Sweetie, don't look at him, kiss me.

Held in Ji Linzhou's arms, Lin Qingmian felt his cool, pine-like masculine scent filling her nostrils.

My face involuntarily flushed.

She instinctively pressed her head against his chest, trying to hide the blush on her face.

The man carried her out of the restaurant.

A cool night breeze blew by, cooling her face and helping her regain her composure.

"Put me down..."

She spoke in a low voice.

Ji Linzhou didn't stop.

The man's deep voice resonated through his chest, striking her: "Your legs aren't weak? If I put you down, could you walk?"

Lin Qingmian lowered her eyelashes and remained silent.

Although she felt cool when she raised her hand to smash the fat man with a wine bottle and showed him the camera on her body, threatening to call the police, it was, after all, the first time she had ever done something like this.

Actually, she was terrified; her hands were shaking when she held the bottle.

My legs are still weak even now...

She buried her face again and stopped talking.

Ji Linzhou couldn't drive because he had been drinking, so he carried Lin Qingmian to the side of the road and hailed a taxi.

Night shift taxi drivers are all experienced; noticing the two men in the back seat with splattered blood on their faces as they got into the car, they considerately tossed Ji Linzhou a pack of tissues: "Young man, off to play the hero and get into a fight?"

Lin Qingmian knew Ji Linzhou as arrogant, cold, and aloof.

Hearing the driver say that, she was afraid that someone as aloof as Ji Linzhou wouldn't pay him any attention, so she quickly tried to smooth things over: "We..."

"It's not exactly a case of a hero saving a damsel in distress."

To Lin Qingmian's surprise, the man not only caught the tissue the driver threw to him steadily, but also smiled faintly and replied, "She is my wife."

He pulled out a tissue, carefully lowered his eyes, and wiped the blood from Lin Qingmian's face: "I was just protecting someone I was supposed to protect."

The tissues were made of very cheap material, and wiping one's face with such tissues didn't feel very good, but Lin Qingmian inexplicably felt at ease and relaxed.

His heart skipped a beat because of those two sentences.

A year ago, Ji Linzhou found her when she was at her most desperate and said he needed a wife.

If she's willing, he can help her solve all the problems she faces.

But you are not allowed to talk about feelings with him, not allowed to proactively disclose the fact that you are married, and you are not allowed to disturb his life.

She had always felt that she and he would remain in a distant and unfamiliar relationship until he took the initiative to ask her for a divorce.

She never imagined that one day, Ji Linzhou would rush into a small restaurant to beat someone up for her sake, and then gently tell outsiders that she was his wife, and that he was protecting the person he should protect...

"So you're already married?"

The driver started the car with a smile, glanced at the two in the rearview mirror, and sincerely remarked, "You two look very well-matched, and your relationship is so good. It's sure to last a long time."

Lin Qingmian lowered her eyelashes: "The driver really knows how to talk."

Soon, the car arrived at Deep Blue Apartments.

Ji Linzhou paid the bill, tossed a pack of cigarettes to the driver, got out of the car, and opened his arms to Lin Qingmian.

After such a long time, Lin Qingmian's leg has recovered.

She shook her head, trying to avoid his embrace: "I can walk by myself."

After saying that, he tried to get out of the car by himself.

"Miss, give your husband a chance to prove himself."

The driver in the front seat, while examining the expensive pack of cigarettes Ji Linzhou had tossed him, said with a smile, "Between husband and wife, there's no need for such formalities."

Lin Qingmian paused for a moment, just as she was about to say something, but the man took the opportunity to step forward and pick her up in his arms again.

Her body was lifted into the air. When she came to her senses, she could only subconsciously grab Ji Linzhou's clothes.

This was the fifth time he had hugged her like this today.

But she still blushed, and her heart still beat erratically.

She buried her head in his coat, listening to the sound of his heart beating and his breathing, and inexplicably felt a sense of being loved.

