Chapter 5: Noun or Verb?

At that moment, Guo Zikun very much wanted to curse. Hadn't it been agreed that he was not a greedy man? Hadn't it been said, "How could I bow and scrape to the powerful, thus losing my happy countenance?" Could he at least have a little dignity?

Watching Qin Chuan, who supposedly refused to bend to the powerful, holding a bank card and eagerly catering to this very authority figure—his face grinning brighter than a field of dandelions—Guo Zikun felt his throat itch, the taste of blood threatening to rise.

"Damn it, let's just consider this paying to avoid disaster!" Guo Zikun kept repeating to himself, trying to stave off the urge to spit blood.

Lan Jin's beautiful eyes were lively; for the first time, she felt an intense curiosity and interest in the opposite sex. Her grandfather's life was safe, and she didn’t have to marry the detestable Guo Zikun. All of it was inseparable from this man before her.

"I heard you once declared you’d offer yourself to whoever could cure your grandfather?" Qin Chuan’s voice suddenly sounded, pulling Lan Jin back to reality.

"Of...of course," she replied, seeing Qin Chuan scrutinizing her figure. Lan Jin felt a wave of helplessness, as if she’d just escaped a tiger's den only to fall into a wolf's lair. Was he a lecher as well?

As Lan Jin’s mind wandered, she heard Qin Chuan mutter, "This petite frame should be able to withstand the pressure from my fiancées, right?"

Watching the two exchange glances, Guo Zikun’s heart ached so badly he could hardly breathe. Losing a million was barely tolerable—at least he’d escaped the humiliation of eating dung. But now, seeing the goddess he'd courted endlessly about to be snatched away, that was simply unbearable!

"If I don't avenge this, I swear I—" Guo Zikun intended to utter a fierce vow to reclaim his honor. However, just as he reached the final word, he found himself unable to speak at all. No matter how hard he tried to open his mouth, nothing came out.

The sudden panic of losing his voice, coupled with the failure to salvage his dignity, made him feel utterly miserable. Out of breath, Guo Zikun’s eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.

"Young Master Guo, what’s wrong?" Several Guo family bodyguards rushed over, surrounding him.

Qin Chuan kindly leaned in to whisper, "It’s obvious Young Master Guo is feigning unconsciousness to avoid embarrassment. Are your heads all so slow?"

The bodyguards exchanged quick glances, increasingly convinced by Qin Chuan’s reasoning. After all, Guo had just been repeatedly humiliated; if he didn’t pretend to faint and escape, how could he show his face in their circles again?

The head bodyguard shot Qin Chuan a grateful look—this man was oddly helpful!

"Hurry, get Young Master Guo to the hospital." With a wave of his hand, the captain felt certain he'd be handsomely rewarded by Guo later.

At this thought, he found Qin Chuan ever more agreeable.

Only Li Youshan looked thoughtfully in the direction the Guo family left. He strongly suspected that Guo Zikun’s sudden muteness and fainting were somehow connected to Qin Chuan, but he had no evidence.

"May I ask the great physician’s name?" Now that all was settled, Lan Jin decided to establish good relations with Qin Chuan.

"Qin Chuan." Without giving Lan Jin a chance to probe further, Qin Chuan stated his condition, "I saved your grandfather; you’ll help me withstand harm, agreed?"

"No problem!" Lan Jin answered instinctively, then immediately realized something crucial. "Wait, your name is Qin Chuan?"

"You know me?" Qin Chuan touched his nose, questioning her.

Lan Jin dodged the question, "Did you call off an engagement today?"

"Damn, you can tell fortunes?" Qin Chuan was surprised, feeling he’d met a master.

Lan Jin’s lips formed an “O,” her ability to control her expression slipping away.

"Is this girl a simpleton?" Qin Chuan muttered, starting to doubt his decision to recruit Lan Jin as a shield.

"You’re the simpleton!" Lan Jin snorted coldly, deciding to play along, "I can divine all things with a single calculation."

"Really?" Qin Chuan was half convinced.

Lan Jin hurriedly shifted the topic; if she kept up the fortune-telling act, she’d be exposed sooner or later. Too many words would only lead to mistakes. "Let’s leave metaphysics for another time. Explain what you mean by 'withstanding harm'!"

Qin Chuan didn’t dwell on it, instead focusing on another point, "You’re so dirty! I ask for help, and you’re lusting after my body?"

"???" Lan Jin instantly understood and protested, "The first part of my idiom is a noun, not a verb. Who’s dirty now?"

"Damn, you get it in a second, and you dare claim you’re not dirty?" Qin Chuan looked at her with utter disdain.

Lan Jin was left speechless. Though her manner was bold among close friends, her persona as the eldest daughter of the Lan family was always pure and sweet in front of strangers. At most, thanks to her natural beauty, she was famed for an innocent allure.

Dirty? Impossible!

"Well, your true nature is exposed now, isn’t it?"

Qin Chuan looked triumphant, as if he’d caught a fox spirit by the tail.

"And what if it is? Don’t all men like this sort of thing?" Lan Jin shot back. "What, are you saying you don’t like it? Hmm?"

She even threw him a flirtatious glance. Lan Jin’s eyes, naturally seductive, sparkled, making one’s bones nearly melt. Even Qin Chuan, whose resolve was like stone, found his heart flutter for 0.25 seconds.

"This little enchantress really is a menace!" Qin Chuan mused, growing ever more satisfied with his alluring shield.

Meanwhile, the Lan family members and esteemed physicians were stunned. Never in their wildest dreams had they imagined the usually aloof Lan family heiress would flirt with someone in public. It was as if the heavens were turned upside down!

"What are you all gawking at? Never seen a couple banter before?" Qin Chuan wrapped his arm around Lan Jin’s slender waist, delivering a greeting full of motherly warmth to the crowd, with not a trace of the expert's demeanor left.

For the first time in her life, Lan Jin was so intimately close to a man; her cheeks flushed red, but she did not resist, which later left her astonished.

The crowd, blasted by his words, retreated from the room like wilted eggplants, unwilling to offend the savior of their patriarch.

"Is it comfortable?" Lan Jin bit her silver teeth and asked.

Qin Chuan nodded instinctively, commenting, "Graceful and slender, top quality!"

"Had enough?" Lan Jin’s tone grew colder.

Only then did Qin Chuan realize he’d been caught taking liberties and quickly let go, declaring righteously, "Just warming up—there’ll be plenty more moments like this in the future."

Lan Jin rolled her eyes. To make lechery sound so dignified—what a talent!

"How many fiancées do you have, anyway?" Lan Jin asked curiously.

Qin Chuan counted on his fingers, "Not many, just fifteen or sixteen."

Lan Jin shrank back, feeling the pressure mount.

Ring ring! Her phone rang suddenly.

Lan Jin glanced at the caller ID, smiled apologetically at Qin Chuan, and stepped outside to answer.

"Sister Yu, I have explosive news for you."

"What is it?"

"My brother-in-law has become my man!"

"..."