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Zhou Ning and Butler Xu reluctantly left the study.
But their deep-seated wariness of Qin Jiang remained. Exchanging a glance, they resolutely chose to continue spying secretly.
In the room.
Qin Jiang expertly pressed a few acupoints on Yan Liang, and miraculously her taut nerves eased—she wasn’t so wound up anymore.
“Yanyan, does it feel comfortable?”
The man’s low, hoarse voice leaned in to ask, his familiar presence that had several times made Yan Liang’s blood run hot washed over her, almost making her lose control and throw herself at him.
Yan Liang lowered her gaze. She was teetering on the edge of losing control.
She couldn’t take Qin Jiang now—if she broke down and took possession of him fiercely without regard for his body, she would hurt him.
“Mm… very comfortable.”
“Jiang’s finger technique is really good.”
Qin Jiang’s hands were attractive—fair and proportionate, with distinct knuckles and long, strong fingers. Years of part-time work had formed a thin callus on his fingertips, the slightly rough feel making hearts flutter all the more.
Qin Jiang felt a little embarrassed by the compliment.
His ears couldn’t help flushing—did Yanyan even realize how scandalous that praise sounded in a man’s ears?
“Ahem… it’s just so-so.”
“Uh, I also brought the soothing essential oil I made myself. Lie down on the sofa and I’ll help loosen your meridians.”
Since Qin Jiang intended to help Yan Liang restore her health, he had to do something now.
Before this, he had returned to his room to sort through the luggage he’d brought over from the Qin house.
He specially took out the oil he had once used to massage and soothe his eldest sister Qin Moyun—who often suffered from nervous tension and insomnia—so she could always stay in top form at work.
The formula for this bottle of oil alone was the result of two years of his meticulous tinkering.
But even though Qin Yun only dropped by Qin Moyun’s finance company once a week, Qin Moyun naturally assumed her improved nerves were due to Qin Yun’s visits making her happy.
The efforts Qin Jiang made in private to massage and relieve her fatigue seemed negligible to Qin Moyun.
Whenever Qin Financial had a major project, he would become worried about his sister’s stress, so he would take the initiative to go massage and soothe her.
Qin Moyun repeatedly used being too busy as an excuse to refuse Qin Jiang’s visits.
Sometimes he even had to beg to be allowed to massage her before she begrudgingly showed up, urging him to hurry so as not to delay her meetings.
When Qin Jiang left the house, he didn’t just take the essential oil he had developed.
He also remembered to search every room in the Qin house and reclaimed all the gifts that were rightfully his.
He would wait and see if Qin Yun’s casual visits alone would be enough to cure Qin Moyun’s condition the next time she suffered a relapse.
Qin Jiang took out the oil, skillfully poured the calming blend into his palm, and rubbed it between his fingertips until warm.
He supported Yan Liang’s slender waist with one hand and laid her down on the leather sofa, his distinct, long fingertips tentatively landed on her shoulder and neck.
On contact, it was soft and silky.
Calling it milk-white skin wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
“Yanyan, close your eyes and relax. This is a calming essential oil I developed— it can relieve nervous tension and neurasthenia, relax the body and help with sleep.”
“I’ll start now.”
Yan Liang obediently curled up on the sofa like a lazy, aristocratic calico long-haired cat.
“Jiang can do anything to me.”
“No need to ask for permission.”
Yan Liang had always granted Qin Jiang the highest privileges.
She closed her eyes and surrendered herself entirely to Qin Jiang. Even if he really intended to harm her, she wouldn’t flee.
As long as this moment of tenderness existed, it was worth it.
Qin Jiang’s fingers were indeed gentle yet forceful, precisely finding acupoints as his fingertips, aided by the oil’s lubrication, stroked Yan Liang’s snowy skin.
The oil’s mild scent wafted slowly with his pressing fingers and was indeed very relaxing.
But the scene itself was far too tempting.
Qin Jiang couldn’t help his breath getting a bit heated.
Qin Jiang wasn’t entirely without attachment to the Qin family—his disabled second uncle Qin Yangcheng was his only remaining concern.
When younger, Qin Yangcheng had been a renowned master of traditional Chinese medicine in the capital. He was once expected to inherit the Qin family’s headship.
But after an accident, his legs were paralyzed.
He would never stand again in his life.
A disabled person could not be head of the Qin family, so Qin Jiang’s father ended up inheriting the family’s business.
While at the Qin house, Qin Jiang had been looked down upon as the family’s most unfortunate person, so he and this uncle grew closer.
Qin Yangcheng, claiming he had no heirs, forced Qin Jiang to learn everything he knew about Chinese medicine.
In his previous life, Qin Jiang had studied tirelessly under his uncle, hoping to use his skills to heal his fourth sister Qin Shuyun’s facial scar…
He poured his heart and soul into it, only to end up with nothing and be colluded against and killed.
