Chapter 288 - 233: A Warm Start to the New Year

Chapter 288: Chapter 233: A Warm Start to the New Year

"Of course."

Jiang Ruan pouted. "My face is covered in flour. How am I supposed to eat later?"

"Let’s go."

Gu Heng took Jiang Ruan’s hand and they rode the elevator back to the master bathroom.

The two of them stood before the six-meter-long vanity, and when they saw each other’s reflections in the mirror, they couldn’t help but laugh again.

Gu Heng slowly walked up behind Jiang Ruan and gently wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Did you miss me last night?"

Gu Heng gazed at Jiang Ruan through the mirror, his voice soft.

"You spent New Year’s Eve with another woman, and you still expect me to sit at home thinking about you."

Jiang Ruan turned her head to the side in a pout. "I didn’t miss you at all. I was perfectly happy last night, cooped up at home eating Lobster, watching the New Year’s Eve gala, and drinking iced plum wine. I was too busy having fun to think about you."

"Oh?"

"Did that iced plum wine you drank last night go bad?"

Gu Heng lowered his head and planted a kiss on Jiang Ruan’s long, snow-white neck, a hint of laughter in his voice. "Why do I smell someone being so sour?"

Jiang Ruan’s cheeks puffed out. She had wanted to act magnanimous, but Gu Heng’s question had just drawn out the deep-seated jealousy buried in her heart.

She had always known that besides her, Gu Heng had other women on the outside—and more than just one.

Before, when Gu Heng had forced himself on her, she hadn’t cared about this at all. But now, she found it truly difficult to be as indifferent as she used to be.

She would get jealous. She would feel bitter. She would miss him. She would feel possessive...

Jiang Ruan knew. ’I’ve completely fallen in love with Gu Heng.’

"I’m not sour at all."

"On New Year’s Eve, your girlfriend should obviously be the priority. What am I, anyway?"

Sometimes, the more a woman talks, the more worked up she gets.

Now that this wave of jealousy had been drawn out of Jiang Ruan, it was hard to push it back down.

For this, there was only one cure.

Gu Heng reached out and pinched Jiang Ruan’s soft, pale cheek, turning her averted face forward again so she was forced to meet his eyes in the mirror.

...

Half an hour later, the two returned to the dining room.

Jiang Ruan, who had been brimming with jealousy just moments ago, was now as docile as a little lamb.

"This one should be the seafood medley filling. Try it."

Jiang Ruan’s face was flushed a rosy red, as if she had taken a potent tonic, and she looked exceptionally radiant.

She was now being exceptionally gentle and considerate.

She first blew on a dumpling to cool it down before feeding it to Gu Heng.

"Mmm~"

"Tastes good~"

"Not sour at all~"

Gu Heng teased Jiang Ruan, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

"I didn’t dip it in vinegar, so of course it’s not sour."

Jiang Ruan knew Gu Heng was teasing her. The thought of how he had just pressed her against the vanity, forcing her to assume all sorts of shameful poses in front of the mirror under the bright lights, made her instinctively clamp her long, beautiful legs together under the table.

She really found it hard to resist Gu Heng’s forceful affection.

"In about two weeks, I might have to make a trip to Changbai Mountain."

Gu Heng stopped teasing Jiang Ruan and changed the subject. "Zhen Cui Group plans to invest in a medicinal herb cultivation base there. Do you want to come with me?"

"Just by yourself?"

Hearing Jiang Ruan’s question, Gu Heng knew exactly what she was really asking.

She was clearly asking whether he would be taking any other women with him on this trip.

"You still remember Wang Wan Ning, right?"

Gu Heng finished the seafood medley dumpling in his mouth before continuing, "When I was leaving Zhonghai, she mentioned she wanted to come here to ski during her winter break. Changbai Mountain has the best ski slopes in Ji Province, so I was thinking if the timing works out, I’ll take her along."

"When I was in Zhonghai, her brother, Wang Yan, took care of everything for me every day. Now that his little sister is coming to my turf, I should naturally return the favor and show her some hospitality. This trip to Changbai Mountain will be a perfect opportunity for her to experience the local culture, food, and entertainment of Ji Province."

