Lu Shifeng didn’t believe her.
After all, it wasn’t the first time she lied to him.
However, he still needed this promise, even if it was just to teach her a lesson, to make her understand that if she doesn’t obey, those around her will also suffer.
Su Xingyu looked at him pleadingly, "Lu Shifeng, I’ve agreed to your terms, please rescue Xiaoling quickly."
Lu Shifeng turned his head and instructed, "Mrs. Gui, go see if Mr. Pei has arrived."
Su Xingyu was startled, and soon saw a man in an iron-gray suit walking briskly from the end of the porch. Before he reached Lu Shifeng, he asked, "Where’s Xiaoling?"
Lu Shifeng pointed with his chin towards the treetop.
The man didn’t glance at them and rushed like the wind to the tree, looking up.
From the treetop, the beautiful girl whimpered, "Ziheng!"
Su Xingyu finally realized that Lu Shifeng had already thought of a solution; otherwise, the rescue wouldn’t have come so quickly. The recent coercion on her was truly just coercion, regardless of her agreement or not, it didn’t affect the rescue.
He... wasn’t as cold-hearted as she thought.
Her heart was filled with mixed emotions.
Looking towards the tree, she realized the man was Pei Ziheng—the chairman of the empire, the biggest shark in the entertainment circle, and one of the top few giants in the business world. At this moment, he looked nothing like the legendary, powerful tycoon. He opened his arms and gently said to the girl on the tree, "Xiaoling, don’t be afraid. Jump down, I’ll catch you."
The girl on the treetop cried, "It’s too high! So scary... Ziheng... sob sob sob..."
Pei Ziheng patiently coaxed her, "Don’t be afraid, just go slowly. If you’re really scared, just close your eyes." Follow current novᴇls on novel fire.net
The girl hesitated, carefully touching the branch with her toe, then shrunk back, frightened, crying, "Ziheng, I’m too scared! Sob sob sob..."
Lu Shifeng’s temples throbbed, and he sarcastically mocked, "Now you know you’re scared, but who was brave enough to climb someone else’s tree?"
Xia Ling, whether genuinely scared or pretending, cried like a pear blossom with rain, yet still found time to glare fiercely at Lu Shifeng, "You scoundrel! Bastard! Just wait, I won’t spare you once I come down!"
Lu Shifeng crossed his arms in front of his chest, sneering coldly.
On the other side, Pei Ziheng ignored Lu Shifeng and continued with open arms, devotedly coaxing Xia Ling, "Xiaoling, don’t be afraid. Come, jump, I won’t let you get hurt."
His voice was gentle and mellow, carrying a spring-like composure that slowly calmed the crying girl on the treetop. The girl sniffed and looked at him, "Then, then you must catch me."
"Don’t let me get hurt."
"If.. if I come down, you also can’t scold me." She finally remembered she caused trouble, clutching the branch tightly while negotiating terms.
Pei Ziheng felt his mood was similar to Lu Shifeng’s, wanting to drag the troublesome child down and give her a good spanking. He held back, maintaining his supremely gentle expression, speaking even more softly, "I promise not to scold you, I’ll take you for a feast tonight to calm your nerves."
"Really?" The girl’s eyes lit up.
"Come down quickly, as soon as you do, I’ll have someone book a table."
The girl was finally persuaded, she closed her eyes and carefully released her grip on the branch.
The figure in a pink dress descended like falling petals.
As promised, Pei Ziheng caught her securely, his arms like mountains cradling her as if she were in the safest harbor in the world.
Xia Ling’s heart was pounding; she slowly opened her eyes and looked up at the man before her, her voice filled with delight, "Wow, you really caught me! I knew Ziheng was the best!" As she spoke, she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, snuggling into his embrace.
The midsummer sunset, flowers everywhere.
The man in the iron-gray suit comforted the girl in his arms, his eyebrows and eyes filled with gentle tenderness.
On the side, Su Xingyu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Xiaoling was alright. However, watching the scene unfold before her, she felt a sour swelling in her heart, filled with jealousy and sorrow.
Some girls have such good fortune, being cherished and protected as precious as jewels.
And as for her? She was left alone guarding a title of "young madam," enduring humiliation and torment day and night.
She turned to look at Lu Shifeng under the porch, and saw the man silently gazing at the pair sweetly embraced under the white rose flowers, with an inscrutable expression, not even glancing her way.
With a self-deprecating smile, she turned and left the backyard.
Lu Shifeng didn’t leave, he continued watching the two embrace for a long time, the beautiful girl happily leaning into Pei Ziheng’s arms, together walking towards the porch. She glanced up at him occasionally, her expression so focused, full of admiration, as if she owned the world. And Pei Ziheng’s hand gripped hers tightly, fingers interlocked, intimately.
As they passed by Lu Shifeng, Pei Ziheng paused.
"Mr. Lu," he said, "Thank you for notifying me of Xiaoling’s distress, but next time, if I find out you put her in danger again, don’t blame me for turning hostile and merciless."
The empire dealt in entertainment, while the Lu Family was involved in precision machinery. Typically, these important figures of great families didn’t cross paths often and were careful not to offend unnecessary parties. Thus, Pei Ziheng’s words were a serious warning.
Lu Shifeng’s expression remained unchanged, "Control her, don’t let her trespass."
"If not for you instructing those subordinates to block me at the main entrance, I wouldn’t have climbed over!" Xia Ling huffed angrily. The first time she climbed was indeed to steal flowers; the second time for fun. But later she genuinely attempted to use the main entrance, only to be politely turned away by the Lu Family’s housekeeper.
Lu Shifeng was too lazy to reason with the troublesome kid and only said to Pei Ziheng, "I don’t like her spending time with my wife."
Pei Ziheng’s expression cooled slightly, "Xiaoling can spend time with whoever she likes. Mr. Lu, if you’ll forgive me for being blunt, if you can’t handle your wife, that’s your problem. Don’t take it out on other people’s girls."
Having said that, he left, protecting Xia Ling without looking back.
Lu Shifeng watched them go, standing under the porch for a long time as darkness fell, yet he remained oblivious. He couldn’t comprehend his feelings at the moment—seeing Xia Ling look at Pei Ziheng with such admiration and reliance, he felt inexplicably irritable—indeed, his wife had never looked at him with the same gaze. Not once.
In the dimming twilight, Su Xingyu’s mocking voice suddenly echoed in his ears—"Family? Lu Shifeng, do you have some misunderstanding about these words?"
From that day, Su Xingyu no longer paid him any mind.
Or rather, she never really paid him much mind even before. Ever since he put her under house arrest, the emotions she showed when facing him were mainly anger and rebelliousness.
But recently, even anger and rebelliousness had faded; she seemed to have regarded him as a stranger, air, someone passing by. She no longer contradicted him nor mocked him; each night when he returned home, she would, upon Mrs. Gui’s reminder, come to the sitting room to greet him, helping him take off his coat, loosen his tie. But her actions were mechanical, lacking even the trembling and uneasiness she desperately disguised upon first moving in; her calm eyes reflected no emotion whatsoever, like a machine devoid of a soul.