Chapter 21

Take twenty-one bites.
“Tao-tao, why is your face so red? Are you hot?”
Aunt He looked at her with concern and reached over to feel her forehead.
Ying Tao shook her head with cheeks burning, then lifted her cup and drank, trying to press down that inexplicable restlessness inside her.
But the moment the corner of her eye caught a figure drawing nearer from afar, her long lashes trembled uncontrollably.
Her mind slipped for a beat—and she choked.
She covered her mouth and coughed, while the tiny earlobes hidden beneath her black hair turned so red they looked like they might bleed.
Aunt He patted her back, frowning. “Slow down. Why are you drinking so fast?”
Ying Tao coughed hard, lashes damp—like she’d coughed up a sheen of tears.
It made Aunt He ache for her. “Oh, you poor thing.”
“Heh—”
An unhurried, lukewarm scoff sounded in the living room.
The young man coming down from upstairs carried himself with lazy ease without losing a trace of noble polish.
He was tall, broad-shouldered, and a plain black sweater still didn’t look bulky on him.
He seemed freshly showered; the tips of his hair were damp with moisture.
His narrow eyes were slightly lowered, and without trying, he gave off a languid, sleepy air.
Aunt He glanced up and called out, “Mingye, you’re down at the right time—go help in the kitchen. Your dad can’t handle it alone.”
The man answered lazily, loose boned as if he didn’t have a spine at all.
He didn’t even look at her. Just gave a drawn-out “Mm,” as if that counted as a response.
Ying Tao flicked her eyes up fast—
And he seemed to sense it. Their gazes collided perfectly.
Knowing she’d been sneaking a look, he lifted a brow bone, wearing the posture of a victor.
Ying Tao felt stifled to the point of misery, her face burning even hotter.
Her mind flashed back to not long ago in that room.
After she’d thrown out that harsh line, the man had looked down at her like he was considering something.
After a long while, he’d said, “Not impossible.”
“?”
He lifted his eyes lazily. “You. Come here.”
Come here for what?
She didn’t process it in time. So when He Mingye moved closer, she didn’t dodge.
She even stared back provocatively—as if trying to kill him with her gaze, refusing to lose ground.
Until he caught her wrist.
Rough thumb pad pressing on the jut of her wrist bone, stroking slowly, unhurriedly.
She hated the sensation.
But she couldn’t pull free.
Instead, she was forcibly guided forward—
Her soft fingertips inevitably brushed the hard plane of the man’s waist and abdomen.
The heat there was too high. It scalded her so badly she instinctively tried to recoil.
But he held her in place—dominant, unyielding—
And her fingers touched the cold edge of metal.
With a crisp “click,” the metal buckle of the belt released.
The black leather, patterned in dark embossing, looked painfully bright under the light.
It burned her lashes; even her gaze seemed to melt and retreat, too late to avoid it.
His voice dropped low, threaded with a hoarse rasp that didn’t belong.
“You do it,” he said. “Take it off.”
In that sealed, narrow space, heat and ambiguity surged without a sound.
Only the chaotic pounding of a heartbeat remained—
Thump. Thump.
One after another, hammering hard.
Ying Tao was panicking to death, but she still forced herself to look calm.
She even put on airs and offered a critique.
She clicked her tongue. “That’s it? So-so.”
Strangely, he didn’t snap back at her like he usually would.
He only looked down at her.
Under the light, the girl’s pale face—white as jade—quietly bloomed with a faint blush.
But she had no idea.
She just pretended to be steady, acting like she didn’t care.
He gave a low laugh. His expression was unreadable.
“Fine,” he said. “Try again.”
“…”
…
Ying Tao’s mouth was dry.
It felt like her fingertips still held that wandering warmth from his waist and abdomen.
Different from that drunken night—
When she was sober, the touch was brutally clear: tight muscle, clean lines.
She tried to pull back more than once, but couldn’t.
Their bodies were close, yet there was still a not-too-far, not-too-near distance between them.
Temperature climbed.
Her heartbeat slipped out of rhythm.
When their eyes met, the color in his gaze deepened visibly, and his breathing grew heavier without him noticing.
The breath falling near her ear was especially thick.
Hot, damp air brushed her ear rim.
She swallowed without thinking, and the tips of her ears turned blazing hot.
“Like this…”
His voice was deep, rough with that strange hoarseness.
“Satisfied?”
Ying Tao held it in for ages and still couldn’t squeeze out a single word.
Her initial arrogance had vanished without a trace.
In the end, she fled in disgrace.
…
At dinner, Ying Tao deliberately sat far away.
The moment He Mingye drew near, her body stiffened.
He only leaned in to set down tableware, but Ying Tao reacted like a cat that’d had its tail stepped on—jerking back dramatically.
Seeing it, Aunt He laughed. “You two kids… you’re adults already and you still love sulking and bickering.”
“Mingye, did you bully Tao-tao again?”
He Mingye lifted a brow at Ying Tao. “I bullied you?”
Ying Tao silently scooted farther away and used silence in place of an answer.
“Alright,” Uncle He said as he brought the last dish to the table. “Eat first. Whatever it is, talk later.”
During the meal, Aunt He tried more than once to start a topic.
But father and son were both silent—one quieter than the other.
Their relationship had never been warm to begin with.
After years apart, it had only grown tenser.
Aunt He nudged Uncle He’s arm, signaling him to get closer to their son.
