The morning sunlight seeped through the curtain, coating the room's lavish bed.
In the middle of the bed rested a small mound. After a few moments, it slightly twitched, and another moment later, a tiny black head slowly poked out.
Lin Xiaoxiao groaned lightly. As her eyes fluttered open, she was blinded by the intense light and was forced to close them again. Quickly, her eyes reopened.
She was greeted by a stark white ceiling, so dazzling that Lin Xiaoxiao’s eyes wide-opened in shock. The next moment, she was bolting upright from her bed.
“Ahh…”
Mid-jump, her pretty face crinkled into a grimace. Stiffening, she landed back onto the bed, sinking it down before it gently bounced back.
What is going on? Why did she feel so unwell?
Lin Xiaoxiao’s eyelashes fluttered rapidly, pooling mist in her clear eyes.
Where was she? Where was her grandfather?
“If you’re awake, stop playing dead.”
A cold voice came from her right, layered with barely concealed anger. The voice was like a blade of ice, dropping sharply towards the stupefied woman on the bed.
Chilled, Lin Xiaoxiao shot up, startled. Her small face agonized due to the rapid movement. Looking hurriedly towards the door with round, wide-opened eyes.
The man by the door was tall and well-built, dressed in a black shirt, his sleeves rolled up to his wrists, revealing strong muscles.
His hair was slightly long, covering half of his sword-like brows yet still revealing the piercing, narrow phoenix eyes. His thin lips were pursed, showing the owner's displeased disposition.
Before Lin Xiaoxiao could marvel at his attractiveness, the lingering grogginess from her recent awakening evaporated. The events of yesterday rushed into her mind like a tidal wave.
"You... you... you..."
Lin Xiaoxiao was dead scared. Her fingers tightly clutched the soft quilt. Her eyes were like those of a small rabbit, immediately reddening.
"Why are you holding onto me? Where's my grandfather?"
This man yesterday, without a word, took her out from the village, saying he was taking her to find her grandfather. But instead of seeing her grandfather, he brought her to this place and even tried to take advantage of her.
Yan Jingmo's handsome face twitched slightly.
Here it comes again. Just like last night, cried like a little rabbit while hitting him. He could feel a headache coming on.
"Are you addicted to playing rabbit?" Yan Jingmo spoke impatiently.
Is she thinking she could deceive him again after revealing her true nature yesterday?
"Rab... rabbit?" Lin Xiaoxiao noticed his displeasure. She shrunk her neck, her round and shiny eyes stared blankly at him, her face a picture of bewilderment.
Yan Jingmo's charming brows knitted together. His well-defined fingers pointed at his own forehead, his tone was solemn.
"Have you forgotten what you did yesterday? Do you think I will still believe that you are a weak woman?"
The words 'weak woman' were nearly squeezed through his teeth, his tone notably heavy.
Lin Xiaoxiao looked dazedly at his hand. His hand was beautiful. She had never seen such a beautiful hand. It was so white and clean.
Eh? Following his fingertips, she saw his forehead. The edge of the forehead obscured by his hair had a faint purple and black mark.
The scene from last night immediately popped into her mind. There, she gave a heavy punch.
She took a careful peek at him, then quickly looked away, the mist in her eyes solidifying into droplets, ready to fall with a mere blink.
"You started it. I didn't mean to hit you."
Her tone filled with grievance and fear, it wasn't intentional. If attacked, her instinctive reaction was to retaliate, she had no other choice.
"I started it?" Yan Jingmo gritted his teeth, his deep ink-filled eyes icy, "You touched me, be grateful I didn't break your hand!"
The chill in his eyes was as palpable as a bucket of ice water, dousing Lin Xiaoxiao from head to toe with coldness.
She shrank her shoulders, her body huddling into a tight ball, tears in her eyes couldn't bear it any longer and started to fall one by one.
"You're so fierce, so scary, I want my grandpa."
This man said he was going to take her to see her grandpa.
She fixed her gaze on him, stood straight up and mustered the courage to ask, "Where is my grandpa?"
The chilling look in Yan Jingmo's eyes grew more intense, fingers tightly clenched into fists. After a while, he let his hand go, pointing towards the bathroom.
"If you want to see your grandpa, change your clothes and tidy yourself up." He glanced at his wristwatch with his left hand, a frown crossing his face, clearly impatient. "Three minutes."
Upon hearing that she could see her grandpa, Lin Xiaoxiao quickly got up, disregarding how terrifying the man in front of her was, let alone the discomfort she was feeling, and ran in the direction of the man's pointing.
"Bang……"
The sound of a heavy object hitting the glass dispersed in the quiet room.
"Ouch ……" Lin Xiaoxiao massaged her knee, took a deep breath, the pain in her leg causing a wave of dizziness in her head.
Yan Jingmo's temples twitched, unable to bear her incessant rubbing. He strode over, grabbed her collar, and mercilessly dragged her in front of the sink.
As soon as he let go, Lin Xiaoxiao, having no support, panic-gripped his hand to balance herself.
"Cough, cough, cough?" With the discomforting tightness around her neck now eased, she began coughing violently, her face turning beet red.
Having finally pacified herself, she looked up to see a very displeased-looking man.
He was frowning, disdainfully looking at her hand gripping his arm.
"Let go!!!"
Yan Jingmo's fierce gaze swept over her. His voice was cold as ice.
Startled by his icy voice, Lin Xiaoxiao trembled; she suddenly let go of her hold, jumped back like a frightened rabbit, wanting to put substantial distance between them.
"Mmm..."
Bumping into the sink, a wave of pain assaulted her, and Lin Xiaoxiao's eyes immediately swelled red.
How stupid!
Yan Jingmo took several deep breaths, forcefully suppressing the anger surging in his heart.
This woman, from the moment her name appeared before him, never stopped challenging his limits.
"Brush your teeth quickly." He urged her, unconsciously furrowing his brows at her alarmed state. "You can’t possibly hurt yourself even when brushing your teeth, can you!"
Lin Xiaoxiao felt wronged. She didn't want to get hurt either. However, many things here were unfamiliar to her, and so was the environment.
After brushing her teeth and washing her face, Lin Xiaoxiao was just about to head out when her neck tightened again, causing her to yelp in alarm. "What are you doing? I can walk on my own!"
"Walk on your own? And bump into the glass again?" Yan Jingmo scoffed, not having the time to cater to her dilly-dallying.
"I, I wasn't careful then," Lin Xiaoxiao said defensively as she reached out to grab his arm in an attempt to halt his movements while whispering an excuse, "The glass was so clean, it was hard to discern."
Disregarding her defense, Yan Jingmo dragged her to the edge of the bed and tossed her down like garbage.
Then he fetched a dress from the wardrobe, throwing it onto the bed.
"Put this on!"
Once Lin Xiaoxiao clambered up, she twisted the dress to look at it. The skimpy design posed a problem for her. Looking cautiously at Yan Jingmo, she requested, "Can I change to another one?"
"Why do you feel entitled to be picky?" Yan Jingmo retorted disdainfully.
Lin Xiaoxiao bit her lip, "Then, can you return my clothes?"
"Don't even think about it! As the wife of the Yan family's Young Master, you're not allowed to wear those pieces of trash ever again!"
Thinking of the tasteless clothes, Yan Jingmo warned in a stern voice.