Ye Qingci was flustered and began pounding on his back, "Jian Shichu, have you gone mad? Put me down! Let me go!"
Without a word, Jian Shichu carried Ye Qingci upstairs and kicked open the bedroom door with a bang, then slammed it shut with another bang.
After a dizzying moment, Ye Qingci found herself thrown onto the bed...
*
She wasn't sure how much time had passed before she finally woke from her stupor.
Her body had been washed, and she was dressed in comfortable clothes.
Yet she had been completely unaware of it all.
She sat up, dazed for a while, then lowered her head and touched the bedsheet.
As a conservative girl, she had always believed her first time would be on her wedding night with her husband.
There would be dragon and phoenix candles, roses, lilies, and symbols of fertility and prosperity like red dates, peanuts, longan, and chestnuts.
But reality was so cruel.
There was nothing.
No tenderness, no care, no love and vows, only boundless pain.
She clutched the bedsheet tightly, her pearly white teeth biting hard into her crimson lips.
She hated him!
She hated him so much!
She had never hated anyone like this before.
How could he do this?
He had ruined her chastity and her dreams of love.
She wished she could kill him with one strike.
But she was powerless to do anything.
She could take advantage of Jian Shichu's unguarded moment to kill him, but after Jian Shichu's death, the Jian family would surely take revenge on the Ye family.
She couldn't bear the consequences.
She sat there blankly for a long time before she listlessly got up, changed clothes, and went downstairs.
She wanted to go home.
Descending the spiral staircase, she was shocked by the sight that met her eyes.
The oversized living room was transformed into a sea of flowers.
White roses, red roses, yellow roses, blue roses, and pink roses covered every inch of space.
Hearing footsteps, Jian Shichu, who was sitting on the sofa, turned his head to look. Seeing the pale-faced Ye Qingci, he showed a rare trace of discomfort on his face.
At that moment, standing on the rosewood staircase, she was the first woman for him.
Eventually, she fainted.
He held her, bathed her, changed her into fresh clothes, and she was none the wiser.
He returned to bed with her in his arms and slept for a long time.
Because he was a workaholic and rarely got proper rest, he suffered from insomnia.
Yet holding her, he fell asleep quickly and dreamlessly, into the morning light.
He rose to wash, dress, and eat, and instead of going to work at the company, he ended up waiting in the living room.
He only had Xiao Ying bring over urgent business to attend to there.
As the sun climbed high and she was still not awake, he became restless and inexplicably asked Xiao Wei, who served him, what gifts women liked.
Counting off on his fingers, Xiao Wei listed roses, chocolates, clothes, luxury cars, houses, and jewelry.
And so, the living room was filled with a sky-blanketing spread of roses.
From last night on, she became his woman.
He, Jian Shichu, would never mistreat his woman, and would not let her suffer any injustice!
Seeing Ye Qingci standing motionless on the stairs, he deigned to approach her and asked, "Do you like it?"
Ye Qingci looked at him with a complex expression and said nothing.
Her face was ashen, a picture of extreme weariness.
Recalling his actions from the previous night, Jian Shichu felt a rare twinge of guilt.
God knows, in Jian Shichu's lexicon, there existed only caprice and arrogance, and never the words "guilt" and "shame."
He reached out and grabbed Ye Qingci's wrist, "Hungry? I had the kitchen make you some porridge, to help you recover. You're too skinny!"
Jian Shichu dragged Ye Qingci to the dining room, and immediately a table laden with a sumptuous feast was laid out.
"Eat," Jian Shichu pressed the chopsticks into Ye Qingci's hands, "Eat more."
How could Ye Qingci eat?
She placed the chopsticks on the table and said flatly, "I want to go home!"
"Ye Qingci," Jian Shichu pulled her into his arms and looked down at her, "from last night on, you are my woman, Jian Shichu's woman!"
"You're mistaken, Seventh Master!" Ye Qingci did not struggle, merely responding indifferently, "It's not about who spends a night with whom, making someone a man or a woman. As for last night, I'll treat it as if I was bitten by a dog, soon to be forgotten!"
"You won't forget!" Jian Shichu was instantly enraged, tightening his hold on her and biting her lip fiercely, "Because in the future, I will bite you many more times!"
"..." Ye Qingci gritted her teeth, "Jian Shichu, what exactly do you want? You've already taken my innocence, destroyed my most treasured thing. What do I owe you for you to treat me this way?"