This bath took Ci Wenjun an unusually long time.
It had been nearly an hour.
Thinking of Ci Wenjun’s fragile physique, Chu Yu couldn’t help but worry that she might have passed out in the bathroom!
With that thought, Chu Yu could no longer stay seated.
Out of concern for Ci Wenjun’s well-being, Chu Yu had no choice but to go and knock on the bathroom door.
“Tap, tap.”
The bathroom door was knocked on, but there was no movement.
Chu Yu’s heart tightened.
“Ci Wenjun, are you alright?”
Faint sounds of water came from inside, but still no response.
Chu Yu’s heart suddenly jumped into her throat, and her unease steadily grew.
There was an undetectable trace of panic in her voice.
“Ci Wenjun, are you alright? Ci Wenjun! I’m coming in!”
With that, she eagerly turned the door handle.
“Splash.”
As she entered, the sound of splashing water rushed into her ears. The first thing that came into view was exposed shoulders with an alluring flush of pink, followed by cheeks flushed an extraordinary red. Her eyes were wet and glistening, carrying a seductive, captivating gaze.
It was an ordinary appearance, yet so soul-stirring.
Chu Yu was briefly dazed for a moment before she frowned, stepped forward, and acted without hesitation.
She reached out and felt the temperature of Ci Wenjun’s forehead.
It was a bit hot, though she couldn’t tell if it was from a fever or from soaking in the bath.
But it didn’t matter; she had brewed ginger tea and prepared medicine, and she was definitely going to suppress this cold today.
Thinking of this, Chu Yu let out a sigh of relief, but right after, an inexplicable anger surged up within her chest.
“Why didn’t you answer me?”
She asked coldly, her brows frosty and unmoved even amidst the billowing steam.
The woman in the water trembled at the sound of her voice, but she didn’t answer. She only lowered her head in silence, her breathing very soft as her body grew even redder.
Chu Yu frowned, and the anger in her heart instantly subsided.
The scenery before her was breathtakingly beautiful, but its owner dared not look too long. She took a deep breath, turned around to leave, and left behind only a single sentence.
“Hurry up. If you don’t come out soon, don’t blame me if you catch a cold.”
As soon as she spoke, a flash of annoyance crossed her face.
Why did saying that make it sound so much like she cared?
Fortunately, once the door was closed, no one could see what she was thinking.
Meanwhile, left behind in the room, Ci Wenjun’s gaze was dazed, and her face was red enough to bleed.
Hearing Chu Yu’s parting words, a bright light sparked in her eyes, and her heart felt as though it had been scorched.
“Mmh.”
A seductive tail-end note softly echoed in the bathroom, inspiring endless imagination.
After a long while, Ci Wenjun stopped leaning over the edge of the bathtub and began to catch her breath in small, measured gasps.
The soreness and numbness radiating from her most intimate spot were exceptionally clear, lingering with a long-lasting afterglow.
It feels so good. I want to keep going.
But she couldn’t. If she did it again, Chu Yu would definitely find out.
Ci Wenjun shifted slightly, her lips pouting in dissatisfaction like an angry pufferfish.
Originally, she hadn’t intended to do such a thing in the bathroom.
Yet, she had endured for eight years, and Chu Yu’s jacket was right there in the nearby laundry basket. Clearly just an inanimate object, it was as captivating as its owner, drawing all her attention.
This was Chu Yu’s home, and Chu Yu was right outside.
This gave Ci Wenjun an immense sense of security, even creating a hazy illusion that they had never separated.
The taut strings of her heart suddenly relaxed. There was no one else here, so she let herself sink into the water.
The slightly warm water completely relaxed her muscles, and the cravings of her body welled up from deep within at that exact moment.
Like a little hook, it scratched at her heart. She uncomfortably pulled her legs together, trying to suppress the urge.
Yet a voice inside her head guided her: Why suppress it? You shouldn’t suppress it. Have you forgotten? Chu Yu loves seeing you like that—that completely satisfied look that can always precisely stimulate her.
Have you forgotten?
Aren’t you craving it?
Show her your ultimate appearance.
Seduce her, and make her leave her marks on your body again, and again, and again.
Driven by these whispers, she made a bold decision.
