Chapter 056: A Little Pain

Chapter 056: A Little Pain

Actually, before she fell asleep last night, she'd already heard the question Qin Ce asked, but her mind was a mess, and she simply didn't know how to answer, so she could only fake being asleep.

She figured he'd keep pushing, but unexpectedly, Qin Ce didn't bring it up again. As she pretended, she unconsciously drifted off to sleep.

This also led to her feeling guilty when she saw Qin Ce the next morning. Ji Pushu couldn't meet his eyes, like he could see right through her.

Ji Pushu scarfed down breakfast and wanted to bail fast. She blurted out, "Brother Ce, I'm done. Take your time, I'm heading to the office."

Usually, she'd drag her feet until almost noon before slowly heading out to work, but now, before nine, she couldn't sit still.

"What's the hurry? Isn't your meeting this afternoon?" Qin Ce knew exactly what was up. He asked calmly, watching Ji Pushu, who guiltily looked away, not realizing how obvious she was being.

"Cough, I'll go check things out and see if there's anything else I need to do." Ji Pushu's voice trailed off. "Besides, afternoon's not that far away."

After she spoke, the dining room went quiet again for a bit, with only the sound of Qin Ce's utensils clinking calmly. Ji Pushu wanted to leave but felt weird about it.

"Ji Pushu."

Qin Ce hardly ever called her by her full name. Hearing her full name all of a sudden, Ji Pushu jumped, looked up blankly at Qin Ce, and let out a confused "Huh?"

"You seem pretty guilty today." Qin Ce asked, beating around the bush, his deep eyes locked onto her. "Especially when facing me, you can't even look me in the eye. Come on, what'd you do that would piss me off? Download random games on my computer, buy something sketchy, or break some collectible?"

These were all things Ji Pushu had done in the past. The first two were fine, but the last one—breaking something worth at least millions—was a disaster. But Qin Ce had never gotten mad at her for it. Material stuff didn't matter; if it broke, it broke.

"..." Ji Pushu felt even guiltier. Looking back, she realized she'd caused Qin Ce a ton of trouble over the past two years. Besides not being enthusiastic about replying to texts, he'd handled everything else and never got mad at her.

From that angle, it seemed no different from actually dating. But she hadn't won him over yet, and Qin Ce hadn't given her a straight answer. On this point, Ji Pushu felt she hadn't succeeded in her chase, so why should she feel guilty?

They had no official relationship; she was just chasing him. If she didn't want to chase anymore, she could just walk away anytime and move on to the next guy. Why feel guilty? Qin Ce wasn't her boyfriend, let alone her husband. There was nothing to feel guilty about!

"Brother Ce, I haven't been causing trouble." Ji Pushu thought this way and suddenly felt righteous again. "And I'm not feeling guilty at all. Maybe Brother Ce didn't sleep well last night and is just imagining things? Hmm, after breakfast, Brother Ce should go back and take a nap. I'll head to the office first."

With that, she still fled the Qin house. Even though she tried to reassure herself, she'd been chasing him for two years, and he was so hot. Ji Pushu worried that one more look would break her resolve. Boohoo, she was totally into Qin Ce's looks and body—she wanted him!

"Heh..."

Qin Ce didn't stop her. He just lowered his eyes, slowly stirred his milk, and let out a soft, ambiguous laugh.

·

Company, office.

"Sigh..."

Ji Pushu had her own office. She lay on the desk, where there was a photo of her with Qin Ce, taken during a previous outing.

Qin Ce didn't like taking photos, but since she wanted to, he went along with it. In the photo, Qin Ce and she were making a peace sign with their fingers. The gesture, paired with his elegant, classy face, looked a bit goofy.

"Why'd you have to get into a car accident and break your leg?" Ji Pushu poked at Qin Ce's image in the photo, muttering softly.

Whenever she compared Qin Ce with Qin Jie, she couldn't muster any interest in Qin Jie at all. She found him utterly annoying, and by contrast, she didn't even feel like entering the Qin family anymore.

