"If you keep kissing like that, my lips are going to break!"
One afternoon, Lin Fan had been kissed by two women in turns, and eventually, when they went into the water, they stopped diving altogether. Instead, they hid at the stern, hugging Lin Fan tightly and indulging in a spree of passionate kissing.
Sometimes it was the slim and stubborn Han Peipei, and sometimes it was the curvy and capricious Liu Lingfei. If it weren’t for the immersion in seawater, Lin Fan’s Iron Pestle would have probably exploded long ago.
"Are these two chicks trying to suck out my Yang energy? I can’t stay here for long. Time to make a quick exit!"
Lying on the sun lounger at the stern, Lin Fan gazed at the stars overhead. As the yacht slowly entered the inland river, the starry sky was replaced by the glow of Neon lights. Currently, Liu Lingfei was steering the boat, Han Peipei stayed by her side, fearing the exposure of their secret, which afforded Lin Fan a rare moment of serenity to digest the news he had obtained in the afternoon.
Han Peipei was an only child, and her cousin, Han Longhu, was six years her senior and of the same age as Lin Fan. He served in the military as a high-ranking officer and only returned home once every few months. Their marriage arrangement had been set by their parents, and Han Longhu was still unaware of it.
As for Han Peipei’s father, he should be a high-ranking official too, but she hadn’t specified who, and Lin Fan didn’t think it appropriate to pry. She had to address Qiu Qingyi as "aunt" and occasionally paid her visits.
"Marriage alliances among the wealthy are like iron chains, ensuring support if one family falls. No wonder the Han Family is renowned in the Provincial City. With allies like the Liu Family, influential support must be plentiful. From ancient times, it has always been a trade of power and money. A shame for a commoner like me, climbing up is fraught with dangers."
Lin Fan squinted his eyes. Families with such profound backgrounds could rise quickly, entirely different from a grassroots struggle to climb up. Judging by Han Peipei’s manner of speaking and conducting herself, she always had the aura of a high-ranking officer, even more so than Liu Lingfei who was two years older than her.
Fortunately, she was currently enamored with him and unlikely to cast any suspicions his way, at least for the moment. However, the Golden Saber she entrusted him with was a hot potato. Although a token of affection, Lin Fan wasn’t interested in social climbing, especially since he hadn’t sorted things out with Chu Shihan and Yao Wan Jiao. Another highborn lady from the Han Family could mean he might be silenced by these three families anytime.
However, she wasn’t like Su Yufei, who could be toyed with casually and whose offer could be returned just as easily. Just considering her decisive action at the docks today, it was clear that this woman was not as fragile as she appeared. Once she harbored a murderous intent, she would dare to strike. No matter how beautiful, such a woman could not be wanted, or else one might wake up one day missing a part of his body, which would indeed be troublesome.
"What are you thinking about, so seriously?"
Han Peipei walked over to Lin Fan, curiously looking at his solemn face. She had never seen such an expression on him since the afternoon.
Thinking... about you!"
Lin Fan immediately put on a roguish smile and pulled Han Peipei into his arms.
"Get out of here, you just had something on your mind. Do you want to talk about it? Maybe I can help you solve it," she said, blushing, feeling his firmness beneath her as she sat on his lap.
"I was thinking, why do you, at the romantic age of twenty, always talk like an old soul?"
Lin Fan tweaked her nose, and Han Peipei managed a bitter smile, "If you were born in a family like the Han Family, you’d understand that naivety is an original sin. Constant vigilance is the best way to stay alive. Since I was eight, I’ve learned to gauge a person’s character by their words and expressions."
"So what kind of person am I in your eyes?"
Lin Fan looked at Han Peipei curiously, not having grown up in a powerful family himself, he was keen to hear Han Peipei’s perception of him.
"Your kissing skills alone prove you’re a philanderer. With power in hand, you must have no shortage of women. Your reluctance to waste food at lunch shows a poor upbringing, so you probably didn’t have a powerful backer when you entered officialdom, but now that you’ve become County magistrate, you must have found support in the City. From your expression just now, you’re disguising your true feelings. In the water earlier, you both threatened and pleased me, clearing my doubts. You qualify as a schemer. Now you’re probably assessing whether my help for you outweighs my potential danger and gauging the right distance to keep, right?"
Lin Fan was stunned. Han Peipei had deduced the emotions he had hidden based on just a few minor details. And she was only twenty; this was terrifying indeed.
"Are all the women in the Provincial City monsters?"
Lin Fan pinched Han Peipei’s chin, overwhelmed by the realization that he couldn’t see through this twenty-year-old girl. Could it be that all daughters of prosperous families were so astute, making all men shrewd too?
"In this world, there are only smart women and those who play dumb. My sister-in-law is the latter, and that makes her smarter than I am!"
Han Peipei wrapped her arms around Lin Fan’s neck, "Don’t be so tense. A conspirator is the best choice for survival after all. Only brainless people become cannon fodder, and perhaps you have a chance to cross the class divide!"