Chapter 47

In the bright kitchen, steam pushed the lid off the pot with a bubbling sound. Rong Qi held Cheng Li by the waist, leaning down to lightly nibble her lips with a teasing, gentle force. It was like dangling a carrot before her, tempting her to bite back.

The moment she moved, however, he backed away.

This time, he really retreated, reaching out to turn off the gas stove nearby. “If we let it keep boiling, the fire might shoot to the heavens,” Rong Qi said as he leaned back in, his lips brushing hers. His low, husky voice seemed to seep straight into her heart.

His effortless confidence had a certain irresistible charm.

Cheng Li’s heart was a whirlwind under his teasing—just as it settled, it would leap again, like a feather constantly tickling, leaving her restless and itching.

She realized that kissing could indeed be a skill learned with practice. For instance, earlier, Rong Qi had seemed a bit awkward, and she’d been surprised. After all, he was a year older than her, a man who had been an adult for over a decade—surely he wouldn’t be inexperienced at kissing?

At first, she thought it might be his first time kissing her, hence the hesitation.

But now, she noticed his progress was startlingly fast—much faster than hers.

It felt like they had both started at 20 points, but Rong Qi had already soared to over 90, while she was still hovering around 70.

Did overachievers excel even at things like this without effort?

“Lost in thought?” Rong Qi suddenly stopped, pinching the corner of her mouth.

Cheng Li recalled how she had fallen asleep mid-kiss last time. Determined not to repeat the mistake, she looked at him with a sweet expression and said, “I was thinking about you.”

Rong Qi raised an eyebrow, his demeanor calm and collected. “Thinking what about me?”

“I was wondering how you’ve become so good at kissing. Is your ability to learn always this strong?”

Before she could finish, Rong Qi cupped her cheeks and gently bit her lower lip. With a mix of exasperation and amusement, he said, “Have you ever thought about why you’re so good at ruining the mood?”

Ruin the mood?

This time, though, she didn’t have the energy to dwell on it, because Rong Qi’s next kiss came with unrelenting intensity. In no time, she was backing away uncontrollably, her breathing quick and shallow as though she couldn’t catch her breath.

When he finally let her go, Cheng Li felt like a fish out of water, gasping for air on the brink of suffocation.

Rong Qi held her in his arms, gently stroking her back. Teasingly, he said, “How many times has it been? And you still can’t figure out how to breathe properly?”

Perhaps it was his satisfaction speaking, as his tone carried a lighthearted playfulness.

Cheng Li, resting against his chest, let out a soft hum of protest. Annoyed by his teasing, she pushed him away and declared, “Exactly, I can’t breathe properly, so I need to rest. You can make dinner yourself.”

She was about to leave when Rong Qi grabbed her wrist.

“What now?” Cheng Li tilted her chin slightly, feigning a haughty attitude, as though she were too good for him.

Rong Qi chuckled. “Can I ask for one more reward?”

Cheng Li widened her eyes in disbelief. “Are you pushing your luck?”

He’d already kissed her for so long, and now he dared to ask for more?

“Consider it pushing my luck.” Rong Qi raised an eyebrow with a smirk. “I want to sleep in a different room tonight.”

Cheng Li fought back a smile and pretended to play dumb. “You want to sleep in the guest room? Sure, I’ll get it ready for you. Go make dinner.”

With that, she broke free from his grip and ran off.

She thought Rong Qi wouldn’t chase her, but as soon as she reached the dining area, he caught up.

Cheng Li tried to run, but Rong Qi pinned her down from behind, and the two of them ended up tumbling onto the nearby lounge chair.

“Not the guest room,” Rong Qi said, propping himself over her, his hands on either side of her body. His dark eyes bore into hers with an intensity that seemed to ignite everything around them. “Your room.”

As he spoke, the fire in his gaze burned away the last traces of her resistance.

“Agreed,” Cheng Li whispered softly. She leaned up to kiss the corner of his mouth.

Before he could make another move, she held up a hand to stop him and warned, “If someone doesn’t start cooking dinner soon, he’s going to have a wife who faints from hunger.”

Rong Qi let out a low, muffled laugh and reluctantly got up, finally letting her go.

That night, after Cheng Li finished her shower and came out, she saw Rong Qi sitting on the edge of the bed, a laptop on his lap, seemingly handling some work.

As she approached, she deliberately turned her head away, avoiding even the slightest glance in his direction. After all, whatever was on his laptop was likely business secrets from Qiyu Technology.

Rong Qi noticed her averted gaze and waited for a while. When she kept her head turned, not even sparing him a glance, he reached out and gently pinched her neck. “Is your neck okay? Do you need me to massage it?”

Cheng Li was startled and laughed. “Why would I need a neck massage?”

Even as she spoke, her head remained turned to the side.

