"A betrothal gift?"
Jiang Lai swallowed in disbelief, trying to contain her excitement.
"For me?"
The delight radiating from her eyes was far too obvious. Jin Shengshi let out a teasing chuckle. "Is there a third person in this room?"
Hearing this, Jiang Lai hurriedly clutched the black gold card in her palm, looking as though she were terrified someone might snatch it away from her.
Jin Shengshi found her reaction rather amusing.
He certainly hadn't expected her to have such a money-loving side to her.
The aforementioned lover of money squeezed the black gold card tightly, her upturned almond eyes brimming with curiosity.
"Honey, what's the credit limit?"
Jin Shengshi propped his head on one hand, half-smiling as he answered:
"Five percent of my primary card."
Five percent!
Hearing this figure, Jiang Lai almost squealed with delight.
His net worth was in the hundreds of billions!
Were rich people really this generous?
Just as fireworks were already going off in her heart with joy, she instantly turned much more sycophantic. "Then, honey, does that mean I have full control over how this card is used?"
Jin Shengshi replied indifferently, "Mmm."
She had been worrying about having no money to spend, and suddenly he hands her money—and so much of it at that. Overcome with excitement, Jiang Lai threw both arms around the back of his neck and peppered his face with a continuous stream of loud kisses.
Her advance was fierce, her passion blazing like fire.
Jin Shengshi, who was usually utterly composed, felt a momentary flutter in his chest.
Such a tiny sum was enough to make her throw herself into his arms?
This inevitably left him feeling somewhat doubtful.
If someone else were to offer her even greater benefits in the future, wouldn't she betray and ditch him in a split second?
At this thought, he grabbed her hands, which were busy stirring up a fire on his body, his thin, cool lips tightening. As their gazes met, Jin Shengshi warned her in a cold voice.
"You should know the consequences of betraying me?"
Jiang Lai didn't catch the deeper meaning behind his words and simply laughed coquettishly, "I'm not going to betray you, so why would I need to know the consequences of betraying you?"
She delivered this line with a totally nonchalant expression.
Jin Shengshi attempted to figure out whether she was lying, but after a long while, he couldn't detect the slightest trace of anything amiss.
While he was still sizing her up, her hand had unconsciously slipped inside his bathrobe. Under the soft, alluring lighting, her plump, glossy red lips looked exceptionally vibrant.
He knew very well what she was after.
In the dead of night, a lone man and woman, dry tinder and blazing fire.
It really was a suitable occasion to stay up all night.
Last night had been their first time together. It had been harmonious, and since it was their maiden voyage for both of them, it naturally left them craving more.
In the quiet night, the two of them stopped talking. Under the soft light, their lips naturally came together.
The unfinished business from the private room was appropriately made up for right then and there.
Their breathing intertwined, and the atmosphere gradually grew tender and enchanting.
Before long, their clothes were completely shed, and the ambiguous atmosphere suddenly escalated. Occasionally, when he bit her a bit too hard, she would issue a protest.
"Jin Shengshi, you bit me too hard!"
Hearing this, the corner of the man's mouth curved into a mischievous smile.
"So delicate."
Oddly enough, when she was actively taking the initiative to hook him, she hadn't shown an ounce of shyness. But now, with him teasing her in that lazy tone, a thin layer of flush spread across her fair cheeks instead.
The progression from here on out happened naturally as things should.
Yet just as their passion was reaching its peak, the moment Jin Shengshi reached out to pull open the drawer, a sudden thought struck him—
This wasn't a hotel.
Therefore, there were absolute zero tools of the trade.
At this, his emotions choked in his throat. His gaze turned pitch black, and within mere seconds, he halted all of his heated actions.
They were just a step away from the final act, and yet he suddenly stopped. Jiang Lai's pretty, alluring almond eyes welled with tears as she asked with painful exasperation, "Why did you suddenly stop?"
Didn't he know how agonizing this was?!
She was no Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle; what was a grown man dawdling for?!
