Chapter 28  

"Who wrote this article in the newspaper?!" Jia Shao shouted with indignation in her hoarse voice and she choked up two dry coughs. "I am a woman. Why did they state I am a man?!"

The poor girl who was having a cold was eating her preserved egg porridge while she was reading the newspaper that Zhen Lang brought back. The headlines had caught her attention at first glance and apart from the headlines, they also published a photo. Even if other people could not see clearly, she could still see the image clearly.

She was already having a cold and now it was like pouring oil over a fire and it shot straight up to her head. The moment she gets angry, it will make her speechless and once she is speechless........

"If you continue talking, more people will think you are a man." The person who was sitting at the edge of the bed touched the towel that was resting on her forehead and flipped the towel over thoughtfully.

"It's all your fault!" She vented out all her anger and resentment on the person in front of her. She lifted her left fist and aimed straight for his face.

Two inches away from his face, the fist was stopped in mid-air when it was wrapped by a big hand. Someone gently pressed down her fist and said. "You are sick, don't mess around. Take your medicine and go back to sleep."

He had seen people with a cold and had seen people with a high fever. He had also seen people with a high fever of nearly 40 degrees but he has never seen anyone with a cold and a high fever of 40 degrees who could still jump around and be so lively.

"No, I am alright." Jia Shao who had eaten did not feel dizzy or tired any longer. Only her throat was giving her a little discomfort. "I want to go to the newspaper office to settle this with them!"

"So you have recovered?' The man lifted his eyebrows and smiled. "Then let's go out to buy a ring. How big do you want the diamond on your engagement ring to be?"

"Uh......." Jia Shao instantly became 'unwell' and shrank back under the quilt. "I feel very dizzy, my bones still ache and my legs are weak."

He clearly knew that this morning when she had not eaten, her brain was in a state of immobility and he actually took advantage of the situation to propose an engagement.

"If you don't feel well, then just lie down." Zhen Lang's hand naturally reached under her loose pajamas to pull out a thermometer from her armpit to take a look. Leaning back on the bed against the headboard, he crossed his legs and flipped through the newspaper in his hands.

The poor Miss Jia stared at him with her pair of big round eyes while she nestled under the quilt. With both her hands clutching the sides of the quilt, her eyes shifted back and forth over his body.

His body was stuck to her, separated only by the quilt and she did not dare to roll around freely. She could only flutter her eyelashes as she stared innocently at the person beside her.

He was sitting and she was lying down. When he flipped the newspaper, his arm would occasionally brush against her hair and his shadow shrouded her face giving her an illusion that she was someone protected under his wings.

"Vet........" She lowered her voice and whispered softly.

Zhen Lang put down the newspaper in his hand and caressed her cheek with his hand. "Where do you feel unwell?"

She shook her head and when she finally shook off his hand, a yearning uncontrollably rose from her heart.

"Why do you want to get engage with me?" Even though she had never experienced it, she had seen it. At least, she knew that feelings between two people in a marriage were natural and it should be cultivated through the process of love but she and him......

Are they lovers? Enemies are more like it.

"That......" She swallowed and attempted to convince him not to put his horrible idea into practice. "A husband and wife must live together so there must be tacit understanding. They have to take care of each other in order to stay together, right?"

"Can you cook?"

Cook? She shook her head......

"Can you wash dishes?"

Wash dishes? Out of five, only one will remain, does that count?

She shook her head vigorously.......

"Can you mop the floor?"

She should be able to do that if she does not break the mop.

So, she still shook her head......

"Can you wash clothes?"

This......she is able.

She nodded hard.

"Can you clean the bathtub?"

Yes!

She nodded hard again.

"Excellent!" He lowered his head and hovered his face 2 inches above hers as his breath blew on her cheek. "I know how to cook, wash the dishes and mop the floor but I don't like to wash clothes and clean the bathtub. Don't you think we complement each other well? Look, our good and bad points are so coordinated, of course, we can take care of each other."

It sounded reasonable but.......

If his request for his woman to be capable of just washing clothes and cleaning the bathtub, then his request was extremely low. It was even lower than an average family's request for a nanny and this reason sounded really perfunctory.

Jia Shao gave his chest a push. "Do you take me for a fool? Tell the truth!"

"The truth?" Suddenly he leaned over and kissed her lips. Lightly he bit her and she sucked in her lips, only to find her lips were full of his taste.

He supported himself with both his hands placed on both sides of her body. His eyes showed deep thoughts that she could not fathom. "What do you think is the reason?"

What does she think? How does she know what he is thinking?

"Don't tell me you want to put me in front of you and every day when you are in a bad mood, you can bully me?" Other than tormenting her to keep him happy, she could not think of any other reason.

He clicked his tongue and shook his head lightly. Then he gave her a peck on her lips again. "If I were to say I will not torture you but will dote on you and love you, will you believe me?"

Believe his head! Only a fool will believe him!

"Because......" Suddenly he smiled. "It is said that a father is a daughter's lover in her previous life. If I were to truly love you in this life, then I will be your father in your next life."

She was stunned!

This reason is too amazing!!

She was defeated and did not have the energy to fight back. She simply pulled the quilt over her head and snuggled under it. Then she heard Zhen Lang's willful laughter which was clear and filled with contentment.

No, she must not marry him! Even if he will not jinx her to death, he will still anger her to death.

When she lifted off the quilt, she found that Zhen Lang's eyes were on her and they were full of mirth.

This kind of smile once again made her heart constrict violently and suffocate her.

