Chapter 43

“Take it off first.”

Her ears burning red, Jiang Chao held out for a long moment. Ignoring the dampness at her fingertips, she forced out those two words, let go of the wet, soft fabric she’d been tugging at, and gently moved Sheng Huaixi’s hand off hers.

Fortunately, the person in her arms only said those few words. When Jiang Chao lifted her wrist away, she didn’t struggle at all and stayed silent.

She was obedient in a way Jiang Chao hadn’t expected.

By contrast, as Jiang Chao pulled the fabric downward, the skin she felt through the back of her hand grew hotter and hotter, as if it might scorch her.

Sheng Huaixi’s compliance was only because she had no choice while running a fever.

Exhaling, Jiang Chao slapped her own face, shoved all the remaining embarrassment aside, and fixed her gaze.

She buried herself in taking care of Sheng Huaixi, letting that flushed shyness slide from her ears down the back of her neck.

The soaked fabric clung to Sheng Huaixi’s skin. Jiang Chao tugged at it for a long time; her fingertips brushed against skin again and again, her face red to the roots, and in the end she still only managed to get half of it off.

She was so inefficient that Jiang Chao seriously doubted whether she’d be able to change Sheng Huaixi by the time the doctor arrived.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Chao lowered her head and tried to rouse some clarity in Sheng Huaixi. “Sheng Huaixi, can you support yourself and stand up for me? I need to get your wet clothes off.”

A pained whimper sounded by her ear. Jiang Chao felt the person leaning against her shoulder stir and understood her answer.

She slid an arm around Sheng Huaixi’s back and hooked it around her waist, then took the chance to stand and lift her up.

The scorching breath, along with that soft warmth, pressed against Jiang Chao’s shoulder all at once.

It burned so hot she jolted, her gaze trembling.

“Sheng Huaixi, be good and don’t move... Forget it, it’s fine.”

Jiang Chao did her best to hold the slender waist in her arms, ignoring the hot breath that kept brushing her neck. She bent slightly and worked hard to reach down and tug at the hem of Sheng Huaixi’s dress.

The fabric was stuck tight against her body. Jiang Chao carefully avoided touching Sheng Huaixi’s thigh; sweat beaded on her forehead, glistening in the light.

“Mm... no..."

That soft refusal sounded heavy by her ear. Because of the fever, Sheng Huaixi’s voice was sticky and sweet, carrying an almost spoiled note. As she spoke, her lips unconsciously pressed against the skin of Jiang Chao’s neck.

Wet heat flashed past, then surged into a wave of warmth.

Jiang Chao froze.

Her heartbeat, which had skipped, suddenly quickened. The embarrassment that had never really faded came flooding back all at once; the blush that had stained her ears spread all the way to a vivid red.

After a moment, Jiang Chao steadied her breathing, closed her eyes, and used the arm around Sheng Huaixi’s waist with decisive force, lifting her straight off the bed.

Her face brushed against a rich, soft fragrance. Jiang Chao gathered herself and, with one wrist, pulled the remaining skirt down in a single motion, while her other arm slipped under Sheng Huaixi’s knees.

At last, she got the drenched dress off.

Jiang Chao let out a breath. Without the slightest hesitation, she scooped Sheng Huaixi up and hurried her to the room she had slept in last time.

She lowered the person gently onto the bed; before her breath had even fully settled, Jiang Chao’s eyes dropped, and she nearly fainted on the spot.

Thin black lace traced smoothly over the hip bone. The wet, dark fabric seemed to sink inward, and the stark contrast of black and white hit her vision hard enough to be criminal.

“!!!” Jiang Chao covered her eyes and turned around decisively!

But only for a second; she immediately turned back.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Chao puffed out her cheeks and bent down without hesitation, her eyes already tinged with a deep, embarrassed flush.

Sheng Huaixi, if you wake up, don’t you dare use this to blame me.