When Jiang Ruan heard Gu Heng mention Wang Wan Ning’s name, she immediately recalled the words the other woman had said to her that day in the Hermes store while they were picking out quota items.

Elegant, perceptive, beautiful, brave, poised...

In all her life, that was the first girl who had ever made Jiang Ruan feel inferior. It wasn’t because of the other woman’s looks or figure, but because her way of thinking was on a level so far beyond her own.

The "bitch" versus "lioness" analogy was still fresh in her memory.

She knew, of course, that Wang Wan Ning liked Gu Heng. Wang Wan Ning had never tried to hide it; even with Jiang Ruan right by Gu Heng’s side, she had always been completely direct with her advances.

"If Wang Wan Ning is going to Changbai Mountain with you, then I won’t go."

Jiang Ruan felt genuinely stressed when she was around Wang Wan Ning.

Especially when she saw Gu Heng talking and laughing with Wang Wan Ning, she would always feel like an outsider, like the two of them belonged to a world of their own.

It was an awful, powerless feeling.

As for whether Wang Wan Ning was coming to Ji Province for the skiing or for Gu Heng, the answer was obvious. It was undoubtedly the latter.

The other woman was coming specifically for Gu Heng. Even if she went to Changbai Mountain with him, Wang Wan Ning wouldn’t hold back just because she was there.

In the end, she would be the only one feeling miserable.

Rather than put herself through that, it was better to be out of sight and out of mind.

’Actually, the fact that Gu Heng invited me to Changbai Mountain is enough to make me happy. It means he has a place for me in his heart.’

"You’re really not going?"

Gu Heng asked again.

"I’m really not going."

"I don’t understand business, and I can’t ski."

Jiang Ruan placed another dumpling on Gu Heng’s plate. "You and Wang Wan Ning can just go to Changbai Mountain. I’ll wait for you at home. I can use the time to get the New Year’s shopping done early."

"Hmm..."

"Alright, then."

Seeing that Jiang Ruan was serious, Gu Heng didn’t insist.

It was New Year’s Day, and every household was enjoying a reunion dinner. Although it was just Gu Heng and Jiang Ruan, their reunion dinner was still a satisfying and flavorful one.

After dinner, the two went to the living room and watched the national New Year’s Day Gala for a while before heading upstairs to the bedroom hand in hand.

Earlier in the bathroom, Gu Heng had been trying to deal with Jiang Ruan’s little tantrum, so it had been a quickie; he hadn’t truly gotten his fill.

Now that they were both full and satisfied, it was time for what could be considered Jiang Ruan’s first real ’lesson’ of the year.

...

「In the two weeks that followed, the initial excitement of the new year began to fade.」

During the day, Gu Heng oversaw things at Zhen Cui Group, personally monitoring the progress of the full-scale expansion into the northern market and the product innovation at Zhenyuan Restaurant. With Gu Heng pouring in hundreds of millions in capital, every department in the group began operating at full capacity.

The entire Zhen Cui Group was now like a precision machine. Every department, every manager, and every employee was like a gear, supporting the smooth advancement of the group’s two major strategic initiatives.

At the same time, while keeping a close eye on Zhen Cui Group, Gu Heng also made sure to press forward with the first-level unlock mission for the [Scepter of Momentum]: [Learn from History].

Currently, Gu Heng had already finished 35 books from the reading list given for the [Learn from History] challenge mission. With only 15 books left, he estimated he could complete the challenge in another month.

Gu Heng was busy with work during the day, while at night he rotated his affections between Jiang Ruan, Xu Mo, and Luo Xiwen.

He would spend two days at Baiyue Mansion, then two days at Yulan Scenic Garden.

With the buff from the [Eternal Day Engine], it was truly a divine existence.

After attending the New Year’s Eve gala in Zhonghai, Tian Xiqwei returned to Beichun to film for a few more days. She and Gu Heng had two meals together, but unfortunately, it never snowed again in Beichun before she left.

Amidst all the activity, time flew by...