Dyed Red

The Zhou family’s dining area is divided into two areas, one table for children and one table for adults.

The dining area of the Zhou family was divided by age, with Zhou Qishen being the youngest. Jiang Xiao sat at the end on the left. Next to him sat Tian Tian’s mother, Wang Shuyi. Diagonally opposite them were Zhou Wenting and his father, Zhou Xulin.

At this moment, Jiang Xiao finally saw the rumored elder of the Zhou family, Zhou Zhengkang. He exuded an imposing aura without any visible anger, though his slightly impaired gait hinted at a leg discomfort that didn’t diminish his presence.

Jiang Xiao observed him briefly, then under Zhou Qishen’s lead, approached and greeted him. She couldn’t discern his first impression of her, as he simply glanced at her before waving them back to their seats.

Silent during meals and reticent afterward, almost no sound could be heard at the dinner table.

It wasn’t until after the meal that Zhou Zhengkang’s aged yet powerful voice filled the dining hall. “Today marks three auspicious occasions: first, Xulin’s forty-eighth birthday. Second, Qishen finds his ideal match, and third…”

At this point, Zhou Zhengkang suddenly paused, casting a meaningful glance at Zhou Qishen, who remained unmoved. With a disdainful grunt, Zhou Zhengkang redirected his gaze to Zhou Wenting.

“Xulin has finally found his long-lost son.”

With this simple sentence, Zhou Zhengkang deftly altered the narrative, turning the illegitimate son into a pitiable child lost for many years.

Had Zhou Xulin spoken these words, few would have believed him. Yet coming from Zhou Zhengkang, even the patriarch himself acknowledged the kinship, leaving little room for dissent.

People avoided eye contact or stared at their food, murmuring congratulations to Zhou Xulin in succession.

Listening quietly, Jiang Xiao glanced at Zhou Qishen beside her, who remained passive. She lowered her head, pretending not to see or hear anything, distancing herself from matters that didn’t concern her.

Their feigned ignorance didn’t escape notice, and Zhou Zhengkang once again drew everyone’s attention to them. “Qishen, Wenting has just returned to the Zhou family and is unfamiliar with both the household and the company. I entrust him to your care as his uncle.”

Finally reacting, Zhou Qishen raised his eyes toward the head of the table. “The Finance Department happens to have a vacant position for a deputy manager. He can learn under Old Li. What does Father think?”

Old Li was a veteran of the company and the manager of the Finance Department.

However, before Zhou Zhengkang could respond, Su Miwan interjected, “Wenting is young and lacks experience. It might not be appropriate to appoint him as a manager right after joining the company.”

“With Qishen around, there shouldn’t be any problem.” 

This means that even if Zhou Wenting got into trouble, it would be Zhou Qishen, as the elder, who should clean up the mess for him.

Su Miwan’s expression changed subtly as she tightened her grip under the table. She pursed her lips and fell silent, refraining from further comments.

She could see Zhou Zhengkang’s special treatment toward Zhou Wenting, but she didn’t expect Zhou Zhengkang to involve himself in company affairs. How could Zhou Qishen, right off the bat, arrange such an important position for his competitor?

In recent years, conflicts between father and son have intensified. Su Miwan had tried to mend their relationship and was aware of the shadows cast on Zhou Qishen by Zhou Zhengkang’s external entanglements.

That incident was a thorn in Zhou Qishen’s heart, but wasn’t it hers too? However, with so many interests involved in the alliance between the two families, even if she learned about Zhou Zhengkang’s one-night affair, what could she do while pregnant?

Divorce in a fit of anger? It wasn’t realistic, and she wasn’t that foolish. Was she to leave the position of wealthy housewife behind and hand over the wealth to his ex-wife and children?

She could only pretend to be angry and aggrieved, cry a little, make a fuss, and appear understanding and vulnerable to arouse Zhou Zhengkang’s sympathy and guilt, trying her best to make amends for her mother and son.

Over the years, facts had shown that Zhou Zhengkang had devoted himself to nurturing her son as the heir of the group, and he had even decided to give the position of executive director to Xiaoshen.

She had never told anyone her thoughts, including her son.

As long as in the eyes of others, she was a woman who loved Zhou Zhengkang deeply and had no opinion or ambition, it was enough.

