The first thing Duan Xi did when he came in was grab Jiaojiao’s small hand, and the second was to look at the Little Potato stuck tightly to her side.

"..." Little Potato.

His chubby little hand clutched at Ruan Jiaojiao’s pant leg. He puffed out his chest, feeling he should still be able to hold his ground for a bit.

But that "hold his ground" didn’t even last three seconds before he surrendered. He didn’t even dare to cry. Letting go of Ruan Jiaojiao’s pant leg, he moved his short little legs and went, all aggrieved, to find Gu Zichen.

Duan Xi was very satisfied that he’d scared off a clingy little human cub from his wife-to-be with just one look.

He gave the small hand he was holding a light squeeze.

Seeing the sweat still on his forehead, Ruan Jiaojiao felt embarrassed to be too affectionate in front of so many elders. She greeted the elders, then tugged him upstairs first. There was still a room upstairs that the Shu Family had always kept for her.

As soon as she went into the room, Ruan Jiaojiao took the suit jacket off Duan Xi’s wrist and put it on the bed first. Looking at him with a bit of heartache, she said, "Brother Xi, aren’t you hot? Did you just get back from some event? Since it’s over already, you don’t need to keep your tie so tight."

As she spoke, Ruan Jiaojiao rose on her tiptoes, wanting to pull his tie off, but she hadn’t grown more than a few centimeters over the years. She was still only one-sixty-seven, while Duan Xi was now one-eighty-eight—towering over her—so this movement was a bit difficult for her.

She could only climb onto the bed, pull him closer in front of her, and say, "Let me take it off for you. I know how. I’ve seen Mom take it off for Dad."

In the past few years, Ruan Jianguo had gone into real estate, just not in Beidu but out of town. He had lots of social engagements and often came home dead drunk. Many times, when it came to things like his tie, she’d watched Shu Jiao undo it, so after seeing it so many times, she felt she could do it too.

Standing on the bed, she fixed her gaze and carefully worked at his tie.

Except as she undid it, her brows couldn’t help knitting up. Wasn’t this thing supposed to be pretty easy? Why wouldn’t it come undone?

Whenever Ruan Jiaojiao furrowed her brows, she had a lot of little facial tics—for example, her brows would wrinkle without her noticing, and her small mouth would press tightly together, her whole little face scrunching up.

The two of them were extremely close, breathing the same air, and her fragrant little hands were still moving and moving on his chest. If Duan Xi could hold back under these circumstances, he’d really be a saint.

He lowered his eyes, gaze tangled and intent on the little one who, standing on the bed, was just about as tall as he was. When she unconsciously bit at her small lips, his gaze heated. The next second, one hand snaked around her small waist, the other pressed to her back, and he pulled her down into his arms.

As Ruan Jiaojiao pitched forward and instinctively went to cry out in surprise, he captured that small mouth that had been tempting him all along, swallowing all her cries and breath.

When they got engaged, Ruan Jiaojiao was fifteen and Duan Xi was eighteen.

Even though they’d long since given their first kisses to each other, Duan Xi always kept in mind that the little one in his arms was still young. He never dared cross that line—at most, he’d touch the corner of her lips when she was asleep, and even then it was just a brush-and-go. He never dared go deeper, and certainly never dared gamble with his own self-control.

But now.

He’d had a bit to drink, and he watched her fussing over him like a little wife, plus he’d been provoked by what happened at the door just now, so it was inevitable his patience frayed. Lowering his head, he pulled her into his arms and kissed that small mouth that hurt just to think about her.