Since Song Qiao returned, he hadn’t smoked in front of her, and Song Qiao didn’t like seeing him smoke, let alone smelling the smoke.

The study was dark, the only curtain was drawn, and only a faint light shone in.

In the dim study, the only thing clearly visible was the glow of the cigarette in the man’s hand.

...

After Song Qiao went upstairs to the second floor, she thought Lu Jingchen had returned to the bedroom, so she went in to look for him, but didn’t see any sign of the man.

Frowning slightly, she quickly headed towards the study.

When she reached the study and opened the door, the first thing she smelled was the acrid smoke, which made her cough immediately.

Raising her hand to turn on the light in the study, Song Qiao immediately saw the man smoking at the desk,

Lu Jingchen hadn’t expected Song Qiao to come upstairs, promptly extinguished the cigarette in his hand, his expression appearing somewhat flustered — but it was fleeting — looking at Song Qiao, he opened his mouth to ask, "What brings you here?"

Song Qiao waved her hand in front of her nose, then walked towards Lu Jingchen. When she reached him, she finally noticed the considerable number of cigarette butts in his ashtray.

Clearly, she was only ten minutes late, yet Lu Jingchen had already smoked five or six cigarettes.

Pressing her lips together, she walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and drew back the curtains, then opened the window door, finally able to breathe more easily.

Taking a deep breath, when she turned around, she saw him sitting there, fixated on her; her heart suddenly ached.

She walked back to his side, looked down at the ashtray full of cigarette butts, recalling that this was the first time she had seen Lu Jingchen smoke since she had returned.

After Lu Jingchen extinguished the cigarette, he said nothing, the scent of smoke pervading his nostrils, and perhaps due to smoking so much, he appeared slightly disheveled.

Having stared at each other for a long time, Lu Jingchen was the first to give in, standing up with a tone indifferent enough to reveal no emotion, he said, "There’s work at the company, I’m heading back now. Don’t forget lunch, tell Aunt Chen if you want anything." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Looking at Lu Jingchen, Song Qiao knew that her focus was completely on Ning Wan, ignoring him completely; even earlier in the car, she sat at the back with Wanwan, chatting all the way.

She suddenly felt a bit guilty, especially seeing Lu Jingchen’s indifferent demeanor, her heart felt uncomfortable. Putting herself in his shoes, if Lu Jingchen had treated her like this because of Xi Mohan, she would probably be uncomfortable, maybe even angry.

Moreover, Lu Jingchen was a man with a strong possessiveness.

Thinking this, she walked directly to Lu Jingchen’s side, hugged his arm, stood on tiptoe and kissed his mouth, apologetically speaking, "I’m sorry, I was just too worried about Wanwan, not deliberately ignoring you."

Lu Jingchen’s steps were forced to stop, looking down at the little woman in front of him, the soft sensation at his mouth left him momentarily dazed.

The initial dissatisfaction and frustration in his heart quickly vanished, the man’s lips pressed together, eventually only letting out a helpless sigh internally.

Lu Jingchen said nothing, standing there with his lips pursed, leading Song Qiao to assume he was angry. Tilting her head, her tone carried a touch of coyness as she spoke, "Honey... are you mad? I really didn’t mean it, please don’t be angry, okay?"

The term "honey" caused the expression in the man’s eyes to deepen instantly, and before Song Qiao could react, Lu Jingchen had already lifted her up instantly, placing her onto the solid wood desk, bending down and sealing her lips in a French kiss.

Song Qiao was completely taken by surprise, and when she returned to her senses, she was already pressed against the desk by Lu Jingchen.

The scent filling her nose was not only the familiar masculine scent of the man but also the lingering smoke.

The kiss had left her somewhat muddled, and instinctively she raised her hands to wrap around the man’s neck, slowly returning the kiss.

——This Chapter of four thousand characters is a merger of two updates; soon there will be another two updates, possibly merging into one Chapter late tonight, which you may check out tomorrow morning.