Just her taste

Inside a highly private tea room.

Zuo Tingyue sat casually in a rosewood chair, his posture relaxed. He wore only a white shirt on his upper body, his discarded suit jacket set to one side. He slowly leafed through a document as cool white light spilled down, illuminating the smooth contours of his profile.

There were only two or three people in the room. No one spoke; they were all waiting for him to finish the document. In the spacious tea room, there was only the rustle of turning pages.

Clack.

Zuo Tingyue tossed the document onto the table, and Chen Shuping inwardly braced himself.

He might be much older than the crown prince, but his boldness and methods did not necessarily measure up.

A man who had fought his way through the circles of wealth and power, and who came from an eminent family at that, was the most coldhearted and unfeeling of all.

"You can't show any sincerity, yet you still dream of working with us?"

Zuo Tingyue wore little expression. Under the light, a layer of cold indifference settled over his eyes.

"The partnership is off."

Those softly spoken, resonant words seemed to seal the outcome. He had the clout to do just that.

Chen Shuping lowered his head in assent, obeying the crown prince's instructions. He understood that BOOD Group's plan to enter Harbor City had now been completely scuttled.

Yun Tang's eyes brimmed with smiles as she saw the message pop up on her phone.

"Beautiful Xun-Xun, I'm heading out for a bit. Call me if you need anything."

Xun Yuan raised her brows, looked at her, and nodded.

"Okay."

Yun Tang climbed out of the pool, got dressed, and pushed the door open to leave.

She had soaked a little too long. The rising heat made Xun Yuan dizzy, so she climbed out and wrapped herself in a bathrobe. Amid the splashing water, she went to sit somewhere with better airflow.

Her phone chimed.

She opened her phone to check the message. It was from the little group chat Jiang Yulin and Yun Tang had taken the lead in setting up earlier, with members all from Harbor City's social circle.

In the group, Jiang Yulin and Yun Tang were trading barbs.

Yun Tang: "You, Jiang. Where are you?"

Jiang Yulin: "...Dead."

Yun Tang: "???"

Yun Tang: "You've got three minutes. If I don't see you in the lobby, you really will be dead!"

Jiang Yulin: "..."

Lou Jing: "Hahaha, little sis Yun Tang, he can't get away right now."

Then Lou Jing posted a photo in the group.

Jiang Yulin was being pestered by two blond, blue-eyed foreign men. Men, not women.

His face was full of irritation, but the two foreign men were completely unmoved.

Xun Yuan laughed aloud. After watching for a while, she left the group chat and scrolled through her phone.

Bzz, bzz-

Xun Yuan frowned. Her phone showed a low-battery warning, so she got up, pulled her bathrobe snug, and headed to the front desk to ask for a charger.

Her hot spring room was the innermost one, and the route was rather winding. As she walked, Xun Yuan discovered a ridiculous fact.

She was lost.

Embarrassing.

Troublesome.

She stopped where she was and decisively used her phone's last sliver of life to message Yun Tang.

"I'm lost. Come quick."

Yun Tang: "??? Where are you? Can you send your location?"

Xun Yuan was working on it.

Bzz, bzz-

Looking at her phone's now completely black screen, Xun Yuan pressed her slender fingers to the space between her brows.

She did not recognize anywhere, so she waited where she was for someone to come.

Footsteps approached from afar, steady and firm, the strides sure. Xun Yuan's eyes shifted. Those footsteps sounded a little familiar.

Closer now.

She leaned limply against the wall and looked up. Their gazes met across a moderate distance, the same mild composure in both their eyes.

The man wore only a white shirt on his upper body, its collar slightly open to reveal his prominent Adam's apple and a small patch of collarbone. Just looking at Xun Yuan like that, he exuded blatant masculine sensuality.

Without warning, Xun Yuan recalled the scene of this man slowly approaching her beneath a black umbrella with an ebony frame, as fine as gold and jade, incomparably elegant and noble.

An aura of aristocratic privilege radiated from him, impossible to suppress.

What she remembered most clearly were the dark patches the raindrops had soaked into his suit.

The next instant, Xun Yuan's lips curved into a smile. "Mr. Zuo."

