Chapter 54 Have You Learned How to Kiss Yet?

Lu Fan had already recovered thanks to the spiritual energy that had just mended his body, and he instinctively caught Jiang Ruxue as she fell.

Jiang Ruxue lifted her head from his embrace, her delicate, fair face streaked with two lines of clear tears, looking utterly endearing and compliant.

"Pardon me," Lu Fan whispered softly.

The next second, his lips slowly drew closer to hers. Meeting that handsome face made Jiang Ruxue's heart race.

This could be considered the first time Lu Fan had ever kissed her of his own accord.

She rested her hands on Lu Fan's chest, subconsciously clutching his clothes tightly. Her gently fluttering eyelashes betrayed the nervous anticipation she felt at that moment.

"I—I'm fine," she replied softly.

A soft warmth touched her cheek as Lu Fan's slightly cool lips pressed against it.

He gently kissed away her tears, so tenderly that there was not the slightest trace of desecration.

Yet, despite the simplicity of the touch, Jiang Ruxue's body uncontrollably grew hot.

She discovered that not only did she not dislike his touch, but she actually quite liked it.

However, this intimate contact lasted for less than ten seconds before Lu Fan gentlemanly pulled away.

Lin Ziyu asked, "How is it?"

Lu Fan shook his head. "No reaction."

"How strange. If she isn't the person you're looking for, your spiritual veins wouldn't have awakened at all. But why is it only half? Where on earth did we go wrong?"

Lin Ziyu was even more anxious than Lu Fan himself, pacing back and forth in the room.

"I know!"

Startled by her sudden outburst, Lu Fan looked up at her. "Senior Sister, do you have an idea?"

"That's right. Now that we're certain Jiang Ruxue is the one you're looking for, could it be that half your spiritual veins awakened because the tears weren't enough?"

"Senior Sister, I don't quite follow your meaning."

"The two of you should try consummate your marriage."

Jiang Ruxue's face turned completely red. Instead of refusing, she cast a sidelong glance at Lu Fan.

Lu Fan frowned. "But I've already decided to get a divorce."

"Are you an idiot? You got a divorce precisely to search for the person who could awaken your spiritual veins. Now that you've found her, what are you still hesitating for?"

Lin Ziyu made the final decision. "Granted, I despise the Jiang family as well, but if Jiang Ruxue can break away from the Jiang family and help restore your spiritual veins, it wouldn't be a bad thing at all. Of all things in heaven and earth, spiritual veins matter most."

Lu Fan had only awakened half of his spiritual veins and hadn't even begun formal cultivation; his future was boundless. Otherwise, that old codger would never have taken him in as his final closed-door disciple and treasured him so dearly.

Lin Ziyu seriously suspected that the old master had peered into the secrets of heaven before sending him down the mountain, leaving him undisturbed even when he lived as a live-in son-in-law for five years.

Everyone had their own destiny; this was Lu Fan's fate, and also his trial.

Jiang Ruxue was shocked. In just a few words, Lin Ziyu had arranged her entire future.

Break away from the Jiang family?

She had just blurted it out so casually.

Lu Fan appeared much calmer, lost in thought as he did not immediately agree.

"Oh, what are you agonizing over?"

"Five years ago, I did it to save someone. Now, we are both fully conscious. Matters like this should be based on mutual consent. I don't want to harm a woman for my own benefit. Miss Jiang is a person with her own thoughts and choices, not a tool for me to restore my spiritual veins."

Jiang Ruxue's eyes turned red. She truly had not expected that the person who respected her the most in the end would be Lu Fan, the very man she used to look down upon the most.

"Lu Fan... I—I am willing."

Her voice was extremely small, yet filled with firmness. "I am your wife. If I can help you, I really have no objections."

Lu Fan looked at her and saw only shyness in her gaze. His heart became somewhat chaotic, unsure of how to choose.

He had pursued spiritual veins for half his life, yet now that he had a lead, the person in question was the estranged wife he had resolved to divorce.

Once he touched Jiang Ruxue, he would be bound to her, and he could never let her go again.

Yet he was entirely lost at the moment. He knew he felt no romantic love for Jiang Ruxue and did not want to ruin her future for his own sake.

However, if he left her behind, his spiritual veins could never be restored.

Life was short; was he truly destined to be good-for-nothing for the rest of his life?

Unlike other irresponsible men, he respected women, which was precisely what caused him such inner turmoil.

Seeing that Lu Fan remained silent for a long time, Jiang Ruxue bit her lip and continued, "Lu Fan, once I married you, I became yours."

Lin Ziyu brought her hand down hard in a smack on the back of his head. "You really are a strange man. The woman herself isn't fussing over it, so what are you hesitating for? It's not like you two haven't slept together; you already have a four-year-old child, so what are you pretending for?"

Lu Fan: "..."

"Alright, hurry up and get it done. Restoring your spiritual veins is more important than anything else."

Seeing that Jiang Ruxue beside him looked on the verge of tears from grievance, Lu Fan finally spoke up, "Are you truly willing?"

"Mn."

Lu Fan let out a light sigh. He got up and put on his shoes. "Let's go. Let's go home first."

Lin Ziyu put her hands on her hips and curled her lip in annoyance. "Stingy guy, it's not like I'm going to eavesdrop outside your door."

Yet eavesdropping was precisely something she was capable of doing!

When they were young and his senior sisters bathed in the mountain hot springs, the Eldest Senior Sister had simply grabbed him by the collar and tossed him right into the spring water.

He had been sensible from a young age, and his senior sisters possessed figures that grew more stunning by the day, surrounding him in the center and demanding that he judge whose breasts were larger and whose waist was slimmer. Whenever he recalled the teasing pranks they pulled, Lu Fan felt like he was losing his mind.

