Chapter 14

"Are we in a cold war?" he asked with a helpless smile.

"That's right!"

"For what reason?"

"For no reason." she said cunningly. "There are only about two months left, it will pass quickly, I can endure it."

"So if I want to take you out for a walk later, you will refuse without a second thought?" he asked tentatively.

Bai Bai Ziling opened her mouth in surprise. "You want to take me out for a walk!"

"It's only past eight, are you already going to sleep?"

"Of course not." she said immediately.

"Are you coming or not?" he asked coolly.

"I'm coming!"

"But you said we're in a cold war." his gaze fixed on her was unusually hot and deep; this girl was his "wife", regardless of whether it was a name without substance, she was indeed his legal wife.

"We can resume the cold war tomorrow." she said playfully; he wanted to take her out for a walk... oh my god! she had been waiting for a month.

"A temporary truce first?"

"A truce for one night." she said with her head held high.

"You... haven't finished your bath yet." he reminded her, his gaze wandering over the exposed parts of her body; he had never thought there was anything worth looking at in a woman's feet, but he found Bai Bai Ziling's toes... very cute, very pleasing to the eye.

"Give me five minutes." she ran off lightly.

"Take your time bathing, I will... wait for you." Jiang Jie had never said such a considerate thing to any woman.

Bai Bai Ziling almost slipped because her feet were wet; seeing this in Jiang Jie's eyes... he suddenly realized he hadn't thought about Yu Zi Si Qi for a very, very long time, truly a miracle!

Jiang Jie didn't expect he could go shopping easily with a girl more than ten years his junior; although when passing by boutique stores, she was the one who stopped more often, while he focused on her expression of wonder and desire, at least they walked together like a married couple.

This time Bai Bai Ziling wore a sleeveless floral sundress, tailored to fit, knee-length, making her appear even slimmer and taller; no wonder ordinary men like "young girls", because youth is invincible; Bai Bai Ziling didn't need a diploma, relying solely on her face and figure, she could live a life of luxury.

Jiang Jie did not deny that the sight of her wrapped only in a bath towel just now was deeply imprinted in his mind, never to be erased.

Tired from shopping, they found an outdoor cafe; the cool night breeze and the leisurely, carefree mood indeed let Jiang Jie, whose nerves were always tense, catch his breath.

Bai Bai Ziling didn't order coffee; she ordered a sweet and sour egg nectar, because at this moment she had not a trace of bitterness in her heart; like the egg nectar, her heart was sweet and sour, feeling very much like being in love.

It turned out Jiang Jie could have this kind of appearance too; he could be so "human", no longer always wearing a CEO's face, no longer that person standing high above.

"Jiang Jie, honestly, does a single bath towel really have such a significant effect?" Bai Bai Ziling joked with him.

He countered: "Was it intentional?"

"I didn't even know you would come back so early."

"Then..." he admitted. "The effect is very significant."

"But I didn't expose anything, you didn't even see my belly button."

"Have you heard of 'room for imagination'?"

"So if I exposed everything, you might not even react?" she teased, joking easily with him.

"I don't know, do you want to try exposing everything?" he provoked her.

"Don't even think about it!"

"Bai Bai Ziling, originally... originally I thought you were an... open girl; after all, it is 2003, I thought you would gamble yourself..."

"You thought I would sneak up to your bed in the dark, thought I would have relations with you at any cost, and then make a huge fortune?" Bai Bai Ziling was not angry; she just looked at him with a very calm expression. "Jiang Jie, you should thank my three best friends."

"It has to do with them?"

"All four of us are pure and self-respecting; we can talk nonsense, but our behavior is self-disciplined, we absolutely do not mess around; even after being kicked out of school together, we still held fast to one bottom line: we would never degrade ourselves or insult ourselves." Bai Bai Ziling said seriously.

Jiang Jie just listened.

"We all want to marry rich husbands, but we do not resort to unscrupulous means."

"They were just lucky?"

"Very lucky!"

Jiang Jie had heard of the matter between Lei Lei Hanyu and Xia Zhen; they first had a lightning marriage, then suddenly divorced, and then remarried; this matter was not a secret in Taipei's social circle.

"I know you might look down on me in your heart, thinking I am a scheming woman who only wants your money, who only wants to be a CEO's wife for a lifetime..." she pouted her lips.

"Don't you want that?"

"I do!" she said frankly.

Jiang Jile smiled helplessly. "You really are frank and cute."

"I want to, but I won't use any despicable means; actually I am..." she revealed a mysterious expression.

"Actually what?"

"Actually I hope... you will fall in love with me!" she showed him her last trump card.

Jiang Jie did not respond; his eyes suddenly became unfathomable; he took a light sip of cappuccino; he never thought he would truly fall in love with any woman; even with Yu Zi Si Qi, he only thought she was the most suitable for him, but she had caused him to lose face, and he always kept that in mind.

"Do you think there is such a possibility?" seeing him silent, she insisted on asking further.

"You've read too many romance novels." he replied perfunctorily.

"This means..."

"What is love? No one can ever explain it concretely, but the seven necessities of opening a household—firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea—I believe everyone is very clear about." Jiang Jie lightly tapped her forehead. "I only need a nominal wife for three months; I do not intend to be a married man for a lifetime!"

"So..." Bai Bai Ziling's heart began to sink.

"Bai Bai Ziling, we might sleep together, you might get more than three million from me, but love... that is a lie told to those young boys and girls who do not understand the world; if there really is any damn love in this world, then why is the divorce rate so high?"

There was no way to refute it. Bai Bai Ziling believed there was absolutely love in this world, but how could she make his stubborn head understand?

"Like the Duke of Windsor's 'not loving the throne but loving the beauty'..." Jiang Jie shook his head. "That is simply a problem with the brain!"

"That was a beautiful story."

"That is a fairy tale!" he gave another example. "What about Prince Charles and Princess Diana? That was neither a fairy tale nor a myth; that was a joke!"

Bai Bai Ziling glared at him, and all her good mood vanished.

"Between men and women... there is only sex," Jiang Jie said coldly.

"You are terrifyingly obsessive!"

"Asking you to die for a man..."

"If I loved him, I would!"

"Bai Bai Ziling, you've probably read too many romance novels. Men only want sex, just a warm female body. Whether it's you or another woman, do you think it makes any difference to me?" If Jiang Jie wanted to hurt her, then he had succeeded.

The egg honey juice in her hand suddenly turned bitter and foul-tasting, as if it were sewage from a stinking ditch. Bai Bai Ziling immediately set it down on the table, her face twisted in disgust.

"This is the real world!" he emphasized again.

"I want to go back." She deliberately avoided saying "home," because his place was not her true home after all.

"Not shopping anymore?"

"I'm not in the mood."

"Bai Bai Ziling, stop dreaming!" Jiang Jie smiled. "If I could fall in love with a woman that easily, I would have fallen in love hundreds, even thousands of times by now. Grow up!"

"Jiang Jie, you are wealthy, you look presentable, but in reality... you are a great villain who deserves to be torn into a thousand pieces!"

"Torn into a thousand pieces?"

She intensified her words: "Or pierced through the heart by ten thousand arrows."

"Because I speak the truth?"

"Because you are cold-blooded, selfish, and ruthless."

"That means I am normal."