Su Ling didn't know what to say. So it was a test all along? Luckily she wasn't a power hungry woman who would sway at the mention of power. If she was, Lu Tongyan would have kicked her out. Power hungry women were the fall of most aristocratic families.

"Receiving the guests is part of the test too?" she asked.

"Not exactly. Everyone is rather busy. My brother and I are developing the company's security measures. We intend to double it."

Su Ling now understood why they were so busy. Lu Enterprises was so big. "But isn't the company already too secure? Not even a fly go through. Gee! It's already more secure than the intelligence unit."

"Have you ever been to the Intelligence Unit?"

"Well…no." Fine, you win.

Lu Shaoting held her without a warning and pushed her down on the bed. "It's so cold. Do you want to sweat a little?"

"You…what are you doing?" she tried to push him off.

"We're already on your bed. What do you think I'm doing?"

It's not that she wasn't willing to sleep with him, she was scared after their half experience that night. That was going to be her second time but couldn't it wait?

"I..."

He held her down and kissed her cheek. "I won't hurt you. I'll be gentle." His throat was dry.

When he saw how scared and unwilling she looked, he let go and got up. "Don't worry, it can wait."

She was happy that he understood. She got up too and hugged him. "I won't let you wait for too long."

Once she said that, Lu Shaoting felt worse. His body was burning like a volcano. It would have been better if she didn't talk about it.

Grabbing her hand, he led it towards his crotch under her nervous gaze. "It hurts."

Su Ling felt her cheeks burn red and she withdrew her hand quickly. What was that for? But seeing him looking like he was really pitiful, she felt guilty about it. "Then..." she blushed as she talked in a tiny voice. "I-I could help you in other ways."

"What ways?" he pretended to not understand her.

"Eer…"

Did he really have to ask that awkward question?

Lu Shaoting rubbed her head and chuckled. "I will not tease you anymore. Go to sleep early. You have a meeting with my brother tomorrow."

"En, about that. Can I not go to him? You can tell me instead, right?"

Lu Shaoting knew that she was scared of his brother. Even he who had grown up with him would be frightened by him sometimes, let alone Su Ling who hadn't interacted with him that much. However, it was unfortunate that he couldn't help. "I'm going on a business trip. I won't be able to."

He tried to ease her tension. "Don't worry. My brother isn't that scary. He just looks cold to outsiders but you're his sister-in-law so he won't make things difficult for you."

"Easy for you to say."

…

The next day, Su Ling had no choice. After moving her small luggage back to her apartment, she went to Southside Villas.

Wan Jia was holding Little Jia on her lap and resting with her eyes closed. The Little girl was playing with her mother's long hair and sticking some tiny ribbons at the ends. The older she grew, the more she resembled her mother, with only a tiny fraction bearing resemblance to Lu Aotian. She tied the ribbons lovingly as though performing a very important task.

Su Ling found the scene quite heartwarming. If only the heavens would grant her a child of her own. She wasn't against surrogacy and adoption but she wanted one born from her own womb and took after Shaoting and her. The doctors had said that her uterus was unable to hold a baby.

Wan Jia felt a gaze on her and opened her eyes. "Su Ling?"

Little Jia looked over too. She had been so absorbed in her mother's hair that she didn't see Su Ling. "Second aunty."

Su Ling gulped down her feelings of envy and walked over. "Sister-in-law, baby Little Jia. Is President Lu home?"

Wan Jia was friendly so she could easily call her 'sister-in-law'. She just couldn't get used to calling Lu Aotian her brother-in-law.

Wan Jia understood this and let her get used to it herself. "He went out for a bit"

Just when Su Ling was about to sigh in relief about not having to meet him anymore, she heard a car zooming into the compound and stopping. It was no doubt that it was Lu Aotian's. Well, no chance to escape.

Lu Aotian was expecting Su Ling, but he was amused by how frightened she looked. She was literally trembling. Did she take him for a guillotine master of sorts?

"Don't be scared." Aside from his wife and daughter, he didn't know how to pacify other women. He used up all his wits to say this.

But it made things better. Her fright was decreased significantly.

…

"The most important thing is to not brush their shoulders. You don't have to deliberately please them. But in case you want to find a common topic of discussion with them, take this." He passed her a file. "These are their profiles. You will find all their likes and dislikes here. If there's anything else, you can ask your sister-in-law."

He didn't want her to ask him. Jeez! Did his brother tell his wife that he was an evil soul-eating ghost? The girl was literally freezing the whole time!