Chapter 555: You're Worth It!
'Ji Xiaolin, ah, Ji Xiaolin, I'd like to see how long you can bear it.'
Shen Anyu's peripheral vision swept over Ji Xiaolin's resentful expression, and he chuckled inwardly, his lips slightly upturned. The game was far more entertaining this way, watching her squirm, trapped between her pride and her burgeoning feelings. This slow burn was a special kind of torment, and he was the sole architect of her delicious misery.
Ji Xiaolin bit her lip with her pearly teeth, her beautiful eyes resentfully watching Shen Anyu and Zhou Luyao's intimacy and pampering, even the Jinxiu Mountain Villa Luxury Villa, worth over a hundred million, was transferred just like that. Each shared glance between them, each casual touch, was like a needle pricking her heart. The lavish gift of the villa wasn't just a display of wealth; it was a public declaration, a throne upon which Zhou Luyao was being seated, while she, Ji Xiaolin, was relegated to the role of a mere spectator.
She truly felt uncomfortable; a churning vortex of envy, bitterness, and a strange, aching longing twisted in her gut. If it weren't for her unwillingness to concede defeat, to simply walk away and grant them their victory, her fiery temper would have had her on her feet and out the door long ago. But leaving felt like surrender, and she couldn't stomach the thought of it.
At this moment, Ji Xiaolin felt a profound wave of regret, regretting that she shouldn't have used the memory-confusing power of the Artificer True Person before. That desperate, impulsive act had been meant to protect herself, to erase the raw, untamed vulnerability she had shown him. It had turned their shared ordeal into nothing more than a hazy dream in his mind. But now, that very defense had become her prison. She had built a wall between them, and she was the only one who knew it existed. Yet, even as she wrestled with this regret, she thought for a long time and had no intention of lifting the spell, at least not for now. The fear of what would happen if she did was far more potent than the pain of the current situation.
'If Shen Anyu doesn't like me, what's the point of lifting the Artificer True Person and letting him know what happened?' Ji Xiaolin thought with a pang of sorrow that tightened her chest. 'What if he knows the truth and only feels disgust? Or worse, what if he feels nothing at all? The ambiguity is agonizing, but the confirmation of his indifference would be unbearable.'
"Ji Xiaolin, it's getting late, why don't you stay here tonight and rest? How about it?"
At this moment, Shen Anyu's voice, smooth and casual, sliced through her melancholic thoughts, interrupting Ji Xiaolin's sorrow. Her head snapped up, her eyes wide with unadulterated surprise. She stared at him, trying to decipher the intent behind the unexpected invitation. Was it pity? Politeness? Or something else entirely? She never expected Shen Anyu to ask her to stay overnight, not when Zhou Luyao was right here.
Zhou Luyao's eyes flickered, the subtle shift almost imperceptible. A knowing, intelligent light danced within their depths. The corners of her long, charming eyes upturned, and she chimed in, her voice a melodic harmony with Shen Anyu's.
"Yes, Xiao Lin, it's getting late. It's not safe for you, a girl, to leave at night. Why not stay here for a night? There are plenty of guest rooms, and the maid will clean them." Her tone was perfect—gracious, welcoming, the flawless hostess. Yet, beneath the surface, Ji Xiaolin could sense the subtle assertion of her position. It was an invitation, but also a reminder of who was in charge here.
Ji Xiaolin snorted lightly, a flicker of her innate pride returning. 'How could she be unsafe?' The idea was almost insulting. As a dignified Artificer True Person, a cultivator whose power far exceeded that of ordinary mortals, the night held no terrors for her. Unless she encountered an overwhelming ambush like the Wan Fa Sect's attack last time, it would be impossible for anything to happen to her. Even if dozens of street thugs surrounded her, they would be nothing more than a momentary inconvenience, easily dispatched with a wave of her hand.
Recalling that incident, Ji Xiaolin's bright and pretty face flushed slightly. The heat spread across her cheeks, a fleeting blush that she tried to suppress. Her mind flashed back to the darkness, the fear, the drug-induced haze, and the unexpected, primal connection she'd shared with the man in front of her. A strange look surfaced in her beautiful eyes as she gazed at Shen Anyu, her red lips slightly parted as she spoke, her voice laced with a challenge.
