In that moment, Jiang Tan felt incredibly unreal.
He seemed incredibly frosty, yet he could still utter such words.
So Jiang Tan buried her face in the blanket, loudly saying, "I'm going to sleep! You should leave."
Zhou Yinghuai seemed to have laughed, causing Jiang Tan's face to heat up.
She fell back asleep in a daze and when she woke up, it was late in the morning, her body still feeling tired.
The sunlight was blinding outside the window, Jiang Tan walked over to it, lowering her head to see Zhou Yinghuai's assistant Zhao Qi who waved at her with a friendly smile.
Jiang Tan knew herself, she knew that smile was only because of Zhou Yinghuai.
After being by Zhou Yinghuai's side for six months, although the man was reticent, he doted on her, always answering her every request. To some people, he was a perfect man.
Jiang Tan put on a coat and walked downstairs, seeing Zhou Yinghuai's good friend Zheng Heng.
Zheng Heng was peculiar and fashionable, his hair dyed silver and dressed stylishly, looking almost like a pop star.
While Zhou Yinghuai, on the other hand, dressed elegantly, his style always restrained and profound. Looking at Zheng Heng, who looked like a flamboyant butterfly, Jiang Tan felt like her arthritis was going to flare up.
On seeing her, Zheng Heng grinned, showing his two canine teeth, and asked, "Little Tanhua, when is Yinghuai coming back today?"
Jiang Tan had told Zheng Heng many times that her name wasn't Tan, like the Epiphyllum, but Tan as in Agarwood.
Zheng Heng would just laugh and say, "Should I call you Little Agarwood then? Doesn't it sound like a mosquito repellent brand? Does it seem to you that my taste is so poor?"
Jiang Tan was choked by his words and simply let it go.
She sat across from Zheng Heng, sipping her milk with her head slightly lowered, looking utterly well-behaved.
"I'm not sure. I think he's quite busy today."
She had this graceful manner, neither servile nor overbearing.
Zheng Heng felt she was pretending. With malicious intent, he said, "With Zhou Yinghuai's return to the country this time, he also brought back an 18-year-old little sister. No idea what he is busy with today."
Jiang Tan simply responded with a light "oh".
"Why aren't you confronting him?" Zheng Heng stroked his chin, taunting Jiang Tan with a smirk.
"What should I confront him with?"
"Of course, as his official girlfriend."
"Zhou Yinghuai would never entangle himself with another woman."
Zheng Heng laughed, "Little Tanhua, first of all, I admit, you're good-looking, truly good-looking. But where did you get this self-confidence? Do you know how many women throw themselves at Zhou Yinghuai every day?"
Jiang Tan finished the remaining milk in her cup. Her voice was soft and somewhat husky, "He promised me."
Zheng Heng was amazed, "He promised you?"
Jiang Tan nodded, yes.
Zheng Heng, who liked to stir up trouble, heard this incredible gossip from Jiang Tan, then spread it to a few of his friends.
By the time it reached Zhou Yinghuai's ears, quite some time had passed.
Zhou Yinghuai walked in to see Jiang Tan in her white nightgown, hugging her knees and sitting by the floor-to-ceiling window.
"What are you looking at?"
"I'm looking at the sunset." Jiang Tan points to the vibrant sky, "Zhou Yinghuai, today's sunset is spectacular."
Zhou Yinghuai simply holds her, closing his eyes, and sighs lightly. She is enveloped in tobacco and the refreshing scent of alcohol from Zhou Yinghuai, a protective embrace, but also an intrusion from someone in power.
The evening in Mingyuan is intense yet intoxicating. Zhou Yinghuai held Jiang Tan for a long time. The setting sun cast their shadows, and looking at her own shadow in Zhou Yinghuai's arms, Jiang Tan looked extraordinarily petite.
While Jiang Tan was daydreaming, Zhou Yinghuai stroked her hair, asking in an indifferent tone, "Why didn't you go out today?"
Jiang Tan snapped back to reality, holding onto his collar, her clear eyes wide open, "I was scared to go out."
"Why?"
"The company isn't doing well these days, I'm worried about being strangled by Meng Yanxi if I go to the office."
Zhou Yinghuai chuckled with a mild look in his eyes, lacking deep joy in his smile.
"Shouldn't you be less willing to see me then? As your investor, I have the right to inquire about the profitability of your company."
Zhou Yinghuai's voice was void of emotion as he spoke, while his hand coursed down Jiang Tan's waist, lightly tracing her figure through her thin clothes.
Jiang Tan hugged him tighter, lengthening her tone like a spoiled child, "Zhou Yinghuai, you can't bear it."
She was tactful to the point that even her childlike pouting appeared just right.
Zhou Yinghuai indeed couldn't bear it. Being a cold and detached man, he seldom entertained the idea of keeping any women around. Not until Jiang Tan, where he made exception after exception.
A man indifferent to carnal desires made an exception by pampering the delicate Little Tanhua, reluctant to let any harm befall her.
In Ning City, everyone knew of this sudden change in the usually solemn young master Zhou, who bought the Mingyuan property, originally a museum, at a frenzied price just to house her - a petite and delicate girl.
Coming from a distinguished family with him being the only child, the halo and responsibilities were burdensome, leaving no room for self-indulgence.
But it was different for Jiang Tan. She was merely his doted Little Tanhua. Henceforth, Zhou Yinghuai did his best to let her live beside him, to live as she pleased.
Whatsoever that could be given, he gave it all.
Thus, looking at Jiang Tan's enchanting face, he suddenly had no interest in making any insinuations.
What was there to say? The little girl was merely being spoiled in front of Zheng Heng, that's all. Zhou Yinghuai disliked being gossiped about, but now, he thought it was completely tolerable.
So he only laughed and said in a double entendre, "Yes, I can't bear it."
What he nurtured, he acknowledged.
The company Zhou Yinghuai invested in for Jiang Tan was a study-abroad agency, named jz Study Abroad.
Those who came for consultation were generally those in their early twenties, young people from the middle class who had often just stepped out of college. Therefore, they were yet to experience the cold realities of life. The whole classroom was brimming with youthful faces, full of vitality.
In the words of Meng Yanxi, their naïveté was crystal clear.
Jiang Tan thought his insults were pretty coarse, and for the first time, she felt that being raised in poverty was a good thing.
Meng Yanxi was the institution's special German language teacher, coming once a week to teach a class.
The chairman of a listed company condescended to teach at this small institution, Jiang Tan understood, it was all because of Zhou Yinghuai's influence.
Zhou Yinghuai's influence was enough to give Jiang Tan immunity at work.
Jiang Tan appeared in the institution wearing a professional suit, her radiant beauty hardly concealed by the sober clothes. She looked no more than 18 years old, looking exquisite with her lustrous eyes and brows.
Jiang Tan's beauty had an ethereal quality to it, especially with her exceptionally vivid eyes, making her stand out in a crowd.
She stood at the entrance, watching Meng Yanxi's class.
Three minutes later, during break time, Meng Yanxi walked out of the classroom with the lesson plan, smiling at Jiang Tan gracefully, "There's some agarwood tea brewing in the office, care to join me?"