After the Arranged Marriage, I Was Pampered by the Powerful Tycoon - Chapter 24

Cheng Ruan slept soundly until dawn. Upon waking and opening his phone, he found his screen bombarded by a barrage of messages from Wu Zhou.

“What on earth is going on?” Cheng Ruan got up and walked into the bathroom. While brushing his teeth, he clicked on WeChat, where Wu Zhou had dumped a long string of links.

Cheng Ruan clicked one at random, his eyebrows arching subtly.

Holding his electric toothbrush, he couldn’t help but read aloud: “The young master of the Cheng family and the CEO of the Luo Group are inseparable after marriage, attending a Grand Auditorium premiere together…”

“Ugh…” Switching to another link, Cheng Ruan felt that these media outlets were being more than a bit ridiculous.

“Who says there’s no true love in wealthy families! Click to see this peerless romance!”

“I’ll click your head.” Cheng Ruan closed the page and returned to the chat box with Wu Zhou, sending a voice message as a warning: “You should spend less time reading this gossip. It’s just watching a show together, right? Each report is more exaggerated than the last.”

Wu Zhou’s status changed to “typing,” and he quickly replied: “No way! I’ve spent years living off your gossip; it’s become my digital snack! Don’t you dare think about depriving me of my spiritual sustenance!”

Cheng Ruan was indeed used to it. He walked out of the bathroom and headed downstairs, joking: “Then you better look quick. Once the PR department starts work, they’ll have it taken down immediately.”

“Don’t! I haven’t finished appreciating it yet!” Wu Zhou anxiously sent several messages to stop him. “This is actually positive news this time, you’re going to pull it too?”

Cheng Ruan rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache. He walked down the stairs and made his way familiarly to the bar in Luo Mingzhi’s house to grind coffee.

The aroma of grinding coffee beans gradually filled the room. Cheng Ruan stretched his neck comfortably, preparing to enjoy this rare morning, but his gaze was caught by the scene outside the floor-to-ceiling window when he looked up.

Through the emerald leaves of a Monstera plant, he saw Luo Mingzhi outside wearing deep grey loungewear, his back turned as he watered the plants in the flowerbed.

Because he exercised regularly, the lines of Luo Mingzhi’s latissimus dorsi were faintly visible under the loungewear, and the muscles of his shoulders and arms rippled with his movements.

No wonder he can exert such absolute suppression over me…

On a whim, Cheng Ruan walked out of the villa and tip-toed up behind Luo Mingzhi.

Luo Mingzhi remained focused, holding the specialized watering hose and tending to the plants at his feet.

“You’re up?” he asked without lifting his head.

Knowing he’d been caught, Cheng Ruan gave up his plan to startle him and gave a sheepish “Mm.”

He took a step forward, walking curiously to Luo Mingzhi’s side. “Are you watering the flowers?”

“Yes.” Luo Mingzhi’s eyes were fixed on a small green sprout that had just poked its head out.

Watching Luo Mingzhi’s practiced watering technique, Cheng Ruan remarked, “I didn’t think you’d be someone who likes keeping flowers…”

Noticing a few stray water droplets on Cheng Ruan’s pajamas, Luo Mingzhi quietly moved the hose a bit further away. “They are Luo Zhen’s flowers.”

“Ah…” Cheng Ruan was genuinely shocked. He really hadn’t expected Luo Mingzhi to maintain the flowers for the daughter who had run away from her wedding.

Whether sincerely or not, Cheng Ruan blurted out: “You really are… a good father.”

“Am I?” Luo Mingzhi picked up the hose and walked toward the reservoir. “I remember… I was criticized for that before.”

“…” Cheng Ruan froze in awkwardness, following him to clumsily explain himself. “That was because I didn’t understand back then.”

Luo Mingzhi turned on the faucet, his voice low. “He wasn’t wrong.”

“I am indeed not a good father.”