Suddenly she realized that she was more and more afraid to look at his smile. Every time she accidentally looked upon his smile or met his gaze, her heartbeat would accelerate and her breathing would become chaotic.

To her surprise, she remembered the questions Fang Qing Kui asked her not too long ago.........

~ The moment when you think of him, do you feel the sweetness in your heart and unconsciously want to smile?

~ When you think of him, do you feel that his smile is very handsome?

~ When you think of him, do you feel your heart go soft like it is melting?

~ When you think of him, do you wish that he can immediately appear in front of you? Do you always think of him and miss him when you don't see him for only half a day?

She is sick. She must be really sick.

It must be because of her illness that she had this feeling of helplessness, so she had longed for someone to stay by her side and it is definitely not because of Zhen Lang.

"Vet......" She called softly. "I......"

"What is the matter?" He caressed her forehead and frowned. "Where do you feel unwell?"

She felt unwell, very unwell and even when he frowned, she felt he looked so handsome, so dazzling.

Can it be she really is........

He stretched out his arms to pick her up and settled her in front of him to let her rest on his chest. "Are you feeling cold again?"

Who said she feels cold when all she felt was the heat and her cheeks were burning hot. Even when she closed her eyes, one by one the images of his face floated past in front of her. His smile, his eyes, his gestures......they all seemed to combine together to form a film running in slow motion........every segment lively and vivid.

After a long time when he did not get any response from her, he lowered his head and asked. "What is wrong? Where do you feel uncomfortable?"

"Oh......" She only felt she had a sudden urge. She reached out her hands to hug his waist and attached herself to him.

"Hungry?" Zhen Lang put down his hand. "What do you want to eat?"

Stiffly she shook her head and thought of the teeth marks she left on his chest this morning...... with water droplets still clinging on his skin.......it was so tempting.......

She had really become muddle-headed! She actually wants to eat him!

"Lie down and I will buy some food for you." Zhen Lang gently released her and turned around to change his clothes.

She stared at his movements intently. The more she looked, the faster her heart raced. The more she looked, the drier her throat became.

When Zhen Lang's figure disappeared from sight, then only did she let out the breath that she had been holding back for a long time. Her mind regained normality.

Without a thought, she quickly got out of bed and simply pulled on her clothes. She grabbed her wallet and ran out the door at the fastest speed possible. In the absence of notification to anyone.......she ran off.

***#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#***

When Fang Qing Kui was tapping on her calculator counting how much she had made today, the door was roughly pushed opened to reveal a sorry figure standing at the doorway. Her hair was messy, her expression weird and she was gasping for breath. "Qing Qing, I realize......it seems I like someone."

Fang Qing Kui threw down the account book in her hand and it landed on the calculator causing the number that she had just keyed in to be deleted. She sighed. "You.......are finally normal!"

"But......" Jia Shao calmed down with difficulty and panted. "The person I like is Jinx!"

This time, Fang Qing Kui did not show any surprise. "I know."

"What should I do?" Jia Shao pulled Fang Qing Kui's hand as if begging for help. "I don't want to go back. I don't want to face him again."

"Why?" Fang Qing Kui did not understand and blinked at her.

"I......"

Before Jia Shao could say anything, a figure rushed down from upstairs. It was Xiao Xue, the makeup artist and in her hands, she was holding a newspaper. "Boss, something happened! Something happened! This.......isn't this the photo that we hung up the last time?"

The newspaper was shoved in front of Jia Shao and Fang Qing Kui.

In the advertising section of the newspaper, a full-page layout featured a picture of a gorgeous woman. Regardless of her appearance, her expression and her posture, whichever way it was viewed, it was exactly the same as the huge poster that was hung at the entrance of 'Golden Sunflower' a short while ago. Except for the smile and the eyes which were slightly altered to look more ambiguous and more seductive, the most important feature was the hand which was originally placed on the chest was technically removed by PS. It had changed to a towering upright double front under the cover of a tube top, revealing a deep valley between her breasts.

Following that was an enticing slogan that read........

~ Wear 'Ting Li' to ensure you stand tall and upright.

(Ting Li is the product name of a bra and it literally means 'Beautiful Support'.)

Jia Shao and Fang Qing Kui looked at each other foolishly. "What is going on?"

Jia Shao held the newspaper tightly in her hands. She actually appeared in two newspapers within a day! One is an ambiguity and the other is a temptation. She had instantly become famous!!!

"Qing Qing!!!" She bit on her back molars. "This photo.......other than you, who else has it?"

Fang Qing Kui was at a loss and gaped. She muttered as if talking to herself. "Except for me, only Zhen Lang has it."

"Jinx!!!" Jia Shao exploded and smashed her fist on the door. With big strides, she walked off and the poor tempered glass door at that exact moment turned into a spider web pattern and shattered onto the ground.

***#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#***

At this moment, in an office of Wang Enterprise, the Manager was holding the newspaper in his hand. "General Manager, we have used this person's photo without her consent. Will we be sued for violation of portrait rights? Now, when we are in the midst of negotiations with Yunlang Group for joint cooperation, it is better not to stir up any trouble."

The woman sitting behind the desk looked at the Manager coldly. "We are negotiating with Yunlang Group over real estate issue. This is only a small lingerie advertisement for one of our subsidiaries. This will not cause any impact at all. Let alone, this photo has been altered. Who can prove that I had violated portrait rights? Rest assured I have already consulted with our lawyers. If she wants to fight this lawsuit, I will eliminate her!"