet, with water dripping from the ends.

Seeing this, Xie Yanzhao took the towel from her hand and began drying her hair.

Although it was hot during the day, the temperature dropped significantly at night.

If Ruan Mingfu’s hair wasn’t dried, she would catch a chill.

“Be gentle.”

Xie Yanzhao was a man with strong hands, and Ruan Mingfu felt like her scalp was being pulled off. Fortunately, her hair was sturdy and didn’t fall out. Otherwise, she would have had a real fight with him.

“Come with me to meet someone tomorrow.”

“Who?” Ruan Mingfu asked with her pretty eyes wide with curiosity. “Last time you didn’t tell me who you were going to meet.”

The man had taken her there directly without giving her any time to prepare.

Thinking about it still made her quite angry.

Ruan Mingfu suddenly had a flash of insight.

Could he be taking her to meet his parents?

Though she had met Xie Yanzhao’s grandparents, she had never heard him mention his parents.

It was quite strange.

“They aren’t worthy.”

Xie Yanzhao’s voice remained unchanged, his expression calm as ever. But his words showed no concealment of his dissatisfaction with his parents.

She looked at him in confusion.

Before she could speak, her semi-dry hair fell over her face, blocking her view.

Ruan Mingfu: “…”

“Xie Yanzhao, look at what you’ve done!”

Ruan Mingfu clumsily pushed the hair off her face and shot him an angry glare.

The man didn’t seem to care about her anger.

Seeing her face, which was reddened from the hot water, like it had been dusted with peach blossom rouge, her red lips full of allure and her eyes watery… Xie Yanzhao’s Adam’s apple moved slightly, and his gaze darkened.

Ruan Mingfu was completely unaware of the impending danger.

She reached out to adjust her long hair and took the comb to smooth it out.

Since crossing over, Ruan Mingfu hadn’t cut her hair. It was already long before, and now it reached her waist.

She touched the ends of her hair and was about to take the towel from Xie Yanzhao’s hand to dry it a bit more.

But he held onto her and, with a slight tug, pulled her into his embrace.

She felt his body against hers, soft and enveloped in a faint, pleasant scent.

Xie Yanzhao’s Adam’s apple bobbed more pronouncedly.

His eyes grew dark, and his gaze turned predatory, filled with dominance and possessiveness. His hand on her lower back tightened slowly, pulling her closer.

Ruan Mingfu ended up sitting on Xie Yanzhao’s lap.

Her small face pressed against his chest, and as she tilted her head up, his breath was right in front of her.

Her lips were heated as he pushed them open and took control.

Xie Yanzhao was fierce.

And now, he was even fiercer.

Ruan Mingfu’s lips tingled, and his intense demeanor made her feel as if he was going to devour her, causing her to shrink back in fear.

But a large hand pressed against the back of her head, pulling them even closer.

His hand on her waist tightened, making their bodies press closely together, and she could clearly feel his reactions.

“Mm…”

Ruan Mingfu tried to struggle.

But a tiny ant cannot shake a big tree. Her struggles were as futile as tickling, only making him more excited.

After a long time, Xie Yanzhao finally let Ruan Mingfu go.

His tall body leaned over, his chin resting on her delicate shoulder. He panted heavily, trying to calm the intense passion surging within him. Xie Yanzhao held Ruan Mingfu tightly, his lowered eyes hiding the turbulent desire within.

It felt as though a mountain had been pressed upon her, and Ruan Mingfu couldn’t help but move, only to be held tighter.

Her half-dry hair was scattered messily behind her, her face flushed.

Ruan Mingfu’s chest heaved, and as she felt pain on the side of her neck, she couldn’t help but hiss. Realizing this, she reached out to pinch Xie Yanzhao’s soft flesh around his waist.

But his body was all muscle, hard and unyielding, and her pinching didn’t seem to affect him.

Ruan Mingfu snorted, angrily saying, “Why did you bite me again?”

She suspected that this man might be a dog with how much he liked to bite.

There was an ambiguous red tooth mark on the fair and slender neck.

