Perhaps it was because the restaurant's heating was turned up too high, Qi Mo raised his hand and tugged at his tie.
His chin tilted up slightly as he adjusted the tightness of the knot.
He hooked his slender fingers around the tie, loosening it left and right.
His faintly reddened adam's apple bobbed up and down tantalizingly.
The corners of his eyes lifted leisurely, and the smile in his eyes grew increasingly obvious,
Mixed with vague, murky light, it leaked out.
There was an inexplicable, alluring sexiness about him...
Sheng Mumu had been quite embarrassed just now, racking her brains to find words to explain.
But the moment she caught sight of the lazy, casual appearance of the man before her, she understood instantly.
Sheng Mumu: ......
This man...was putting on an act again.
She glared fiercely at him, gritting out one word from between clenched teeth:
“Dog!”
An accurate appraisal.
The man was taken aback when he heard this, and his hand dangling over the knot of his tie dropped down.
His chest shook slightly as he let out an extremely contented, low laugh.
What a dog.
At this time if Sheng Mumu still couldn't see through the man's deliberate feigned ignorance, then her twenty-eight years would have been lived in vain.
She shifted her gaze away, no longer paying him any heed.
But her gaze had barely moved before her wrist grew warm—she was grabbed firmly by Qi Mo's large warm hand.
As if nothing had happened, as if he hadn't just been called a dog, Qi Mo casually took her hand and placed it on his crossed legs.
At the same time, he stroked her fingertips, smilingly asking her in succession three times:
"You haven't finished speaking, why did you stop talking?"
"We weren't talking about dogs just now, it was something else."
"Why has your face turned red?"
He leaned lazily against the back of his chair, a faint wicked smile spreading across his handsome features.
He had exploited the word "dog" to its fullest potential.
Seeing that Sheng Mumu was unwilling to give him any regard, he pressed on her soft palm with the callused pad of his thumb, and opened his mouth once more:
"Mu—"
Just as he uttered the one syllable, he suddenly stopped short.
A pair of chopsticks stuffed a piece of vegetable into his mouth, blocking it up.
"Keep your mouth shut, just eat."
Sheng Mumu gave him a withering look, reminding him in a tone suggesting he do just that.
Qi Mo froze, his deep set eyebrows visibly going stiff for a split second.
After several seconds of silence, he slowly inclined his head, so his long lashes concealed the concession and helplessness in his eyes.
Here and now, she had him at a loss.
He could only resign himself to accepting his wife's "loving feed".
Seeing that when he was eating, he wouldn't say words that made her blush, Sheng Mumu placed several bites' worth of dishes into his bowl.
Obstructing his chatter.
If it was something she had chosen for him, he would eat it.
The others at the table noticed the couple's interaction, inwardly exclaiming over it.
Chairman Qi was actually being so pliant after marriage.
It was as if he were a different person from the cool, aloof one he had been at past dinner events.
In the past, he had always exuded an intense, powerful aura.
He spoke little, and smiles were few.
He had often kept a polite distance from the crowd, with his smiles not reaching his eyes.
But today, even without the entertainer at the table cracking jokes, the corners of Qi Mo's lips constantly held a vague hint of a smile.
Qi Mo didn't care one whit about the glances around the table, tranquil and unperturbed as he played the role of a "Married ManTM " to a tee.
He ate whatever his wife put into his bowl.
After some time, he put down his chopsticks and suddenly called out:
"Wife."
Sheng Mumu asked, "What?"
The man pointed at the bowls and plates in front of him with his gaze, asking with a hint of doubt:
"It's all vegetables?"
"Oh, I did it on purpose," Sheng Mumu said matter-of-factly, cocking her eyebrows slightly. "You should eat less meat."
She moved closer and lowered her voice as she supplemented:
"Otherwise you're always prone to thinking this and that, taking perfectly innocent conversation in naughty directions."
"...," Qi Mo was temporarily rendered speechless for a moment.
Sheng Mumu lifted another bite of stir-fried Chinese flowering cabbage to place into his bowl with her chopsticks, smiling radiantly.
"There, eat more greens, it's healthy and it'll help dilute the colored waste matter in your brain."
Having said that, she raised her eyebrows, quite proud of herself.
Qi Mo: "......"
