Chapter 329: Boyfriends Are Made to Be Used

Ke Zhongyu knew Jiang Lai had a cool temperament; she hardly expressed her inner thoughts, and even if she was moved, she did so silently.

Thus, being able to make Jiang Lai utter the word "partner" left him utterly shocked.

Jiang Lai liked him more than he had imagined; otherwise, how could she have said those two words, "partner"?

Ke Zhongyu suppressed his excitement, personally drove Jiang Lai in, and parked the car where the old Hongqi Car Car Car car used to be.

Click.

As the flash went off, Jiang Lai saw Ke Zhongyu take a photo of the car with his phone.

"Huh?" Jiang Lai felt a bit puzzled.

Ke Zhongyu lowered his phone a bit and, in front of Jiang Lai, sent the photo to his sister Ke Zhongying.

He believed he didn't need to type anything; a single picture was enough to prove his status as the main wife.

Why would he still need to sneakily drive Ke Zhongying's Hongqi Car Car Car? Now he could openly drive his own Cullinan swaggeringly into Number Ten Courtyard on Yanping Road.

Jiang Lai silently watched Ke Zhongyu's showy display with just one photo, wanting to laugh a little, and her heart grew softer.

Ke Zhongyu tucked his phone away.

The next second, a ding-dong alert sounded like firecrackers, nonstop.

Jiang Lai glanced sideways at Ke Zhongyu.

Ke Zhongyu calmly said, "Don't mind those who are offended."

Jiang Lai couldn't help but laugh: "Zhongying is your real sister."

Ke Zhongyu: "Your relationship is too ambiguous."

Jiang Lai: "?"

A warm hand slipped between her fingers, lacing their ten fingers together.

Ke Zhongyu raised their joined hands, his firm gaze telling her: "You have a partner."

Jiang Lai looked at their tightly clasped hands, then lowered them to hang between them: "I know."

Ke Zhongyu: "You'd better know."

His voice carried a slight teeth-gritting warning, but his eyes were soft.

Jiang Lai nodded repeatedly.

As they went up the stairs, Ke Zhongyu walked slightly ahead, pulling her up step by step.

The third floor wasn't tiring for Jiang Lai; with Ke Zhongyu leading and pulling her, she always felt a bit lighter.

The hallway was spotless, the lighting bright, and Jiang Lai could clearly see the man's outline.

She stared a bit, simply because the man before her was named Ke Zhongyu.

A man who had somehow seeped into her life at some point made being together feel not unreal at all, but rather a natural steadiness.

Ke Zhongyu stopped, meeting Jiang Lai's lingering gaze—cool yet softened, focused—and they didn't even realize they'd reached the front door.

"Stop looking; I'm a man, a normal man who's long harbored designs on you."

Jiang Lai came to, realizing she had been staring at Ke Zhongyu in a daze—and been caught.

Awkward.

Her face heated.

She quickly averted her gaze, unlocked the door with her fingerprint, fetched slippers for herself and also a pair for Ke Zhongyu, then changed and went inside.

The living room light was off, but the secondary bedroom had its light on.

Ping'an was in the room.

Jiang Lai glanced back at Ke Zhongyu, saw he had changed into slippers and was closing the door, then went to knock on Ping'an's door.

Ping'an walked out of the bedroom, called "sister," his pronunciation much clearer than before.

"Have you eaten dinner?"

Ping'an nodded: "At Grandma's."

Meaning he'd eaten dinner at Chi Grandma's; Jiang Lai ruffled his head.

Ke Zhongyu walked over and also called Ping'an's name.

Ping'an nodded, uttering two muffled words: "Sis, brother-in-law."

Both Jiang Lai and Ke Zhongyu were startled.

Ping'an's "brother-in-law" made Ke Zhongyu's heart bloom with joy; he praised Ping'an: "Sensible."

Then he told Jiang Lai: "Ping'an's food, clothing, housing, and travel are on me."

Jiang Lai pressed her lips, finally unable to hold back a soft laugh.

