"Are you alright?" Xia Li's voice carried a trace of imperceptible panic as she hurriedly took off her headphones. The blush on her ears was like peach blossoms soaked in morning dew, extending down to her neck.
At this moment, Jiang Cheng had long since had his deep desire for conquest stirred by Xia Li.
Shaking his wrist, his well-defined hand unbuttoned his suit jacket and casually tossed it onto a nearby wicker chair.
"I'm fine. Again."
Xia Li clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white. She hesitated for two seconds but eventually lowered her waist and bent her knees, settling into a standard combat starting stance with her elbows slightly raised to protect her heart.
"Then, here I come?"
She deliberately avoided Jiang Cheng's gaze, trying to use a calm tone to mask the improper emotions in her heart.
"Come on, don't hold back," Jiang Cheng said, rotating his ankles with a hint of playfulness in his voice. "Use as much force as you need. Feel free to 'ravage' me."
Hearing this, the image of Qiao Yinyin's unsteady footsteps from last night suddenly flashed through Xia Li's mind.
The imagined silhouette kept flashing in her mind.
It made her heart feel like a lake surface blown by a gust of wind, rippling with waves of slight bitterness.
When her gaze fell on Jiang Cheng's smooth muscle lines, that beautiful silhouette from last night quietly surfaced before her eyes once more.
"Phew—" Xia Li took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing her stray thoughts. When she looked down, her eyes had regained their clarity, though her voice was a bit lower. "Please be careful, Master."
At the door, Wang Sheng was originally leaning against the maybach's door scrolling through his phone, but hearing the commotion, he couldn't help but poke his head over.
He dangled an unlit cigarette in his mouth, watching the two of them spar. A look of surprise flashed in his eyes.
Jiang Cheng's moves were clearly systematically trained; his punches were from tricky angles, and his defense was airtight. At first, he could actually go back and forth with Xia Li.
But Xia Li was clearly holding back. It wasn't until one of Jiang Cheng's hook punches grazed her ear, the wind from it fluttering the stray hairs on her forehead, that something seemed to ignite within her, and her gaze suddenly became sharp.
The hesitation in her moves vanished. Her elbow struck toward Jiang Cheng's chest with the sharp sound of breaking wind, and her kick toward the back of his knee was fast and fierce, as if she wanted to pour all that inexplicable restlessness in her heart into her techniques.
"Bang!"
With a muffled thud, Xia Li's elbow strike broke through his defense and landed solidly on Jiang Cheng's ribs.
Jiang Cheng staggered back two steps, his lower back hitting the rose trellis heavily. The wooden trellis let out a "creak," and several red roses stained with morning dew rustled down, landing right in his dark hair.
Xia Li's face turned pale instantly. She immediately stopped her movements and walked over quickly, her skirt sweeping across the grass and picking up a few dew-stained blades.
"Are you alright?" She reached out to support him, but her fingertips paused in mid-air, her eyes filled with panic.
Jiang Cheng forced a smile and shook his head, rubbing the spot where he was hit. "I'm fine. Xia Li, I didn't realize you were hiding such skills."
Wang Sheng had originally intended to walk over and help Jiang Cheng with his clothes, but seeing Xia Li go over to pick them up, he tactfully retreated back to the door.
At this moment, a faint, lingering smile played on the corners of Xia Li's mouth.
After helping Jiang Cheng brush off the rose petals from his head, she personally helped him put on his jacket.
"You're already very impressive. It would be even better if your offensive was a bit more aggressive."
While she was helping him dress, when Xia Li's fingertips touched the warmth of Jiang Cheng's palm, she quickly withdrew her hand. As she turned around, she couldn't hide the blush spreading behind her ears from herself.
Noticing her abnormality, Jiang Cheng reached out and gave her smooth buttocks a playful slap.
"Wasn't I just being tender?" He raised an eyebrow, his tone a bit stubborn. "I was afraid of hurting you if I was too aggressive. I've decided, I'll come to you for morning exercises from now on. I'll definitely use more force then and let you feel it properly."
Jiang Cheng was clearly just being stubborn.
However, one must be 'hard' in front of women—not just stubborn in speech, but 'hard' everywhere. There was nothing wrong with that.
Jiang Cheng hadn't expected that he could actually go back and forth with Qiu Yihe.
But in front of Xia Li, he couldn't be called a noob; it was just that his experience was far too lacking.
