Chapter 17 Art From Life
The world finally went quiet.
Lu Jingchuan turned and grabbed my hand in a rush.
"Xia Mianmian, there's really nothing between me and her. Believe me!"
Looking at him fumbling through an explanation, then thinking of how fierce he had been when he lost his temper earlier.
The contrast was too big. I couldn't help laughing.
"Mm. I know. I believe you."
I poked his still-tense arm.
"Lu Jingchuan, just now... you were so fierce."
Only today did I realize that once this man got riled up protecting what was his, he was truly aggressive and intense, so handsome it hurt.
His taut expression eased at once. His big hand closed over the fingers I was poking him with, and he promised in a low voice,
"I won't be fierce with you."
His look made my face heat. I couldn't help complaining,
"You're pretty fierce in bed too..."
And he never seemed to tire. Completely crazy.
He leaned down close to my ear, a little smug smile in his voice.
"But I think... you seem... to like it quite a bit?"
His rough fingertip rubbed the inside of my wrist.
"You..."
He had me so worked up my ears burned. I couldn't get a word out.
No. This topic was too dangerous!
"Lu Jingchuan, Chen Wei and I... it wasn't like your sister said either..."
"I know. I believe you."
I still explained.
"We only dated for a short time. He took me to meet his parents. The three of them squeezed into a fifty-square-meter tube apartment and still acted like they were some Beijing circle princes. They thought I was from a small city and after their house and household registration."
"I admit it. When I married you then, I was so mad at him I wasn't thinking straight."
I turned my hand over and held his broad palm, fingertips tracing the thick calluses in the center.
"Slowly, I realized... you're truly a very, very good man. From now on we'll live well. You've still got me."
He looked at me steadily and stayed quiet for a long time.
Then he pulled me into his arms and dropped a scorching kiss hard on me.
"Xia Mianmian, meeting you... was really good."
A rough man like him couldn't say sweet words, but that clumsy, shy look somehow hit right where it counted.
"Alright, alright. Weren't we going to look at the logos? I'll get the computer for you."
I gave him a light push.
I opened the laptop and showed him a few draft versions.
"Here. These are the first ideas. Which one feels more like the tone of our products?"
He leaned toward the screen.
"Mm. They're all good. They all look pretty..."
Halfway through the sentence, his gaze swept by accident over a stack of manuscripts I had left beside the computer.
His eyes darkened at once.
Only then did I realize a few of my restricted drafts still hadn't been put away!
He reached out. His long fingers picked up the top sheet.
A burly man who looked a lot like him had the heroine pinned against a wall, one hand hooked under the bend of her leg, the pose pure aggression.
"Wife."
His low voice pressed in with a scorching laugh.
"So... you like it like this?"
He flipped through the rest of the sheets slowly. His eyes went even darker.
"And this kind too... bent over in front of a floor-to-ceiling window?"
"Hm? There's even a pose like this?"
My face went red through and through. I scrambled to snatch them back.
"Lu Jingchuan! That... that's just exaggerated artistic expression! To catch the readers' eyes! It's not... mmph!"
Before I finished, he scooped me straight off the chair and carried me bridal-style.
"Art comes from life."
"Practice is the only way to test the truth. We'll... try them one by one."
"Ah! Lu Jingchuan, put me down!"
I kicked my legs in useless protest.
He kicked the bedroom door shut with one foot.
"No! Not there... you can't kiss..."
"Lu Jingchuan! You can't do it like that... mmph..."
Every protest got sealed back by his burning mouth.
I hit him and shoved him.
But he was all hard muscle. I was the one who ended up hurting.
I cursed him, then later cried and begged him.
He acted like he heard none of it, focused, putting everything into action.
In the end, he wore me out until my whole body went soft.
He held me, looking satisfied, then busily changed the sheets that were already a wreck.
I clutched the quilt, so mortified I wanted to vanish on the spot.
"This is so embarrassing..."
He wiped water off his face. His voice was hoarse and full of contentment.
"Not embarrassing. I like watching... I really like it..."
"Shut up..."
I was dying of shame and fury.
He held me and laughed low.
"Wife, draw a few more later. I'll study them one by one."