Chapter 460

Chapter 460 A Man’s Hardships, A Man’s Burdens

Qin Yueran felt a rush of cold air the moment the blanket was yanked away. She wanted to find something to block Su Rui’s gaze, but the large bed was completely bare — what was there to use?

Since there was nothing to block it with, she might as well not bother. Qin Yueran let go, endured the ache in her lower abdomen, and stood up on the bed with slightly flushed cheeks, presenting herself openly and boldly right in front of Su Rui!

After all, they had already done that, so what did it matter if he looked a little longer? He was the man she had chosen for herself! If she couldn’t be with him, Qin Yueran feared she would never go looking for another man for the rest of her life!

Su Rui’s mouth went dry. He swallowed again, then seemed to notice something. He looked down, and an expression of horror spread across his face!

“What’s going on?” Qin Yueran also sensed something was wrong. Not caring that she had no clothes on, she jumped off the bed immediately.

“I’m not reacting at all! I’m not reacting at all!”

A stunningly beautiful woman was right there in front of him without any obstruction, and yet a certain part of him had absolutely no reaction!

What the hell, could it be that he had overdone it with the medicine yesterday and caused some kind of irreversible damage to certain functions?

Su Rui was horrified. For a man, what is the most terrifying thing in the world?

Not injury, not bleeding, not even death — the most terrifying thing for them is undoubtedly being unable to do what a normal man should be able to do!

“What’s wrong, let me take a look.”

Qin Yueran panicked too, and started fumbling to undo Su Rui’s pants.

These two were genuinely frightened by those two bottles of medicine. It didn’t even occur to them to think it through — even a rhinoceros, after going at it as ferociously as Su Rui had for seven or eight hours yesterday, probably wouldn’t have any reaction the next day either!

An hour later, Su Rui said with a bitter face, “Still nothing. Qin Yueran, oh Qin Yueran, you’ve really done me in!”

Qin Yueran, still in her bare state, leaned against Su Rui, hesitated for a moment, and said, “How about I spend the rest of my life making it up to you? Don’t worry, I would never look down on you for it.”

Su Rui wore a miserable expression and said weakly, “You might not look down on me, but I’ll look down on myself!”

“Well in that case there’s nothing I can do. You figure it out yourself.”

With that, Qin Yueran stood up and walked gracefully toward the door.

Su Rui grabbed his hair, glared at her retreating figure, and said fiercely, “You terrible woman, you have to take responsibility for this!”

…………

And just like that, this whole experience came to an end. Whether for Qin Yueran, who was in considerable pain, or for Su Rui, who had been scared out of his wits, neither of them could say it had been a particularly pleasant experience.

Su Rui had already left. Qin Yueran returned to her office, feeling the lingering weakness in her body, a faint wry smile on her face.

Was it really worth it, doing all this?

After giving so much for this man, would she actually get the outcome she wanted?

Qin Yueran truly didn’t know the answer.

But ever since Su Rui had swooped in out of nowhere and taken her away from her engagement banquet, she had already made up her mind — for this man, she could do without any answers!

Though she told herself she didn’t need answers, knowing her own personality, Qin Yueran still believed that happiness worth having was worth fighting for. And since she felt she was no less than Lin Aoxue, that was what had led to yesterday’s events.

Thinking of Su Rui’s bitter expression, Qin Yueran couldn’t help but feel quietly amused.

And that’s just how it is — once you’ve set your heart on someone, everything they do seems right to you.

“It was probably worth it.” Qin Yueran tried giving herself an answer. She knew she had no regrets.

As long as those three words held true, that was enough.

As she sat there thinking, a glint of provocation crept into Qin Yueran’s eyes. She smiled slightly, then took out her phone and sent Lin Aoxue a text message.

“I slipped him something, so, you know what that means.”

Qin Yueran was nothing if not honest — she had actually spelled out exactly what she had done.

Imagining Lin Aoxue’s expression upon reading the message, she burst out laughing.

“You just had to go and take the high road with your fair competition nonsense, and then you handed Su Rui right to me. If I couldn’t even make the most of an opportunity like that, how could I ever compete with you?”

Qin Yueran sat on her desk, gazing at the scenery outside the window, her mind drifting far away.

She sat there lost in thought for a good half hour, when Qin Yueran suddenly let out a startled cry, “Oh no!”

She didn’t know what had just crossed her mind, but she seemed somewhat mortified as she buried her face in her hands, muttering over and over, “Oh no, oh no, what do I do, what do I do?”

When she finally lowered her hands, Qin Yueran’s face was completely flushed.

“What do I do — wasn’t I supposed to set Su Rui up with Xia Qing first? How did I end up making a move myself?” Qin Yueran had completely lost her composure as the queen of Junlan, squirming as if sitting on pins and needles.

She remembered clearly that Xia Qing also had very strong feelings for Su Rui.

Xia Qing was her closest friend — and yet she had used that medicine to steal the man her best friend had feelings for!

