I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

"Xie Hui, why did you bring me to a place like this? How much did this cost?"

Sandrine looked around, her heart filled with both surprise and delight. It was an upscale French restaurant; waist-high wooden partitions perfectly blocked the view, and someone was playing the piano in a corner, the music flowing like water. The lighting wasn't bright, but rather soft, creating a sense of tranquility. She was overjoyed, but couldn't help muttering to Li Jing'an.

Li Jing'an, however, said seriously, "This is our first time eating together, how can we just pick any random place? That would make it seem like I don't value you enough."

"No way... This is too expensive." Sandrine said, but her eyes couldn't hide her satisfaction. However, she thought for a moment that with this atmosphere and this extravagance, the bill would probably be hefty.

As soon as he finished speaking, a young male waiter came over with the menu and handed it to Li Jing'an.

Li Jing'an, unable to understand a word of the French spoken by the other person, smiled and gestured to Sandrine to take the menu.

Sandrine looked at him, and he shrugged, explaining in English, "I really can't understand it, so I'll have to trouble you. But don't try to save me money—if I order something bad, I'll be the one who embarrasses myself, in such a fancy restaurant."

Sandrine pursed her lips, a smile spreading across her face. She then turned to the waiter, gesturing and pointing as she ordered, appearing quite composed. But as soon as the waiter left, her composure vanished, and she said in a low, hurried voice, "Oh dear, I was so scared! I've never been to such a fancy restaurant before, I had no idea how to order, I was just asking around… Do you think he noticed?" She finished, her cheeks slightly flushed, and she fanned herself with her hand.

Li Jing'an smiled at her: "What could he possibly see? He's already captivated by you. I'm more worried that he'll be so busy looking at you that he'll forget all the dishes you ordered."

"You again!" Sandrine complained, but couldn't stop smiling. Suddenly, she remembered something, "Oh, by the way, this dish is really expensive..."

"Didn't I tell you, don't mention money?" Li Jing'an waved his hand seriously. "I've never touched money before, and I have no interest in it."

Sandrine was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

"You might not know this, but my father was the commander of a military region, and I myself work for a government agency. Growing up, I've almost never had a problem that required money to solve."

Sandrine wasn't quite sure what level of official the "military region commander" was, but she understood the word "commander," and quickly assessed it in her mind—this must be the highest level of power at Dongda University. Looking at Li Jing'an, who was speaking eloquently in front of her, she suddenly felt that he had gained a layer of radiance.

Looking at her obediently listening expression, Li Jing'an suddenly said seriously, "You know what? From the moment I walked into your store and saw you, I gained a completely new understanding of a word—love."

Sandrine was stunned; she hadn't expected him to confess his feelings so suddenly.

"I grew up in that kind of family, and all my marriages were arranged by matchmakers and with my parents' consent. You probably don't understand, but it's hard to develop real feelings in that kind of closed-off environment. But I've discovered that I'm truly... truly in love with you."

Sandrine's heart pounded with joy, but she maintained a certain reserve on her face. She knew very well that this family background might be her only chance to change her social class, and she had to seize it.

Seeing her nod, Li Jing'an smiled, then his tone suddenly became serious: "Sanderly, darling, can I trust you?"

She was taken aback by his question: "What's wrong?"

"You know, given my family background and current situation, I'll likely be sent to Europe sometime in the future. I want to quietly transfer some of my family's assets here so we can build a love nest. I need you to hold these assets on my behalf. Are you willing?"

Sandrine was stunned by these words, her mind buzzing. Instinctively, she wanted to nod immediately, but felt it was too hasty. She opened her mouth but couldn't utter a word. Seeing this, Li Jing'an quickly waved his hand: "I know what you mean. You're definitely willing, even if it's just for me, right?"

She nodded quickly.

Li Jing'an moved directly to her side, lowered his head and kissed her—a deep French kiss that left her almost breathless.

Having finally loosened his grip, he licked his lips, as if savoring the moment, a smile playing on his lips. If they weren't in a restaurant, he probably would have already made his move. He looked at the breathless Sandrine and a smile tugged at his lips.

"We might not see each other for a long time, I'm sorry to trouble you." He stroked her head with one hand and gently caressed her hair with the other, his gaze both affectionate and domineering. Sandrine almost melted, and leaned in to kiss him—the two only separated reluctantly when the waiter brought the dishes over.

The meal was so engrossed that Sandrine's smile never faded, her mind filled with visions of the future.