She thought Ke Zhongyu was like a childish imp.

Strangely cute.

Ping'an didn't know why his sister laughed, but seeing her laugh, he also showed his white teeth, gave a silly grin for a moment, pointed to the room and said: "Herbal medicine, need to memorize."

That's because his homework isn't finished.

Jiang Lai gestured for him to go in, then went to open the fridge; as her hand touched the fruit, Ke Zhongyu's hand reached over, took the whole bunch of grapes in front of her, and asked: "Anything else?"

Jiang Lai said: "Honeydew melon, that's about enough; we shouldn't eat too much at night."

Ke Zhongyu then took out a whole honeydew melon, looked at Jiang Lai for her opinion, and then what?

Since we're eating fruit, of course we need to wash and cut it.

He was basically asking the obvious.

Jiang Lai walked to the kitchen, Ke Zhongyu followed; he stood at the faucet and told Jiang Lai, who was rolling up her sleeves: "Just stand aside and direct."

The man stepped into her spot, forcing her to move aside and stand to the side.

Ke Zhongyu rolled up his sleeves, revealing sturdy forearm muscles; his large palms washed grape after grape, giving Jiang Lai the feeling of using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken.

"Fruit plate." the man's voice rang out.

Jiang Lai immediately opened the cupboard, took out a white porcelain plate and placed it over.

The round, shiny grapes slid one by one into the plate, even piling up.

After washing the grapes, Ke Zhongyu started washing the honeydew melon, rinsing the rind with water a few times, placing it on the cutting board, rinsing the knife as well, then with a few swish sounds cut it open; although the pieces varied in size, he did it smoothly.

In fact, this was Ke Zhongyu's first time cutting a melon.

His learning ability is not bad; for such a simple thing, seeing it once is enough to know how to do it.

The honeydew melon was cut into individual three-dimensional triangular pieces, the first piece was sent to Jiang Lai's lips.

Jiang Lai prepared to reach for it, but Ke Zhongyu didn't let her, gesturing for her to open her mouth.

Jiang Lai opened her mouth, bit into the honeydew melon Ke Zhongyu offered, and it was very sweet, very sweet.

"Do you know what a boyfriend is for?" Ke Zhongyu asked, watching her chew slowly.

Jiang Lai hadn't finished chewing, so she couldn't speak yet.

Ke Zhongyu: "A boyfriend is for using, in all sorts of ways."

The grapes and honeydew melon were divided into two portions; Ke Zhongyu held one portion in one hand, slightly lifting his chin to signal Jiang Lai to leave the kitchen first.

The two of them delivered one portion of the fruit to Ping'an's room.

Ping'an obediently said thank you.

The other portion was placed on the coffee table in the living room.

Jiang Lai sat on the sofa, eating fruit, and suddenly asked Ke Zhongyu: "Do you want to see the orchid you sent? I've been taking good care of it."

The orchid was placed in Jiang Lai's bedroom.

"Do you want to see the orchid you sent?" has the same effect as "Do you want to come to my place to see my cat?", carrying a hint of inviting ambiguity.

But Ke Zhongyu knew that Jiang Lai letting him see the flowers was purely to see the flowers, without any romantic thoughts.

Jiang Lai said she had taken good care of the orchid, meaning she valued the flower he sent; what's the difference between that and a confession?

Ke Zhongyu's face showed nothing unusual, but deep down his heart blossomed with joy.

"Look." he said, "Shall I get it?"

Jiang Lai nodded.

Ke Zhongyu also sensed other meanings.

Jiang Lai allowed him to enter her private space.

The man's lip corners involuntarily curved upward.

He pushed the door open and went in, leaving it wide open so Jiang Lai could see his every move; he didn't look around, went straight to the bedside table, and picked up the pot of cold orchid still in bud.

But as he passed Jiang Lai's small desk in the room, he caught sight of an A4 sheet with his name written on it, weighed down by a silver steel pen.

Ke Zhongyu stopped in his steps and couldn't help but look over.