Hearing the words "let's go home," the corners of Jiang Ruxue's lips curved upward slightly.

On the way home, she cast frequent glances at Lu Fan. Perhaps it was true that looking at someone through the lens of affection made them appear differently.

She felt that the lines and contours of Lu Fan's face were sharper and more distinct, and the herbal fragrance on him had grown somewhat richer.

Within the confined space, that scent carried a vaguely bewitching quality.

Thinking of the light, butterfly-like kiss he had pressed to her cheek, Jiang Ruxue actually found herself beginning to look forward to the night.

Upon returning home, Lu Fan did not rush to act on anything; instead, he prepared dinner for her as usual.

Jiang Ruxue had sent the servants back to the Jiang family estate; tonight belonged strictly to the two of them.

Lu Fan spoke very little, remaining as silent as a wooden post, and she had no idea what was truly running through his mind.

Yet she knew that the moment Lu Fan touched her tonight, this divorce would never happen.

In her heart, she yearned for night to fall.

As soon as dusk arrived, Jiang Ruxue took a bath, applied a facial mask, and even selected a very sexy nightgown.

She inspected herself in the mirror repeatedly—her skin was as white as snow, her figure possessed alluring curves, and no man could possibly remain unmoved by her.

Yet this upright gentleman, Lu Fan, had never crossed the line by even a fraction of an inch in the past five years.

Clearly, they had been married for ages, yet she felt as though it were her wedding night, filled with anticipation for her partner.

She draped a light robe over her shoulders and stepped into Lu Fan's bedroom.

The man was sitting cross-legged on the floor, seemingly meditating.

He opened his eyes as she entered. Meeting those dark, unfathomable pupils made Jiang Ruxue's heart tingle with nervousness. "Umm... am I disturbing you?"

She could distinctly sense that Lu Fan's aura had changed, carrying a stern, unyielding authority that wasn't there before.

"No."

Biting her lip, she gestured toward the moonlight outside. "It's getting late. I've already taken a bath. Would you like to go wash up?"

For some reason, the haughty young mistress who had once acted so superior in front of him suddenly turned humble.

"Umm... if you don't want to wash up, that's fine too."

She mumbled through her lips, "It's not that I find you unappealing."

Seeing her become so understanding made Lu Fan feel somewhat unaccustomed to it.

He slowly stood up. "I'll go take a shower. Wait for me in the room."

Jiang Ruxue's face turned red. "Alright, then hurry up."

With that, she scurried away quickly. Why on earth had she blurted out what was truly on her mind just like that?

Every single second spent waiting in the room was a form of torture; she had no idea how she was going to face Lu Fan in a moment.

She debated whether she should put on makeup, yet concluded that Lu Fan would probably prefer her natural, makeup-free look.

While she was still hesitating, the door to the master bedroom was pushed open.

Lu Fan appeared at the threshold.

He had merely given his hair a casual drying with a towel, and a few rounded droplets of water still lingered on his neck.

He wore a set of grey cotton pajamas—a very simple style, yet his muscular frame remained taut and faintly visible beneath the fabric, making Jiang Ruxue's throat go dry.

She had long since laid eyes on Lu Fan's physique.

"Umm..."

She took the initiative to speak. "Let me help you dry your hair. It's still wet."

Not particularly adept at matters of romance, Lu Fan kept his back straight and sat rigidly upright with his hands resting on his knees.

Jiang Ruxue knelt behind him, softly drying his hair.

Seeing that he kept his eyes fixed straight ahead without the slightest intention of making a move, Jiang Ruxue sighed silently.

So be it. She would have to take the initiative herself with this cold piece of wood.

She put down the towel and slowly walked over to his side. "Would you like a drink of wine first?"

Lu Fan nodded and downed a glass of wine in a single gulp.

Jiang Ruxue chuckled lightly. "Does anyone actually drink wine the way you do?"

"I..."

Having never interacted with Jiang Ruxue in this manner before, Lu Fan naturally felt extremely awkward and restrained, not daring to reach out and touch her.

Jiang Ruxue walked up to stand right before him and shed her outer robe in front of his eyes.

Lu Fan quickly averted his gaze.

Jiang Ruxue hooked her finger under his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Look at me, Lu Fan. I am your wife; there is nothing here you shouldn't dare to look at."

His gaze drifted downward, bit by bit, onto the woman's sheer garment. Her shapely figure was faintly discernible beneath it, sending a surge of heat straight through his veins.

Jiang Ruxue took his hand and placed it against her waist. His palm was burning hot, as though it would scorch her skin.

"Hold me. I'll teach you how to taste wine."

*Tasting wine might serve to change the subject,* Lu Fan thought.

To his surprise, Jiang Ruxue took a slow, delicate sip of wine from her own glass, and in the next instant, she leaned down toward his lips, passing the sweet red wine into his mouth bit by bit through her soft lips...

Having never experienced such stimulation before, Lu Fan felt his heart instantly begin to beat erratically.

Jiang Ruxue's kiss was quite clumsy, relying purely on instinct as she guided him in the dance.

Probing, entangling, trading breaths.

Lu Fan stood there like a fool, leaving her to do as she pleased.

Perhaps sensing that he was on the verge of suffocating, she finally pulled back. "Breathe, you fool."

A dark, surging tide of passion smoldered in Lu Fan's eyes, and his voice turned raspy.

"Miss Jiang, please..."

She suddenly parted her thighs and straddled his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. With eyes like melting silk, she murmured, "Have you learned how to kiss now?"

The man nodded in a daze.

Jiang Ruxue leaned close to his ear, her breath warm and sweet like orchid fragrance as she whispered, "Next step: take off my clothes, pin me to the bed, and kiss me."