In that moment, Qin Yueran couldn’t help but feel like she had become the other woman!

“What on earth do I do?” At this moment, Qin Yueran felt none of the satisfaction of having gotten the upper hand over Lin Aoxue — only regret and helplessness!

When it comes to matters of the heart, everyone is selfish. But Xia Qing was the closest friend Qin Yueran had known since university, and she didn’t want to lose her.

But if news of what had happened between her and Su Rui reached Xia Qing’s ears, their friendship would surely be over!

“No, no, this has to stay secret, absolutely secret.” Qin Yueran quickly made up her mind. She couldn’t bear the thought of becoming a stranger to Xia Qing!

…………

Meanwhile, Su Rui drove Lin Aoxue’s BMW back to Bikang Tower in a daze. His legs were so weak the whole way that he nearly cramped up every time he pressed the accelerator.

Thinking about how he had spent a whole night with Lin Aoxue and then stayed at Qin Yueran’s place for a full day and night, Su Rui felt a growing sense of guilt.

After parking the car, he stepped into the elevator with a knot in his stomach, his usual confidence nowhere to be found.

Even back when he had single-handedly taken down the Ghost Shadow, Su Rui had never been this much of a coward! It just goes to show — the woman waiting downstairs is a tiger, and you’d better run the moment you see one!

Su Rui quietly checked his watch. Lin Aoxue probably still had about two hours left before she got off work, but he had no choice but to steel himself and go in.

Still, before entering the office, Su Rui sneakily crooked a finger at Lin Aoxue’s little secretary.

Knowing that Su Rui was the big shot closest to the president, the secretary didn’t dare be negligent and trotted right over. “Rui-ge, what is it?”

“Xiaoyu, haven’t seen you in a few days — you’ve gotten even prettier.” Su Rui winked.

Nobody dislikes being complimented, man or woman. The secretary Xiaoyu was naturally pleased to hear it, though the girl said, “But Rui-ge, didn’t we just see each other yesterday?”

Su Rui rolled his eyes inwardly. He was just making small talk — did she really have to take it so literally?

“Hey, let me ask you — when Aoxue came in this morning, did she seem any different than usual?” Su Rui said, glancing over at Lin Aoxue’s office.

“Hmm, I don’t think so. The president seemed the same as always.” The secretary Xiaoyu seemed to remember something and quickly added, “Oh right, the president just held a small meeting with the heads of a few business departments. After it ended, they all walked out looking dejected — clearly they’d been reprimanded.”

The secretary’s words made Su Rui’s heart skip a beat! It seemed Lin Aoxue really might be about to blow up — she was clearly not as easygoing as she appeared!

“When did this happen?” Su Rui asked quickly.

“The meeting just ended ten minutes ago,” Xiaoyu said. “Rui-ge, when you go in later, please be careful what you say — don’t set the president off.”

“Ten minutes ago?” Su Rui did his best to suppress the unease in his chest and put on a nonchalant air. “That girl, honestly — quite the temper on her.”

Xiaoyu pressed her lips together, holding back a smile and saying nothing. In all of Bikang, top to bottom, only Su Rui would dare say something like that about the president.

“Alright little one, what are you smiling at — go on, get back to work.” Su Rui shot the secretary Xiaoyu a look.

“Make sure you don’t say the wrong thing, okay.” Xiaoyu gave one last reminder before running off.

Watching her go, Su Rui said with a self-satisfied air, “Could this little girl have a thing for me?”

Su Rui pushed open the door to Lin Aoxue’s office and found her sitting at her desk staring at her monitor, not even looking up. The uneasy feeling inside him grew even stronger.

“So, uh, Aoxue, I’m back.” Su Rui said with an awkward smile.

Lin Aoxue glanced up at him once, then turned her eyes back to the computer.

Su Rui immediately felt his head spinning. He quietly pulled out a chair and sat down, saying, “Aoxue, I ran into a bit of a problem earlier, so I’m a little late getting back.”

“Tired?” Lin Aoxue suddenly looked up and asked.

“Tired.” Su Rui answered immediately.

“How tired?” Lin Aoxue pressed, giving Su Rui no time to react, firing the next question right back.

“Very tired.” More than very tired — Su Rui was practically dead on his feet.

“Why so tired?”

“Well…”

“How many hours did you go?”

“Seven or eight, I…”

At that point, Su Rui realized he had said the wrong thing!

He stared at Lin Aoxue with an expression of disbelief. “You… you already know everything, don’t you?”

“I don’t know anything.” Lin Aoxue said coldly, not even looking at Su Rui — a complete contrast to how gentle she had been two nights ago.

“You definitely know everything.” Su Rui said helplessly. “I had my reasons, you know. Some things really are beyond a person’s control. I may be a man, but that doesn’t mean I can control everything…”

Before Su Rui could finish, he saw Lin Aoxue turn her monitor around and point to a colorful webpage on the screen. “This men’s health clinic might be able to treat your condition. Want to give it a try?”