Chapter 369: Chapter 369

After the passionate kiss that lasted several minutes, Song Qiao was so weak that she couldn’t muster any strength. If it weren’t for the man’s strong arms embracing her waist, she would have slumped right onto the seat.

Lu Jingchen did not sit up straight immediately either. His lips were almost touching hers, one hand wrapped around her waist, and the other firmly holding the back of her head. His somewhat heavy breathing spilled over her face as his deep voice, with a hint of huskiness, asked, "Are you happy now?"

Song Qiao wanted to pull back to create some distance between them, but both her head and waist were restrained. Moreover, there was no space to retreat within the confined carriage. Her face reddened from the deep kiss, her earlobes burning and red, making her wonder if she was running a fever. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the novęlfire.net

Staring at his proud and handsome face, Song Qiao felt an inexplicable irritation inside and glared at him with dissatisfaction, "Lu Jingchen, enough..."

Will a kiss make you happy?

Please, the one reaping the benefits from a kiss is clearly him, not her, right?

Yet the man’s expression didn’t change, those deep eyes holding a profound smile as he looked at her, his warm breath spreading over her face, and his voice even huskier than before, "Not happy? How about another kiss then?"

Song Qiao stiffened and immediately protested in a fluster, "I’m feeling better now, let me go, no more kissing."

He still didn’t release her, his arms tightly embracing her waist, preventing any movement. A soft chuckle revealed his good mood as he asked again, "Are you really happy now?"

Song Qiao was annoyed, but still nodded hastily, "Really."

Song Qiao, "..." Helplessly, she managed to pull a smile.

However, after a glance, the man plainly said, "That’s not a nice smile."

Hearing his words, Song Qiao became so angry she almost wanted to bite him, speaking through gritted teeth, "Lu Jingchen, what on earth do you want?"

The man’s demeanor stayed the same, he kissed her several times more, not deeply, but lightly pecking at the corners of her mouth, and said, "I upset you, so now I’m trying to make you happy."

She froze on the spot, taking quite a while to come back to her senses before slowly blinking her eyes at the man in front of her, and after a few seconds of silence, she finally said, "You’re trying to make me happy?"

"Didn’t you notice?" Lu Jingchen’s deep gaze was steady on her, as he inquired in return.

Song Qiao truly hadn’t noticed; the man’s behavior only left her with the impression that he was constantly teasing her.

In matters of kissing, she would never win against this man. Moreover, she wasn’t particularly keen on it. So perhaps all she could do was acknowledge that she was being bullied by him, and naturally, he was the one who gained an advantage.

However, Song Qiao didn’t say anything, for fear that the man would pin her down and forcefully kiss her here once again. After a few seconds of silence, a light smile appeared on her face as she said, "I’m happy now, can you let me go?"

Lu Jingchen deeply gazed at the woman in his arms who was feigning a charming smile and eventually released her, although his hand still rested on her waist.

The blush from the forceful kiss had faded away, and Song Qiao sat up straight, intending to move to the side to distance herself from him. But the moment she shifted, the hand at her waist immediately tightened its hold.

Song Qiao didn’t dare to move, worried he might lean in for another forceful kiss.

Soon, the car pulled up outside one of An City’s more prominent jewelry stores.

Song Qiao looked up at the jewelry store in front of her, couldn’t help but frown slightly, and then turned to ask Lu Jingchen, "Are we here to buy something?"

The man hummed indifferently, then got out of the car first, went around to Song Qiao’s side to open the door for her, his voice smooth and naturally deep, "Let’s go, I have everything arranged; whatever you like we’ll buy. If you like them all, then we’ll buy them all."

Song Qiao had a dark line on her forehead, fighting the urge to make a sarcastic remark, but still couldn’t help but say, "We can’t possibly wear them all even if we bought them."

The man chuckled softly and took her hand to help her out of the car, one hand around her waist and the other holding hers, he leaned close to her ear and whispered, "You can wear a different one each day..."

Song Qiao, "..." Money really does enable caprice.

The two entered the jewelry store hand in hand, and a staff member promptly came to greet them with a formulaic smile, speaking very respectfully, "Mr. Lu, Madam Lu, welcome."