"You want me to stay? Are you worried about me?"
Shen Anyu met Ji Xiaolin's burning, inquisitive gaze without flinching. A slow, disarming smile spread across his face, a smile that seemed to reach his eyes and hold a hint of genuine warmth.
"Yes, I'm worried about you," he said, his tone sincere. "Lest you get kidnapped again and run into danger. This time, I might not be able to save you in time."
"I'm not that weak!" Ji Xiaolin spat, the words coming out sharper than she intended. She was Zhang Tianen's daughter, an Artificer True Person. How could she so easily encounter danger? But beneath her defensive retort, his apparent concern acted like a soothing balm on her raw emotions. A surprising warmth surged through her heart, dispelling much of the resentment and jealousy that had been festering there just moments before. He might be with Zhou Luyao, but he was still thinking of her safety. That had to mean something... right?
[Ding! Detected that the Destined Heroine Ji Xiaolin's Affection +1, plundering +3000 destiny value!]
...
"Kidnapped? Brother Shen, you encountered a kidnapping?" Zhou Luyao asked, her charming eyes wide with genuine astonishment. She leaned forward slightly, her full attention captured.
"Yes, didn't you ask me how I met Xiao Lin?" Shen Anyu said leisurely, leaning back as if settling in to tell a long story. His gaze grew distant, seemingly lost in reminiscence. "Last time, Ji Xiaolin and I were kidnapped by a group of people and held in an underground secret room for a long time." He paused, letting the dramatic statement hang in the air before adding casually, "We were even drugged. I have strong self-control, but Ji Xiaolin's self-control was..."
"Don't say it!" Ji Xiaolin's pretty face instantly blazed crimson. In a flash of panic, she lunged forward, her hand shooting out to cover Shen Anyu's mouth, her palm pressing against his lips. The sudden contact sent a jolt through her.
"What not to say?" Shen Anyu's eyes crinkled in amusement above her hand. He pretended to look at Ji Xiaolin in surprise, his voice slightly muffled.
"It's self-control, self-control!" Ji Xiaolin stamped her foot in frustration, her fair cheeks flushed with a deep, mortified crimson. 'Did Shen Anyu remember those things? Or is he just tormenting me?' The uncertainty was maddening.
"Oh," Shen Anyu's expression cleared into one of perfect, infuriating innocence. He gently took her wrist, pulling her hand away from his mouth. "I have strong self-control, and you also have strong self-control. You held yourself back. Is there a problem with that?" He looked back at her, his gaze sharp and teasing. "Could it be that what I dreamed was real?"
"Of course, of course not! It wasn't real, you're delusional!" Ji Xiaolin retorted, pulling her hand back as if burned. She snorted, turning her head away, but she couldn't hide the way her beautiful eyes rippled with a chaotic mix of emotions.
Zhou Luyao watched the charged exchange between Shen Anyu and Ji Xiaolin from the side, her own eyes slightly flickering as she processed the scene. She took a thoughtful sip of her tea, her mind connecting the dots.
Afterward, Shen Anyu instructed a maid to prepare a room and take Ji Xiaolin to rest. Once the sound of their footsteps faded down the hall, he returned to the master bedroom with Zhou Luyao, the tension finally dissipating.
"Husband, you're so good to me!" Now that the third wheel was gone, the carefully maintained composure on Zhou Luyao's face dissolved, replaced by a misty-eyed vulnerability. Her pretty face was flushed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and offered him a sweet, lingering kiss.
"What's wrong?" Shen Anyu looked down at her, a gentle smile playing on his lips as he held her close.
"Husband, why are you so good to me?" she murmured against his chest. "The Jinxiu Mountain Villa... a luxury villa worth over a hundred million, transferred just like that. What you've given me is simply too much." Zhou Luyao's beautiful eyes held an unshakeable love mixed with a new layer of profound gratitude. Her voice was soft, almost a whisper.
