Chapter 5: Seduction

Jiang Li felt as if her heart was about to stop.

Was this really Wen Qingye?

Was this the same obedient, sweet little girl she remembered?

How could Wen Qingye press her down on the sofa so openly and say something so bold?

Jiang Li had heard that the entertainment circle was messy, full of unspoken rules and endless scandals. Had Wen Qingye been tainted by it too?

“Friends with benefits...” Jiang Li murmured.

Then, as she repeated the words, she suddenly laughed.

Wen Qingye wanted to gain the upper hand.

She refused to let herself become the one who was abandoned again.

This time, she would be the one to throw someone else away.

This time, she would be the one to crush someone else’s pride beneath her heel.

“Miss Bodyguard, I heard you’re short on money. Why don’t you name your price?” Wen Qingye looked down at her like someone standing far above.

Jiang Li’s mind nearly exploded.

“Name my price?”

“That’s right.” Wen Qingye curled her lips, her attitude careless and provocative. “How much would it cost to keep you?”

In one swift motion, Jiang Li flipped them over and pinned her down.

In an instant, their positions were reversed.

Jiang Li gripped Wen Qingye’s chin, lifted her face, and brushed her thumb slowly over her skin.

“Then how much does Miss Wen think I’m worth?”

Wen Qingye did not panic at all. She only smiled lightly.

“Miss Bodyguard has such excellent stamina. I’m willing to offer a high price. How about one million a year?”

The woman beneath her was like a beautiful, venomous snake, coiling around her body and tightening around her throat.

Something shattered in Jiang Li’s eyes.

“So I’m worth that much to Miss Wen?”

Jiang Li ran her thumb over Wen Qingye’s lips.

“You specifically asked me to be your bodyguard. So this was what you meant. In that case, I can’t disappoint you.”

Jiang Li’s kisses fell hard.

They landed on Wen Qingye’s porcelain-white skin, burning red marks into her.

Yet Wen Qingye still refused to stop provoking her.

“I wonder if Miss Bodyguard’s stamina can compare with all those friends with benefits I had?”

Her words pushed Jiang Li close to madness.

Jiang Li lowered her head and bit down on Wen Qingye’s collarbone, leaving a clear mark.

Wen Qingye let out a muffled sound.

Still unwilling to let it go, Jiang Li asked, “Does Miss Wen have many friends with benefits?”

Wen Qingye wrapped her arms around Jiang Li’s neck and smiled with deliberate intimacy.

“Jiang Li, we’ve been apart for four years. More than a thousand days and nights. That’s enough time for me to sleep with plenty of people.”

Her words struck Jiang Li like a heavy hammer, making even her eardrums ache.

Did that mean someone else had kissed her like this before?

Had someone else touched the beautiful butterfly bones of her back?

Had someone else heard the soft sounds she made when she lost herself?

Had someone else seen her helpless and undone?

Just thinking about it drove Jiang Li insane.

She wanted to tear every person who had ever touched Wen Qingye into pieces.

Wen Qingye had succeeded.

With almost no effort, she had ignited Jiang Li’s jealousy.

But she still felt it was not enough.

Even after four years apart, all that helplessness, resentment, and pain had long since been branded into her heart.

Wen Qingye had lost control.

She used reckless words and wanton provocation to draw out Jiang Li’s guilt or pity.

It did not matter which.

As long as she could affect Jiang Li, that was enough.

Jiang Li was completely enraged.

With one hand, she pinned both of Wen Qingye’s wrists above her head. With the other, she untied the black ribbon around Wen Qingye’s neck.

Wen Qingye’s eyes trembled.

Her wrists were bound, but her mouth was not.

Seizing the chance, she mocked her with a sharp, sarcastic smile.

“Not bad, Jiang Li. We haven’t seen each other in years, and you’ve become quite skilled.”

“Of course. I’ve unlocked plenty of tricks. Do you want to try them all? Hm?”

Jiang Li’s calloused palm slid over her waist.

Wen Qingye bit her lip, afraid that if she opened her mouth, another beautiful sound would escape.

Most of the shirt on Wen Qingye’s body had been peeled away.

The sight struck Jiang Li’s eyes with such force that she nearly lost control.

Only the metal-buckled belt was difficult to undo, and Jiang Li had to spend some effort on it.

Wen Qingye’s hands were bound, but her mouth was still free. She found another opening and laughed at her.

“Isn’t Miss Bodyguard supposed to have been with countless women? Why is it taking you so long to undo a belt?”

Jiang Li no longer gave her a chance to run her mouth.

Those lips had said far too many things today that she did not want to hear.

They needed to be thoroughly silenced.

With just a little force, Wen Qingye could no longer keep the spring in her throat from spilling out.

Under the dim light, her body, her scent, even her voice, were all tempting Jiang Li toward the abyss.

Suddenly, Wen Qingye thought of the past.

Back then, the two of them had once been this wild too.

But that madness had been filled with love and devotion.

What about this time?

Jiang Li kept dragging her back into their memories.

Tears slipped out uncontrollably and rolled down her face.

Jiang Li saw her tears.

Her heart still ached.

Unable to stop herself, she reached out to wipe them away, her voice softening.

“Why are you crying?”

Wen Qingye had become addicted to provoking her.

“Thanks to Miss Bodyguard. They’re just physical tears.”

“...Fine. Very fine.”

Wen Qingye could not remember how that night ended.

She only remembered clothes scattered all over the floor, and her exposed skin feeling cool in the air.

She had no strength left.

In the end, even her shower had been taken in Jiang Li’s arms.

Even in her dreams, she was still tangled with Jiang Li again and again, until she could no longer tell whether it was a dream or reality.

Her mind was a mess.

Memories from the past kept flashing back in broken fragments.

Confessing to Jiang Li.

Spending Valentine’s Day with Jiang Li.

Counting down to the New Year with Jiang Li.

Kissing Jiang Li.

Being intimate with Jiang Li...

Like scenes passing before her eyes, they would not stop.

Who would have thought that after four years apart, on the very first day they met again, Wen Qingye would once again surrender herself so hopelessly?

This time, was it salvation?

Or was it the abyss?

Wen Qingye had no answer.