She Insisted on Making Him Bow

After all their fooling around, all Xun Yuan remembered was that by the time she recovered, the plane was about to land at Shen City Airport.

She opened the door a crack and heard Zuo Tingyue talking to someone about stocks and Shen City's current business climate.

After listening for a few dozen seconds, Xun Yuan grew bored, closed the door, and gathered her belongings, ready to get off the plane.

"Knock, knock-"

"What is it?"

"Miss Xun Yuan, the boss asked me to tell you that the plane is about to land. Please get ready."

It was Special Assistant Lin's voice.

Xun Yuan pulled the door straight open and met Special Assistant Lin's eyes, smiling. "Let's go, Special Assistant Lin."

Lin Sheng: "..."

He kept feeling that the way Xun Yuan looked at him was so frightening. Who knew what she had thought of? It made his skin crawl.

Xun Yuan went around Special Assistant Lin and walked over to Zuo Tingyue. Without sitting down, she leaned languidly to one side and watched him put away his documents and computer.

The plane descended, slowly landing at Shen City Airport.

Zuo Tingyue cast a dark, unfathomable look in Xun Yuan's direction, and she understood instantly.

She stayed where she was. Right then, she simply did not want to go along with him. Why should she? She still felt tired.

She insisted on making him bow.

Zuo Tingyue's brows seemed to shift slightly. He rose and walked over to Xun Yuan, slipping an arm around her lower back. His fingers moved, gently kneading, his voice low and magnetic. "Uncomfortable?"

There was a sexy rasp in his questioning voice.

Xun Yuan gave a muffled "Mm."

Under the brilliant lights, the woman's skin was luminous and white as jade, her cheeks rosy, her complexion excellent. Only a trace of languid weariness lingered at the corners of her eyes and brows, mingling with her aura. A weighty sense of mystery swept toward him, clinging tightly.

Zuo Tingyue narrowed his eyes and firmly squeezed her slender waist.

His voice was deep. "Go rest at the hotel."

Xun Yuan nodded.

The cabin door opened. Zuo Tingyue held Xun Yuan around the waist while Special Assistant Lin followed behind with their documents and bags. Outside the airport, Xun Yuan saw a line of uniformly deep-black G-Wagons and rows of black-clad bodyguards waiting beside them.

Xun Yuan's brows shifted. Quite the show.

As they approached, a bodyguard wearing white gloves opened the car door. Xun Yuan suddenly wanted to see the crown prince's bearing.

But he kept his arm around her and let her get in first, so she did not see it. Still, she could imagine it: he would be utterly composed, exuding refined nobility.

Then Xun Yuan thought of his private ways as a dissolute young nobleman, giving free rein to passion. A single glance could so effortlessly make someone fall.

No more thinking about that. Xun Yuan drew her thoughts back and leaned against the car window, closing her eyes to rest.

Even in that brief time, she heard Zuo Tingyue talking to someone on his computer. From what she could hear, it concerned an acquisition. Only when they reached the hotel did she learn that the team handling this acquisition had already arrived. No wonder he had brought only Special Assistant Lin. Oh, no, there was her too.

But she was just there to make up the numbers, an idle person.

Zuo Tingyue had work to handle. Tired, Xun Yuan turned and picked a room to shower and sleep in.

"Boss."

"Our shareholding has reached thirty-five percent. When we went to negotiate earlier, Leap initially agreed. We didn't expect them to go back on their word at the last minute."

A middle-aged man in a suit and polished shoes sat opposite him as he spoke.

Special Assistant Lin opened the computer and positioned it for his boss.

When he spoke, his voice was low, his words concise. "The reason."

"According to what we found, Shen City's leading conglomerate sent someone to contact the person in charge of Leap privately. After that day, we received an email from Leap saying they wanted to reconsider."

Special Assistant Lin frowned. "They haven't rejected us outright. Are they still waiting to see what happens, or are they trying to set us up?"

After all, Shen City's leading enterprise was no pushover either.

Zuo Tingyue said coldly, "He wouldn't dare."

Special Assistant Lin fell silent. The acquisition could have been completed last week, but Leap's delays had kept it from being finalized. Now that the boss had come in person, there was no way he would return empty-handed.

Zuo Tingyue's expression was indifferent, his words cold and merciless. "There's no need to conceal my arrival. Arrange a meeting with the person in charge tomorrow. Negotiate again and ask for their terms."

"Boss, what about our bottom-line offer?"

"Cut five percent from the original figure."

"Cut it further?"

Zuo Tingyue swept an indifferent glance over him. The chill within it made the man who had asked shudder inwardly. He avoided his boss's gaze and shut his mouth.

After everyone on the team had left, Special Assistant Lin thought that the boss was truly displeased.

This time, Leap had failed to appreciate the favor, and Shen City's enterprise had stuck its foot in too. They had thoroughly angered the boss.

The back-and-forth of the business world did not affect Xun Yuan, asleep in her room, in the slightest. When she woke, the sun was already sinking in the west.

She went to the suite's living room, which had an entire wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. Zuo Tingyue was there too, typing on his laptop. She did not know whom he was chatting with or what they were discussing.

Xun Yuan paid him no mind and walked to the windows to watch the sunset over Shen City. Vast swaths of orange-red evening clouds spread in dazzling colors across the distance, the mountains glowing beneath them, partly hidden and partly revealed. Nearby, towering trees stood tall. Mountains and evening clouds, trees and streetlights-the atmosphere was perfect.

Xun Yuan thought it was beautiful. She watched with sparkling eyes, then turned, wanting to call Zuo Tingyue over to look with her.

"Come look at the evening clouds."

Zuo Tingyue raised his head and looked over. Amid the sunset's lingering glow and the rosy clouds, she stood before the panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows in a white slip dress, her black hair falling in soft curves. Excitement shone in her eyes as she looked back, her radiant smile more scorching than the blazing sun. In that instant, all the scenery became a backdrop.

Zuo Tingyue's gaze went briefly unfocused. When he looked again, that tiny flicker of emotion had vanished into nothing.

He rose and approached, happy to keep her company.

After calling him, Xun Yuan had turned back to continue watching the evening clouds. Zuo Tingyue wrapped his arms around her from behind, holding her fully in his embrace.

The man's sweet, crisp sandalwood scent lingered around her nose. His chest was scorching, his vigorous muscles more than his shirt could contain, full of the fierce bite of hormones. His entire body exuded an air that tempted one to steal a taste of forbidden fruit.

Xun Yuan's attention was drawn away by him.

Zuo Tingyue lifted her hand and toyed with it, kneading it in his own. Her hand was soft, her fingers slender and long, her nails trimmed neatly into rounded curves, without a manicure. A faint pink tinted her fingertips, soft and delicate.

Xun Yuan lowered her eyes and saw this. Suddenly, something stirred faintly in her heart.

Leaving aside the future and everything else, at least there was a little warmth in this moment.

Warmth from him really was rare.

"Zuo Tingyue."

Xun Yuan called him by his full name, a touch of softness woven into her cool, clear voice.

Zuo Tingyue did not answer, only squeezed the bones of her hand.

She called again, "Zuo Tingyue."

He still did not answer, squeezing her finger joints.

Dissatisfied, Xun Yuan kept calling him. "Zuo Tingyue."

"Zuo Tingyue."

"Zuo Tingyue."

Three calls in succession, without raising her voice. She simply called his name as she normally would.

But how many people usually called him by his name? They all used honorifics.

Zuo Tingyue squeezed the bones of her hand a little harder.

A sound spilled from his throat, low and deep. "Mm?"