Chapter 182: Mr. Wu, You Did That on Purpose, Didn’t You?

Chapter 182: Mr. Wu, You Did That on Purpose, Didn’t You?

Wu Yurong stood before the liquor cabinet, choosing a bottle.

Her tolerance really was no better than average, and red wine had a strong delayed kick. She had no intention of mixing—that went to the head faster—so she would stay with red and choose something a little lower in alcohol.

Wu Chen came up behind her and slightly to one side, one hand in his pocket, and looked into the cabinet as well.

“Mr. Wu, this 2000 Pétrus—”

She had only just drawn out a bottle when she turned to speak to him and ran straight into his chest.

Tipsy, unsteady, and in heels, she lost her balance. Not only was she about to fall; the bottle slipped from her hand.

“Whoa—careful, President Wu.”

Wu Chen caught her around the waist and took a step back, drawing her fully into his arms.

“Ah! I’m sorry, Mr. Wu. I didn’t know you’d come over as well—”

She reacted quickly. She put a hand on his shoulder and straightened at once—but too fast, so that her body swayed again.

Her head was spinning.

“Are you all right, President Wu?” Wu Chen steadied her again, holding her by the crook of the arm. Smiling, he gave the wine bottle in his other hand a small shake. “Would’ve been a shame to break this.”

The bottle in his other hand was the one she had dropped and nearly smashed.

At an angle she had not even noticed, he had swept out a hand and caught it.

They stood very close.

Wu Yurong could smell the fresh, masculine scent on him…

In truth it was men’s body wash. Wu Chen had showered at noon.

Wu Chen could smell the waves of fragrance coming off her. She never used heavy perfume.

Of course, stronger than either was the smell of wine on them both.

“I’m sorry. I may have… drunk a little too fast just now.” Wu Yurong smiled, three parts drunk and faintly embarrassed.

She did not shake off the hand supporting her.

That would have been too deliberate.

Wu Chen knew that in truth Wu Yurong deeply distrusted men.

It was also why her bodyguards were women.

Not that she had no male bodyguards. It was simply that anyone who stayed near her for long stretches had to be female.

And yet—

Although Wu Yurong did not trust men, she was attracted to men. In fact her appetites were considerable. As the saying went, a woman in her thirties was a wolf, and a woman in her forties…

Wu Yurong might have gone all these years without a man, but she still had her hands.

Wu Chen also knew she longed for one.

She simply would never behave like those rich women who kept pretty young lovers. Wu Yurong was fiercely proud. She would not cheapen herself. And as she aged she looked down more and more on men her own age. Some boss worth billions was, to her, only another aging scumbag who could be undone by her smile.

Younger men hardly bore mentioning. No money, no ability—not even qualified to stand too close to her.

Like Li Ruobing, any man she wanted had to be strong.

The difference was that Li Ruobing wanted a strong man as a partner for life.

Wu Yurong merely believed that only a strong man, a man she could look up to, was fit to be her lover.

A partner? Marriage?

She had no interest in either.

She had been divorced, and her daughter was already grown. More extremely than Li Ruobing, she held that marriage was a shackle. A grave.

So she would not plant future risk and uncertainty for the sake of a moment’s impulse.

She thought too much.

Wu Chen was certain Wu Yurong wanted a man.

He had tested that point during the thousand-year loop.

After he won her over, her performance at night was enough to make his back ache at the memory…

And inside the loop he had not been able to build up his body either. Any conditioning simply reset.

Wu Chen knew something else as well.

Winning Wu Yurong over had one extremely important prerequisite—

Physical contact with her.

That was crucial.

For many years this had been the boundary she maintained. However thoroughly she charmed a man, she would never let him touch her; otherwise she would feel she had lost out. And given her position, naturally no man dared touch her first.

A ceremonial handshake did not count.

But once that boundary was broken, it produced an extremely subtle effect on Wu Yurong’s psychology.

It was somewhat like a couple who had just begun dating. If they had never slept together they might stay very restrained with one another. But once they crossed that line, suddenly there was far less to be shy about, and things could get adventurous.

The comparison was not quite apt, but it was similar.

This too was a conclusion Wu Chen had reached by experiment during the loop.

So long as there had never been physical contact between her and a man, Wu Yurong would keep everything in the realm of psychology and hold the line absolutely.

She would never let a man touch her.

But if he had touched her before—or more precisely, had held her…

Then because it had already happened once, she would widen the boundary. She would grow less resistant to limited contact, and might even turn it around and use it herself.

Until, driven by her own desires, she went too far…

Of course, for her to truly lose control, the great prerequisite still stood:

The man had to be strong.

“Let’s leave it, President Wu. You seem a little drunk. We can stop here for today.”

Wu Chen supported her with one hand while moving to put the bottle back with the other.

Through both his words and his actions he tied continuing the conversation to continuing to drink.

As he spoke, he even let go of the hand supporting her.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll simply drink less. If you want more, Mr. Wu, then keep drinking.” Wu Yurong stopped him, all smiles. “I’m very glad to have met you today, Mr. Wu. Besides, we haven’t finished talking…”

There was no possibility of letting him leave now.

She hated the unknown.

She hated what she could not work out.

If Wu Chen did not finish, she had no way to make a decision.

It would eat at her.

This mattered far too much to her.

“It’s all right,” Wu Yurong said again.

She reached out and took the corkscrew from the cabinet. But as she turned, she swayed again, looking exactly like a drunk woman who had lost her footing.

Wu Chen reached out and steadied her once more.

He could tell.

This time she had lost her balance on purpose.

She wanted him to support her.

She wanted to wake his protective instinct.

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing. These heels just get in the way…” Wu Yurong said, still three parts drunk.

With a flick of one foot and then the other, she kicked off both heels and stood barefoot on the floor.

“The floor’s dirty. And cold,” Wu Chen said.

He had helped her one step toward the sofa when suddenly—

The hand holding the wine went around the back of her neck.

His other arm slid beneath the backs of her knees.

Wu Chen bent and swept Wu Yurong up in a bridal carry.

“Mm—”

She turned her head and stared at him, eyes wide.

She was utterly stunned.

Completely dumbfounded.

It had been many years since her feelings had shifted this violently.

For a moment she was too shocked to think.

Wu Chen actually dared carry her like this!

This young man actually dared sweep her up into his arms!

Wu Yurong was no idiot.

Of course she knew he had done it deliberately.

She simply could not believe he dared be that bold.

Was it the drink?

Wu Chen, however, remained entirely calm.

He carried the stunned Wu Yurong to the sofa, bent, and set her down in an armchair, taking the corkscrew from her hand in passing.

Then he crossed to the armchair opposite and sat. He planted the bottle on the coffee table and began working the cork.

“Your tolerance isn’t good, and you still want to drink?” Wu Chen glanced up at her with a smile as he worked.

Wu Yurong still wore her habitual smile.

But even now that smile was frozen in place.

She stared at him, eyes wide open.

“Mr. Wu, you did that on purpose, didn’t you?” she demanded, glaring at him.

She was about to lose her temper.