Like red plum blossoms suddenly falling in the snow.

Xie Yanzhao rarely felt guilty.

He extended his large hand toward the marks on her neck, and as his emotions, which had just settled, surged once again, he asked in a hoarse voice, “Does it hurt?”

His hand lightly stroked the tender skin, sending a wave of tingles through her, causing Ruan Mingfu to instinctively shrink away. Despite this, she forced herself to respond angrily, “Want to find out by letting me bite you?”

Xie Yanzhao straightened up and gently cupped Ruan Mingfu’s face, lifting her chin.

As Ruan Mingfu raised her head, she found herself gazing directly into his eyes. The turbulent emotions in his eyes made her uneasy. She wanted to escape, but he wasn’t about to let her go. His hands gripped her waist, leaving her unable to move.

With a faint smile, he leaned in close to her ear and whispered, “Where would you like to bite, hmm?”

Ruan Mingfu’s mind momentarily went blank.

She stared at Xie Yanzhao for several seconds as if seeing him for the first time.

The smile on Xie Yanzhao’s face faded slightly, and his gaze darkened.

“Don’t look at me like that…”

He leaned in, but before he could get closer, Ruan Mingfu pushed him away.

“No way,” she said, tilting her head slightly, her small hands gripping tightly enough to turn white at the knuckles. “You haven’t even showered yet, so you’re not allowed to touch me!”

Xie Yanzhao wasn’t angry. Instead, he let out a low chuckle.

As Ruan Mingfu recalled what she had just said, her cheeks flushed bright red.

However, Miss Ruan wasn’t one to dwell on her own mistakes, so she directed her frustration elsewhere.

She huffed and patted the large hands on her waist. “Let go of me.”

Xie Yanzhao reached out, attempting to pat her head, but she dodged him.

Lowering his head slightly, he looked at her teasingly. “So, what you’re saying is, once I’ve showered, I can touch you as much as I like?”

“Shut up!”

Ruan Mingfu lowered her head, embarrassed, and gave him a small punch.

Xie Yanzhao decided to stop teasing.

He let go of her, but Ruan Mingfu immediately jumped up, moving to the farthest corner of the sofa.

He found this quite amusing.

There were only the two of them in the house. If he really wanted to do something, Ruan Mingfu wouldn’t be able to escape.

But Ruan Mingfu wasn’t thinking about that.

She glared at Xie Yanzhao in annoyance and muttered, “… Go shower already, or the water will get cold.”

Xie Yanzhao stood up.

As he stretched his tall frame, the spacious living room suddenly seemed much smaller.

“Alright,” he said, and as he left, he placed a small box in front of her, acting as though it was nothing important. “This is for you.”

Ruan Mingfu looked at him skeptically.

But before she could ask, Xie Yanzhao had already walked out.

She frowned slightly, her eyes falling on the box.

It was small and square, and it didn’t look particularly heavy. Ruan Mingfu didn’t think much of it, but when she picked it up, she was surprised by its weight.

Curious, Ruan Mingfu opened the box, only to be met with a golden glint.

My goodness, so much gold.

She pulled out the gold bars one by one, counting them carefully.

… Twenty bars in total. No wonder it was so heavy.

Had she just stumbled upon a wealthy benefactor?

In addition to the gold, there were also several pieces of jewelry, all meant for women, and they looked rather old.

Ruan Mingfu couldn’t resist picking up a ruby ring to examine it closely.

The more she looked at it, the more amazed she became.

Having grown up in a wealthy household, Miss Ruan was well-versed in identifying gemstones.

The ruby embedded in the ring was clear and flawless, radiating brilliance even under the dim light. The stone itself was as large as her thumb. A ruby of this quality, without any heat treatment, could fetch millions—if not billions—in fifty or sixty years.

She really had found herself a rich man.

Besides the ring, there was also a ruby bracelet, earrings, and a diamond-accented necklace.

A set of ruby jewelry of this caliber would be rare even in the future.

