Chapter Fourteen: Abstinent Yet Alluring.

Page 1/3

Madam Lu sat leaning against the headboard for a while, but soon lost her strength. Gu Yao helped Han Yuncai gently lay the elderly lady down to rest. After tidying the covers, she quietly stepped out of the room. Wen Ning had already been called out by Lu Zheng when Madam Lu mentioned feeling tired, and Liu Yuan was with her.

When Gu Yao emerged, the three of them were still standing in the corridor. Liu Yuan was very close to Lu Zheng, speaking with a cautious smile on her face. Suddenly, she stepped forward as if to touch Lu Zheng’s arm, but he casually stepped back, avoiding her touch.

His retreat was casual and indifferent, his attitude cold. Once he steadied himself, sensing something, he turned his gaze toward Gu Yao. Their eyes met; Gu Yao remained calm as she looked at the three and said, “I’m heading downstairs first.”

She then turned and walked toward the staircase. After just a few steps, steady footsteps sounded behind her. She slightly turned her head and saw the man’s chest rise gently with each breath, his Adam’s apple moving as her eyes traveled upward to Lu Zheng’s strikingly handsome face.

Restrained yet alluring.

His pace slowed but did not stop, then resumed forward. Gu Yao was no fool; her intuition was sharp. She could sense that since returning to Haicheng, Lu Zheng’s appearances by her side had become unusually frequent.

As for the reason, she had a vague idea, but she preferred not to dwell on it. Because even if she thought about it, nothing would come of it.

Lu Zheng might not be serious, and the Lu family would never approve.

She herself did not want to sink into a quagmire of regret and self-doubt.

So pretending ignorance was the best course.

The silhouettes of the man and woman walking side by side showed a notable height difference. The man was tall and commanding; the woman, slender and resilient. If not for personal motives, from a distance, the scene might be perceived as beautifully harmonious.

Wen Ning and Liu Yuan stood behind, watching as Lu Zheng quickly caught up to Gu Yao and then matched her pace.

Liu Yuan’s voice trembled slightly: “Xiao Ning, do you think Lu Zheng still likes Gu Yao… but with their statuses, how could it be possible?”

Wen Ning’s eyes flickered at those words. Their statuses truly didn’t match.

But that was her eldest brother.

Whatever he desired, there was probably nothing he couldn’t have.

Page 2/3

And whatever he didn’t want... She looked up at Liu Yuan’s face, which betrayed jealousy without her realizing it, then lowered her lashes.

No one could force anything.

Moreover, she glanced subtly at the woman before her and recalled the scene in the room just now, a fleeting emotion crossing her gaze.

“Yuan Yuan, I suddenly remembered my mother said I have to attend a gathering at four, so I can’t go shopping with you.”

Liu Yuan, already lacking interest, lowered her eyes without noticing the change in Wen Ning’s mood.

“Alright, I’m tired too, so... I’ll go back first.”

Wen Ning nodded, her feelings complicated.

She blamed herself for misjudging people.

But appearances still had to be maintained, so she turned to see her off downstairs.

Just as she descended the stairs, she saw Lu Zheng emerge from the servants’ corridor on the first floor.

He carried two bulging paper bags adorned with cartoon cake stickers.

Seeing those bags, Liu Yuan clenched her palms unconsciously.

They were exactly the same bags Gu Yao had taken into Madam Lu’s room earlier.

She watched silently as the man strode toward the front door. Suddenly, a surge of anger rose within her, and she quickened her pace to catch up.

“Lu Zheng!”

Her sharp voice rang out in the hall, piercingly clear.

Lu Zheng’s wind-driven strides did not slow at all.

Only when she reached his side and blocked his path did he stop, lowering his gaze slightly to look at her. His eyes were calm, as if she were a stranger of no consequence.

“What is it?”

Liu Yuan panted slightly, her chest rising and falling rapidly. She quickly brushed her hair aside and looked up at Lu Zheng with hopeful eyes.

“Um, are you leaving? I’m heading back too—could you give me a ride part of the way...?”

Before she could finish, the man’s voice was already icy.

“Inconvenient.”

After speaking, he lifted his foot, stepped forward, then paused again. Turning to look at Wen Ning behind him, his dark eyes heavy, he said,

“Don’t disturb Grandma without reason anymore. She’s ill and can’t be overexerted.”

Wen Ning trembled under his emotionless gaze, nodding immediately without hesitation.

“I understand, Eldest Brother.”

His words were blunt.

They were spoken to one person but heard by two.

Wen Ning’s gaze involuntarily fell on Liu Yuan, whose face was deathly pale.

Page 3/3

Downstairs in the room, Gu Yao looked at the last remaining bag of sweets on the table, pursed her lips, then took it and placed it in the refrigerator.

There should have been three more bags besides the one given to Madam Lu.

But just before, Lu Zheng had said he was going to a banquet later and wanted to eat something to tide him over.

He asked if Gu Yao could spare a bag of the sweets she had brought up to Madam Lu.

He didn’t even ask if there were any left.

Gu Yao couldn’t lie about having none.

After all, when she came in, two of the servants on the first floor had seen her, so she had to return to her room to get two bags for him.

After handing them over, Lu Zheng didn’t say anything else. He just stood by the door, said “Thank you,” and left.

It seemed he had truly only come to get some food.

Yet in her midnight dreams, Gu Yao spent the entire night haunted by the predator-like black eyes of the man.

Those pitch-dark pupils hovered above her eyes, almost touching hers.

They stared intently, filled with an aggressive determination.

Even upon waking the next morning, Gu Yao could still feel her heart pounding fiercely from the tension.

That night, Gu Yao had slept at the Lu family’s old mansion to spend a little more time with Han Yuncai.

Han Yuncai only returned from Madam Lu’s room after ten o’clock.

Mother and daughter sat in the small living room; Han Yuncai brewed some tea and ate the sweets Gu Yao had brought while listening to her report on the company’s preparations.

Han Yuncai also inquired about Chen Ping’an, and Gu Yao quickly clarified that their relationship was purely professional.

Han Yuncai expressed regret but seemed still somewhat hopeful.

Gu Yao could only helplessly keep quiet.

The next morning, Han Yuncai prepared vegetable porridge and zucchini-egg stuffed pancakes for Gu Yao.

After finishing, she went upstairs to attend to Madam Lu.

Gu Yao didn’t get up until after nine.

Rubbing her forehead and turning over in bed, she felt her heart rate gradually steady from the unrest caused by nightmares, then finally rose.

While washing up, she unlocked her phone.

A new message appeared on the lock screen. Opening WeChat, she saw it was from Lu Zheng.

Only one new message:

Lu Zheng: “The sweets are excellent. If convenient, could I place an order for the family banquet in a few days through you?”

Gu Yao read the message repeatedly, feeling a flutter of excitement.

But thinking of the Lu family’s complicated relations, she ultimately declined.

“The shop isn’t open yet, so I can’t do that. You could ask my pastry chef if they’re willing to come to your home to make them.”

She then forwarded her pastry chef’s WeChat contact to Lu Zheng.