Hearing her speak so decisively, a flicker of pain passed through He Yining's heart. Was she really so unworthy of being cherished? Leaving just like that? Did this woman have no heart?
He Yining stood up abruptly, ignoring Shen Qi, and walked straight toward the bedroom. Shen Qi froze. What was he doing? That was the bedroom! Why was he going in there? That was the bedroom she shared with his older brother... Although they had slept in the same bed several times before, that was outside, and he hadn't known her identity back then! But now they were in the He residence, and he already knew who she was!
Shen Qi rushed over and grabbed He Yining's arm, swallowing hard. "That bedroom is mine." He Yining's gaze dropped to the small hand gripping his arm. He didn't shake her off, his phoenix eyes narrowing. "And then?" "He Yining, stop messing around! This isn't Jinghua Manor!" Shen Qi felt like she was going crazy. A sister-in-law sharing a room with her brother-in-law? God, if word got out, how could she face the rest of the He family? "You mean, as long as it's in Jinghua Manor, we can sleep together without restraint?" He Yining calmly twisted her words.
Shen Qi wished she could bite her tongue off. What was she even saying? That wasn't the point at all!
Taking a deep breath, Shen Qi looked up seriously. "He Yining, I'm your sister-in-law!" He Yining finally couldn't hold back. He turned and looked down at her. "Sister-in-law? Huh? Are you sure?" His long, elegant fingers gently lifted her chin, forcing her to look up at him. He slowly leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. Shen Qi was completely stunned. He Yining... what... what was he doing?!
"It's late. Let's rest." He Yining grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the bedroom. Shen Qi finally snapped out of it. She shook off his hand. "Are you out of your mind? I told you, I'm—" Suddenly, her lips were sealed! All her words were swallowed by him.
He Yining wrapped his arms around her waist, pushed her against the wall, and kissed her fiercely. This was their first kiss while both were fully conscious. It came so directly, so roughly. So unexpectedly.
Shen Qi's mind went completely blank. She couldn't think of anything. She could only passively endure this overwhelmingly dominant kiss from He Yining.
After a long moment, their lips parted. He Yining smirked wickedly. "Still want to sleep separately?"
Sleep... separately? Was that term even appropriate for them?
Shen Qi shook her head, staring at him in shock. A sinister smile curled at the corner of He Yining's lips. "By the way, Xiao Qi, have you actually looked at your marriage certificate?"
Marriage certificate? Shen Qi's mind went blank. She really hadn't paid much attention to it... After all, the person she married wasn't someone she liked... Wait, what was he getting at?
Shen Qi looked at him warily. "What are you trying to say?" He Yining casually pulled a small red booklet from his pocket and waved it in front of her. "You don't even know who your husband is, and you dare talk about sleeping separately? Huh?"
Shen Qi snatched the booklet and opened it. She was utterly stunned. Wait a minute. Hold on. Let me calm down for three minutes!
Why was the name in the spouse column not He Yiqi, but He Yining? Okay, Shen Qi admitted that on her wedding day, she was the laughingstock of everyone, so she hadn't even glanced at the certificate. All the paperwork had been handled by others. But that wasn't the point! The point was, could someone explain why her husband wasn't He Yiqi, but He Yining? She was absolutely sure she was supposed to marry He Yiqi! If it were He Yining, why would Shen Yinyin have given up this marriage opportunity? He Yining was Shen Yinyin's dream man!
No, no, something must be wrong! Shen Qi checked the certificate repeatedly, still feeling like she was hallucinating. "What's going on..." She looked up at He Yining, bewildered.
"Simple. You took Shen Yinyin's place in the marriage, and I took my brother's place in the wedding." He Yining smirked. "Madam, can we rest assured now?"
Shen Qi's face instantly turned bright red. He... he called me... madam?
Seeing her flustered, her cheeks flushed, He Yining found her unbearably cute, almost tempting enough to bite. He took the dazed Shen Qi by the hand and led her to the bed, pressing her down onto the edge. He reached up to undo the buttons at his collar.