Zuo Tingyue's expression was indifferent, but his eyes were brimming with interest.

"Taking a soak?" His brief question ended on a slight upward lilt, carrying a trace of teasing.

Xun Yuan nodded with a gentle smile and told him the truth without the slightest coyness.

"Unfortunately, I got lost."

Zuo Tingyue's gaze shifted faintly, his thin lips tugging upward as a low, resonant laugh rose from deep in his throat.

Xun Yuan's eyes wavered. What are you laughing at? Who could withstand that? That laugh is melting my heart.

She touched her ear. It was a little hot.

"Stop laughing." She feigned composure.

"Am I in your way?"

Zuo Tingyue's lips parted, a faint smile rippling through his indifferent eyes. He looked every bit the rakish, dissolute young aristocrat.

Xun Yuan stared at him for a few moments, then abruptly grew annoyed and turned to leave.

Zuo Tingyue caught her by the arm and pulled her in front of him.

With a thud.

Xun Yuan collided with his chest.

"Hiss..." A faint sound escaped her red lips.

It hurt.

Why is his chest so hard?

Zuo Tingyue's gaze darkened.

"Weren't you lost?"

"Where are you running off to?"

His words were always curt and hard, carrying the habitual force and pressure of someone in power.

The collision had hurt, and Xun Yuan was displeased. Naturally, her tone was not particularly pleasant either.

"Anywhere. Far away from you, so I won't get in your way."

Zuo Tingyue was amused. Look at how she held a grudge. She threw his earlier words right back at him, refusing to take even the slightest loss.

His gaze fell on her outfit. Their collision had loosened her bathrobe, revealing the strapless dress beneath. It was low-cut; merely calling it sexy hardly covered it.

She wanted to go parading around in that?

He was categorical. "No."

"Why not?" she retorted, her voice light.

Zuo Tingyue looked at the faint anger on her porcelain-white face. She resembled a bristling hedgehog. His lips curved in a smile; this was the first time he had seen this side of her.

"Come with me, or go on your own. Your choice."

His voice lowered, revealing some of the chilly indifference buried deep in his bones.

Xun Yuan glanced at her phone's black screen, her eyes shifting.

She asked softly, "Where are you going?"

She chose to go with him. Who knew how long she would have to wait here?

Zuo Tingyue said nothing and turned toward the hot spring room beside them, his figure tall and straight. The rich sandalwood scent on him passed her nose. It smelled good.

Xun Yuan understood. He was going for a soak. After a brief pause, she followed. In that short span, by the time she entered, he was already relaxing in the hot spring pool.

There was a partition in the room. She found somewhere to sit, bored out of her mind, thinking that she had acted on impulse.

Her gaze turned toward the partition screen, her thoughts flying as all sorts of jumbled things kept surfacing in her mind.

Unexpectedly, she thought of what had just happened-

Does he have a steel plate installed in his chest?

How could one bump hurt that much?

No patience, and a bad temper too.

"What are you thinking about?"

His husky voice sounded in the quiet room. Absorbed in her thoughts, Xun Yuan answered instinctively:

"Wondering whether you have a steel plate installed in your chest."

A low laugh came from behind the screen, the kind of casual, unhurried amusement.

Xun Yuan's face heated. Having someone discover her private grumbling about him really was social death.

"Come here."

Hearing his voice, as if possessed, she actually got up and went over.

She slowly rounded the partition screen, and rising white mist filled her view.

Through the hazy veil of white mist, the man's strong, well-built figure flickered in and out of sight. His bare chest was fair, his muscles traced in smooth, beautiful lines, brimming with strength. Amid the swirling mist, droplets ran down the contours of his abdomen and joined the hot spring water at his waist.

That intense rush of masculine hormones really did hit her full in the face.

Xun Yuan's cheeks burned. She now somewhat regretted having such good eyesight. Even more, she regretted failing to resist temptation.

It was always like this. In front of him, she became different.

An absolute male temptress.

Beauty leads people astray. The ancients truly did not deceive me.

She had to admit that Zuo Tingyue's looks were one in ten thousand, and so damn much to her taste.