Jin Chonglin felt like he had shot himself in the foot for his thoughtless comment. He was just trying to make the atmosphere lighter but look at what happened. Grandpa Lu ended up directing his line of fire at him. Not only was he called a playboy (which was true—in the past), his taste in women was even criticized and called "bloody horrid". How mean!

Although Jin Chonglin was full of grievances at the old man's harsh criticisms, he didn't dare to defend himself. How could he? They were all true. But that was all in the past. He stopped playing around with women ever since his nightmarish breakup with his ex-fiancée, Fan Luo, and realizing his feelings for….

His eyes landed on the pale beauty sleeping in the hospital bed. Realizing the direction of his thoughts, he mentally berated himself before glancing at his older brother with a guilty conscience.

While he was dealing with his own thoughts and feelings, Grandpa Lu continued nagging on both Lu Zihao and Long Jinjing.

"Old man—Grandpa, stop it for now," Lu Zihao said. "You're making Jinjing uncomfortable."

Grandpa Lu harrumphed but still listened and stopped. Long Jinjing gave a thankful glance at Lu Zihao, then quickly avoided his eyes again. She was blushing hard but also looked like she was going to burst into tears.

Jin Liwei chose that moment to stand up and excuse himself to finally take a much-needed shower. He took the muslin bag with his clothes and toiletries and dragged his exhausted and injured body to the bathroom.

When the bathroom door closed, Lu Zihao ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "Jinjing."

"Y-yes?"

"Let's talk."

"You stinky, smelly boy!" Grandpa Lu raised his foot and struggled to remove his leather shoe. He wanted to throw it at his stupid grandson, but in the end, gave up because he tied his shoelaces too well. Why did he choose such bloody, inconvenient shoes to wear today? The old man wanted to know! Now he couldn't even throw it at the dunderhead.

"Don't you know how to ask a lady nicely, huh? What's with the 'let's talk' while wearing such a scary expression? I want to know! Bah! No wonder Jinjing my girl dumped your pinheaded butt. You can't even speak to her in a nice way and sound like you're always ordering her around. Hmph!"

Lu Zihao scowled, but like the others, didn't defend himself. He had already long resigned himself to receiving all of the old man's scolding tonight.

Gritting his teeth, he tried asking again. Nicely this time. "Jinjing, can we please talk? Only the two of us."

"I…." Long Jinjing began panicking. "Uhm…."

"Please, Jinjing."

Dom snickered. Lu Zihao shot him a frosty glare. The cheeky guy dared to "ehehehe" at him some more before focusing all his attention on a small pack of dried mangoes.

Lu Zihao, no, Nikolai looked like he ate a fly. This was the first time that he was being so considerate to a woman who wasn't his sister. He did so out of respect for the old man but also because he thought that Long Jinjing deserved this gentleman-like treatment.

Long Jinjing bit her lower lip. The indecision was clear on her face. "Nik—Zihao…."

"It's your choice whether to talk to my pinheaded grandson, my girl," Grandpa Lu interjected to reassure her. "Don't feel pressured just because he's acting all scary! Why is his face like that all the time? Does he think he's the Terminator? I want to know! Bah! In this old man's eyes, he's only a stupid, stinky dunderhead! Don't worry, Jinjing my girl. If Haohao bullies you, tell me and this old man will beat his butt for you! Hah!"

Lu Zihao sighed and looked up, trying to tamp down on his growing annoyance. Then he returned his eyes on the woman who had been invading his thoughts almost every fucking moment of the day.

"Uhm…o-okay….."

He sighed in relief. "Let's go."

Grandpa Lu shook a fist at him.

Lu Zihao corrected himself. "Shall we go, Jinjing?"

"Hmph!" Grandpa Lu crossed his arms over his chest and shot him a warning look before turning to Long Jinjing with a smile on his face. "Go ahead, my girl! Don't let that smelly boy bully you, understand?"

"Yes, Sir—Grandpa Lu."

Grandpa Lu grinned then turned to the glutton. "Dominic my boy, go follow them but stay at a distance. Make sure that Haohao my boy doesn't bully Jinjing my girl!"

Dom mumbled something incoherent due to his full mouth. Nobody understood him so he saluted Grandpa Lu instead to silently tell him that he would do it.

"The hell I'm gonna bully Jinjing," Lu Zihao said, scowling. "She'll be safe with me."

He couldn't direct his complaint to the old man so he could only glare at Dom.

The glutton, however, didn't take him seriously and busied himself with packing the snacks so that he could continue stress-eating while keeping an eye on them from a distance. His eyes sparkled with excitement as his gossip radar was activated.

Dom followed the two out of Iris' private room. Lu Zihao walked first, followed by Long Jinjing. Dom was about ten to fifteen steps behind. He wanted to get closer but stopped after receiving Lu Zihao's threatening glare. Disappointed, he opened a bag of chips and started another round of stress-eating.

Lu Zihao and Long Jinjing stopped when they reached the end of the hallway where there were some waiting benches. He gestured for her to sit down. She did. He, on the other hand, chose to lean against the wall with his muscled arms crossed over his wide chest.

Silence.

Nobody spoke.

Lu Zihao continued to stare at her. His sharp gaze bored into her like persistent jabs to her heart. In the end, her nerves couldn't take it anymore.

"N-nikolai, what do you want to talk about?"

He remained silent, continuing to stare at her with his deep, fathomless, almost predatory eyes. She shivered, not from fear, but from desire. She still wanted this man. Loved him. Oh God, she loved him.

She gripped the hem of her long-sleeved blouse. "You promised…that you won't…that we'll stay away from each other after our breakup."

Finally, he opened his mouth and spoke. "I still want you, Jinjing. Can you give me another chance?"

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