Previously, Zhou Zhengkang had allowed Xiaoshen to privately teach Zhou Wenting business knowledge, and she could turn a blind eye to it. But now Zhou Zhengkang had started to suppress her son through others’ hands. This was something she absolutely could not accept.

She had originally intended to fight for something for Zhou Qishen again, but he preempted her and cut her off.

“It’s all up to Father.”

Zhou Qishen’s expression remained calm, seemingly having no objections.

“I brought a few bottles of wine, shall we have a drink together?” Wang Shuyi timely broke the awkward atmosphere, smiling as she sent someone to fetch the stored wine.

In the brightly lit courtyard, not far away, several older Zhou family members gathered together chatting lively, contrasting with the lonely figures of Zhou Qishen and Jiang Xiao sitting in the corner.

There’s a saying online: “Seeing your ex doing well is harder than death.”

Jiang Xiao felt like she was in such a state now. Even though she knew Zhou Wenting couldn’t compete with Zhou Qishen, her heart still felt uneasy. Especially Father Zhou’s actions of suppressing his own son to promote his grandson, she couldn’t understand it.

Is this the legendary relationship between generations?

As the noisy voices gradually faded, Jiang Xiao picked up a glass of wine and handed it to Zhou Qishen, unable to resist lowering her voice and asking, “Why did you agree so easily to your father’s proposal?”

“Zhou Group was never mine to begin with. Anyone can manage it, as long as they don’t ruin it completely.” Zhou Qishen sat in a soft chair, legs crossed, eyes half-closed, his exact expression unclear.

Jiang Xiao couldn’t discern how much nonchalance was in his words, but his indifference was palpable. It seemed as though he would willingly relinquish the position of Executive Director of Zhou Group immediately if asked.

Zhou Qishen suddenly turned his head to look at her, wanting to know whether she was happy or unhappy about Zhou Wenting’s rise to power.

But after a while, he ultimately didn’t ask this question.

Jiang Xiao sensed his unspoken thoughts. Even without the support of the Zhou Group, he could still live quite well on his own. Enhancements were nice to have, but not essential to him.

This statement was quite bold, and Jiang Xiao couldn’t help but feel delighted.

Thinking of this, her peach blossom eyes couldn’t help but slightly hook, incredibly charming with snow-white skin, and vermilion lips, smiling as if to capture someone’s heart.

Watching this, Zhou Qishen’s gaze deepened, calmly taking two sips of wine.

“Drink less, this is already the second bottle. Be careful not to get drunk,” Wang Shuyi interjected, not out of concern for her own wine, but because of its high alcohol content, which could indeed intoxicate.

Following her voice, Jiang Xiao glanced over to see Zhou Wenting lifting a glass of wine to his lips and drinking, a dark red liquid spilling slightly from the corners of his mouth, accentuating his devilishly beautiful handsome face.

This was no longer about wine tasting, but intentionally getting drunk, which explained Wang Shuyi’s concern.

Jiang Xiao only glanced briefly before withdrawing her gaze. Whether Zhou Wenting got drunk or not was none of her concern. However, when she turned her eyes again, she caught Zhou Qishen, who had also downed a large glass. She frowned and snatched his cup without saying a word.

“Stop drinking.”

“Hmm?” Zhou Qishen gave her a puzzled look.

Jiang Xiao gave him a suitable reason: “I have a flight tomorrow at noon, so I need to go upstairs and sleep early.”

Zhou Qishen paused for a few seconds, nodded in understanding, then got up to explain the situation to Su Miwan and left directly.

*

After returning to the room, Jiang Xiao walked ahead and turned on the main light. As she walked in, she began to remove the small clips used to secure her hair. They were tight, requiring both hands to carefully remove them without pulling her scalp.

Once she confirmed she had removed them properly, she casually untied the hair tie, and her cold brown hair cascaded down instantly. Her slender fingers ran through the messy long hair, letting it fall loosely on both sides of her face.

Finally relaxed, Jiang Xiao had maintained her poise all day and was feeling quite tired now. Without looking back, she spoke to the man behind her, “Should I go wash up first?”

“No rush.”

The next moment, the man’s figure slowly approached from behind, his breath close at hand. Her neck seemed to catch his scent, and in that intimate moment, she could smell a hint of dissipated alcohol.