This life, he would never repeat that mistake.
Outside the room.
Zhou Ning and Butler Xu quietly opened the door a crack to eavesdrop, and heard some lines that were wildly inappropriate.
One was a pure old virgin and the other an impotent older man. They exchanged looks again and both turned away in disgust.
“Ahem, Qin Jiang really does have skills—he’s got Young Mistress wrapped around his fingers again!” Butler Xu spat the words disdainfully.
He was utterly exasperated. Why didn’t Young Mistress ever learn her lesson?
“Ms. Liang has already been sleepless for three days! If she relapses now it’ll be fierce—Butler Xu, you should…”
Zhou Ning, of course, had seen Qin Jiang massaging Yan Liang with the calming oil. Yan Liang had her eyes closed and looked like she was enjoying it.
But he had witnessed too many interactions between these two.
Perhaps Yan Liang was just suppressing a breakdown and putting on a show for Qin Jiang.
After all, her insomnia was extremely severe. The Yan family had hired countless hypnotists and psychologists, all to no avail.
Could an amateur concoction by Qin Jiang really be effective?
“Alright, I’ve already booked a construction crew and a medical team.”
“If Young Mistress tears this place apart the crew can start rebuilding immediately. If she tears people apart there are orthopedic doctors ready to put them together again.”
“If the worst really happens… well, the Yan family’s exclusive mortician team is on standby too.”
Butler Xu patted his chest, adopting a solemn air of ‘with me here, nothing will go wrong.’
“Zhou Ning was speechless. This reaction seemed ridiculous.
But it’s better to be prepared.
He could understand where the old butler was coming from.
The two of them huddled together to gossip.
The biggest problem now was: if the young mistress truly relapsed, she might spare Qin Jiang’s life, but she might go so far as to overturn Liangyue Manor itself in her madness.
As for the sort of injuries Qin Jiang might suffer… they were the sort they dared not see.
Even after going through all this so many times, they still didn’t have the nerve to upset the seemingly tender balance before them.
Just then, a figure wrapped in resentment appeared at the top of the stairs.
Yan Zuo had been sunburned all day. The whip marks on his body weren’t deep, but they had still made his delicate flesh suffer.
He was going to find Qin Jiang and settle the score!
Yan Zuo groped his way along—after all he did live in Liangyue Manor too—and quickly learned Qin Jiang had just brought a bowl of soup into the study.
From his understanding of his violent, cold-blooded, crazed sister Yan Liang, she should be in the basement at this hour.
Going to teach Qin Jiang a lesson now was simply perfect timing, location, and opportunity!
Zhou Ning and Butler Xu’s gazes also locked onto the bruised, battered, raggedly dressed Yan Zuo.
The two old foxes exchanged a look once more…
“Young Master Yan, who are you looking for?” Zhou Ning asked a rhetorical question.
“I’m looking for Qin Jiang— that bitch got me whipped by my sister and still dared to provoke me. I’ll go teach him a lesson!”
Yan Zuo was furious. As a small-time tyrant in the capital, aside from being suppressed by his sister Yan Liang, he’d never taken a loss at anyone’s hands before.
“Mr. Qin is in the study giving Young Mistress an essential oil massage. It’s really not convenient for you to go in now.”
Butler Xu played the nice-guy card.
But Yan Zuo immediately caught on.
Yan Liang had severe insomnia. Every time she slept, a professional hypnosis team and psychologists had to be present to help her actually fall asleep.
Tricks like essential oil massages never worked for Yan Liang—she wouldn’t even feel lethargic.
Qin Jiang was stupid enough to use such childish tricks on his sister?
He had the perfect excuse now to storm in and punish Qin Jiang!
So Yan Zuo, full of reckless courage, pushed open the study door.
“Sis! With Qin Jiang’s pathetic skills, how dare he show off in front of a master…” Yan Zuo charged in like a whirlwind.
Three seconds later, he slipped out rubbing his jaw that had nearly dislocated from how hard he had opened his mouth in shock.
“What the hell?”
“Did I enter the wrong room again?”
Yan Zuo muttered questioning noises as he sneakily took his place beside Zhou Ning and Butler Xu, peeking through the crack with them.
His face wore a stunned, humiliated expression.
“My sister actually… actually fell asleep?”
Yan Zuo, Zhou Ning, and Butler Xu stared at each other, all bewildered.
That’s all it took?
This was an insomnia condition officially designated by global experts as the most thorny and stubborn.
And it was simply solved by an obscure bottle of calming essential oil?
“Good heavens, luckily I ran fast enough—if I had woken her up, the world would’ve collapsed!”
“I’m off, I’m off. Uh…Qin Jiang may be old fashioned and ugly, but he’s not without merits.”
At least he could make his sister sleep soundly.