Ji Pushu thought of a possibility, and her eyes lit up. "What if... I work hard to turn the Ji family into a super-wealthy clan and then keep Qin Ce at home?"

She soon got to her dad's office, which wasn't far. Her dad had just finished a meeting and was about to have a cup of coffee. Seeing his daughter at the company, he was shocked. This little troublemaker, showing up so early at the company? That was a rare sight—pigs might fly.

"Dad, what do you think? If we work hard, can we surpass the Qin family?" Ji Pushu threw a daunting challenge at her dad as soon as she entered.

"Shushu, I'm very proud of your ambition, and it's commendable." Her dad took a sip of coffee to calm himself, then patted her shoulder and said earnestly, "But business requires a down-to-earth approach. Don't aim too high or set unattainable goals. Over time, it will drain your spirit and kill your drive."

Ji Pushu pouted and crossed her arms. "Dad, you're boosting others' morale and deflating our own. How do we know we can't do it without trying? Qin Ce isn't managing things anymore, and the other two are useless. It's only a matter of time."

Her dad's mouth twitched. This was a case of not knowing one's limits until trying.

But since his daughter rarely showed such ambition, he didn't want to discourage her. He said tactfully, "The market's business distribution has long been set. Our Ji family is in the third tier. Even without the Qin family, there are two other tiers above us. We're lucky to grab a piece of the pie."

"Of course, there's one way to rise quickly: government support. But that depends on what mutual benefits we can offer. Our Ji family's business doesn't have the capability to develop in that direction." Her dad wasn't a conservative, but transformation wasn't just talk.

"Take the new upstart LJ, for example. They've developed overseas for nearly a decade and hold many core technologies. Their headquarters is in An City, bringing not only economic growth but also technology that the government values. So even though they just returned, they've established a solid foothold. Look at other families—who dares to clash with them? When a new project comes up, they're all scrambling to negotiate cooperation."

Her dad knew the Ji family's limits. Steady and stable development was the way to go. As long as they didn't make trouble or wrong decisions, the money they earned would last for two or three generations.

"Dad, have you met LJ's chairman?" Ji Pushu asked curiously. In her imagination, it was probably a dignified figure in their fifties or sixties.

"No." Her dad shook his head. "I heard LJ is looking for a new piece of land for a research base, but they didn't participate in this land auction."

"The Qin family definitely participated, and Qin Jie won the bid." Ji Pushu knew this. It was all within the business circle. They wouldn't bid themselves—they didn't have the funds. Land was expensive, starting at tens of billions. But she had heard about it.

Her dad asked, "What does Qin Ce think?"

"What does that have to do with Qin Ce? He's not managing things anymore. It's all Qin Jie and the others now. And yesterday, he sold all his shares to Qin Jie." Ji Pushu was frustrated just talking about it. It had ruined her appetite and sleep, dampening her mood.

"Sold?" Her dad was shocked.

Even if Qin Ce wasn't managing, holding shares meant a steady stream of dividends. Selling them, especially at market value, would fetch a sky-high price.

For Qin Jie and the others to acquire them, it must have been a huge financial strain. And now they were bidding on land—the pressure was unimaginable.

Yet Qin Ce chose to sell at this critical moment. Her dad, a seasoned fox, seemed to sense something unusual in the arrangement.

"Yeah." Ji Pushu didn't think much of it. "Dad, are you attending the auction tomorrow?"

"No." Her dad shook his head. "You go with your assistant. If you see something you like, bid on it."

He added quietly, "Cough, but don't go for anything too expensive."

If she ended up bidding on something worth five or six hundred million, the Ji family would be in trouble. They could afford it, but their liquid assets weren't that abundant.

"Got it." Ji Pushu returned to her office, feeling down.

She had nothing to do all day, only attending a meeting in the afternoon before slipping away on time.

Qin Ce was at home alone. He seemed in a good mood. Instead of watching his usual nature documentaries, he was playing chess by himself, fully absorbed.

"Brother Ce~" Ji Pushu had gotten used to it. As soon as she got home and saw him, she rushed over with a sweet voice.