Xia Li's mind was entirely on Jiang Cheng's reddened hand, and she didn't find anything wrong with his words at all.
"Then I shall look forward to it."
Hearing this, Wang Sheng, who was to the side, silently took out his phone.
He recorded the few sentences Jiang Cheng had just said into his pick-up artist quotes.
Xia Li looked at Jiang Cheng, who had finished putting on his jacket, and asked, "Young Master Jiang, are you going out?"
Jiang Cheng was adjusting his cuffs and didn't look up. "Yeah."
Wang Sheng, holding the car keys nearby, suddenly chimed in, "President Jiang is heading out specifically to investigate the background of that group of mercenaries for you."
Seeing Wang Sheng being so tactful, Jiang Cheng raised an eyebrow and shot him a sidelong glance.
He feigned a look of displeasure. "You talk too much."
Wang Sheng chuckled. "I was just afraid Xia Li wouldn't know."
Hearing this, Xia Li couldn't help but clasp her hands together. "I've troubled Young Master Jiang... actually, there's no need to be in such a hurry."
Jiang Cheng had already walked to the door and placed his hand on the car door.
With his back to her, he replied, "The sooner it's investigated, the sooner we can be at ease."
Seeing the gossipy look on Wang Sheng's face, he turned his head and added, "Aren't we leaving yet?"
Hearing this, Wang Sheng quickly followed, even winking at Xia Li as he passed her.
The moment the car door closed, Xia Li watched the car speed away.
The morning breeze blew through the garden, bringing the scent of roses and grass. She raised her hand to touch the burning back of her ear, but her lips couldn't help but curl up into a secret smile.
The car drove along the winding mountain road for over half an hour before finally arriving at a villa district on the outskirts of Chengdu.
The place where An Jingsheng lived was even more secluded than Jiang Cheng had imagined.
The detached villa halfway up the mountain was surrounded by a dense camphor forest. There was only a concrete road wide enough for two cars at the entrance, and no other residents could be seen for several kilometers.
"Old Master An's security is truly confident." Wang Sheng parked the car and looked at the surveillance cameras around. "In this place, even a bird flying in would be caught on camera."
Jiang Cheng didn't speak, his gaze falling on the courtyard.
The ground was covered with golden ginkgo leaves like a carpet. The branches of several old ginkgo trees were gnarled and powerful, clearly showing their age.
Just as they got out of the car, they heard a burst of light footsteps, accompanied by a crisp child's voice ringing out like wind chimes: "Brother Jiang Cheng!"
Annie was seen wearing a pink princess dress, still clutching half a piece of unfinished osmanthus cake in her hand.
When she ran in front of Jiang Cheng, a few ginkgo leaves were stuck to her skirt.
"I heard Grandpa say you were coming, so I've been waiting for you here!" She looked up with her small face, her eyes sparkling, and reached out to grab Jiang Cheng's hand.
Looking at Annie's cute cheeks, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but lean down and pick her up.
"Annie, let me see if you've gotten heavier?" Jiang Cheng smiled as he leaned down and lifted her, his arm sinking slightly. "Oh, has Annie put on some weight? You're much heavier than last time."
"I have not!" Annie squirmed in his arms, her small chin resting on his shoulder. "Mom said I've grown taller!"
She suddenly remembered something and tugged on Jiang Cheng's collar, pointing toward the villa. "Right, right! I drew a picture to show you. It's the dragon dance from last night's party. It's so majestic!"
After putting Annie down, Jiang Cheng ruffled her hair, a touch of softness rippling in his eyes. "Really? Then I must properly appreciate little artist Annie's work."
As they were speaking, An Xin hurriedly walked out of the house.
"Jiang Cheng, you're here? Come in quickly."
An Jingsheng walked out from the living room, holding a purple clay teacup. Seeing the two of them interact, a faint smile played on his lips. "You're here. Come in quickly."
Jiang Cheng nodded and then looked at An Xin.
She was wearing a moon-white modified cheongsam-style dress with fine silver thread along the collar, and a camel-colored Hermès shawl draped over her shoulders, making her neck appear even more slender.
However, her face was almost bare of makeup, with only a bit of dusty rose lipstick.
But even without exquisite makeup, her entire being still appeared exceptionally elegant and refined.
Instead, she had more of a "hibiscus emerging from clear water" charm than when she wore heavy makeup.
The luxury outfit, far from overshadowing her, even seemed to become a mere foil against her clean face.
She truly was a girl raised in luxury.