His movements finally snapped Shen Qi back to reality. She clutched her own collar, stammering, "He... He Yining, you're not really going to..." He Yining raised an eyebrow. "Going to what?" "Going to... to... have... have..." Shen Qi stammered, unable to finish. He Yining found it even more amusing to tease her. "Have what?" Shen Qi's face grew redder. "Hmm?" He Yining deliberately dragged out the syllable, his voice so magnetic it could make ears pregnant.
Shen Qi couldn't bring herself to say it. "If you want..." He Yining's long fingers slid down her arm, lightly tapping her lower abdomen. "I can cooperate..."
Shen Qi felt like she was on fire. Just that simple gesture ignited something inside her. This demon, this great demon! A super demon who seduced people without paying taxes!
He Yining absolutely adored Shen Qi's expression. He pinched her cheek. "What? Shocked to find out your husband is me?" Shen Qi blurted out, "No, I won't cling to you!" He Yining raised an eyebrow. "Cling to me? Do you think you can? You still owe me a lot of money! Until that debt is paid off, where do you think you can go?"
Shen Qi thought about it and realized he had a point! "I'll work hard to pay it off!" she said seriously. "So, can you still keep your promise of giving me 200,000 a month?" He Yining let out a helpless chuckle, turned, and sat down beside her. He leaned back, lying on the bed lazily. "If you perform better, maybe I'll add more."
"Then we... we still need to..." Shen Qi's face was practically dripping with redness. "You want me to cover for you in front of Grandma?" He Yining's phoenix eyes narrowed as he hit the nail on the head. Shen Qi immediately nodded, looking at him expectantly. He Yining crooked his finger at her. Shen Qi leaned in eagerly.
"I can cover for you, no problem." He Yining smiled. "And I can help you in front of others too." Shen Qi's eyes lit up. "Considering how well we know each other and how much you owe me, how about one million per cover-up? What do you think?" He Yining grinned at her.
"Pfft!" Shen Qi smacked his arm. "I thought we were already this close! Look, I took Shen Yinyin's place in the marriage, and you took He Yiqi's place in the wedding. We're both reluctant comrades! We should cooperate!" By now, Shen Qi had finally come to her senses. Since it was just the two of them in the room, she dropped her formality, kneeling beside him to haggle. "You don't want anything to happen between us either, right? Lucky for us, I don't want to climb the social ladder either! If we work together, we can get through this year, and then go our separate ways. I won't cling to you, and you don't have to worry about me sticking around. Perfect!" Shen Qi started pitching her plan with confidence.
Unfortunately, He Yining wasn't buying it. Hearing her mention leaving again after a year made him increasingly uncomfortable. "You really want to leave that badly?" He looked at her. Shen Qi hesitated. "Not desperately, but mainly... the memories here are really bad. I don't want to live under that shadow for the rest of my life. Since you know who I am, you must have heard about what I went through in the Shen family..."
He Yining's phoenix eyes darkened, but he said nothing. "We'll talk about it later." He dropped the line and ignored her.
Shen Qi watched him head into the bathroom, feeling anxious. Had he agreed or not?
After showering, they both got into bed. Okay, Shen Qi admitted that after sharing a bed several times before, she was now somewhat used to sleeping with He Yining. But as she slipped under the covers, she realized something was off. Before, they were strangers. Sleeping together as strangers came with some wariness. But now, they were legally married! This was completely different!
Shen Qi cautiously glanced at He Yining. He seemed to be asleep. Seeing that he was the same as before, Shen Qi felt relieved but also a faint sense of loss. Whatever, I'll take it one step at a time! There's still a year. We'll figure it out then.
Shen Qi turned over in a huff and fell into a deep sleep. After she fell asleep, He Yining suddenly opened his eyes. His phoenix eyes shifted slightly toward her, the upward slant of his gaze barely pressing down. He lowered his eyelids, suppressing his emotions, and closed his eyes to sleep peacefully.
The next morning, Shen Qi woke up in He Yining's arms, as usual. She really wanted to despise herself! Really! Her moral integrity was already shattered beyond repair! She seemed to be getting more and more used to waking up in He Yining's arms every morning!