Chapter 11: Taking You Home

It had probably just been her imagination a moment ago. Now Zhou Jianghao seemed a little drunk, appearing far gentler—even nodding emphatically. “Right.”

That serious little expression of hers…

It was truly adorable.

Tan Qingya drew in a soft breath.

So pretty and so cute. It really made her want to whisk her right back home.

In that instant, she couldn’t help recalling the first time she’d laid eyes on Little Beauty—that mad urge to pet the dog felt exactly the same as it did right now.

Suddenly, a shrill voice pierced the air.

“Little Aunt, I didn’t! She’s an ungrateful wretch! She eats the Tan Family’s food and uses the Tan Family’s resources. Not only did she seduce my girlfriend, but Mom handpicked several marriage prospects for her, and she rejected them without even glancing at them! She’s utterly outrageous!”

“You feel wronged?”

This was outrageous?

Tan Qingya had handpicked blind-date candidates for Zhou Jianghao too, and she’d rejected them just the same. Had Tan Qingya said a word about it?

Just hearing Li Zhenyu’s voice was grating on her nerves. Now, with the girl sniveling and whining, it was giving her a splitting headache.

With those thoughts in mind, she glanced at Zhou Jianghao again.

This girl was about the same age as Li Zhenyu. So why hadn’t she shed a single tear when a crowd had cornered her in the bathroom?

Was she just bold by nature, or did she simply not cry easily?

A temperament that honest was the easiest sort to bully.

Glancing back at Li Zhenyu, Tan Qingya saw her squeeze out a few more tears in a matter of seconds, whimpering as she wailed on: “I’m so wronged! I’m dying of grievance here!”

The calmer Zhou Jianghao stayed, the more Li Zhenyu came off like a pathetic clown.

Tan Qingya’s gaze grew icy.

“Little Aunt?” Li Zhenyu instinctively choked back her sobs.

“Li Zhenyu, don’t try to play me for a fool.” Tan Qingya let out a cold laugh.

Tch—

She really thought her girlfriend was some prized delicacy, didn’t she?

“You explain. What’s going on here?” Tan Qingya calmly released Zhou Jianghao’s hand, handing the reins over to her.

Zhou Jianghao didn’t disappoint. She spoke quickly but got straight to the point. “I work here. They slandered me and gave me trouble. They said I’d be free after one bottle of wine, but even after I finished it, they wouldn’t let me go. I overheard them talking about stripping me naked and filming a video.”

By the time Tan Qingya heard that last part, her entire face had darkened. This went beyond mere bad character.

“Little Aunt, she’s slandering me…” Li Zhenyu’s voice grew weaker and weaker as she went on. Her little aunt’s glare was simply too terrifying—she couldn’t hold up under it.

“Slandering you?” Tan Qingya echoed airily, the emotion in her eyes growing heavier.

Under that piercing stare, Li Zhenyu held out for a few seconds before crumbling into full-blown sobs. She didn’t dare meet her little aunt’s eyes again. “N-no… she didn’t. I’m sorry, Little Aunt. I was wrong. Wuwu.”

Since the girl had admitted her guilt, punishment was in order.

Tan Qingya racked her brain, recalling the family rules. “Bullying the weak and even attempting criminal acts—for that, by family law, I should personally give you each ten lashes.”

Of course, this wasn’t just any ordinary whip. It stung like hell. Tan Yanxi and her spouse had each taken ten lashes over the Li Tongan pregnancy incident, and they still hadn’t emerged from seclusion, still nursing their wounds.

“Little Aunt!”

No one knew the power of that whip better than Li Zhenyu. Forgetting everything else, she rushed to beg forgiveness.

“I won’t ever dare again! Please don’t enforce the family law, Little Aunt? I swear it! I promise I won’t bully anyone anymore!”

The others chimed in with their own pleas and bootlicking words.

Tan Qingya knitted her brows and dodged the hand Li Zhenyu reached out toward her. Truth be told, she hadn’t planned to actually use the family law. The whip was back at the Old Mansion. A trip there would just set Tan Yanxi off again, and then the Old Madam would be thrown into turmoil once more.

Her tone stayed stern. “Fine. For Miss Zhou’s sake, I’ll let you off this once. Swap the ten lashes for ten slaps—self-inflicted. Then apologize to Miss Zhou. Any objections?”

At those words, Zhou Jianghao quietly turned her head to glance at Li Zhenyu and the other juniors. Sure enough, their faces had gone deathly pale.