"Don't you like it?" Shen Anyu asked, his smile unwavering.
"Of course not, I like it very, very much," she said quickly, shaking her head. "It's just... it's too much. I've only been with Husband for less than three days, and you've already given me so much. Yaoyao feels unworthy of receiving such pampering from you." Zhou Luyao also felt a little uneasy, a seed of disbelief sprouting in her heart. Although she had once been a self-proclaimed gold-digger who hoped to find a rich husband, this was beyond anything she had ever imagined. A villa worth over a hundred million, given away so casually, was too generous to the point of being terrifying.
One had to know that even the most well-known magnates in the country were notoriously protective of their assets. They wouldn't just give away such properties to mistresses; they often made their legally married wives sign strict prenuptial agreements, some with a symbolic one-yuan annual salary, precisely to prevent the division of property in a divorce.
But now, what Shen Anyu had given her was so immense it made her a little scared. It was a gift of such magnitude that it felt less like a present and more like a celestial decree, rewriting the entire course of her life.
"You are worthy!"
At this moment, Shen Anyu waved his hand dismissively, interrupting Zhou Luyao's wild, spiraling thoughts. His gaze was still smiling, but an unyielding firmness had entered it, a deep conviction that cut through all her doubts.
Meeting Shen Anyu's smiling but resolute gaze, Zhou Luyao's delicate body trembled. Her charming eyes glistened with unshed tears as his words struck her very soul. Only the three words 'You are worthy' echoed in her mind, carving themselves into her heart, lingering for a long, long time. In that instant, every insecurity she ever harbored, every doubt about her own value, was utterly annihilated by the force of his declaration.
[Ding! Detected that the Destined Heroine Zhou Luyao's Affection +5, plundering +15000 destiny value!]
...
'Zhou Luyao's Affection has already reached ninety-nine,' Shen Anyu noted internally. 'Even after giving her this Jinxiu Mountain Villa, a property worth over a hundred million, her Affection didn't increase much. But now, these three words directly pushed it up by five points, leaving her just one point away from the maximum.'
'Are the three words 'You are worthy' really that magical? Zhou Luyao is like this, and Yang Qiuchan was the same. I can definitely use them more in the future.'
On the outside, Shen Anyu maintained his deeply affectionate facade, his peach blossom eyes staring unblinkingly at Zhou Luyao as if she were the only person in the world. But inside, his mind was racing, cold and calculating. Should he say this to every Destined Heroine? It seemed to be a master key that unlocked the deepest chambers of their hearts.
The three words 'You are worthy' were no less powerful than 'I love you,' possessing a strange, almost hypnotic magic.
If Zhou Luyao knew Shen Anyu's thoughts at this moment—that he was already cataloging this profound emotional breakthrough as a reusable tactic—she would probably snap, her devotion twisting into a yandere rage. She might even consider picking up the nearest cleaver.
Too scummy.
But at this moment, Zhou Luyao's heart was filled only with overwhelming emotion. The three words 'You are worthy' were given immense, almost sacred weight, highlighted by the tangible proof of the Jinxiu Mountain Villa. A man telling his girlfriend that she is worth more than a hundred million is one thing—usually just worthless sweet talk, because he doesn't actually have a hundred million to give. But Shen Anyu truly had the money, and he had truly given it. He actually had the cow!
With Shen Anyu treating her like this, what else was there to worry about? He had given her not just wealth, but validation on a scale she had never dreamed of.
Taking a light breath to steady herself, Zhou Luyao looked up at Shen Anyu. Her long, charming eyes, upturned at the corners, resumed their graceful, seductive smile. The vulnerable woman from moments ago was gone, replaced by the confident and perceptive beauty he knew. "Husband," she began, her voice smooth as silk, "did something happen between you and Ji Xiaolin?"
"Ah? Probably not, why would you think that?" Shen Anyu frowned, feigning utter confusion and asking back.
"Naughty Husband, you can't hide it from me." Zhou Luyao rolled her eyes at Shen Anyu, the simple gesture exuding all sorts of charming allure as a playful, knowing smile graced her lips.
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