As for what the dishes tasted like, Li Jing'an didn't remember at all—he was only interested in eating people right now, so he didn't care about the food.

After finally getting through the event, the waiter brought a tray to the table. Li Jing'an knew it was time to pay the bill, so he reached out and took the bill.

Although he couldn't understand the dense French text, he could still recognize the numbers—his heart skipped a beat. Holy crap, so many? Was this dragon meat? But he remained calm and composed, took out his wallet, opened it, held a banknote between his fingers, his eyes darted around slightly, then released his grip and pulled out two more from another compartment, handing them over.

The waiter took a look, then waved his hand and mumbled something in French. Sandrine quickly whispered an explanation: "Darling, they don't accept dollars, they need francs."

Li Jing'an frowned, feigning difficulty: "So troublesome?" He glanced down at his wallet. "Oh no, I'm full of US dollars." He then pulled out another bill. "Honey, tell him to give him an extra one as a tip, okay?"

When Sandrine saw that he wanted to add more money, she raised an eyebrow and quickly stopped him, saying, "Darling, why don't I pay? You're giving too much."

"How can that be? This is our first time eating together, how can I let you pay? What will others think of me?" Li Jing'an's tone was firm, his brows furrowed.

"That's too much of a loss, you're giving me dollars and so much in return..." Sandrine soothed him softly, "I know you love me, you can pay from now on, okay? Let me pay this time." Li Jing'an's expression softened a bit, and he sighed, "What a hassle, I should have exchanged more local currency. You know, I'm always traveling all over Europe, I can only carry dollars with me."

Sandrine secretly breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him put away his wallet. She took out a few bills from her bag, her fingers pausing slightly as she did so—it was her entire month's salary. She took a deep breath and told herself: Sandrine, this can't go on. From now on, when you're with Xie Hui, you need to change your mindset. You're no longer that handbag saleswoman.

She placed the money on the waiter's tray, gritted her teeth, and pulled another bill from her bag, handing it over. The waiter thanked her and turned to leave.

Li Jing'an watched from the side the whole time, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Li Jing'an stood at the restaurant entrance, his arm around her waist, and whispered, "Darling, shall we go to your place or mine?"

Sandrine looked up, feeling a little shy under his intense gaze: "Let's go to your place..."

"What's wrong? Is it inconvenient?"

"You know, I don't live alone."

"So what? Isn't he your friend? I'll be dealing with him in the future, so it's good to get to know him beforehand." Li Jing'an said seriously, but in his heart, he was thinking about Sandrine's roommate, Bernal—that guy with jealousy in his eyes. The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, wishing he could take Sandrine back to her apartment right now and make a scene to stimulate that bastard. Unfortunately, Sandrine refused, and he hadn't really succeeded yet, so he had to settle for second best and take her back to his hotel.

He told Sandrine to wait downstairs while he went up to scout things out before calling her back up. Sandrine, however, was quite interested in this clandestine affair, her eyes shining.

Li Jing'an stood at the doorway, looking around. Sandrine ran over like a thief and rushed into the doorway he had already opened. He then closed the door and hugged her from behind.

"Ah~" Sandrine was startled and quickly covered her mouth.

Li Jing'an turned her around and kissed her forcefully, face to face, his hands busy peeling off her clothes one by one. Sandrine was so weak from his kisses that she would have collapsed if he hadn't been holding her waist with one arm.

He finally released her lips, and Sandrine quickly took a couple of breaths. The next second, she let out another gasp—Li Jing'an had already picked her up and was carrying her to the bedside in the bedroom.

"Let's take a shower..." She was a little flustered, feeling incredibly shy being picked up like this while naked.

"No," Li Jing'an chuckled, "I'll have to wash anyway, so it'll save me the trouble of doing it twice."

He gently placed Sandrine on the bed, his hands supporting him on either side of her body, his nose almost touching hers, his gaze domineering and burning. Sandrine was overwhelmed by this scorching gaze and tried to escape, but Li Jing'an captured her lips again—a new round of tenderness began.

"No…" she gasped, "You didn't use protection…"

"I don't like it, I don't want to have any distance between us." Li Jing'an stared into her eyes, his tone firm.

"Then... what if I get pregnant?" She avoided his gaze, her voice barely audible.

Li Jing'an smiled slightly: "If you get pregnant, that's a gift from me to you—do you want it?"

"……think."

Hehe~~.