Hearing Li Beinian’s words, Mu Xichen instinctively glanced at the back of the photo again.

  Those strokes were vigorous, forceful, lean and firm, but they were also unruly and flamboyant.

  A person’s writing is a reflection of himself.

  Although Mu Xichen did not have much experience in calligraphy, he had grown up by his grandfather’s side. His grandmother was a calligraphy expert and it was inevitable that he had been influenced by her. Hence he had some insight.

  This was probably not written by Li Haoran.

  Mu Xichen frowned and brushed his fingers against the paper.

  The strokes cut into the photographic paper, he could feel the inscription lines.

  He had seen Li Haoran’s handwriting before, it wasn’t this forceful.

  Seeing that he was engrossed, Li Beinian nudged him. “The water is about to overflow. Do you still want to shower?”

  Mu Xichen looked up into Li Beinian’s face. It was a beautiful face.

  Her eyes seemed to sparkle, reflecting waves of light.

  His heart skipped a beat. He reached out to draw her in again and whispered, “You promised to help me shower. Let’s go. Together.”

  Li Beinian’s face started to burn. She pretended to shove him, saying, “You shameless person. You even need someone else to wash you. How old do you think you are?”

  “How old do you want me to be? Hmm?” Mu Xichen narrowed his eyes and asked teasingly.

  Li Beinian pushed him away and stomped angrily into the bathroom.

  Mu Xichen placed the photo on the bed and quickly walked up to her, sweeping her up into his arms.

  Li Beinian cried out in surprise, making Mu Xichen chuckle. He walked in and placed her in the water.

  Li Beinian exclaimed loudly, “I haven’t removed my clothes!”

  “I’ll help you remove them,” Mu Xichen said as set to work. “Let’s shower together.”

  Li Beinian clutched her chest and blushed. “No, you’ll catch a cold in this weather!”

  “The hot water is hot enough.” Since he was unable to remove her shirt, Mu Xichen tugged at her pants.

  However, just as he had managed to undo a button, Li Beinian stopped him again. “No!”

  “The bathtub is big enough.” Mu Xichen got into it and sat down with her in his arms. He held her hand to his chest and said, “It hurts here, help me massage it.”

  Li Beinian saw his pitiful expression and knew that he was pretending. However, when she saw the bruise on his muscular chest, her heart softened.

  “Mu Donglin was out to beat you to death!” Li Beinian caressed him tenderly. Her heart ached. “Does it hurt?”

  “It hurts.”

  “Quickly wash up, then. I’ll apply some ointment for you.” Li Beinian looked at his shoulder and suddenly remembered what Fang Zhili told Li Xueqing that night. “How’s Mu Donglin?”

  Mu Xichen’s expression turned icy on hearing this. He leaned forward and raised his eyebrow slowly. “Are you worried about him?”

  Li Beinian shrank back instinctively and retorted at once, “No!”

  Mu Xichen looked away and said unhurriedly, “He’s been hospitalized.”

  “You ought to be hospitalized yourself, with this injury!” Li Beinian was furious. “Look at how bad it is!”

  Mu Xichen couldn’t help but smile. He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. “It’s nothing.”

  Mu Donglin was in bad shape.

  He knew, because he was the one who inflicted those injuries.

  Given Mu Donglin’s usual physical condition, he would have to lie in bed for at least half a month.

  Li Beinian was about to ask something else, but Mu Xichen had given her garment a forceful tug.

  Caught off-guard, she found that her top had been removed by the man with one swift motion.

  She covered her chest with her hands and pushed him away with her foot. Her face was flushed as she said, “Let me shower you first. You may go after you’re done.”

  \r \r \r

  However, Mu Xichen ignored what she said. He grabbed her ankle and kissed her toe.

  Li Beinian shuddered and shrank back in fear. “What are you doing!”

  Without a word, he started moving up a little at a time, kissing her leg with his warm lips.

  Feeling herself growing limp and weak, she shrank back and sat in the bathtub tightly.

  Sensing her arousal, Mu Xichen reached out to tug at her buttons.

  Li Beinian could feel her body burning as she covered her face, allowing him to do whatever he wanted.

  However, after he had removed all her clothes, Li Beinian realized that he had stopped.

  She looked up and found herself staring into the man’s deep and dark eyes.

  He grinned and said, “I’m done. Let’s shower.”

  Li Beinian was flustered.

  Was he serious?!

  Feeling cheated now, she was a little angry.

  She kicked him on the shoulder. Unexpectedly, Mu Xichen grabbed her leg and scooped her up into his arms, asking, “What else do you want?”

  She refused to speak.

  Mu Xichen pushed her wet hair back from her face and teased her. “You want it?”

  “No, get lost!”

  “Really?” The man looked a little disappointed, but he quickly looked away and said, “Okay then, I’ll wash myself. You may go.”

  Li Beinian was speechless.

  She turned a bright scarlet, staring at him wordlessly.

  Damn that pretender!

  She felt the urge to give the man a pummeling.

  Alas, she felt a little guilty when she looked at his serious expression.

  It seemed like she was the one who had a dirty mind. After all, he had only said that he wanted a shower. Cough, cough!

  Li Beinian put on a prim and proper expression as she got up, keeping her eyes on him all the time.