Did they dare object?

Of course not.

Slapping themselves ten times hurt like the devil, but at least it wouldn’t draw blood.

A few minutes later, the sound of slaps began echoing through the private room. Even though they were slapping themselves, they didn’t dare half-ass it in front of Tan Qingya, for fear their blows would land lighter than the others’.

Once the ten slaps were done, all their faces were swollen nearly to the size of pig heads.

Watching the wretched state of Li Zhenyu, the look in Zhou Jianghao’s eyes deepened.

She wasn’t sure if it was the business with Li Tongan that had Tan Yanxi nursing a grudge against her, or if Li Zhenyu had been fanning the flames at Tan Yanxi’s side—but either way, Tan Yanxi really had handpicked several marriage prospects for her.

Just now, Li Zhenyu had deliberately shoved photos in her face. Men, women—it didn’t matter. Not a single one was any good.

Especially that fat, ugly playboy among them. He had a reputation for loving his games, and rumor had it he’d landed people in the hospital multiple times. One incident had blown up huge, and it’d taken a fortune to hush it up.

She felt indignant, but grateful too.

Grateful that Old Madam Tan had extended an olive branch to her early on. Grateful that Tan Qingya was a good person. She wasn’t out here all on her own anymore. At least now, someone had her back.

With those thoughts, she sneaked a glance at Tan Qingya.

Tan Qingya looked her way too. Gone was that earlier ferocity in her eyes. For a moment, it even gave Zhou Jianghao the illusion of gentleness lurking there. “Let’s go.”

She followed without a second’s hesitation.

If she had to marry someone she didn’t like sooner or later anyway, why not pick the finest, most powerful option out there?

Li Zhenyu and her crew had kept her from graduating university smoothly, targeted her at every turn, blocked her at work until she was forced into odd jobs everywhere. They’d nearly ruined her entire life.

They’d done all that to her—why shouldn’t she hit back? If she became Tan Qingya’s wife, they’d probably lose their minds, wouldn’t they?

The thought made her flick a glance at Tan Qingya walking ahead, her gaze landing on the hand hanging loosely at her side.

What a beautiful hand—slender and fair-skinned. That was the very hand that had just grabbed hers, holding tight enough that she couldn’t break free.

During that grip, she’d felt it clearly: the scorching heat from that palm, domineering and forceful, invading through the point of contact between them.

With the alcohol buzzing in her head, she felt bolder and more impulsive than usual.

With scarcely a moment’s pause, she jogged forward and clamped down on that hand, holding it tight.

Tan Qingya’s footsteps came to a halt.

She looked back at Zhou Jianghao, who had her head bowed and wouldn’t meet her eyes. Then she glanced down at the hand gripping hers so firmly.

What was this girl on about?

She’d chalked it up to nerves at their last blind date. But this time?

Was she scared?

After a few seconds of silence, Tan Qingya gripped back. Zhou Jianghao’s hand was a touch smaller than hers, a little cool to the touch—but it felt good holding it.

“Taking you home.” The lingering irritation in her heart vanished in an instant. She curved her lips. “Don’t be scared.”

She didn’t let go of Zhou Jianghao’s hand the entire way—not until they were in the car.

This had been the Tan Family’s failing. If Zhou Jianghao took it public online, the family’s stock would take a hit for sure.

Tan Qingya had figured Zhou Jianghao would say something on the drive back, but the girl stayed silent the whole way.

As they pulled up to the gate of that rundown apartment complex, she pinched the bridge of her nose. The girl was young, after all—thin-skinned was normal. Especially right after being wronged like that.

“Zhou Jianghao.”

“President Tan.”

Their voices overlapped. Tan Qingya cut herself off and looked over. “You first.”

“Thanks for bailing me out today.” Zhou Jianghao sounded a little nervous, but she got the words out. “Would you like to come up to my place for some tea?”

The car went utterly still.

Little Wang up front stiffly flicked a glance at the rearview mirror. In the back seat, President Tan’s face took on a rare look of genuine surprise—and she didn’t snap out of it for the rest of the night.

This girl was bold.

“Miss Zhou.” Tan Qingya checked the time. “It’s eleven at night. You’re sure you want to invite me over for tea?”

She paused, then added, “As far as I know, you live alone.”

The previous few times, she’d just dropped her off downstairs.

Blushing furiously but keeping up a facade of calm on her face, Zhou Jianghao nodded. “Yeah. Coming?”