This Night

The air in the suite's living room seemed to have frozen.

Pei Ningxue stood with her arms crossed over her chest, watching Chen Zhi with a relaxed demeanor. Her beautiful eyes sparkled with the amusement of someone watching a good show.

"Why aren't you moving?" she arched an eyebrow. "Weren't you speaking so touchingly just now? Taking a step and bowing, crawling up ninety-nine steps until your knees were bruised. Roll up your pants and let me see. If they really are bruised, I'll do whatever you want tonight."

Chen Zhi's scalp went numb.

This woman really didn't play by the rules! Shouldn't a normal girl be moved to tears hearing something like that, and then throw herself directly into his arms, sobbing?

Instead, she wanted an on-the-spot injury inspection!

The area in front of the Changchun Temple's main hall was flat enough to race horses on; where was he supposed to find ninety-nine steps? His knees right now were cleaner than his face. If he rolled up his pant legs, the deeply affectionate persona he had worked so hard to build up would instantly explode on the spot.

"What? Reluctant to show me?" Seeing him hesitate, the smile on Pei Ningxue's lips deepened, and she even leaned in a bit closer. "Or is it that our great Boss Chen is running his mouth and lying to me again?"

Chen Zhi's brain spun rapidly.

Confess and ask for leniency? That was courting death.

Keep making things up? He couldn't cover up this lie anymore.

Since the gentle approach wouldn't work, he had to resort to force. Dealing with an All-Talk Champion like Pei Ningxue, who had high attack but low defense, the best method was to be even more shameless than her.

Chen Zhi sighed, putting on an extremely helpless expression.

"Fine, since you insist on seeing, I'll show you."

After saying that, he stood straight up and placed his hands on his belt buckle.

With a crisp click, the belt was undone.

Pei Ningxue froze, the smile on her face stiffening instantly. "What... what are you doing?"

"Rolling up my pant legs is too much trouble, and you wouldn't get a full view anyway." Chen Zhi didn't change his expression. His hands were already on his waistband, acting as if he was about to pull his pants down. "Didn't you want to inspect my injuries? I might as well just strip and show you. You can inspect my whole body however you want."

"Chen Zhi, you hooligan!"

Pei Ningxue never expected him to pull a stunt like this. She let out a startled cry, instinctively reaching up to cover her eyes and shrinking back into the corner of the sofa.

Now was the time!

Chen Zhi didn't take off his pants at all. Instead, taking advantage of the moment she covered her eyes, he lunged forward.

He rested his hands on the back of the sofa, trapping Pei Ningxue in his arms, and lowered his head to kiss her directly.

Pei Ningxue's vision went dark, followed by a warm sensation on her lips. She let out a muffled whimper and tried to push against Chen Zhi's chest, but her meager strength was completely negligible in front of him.

Chen Zhi's kiss was domineering and unreasonable, carrying an undeniable aggressiveness that instantly shattered the psychological defenses Pei Ningxue had worked so hard to build.

She had originally been fixated on the issue with his knees, but now her brain had turned to mush.

Chen Zhi understood her too well.

On the surface, this woman looked like a battle-hardened seductress, constantly hanging wild and suggestive remarks on her lips. In reality, he was the one who had even taught her her first kiss. As soon as things got real, she was more cowardly than anyone else.

An unknown amount of time passed before Chen Zhi finally let her go.

Pei Ningxue leaned against the sofa cushions, gasping for breath. Her originally fair cheeks were now so red they looked like they could drip blood, and a layer of mist covered those eyes that usually carried a hint of provocation.

"You... you scoundrel!" She bit her lower lip and glared fiercely at Chen Zhi, but no matter how you looked at it, her gaze seemed more like she was acting spoiled.

"How am I a scoundrel?" Chen Zhi took the opportunity to sit beside her and pulled her into his arms. "Weren't you the one who wanted to inspect my injuries? I am a man who values honesty the most. Since you wanted an inspection, it had to be thorough."

"Get lost!" Pei Ningxue irritably pinched him on the waist. "Don't think I don't know you're changing the subject. Your knees aren't hurt at all, right? Where would Changchun Temple get ninety-nine steps from!"

Although she was still exposing his lie verbally, her tone had already softened, completely lacking the aggressive posture from before.

Chen Zhi rested his chin on her shoulder, smelling the fragrance in her hair, and chuckled softly.

"There are no steps, but my sincerity in praying for the red string was real." He picked up Pei Ningxue's left hand, which wore the red string, and kissed it. "This thing was genuinely blessed by an old Daoist priest. I spent a hundred and thirty on it."