“I am a selfish, cold-blooded person who only understands profit and doesn’t know what love is.”

Cheng Ruan’s throat tightened. Seeing that the sleeve of Luo Mingzhi’s loungewear was about to slip down and get wet, he acted quickly and grabbed the sleeve.

He tugged at Luo Mingzhi’s sleeve, rolling it up twice. Only after ensuring it wouldn’t fall again did he take a few steps back.

“There, now it won’t fall,” Cheng Ruan said with a smile, clapping his hands and looking up at Luo Mingzhi. “What were we just talking about?”

Luo Mingzhi stared straight at Cheng Ruan. The morning light shifted on the horizon, and the sun rose behind Cheng Ruan, plating his entire figure in a soft, golden glow.

Cheng Ruan was oblivious, peering around behind him until he heard Luo Mingzhi call his name.

Cheng Ruan lowered his heels from his tip-toed position. “What is it?”

Luo Mingzhi asked casually, “Do you want to try?”

“Can I!” Cheng Ruan’s voice went up several notches as he rubbed his hands in anticipation toward the little green sprout.

He carefully took the hose and looked up at Luo Mingzhi. “How did you tell I wanted to try?”

Cheng Ruan held the hose clumsily with both hands. “My grandfather has a back garden too, but because I watered too many of his trees to death, he never let me touch it again…”

“Focus.” Luo Mingzhi reached out, covering the back of Cheng Ruan’s hands from behind in an intimate gesture.

Cheng Ruan’s eyes widened. Realizing he was being encircled by Luo Mingzhi, his whole body went stiff. It took him a moment to realize Luo Mingzhi was teaching him how to water.

Luo Mingzhi’s voice sounded near his ear: “These are French Hydrangeas; they don’t need too much water.”

“Oh…” Cheng Ruan replied with a flushed face, feeling Luo Mingzhi’s warm breath against his ear.

Luo Mingzhi quietly let go of his hands, took back the hose, and turned off the valve. Cheng Ruan remained standing there with a bright red face, staring blankly at Luo Mingzhi’s back in a daze.

His left hand gently touched his right hand where it had just been held; it seemed the warmth of Luo Mingzhi’s palm still lingered there.

He followed Luo Mingzhi back into the living room, remembered his forgotten coffee, and walked over to the bar to ask: “Luo Mingzhi, do you want a cup?”

Luo Mingzhi looked at him with slight surprise, his eyebrows arching. “Thank you.”

Cheng Ruan curled his lips into a proud smile and pulled the steam wand to froth the milk. “How about an Americano? I’ll let you witness this young master’s latte art skills…”

Luo Mingzhi seemed to quirk his lips slightly. “Okay.”

While Luo Mingzhi went back to his room to change, Cheng Ruan focused on the milk pitcher and began his latte art.

By the time Luo Mingzhi came out wearing a suit, Cheng Ruan had just finished his masterpiece. He looked up with crinkled eyes, catching Luo Mingzhi’s gaze.

“You’re ready? Come and try this!”

Luo Mingzhi walked over and looked at the smiley face on the coffee. “This is?”

Cheng Ruan pushed the Americano toward Luo Mingzhi and cleared his throat: “Sir, here is your Americano, also known as ‘Are You Okay? [Ni Mei Shi Ba]’, please enjoy~”

Luo Mingzhi’s eyes flickered, his lips curling upward slightly, before he said in a steady voice, “Thank you.”

Cheng Ruan added a scoop of ice to his own cup and was about to strike up a conversation when a phone vibration broke the silence of the living room.

After exchanging a glance, Luo Mingzhi answered the call.

Bored, Cheng Ruan stared at Luo Mingzhi’s profile, took a sip of his iced Americano, and began to sway his head contentedly while sitting at the bar.

A coffee-lover feeling refreshed!

Luo Mingzhi finished his call and turned to look at Cheng Ruan.