We've been married for a year.

At this moment, however, she suddenly felt an urge to live a good life with her legal husband...

Back in the apartment, Ji Linzhou bent down and placed her on the sofa.

The blush on Lin Qingmian's face hadn't completely faded, making her look especially adorable under the light.

He looked down at her current state, his brow furrowing slightly: "Still not recovered?"

The woman paused for a moment before realizing that he had misunderstood.

Her face was red because of him.

He thought she was still caught up in the incident at the restaurant.

She nodded and readily agreed, "A little."

"If you work in a place like that, you should be prepared to encounter hooligans like that."

The man sat down on the sofa opposite her, his gaze scrutinizing her flushed face, his voice carrying a businesslike indifference: "I'll have Bai Cheng double your allowance tomorrow."

Lin Qingmian looked up at him.

He leaned back on the sofa, his legs crossed gracefully, his eyes fixed on her with a scrutinizing gaze.

The man's eyes were filled with cold indifference, as if she were just an ordinary employee who had caused him trouble and made a mess of things, and as if the tenderness and sense of security she had just felt were all wishful thinking on her part.

The blush on Lin Qingmian's face vanished instantly.

She clenched her fingers and looked up at him: "No need."

Although she was indeed short of money, she couldn't accept a reward without having done anything right.

She only wants the amount agreed upon a year ago.

Her debts have nothing to do with him.

The woman's words made Ji Linzhou feel inexplicably annoyed again.

He reached up and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, his brow furrowed. "You don't need my money anymore, and you still want to go work in places like that to earn money?"

Lin Qingmian frowned: "I did go to work for a friend tonight, I..."

Before she could finish speaking, Ji Linzhou's phone rang.

It's a special ringtone.

Ji Linzhou frowned, glanced at the note on his phone, picked up his phone, and turned to go to the balcony.

With a "bang," the balcony door slammed shut.

Lin Qingmian sat on the sofa for a while, then turned her head to look towards the balcony.

The lights on the balcony were off.

Under the moonlight, he leaned against the balcony railing, his posture elegant and unrestrained.

He's the kind of man who looks a bit thin, but actually has very firm abs and chest muscles.

After staring at him for a moment, Lin Qingmian looked away and turned back to her bedroom.

She hadn't rested well all day, and then she encountered that kind of thing while working at night. As soon as she relaxed, she felt tired and sleepy.

Just as Lin Qingmian was getting ready to take a shower, her friend Jiang Yao called: "Mianmian, I just finished dealing with my mom... My colleague just said you ran into some thugs tonight, what happened?"

"My colleague also said that a very handsome and charismatic man took you away. Who was he?"

Lin Qingmian paused for a moment, walked to the bedroom door, opened it, and glanced towards the balcony.

The man remained on the balcony, still in the same position, talking on the phone, with occasional low chuckles coming from behind him.

She closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief: "That man... is Ji Linzhou."

"Your husband!?"

Jiang Yao's voice on the other end of the phone instantly rose: "Don't you two only see each other a few times a year?"

"How could this be...?"

"It's a long story."

Lin Qingmian raised her hand and pinched her aching temples, somewhat helplessly: "It all started with that so-called stress-relieving video in the group this morning..."

Jiang Yao was also in the group she mentioned.

Mentioning this, Jiang Yao couldn't help but purse her lips: "I watched that video too, but I only saw your ex-boyfriend's face halfway through, and it almost made me throw up..."

After saying that, she paused for a moment, then suddenly brought up another matter: "Mianmian, do you know who the female protagonist in today's video is?"

Lin Qingmian frowned, put on her Bluetooth earphones, and walked into the bathroom. As she removed her earring in front of the mirror, she asked casually, "Who is it?"

"It's Su Tingwan."

The woman abruptly stopped in her action of removing her earring.

Su Tingwan.

She recognized the name.

She is Ji Linzhou's ex-fiancée.