Qiao Jing pulled at the corner of her mouth wordlessly, her red lips slightly parted as she slowly spoke:
"It’s fine to say that to others, but to me? Do you think I’m in need of money, or do you think he has less money than you?"
Fu Ming’s earlier speech was something she could achieve on her own; she fundamentally didn’t need anyone else.
Hearing Qiao Jing’s words, Zhan Qipei’s dark eyes lit up.
It seemed he had surpassed everything else in Qiao Jing’s heart.
Qiao Jing held no good impressions of Fu Ming and, without paying him any further attention, she started walking toward the direction of the hot springs.
Fu Ming stood still, staring unceasingly at their departing figures, his brow furrowed in bafflement.
How could a woman not be interested in these things? That shouldn’t be the case! Previously, as soon as he presented such conditions, those women would throw themselves at him.
As he thought this, Young Master Wang came over.
Young Master Wang clapped a hand on Fu Ming’s shoulder, laughing as he said:
"Young Master Fu, when will you have my villa ready? I knew you wouldn’t be able to charm this ice beauty. After all, her demeanor is incomparable to those from before."
Fu Ming, visibly impatient, slapped Young Master Wang’s hand away and glared at him.
"Will you just shut up? This is indeed a bit challenging, but I’ve not said I can’t handle it. Just wait; I’ll have her charmed by tomorrow!"
He refused to believe that his methods of pursuing women wouldn’t work on her.
In An City, there was only who he didn’t desire, none he couldn’t have!
Young Master Wang laughed out loud.
"Then I’ll give you another two days. I’m not in a rush anyway; my villa isn’t going anywhere."
After dropping this remark, fearing Fu Ming might drag him back to scold, he whistled and walked away.
Fu Ming frowned for quite some time, then thought of a method all women would like.
No longer in the mood for hot springs, he directly made a phone call to start preparations.
Inside the hot spring pool.
Qiao Jing changed into a swimsuit specially for soaking in hot springs, and Zhan Qipei’s robe, which he had brought from her home, was on a chair nearby.
When Zhan Qipei saw Qiao Jing emerge from the changing room, his dark eyes brightened.
Though the swimsuit she wore was relatively conservative, it still couldn’t hide her graceful curves.
When Qiao Jing turned her back, he could see her beautiful butterfly bones and the crisscrossing swimsuit straps knotted on her fair back.
At that moment, Qiao Jing was facing away from Zhan Qipei, looking at the hot spring’s surface, oblivious to his gaze.
"Hmm, I’m going down first."
She had just walked to the edge of the hot spring when she saw faint white mist hovering over the water surface, with several beautiful rose petals floating.
Qiao Jing stepped into the water and found the depth perfect, just allowing the water to reach above her collarbone; the warm water instantly relaxed her.
Qiao Jing hummed softly and then slowly closed her eyes, savoring the warm water enveloping her.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of footsteps near her ear.
Qiao Jing knew Zhan Qipei had come over, but she ignored the man, still enjoying the comfort the hot spring brought her.
However, when she felt Zhan Qipei enter the water and start moving toward her, she slowly opened her eyes.
Zhan Qipei’s strikingly handsome face was now right in front of her, the two almost shoulder to shoulder.
Qiao Jing slightly frowned and glanced at the vast hot spring.
"This place is huge."
Her implication was, with such a large hot spring, there was no need to squeeze in with her.
Moreover, she and Zhan Qipei were almost sticking together now—what was this man thinking? Could it be that the water by her was somehow more comfortable?
Zhan Qipei lowered his gaze to look at their shoulders, which were about to touch, and pursed his lips.
"Hmm, I know," he said.
He didn’t go anywhere else and stayed by Qiao Jing’s side because moving to another spot wouldn’t help foster their relationship.
Qiao Jing, somewhat speechless, twitched the corners of her mouth, watching Zhan Qipei’s matter-of-fact demeanor.
"Since you know, why do you still have to squeeze next to me?" she asked.
Zhan Qipei didn’t speak, his gaze fixed on Qiao Jing, filled with stubbornness, deep affection, and attachment almost spilling out.
As Qiao Jing saw that Zhan Qipei had no intention of moving, she was just about to shift to the side herself when she met the man’s narrow and profound eyes.
She could even see her own reflection in Zhan Qipei’s eyes, giving her the feeling that his eyes held nothing but her, unable to accommodate anything else.
Immediately after, she felt Zhan Qipei move closer to her side, their shoulders’ skin touching once again.
Qiao Jing’s eyes trembled, feeling that the temperature of their touching skin might be even higher than that of the hot spring water.
She felt the continuous warmth coming from Zhan Qipei’s body and his deep gaze, inexplicably making her feel like she was being enveloped in his embrace.
"Forget it, just stay here and soak," she conceded.
She really couldn’t do anything about Zhan Qipei, this infuriating man—he could soak wherever he wanted.
Only then did Zhan Qipei curve the corners of his lips, comfortably leaning by Qiao Jing’s side without moving.
"Can’t soak too long, I set an alarm, and we’ll have to get up soon," he commented.
He saw that Qiao Jing was just about to move to a farther spot to soak, but how could he allow that?
He leaned directly on Qiao Jing, using her as a pillow and exerted a little force to lean on her.
With his understanding of Qiao Jing, he knew she wouldn’t just walk away but would allow him to lean on her .
Qiao Jing gave a mild "Hmm," then looked at Zhan Qipei, who had turned her into a pillow, and furrowed her brows.
She hesitated for a while, considering that if she suddenly left to soak somewhere farther away, this infuriating man might just fall directly into the hot spring.
The image automatically formed in her mind, thinking that such a sight of Zhan Qipei would be too comical and funny. To save him some face, she reluctantly became his pillow for the moment.
However, at this time, she could observe that Zhan Qipei’s aura at this moment was very different from usual.
The low, brooding presence that always surrounded him had vanished, revealing a gentleness like when he was with her in Nantai Apartment.
The brows that were usually tightly knitted and the lips that were pursed into a flat line had, at this moment, a bit of an upward curve.
Just then, Zhan Qipei suddenly opened his eyes and met Qiao Jing’s gaze, which had been observing him.
He moved closer to Qiao Jing again, intentionally getting close to her ear, his warm breath cascading down her neck.
With his magnetic voice, he gently spoke next to Qiao Jing’s sensitive earlobe.