Chapter 11
“Help me bathe. Half my body. One bathroom.”
Sheng Huaixi answered each part with meticulous precision, her voice calm, as if she were talking about what they were having for dinner tonight. Her gaze was fixed, unblinking, on the clearly flustered person reflected in the mirror.
Jiang Chao leaned in; her long lashes trembled with surprise. “Half...?”
As if it were an offhand movement, Sheng Huaixi lifted the wrist that had been bandaged at the hospital and gave it a small shake, then said to Jiang Chao’s eyes, “You only need to help with this half.”
The wound on her wrist, still bright red beneath the dressing, flashed before Jiang Chao’s eyes and cut off the rest of what she’d been about to say.
“Fine.”
Jiang Chao lowered her eyes and withdrew from Sheng Huaixi’s side. Her brows drooped, making her look like a spoiled little cat that had failed to get its way and gone limp with disappointment; her soft cheeks puffed out unconsciously.
She looked pitiful, as if she’d been bullied badly.
Sheng Huaixi watched the scene quietly in the mirror. Jiang Chao gathered herself and went back to concentrating on what she’d been doing just now, staring intently as she held, lifted, and loosened Sheng Huaixi’s hair.
She stared for a long time, but Sheng Huaixi never saw Jiang Chao look up again.
Her mood sank for no reason at all.
Muffled and stifled, the jealousy that had barely stirred in Sheng Huaixi for years flared twice today, absurdly jealous of an imaginary person, resentful of her own hair.
Why couldn’t Jiang Chao just keep looking at her?
*
“Sheng Huaixi, have you changed your clothes yet? I’ve filled the water.”
Jiang Chao sat on the edge of the bathtub, which had been filled to a just-right height, with a dry towel laid out as padding. She turned and called out to Sheng Huaixi.
Already changed into a bathrobe in advance, Sheng Huaixi responded and walked in from outside the door.
She handed Jiang Chao the silk blindfold she’d brought with her, her voice cool. “Put it on.”
“What is this?”
Jiang Chao, who had been bent over adjusting the water temperature, turned back curiously and looked at the silk blindfold in front of her. Her pupils shrank slightly. “You want me to wear a blindfold and help you bathe?”
Then how was she supposed to see Sheng Huaixi at all?
Sheng Huaixi let out a low chuckle. It echoed faintly in the empty bathroom, and for some reason Jiang Chao could feel her ears heating up just from hearing it.
“Jiang Chao.”
At the soft call of her name, Sheng Huaixi stepped up in front of Jiang Chao with the blindfold still in hand. She extended her palm; the exquisitely stitched silk surface glowed with a gentle sheen under the bathroom light.
“I’m afraid you won’t dare look.” Sheng Huaixi offered it again.
“...”
Jiang Chao’s excitement and reason wrestled fiercely in her head. She stared hesitantly at the blindfold set before her.
One voice was grumbling: Why wouldn’t I dare look? I’m the one helping you bathe; how am I supposed to see clearly if I wear a blindfold? What you have, I don’t?
The other was trying to talk her down: You were already embarrassed, weren’t you? Since Sheng Huaixi is taking the initiative to give you a way out, why not take it? Besides, what if you annoy her later and she repays kindness with cruelty?
In the end, Jiang Chao took the blindfold and put it on without another word, afraid that if she delayed even a second she would see Sheng Huaixi’s teasing expression.
“Later you have to guide me while I wash you; if I accidentally touch somewhere, you’re not allowed to blame me.”
Blindfolded, Jiang Chao sat up straight and spoke toward Sheng Huaixi’s direction. Before her eyes was a blur of dim light, and the faint fragrance of rose-scented aromatherapy drifted around her nose.
Sheng Huaixi had moved to stand silently in front of Jiang Chao.
“Okay.” Her voice came out husky.
A soft splash of water echoed through the room. Jiang Chao braced one hand on the bathtub’s edge and carefully crouched to one side, following her memory as she leaned toward Sheng Huaixi’s direction.
“Come here.”
The sudden words startled Jiang Chao. She jerked upward slightly, like a rabbit caught off guard.
