Chapter 2

Jinye turned around, a scorching breath closing in on her. She took two steps back, pressed against the door by the man.

Wei Liangchen’s deep, dark eyes, with a hint of desire, a touch of indifference, a hint of mockery, and a hint of amusement at her reaction, stared at her.

“Is there a fortress waiting for you to blow up ahead? You look like you’re ready to die.” He sneered, a smile playing on his lips.

Water still dripped from his hair, his deep eyes even more alluring. His gaze fell on her dark green cheongsam, and his eyes darkened.

The cheongsam hugged her graceful curves, perfectly undulating, with a slit reaching up to her thigh, revealing her jade-like skin.

The hibiscus flowers on the skirt seemed to have a faint fragrance.

All ten parts of his gaze were now filled with desire, as if a wild beast was about to burst out of him.

This wasn’t the first time Jinye had seen him like this. Her heart trembled, and she pressed her hands against his chest. “Everyone’s waiting for you, uh—”

He pulled her hand away, wrapped his strong arms around his own waist, and lowered his head to kiss her, silencing her protest.

Hot, scorching.

Finally, his bath towel fell off, and he lifted one of her legs onto his waist. If not for a loud “Second Brother” from outside, who knows what would have happened next.

“Second Brother, why aren’t you coming down yet?” It was his younger sister, Wei Jiaqi.

Footsteps grew closer. Jinye panicked and pushed him hard. Their lips finally separated, making a “pop” sound, their breaths filled with moisture.

She looked into his dark, desire-filled eyes, making her legs go weak just by looking at them.

Wei Liangchen calmed his breathing beside her ear, his voice husky. “I’ll deal with you later.”

He let go of her and went to get dressed.

Even though it was just a fleeting moment, Jinye’s heart skipped a beat.

She turned around almost immediately and left the room.

Just a few seconds later, Wei Jiaqi came in. “Where’s my brother? You’re so slow calling someone.”

“He said he was still getting dressed. I can’t just barge in and rush him.” Jinye calmed down, pretending to be obediently waiting outside.

It wasn’t that she was worried about Wei Jiaqi suspecting anything, because everyone knew they didn’t get along at first.

When Jinye first arrived at the warlord’s mansion, Wei Liangchen had dragged her out twice, literally dragged her out. He locked her outside the gate. The second time, her elder brother picked her up. For this, Wei Liangchen was severely whipped with a belt by the warlord.

So everyone would think that he was only being nice to her because of the warlord.

Besides, he seemed to have a white moonlight in his heart.

How could he possibly like her, this burden?

But Jinye couldn’t let her guard down. She understood the saying “the more you climb mountains, the more likely you are to encounter tigers.” She just wanted to live peacefully until she had the ability to leave. So, she had to pretend.

Wei Jiaqi snorted and said nothing more.

Soon, the door opened again, and Wei Liangchen came out. He was wearing slacks and a white shirt, with his sleeves rolled up halfway, a mix of elegance and rebelliousness. He didn’t have the intimidating presence he had in his military uniform.

Some people are just born to be clothes hangers. He would surely charm another group of people when he went out.

Wei Jiaqi instantly smiled and went up to him, affectionately linking her arm with his. “Second Brother, I’m busy at school today, otherwise I would have brought my female classmates to welcome you.”

Wei Liangchen grinned. “Don’t. The screams of your female classmates are too piercing.”

Self-absorbed, arrogant! Jinye followed behind, secretly criticizing him.

Wei Liangchen was too busy talking to his sister to notice her.

Downstairs, dinner was already set.

The warlord’s other two concubines and children lived in a separate courtyard and didn’t usually eat together.

Jinye was allowed to live in the main villa because she was alone.

The mansion had both Chinese and Western chefs, and the dinner was very lavish. There were Chinese dishes like fresh fried mandarin fish, crab roe lion’s head, and shark fin soup, as well as Western dishes like steak, foie gras, and seafood paella. There were definitely desserts after dinner. Jinye loved the ice cream here.

