Nuptial Chamber Next Door

Chapter 45: Lunch

Even when her eyes were closed, she could see the image of Ye Zhengchen in her mind.

His every action and every expression was seared in her memory.

My whole body shuddered at this sudden intimacy from Zhong Tim. After a few seconds of telling myself to tolerate, my patience was exhausted.

Almost without conscious thought, I pushed Zhong Tim away.

Zhong Tim was compliant. After placing a light kiss on my lips, he moved away.

Secretly, I heaved a sigh of relief. When I opened my eyes again, I could see Ye Zhengchen staring sharply at my lips from the opposite end of the street. His expression was like one whose possessions had been violated by a stranger.

I licked my lips subconsciously and mouthed, “ Thank you!” to him

I sincerely thanked him for not punching Zhong Tim.

The clenched fists at his sides gradually unclenched. “ It’s almost noon now. We can probably have lunch before we go back to Nanzhou.”

In order to ensure that the matter was under wraps, the task force had detained Zhong Tim in an offsite location outside the state.

This was Lingzhou City, a three hour drive from Nanzhou.

Although I didn’t want Zhong Tim and Ye Zhengchen to have too much contact, but I couldn’t force him to drive us back to the city if he was really hungry.

As I hesitated, Zhong Tim made the decision for me. “ Sure!”

Things had gone so far, it wouldn’t look nice if I refused now. I said a few words essentially indicating that we were going to host the meal to express our gratitude to him.

Ye Zhengchen never liked listening to nonsense. He glanced at me , then started walking towards the car, “ Get in the car.”

Zhong Tim looked at the car, then at the licence plate. He seemed to remember something and looked at me , then at Ye Zhengchen.

I opened the rear door, “ Let’s sit behind.”

Ye Zhengchen had once taught me a bit of car etiquette. One should always have a person sitting in the co pilot seat unless the car was being driven by a driver.

If both of us sat in the rear seats , it would be equivalent to treating Ye Zhengchen as a driver.

Just as I was getting into the car, Ye Zhengchen stared at me with a cold expression, as if telling me ‘Do you want to try that trick?’

I was scared

…… …

Ye Zhengchen took us to the most high end hotel in Lingzhou. At the door, the hotel manager smiled and greeted him personally. He launched into a long flattering speech. From the speech, I gathered that Ye Zhengchen had stayed here for two days and that he was considered as a VIP guest here because of his high spends.

Zhong Tim heard this as well. He bowed to roll up his sleeves and tried to flatten the wrinkly white shirt he was wearing with his hand.

It seems he was worried he would be looked down upon because of his attire.

He wasn’t a man who had not seen the world. He too had attended a lot of gatherings and meetings and had never been shy or under-confident when attending.

But today he looked like he had completely lost his earlier self confidence. I couldn’t fathom if this was because of the interrogation or the presence of Ye Zhengchen.

Once the dishes had been served, the manager poured the tea for us and exited the room, closing the door behind him

I helped him straighten the collar at his neck.

“You’ve become so thin! Were the past few days so bad?”

He smiled wryly and looked at Ye Zhengchen.

“Thanks to him, I could come out so quickly.”

“ You don’t have to thank me.” Ye Zhengchen leaned back against his chair and said meaningfully, “ Bo Bing has already thanked me.”

The statement scared me. I schooled my expression and said, “ Yes, I have said thank you to him several times.”

Ye Zhengchen continued, “Bo Bing is too polite. She always considers me an outsider.  In fact, as long as she requests me to help, I have to do it unconditionally…”

What was he talking about? I was being polite? He had to fulfil my requests unconditionally? So was the night in the presidential suite purely a romantic jaunt?

I took a deep breath and told myself to just let things be. I had no intentions of starting an argument.When I looked at his face, he was laughing. “ Yes, General Ye has been most gracious.”

Zhong Tim pulled my hand and asked, “ Xiao Bing, do you know each other for a long time? How is it that I have never heard you mention him before?”

I moved uncomfortably in my seat, unsure of how to answer. I could’nt figure out why he asked me this question.

Usually,Zhong Tim would maintain decorum in front of strangers. He would always say things like , oh I have often heard Xiao Bing mention you…

Later he would ask me , how do you know this person?

Seeing me at a loss, Ye Zhengchen took the initiative to answer. “ We knew each other in Japan but have not been in touch for a few years. She just reached out to me recently in order to help you. She probably forgot to mention her ‘brother’.”

His voice sounded sharp as he bitingly said the word ‘brother’.

Zhong Tim’s eyes sank and he looked at Ye Zhengchen as if he had gained some new insight.

The atmosphere was becoming more and more strange. I tried to lighten the atmosphere. I smiled and asked, “How could I forget ‘brother’?”

“ And how can I ever forget the love and care that sister- in- law showed me?”

Yes, I no longer held back. At the mention of the word sister in law, I could feel the atmosphere suddenly becoming tense.

Ye Zhengchen laughed sarcastically. “ Unfortunately, you left in a hurry. I could’nt even see you off. I told your sister in law so many times, ‘ this girl left in such a hurry it makes me worry. She owes me fees for twenty nine remedial sessions. I don’t even know when I am going to collect those fees.”