“I thought maybe you slipped and hurt your neck in the shower, so now you can only face that direction.” Rong Qi’s tone was calm.

Cheng Li whipped her head around. “Who said I slipped in the shower?”

“Then why are you always looking that way and not at me?” Rong Qi stared at her for two seconds before a chuckle escaped him, clearly amused by her strange behavior.

Cheng Li was speechless.

“I was trying to avoid accidentally seeing your company’s secrets on your laptop,” she explained.

Where else could he find such a considerate wife?

“Still so many complaints?”

Cheng Li shot Rong Qi a reproachful look, one of those “how can you not appreciate good intentions?” stares, as if to appeal to his conscience.

But Rong Qi seemed devoid of any so-called “conscience.” Instead, he calmly opened his laptop and placed it in front of her, chuckling softly. “There’s nothing secret. If you want to look, go ahead.”

Cheng Li couldn’t help but laugh—half annoyed, half amused.

His open-handed gesture seemed to say that she was the one making baseless assumptions, treating him like a petty schemer while he presented himself as the epitome of transparency. His casual display of “nobility” was almost infuriating.

She cast him a glare, firmly pushed the laptop away, and declared, “I’m not looking. I need my beauty sleep, and that’s more important.”

Rong Qi glanced at the time on the laptop. Just two minutes until midnight.

Her so-called “beauty sleep” was cutting it close.

When Cheng Li lay down, Rong Qi didn’t linger on his laptop much longer either. He closed it, turned off the lights, and lay beside her.

At first, neither of them spoke. Cheng Li lay on her side, back turned to him, waiting—expecting him to ask why she was upset.

Instead, the sound of his calm, steady breathing filled the silence. It seemed like he was already drifting off.

Cheng Li shifted slightly, waiting for a reaction, but before she could move again, he leaned in close from behind.

“Upset?” His low voice was almost a whisper against her ear.

Even without turning, she could feel his warm breath, a sensation that made her shiver slightly.

Feigning composure, she replied, “No.”

“Is it because I let you see the laptop?” His tone was quiet, yet teasing.

Cheng Li had always been particularly sensitive to his low voice, and the fact that he deliberately spoke this way only made her more conscious of it.

“If you don’t tell me, how will I know why you’re suddenly mad?”

His words made her pause. Was she really being petty?

Clearing her throat, she explained, “I was being considerate, okay? I purposely avoided looking at your laptop out of respect for your privacy. But instead of appreciating it, you said, ‘Go ahead and look.’”

After she took a minute to spell out why she was upset, Rong Qi embraced her and responded in a low voice, “So, I failed to recognize your thoughtfulness.”

Well then.

The academic prodigy strikes again—summarizing the issue perfectly in a single sentence.

Before Cheng Li could react, she felt a draft of cold air. Rong Qi had slipped into her blanket.

The reason they had managed to share a bed peacefully up until now was simple: separate blankets.

But now, Rong Qi had wrapped himself around her from behind.

Even in winter, they both wore lightweight, close-fitting pajamas to bed. With nothing substantial between them, she could feel the contours of his body against hers.

“It’s too warm,” Cheng Li muttered softly.

Rong Qi rested his chin lightly against her neck and rubbed it slightly. “Isn’t that the point of winter? To be like this.”

Her thoughts wandered to the night when Rong Qi had first suggested they share a room.

Winter, she thought, really is the perfect excuse to hold someone you love close.

Deep down, Cheng Li didn’t actually resist the idea of moving further in their relationship. They both seemed content to let things happen naturally, savoring the intimacy and flow of their connection.

After all, they’d only been married for a few months.

For someone as slow to warm up as Cheng Li, it was astonishing to have embraced Rong Qi completely, both emotionally and physically, in such a short time.

Soon, her resistance melted away, and she drifted off in his arms.

*

Two days later, Cheng Li finally called He Yunze.

She had previously promised to contact Wen Si and find out if someone had been influencing her to sabotage Fanhai’s financing plans.

When He Yunze answered the phone, he spoke quietly. “This is something we should discuss in person.”

Before Cheng Li could respond, he hung up.

Shortly after, he sent her a message:

He Yunze: [Sorry about earlier. I was at the office, and there were people around. Let’s meet somewhere outside to talk about this.]

He followed it with an address.

Though Cheng Li wasn’t particularly inclined to accommodate him, she realized that discussing such matters over the phone might indeed be unwise.

She decided to make the trip.

At the agreed location, Cheng Li handed over a set of documents.

Wen Si had sent the information to her, which Cheng Li had printed out.

“It’s true,” Cheng Li said. “Someone had tipped off Wen Si, warning her about the paparazzi’s plans to release certain news. They advised her to prepare in advance, which is why she secretly took screenshots of Gao Zhihe’s chat logs.”