Squinting through a narrow slit, Jiang Chao stared at the pale skin before her. She leaned over; the black in her field of vision made her face burn red, and with one hand she hooked a finger around one side.

Without hesitation, she tugged it down.

The thin black piece caught on her fingertip, swaying precariously where it hung.

So light.

The moment that thought flashed through her mind, Jiang Chao whipped the blanket over her and stuffed Sheng Huaixi into it. She also tore off two pieces of breast tape on the way before turning away.

Then, not daring to look at the person on the bed even once more, she spun around and ran off.

Her footsteps pounded through the room, panicked and hurried.

Blushing furiously, she rushed into the bathroom. The little red figure in the mirror flashed by; Jiang Chao quickly threw the things she was holding into the trash, then braced herself on the sink.

Her heart was already racing so hard it hurt.

The heat in her palm seemed to seep into her skin, through her blood vessels, carrying her tension and embarrassment to every part of her body, sharing that feeling with her.

Jiang Chao braced herself against the cold countertop. The marble was chilled by its natural coolness and the winter air.

But none of that could drive away the heat in her palm, the burning flush on her face, or that hot breath.

The one with the fever wasn’t her, but right now she looked even more like the feverish one.

Slowly raising her eyes, Jiang Chao blinked at herself in the mirror.

Her face was peach-red; her lips had been bitten to a vivid red. She looked as if she’d been splashed with paint—plain, yet somehow enough to draw out the complicated emotions in her heart.

Calm down.

Jiang Chao told herself to calm down.

She was only helping the feverish Sheng Huaixi take off her wet clothes so her condition wouldn’t get worse...

Yes, she was only helping her.

In front of a patient, whether she was removing a dress or intimate clothing, it was all proper, serious, and necessary.

As for the shyness on her face and ears, that was normal too. Anyone would be embarrassed seeing another person’s naked body, right?

You don’t need to think about it anymore.

Jiang Chao stared at herself in the mirror, repeating those words over and over, slowly suppressing the ripples in her chest. Her fingertips pressed against the counter and tightened bit by bit.

Only when her emotions had finally settled did Jiang Chao turn on the tap and scoop up a few handfuls of cold water to splash on her face. Her body shivered; there was no trace of anything suggestive left.

“! Sheng Huaixi, what are you doing?!"

When she came out of the bathroom and looked up, Jiang Chao’s expression changed in alarm. She hurried forward and decisively pulled the blanket back over Sheng Huaixi, who had kicked it aside.

“Hot...” Sheng Huaixi murmured. Her fever-flushed face swayed weakly, her voice especially faint.

Jiang Chao set the cup down and quickly placed the wet towel she was holding on Sheng Huaixi’s forehead. “Does that feel a little better?”

The coolness settled over her forehead and did help, but only for an instant. Sheng Huaixi started trying to wriggle her limbs out from under the blanket again, and one ankle tentatively poked out from the side.

“You can’t keep sticking it out.” Jiang Chao caught it at once and, without hesitation, pushed the ankle back in.

“Mm—”

The coolness rose from her ankle. Sheng Huaixi let out a soft, comfortable hum and unconsciously pressed closer to where it felt good.

That active closeness from the ankle caught Jiang Chao off guard. She stiffened in place; after a beat, she slowly pulled back.

Looking down at Sheng Huaixi, who was obviously uncomfortable yet still insisting on getting closer, Jiang Chao’s lashes trembled and her expression turned complicated.

She didn’t even know what to say.

She knew Sheng Huaixi was clingy, but every time, the woman still managed to refresh her understanding of just how clingy she could be.

Maybe this person really just had no sense of security.

Sighing, Jiang Chao took the wet towel away, dipped it into the cup, wrung out the heat it had absorbed, and put it back on her forehead.

She picked up her phone and glanced at it. The latest message from Jiang’s mother said the doctor would probably arrive in about half an hour.

Half an hour...

Jiang Chao’s brows drew together. A flicker of hesitation passed through her eyes as her fingertips tapped slowly against the bed, her gaze sweeping over Sheng Huaixi’s face.

