As he spoke, Ye Qiu reached for Liu Erlong's soft hand. The moment their skin touched, Liu Erlong jolted as if she'd been shocked and hurriedly tried to pull away.
But how could she escape Ye Qiu's long-planned clutches?
Smack!
"Ah—y-you, let go!"
Liu Erlong let out an agitated cry.
Ye Qiu gripped her jade hand firmly. It was still warm and soft to the touch, even softer than before. Just letting himself indulge with those hands would probably feel pretty good, too.
"You beast—"
Liu Erlong struggled fiercely, about to curse Ye Qiu, when a gentle yet threatening voice sounded in her ear...
"You wouldn't want your parents at odds, leaving your daughter caught in the middle and miserable, would you?"
"!!!"
Liu Erlong froze in shock. She quickly raised her head and looked at Ye Qiu. His lips had just stopped moving, while Ah Yin and the others acted as though they hadn't heard what he'd said. There was no doubt about it: Ye Qiu had used the secret voice transmission technique, forcing his voice into a fine thread that went straight to Liu Erlong's ear.
"Mom?"
Hearing Ye Linger's timid voice, Liu Erlong immediately looked at her daughter. Seeing her innocent, bewildered expression, Liu Erlong finally gave up struggling. She endured the discomfort in both body and heart and lowered her eyes.
Out of the corner of her eye, she couldn't help noticing Ye Qiu's hand clasped tightly around hers.
He was gripping it very, very tightly, hard enough to hurt.
And yet, she couldn't bring herself to think that Ye Qiu was doing it to torment her. She no longer had even the slightest strength to resist that hand.
"Erlong, what's wrong?"
Ye Qiu's voice was warm and polite, and his gentle, handsome smile flickered at