Chapter 24: Enchanting Mood

Chen Su hesitated for half a second before walking over.

Before she could even sit down, Qu Bonan grabbed her wrist and pulled her onto his lap.

He took off his glasses and rubbed his temples. "Who did you go to see just now?"

Chen Su guessed instantly that Qu Bonan had kept close tabs on her whereabouts.

"I sold a painting," she explained. "The rent for this apartment is quite expensive."

Qu Bonan scoffed. "Is the Qu family short of money for you?"

When Chen Su was admitted to university, Qu Bonan had given her a bank card and had been depositing 200,000 yuan into it every month for her living expenses.

He just didn't know that Chen Su had never touched it.

"Not short of it, but I don't want to use it."

She smiled, looped her arms around Qu Bonan's neck, and pressed her nose against his. "I have hands and feet; I can earn my own money."

Qu Bonan gave a soft, dry laugh. His large palm slid beneath her waist with practiced ease. "I've already contacted your teacher, Professor Li. He is hosting an art exhibition next month and will be featuring your work."

He pulled her waist tighter against his own. "Barring any accidents, you will have your own solo exhibition by the end of this year."

Once she made a name for herself, her value would naturally rise.

Chen Su froze for half a second before suddenly catching Qu Bonan's restless hand.

"What's wrong?" Qu Bonan asked.

Chen Su stared at him for a full five seconds before pushing his hand away and standing up. "Qu Bonan, is it that in your eyes, everything can be measured by value and profit?"

She was, and so were her paintings.

From the moment she entered the Qu family, she had been labeled like a piece of merchandise.

Qu Bonan didn't understand the implication at first, but he quickly grasped why Chen Su was angry. He leaned over and stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.

"Don't you want to be famous?"

His tone was mild and indifferent. "Su Su, no painter creates art just to look at it themselves."

The more one expresses their inner emotions through art, the more one hopes that the soul within the work will be seen by others.

Chen Su felt that Qu Bonan was using sophistry, yet from his perspective, it seemed perfectly reasonable.

"Fair point. People have to eat and survive; there isn't much room for living on love alone," she nodded. "Then thank you, my dear brother, for doing me such a big favor."

Qu Bonan's eyes darkened slightly. He stood up and pulled her waist toward him. "Is that all—just a 'thank you'?"

Their eyes met, and Chen Su thought of last night.

She was a little afraid.

Qu Bonan usually appeared refined and restrained, but in bed, his stamina was terrifying.

She remembered that when she finally fell asleep yesterday, the sky was already turning white.

Qu Bonan saw her hesitation. "You do it yourself this time, hmm?"

He leaned down to kiss her while supporting her waist, lifting her onto the nearby coffee table. With a light sweep of his hand, the items on the table scattered to the floor.

Chen Su’s back hit the cold surface of the coffee table, and she trembled instinctively.

"Wait a moment..." she bit her lip. "I don't have any protection here. Did you... bring any?"

"No."

Qu Bonan bit lightly at the soft skin on her collarbone, inch by inch. "I recall you aren't in your fertile window, are you?"

Chen Su instinctively shrunk her shoulders and was just about to retort when her phone suddenly rang.

She subconsciously reached out to grab the phone from the sofa. The moment she saw the caller ID, the agitation in her body instantly cleared.

She grabbed Qu Bonan’s hand. "It's Mom."

Qu Bonan let out a hum, completely unfazed. "Hang it up."

He reached for her phone, but Chen Su swatted his hand away and answered the call, forcing her voice to remain steady.

"Mom."

"I'm at the entrance of the Xiyuan residential complex," Mother Qu asked over the phone. "Which building and apartment is it that you're renting again?"

Chen Su went tense in an instant, her body instinctively tightening.