The car rolled to a stop at the entrance of the sauna.
Nan Chen thought deeply for a moment before raising his arm and gesturing for the driver to continue driving.
It was pretty late at night, and he didn’t want them to remain here any longer than was necessary. He decided to make the woman wait until they got home to wash up.
They drove back to the villa at Red Maple City. Ning Ran got out of the car and breathed a long sigh of relief as she looked at the familiar house in front of her. At least she made it back here alive.
“The kids are at Commoner Residence, not here. Go and wash up quickly.”
“Shouldn’t there be some sort of ceremony?” Ning Ran asked suddenly.
Nan Chen looked at her in confusion. “What ceremony? Do you want me to call up a bunch of people and have them scream praises at the gates as they welcome you back?”
“No, thanks. When I was a kid, however, my family used to set off fireworks whenever one of my relatives got back from jail. I heard it helped to ward off bad luck. If I go in just like that, won’t I be filling up the house with all sorts of bad luck?”
Nan Chen didn’t say anything.
Ning Ran said despondently, “I think I’d better not step into the house.”
“You didn’t go to jail, and you have no bad luck to speak of. What are you even talking about?” Nan Chen asked coldly.
“Well, you didn’t say anything! I thought you minded. I don’t want to cause you any inconvenience.” Ning Ran said.
“I’m okay with you causing me inconvenience…” Nan Chen mumbled.
“What was that?”
“Oh my God, would you stop talking? It’s so cold out here—are you trying to get a cold or something? Besides, you stink. Go and take a shower and change out of these clothes!” Nan Chen said, suddenly impatient.
Ning Ran brought her arm to her nose and took a deep sniff. She thought she didn’t stink that much.
“Fine. Should I go in now?”
“If you don’t want to, that’s fine by me. You can freeze to death out here by yourself. I’m going in.”
As soon as Nan Chen finished speaking, he turned around and stalked into the house.
Ning Ran chased after him. “Of course I’m coming in! It’s freezing outside.”
She ran upstairs and was about to head into the bedroom to get her clothes when Nan Chen pushed her directly into the bathroom.
“Stop stinking up the whole house! Go and have a shower first!”
“I need to get a change of clothes!”
“I’ll fetch you your clothes!”
Nan Chen pushed Ning Ran into the bathroom and shut the door firmly behind her.
Ning Ran decided that it was high time for her to take a shower. She filled the tub with water and sat in it. Closing her eyes, she breathed a sigh of relaxation as she soaked in the warm water.
At that moment, the door of the bathroom swung open. Nan Chen stepped into the bathroom, carrying her clothes in his hands.
Ning Ran wrapped her arms around her chest quickly. “What are you doing here? How did you manage to come in?”
“I’m just here to hand you your clothes. Are you really going to walk out of here naked later?”
Ning Ran yelled, “It doesn’t mean that you can just come in here as you please!”
“You didn’t even lock the door! I might as well just come in! What? Did you want me to pretend to bring out the keys and unlock the door by myself?”
Ning Ran was completely speechless. In her haste, she had completely forgotten to lock the bathroom door.
Nan Chen stood there, watching her panic. Even though her hair was slightly messy, it framed her exquisite face and fell upon her collarbone in the most elegant way.
Her skin was smooth and fair above the surface of the water. With her arms wrapped around her, she looked like a frightened baby animal.
Looking at her, he felt a sudden sense of protectiveness and possessiveness.
“Well, aren’t you getting out? What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Ning Ran looked at him fearfully.
“Can I do whatever I want just because I feel like it?”
His eyes were full of fire, and his voice was very low.
“Of course not! You’re supposed to be a gentleman. You should know what you ought not to do!” Ning Ran tried to impose her moral judgment on Nan Chen to get him to leave.
“But I’m not a gentleman.” Nan Chen rejected her statement immediately. He had always had trouble with authority, and he had never wanted to be a gentleman before.
“Yes, you are! So get rid of those filthy thoughts in your head and get out now!” Ning Ran snapped, pointing to the door.
“You haven’t even clean yourself. Do you think I’m going to pounce on you while you’re in this state? I’m not interested, sorry.”