"A hundred and thirty?" Pei Ningxue laughed out of anger, reaching back to pinch Chen Zhi's cheek and pull it outward. "You, a great boss worth tens of billions, are using a hundred-and-thirty-yuan street stall item to fool me? And you actually have the nerve to say it out loud!"

"How is this fooling you? This is called sincerity making it effective," Chen Zhi retorted indistinctly. "Besides, wearing a watch worth millions and a bracelet worth millions on your wrist, that's called tacky. Wearing this kind of hundred-and-thirty-yuan red string, that's called returning to natural simplicity, understand?"

Pei Ningxue was amused by his twisted logic.

She leaned against Chen Zhi's chest, her fingers gently stroking the red string on her wrist, and suddenly grew quiet.

The only sound left in the living room was the faint humming of the air conditioner vent.

"Chen Zhi," Pei Ningxue suddenly spoke up, her voice very soft.

"Hmm?"

"After the New Year, Deep Space Tech's financing will be completely finalized, along with the site selection and construction of the supercomputing center. There will be a lot of things to do." Pei Ningxue shifted into a more comfortable position, her tone turning serious. "I have to return to the capital on the fifth day of the New Year to coordinate the tax and legal procedures with the people from Jingtou."

At the mention of work, Chen Zhi also put away his joking mood.

"You don't have to push yourself so hard. The New Year holidays won't even be over by the fifth," Chen Zhi frowned. "The company's accounts currently have billions of dollars sitting in them. Those investors are more anxious than we are. Just let them run the paperwork first."

"No, I am the CFO. If I don't keep an eye on it, I won't feel at ease." Pei Ningxue looked up at him. "You look shrewd normally, but you don't care at all about these tedious administrative procedures. If I don't act as the gatekeeper, Deep Space Tech will sooner or later be swallowed whole by those Wall Street capitalists."

Looking at her serious side profile, a complex and indescribable emotion suddenly surged in Chen Zhi's heart.

Pei Ningxue was a true wealthy heiress, pampered since childhood, someone who had never done a day of manual labor. But ever since she took over Deep Space Tech's finances and administration, she had poured almost all her energy into it.

Staying up late to read financial statements, dealing with those sly old fox investors, and even daring to challenge the old foxes from Sequoia and BlackRock just to help him maintain control of the company.

What was she doing it for?

Her own family had tens of billions in assets waiting for her to inherit.

"You've worked hard." Chen Zhi tightened his arms, holding her a bit closer.

Pei Ningxue scoffed. "As long as you know I've worked hard. In the future, spend less time accompanying that singer playing ring toss, and make more time to accompany me."

She paused, then added another sentence: "And that law student, you'd better stay away from her too. Don't think I don't know what you went out to do this afternoon. I could smell that perfume on you from three meters away."

Chen Zhi's heart pounded wildly, but on the surface, he remained as steady as an old dog.

"What perfume smell? That's the incense smell from Changchun Temple." Chen Zhi denied it to the death.

Pei Ningxue couldn't be bothered to call his bluff. She simply traced circles on his chest with her finger. "Suit yourself. I've told you before anyway, I don't care how many women you have, as long as the most important place in your heart belongs to me. And..."

She looked up, staring at Chen Zhi with sparkling eyes. "Your first child must be mine."

Chen Zhi felt a massive headache coming on.

Why was this woman so obsessed with having a baby?

"You're only a college freshman, for God's sake. You haven't even reached the legal age for marriage, what are you doing talking about having kids?" Chen Zhi quickly deflected. "Besides, Deep Space Tech is at a critical juncture right now. Moss's next-generation model is still in training. I don't have time for this."

"I don't care. You promised me," Pei Ningxue persisted stubbornly.

The two cuddled affectionately on the sofa for a while longer before Chen Zhi checked the time. It was already pushing three in the morning.

"Alright, let's get some rest." Chen Zhi yawned, scooped Pei Ningxue up in his arms, and headed toward the bedroom.

That night, Chen Zhi still managed to hold his boundaries.

It wasn't that he was some Liu Xiahui. He just knew very well that once he crossed that final line with Pei Ningxue, this woman would absolutely take a mile. Tomorrow she would be dragging him to meet Pei Dongcheng, and the day after she would be broadcasting the news of her pregnancy to the entire world.

When that happened, his three-timing aircraft carrier of a love life would truly capsize.