She stiffened and looked around warily, but the blindfold robbed her of any chance of gathering information.
A wet wrist pressed against the back of Jiang Chao’s hand. She instinctively tried to dodge, but was chased down and caught by a scorching palm.
Jiang Chao blurted out on reflex, “Don’t.”
As soon as the word left her mouth, she realized it sounded wrong. Saying “don’t” now was far too strange; it made it sound as if Sheng Huaixi was about to force something on her.
“Are you worried I’ll eat you?” Sheng Huaixi leaned against the bathtub, her body fully immersed in the comforting hot water, utterly relaxed.
The lazy note in her voice sounded faintly teasing in Jiang Chao’s ears. Jiang Chao gritted her teeth and immediately took the initiative, catching Sheng Huaixi’s hand and holding it in her own.
She lifted her chin and signaled, “Fine, let’s start.”
A soft towel was stuffed into her hand. Jiang Chao squeezed it out of habit.
“Up.” Sheng Huaixi caught her wrist and guided her upward, stretching out comfortably in the water, watching the slightly flustered fingertips tremble uncertainly. The corner of her lips curved.
The hand holding her wrist loosened a little; Jiang Chao’s fingertips dropped and slipped into the warm water.
Crossing the surface, Jiang Chao’s palm touched smooth skin. The texture was like fine white jade, so pleasant it made one want to stop and admire it.
Nervously exhaling, Jiang Chao moved slightly.
With a sudden swish, another hot hand clamped tightly around her wrist, leaving her no room to move.
Mist curled through the room, and the bathroom lights flickered faintly through the blindfold. Jiang Chao let Sheng Huaixi hold her wrist and worriedly asked, “Are you okay?”
A dizzying, deep desire was raging inside her body; the swelling in her veins was a long-lost hunger. Sheng Huaixi came back to herself, bit lightly at the tip of her tongue, and forced her reason to return.
“Mm.”
Her voice was so hoarse it sounded like she’d been drinking all night. Sheng Huaixi said nothing more.
Her gaze never wavering, Sheng Huaixi stared straight at Jiang Chao’s earlobe. It was red as top-quality carnelian, translucent and vivid even through the mist.
Suppressing the wild throb of her heartbeat, Sheng Huaixi slowly let go of Jiang Chao’s wrist. A few loose strands of hair, held back by a clip, clung to her shoulder. Her own body was even redder, even hotter than Jiang Chao’s.
In a hoarse voice, Sheng Huaixi said, “Continue.”
The steam in the bathroom rose slowly, turning everything before her into a blur. Jiang Chao could see nothing, yet she felt as if her heartbeat was about to overload.
Thump, thump. The sound beat through the thin layer of skin into Jiang Chao’s ears. Her cheeks were burning, and she knew exactly why.
It was because of the slick, gliding touch under her fingertips.
Even blindfolded, Jiang Chao couldn’t see Sheng Huaixi’s body, but the sensation under her fingertips was so focused and honest it seemed to report back to her wordlessly:
This was Sheng Huaixi’s waist, the side of her waist, a narrow, slender line. The moment Jiang Chao’s fingertips brushed against it, the skin beneath her hand tensed reflexively; Jiang Chao slipped by accident and slid into a shallow hollow.
Sheng Huaixi even had abs?
Jiang Chao didn’t know where she’d found the nerve, but when she pulled away through the soft towel, her fingertips lingered and brushed the place once more, almost regretfully.
A muffled groan sounded suddenly in her ear, low and deep, arriving at a very suggestive moment.
Jiang Chao abruptly realized what she had just done, and a flush instantly surged across her face. Silently, she prayed that Sheng Huaixi wouldn’t notice what she’d done.
But things never went the way she wanted.
“How is it? Does it feel nice?”
Sheng Huaixi’s teasing, low, husky voice sounded right by Jiang Chao’s ear.
TL Note:
吃了你 (literally “eat you”) = a teasing way to mean “take advantage of you” or “do something to you.” This idiom is pretty common in English too.
人鱼线 (mermaid line) = the V-shaped muscle line at the lower abdomen, below the abs.