The woman’s face was flushed red; her lips were slightly parted, a hint of bright red tongue faintly visible as she breathed. Her narrow eyes were tightly shut, and her curled black lashes trembled uneasily.

She looked very uncomfortable.

Jiang Chao leaned down, conflict in her eyes, and spoke softly by Sheng Huaixi’s ear while her fingertips gathered the burning flesh of her ear and kneaded it in her hand.

“Sheng Huaixi, I’m going to wipe you down now. It’ll make you feel better, okay?”

Sheng Huaixi gave a few muffled hums and struggled at all.

Jiang Chao couldn’t tell what those muffled sounds meant. She was confident in her guess, so she simply took them as agreement.

Opening the cabinet, Jiang Chao took out a disposable towel, sat on the edge of the bed, soaked it completely, and wrung it out.

Exhaling softly, she lowered her gaze, her expression serious as she brought the towel down to wipe Sheng Huaixi’s face, behind her ears, her neck... following the line from top to bottom.

She reached one arm straight into the blanket. She didn’t dare look, nor did she dare pull the blanket back and let Sheng Huaixi get cold again.

But because she couldn’t see, some places became especially awkward.

Jiang Chao focused on the larger areas and ignored the smaller ones. In her haste, the wet cloth brushed over most of her body; the skin underneath was too soft, and with the slightest carelessness it would slide to a place that made her ears burn.

The coolness at her fingertips was rubbed warm. Jiang Chao swept over it in a panic.

“If you keep wiping like that, it’ll be uncomfortable..."

“Mm?! You’re awake!” Jiang Chao stopped in surprise and looked up.

A pair of reddened eyes, hazy with thick moisture, blinked lightly at her. A faint flush spread from the corners of those eyes, and even the lashes were damp, pitiful and soft.

It was especially easy to make someone feel sorry for her.

Jiang Chao’s heart quietly softened a little. She quickly leaned close to Sheng Huaixi’s face, her palm brushing worriedly over her cheek as her voice softened. “Are you very uncomfortable?”

Sheng Huaixi looked at Jiang Chao fixedly, her gaze slowly moving over the expression on her face as if she wanted to etch it into memory, so slowly it was almost deliberate.

The caress on her cheek continued. Sheng Huaixi’s muddled consciousness rolled and twisted, but because of that coolness she felt a little better. She squinted, rubbing lightly against Jiang Chao’s hand a few times like a cat.

“If you wipe me like that, I’ll react,” Sheng Huaixi said softly, her eyes fixed on Jiang Chao, her voice rough and hoarse.

Jiang Chao was baffled. “React to what?”

“Sexual desire.”

Sheng Huaixi’s flat explanation landed lightly, but to Jiang Chao it was like thunder exploding in her ear, blowing away her confusion.

What replaced it was a mix of shock and annoyance.

“Sheng Huaixi, you have a fever.” Jiang Chao restrained her emotions and did her best to keep her voice gentle.

A patient with a fever should not hear harsh words.

Even if Jiang Chao was also hearing the words “sexual desire” from a feverish patient for the first time.

Caught in that uncomfortable in-between state, her emotions left hanging in midair, Jiang Chao stared at Sheng Huaixi, afraid she might say something even more astonishing.

But Sheng Huaixi herself showed no such awareness. She turned her head with effort and pressed Jiang Chao’s hand flat against the pillow.

Jiang Chao had a cold constitution, and she had just held cold water for too long. Her wrist was icy, exactly what Sheng Huaixi needed right now.

Her eyes shimmered with water; her nose wrinkled faintly in discomfort. She couldn’t smell anything from Jiang Chao, but the hand pressed beneath her cheek felt all too real.

“Because you didn’t come home with me yesterday.”

Sheng Huaixi spoke hoarsely, her voice carrying a rare note of softness. Her watery eyes fixed on Jiang Chao as she dumped the blame for her fever onto her.