But he’ll get revenge for today’s humiliation sooner or later!
Having escaped another beating, Yan Zuo was helped into a car—mentally refreshed but physically limping—and slunk away from Liangyue Manor.
Qin Jiang carried the sleeping Yan Liang back to the master bedroom. As he passed through the corridor, Butler Xu cast him a look of reverent gratitude like an old father.
This was great—before, dealing with two big lunatics at Liangyue Manor was tiresome.
Now things seemed better. It seemed like their bouts of madness had become intermittent. As long as their episodes didn’t overlap, Liangyue Manor’s construction costs might save hundreds of millions by year’s end…
Woohoo~
Saving money was great!!
Qin Jiang placed the woman on the soft large bed.
He reached out and gently tucked aside a lock of dark red hair from her cheek. When she slept, Yan Liang’s daytime domineering coldness melted away, revealing a hint of the innocent purity a girl her age should have.
He couldn’t help but lean down and place a kiss on her petal-like lips. “Yanyan, I’m sorry.”
Sorry for all the harm I did to you in my past life.
Sorry for betraying your devoted affection and love.
Sorry for letting you be buried with me in the sea of fire!
But this life, I’ll spend my whole life making amends and proving that you didn’t choose the wrong guy.
Qin Jiang stood up and went to his luggage.
He moved the few remaining belongings he had from the Qin family into the master bedroom.
Yan Liang’s master bedroom was large, with a partitioned office area, a walk-in closet, and even a home theater.
In the office area, Qin Jiang even had his own desk.
It was something Yan Liang had prepared for him long ago.
It was identical to her desk and placed right next to it.
The little girl’s romantic thoughts were exposed without a doubt.
But in his previous life he felt disgusted and, in front of Yan Liang, chopped that sandalwood desk apart with an axe and burned it.
Unable to escape Yan Liang’s captivity and unable to force her to release him, he chose to destroy the prison instead.
But this time, Qin Jiang stood before the sandalwood desk.
His fingertips traced the two characters engraved in seal script at a corner of the desk—Qin Jiang.
So this was the gift she had carefully prepared.
She had carefully carved Qin Jiang’s name but dared not let him notice, so she deliberately used seal script.
Yan Liang truly loved him.
She used everything within her means to express her love.
Seeing this, Qin Jiang felt a sting in his eyes.
He had to grow twice as fast, to build his own commercial empire to stand shoulder to shoulder with his fragile, devoted young wife.
Qin Jiang opened his laptop. Inside was a highly encrypted financial proposal.
It was something he’d stayed up all week preparing a month ago for Qin Moyun.
It had now been uploaded to Qin Financial’s internal system.
But he knew Qin Moyun well—she didn’t care about the specifics of a proposal he had uploaded to the group’s internal system.
She only cared about results.
As long as it was a proposal that could consistently secure projects, it was enough for her.
Qin Jiang’s gaze fell on the screen. There was, glaringly, a tampered name on the proposal’s author line.
“Qin Yun.”
No doubt, this must have been tacitly permitted by Qin Moyun.
Qin Yun was a third year student in college. He needed not only internship experience but also a noteworthy achievement.
If this financial plan secured an international investment, Qin Yun’s value would inevitably skyrocket.
In his previous life, he had softened to his biological brother Qin Yun’s repeated pleas and let him take this great advantage for free.
He allowed Qin Yun to use his financial plan as a springboard and successfully oust the nearly expelled Qin Jiang out of his position as student council president at Huajing University.
Qin Yun and Bai Chuchu were both in their third year. Bai Chuchu had advanced normally and was actually one year older than both Qin Jiang and Qin Yun.
Qin Yun, benefiting from good educational resources, had skipped a grade once.
That skipped grade made the Qin family see Qin Jiang as a year junior to Qin Yun and made them truly believe Qin Yun was a genius deserving of skipping.
As for Qin Jiang, his rural, lagging education couldn’t keep up.
So he could only drift through ordinary schooling.
Qin Jiang’s gaze was calm—he had expected this, and he didn’t feel anything when he saw that name on his proposal.
He regarded his past efforts as an attempt to feed dogs.
But now, he intended to slaughter those dogs.
Qin Jiang typed on the keyboard fluently and skillfully. Soon, strings of code flashed by.
The computer screen suddenly went black.
Deep ripples began to stir in the young man’s dark-brown eyes.
Qin Jiang had never been a dullard.
It was just that he had once craved familial affection so much, he lost himself and willingly allowed his family to drain him dry…
…
Meanwhile.
Qin Moyun, working late in the general manager’s office at Qin Financial, suddenly saw her computer go black.
It immediately returned to normal.
She hurriedly checked the group’s internal system and found that the financial proposal recently submitted by Qin Yun was gone.
And all the confidential files in the internal system had turned into blank documents.
Qin Moyun panicked!
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