Just then, Xia Xiwan, lying on the bed, suddenly opened her eyes. Mr. Wang froze. Wasn’t she supposed to be asleep for two hours? Why was she awake already? “My dear, why… why are you awake?” A sly, playful glint sparked in Xia Xiwan’s bright, almond-shaped eyes. “If I hadn’t woken up, how could I have watched such a marvelous show?” “You…” With a flick of her hand, Mr. Wang caught a whiff of a strange, sweet fragrance before his body went limp, and he crumpled onto the carpet. His hands and feet bound with hemp rope, Mr. Wang found himself completely drained of strength. All he could do was stare in terror at the smiling face of Xia Xiwan. “My… my dear, what kind of game is this? Why don’t you untie me, and we can… have some real fun.” Xia Xiwan raised a delicate, willow-leaf brow, the very picture of harmless innocence. “Mr. Wang, do you see what this is?” He looked over and saw two meaty bones in her hand. “What… what are you doing with those?” “Oh, Mr. Wang, didn’t Li Yulan tell you? The Xia family keeps a large wolfhound, a truly vicious beast that just loves meaty bones.” Mr. Wang was just a lecher who had been lusting after Xia Xiwan for a long time. A country bumpkin married to a vegetable—she should have been his for the taking. But now, just looking at Xia Xiwan made his scalp tingle with fear, and he couldn't stop shivering. “What… what exactly are you planning to do?” Xia Xiwan lowered her hands and stuffed both meaty bones into Mr. Wang’s trousers. “The game’s starting now, Mr. Wang. The wolfhound will be in shortly. You’d better be careful it doesn’t bite the wrong thing… and take your family jewels with it.” “No, please, my lady, I was wrong! Let me go! This is insane, you can’t joke about this! Someone could get killed…” Mr. Wang was drenched in a cold sweat, ready to fall to his knees and beg if he could. Just then, Xia Xiwan walked over and opened the door. Lured by the scent of meat, the large wolfhound shot into the room. Aaaah! Mr. Wang’s bloodcurdling screams filled the air. … Downstairs, Li Yulan was waiting for good news when the bedroom door upstairs was suddenly thrown open. Clutching his pants, a disheveled Mr. Wang scrambled down the stairs. Li Yulan gasped. “Mr. Wang, what happened to you?” Terrified and on the verge of tears, Mr. Wang viciously threw the meaty bones at her. “Li Yulan,” he snarled, “this is all your fault! I’m not finished with you!” Fuming and terrified, Mr. Wang fled. What was going on? Li Yulan rushed upstairs and into the room. There, Xia Xiwan was sitting comfortably in a chair, sipping tea. She looked up, her bright, almond-shaped eyes landing on Li Yulan’s shocked face. “Auntie, you’ve arrived?” She had been waiting for her! Li Yulan’s heart sank. She knew the plan had failed, but how? She had watched Xia Xiwan drink that bird’s nest soup with her own eyes. Where had it gone wrong? “Xia Xiwan, you knew all along there was something wrong with the soup. You were just playing along, weren’t you?” Li Yulan demanded. Xia Xiwan’s lips curved into a cold smile. “I just wanted to stick around and see what you were capable of. Honestly, Li Yulan, this is child’s play. I’m a little disappointed.” Li Yulan sneered, dropping all pretense, her eyes flashing with malice. “Xia Xiwan, I’m done playing games with you. Since Mr. Wang left in a rage, I’m going to drag you to his bed myself and offer you as an apology! Men!” “Yes, Ma’am.” Five or six burly bodyguards in black suits appeared instantly. “Xia Xiwan, I hired these men at a high price. You think you can take them on?” Xia Xiwan’s eyes turned ice-cold. She had been waiting for them right here. Did they really think she was afraid? “Get her!” At Li Yulan’s command, a bodyguard lunged toward Xia Xiwan, his hand reaching out to grab her. Xia Xiwan’s hand discreetly moved toward her waist… But the next second, a large, well-defined hand shot out, seizing the bodyguard’s wrist and giving it a sharp twist. With a sickening crack, the man’s wrist broke. A formidable force sent him stumbling back, knocking over the other bodyguards like bowling pins. Xia Xiwan quickly looked up, her eyes meeting a tall and imposing figure. Lu Hanting had arrived. “What are you doing here?” she asked, surprised. Lu Hanting’s expression was unreadable, his voice deep and magnetic. “It seems I missed a good show.” Li Yulan was stunned that someone had barged into the Xia family home. She sized up the man standing beside Xia Xiwan. Tall and imposing in a white shirt and black trousers, he was far too handsome. His movements had been swift and sharp, radiating a cool, almost ascetic aura of indifference. As Mrs. Xia, Li Yulan was familiar with Haicheng’s elite circles, and she had never seen this man before. Xiaodie had told her that Xia Xiwan was keeping a toy boy. Could this be him? “Xia Xiwan, is this the toy boy you’re keeping?” Toy boy? At those words, Lu Hanting’s sharp, handsome brows furrowed slightly, a hint of displeasure in his eyes. He looked at Xia Xiwan. “Toy boy? Is that what you told her?” Xia Xiwan straightened up, waving her hands defensively. “I’m innocent! I didn’t say a thing.” Li Yulan was losing her patience. “What are you all standing there for? You can’t even handle one pretty boy? Get him!” One of the bodyguards started to step forward, but Lu Hanting merely glanced at them, his commanding gaze sweeping over the group. “You want to fight me?” A palpable sense of dread washed over them, and they turned and fled. Li Yulan trembled with rage. She had never seen such an arrogant toy boy. A mere freeloader acting with the air of a powerful magnate, waltzing in and out of her house as he pleased. She’d truly seen it all now. With her highly-paid bodyguards gone, all Li Yulan could do was stand there and glare, completely helpless. Lu Hanting looked at Xia Xiwan. “Are we staying for dinner? Let’s go.” “Oh, okay.” Xia Xiwan quickly followed after him. As she passed Li Yulan, she murmured, “You’ll have to do better than that next time. I’ll be waiting. Don’t make me laugh.” “…” Reeling from the successive blows, Li Yulan nearly choked on her fury. … In the luxury car, Xia Xiwan watched the man beside her. He was focused, his movements elegant and refined, showing no trace of the fight that had just occurred. Just then, Lu Hanting turned to look at her. “What would you have done if I hadn’t shown up?” Xia Xiwan smiled. “I can fight too. If you hadn’t come, I would have handled them myself.” He recalled her file: abandoned in the countryside at nine, ostracized and bullied by the other children, who all called her a bastard with no parents. She must have learned to fight then. That, combined with her medical skills—the same skills that allowed her to calmly deal with that scar-faced man on the train—meant these few bodyguards would have been no problem for her. “Girls shouldn’t fight. That’s a man’s job.” “I don’t like relying on others. But still, Mr. Lu, thank you for what you did back there.” Seeing the sincerity in her eyes, Lu Hanting raised an eyebrow. “Is that how you thank someone?” Xia Xiwan paused. “Then how should I thank you?” His gaze drifted from her bright, almond-shaped eyes to the red lips hidden beneath her veil. “You don’t know how a woman is supposed to thank a man?”