That sudden, heavy burden crashed down on Jiang Chao’s head and left her dizzy.

Although she had vaguely suspected Sheng Huaixi might say something like this, Jiang Chao still couldn’t work up even a little anger over it.

Just imagine it: a pair of damp, reddened eyes veiled in thin mist lifting to look at you, while their owner showed a weak, rarely seen fragility, looking pitiful and aggrieved.

How could anyone possibly say anything then?

Jiang Chao straightened her fingers, hooked the hot flesh of her ear, and lightly scratched it while her gaze settled on Sheng Huaixi’s face. She sighed softly. “Do you think you’re being just a little unreasonable?”

Sheng Huaixi happily rubbed against her palm. Knowing this was Jiang Chao giving in, the words that slipped from her lips carried even more joy.

“Yes. But I’m sick right now, so you have to indulge me a little, right?”

Sheng Huaixi unceremoniously stepped all over the line Jiang Chao had already yielded. The hoarse end of her sentence lifted slightly, carrying a spoiled, self-indulgent air.

Her gaze on Jiang Chao was bold and unrestrained, yet also tinged with expectation.

It was exactly the same kind of expectant look she’d worn last night when she’d gone to the banquet just to invite Jiang Chao to go home with her.

“..."

Jiang Chao gave in another step. “Don’t push your luck.”

That smiling gaze still remained on her face. Jiang Chao thought of those first startling words again, her ears flushing red as she explained, “I was just worried that if I uncovered the blanket, you’d get cold again, so I wiped you like that.”

“But you already helped me take everything off.” Sheng Huaixi’s knees brushed together, soft flesh pressing close. As she moved, there was no gap at all between them. “Including my underwear.”

Jiang Chao tried to explain, but found that no matter how she explained it, it always circled back to Sheng Huaixi pressing her about the process of taking her clothes off.

“...The doctor’s almost here. I’ll go get it now. Where did you put the things?” Jiang Chao straightened up, her expression earnest.

She completely skipped over what Sheng Huaixi had just said.

Sheng Huaixi glanced at her reddened ears, laughed softly, and didn’t press the matter further. She held Jiang Chao’s hand down and refused to let her leave.

“I want to shower first. I’ll put it on after I’m done.”

Jiang Chao suspected she’d misheard.

But Sheng Huaixi’s blinking eyes and the way she was already trying to sit up told her she hadn’t.

She really was planning to take a shower while running a high fever.

Exhaling heavily, Jiang Chao planted her hand on Sheng Huaixi’s shoulder and, without hesitation, pressed her back down again.

Holding her gaze, Jiang Chao asked gently, “Baby, you have a fever. Do you know what that means?”

The moment she asked it, Jiang Chao had already begun to see Sheng Huaixi as someone entirely clueless about life, to the point of being a terrifying menace.

She even started to feel faintly relieved and grateful that heaven had let Sheng Huaixi live this long despite having the dangerous idea of showering with a fever.

“What did you just call me?” Sheng Huaixi reached out and tugged at Jiang Chao’s sleeve, her eyes bright.

Jiang Chao lowered her head and smiled, not minding giving in a little more at this moment.

“Baby.”

“Good girl.” Sheng Huaixi took Jiang Chao’s wrist and tapped it with her fingertips like a reward.

The fingertip was sharp, but the pad of it was hot. Jiang Chao muttered to herself that this sounded like she was coaxing a dog, but she still didn’t struggle.

The person before her seemed to have gained some energy from those few exchanges; she was no longer as weak as she had been at first, as if one gust of wind would knock her over.

That unusually fragile look was too rare. As Jiang Chao looked at her, she always found herself unconsciously retreating a little, silently indulging everything Sheng Huaixi did.

And Sheng Huaixi saw all of it.

“Uncomfortable. Kiss me.”

Sheng Huaixi tapped her own cheek with a fingertip, springtime color filling her eyes as she looked straight at Jiang Chao, her gaze shimmering.

She was openly asking for a kiss.