Chapter 69: Looks Like I've Been Abused

She stood up and walked to Zhou Yinhe's front, lifted his chin, he tried to raise his hand to block his face, but Wen Ling blocked it and they stared directly at each other.

His eye sockets were red, his expression aggrieved and embarrassed, tears fell like pearls in strings; Wen Ling bit her lip, she had already composed herself and stopped crying, but seeing him like that made her nose sour uncontrollably, she wiped his tears while crying herself, yet no matter how she wiped, they wouldn't stop.

Are you a little crybaby? It's just that I bullied you a few times— is it necessary to cry so miserably?

Zhou Yinhe pushed aside her hand and pulled her into his embrace, exhausted he leaned against her, sobbing, 'Liar.'

"Okay, I'm a liar." Wen Ling supported his body, coaxing him: "Don't cry anymore, your eyes will swell if you keep crying."

Zhou Yinhe grunted, casually wiped his face, picked her up and walked back to the bedroom, pressed her onto the bed, buried his face in her embrace and rubbed his head against her, the whole sequence done very naturally.

Wen Ling could only knead his hair, helplessly saying, 'Your hair is poking me.'

Zhou Yinhe kissed her front, opened his mouth and contained it, his voice muffled and hoarse: 'One more time, okay?'

Wen Ling bit her lip and endured; he was the most hypocritical, using a questioning tone but his actions were utterly unreserved.

"You said, our commotion is so big— will this place collapse?"

Wen Ling heard his words, her eyes widened, her whole body trembled with tension; Zhou Yinhe let out a muffled hum, then began to chuckle lowly.

"Then we can be considered to have died for love."

Wen Ling, angry, slapped him; Zhou Yinhe looked up at her innocently, aggrieved: 'I was just joking, why did you hit me?'

He said while increasing the pressure, Wen Ling's cheeks were unusually red, strands of hair stuck to her face.

"Stop pretending."

She lifted her chin, forcing herself not to let her thoughts follow him, her voice sweet and soft, making Zhou Yinhe nearly surrender.

Wen Ling gave up, no longer trying to struggle.

She is just too easy to deceive; seeing him cry makes her soft-hearted, who would have thought he was pitiful one second and the next could torment her like this.

After she repeatedly fainted and woke up, Zhou Yinhe finally loosened his hand that had been tightly pressing her waist; she lay powerless on the bed, the red marks on her waist especially conspicuous.

The rain finally stopped; Wen Ling used all her remaining strength, pinching Zhou Yinhe's arm and twisting it hard, only feeling relieved when she heard him hiss.

Zhou Yinhe, however, kept laughing, holding her in his arms; Wen Ling gritted her teeth: 'Starting tomorrow, each to their own home!'

Afterwards she lost consciousness and fell into a deep sleep.

When Wen Ling woke up, she blinked blearily; the room before her wasn't last night's room, but somewhat familiar.

It took her a long time to realize she had returned to Lang Po Wan, but she had no memory of this; likely Zhou Yinhe sent her back while she was asleep.

She tried to turn over, but was so sore and weak she could hardly move; she slumped back down, gritting her teeth and uttering a low curse word by word.

After a long while she finally managed to prop herself up, reaching to support her waist, but when she touched her side it hurt and she gasped.

She stood before the bathroom mirror, turned sideways to glance at her waist; the symmetrical red marks had now turned purple, countless marks all over her body, as if she had been abused—no wonder it hurt so much.

If Zhou Yinhe were in front of her, she would surely choke him to death; likely he knows this, which is why he slipped away before she woke up.

Wen Ling could only change into conservative home clothes; with her legs trembling like this she definitely wouldn't dare take the stairs, so she could only take the elevator down.

On the table there was still a steaming, fragrant lunch, but no one was home; likely Zhou Yinhe had sent everyone away, and he somehow managed to time it perfectly to coincide with her waking up.

Wen Ling picked up her phone and dialed; as soon as the call was answered, she coldly said: 'Get down here!'

She hung up, threw the phone on the table, pressed her lips and kept a cold face; hearing footsteps behind her, she didn't turn around.

"Lingling."

Zhou Yinhe approached, half-kneeling before Wen Ling's knees, looking up at her with a somewhat innocent expression.

He wore a black shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, revealing his firm forearms, which bore two bluish-purple marks.

Wen Ling couldn't help but reach out and pinch his cheeks hard twice, coldly saying: 'Don't play innocent; the marks on my body are far more numerous than yours—people who don't know would think I got beaten up by you.'

Zhou Yinhe stretched out his arms to hug her again, but Wen Ling shoved him away forcefully, leaving two red slap marks on his pale skin, just like the symmetrical marks on her waist, one on each side—fair.

Zhou Yinhe feigned pain with two 'ah' sounds; Wen Ling lightly exposed him: 'Stop pretending, I barely used any force.'

Zhou Yinhe pressed his lips and smiled, grabbing Wen Ling's hand and kneading it, explaining: 'I was afraid your hand would hurt, so I shouted for you.'

"I know I was a bit over the top last night." He justified himself righteously: "But it's also because you sang and played the piano for me, and coaxed me, that I couldn't hold back."

Wen Ling lowered her gaze and met his eyes; seeing his eyelids red and swollen, the whites of his eyes filled with red blood vessels, she exhaled, turned, picked up her chopsticks and began to eat.

Fortunately, before going to the mountain top Scenic Overlook yesterday, she and Chu Yao and Fu Huahua had eaten some snacks at the bar; otherwise, with Zhou Yinhe's abundant energy, she would have fainted already during the first time in the car.

Zhou Yinhe stood up and sat opposite her, his gaze bright as he looked at her; Wen Ling recalled how pitifully he had cried the previous night, and still couldn't help but soften.

"Wait a moment and ice your eyes." Her tone was cold and firm, yet she asked concerned: 'How could you cry your eyes into this state?'

She remembered that before bed, Zhou Yinhe's eyes weren't this severe.

Zhou Yinhe softly replied 'okay,' without telling Wen Ling the reason; having gotten his wish, he tightly embraced her while she slept and silently wept.

Wen Ling roughly guessed, so she didn't press further, only saying: 'Where's the medicine you bought?'

Zhou Yinhe pressed his lips and went to the living room to fetch the medicine, softly saying: 'Sorry.'

When he bought the medicine, he had asked, and it was not friendly to women; taking too much would affect women's health.

He said guiltily: 'This is the last time; next time I will definitely remember to wear it.'

Wen Ling swallowed the medicine, took a sip of water to wash it down, stretched lazily and gestured for Zhou Yinhe to act.

"Hold me back to the room, I need to catch up on sleep."

Zhou Yinhe nodded, came over to embrace her, walking and saying: 'I need to go home for a bit later, I can't accompany you in catching up on sleep.'

Wen Ling hummed, closed her eyes and said: 'Starting tonight, each to their own home.'

Zhou Yinhe didn't want to, but he had already agreed, so he had no choice but to consent.

Wen Ling lay back on the bed and soon fell asleep again; Zhou Yinhe held her hand until she fell into deep sleep before leaving.

His mother called and messaged him this morning, bombarding him, demanding he must return home for a trip.

When he arrived at Feng Qi Yuan, his aunt— that is, Zhou Jingyuan's mother— was also there, along with his older sister-in-law; the butler was huddled among the three women, whispering something.

Zhou Yinhe furrowed his brows and gave a light cough, startling the four people who were whispering, making them jump.