She hadn't done anything, but she felt as tired as if she'd worked all day. Seeing Qin Ce's stunning face lifted her spirits. She lazily draped herself over him, secretly sneaking a touch of his abs. Even though he hadn't exercised much lately, his physique was still impeccable.

"You're back." Qin Ce grabbed her wandering hand and placed a chess piece in her palm. "Play a game of chess with me."

"Brother Ce, I'm so sleepy, I'm already asleep!" Ji Pushu was exasperated. She lay directly on his thigh, burying her head in his abdomen, pretending to sleep without moving.

She hated chess the most—actually, any activity that required thinking. It was too tiring.

"Then sleep." Qin Ce didn't force her. He played a game of chess by himself before instructing the chef to prepare dinner.

Today, Qin Ce seemed unusually agreeable and gentle.

That night, as usual, Ji Pushu went to his room, trying to fulfill what she'd never managed to do before, and this time, he didn’t seem to refuse.

This almost made Ji Pushu think, had he figured out her little plan?

But seeing Qin Ce’s helpless expression, she shook her head and dismissed that thought—if he knew, Qin Ce wouldn’t be this easygoing.

“Brother Ce~” Ji Pushu lay on his chest, in a particularly intimate position, after just sharing a kiss.

This time, she felt his strong physical reaction, and he didn’t seem intent on pushing her away—a silent indulgence.

“If we take this to the final step, there’s no turning back. Have you thought it through?” Qin Ce had been giving her chances to leave, but she refused—so she couldn't blame him.

“Of course!” Ji Pushu nodded seriously, her eyes sparkling with admiration. “I’m overjoyed. Being with Brother Ce…” Compared to anyone else, of course she'd rather sleep with Qin Ce.

“Alright.” Qin Ce gave her a final chance—after this, there was no longer any way to leave.

He traced his hand along Ji Pushu’s back, moving in slow circles on her waist, his voice a little hoarse. “You’ve read quite a few books. I can't move much, so you’ll have to be on top and do it yourself.”

Qin Ce chose to lie back, letting her play however she wanted this time, and he’d collect the interest later.

“!!!” Ji Pushu panicked, blushing in embarrassment. “…How did Brother Ce know?”

Qin Ce chuckled. “You used my computer to look for smutty books, deliberately deleted the browsing history, and thought I wouldn’t find out? In the future, read less of that stuff—your mind's turning dirty.”

At this, Ji Pushu buried her face in his chest, unable to face anyone. The content she’d read was very spicy—forbidden literature, even threesomes and moresomes, oh my god!

She wanted to read but was also afraid, worried about being caught in an online crackdown—how embarrassing would that be? So she used Qin Ce’s computer to read secretly, so if caught, it would be his embarrassment. Well, now she was the one embarrassing herself first…

But with the arrow already on the string, she followed the theoretical knowledge she’d learned from reading to proceed to the next step. But when it came to the actual moment, she hesitated, too scared to follow through. The sensation was intense, her body screaming for it.

“Don’t be nervous, relax—you can take it.” Qin Ce wasn’t feeling great either, so he tried to soothe her.

It worked, and both of them sighed in relief.

At first, Ji Pushu felt some pain. She held still, not daring to move. But after a while, she discovered the pleasure and let herself go—though this position was tough on the waist.

She wasn't a sports slacker, and she had good stamina from often indulging in extreme sports.

But since it was her first time being intimate, after two rounds, Ji Pushu was too exhausted to move. She lay in Qin Ce’s arms and fell asleep in a daze.

Such a mild level was far from enough for a man who had just tasted intimacy; naturally, Qin Ce wasn’t satisfied. But he was always good at restraining himself. He grabbed some tissues from the nightstand, wiped her clean, calmed himself down, and then held her as they fell asleep.

“You came to me on your own. I gave you a final chance to run, and you didn’t take it. From now on, don’t even think about leaving, Shushu.”

He kissed her cheek, gently brushing the hair off her face with his fingertips, his gaze was terrifying.

If she really dared to leave with someone else tomorrow, she would never be allowed to leave this house again.