Warlord Wei and his elder brother, Wei Yanting, had also returned.

Wei Yanting currently worked for the North City government and only came home occasionally. He was dressed in a gray-blue long gown, handsome and elegant, calm and reserved, completely different from Wei Liangchen’s flamboyant and arrogant personality.

Warlord Wei loved this son very much.

Even more than Wei Liangchen.

It was said that his ex-wife died saving him from a bullet.

“Uncle Wei, Big Brother.” Jinye greeted them politely.

Both of them hummed in response. Wei Yanting casually asked her, “How are your studies?”

“They’re okay, I can keep up with the pace.”

Jinye was studying nursing at medical school, a sophomore. Her studies weren’t particularly demanding, and with the unstable situation, there were sometimes class suspensions.

Perhaps it was because her elder brother gave off a gentle and refreshing aura, and her smile relaxed a little.

Wei Yanting nodded and said nothing more.

Just as Jinye was about to sit down, a foot suddenly came in and hooked her chair away. Wei Liangchen sat down with a swagger, raised his chin, and gestured for her to sit in the seat next to him.

His other side was Wei Jiaqi, and beyond her was Mrs. Wei.

Warlord Wei sat at the head of the table by himself.

This way, four people sat on one side of the rectangular table, while only her elder brother sat on the opposite side, which looked a bit strange, like they were divided into factions.

She glanced at her elder brother, wanting to go over, but a heavy “cough” came from beside her. She didn’t need to look to sense the man’s displeasure.

Fortunately, Mrs. Wei sat down next to him.

Warlord Wei was in a good mood today, probably because Wei Liangchen had won a victory, and had also seized a batch of military supplies from his arch-rival, the Gan Army, so he had forgiven him for this little stunt.

The Wei family didn’t follow any strict rules during meals. They could chat and laugh freely. Warlord Wei didn’t shy away from talking about the current situation, and Jinye could hear a lot of news at the dinner table. She listened attentively every time.

A chaotic era filled with smoke and fire.

The warlords of various provinces were wealthy, but the country was poor and borrowing money everywhere. No one was buying national bonds. Wei Yanting, the capable assistant of the Minister of Finance in the North City government, was having a headache trying to raise funds.

Mrs. Wei said, “Mrs. Zhang promised to make connections when she left today.”

Mrs. Wei, as a stepmother to Wei Yanting, was impeccable, even more attentive than to her own children.

“Tsk, cutting flesh to heal a wound.” Wei Liangchen chuckled, picking up a piece of chicken and putting it in Wei Jiaqi’s bowl. “Chicken you like.”

“Thanks, brother.” Wei Jiaqi wasn’t interested in current affairs.

Perhaps feeling he couldn’t neglect her, Wei Liangchen poked a piece of steak onto Jinye’s plate. “Look how thin you are. You’d think we’re abusing you at home.”

Jinye: …It’s you who’s abusing me.

Actually, she wasn’t thin, she had curves in all the right places. She thought he was just looking for trouble.

Suddenly, a big foot hooked her calf. She stiffened and glared at him quickly, her eyes filled with annoyance.

Wei Liangchen smiled at her. “Eat.”

The foot became more audacious, rubbing against the back of her knee. She was ticklish and almost made a sound.

Seeing that the warlord and his wife, as well as Wei Yanting, were looking over, she forced herself to hold back, straightening her back to cut the steak.

If she could, she really wanted to stab that fork into his pig’s hoof.

Warlord Wei was a little displeased. “Liangchen seems to have a different opinion?”

The pig’s hoof finally stopped for a while. Wei Liangchen said casually with a smile, “I can fight, but I don’t understand money matters. I don’t have any money either.”

He laughed again.

Mrs. Wei had no way to deal with this son. Why was he so unruly in front of his father and elder brother? “Eat, just eat.”

Wei Yanting glanced at his younger brother and withdrew his gaze.