  Mu Xichen was looking back at her. Her gaze moved downward and she was immediately annoyed when she noticed how swollen he was. She raised her leg in threat, as though she was going to step on it.

  Shocked, Mu Xichen caught her leg and immediately pulled her back down. “Are you trying to murder your husband?”

  “I thought you weren’t interested!” Li Beinian shoved him and tried to get up.

  Mu Xichen smiled and held her down, looking down at her.

  After a long pause, he said, “From now on, I’ll get Bai Yuan to guard you closely. This sort of thing will never happen again.”

  Before Li Beinian could say anything about the incident, Mu Xichen brought it up.

  She felt a tangle of emotions. Looking at him, she quietly asked a question that had been on her mind for a long time. “If I really did it with him, would you have minded?”

  Mu Xichen looked deeply into her eyes and said, “If you’re in love with him, I will let you go.”

  His words were like an arrow that pierced right through her heart.

  She felt an inexplicable pain. Hugging him, she said, “How would that be possible?”

  Mu Xichen circled his arms around her and pressed his cheek up against hers. He whispered, “If it ever happens again……”

  His voice was low and hoarse, with a hint of hostility. “I won’t let him go alive.”

  Shocked by his words, Li Beinian exclaimed, “Murder is illegal!”

  The man wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek, gradually moving his lips down.

  Her breathing quickened and she subconsciously clung onto him tightly.

  “He’s bullying my woman.” Mu Xichen’s breath was hot on her alabaster skin. The vibration of his vocal chords and made her heart race. “He must be tired of living.”

  As he spoke, he nibbled at her.

  Li Beinian’s body trembled and her mind buzzed. Somewhere in the background, she heard his hoarse whisper. “If he doesn’t care about his own life, I’ll help him.”

  Li Beinian was exhausted when it ended.

  However, she had not forgotten why they were in the shower.

  She threw on a bathrobe and went to get the first aid kit. When she returned and saw Mu Xichen still putting on his clothes slowly, she reached out and pulled him onto his feet. “Get up.”

  Mu Xichen glanced at the first aid kit in her hand. Perhaps it was because he was satiated, Li Beinian found him to be very obedient.

  She picked up the ointment, unscrewed the cap, and poured the fluid into her hand.

  She looked at the big bruise and said, “You have to bear with it for a bit, it might be painful.”

  As she spoke, she exerted pressure on it.

  She massaged the ointment in carefully, studying the man’s expression as she did so.

  It turned out, Mu Xichen didn’t even wince as kept his eyes on her.

  On the contrary, it was Li Beinian who frowned as she exerted more force.

  However, the man did not react at all.

  Li Beinian couldn’t help but ask, “Doesn’t it hurt?”

  Mu Xichen snorted lightly and replied, “It does.”

  “How can you stay so calm when it hurts?” Li Beinian felt that this man was simply a freak!

  “Didn’t you tell me to bear with it?” Mu Xichen put on an innocent look and held her hand down. He lowered his voice and said, “It’s really hard to bear with it when you’re touching me all over.”

  Li Beinian tactfully ignored him and kept quiet as she applied the ointment on him.

  However, she wasn’t as gentle as before, when she was worried about causing him pain.

  This time round, she deliberately used more force. After seeing him frown, she finally felt vindicated.

  After applying the ointment, Li Beinian pressed the man back against the bed and cleaned up.

  When her gaze fell on the photo again, she found herself taking a few more glances.

  She carefully put it away, together with their marriage certificate. After that, she turned out the lights and got into bed.

  Immediately, she felt herself drawn into Mu Xichen’s arms.

  His hand slowly moved down her back.

  Li Beinian exploded and raised her voice, “Enough already!”

  However, the man ignored her and said instead, “Can we announce it now?”

  The girl was lost for a moment and asked, “What?”

  “Mu Donglin is getting married to Lin Ya’s sister.” Mu Xichen placed his hand on her thigh and continued in a slightly hoarse voice, “Once he sends out the news, shall we announce our relationship?”

  Li Beinian pushed him away. Unable to think straight, she mumbled, “Announce our relationship?”

  “Yes.” Mu Xichen fiddled with the hem of her dress, but his expression was serious. “I want a status.”

  Li Beinian said, “Well…… in terms of status, we have a certificate.”

  “Let’s show our marriage certificate then.”

  Li Beinian was a little hesitant. All sorts of thoughts ran through her mind.

  Announcing it?

  Was it really a good time to announce it?

  There had been a lot of negative news about her. Recently, Bo Chengcheng had been so busy trying to clear her name that she had not seen much of that woman around.

  If she were to announce now that she was with her ex-fiancé’s brother, and that they had even gotten married, for sure it would invite a lot of trouble.

  Mu Xichen’s eyes darkened when he noticed her expression. “Are you unwilling?”

  “I’m not unwilling, I just feel that it’s a little sudden.” Li Beinian looked at him and continued, “Our marriage was very sudden, and this unexpected announcement will be even more sudden. My career is still taking off…… can it wait?”

  Mu Xichen fell silent. Pinching the flesh on her leg, he leaned in and entered her.

  Li Beinian moaned. Then she felt a sharp pain in her chin as her mouth was sealed. Their movements gradually quickened till a tempest followed.