The two of them cuddled. The flowing sound of water from the wall-mounted waterfall fountain was slowly lulling them to sleep.

Jin Liwei reached over to switch off the lights, so that the dim golden lights from the fountain were the only illumination remaining in the dark bedroom. For the entire time during his business trip, he was looking forward to making love with his Xiulan for the first time. But now that they reunited, life threw a sh*tty curveball.

Of course, he could seduce her into making love right now, but both of them weren't in their peak conditions. She was still recovering from her recent health scare, while he was still suffering from the lingering effects of jet lag. This was not the ideal time to make love. He wanted their first times to be special for both of them.

He didn't want exhaustion to spoil their eventual lovemaking. That was why he needed to wait until both of them were recovered and full of vigour again.

"Liwei?"

He was about to fall asleep when her lovely voice called for him. "Mmn…what is it, baby?"

"Please don't think badly of Yi Mei after the things she said about you earlier. She was just acting out of concern for me."

He stroked her head, running his fingers through her long, silky hair.

"She's not unreasonable," she continued. "I don't think she'll try to attack you again. Both of you are important to me. I don't want you to fight."

"I understand. Don't worry about it," he said, kissing her head and pulling her waist for a closer cuddle.

"Thank you, Liwei."

"I would like to hear you call me 'darling' more."

"I still think it sounds stupid."

He chuckled. "But I hope you get used to it soon."

She was silent for a few moments before replying, "I'll try."

His hand continued stroking her hair before gradually slowing down. His eyes drooped close.

"Liwei?"

No answer.

"Are you asleep? Liwei…darling?"

"Hm?" The 'darling' pulled him out of near-slumber. "Baby?"

"Oh, it's okay. Go back to sleep. We'll talk about it another day."

It sounded like she wanted to talk about something important, so he forced himself to stay awake. "It's fine. Tell me."

"I want to say that I don't like that you just decided to send your subordinates to guard me without speaking to me about it first."

He frowned. "You mean the escort I arranged for you earlier today?"

She nodded.

He sighed. "Baby, there were a lot of reporters and snoopers milling around the hospital area. All of them came for you. Yes, there were police officers patrolling but their only job was to prevent them from entering the hospital building, not drive them completely away from the area. If I didn't arrange the escort beforehand to slip you out of the hospital secretly, they would've swarmed like locusts the moment they saw you. I sent my subordinates to ensure your safety."

"I know!" She disentangled herself from his embrace and sat up, looking down at him. Her expression clearly showed frustration. "But Liwei! You didn't have to send so many people just to guard me. Why do you have to send an…an army to guard one person?"

"I just want to make sure that you're safe and protected from all kinds of danger."

"So you surround me with your people? Liwei, you're trying to control my life! You said you're not going to cage or restrict me. Were you lying?"

"Instructing my men to guard you counts as caging you?" he asked.

"Yes!"

His mouth pressed together into a thin line. He didn't agree with her. As a man, he thought that it was only natural to want to ensure his woman's safety, especially now that she had a history of being attacked.

"So you want me to just leave you alone? Baby, I can't do that. I love you. I want you to be safe."

Her heart couldn't help but skip a beat. The words "I love you" rolled off his tongue so naturally.

"Liwei…darling, please try to understand. I'm not telling you to leave me alone. We're lovers and you're important to me. It's just that you can be so excessive that it's...it feels stifling."

Stifling? She felt that he was stifling? He pondered over her words silently.

In all honesty, he wanted to have at least ten of his people follow, monitor and guard her no matter where she wanted to go. This was to give him peace of mind knowing that his baby girl was safe at all times. But also so that he could know where she was at any time, what she was doing, who she was meeting and speaking with, and to make sure that no annoying flies were flying around trying to steal her away from him.

If they didn't have their own respective careers, he would have liked to tie her to his waist and spend every single moment together without being separated. Alas, he had a company to run and she was currently working hard to build a successful career. It would have been perfect if she just let him take care of her, but he knew that her career was important to her. He didn't want to block her from achieving her ambitions.

She took his hand and held it. "I already agreed to hire a bodyguard. Surely, I'll be protected then. You don't have to send so many of your subordinates to guard me. Liwei, I really don't like being surrounded by bodyguards. To be honest, I hate it."

He wanted to argue with her, to persuade and make her understand that all of these was for her own safety. However, he could sense her frustration. He had a feeling that if he continued to insist, she would end up resenting him. That was the last thing that he wanted.

He already told her that he loved her. What he needed to do now was to make her fall in love with him too, not make her hate him. So even though it was against his wish, he had to accede to her.

"Alright, baby." He reached up with his other hand and stroked her cheek. "I won't send so many of my subordinates to guard you next time."

"Really? Promise?"

He sat up. "Yes, I promise. I won't interfere with your daily safety. I'll leave it for you and your future bodyguard to handle. BUT if you're in any danger, I'll still send my subordinates to protect you. I can't sit still and do nothing when I know that you're in danger."

She pursed her lips. She was unsatisfied but at least the conversation was heading to a compromise. This was a good sign. "Fine, but you have to inform me first."

"Alright. If the situation allows it, I'll inform you beforehand. But if it's an emergency, you have to understand that my priority is to remove you from the dangerous situation first over informing you."

"How about this? You may send your subordinates to me only during emergencies or after you inform me first. And when the emergency ends, you retrieve your men. Deal?"

Five seconds of silence.

"Okay, baby. We have a deal."

She beamed at him.

He stopped breathing for a moment, blinded by her beauty. He pulled her to him and kissed her hungrily on the mouth.

She responded with all her might, pushing him down on the bed. Desire for him flowed within her…then she yawned. Sleepiness and desire fought inside her.

Jin Liwei chuckled seeing his baby girl's struggle. He kissed her forehead. "Let's sleep, baby."

"Mmn…" She settled beside him, her arm and leg over him.

Moments later, both were deeply asleep.

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