Ten Years of Yearning. My Love, Let Me Protect You.

Yan Luhan was very relaxed as he went ahead and stood at one corner. When he saw her looking at him silently, the man smiled like an experienced businessman and said, "Don't worry. My man will come to bail us out soon. At that time, I will take you away with me."

Hearing him, she scoffed and murmured, "Even if you bail me out, I won't leave behind my men!"

"...Men?" Yan Luhan's voice sounded dangerous as he narrowed his eyes. His handcuff made a 'clunk!' noise as he clenched his fists. In return, Ji Yanli smiled broadly and went to stand at another corner of the prison. 

Ben and Michael also followed suit and stood beside her. As they were standing, all of them were quiet but it was difficult for Ji Yanli to act carefree because of the people who were locked in the other prisons 

Ben's and Yan Luhan's men were staring at the cell where she and the other three men were placed. Ji Yanli couldn't stand the intense gazes and spoke out coldly while staring at them, "Is it fun?"

At her words, the other people didn't even move. Noticing this, Yan Luhan lifted his head and sent a warning with his intimidating eyes at the opposite people. But even then, only his bodyguards shifted their gazes away while Ben's men didn't even flinch. 

"Boss Ben… " One of Ben's lackeys cried out with sadness. The poor young man had lost his precious front tooth and looked very funny when he cried. 

Ben sighed and motioned him to calm down, "After I leave this prison, I will give you a gold tooth."

"Thanks, boss!" The sad face vanished and a smiling face came. Looking at the mouth stained with blood, also the missing front tooth, Ji Yanli felt the urge to burst out into laughter but the barely alive morality in her mind prevented her to do so!

After a while, some sounds came from outside. When Ji Yanli lifted her eyes, she saw Wang Haixiao coming to the same prison as hers. Her eyes lit up in joy, "Haixiao…"

When the man entered, she rushed to him and asked eagerly, "Did you find a way to bail us out?"

Wang Haixiao was motionless as he saw her expectant face. He sighed in dejection and angrily murmured while staring at Yan Luhan, "... I called Ethan but he didn't pick up. Called Yang Meili… she too didn't answer. Thus, I left a message for them."

Hearing him, Ji Yanli was petrified. She stepped back and dropped on the long bench butt-on while her eyes widened. She murmured in disbelief as she whispered, "Will I have to spend my first night as a prisoner here?! What about my walk?!"

"You still want to walk at this point?" Yan Luhan scoffed and successfully poked on her sore spot. Ji Yanli silently stared back and wished that her hands were free. Then, she could have made him doubt his birth several times!

As for Ethan Han or Yang Meili, she prayed to God secretly so that she could be saved in the least time possible. Also being brought into the same prison with four other males made her feel greatly awkward and she felt a kind of unspoken danger...

…

Ming city, another clear day.

Luo Lixi blinked her eyes and slowly sat up on the bed. When she turned around, she didn't find another figure on the bed. She pondered with a suffocating feeling as she stared down at the empty space, 'Did he leave for the office already?"

As she thought, she guessed that Sheng Ruming didn't come back to sleep with her at night. To confirm her thoughts, she placed her palm beside her and as expected, that area was cold. 

While she was on the bed, thinking whether she should leave the bed or not, one maid entered the room. Upon seeing her awake, the maid smiled and walked towards Luo Lixi with a tray. 

"Good morning, madam. Did you sleep well last night?" As the maid asked, she handed Luo Lixi a cup of bed tea. While giving it, she was extra careful and graceful. 

"Hmm… I did. Thanks." After murmuring, absentmindedly Luo Lixi took a sip of the hot piping tea and flinched out. 

"It's so hot! My tongue... I burnt it!" Luo Lixi cried out as her mind got cleared up while she ran to the washroom. Behind, the maid followed anxiously.

"Madam, I am so sorry! I forgot to remind you! I am so sorry!..." The maid said with guilt as she followed Luo Lixi in the washroom. 