Uncle He paused with chopsticks in hand and looked at He Mingye heavily.
“I heard you’re planning to develop in the country again?”
He Mingye answered lazily. “Mm.”
Uncle He frowned, but held his temper. “What’s the plan next? Have you found a place to live?”
After He Mingye went abroad, he barely came back.
And on top of that, he’d spent the past few years preparing for a world tour—seeing him once was harder than climbing to the sky.
From the start, Uncle He had opposed this road.
He also didn’t believe a family like theirs needed a so-called “celebrity” to prop up their name.
The plan he’d laid out for He Mingye was Beihang University, then a smooth path into becoming a fighter pilot.
But He Mingye refused to follow his arrangement.
And their already uneasy father-son relationship had crashed straight into the deepest cold.
He Mingye gave a cold scoff. “No need to trouble yourself.”
That attitude was basically pouring gasoline on fire.
Uncle He was about to blow up, when Ying Tao hurried to speak first.
“Uncle He, did you and Auntie go to Switzerland? Was it fun?”
Uncle He stiffened, then reined in his anger. “It was… alright.”
Aunt He jumped in at the right time. “Your Uncle’s personality—he can’t enjoy himself anywhere.”
“When we traveled abroad, he kept a straight face every day and said there was nothing to see.”
“All he ever thought about was coming home to see the green-headed parrot he raised.”
When Uncle He had still been in office, he’d been stern and unsmiling.
At first, Ying Tao had been a little afraid of him.
But over time she realized he was just all bark and no bite.
Compared to Ying Zhaohui, he was more like a traditional, stubborn Chinese-style father.
He simply wasn’t good with words.
He wasn’t as cold and inhuman as she’d imagined.
Ying Tao asked a lot.
At first, Uncle He kept his face stiff and only answered now and then.
But slowly, the frozen atmosphere softened.
He even began volunteering a few funny things that happened on the trip.
As for cheering up elders—
Ying Tao was a natural.
She looked obedient, her mouth was sweet, and she called everyone uncle and auntie in a warm, flattering way that made people bloom with joy.
In the entire courtyard, there wasn’t a single elder who didn’t like her.
Even Uncle He, who was always serious, couldn’t help showing a smile. She coaxed him into laughing out loud.
Hearing the laughter coming from outside, Aunt He’s eyes softened. “Tao-tao really is a little sunshine. Your dad hasn’t been this happy in a long time.”
He Mingye looked over from afar.
The girl sitting obediently on the sofa smiled like a flower. Her eyes curved into crescents when she laughed.
His gaze fell on the corner of her lips.
The color in his eyes darkened.
When he withdrew his gaze, he met Aunt He’s smiling, meaningful look.
“Such a good girl,” Aunt He said pointedly. “Who knows which family will be blessed enough to marry her into their home.”
He Mingye pretended he hadn’t heard.
Indifferent, he lifted his cup and took a sip of water.
Aunt He deliberately continued, “I heard that a couple days ago, the Zhou family’s old madam went to the Ying house.”
“I don’t know what she chatted about with Tao-tao’s father, but they seemed very happy.”
“When he walked her out, his eyes were smiling into thin lines.”
He Mingye’s hand on the cup paused.
Aunt He pressed on. “But I guess it has something to do with Tao-tao.”
“Old Madam Zhou is getting up there. She just wants liveliness. She can’t wait to see the younger generation get married, so she can see the family line flourish.”
“Xiao Bai’s reached marriageable age, and Chaoli has returned to work in Jingbei.”
“Wouldn’t Old Madam naturally start arranging his big life event?”
“All the families in Jingbei—she’s already taken their measure.”
“The ones worth meeting, she’s already met.”
“But as for a marriage partner… what could be more suitable than someone whose roots you know, whose doors match yours?”
He Mingye set his cup down, expression blank. “What exactly are you trying to say?”
Aunt He’s meaning deepened. “What do you think?”
“In closeness, in affection—who is closer to you than Peach?”
“Truths everyone else understands, and you still can’t figure it out.”
He Mingye’s expression didn’t move, as if her words hadn’t reached his heart at all.
Aunt He sighed. “I gave birth to you. Do you think I don’t know what you’re thinking?”
“In feelings like this, if you don’t take initiative, how will it work?”
“If you keep hiding it, the result is getting kicked out of the game early.”
“You know how much Tao-tao liked that Zhou kid back then.”
“Now that the Zhou family has sent a signal… aren’t you afraid that one day Tao-tao will truly end up with Zhou Chaoli?”
In the past, Ying Tao had been too young.
They hadn’t taken that childish, chaotic confession seriously.
Zhou Chaoli, to avoid suspicion, had even left Jingbei and transferred to work elsewhere.
But now, Zhou Chaoli was back.
Not only that—Old Madam Zhou had begun loosening her stance, frequently contacting Ying Zhaohui, even asking around privately about Ying Tao’s preferences.
That alone was enough to show the old madam’s attitude.
She had taken a liking to Ying Tao.
She wanted to push Ying Tao and Zhou Chaoli into a “good match.”
The old madam’s change was easy to understand.
Before, Ying Tao had been too young to be considered.
Now Ying Tao was an adult.
The two families were close.
And the old madam truly liked Peach.
Weighing interests, there was naturally no better choice for a Zhou family daughter-in-law.
He Mingye’s lips tugged into a faint, mocking curve.
His tone was light, scornful.
“Who she ends up with… has nothing to do with me.”