“Uh…” Cheng Ruan had caught words like “media” and “candid shots,” so he asked tentatively, “Is it about the news?”

Luo Mingzhi nodded.

“Actually, I’m used to it,” Cheng Ruan said, feigning nonchalance. “I was often photographed and reported on by the media before. Even going on vacation with friends was described as ‘seeking pleasure’… Being photographed after marriage was expected.”

Thinking Luo Mingzhi might care, Cheng Ruan added: “But if you mind, I’ll contact the media outlets immediately to have them deleted…”

Luo Mingzhi’s eyes narrowed slightly. “After our photos were reported, the stocks of both families rose dramatically overnight.”

“Huh? No way?” Cheng Ruan immediately bounced off his seat and pulled out his phone to check the stock market; the data verified what Luo Mingzhi had just said.

A public appearance actually had this kind of effect?

Luo Mingzhi changed the subject: “However, regarding how these reports are handled, it will be based on your wishes. I will cooperate.”

Cheng Ruan asked tentatively: “Then, let’s… not delete them for now?”

Luo Mingzhi smiled without a word, taking it as a tacit agreement. He picked up the coffee Cheng Ruan had made, paused for a few seconds at his lips, and took a light sip.

“The taste is good.”

As Luo Mingzhi’s car left the villa, Cheng Ruan withdrew his gaze and dialed Secretary Lu’s number.

“Secretary Lu?” Cheng Ruan tapped his chin thoughtfully with his fingertip. “The reports… don’t pull them for now.”

“Find out which family authorized them.”

Cheng Ruan yawned, preparing to go upstairs to change.

Ding— A notification sounded.

Cheng Ruan glanced at his phone; it was a photo forwarded by Luo Mingzhi.

In the photo, Cheng Ruan was half-asleep, frowning with a serious expression and eyes closed, his upper body leaning straight forward.

“?”

Cheng Ruan typed a large block of text then deleted it, eventually sending a string of question marks followed by an angry emoji.

He knew he’d been caught in an embarrassing photo!

The Cui Group.

Cheng Jin fiercely crumpled the report in his hand into a ball, his eyes filled with uncontrollable rage.

“The old man of the Cheng family hired someone to take those,” Cui Shu said, picking up a fountain pen and tapping it against the desk with a bitter smile. “From the looks of it, he seems quite satisfied.”

Cheng Jin silently clenched his fists.

Cui Shu stood up, walked over, and placed a hand on Cheng Jin’s shoulder. “It’s okay, A-Jin. A temporary comparison doesn’t mean anything.”

Cheng Jin lowered his eyes and gritted his teeth. “I’m sorry, Father.”

“You don’t need to apologize.” Cui Shu looked over Cheng Jin’s expression and said earnestly, “I’ve watched you grow up all these years; I understand your difficulties.”

“But what you did before was indeed a bit risky. After all, there’s now a Luo Mingzhi beside Cheng Ruan, and with several of our business venues recently shut down for investigation, we have to be on guard.”

Cheng Jin turned his face away. “I will be careful from now on.”

“Actually, it doesn’t matter whether you can return to the Cheng family or not,” Cui Shu comforted him. “Now you are at least a member of my Cui family. In the future, just manage the Cui Group well and live a good life with Xiao Xuan. If you are happy, I will be satisfied.”

“…Understood, Father.”

Leaving the CEO’s office, Cheng Jin took the elevator directly to the rooftop.

The wind on the rooftop caught the hem of Cheng Jin’s suit jacket. He coldly took out a spare phone, inserted a SIM card, and dialed the only number stored in it.

“It’s me.”

Hanging up, Cheng Jin looked up at the sky, raising a hand to block the somewhat dazzling sunlight.

His shirt cuff slipped down, revealing aged scars on his wrist.

Cheng Jin looked at those scars with a touch of madness, his lips curling upward.

“Cheng Ruan… are you ready to welcome the hell that belongs to you?”

“I’ll be waiting—in hell for you.”