When Ruan Mingfu turned eighteen, she had received a set of jewelry, but it was much smaller in comparison to this.

As she admired the set, Ruan Mingfu almost drooled.

What woman could resist such luxurious jewelry?

There were other nice pieces in the box, but compared to the stunning ruby set, Ruan Mingfu felt her standards had risen, and she dismissed the rest as too plain.

At the bottom of the box were three bankbooks.

Ruan Mingfu picked them up and opened them.

One had a balance of eight thousand.

Another had forty thousand.

The last one had thirty-seven thousand.

Holding the three bankbooks, Ruan Mingfu fell silent.

Let her think for a moment… The idea of someone being a “ten-thousand-yuan household” was a concept of the 1980s. But this man already had tens of thousands, years ahead of others.

Ruan Mingfu rested her small hand on her head, staring at the wealth in front of her.

Could this man have embezzled money? Otherwise, how could a poor soldier like him have so much wealth?

Her mind racing, she let her guard down.

A warm body pressed against her, and a hand reached out to pull her into an embrace.

Ruan Mingfu finally snapped out of her thoughts, hearing a low voice next to her ear, “What are you thinking about?”

It was Xie Yanzhao, fresh out of the shower.

Ruan Mingfu grabbed his hand and looked at him suspiciously. “How do you have so much money?”

In this era, her own wealth was already considerable.

But she hadn’t expected this man to have even more.

Her pride in her financial independence was now considerably deflated.

“These are my allowances from over the years and bonuses from missions,” Xie Yanzhao explained as he held the bankbook with eight thousand yuan. “The rest… is my mother’s dowry.”

Ruan Mingfu nodded knowingly.

The dog man’s maternal family was certainly wealthy. Even though she wasn’t particularly close to them, his grandmother had generously given her a full set of emerald jewelry.

With that in mind, Ruan Mingfu hurried into the bedroom and brought out the box she had received.

Opening it, she said, “Look, this was from your grandmother.”

“Our grandmother,” he corrected.

Ruan Mingfu hesitated for a moment, then begrudgingly said, “…Grandma.”

Only then did the dog man seem satisfied.

He gently patted Ruan Mingfu’s head and said, “These are yours now.”

Ruan Mingfu was taken aback, a rare look of surprise crossing her face.

“So much money… aren’t you afraid I’ll spend it all recklessly?”

“If you spend it all, I’ll earn more,” Xie Yanzhao said casually, not treating these items as anything significant. “Once it’s given to you, it’s yours.”

Uh-oh.

The dog man was looking more and more handsome, especially when he flaunted his wealth like that.

Ruan Mingfu’s heart raced, beating rapidly.

Come to think of it, men like Xie Yanzhao were rare in any era, let alone fifty or sixty years down the line.

Reflecting on her good fortune, she thought, Luckily, I acted quickly!

Feeling inwardly pleased, Ruan Mingfu still couldn’t help but tease aloud, “But… what if I spend it all and then run away?”

Hearing this, Xie Yanzhao’s eyes narrowed.

His ink-black gaze flashed with a dangerous glint. With a forceful grip, he scooped Ruan Mingfu into his arms.

She let out a startled cry, and the box of savings fell to the floor with a clatter.

Ruan Mingfu instinctively clung to Xie Yanzhao’s muscular arms, protesting, “What are you doing—”

Before she could finish, his cold voice rang out.

“If you dare run, I’ll break your legs!”

With that, he strode purposefully toward the bedroom, still holding her.

Sensing the looming danger, Ruan Mingfu started to struggle.

“Let me go! Let me go—”

But before she knew it, she was dizzy from the sudden movement and found herself thrown onto the bed. Luckily, the bed was cushioned with thick bedding, so it didn’t hurt when she landed. Otherwise, Ruan Mingfu would have definitely taught the dog man a lesson in manners!

As she was mulling over that thought, the room suddenly went dark.

Xie Yanzhao had turned off the lights. Just as Ruan Mingfu was about to sit up, a strong arm wrapped around her, pulling her tightly against him.

“Don’t move!”