"Zhou Fan, you jerk! Get up! Didn't we agree you were sleeping with me just so I could take care of you, and that you wouldn't try anything?"
As the first rays of morning sun touched the earth, Zhou Fan, deep in a dream where he was getting intimate with Chu Yan, was violently yanked awake by an ear-pinching Chu Yan.
"I really didn't do anything, did I?" Half-asleep, Zhou Fan opened his eyes to see Chu Yan sitting on top of him, glaring with her cheeks puffed out in a pout.
In the morning light, Chu Yan was breathtakingly beautiful and mesmerizing, dressed in a cartoon nightgown that revealed her fair collarbones and long legs.
'If I could wake up to this every day,' Zhou Fan thought, 'life wouldn't get any better than this.'
"You still dare to deny it? Just look at what you're doing!"
Chu Yan huffed, her face flushing red with embarrassment.
Zhou Fan froze for a moment. When he turned to look, he couldn't help but blush in embarrassment.
Zhou Fan's left arm was wrapped around one of Chu Yan's long legs, and his right hand was resting on her backside. Then, whether intentionally or not, he gave it a firm squeeze...
With a soft gasp, Chu Yan froze completely. Her eyes went wide, and she lost her balance, tumbling onto Zhou Fan.
Chu Yan had never even been in a relationship before. How could she possibly have any experience with something like this?
"Zhou Fan, you're taking advantage of me!" Her face bright red, Chu Yan didn't even dare to look up. She started patting his chest with her little fists, but since he was injured, she held back her strength. The result looked more like a playful pouting than a real attack.
"Honey, you can't blame me. Who told you to be so tempting? I just couldn't help myself..." Zhou Fan sighed with a look of feigned helplessness, completely shameless. His large hand, however, showed no signs of moving from her backside.
"You really didn't do that on purpose?"
Chu Yan asked softly, forcing herself to look up at Zhou Fan, her voice full of disbelief.
"I swear. If I did that on purpose, may I die old and alone!"
Zhou Fan spouted this nonsense with a completely straight face, his gaze the picture of sincerity. Inwardly, however, he was thinking, 'I make, what, eighty to a hundred oaths like this a year? Not a single one has ever come true.'
"Zhou Fan, thank you. Really. If it weren't for you last night, I don't know what would have happened. And thank you for saving me again... and for... for even killing someone for my sake. Growing up, just because I was a girl, Grandpa was the only one who was ever truly good to me. But now... now I have you, too."
Seeing the serious way Zhou Fan made his oath, Chu Yan's face broke into a smile. It didn't matter if he had done it on purpose. She opened her arms and hugged him, resting her head on his shoulder and murmuring softly.
"Honey, I think something a little more tangible would be better, don't you? Like, say... a kiss?"
Zhou Fan wasn't about to let this opportunity slide. He gave her rear another light pat, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.
"In your dreams. I'm going to get ready. You should wash up, change the dressing on your wound, and then you're coming to the office with me!"
Chu Yan giggled and wriggled free. As Zhou Fan watched her with a pitiful expression, she scampered barefoot into the bathroom. Just before the door clicked shut, her voice called out, "And don't even think about slacking off! I checked this morning; your wound has stopped bleeding and is already starting to scab over!"
Zhou Fan was frustrated. 'Back when I was overseas, getting injured was a regular thing. My abilities were strong back then, so I healed fast, but it always felt too slow!'
'But now? Even though healing was already slow—taking a whole night just to start scabbing—it still felt way too fast!'
The two ate a quick breakfast. At Zhou Fan's insistence, they also bought breakfast to bring to the ladies in the sales department, which earned him the silent treatment from Chu Yan for the entire drive.
"Come find me at noon. We're going to see Zhang Long. For this morning, you just stay put in the sales department. Don't wander off!"
Before they went inside the building, Chu Yan's tone was icy, but Zhou Fan could still hear the underlying concern for his injury. He grinned and, just as she was stepping into the elevator, gave her rear one last sneaky pat. This nearly made Chu Yan pry the doors back open to come out and murder him.
"Ladies, come and greet your emperor!"
Limping his way to the sales department, Zhou Fan held up a bag of breakfast in one hand, spread his arms wide, and bellowed to everyone inside.
In an instant, a flock of ferocious women descended upon him, snatching all the food from his hands.
"Xiaofan, the president just called me. She said you were injured? Why don't you just stay at your desk this morning." Chen Yi glided gracefully over to Zhou Fan and considerately helped him into his seat, her voice exceptionally gentle.
"See? Sister Chen is the only one who's good to me. Not like them—they just grab the food and run. It's a classic case of hit it and quit it!"
"You're so improper. So by your logic, does that mean I'm the one who *doesn't* just hit it and quit it?"
Chen Yi gave Zhou Fan a flirtatious eye roll and gently poked his forehead with her index finger before turning to organize the day's work.
Sitting alone at his desk, Zhou Fan was just about to turn on his computer when his eyes happened to fall upon a sticky note to the side. Instantly, his gaze turned sharp and piercing. An icy killing intent radiated from him, so cold it felt like it could annihilate everything.