Memories always had a way to soften one's heart.
As a ripple of emotions appeared in Jiang Beiyuan's gentle gaze, his slender hand slowly glided down her thin wrist, naturally holding her hand in his with their fingers interlocked.
Yan Nian was taken aback.
Her focus shifted from the chessboard to the man before her.
His long brows hung low, and his dark orbs shone brightly like a star-filled sky in the night.
"W-What are you doing?"
The way he held her hand so tightly, it felt as if he was afraid that she would run away from him the moment he got distracted.
As he stared fixedly at her face, he slowly asked, "Just a few days back, who was the one who said she wanted to devote her body to me?"
Yan Nian: "…"
She thought he had forgotten it clean!
Never did she expect him to suddenly mention it.
"I-I… Erm…"
She saw his handsome face slowly inching closer to hers.
A chessboard lay in between them.
The man leaned forward as he held her hand in his.
The air instantly became warm and thin with the warm, orange ceiling light shining down at them.
Their breaths intermingled with each other, and she could faintly hear a thunderous heartbeat sound.
She could no longer tell whose heart they belonged to.
"I just want to dote on you. Is this considered love—"
An upbeat ringtone suddenly disrupted this ambiguous and tense ambiance.
Stifling down a shudder, the woman turned her face away and answered the call with a cough.
Just a bit more… and the man would have kissed her.
Her mother's loud voice boomed across the line. "What do you think about that lad I introduced you to last time?"
"Which lad?" She licked a corner of her lip.
"Xiaohe!"
Oh. He Huaiguang.
Nah, it's impossible between us.
Rabbits do not eat the grass by their own burrows, after all.
Of course, she would never say that to her mother, though.
She was clearly aware of what was on her mother's mind. The latter was eager to marry her off so that she could accept the betrothal gift from the other party.
"Erm…"
Yan Nian paused for a little and turned to look at the man.
The man sitting opposite her was nonchalantly arranging the chess pieces, seemingly unruffled as if nothing had happened earlier.
The memory of him suggesting to pay her mother a visit since they could not hide their marriage from her forever hit her right then.
At that time, she'd unhesitatingly shot down his suggestion, which led to him getting angry, and then, to her momentarily losing her rationality to look him up and offer her body to him.
Alas, there was indeed karma in this world, and no one can escape from it.
Letting out a heavy sigh, she coldly said to the older woman upon regaining her senses, "It's impossible between me and He Huaiguang. I'm now dating someone better, and he treats me very well. So you don't have to worry, alright?"
"What? You've got someone already? What's his family background like? What is his profession? How much is he earning monthly?"
It seemed that there was only money in her mother's eyes.
Her voice completely turned cold by this point as she wore an irritated look on her face. "I'm the one spending my life with him, not you. As long as I'm satisfied with him, that's enough. Can't you leave me alone?"
"Wretch, your dad is no longer around. If I don't show concern about you, who will? Anyway, bring him home this weekend. If he's no good, I'll help you look out for another man!"
"I'm not going back. It's very busy in the flower shop!"
"That reminds me. Other people's children will give them monthly expenses, but have you ever given me a single cent?"
"Where am I to find the money to give you when I haven't even managed to pay back my loan of two hundred thousand yuan?! Besides, isn't dad's pension enough for you?"