Nan Cheng scoffed loudly. He placed Ning Ran’s clothes in a corner and turned towards the door.
Ning Ran let out a quiet sigh of relief. He’s finally leaving!
In the next moment, however, Nan Chen suddenly turned around and gazed at her intently.
Panic rose within Ning Ran again. She sank even more deeply into the water, praying that the bubbles would cover her.
“Wash yourself clean,” Nan Chen said in a low voice.
Ning Ran felt extremely indignant. Since I’m washing myself, of course I’ll wash myself clean! Do I need you to tell me that?
“I got it,” Ning Ran said in a huff. “Now leave.”
“I’m going to check in a while,” Nan Chen said.
Ning Ran felt extremely stunned. He’s going to check how well I had washed? How is he going to do that? How inappropriate.
“Just get the hell out now!” Ning Ran yelled.
Nan Chen finally got out and shut the door behind him.
Afraid that he was going to come in and harass her again, Ning Ran climbed out of the bathtub and ran to lock the door immediately.
After that, she could finally soak in the tub peacefully.
Nan Chen had gone to shower too. He came out wearing a sleeping gown. Grabbing a bottle of aged wine, he poured himself a glass and turned on the television. An exciting game of European football was on.
It had been so busy recently that Nan Chen hadn’t had time to watch his football matches. Since he was feeling pretty good today, he decided to finish watching this match.
However, even as his eyes remained fixed on the television screen, all he could see was the image of Ning Ran soaking in the bathtub.
He tried to make himself concentrate on the game, but his thoughts kept wandering away. No matter how hard he tried to fight it, the image of Ning Ran continued to pop up in his mind.
He felt a little irritated. He had seen his share of beautiful ladies before, and some of them had even tried to get with him. However, he had never once fallen for any of their charms.
He wondered what was wrong with him today. He couldn’t take his mind off the look of Ning Ran in the bathtub.
He picked up the wineglass and walked to the balcony. As the cold breeze enveloped him, he felt much calmer than before.
He stood there for a while before he started to feel a little chilly. He returned to the house.
At that moment, he saw Ning Ran dashing across the living room to her room, her hair still dripping. He wondered why she looked so frantic.
A while later, Ning Ran emerged from her room wearing more proper clothing. Evidently, she was uncomfortable with wearing pajamas in front of Nan Chen.
Coldly, Nan Chen asked, “Dressing up so formally when it’s already so late at night? Should I call someone and have them send over an evening gown for you?”
“There’s no need for that. These clothes are very comfortable,” Ning Ran said and walked off.
“Where are you going?” Nan Chen asked.
“I’m a little hungry. I’m going to cook some noodles for myself,” Ning Ran replied.
“You’re having noodles so late at night? Aren’t you scared that you might gain weight?”
Ning Ran replied brightly, “Nope. I’ve been feeling really poorly these past few days, so I haven’t eaten much. It’s time to make up for all my lost meals!”
Nan Chen gazed at her body. Had she really slimmed down over the past few days? I couldn’t tell at all.
“Then I want a bowl too,” Nan Chen said.
“Aren’t you scared that you might gain weight?”
“You’re an artiste, and you aren’t afraid. Why should I be?”
Ning Ran thought about it for a moment. He was right. Nan Chen was an investor. No matter how fat he got, he would still be the Sir Chen everyone knew and respected.
But if he grew so fat that he started looking like a slab of meat, it would look really funny indeed.
An image of Nan Chen as an obese man appeared in Ning Ran’s mind, and she burst into uncontrollable laughter.
She opened the refrigerator, expecting the food inside to have gone bad. To her surprise, they still looked pretty fresh.
There were eggs in the fridge, along with very fresh vegetables, tomatoes, and an assortment of fruits.
Evidently, Nan Chen had ordered people to swap out the old ingredients for fresher ones. Once Ning Ran returned, she would be able to use them immediately.
Ning Ran’s heart warmed a little. Obviously, Poker Face had no plans to leave me in jail. Otherwise, he would never have prepared this for me.