Their bodies had practically been on the verge of melting into one another.
Yet right then, because of her question, he propped his palms on either side of her, turned around, and got straight up from the bed.
Seeing this, Jiang Lai was utterly bewildered.
They had reached this point, and he was still able to walk away?
Was he actually a fucking man?
Just as she was about to demand an explanation, the man put his bathrobe back on in a few swift motions. Facing the annoyance in her almond eyes, he explained calmly.
"No tools. I'm sleeping in the study tonight."
Hearing this, Jiang Lai didn't even have to think to say, "Isn't that perfect?"
Seeing the surprise gleaming in her eyes, Jin Shengshi furrowed his brow slightly.
"What's perfect?"
Jiang Lai had no intention of hiding what she wanted. She propped herself up slightly, smoothed her messy hair, and then flashed a sweet, gentle smile. "This is the perfect chance for you to give me a child."
Give her a child?
Jin Shengshi's dark eyebrows furrowed sharply, his shimmering peach-blossom eyes turning cold at that moment. After a light press of his lips, two words spilled from the man's icy, thin lips—
"Reason."
Jiang Lai smiled brightly. "I want to have an offspring."
"So, give me a child."
His gaze swept over her porcelain-delicate skin, her slender waist that could be spanned with a single grasp, and her long, well-proportioned legs. Jin Shengshi sneered mercilessly.
"In your dreams."
With that, not giving Jiang Lai a chance to react, he turned and walked away.
Watching him just walk out like that, Jiang Lai's breath—suspended halfway up and unable to drop—got completely stuck in her throat. The next second, her light-pink-tinted fingers clenched into fists.
"Jin Shengshi, you bastard!"
If she hadn't gone to have her fortune told by a master with Yunjia back then, she certainly wouldn't have debased herself to beg him for a child.
There was a master living in Xiufan Temple in Jing City who was exceptionally accurate at reading people's life trajectories and marital fortunes. In her senior year of college, driven by curiosity, she and Yunjia had gone to join in the excitement.
At the time, Yunjia had asked about her life trajectory. The master had pinched her Eight Characters of birth for the duration of it took to burn a stick of incense, and finally said to her earnestly, "Little girl, don't be too kind-hearted in how you live and act."
And because she and Yunjia had made a pact that at least one of them had to leave behind bloodline in this world so that after they both passed away, someone would at least burn paper money at their graves to ensure they wouldn't be penniless in the underworld.
Since Yunjia had asked about her life trajectory, Jiang Lai had inquired about her marriage.
The master had likewise spent the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, speaking in the same earnest tone: "Little girl, your birth characters are quite special. If you marry an ordinary person, any children you give birth to will likely not meet a good end—they might suffer from chronic illness year after year, be born disabled, or even conflict with the father while still in the womb, leading to..."
He had spoken in a very mystical manner.
Several times, she and Yunjia both thought he was a fraud.
Later on, the master had let out a light sigh.
Immediately after, he wrote down a row of birth characters on a yellow talisman. "A person born in this year is a match made in heaven for you. Only by having children with him can you protect your children's healthy growth."
She had taken the slip of paper and hadn't taken the matter to heart.
It wasn't until the summer vacation when the Jin Family and the Jiang Family discussed a marriage alliance that she happened to catch sight of Jin Shengshi's birth characters.
By such a coincidence, his birth characters turned out to be an exact match to the ones the master had given her.
Down to the exact year, month, day, hour, and minute.
Yet what truly stirred her intentions was Yunjia's death. Just as the master had warned, Yunjia's death had been brought on by her own kindness.
That left her with no choice but to believe.
Recalling this, her chest heaved up and down.
The next second, like a crazed little lion, she pummeled the bedding. "Ahhhhh Jin Shengshi, who do you think you are?!"
"The moment I get pregnant, I'll dump you in a heartbeat!"
And quite coincidentally, the man—who had just intended to push open the door and come in to grab his phone—heard every single word of it loud and clear.