He Yunze glanced at the documents, noting the email address on them. “The only contact details are a phone number and an email?”

“Yes, and they might be disposable accounts. It’s likely the other party won’t use them again,” Cheng Li replied matter-of-factly, doubting they’d ever trace it back to anyone.

He Yunze flipped through the papers and scoffed. “Quite a meticulous job.”

“Well, they’re no fool,” Cheng Li retorted dryly.

“I was hoping for more leads,” He Yunze sighed, his tone more resigned than disappointed.

Cheng Li lifted her gaze. “You seem to really dislike Xu Jiheng.”

She found it odd that He Yunze’s first suspect had been Xu Jiheng. Considering He Yunze was new to the company, it was strange for him to have such immediate conflict with someone.

“Shouldn’t I?” He Yunze’s amused smile contrasted sharply with the sharpness in his voice. “Or have you already forgiven him?”

Cheng Li froze.

Clearly, He Yunze knew about her history with Xu Jiheng.

Once, she had been consumed by resentment and a desperate urge to prove herself after being betrayed. But as time passed, that burning desire to retaliate had faded into nothingness.

Even now, even if she were truly married to Rong Qi, Cheng Li had no intention of using him to humiliate Xu Jiheng.

Because Xu Jiheng simply wasn’t worth it.

The only way he deserved to be treated was to be completely forgotten by Cheng Li.

“I’ve almost forgotten about him already,” Cheng Li said with a faint smile.

He Yunze, however, brought up another topic. “I heard your company is planning to collaborate with Qiyu Technologies?”

Cheng Li looked at him cautiously, remaining silent for a moment.

“Don’t look at me like that. This kind of thing isn’t exactly breaking news in the industry,” He Yunze reassured her. Seeing that she remained on guard, he explained slowly, “Qiyu’s car manufacturing plans have been public for a while now. They’re obviously eager to roll out their own models quickly. The fastest way to speed things up is to acquire established companies in the industry and shorten development timelines.

“They tried to collaborate with Pegasus Navigation before, and they even wanted to acquire Yixing. Both efforts were aimed at achieving this goal.”

“Unfortunately, both collaborations fell through. So it’s not surprising that your company has now caught their attention.”

Cheng Li hadn’t expected him to deduce the situation so accurately.

But even if his guess was right, Cheng Li wasn’t about to admit it. She simply replied, “If that’s all you wanted to talk about, I’ll take my leave.”

She thought that was the end of it.

But just a few days later—

While Cheng Li was at work, she noticed a commotion outside the open-plan office.

Not long after, Zuo Qingqing knocked on her office door. Once inside, she immediately said, “President Cheng, a video has suddenly surfaced online.”

“What video?” Cheng Li asked curiously.

Zuo Qingqing placed her phone in front of Cheng Li, showing her a familiar scene.

In the video, Gao Zhihe, despite being stopped by the police, managed to fling a cup of coffee directly at Cheng Li. She stood there and took it, not even flinching. She remained calm, merely watching as Gao Zhihe was escorted away by the police.

The video was short—only a few dozen seconds.

After watching it, Cheng Li looked up at Zuo Qingqing, blinked a few times, and said after a pause, “I seemed pretty composed back then.”

“Huh?” Zuo Qingqing was dumbfounded.

But Cheng Li quickly asked, “How did this video suddenly appear online?”

“It was because of Zhao Yihan. She posted a long Weibo post today, claiming she was once a mistress, and then talked about how she’d been deceived by Gao Zhihe and lost her way, ruining someone else’s family. In the end, she even hypocritically apologized to Mrs. Gao.”

Cheng Li wasn’t particularly interested in the celebrity’s response.

Fortunately, Zuo Qingqing continued explaining. “Netizens were already mocking her, but then someone posted this video, saying that the reason she apologized was because Gao Zhihe was arrested and she had lost her backing.”

This sent netizens into a frenzy.

The video quickly spread across all major platforms, and reportedly, it had already reached the top spot on Douyin’s trending list.

Cheng Li pressed her hand to her forehead and then lowered her head to watch the video again. This time, she noticed the part where Gao Zhihe yelled, “What did Ren Kuang give you to make you so willing to be his dog?”—which had also been recorded.

She hadn’t paid attention to it earlier.

Zuo Qingqing had clearly caught that line too and was about to console Cheng Li.

But Cheng Li looked up and, as if seeking her agreement, said, “At least the video makes me look good, don’t you think?”

Zuo Qingqing: “Huh?”

Was this really the time to be thinking about that?

Cheng Li stared at the video, suddenly wondering how Rong Qi would react if he saw it.

And then, rather absurdly, she thought:

At least, even after being splashed with coffee, her beauty was still intact.