CHAPTER 36: CHAPTER 36: BECAUSE YOU’RE SO SKILLED

Mount Verdian is located in Downtown Vintara. It’s named for the lush greenery and abundant green bamboo, and is praised as the green lung of Vintara, with the mighty Ardane flowing at its base.

The mountain features pavilions, gardens, a children’s playground, restaurants, tea gardens, and a bustling Prayer Temple.

Adjacent to Mount Verdian, a villa in the style of a garden has been built on another hill, which serves as Matthew Shaw’s residence in Vintara.

This hill is actually part of the Mount Verdian range, with a shaded mountain path connecting it to the main peak.

Due to Matthew Shaw illegally constructing a high-standard villa on Mount Verdian, he manipulated behind the scenes to have that hill partitioned off.

It was Renee’s first time coming to Mount Verdian. Though a Vintara native, she had never visited Mount Verdian before.

She attended high school in the county, and before high school, let alone visiting the city, she seldom visited the county town.

After her college entrance exam, she went to Northcity for her studies. During winter holidays, she’d return home for the New Year, only traveling as far as Vintara’s high-speed rail station, then taking a bus to her hometown. She hardly ever strolled around the city due to financial constraints.

She walked arm in arm with Jack Yates into the Mount Verdian park, smiling as she asked him, "Have you visited Vintara before?"

She was casually asking, but she assumed someone like Jack Yates, a noble scion from Kyoro, would never visit such a small place as Vintara.

Jack Yates looked at her, "Yes, I have."

Renee was surprised, "Oh? You’ve actually been to Vintara? When?"

Jack Yates replied, "Five or six years ago, during a drug bust operation in The Southwest."

Renee pursed her lips, looking at him with admiration, then tilted her head to nuzzle against his arm, "Brother, you’re really amazing, a true hero."

Jack Yates felt his heart soften, a rush of warmth washed over him, his whole heart seemed soaked in a warm spring, making him feel tender and cozy.

He pulled Renee to him, pressing her straight and slender shoulders into his embrace, kissing her forehead, then down to her brow, eyes, fair cheeks, finally reaching her soft red lips.

Renee could mostly discern Jack Yates’s temperament. This man, appearing fierce and indifferent, as if hard to deal with, was actually easily appeased, just requiring some gentleness and occasional praise, going along with him worked just fine.

To put it bluntly, she could choose not to love him, but she could not defy him, she had to comply with him.

Renee tilted her head up, proactively responding to Jack Yates’s kiss, just ready to deepen the kiss when he pulled away.

Renee felt a bit unsatisfied, pursing her lips.

Jack Yates’s Adam’s apple moved as he spoke in a raspy voice, "Someone’s coming."

Renee clasped his arm anew, continuing forward.

At the foot of the mountain, Jack Yates squatted in front of her, "Hop on."

Renee laughed and tapped his head, "Hop on for what? I haven’t even started climbing, why would you need to carry me?"

But Jack Yates remained in front of her, "Be good, hop on. I don’t want you to suffer."

"I don’t want you to suffer," this statement carried enormous weight, striking heavily at Renee’s heart, causing a slight tremor.

Her eyes involuntarily became moist, and her heart grew damp and tender, tinged with a bittersweet ache.

Jack Yates was the first to tell her, "I don’t want you to suffer." Before this, no one had ever told her such words, not even grandpa and grandma had ever said, "Renee, I don’t want you to suffer."

Growing up, she heard most often, "No pain, no gain; endure hardships to rise above others." Everyone said to her, "You must endure more hardships to live a better life."

Whether she could live a good life, Renee didn’t know, only she had suffered enough and wondered how much more she could endure.

Abandoned at birth, she grew up without paternal love or maternal care, raised in a muddled way by grandparents.

"Jack Yates." Renee climbed onto Jack Yates’s back, wrapped her arms around his neck, her voice slightly choked, "Jack Yates, how many relationships have you had?"

Jack Yates turned around, lifting her up, holding her like a child, with a deep gaze fixed on her, "Just one."

Renee’s eyes slightly dimmed, "Oh."

Jack Yates kissed her lips, "Only this one, with you."

Renee forcibly suppressed the corners of her lips from lifting, pressed her mouth, pretending to brush it off, "Oh."

Jack Yates walked forward holding her, speaking effortlessly, "I’ve had only you as a woman, and I’ve only liked you."

Renee lay on his shoulder, turned her face towards his ear, reached her hand to tease his earlobe, "But you don’t seem like you’ve only been with me."

Never mind his sweet words, just discussing matters in the bedroom, he was too adept to be a novice.

Jack Yates paused, his large hand gripping her neck to turn her head, "How did you figure that out, hmm?"

"Because..." Renee gently bit his ear, whispering with a playful tone, "Because you’re so good at it."