After a while, the pain subsided and even though it stung, it was bearable. Luo Lixi checked her soft pink organ on the mirror which had turned purple and felt sad when she examined the scalded area. 

When she saw that not much damage had happened, she sighed in relief. Then she turned to the maid who was staring at the ground in a panic the whole time. 

"It's fine. I should have been careful too. From next time, try to warn me beforehand." Luo Lixi said as she was leaving the washroom. 

"I understand, madam." The maid bowed with a relieved mind and followed Luo Lixi. She helped Luo Lixi dress up and then helped her apply ointment on the top of the scalded tongue. Afterwards, both of them left the room. 

When Luo Lixi was walking down the stairs, her eyes fell on the dining area and for a second, she paused in her heels. After getting back her composer, Luo Lixi acted normally and went to the dining table. 

While walking at a leisure pace, her eyes fell on the clock. With a surprised face, she reached the table where many delicacies were laid for who knew how long. 

Luo Lixi turned to the man who was sitting on the head seat quietly, without moving. Luo Lixi dragged a chair beside him and asked calmly while sitting, "It's already 10 o'clock. Why are you still here?!"

Sheng Ruming turned to her and smiled as he replied, "Waiting for you to have breakfast together." 

"Oh!" Luo Lixi nodded and then moved her eyes away, trying to concentrate in front of her. The maids exchanged glances and then went ahead to serve food to the two people. 

Even after several minutes, Luo Lixi didn't eat a single grain and stared at the food in silence. Sheng Ruming had been observing her for a long time and after watching her sitting there without eating anything, he couldn't stay mum anymore.

"Don't you like the food? Aren't these to your liking?" Sheng Ruming put down his spoon and asked her solemnly. He glanced at the table where many of Luo Lixi's dishes were placed. 

Sheng Ruming moved his chopsticks and placed a big piece of meat in her bowl. Not only that, he picked other good things and placed them on a plain plate for her. 

In return, Luo Lixi glanced at the bowl in which was her favourite dumplings and the plate where he made a tiny mountain by putting a bunch of food, but she could not bear to put the cute egg pouch 9f dumplings in her mouth. When he noticed her cold response, the man's face turned dark. 

"Are you still angry with last night's incident?" Sheng Ruming inquired but only faced her silence. He bit his lips and mumbled, "Show your anger after you finish your breakfast!"

Silence~ 

Sheng Ruming was so mad that he nearly snapped his chopsticks in half. The man stood up from his seat and sat beside her. Then he lifted a dumpling with his chopsticks and raised it in front of her. 

Luo Lixi blinked her eyes and turned to him with a frown. The man, however, used a coaxing tone as he murmured, "Eat first. I'll take you to a good place afterwards." 

"I...can't. I will eat later. You eat first." Luo Lixi murmured with a hoarse voice and changed his chopsticks direction. In the next moment, the dumpling was thrown into his own mouth. 

The two maids exchanged glances. After a while, one of them stepped ahead and said with guilt, "Young master, in the morning, young madam scalded her tongue with hot tea. It was my fault. I didn't remind her in time…"

The other one chirped in as well, "That must be the reason why she can't eat now…"

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Sheng Ruming asked as he anxiously stared at Luo Lixi's moving lips, trying to see the condition of the scalded tongue. 

"It's not a huge matter." Luo Lixi replied as she turned her eyes on the dumplings. But just like before, she didn't move her fingers to eat. 

Sheng Ruming saw her in silence. Then he removed the dumplings from her sight and placed a bowl of plain soup.

"I guess, you can only have this…" While speaking, the man lifted a spoonful of soup. He personally blew air on it and when it seemed it was fine, he murmured, "Do 'Aaaa~'. Come on!"

"Aaaa…" Luo Lixi barely made a crack while a vague sound flowed out yet he successfully stuffed the spoon through those soft pink lips. 

"Good girl~"

"..."