The dinner ended at about half past nine.
Qi Mo had drunk some red wine, so they took a chauffeured car. The two didn't converse much throughout the ride.
The only thing he said to the driver after getting into the car was: "Drive faster."
After that he kept his head lowered, looking at his phone, seemingly occupied.
Sheng Mumu took a glance.
The screen showed what looked to be some financial reports from the group corporation.
He was busy with work so she busied herself too.
At Madam Tang's place earlier she had heard plenty of entertainment industry gossip.
She wanted to eat her fill of the whole spectrum of melon vine produce, excitedly browsing Weibo.
Each was preoccupied with their own matters.
Obeying Qi Mo's request, the driver stepped on the gas pedal.
The trip from the restaurant to the resort villa only took twenty minutes.
Entering the villa, Sheng Mumu bent down to change her shoes.
All of a sudden her arm felt a surge of strength—
—she was pulled by the arm by the man who had been made to eat vegetables all evening.
Without further ado she was pushed against the wall.
Sheng Mumu's eyes flew wide open: "!!!!"
Disregarding her look of shock, Qi Mo pinned her wrist down, lifting it above her head.
In a flash, the man's cold and clear aura pressed in.
The intelligent home system sensed the owners entering and the lights came on automatically.
Because it was nighttime, they were set to soft lighting mode.
Yellow beams shone down from overhead, etching sharp highlights and deep shadows onto the man's tall and straight nose.
Their gazes crossed.
In those pitch-black eyes churned a light that could scald someone, shrouded in darkness as it welled up.
Sheng Mumu caught her breath.
The strength on her wrist grew tighter by the inch, and with just one hand the man had both her hands firmly pinned above her head.
The handsome face drew nearer and nearer.
The sultry atmosphere was suffocatingly scalding.
Her mind grew muddled.
All of a sudden, her blouse was lifted.
There was the soft sensation of lips against hers.
Breathing grew uneven.
The kiss that seemed to last forever finally ended, leaving Sheng Mumu gasping for air.
But the man still didn't seem sated at all, the colors of lust swirling in those pitch-black eyes growing more and more intense.
He lifted his arms, effortlessly hugging the person in them up off the ground.
Sheng Mumu rose into the air with her back pressed against the wall.
She was wearing plenty, and couldn't feel the coolness of the walls.
Not only was there no coolness, but on the contrary it felt hot.
Compared to those weights he lifted at the gym every day, her weight wasn't even worth mentioning to him.
Qi Mo easily supported her with one arm, his other hand now freed up to reach downward.
He grabbed her ankle.
With a flick of his wrist, her half taken-off shoe was slid from her foot to the floor.
The shoe collided with the ground, making a dull thud.
That sound pierced the peaceful atmosphere, remarkably jarring.
Sheng Mumu's heart jumped in time with the sound.
The man gazed at her unwaveringly, flicking up an eyebrow, carrying some unreasonable force.
When he spoke, his voice was raspy:
"After making me eat nothing but vegetables all evening, shouldn't we switch to something else now?"
Sheng Mumu put her arms around the man's neck, wanting simultaneously to strangle him to death and curse him out.
"You— nn—"
The curses on the tip of her tongue were ground into fragmented syllables, melted amid their intertwined lips and teeth.
Temperatures shot upwards.
What was stolen away wasn't only their oxygen, but their reason.
The man's invasive kiss confiscated all her thoughts.
The villa's decor was Scandinavian minimalism, and opposite the sofa in the living room was a mood lighting simulated fireplace.
The flickering flame blended with the bright moonlight coming in through the window, interweaving light and dark.
It indistinctly illuminated two silhouettes.
The cold-toned villa was steeped in enchantment.
Sheng Mumu's eyelids were squeezed tightly shut, unable to see anything, yet colorful spots still flashed across her inner vision.
With the last shreds of her consciousness, she commanded the man behind her:
"Don't...do it here...go...to the bedroom......"
Her words fell and the man slipped his arms around her waist from behind, hugging her off the floor.
Although the route from the living room to bedroom wasn't far, with all the staggering stops and starts, it still took quite a long time before they finally made it into the bedroom.
Rolling back and forth, the two were sleepless all night.
The room was filled with ambiguity, stirring up the night.