Lu Jingchen gave a nonchalant hum, then said, "Bring out those rings."

The clerk immediately responded, "Certainly, Mr. Lu, please wait a moment."

With that said, the clerk promptly withdrew.

"You’ve prepared a lot of rings?" Song Qiao, realizing belatedly, looked up at Lu Jingchen and asked.

The man’s expression unchanged, he glanced down at the woman in his embrace and replied, "Not a lot, just selected a few that looked decent, for you to see which one you prefer."

Song Qiao didn’t dwell on it and after an ’oh’, she began to survey the jewelry store, feeling it exuded a kind of splendid opulence. She rarely entered such places, let alone when she had no money before, and this was her first time stepping into such a high-end jewelry store.

Lu Jingchen led her straight to a seating area not far away, sat down with her, picked up her small hand, squeezed it gently, and suggested, "If you don’t like any, I can have someone pick out more."

Song Qiao paused, redirecting her gaze from the store to Lu Jingchen, feeling a hint of intimidation in his words. However, after a moment of silence, she smiled and nodded, "Okay."

Soon, several clerks came out holding exquisite boxes, set them before Song Qiao and Lu Jingchen, smiled formally, and opened them to reveal neatly arranged pairs of rings, saying respectfully, "Mr. Lu, Mrs. Lu, please take your time choosing. If you’re not satisfied, please let us know."

"You can go now," Lu Jingchen waved them off.

The clerks quickly complied and went about their duties.

Amidst the dozens of rings before her, Song Qiao felt dazzled and couldn’t help but think how capricious the wealthy could be.

Seeing Song Qiao’s indecision, Lu Jingchen chuckled and explained, "This store is also under CK’s umbrella; it doesn’t matter even if you wanted to take them all."

Hearing Lu Jingchen’s words, Song Qiao was somewhat surprised, but soon she muttered, "I’m not that greedy."

The man laughed and remained silent, about to say something when his phone in his pocket started ringing. Taking it out and checking the caller ID, Lu Jingchen looked at Song Qiao and said, "Pick something you like here, I’ll step out to take a call."

Song Qiao acknowledged with a hum, and the man left with his phone.

As soon as Lu Jingchen was gone, Song Qiao couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. She lowered her head to gaze at the rings in the box, ninety percent of which were diamond rings of different carat sizes. Some diamonds were huge, probably twenty or thirty carats. Wearing them would be like inviting robbers to target her, a guaranteed way to court disaster.

Perhaps many people liked larger carat diamond rings, but not Song Qiao. Instead, the larger the carats, the more she associated them with flaunting wealth.

In fact, she harbored some resentment towards the rich.

Looking down at the diamond rings, feeling a bit dazzled, her eyes fell on another box with rings of smaller carats, probably only one or two carats each.

Just as Song Qiao was about to pick up one of the rings to check it, she heard a voice filled with surprise. Moreover, it was a familiar voice.

She looked up to find the source of the voice and was immediately taken aback, furrowing her brow, but still greeted out of courtesy, "Mr. Gu, what a coincidence."

The tall, suit-clad man standing not far away was no other than her ex-boyfriend, whom she had not seen for several months, Gu Linyuan.

At this moment, Gu Linyuan exuded a mature and composed aura, seeming quite changed from the man she had seen months before. At the very least, he seemed more composed than before.

As soon as Gu Linyuan confirmed it was really Song Qiao, a smile spread across his face. He strode towards her with a gentle smile and asked, "Qiao, what a coincidence. What are you doing here?"

Song Qiao glanced at the rings in front of her, then looked up at Gu Linyuan and replied, "As you can see, I’m choosing a ring."

Hearing this, the composure in the man’s eyes tightened suddenly. He looked down at the rings spread out before Song Qiao, his expression shifting slightly and his hands involuntarily forming fists, though the smile on his face remained intact. "Haven’t you bought a ring after being married for so long?" he asked.

Song Qiao gave a nonchalant hum and without much thought, said, "I hadn’t considered buying a ring before... By the way, are you here to buy jewelry too?"

"I came with my mother," Gu Linyuan replied as he looked at Song Qiao discomfortingly but still managed a smile, "Her birthday is coming up; I’m buying her a set of jewelry first."