His large palms groped and climbed up her fingertips from below, brushing across the back of her hand, wrist, and forearm, until they encircled her waist, making her shiver all over.

The ambiguity seemed to ferment in an instant, stirring Jiang Xiao’s restless mind.

Zhou Qishen hesitated to take the next step, leaving Jiang Xiao momentarily unable to figure out his intentions. She could only turn her head slightly and softly inquired, “What’s wrong?”

Leaning against her shoulder, Zhou Qishen caught the mild and delicate fragrance, which relaxed his breath somewhat but heightened the tension in his throat, creating a striking scene with the raised veins on his neck.

Suddenly, he murmured, “During dinner, you looked at him three times.”

Jiang Xiao’s body stiffened, puzzled:

“Look at who?”

Listening to her cute and puzzled voice, Zhou Qishen was first stunned. His deep eyes swept over her reddened nose, flawless skin, dazzling under the light.

Her pretty face showed no defenses or calculations as if she really didn’t know what he was talking about.

Zhou Qishen’s temper softened halfway, muttering back in a muffled voice, “Who are you looking at?”

With her head tilted, Jiang Xiao couldn’t pretend to be dumb anymore. The palm of her hand clutching the hem of her clothes suddenly became damp, and she chuckled softly, “Why don’t you just pay attention to who I’m looking at instead of eating properly?”

With that, she turned her body to face him, tiptoed to hook his neck, and on this quiet night, it seemed that only the heartbeat of the two remained. Her slender fingers brushed from his cheek to his nose, lightly touching his chin, and suddenly nibbled lightly, licking and saying, “Mr. Zhou, are you jealous?”

“Yeah, is that okay?” Zhou Qishen leaned forward to cooperate, narrowing the distance between them, and sticking to her ear ambiguously: “As a husband, can’t I be jealous of you with other men?”

“Of course you can, but what’s the use of just being jealous?” Jiang Xiao’s neatly trimmed fingers drifted from her cheek to his nose, rubbing her chin as she rubbed, suddenly lightly biting and licking: “Fool, being proactive will lead to consequences.”

His thin lips suddenly pressed against hers, their breaths intertwining, warm and moist, like morning dew moisturizing petals.

“Is this proactive enough?”

Jiang Xiao swallowed her saliva, her face flushed, her body softened, her wildly jumping heart mixed with messy thoughts, she looked at him, teasing without retreating: “Of course not enough…”

Before the tail sound completely fell, the other side had tightly blocked her lips.

This time, unlike the usual slow plotting, he seemed unusually anxious, one hand tightly grasping the back of her head, pressing her resistance to no avail.

The distinct joints of the fingers opened the white buttons, one after another, if not enough to customize the quality of the shirt, afraid it had been torn by several buttons.

Shoulders wide and powerful, supporting the tight and solid muscles, perfect lines flowing smoothly, winding all the way down to the eight abdominal muscles and the mermaid line.

Jiang Xiao’s unabashed gaze floated over him, a faint itch climbing in her heart. The inherent nature of a lascivious person urged her to silently reach out her hand.

Soon, the shirt fell smoothly from the position of the arm and made an unnoticed sound.

The chest, well-trained under the light, was dazzlingly displayed in front of Jiang Xiao.

He lifted her onto the table, entwining with her passionately, a hidden fire igniting deep within, gradually heating up, spreading through her body bit by bit, causing tremors.

“This time…” He paused suddenly, his narrow phoenix eyes softened with nostalgia as he looked at her, his voice deep and tinged with playfulness, “I won’t stop.”

These few words made Jiang Xiao blush even more, her fair and cool face now flushed.

Her dark green hair cascaded like a waterfall, restless in the night breeze. Jiang Xiao pushed back the hair that hung in front of her chest, her bright and charming eyes fixed on him without losing any ground, teasingly smiling, “Looking forward to it.”

Jiang Xiao was almost caught off guard, suddenly held by him around her waist. He restrained his strength, not hurting her.

Her beautiful eyes trembled lightly, her eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings. Her hands gripping his neck unconsciously tightened, fingertips sliding over the skin behind his neck, the distance between them getting closer until their breaths intertwined.

But before long, she would realize how foolish her harsh words were.