To call it bold wasn’t entirely accurate; it wasn’t that bold.
In the past, she had even done things far bolder than this in front of Chu Yu.
But times were different now. Chu Yu hadn’t forgiven her yet.
Right now, she couldn’t even be considered a guest in this house.
Under such circumstances, how could this not be considered bold?
She could even imagine that if Chu Yu discovered her, Chu Yu would probably look at her with utter disgust, chase her out with a gaze full of rejection in those beautiful brows, and even regret bringing her back to contaminate her bathroom.
Thinking of Chu Yu’s cold and composed eyes, she realized she hadn’t seen her smile in so long.
Why won’t she smile? I want so badly to see her smile!
Chu Yu’s smile was warm and tolerant. She didn’t talk much, and when she was unhappy, she mostly furrowed her brows slightly.
She liked quiet; holding a book by herself and sitting on the balcony could keep her occupied for an entire day.
In the past, when she was working and not at home, Chu Yu would spend her entire day just like that.
Lost in thoughts of Chu Yu, her fingertips began to move, descending from the porcelain rim of the tub into the water below.
Ripples spread across the calm surface.
Yet they quickly settled into stillness.
She remembered a lily plant Chu Yu had grown a long time ago.
That lily was very delicate and couldn’t be touched roughly. Its petals required careful nurturing, and its soil needed plenty and plenty of water. It would cry if neglected, and it would also cry if handled too forcefully. Its flower core was even more fragile, and touching it required more care than handling a million-dollar precision instrument.
Yet, even though the lily was so fragile, in Chu Yu’s hands, it was always well-cared for and radiant with vitality.
So much so that later on, the owner didn’t even need any preparation to easily achieve the desired effect.
She knew where the problem lay.
A flower was always a flower, and only its true owner knew best how to soothe it.
However, the gardener-owner was angry right now, so the flower had to fend for itself.
Her fingers became clumsy as they tried to inspect the bloom without knowing the right technique.
How annoying, why isn’t it working?!
At that moment, she thought of Chu Yu, thinking of the cold, clean scent that belonged to her. Chu Yu didn’t like wearing perfume, so what she smelled was mostly the scent of fabric; only when they were very close could she catch that unique fragrance.
If it were Chu Yu, how would she do it?
I want Chu Yu so badly.
No, it’s not enough.
She knew what was missing, but it was no use.
Chu Yu wouldn’t help her. Right now, she was even doing this behind Chu Yu’s back like a thief. How could she ever dare ask Chu Yu to do it herself?
But…
Just then, the bathroom door was knocked on, accompanied by Chu Yu’s clear and somewhat urgent voice.
Instantly, Chu Yu’s pretty face flashed vividly in her mind’s eye.
Until the door was abruptly pushed open, and that illusory figure materialized, appearing right before her eyes.
She also successfully reached the ultimate peak at last.
It feels so good.
It wasn’t until that gaze, cold as a knife blade, landed on her that she belatedly snapped back to reality.
She didn’t know if Chu Yu had figured anything out, and she dared not look at her, terrified of giving herself away.
The restless heat within her body was also cooled down by Chu Yu’s entrance and suppressed back into the depths.
Fortunately, Chu Yu didn’t say anything more, nor did she even look at her. She simply told her to hurry up and come out before turning away in a rush.
Ci Wenjun secretly breathed a sigh of relief, though she couldn’t tell whether she felt more sadness or relief at that moment.
Perhaps it was a mix of both. She felt sadness that Chu Yu no longer paid attention to her the way she used to, because if it were the Chu Yu of the past, she would have seen through this pathetic state at a single glance and then…
A craving stirred deep within her lower body once more. Realizing this, Ci Wenjun promptly cut off the thought. Stop thinking about it!
Yet she was also relieved that Chu Yu hadn’t noticed her abnormality like she used to. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have dared to guarantee she would receive her former treatment.
Recalling the past always brought a measure of sentimentality.
Yet she had no time to dwell on it. Fearing that Chu Yu might grow impatient waiting outside, she hurriedly stood up and put on the change of clothes Chu Yu had prepared for her.
As she changed, her gaze fell upon that jacket.
Hesitating for two seconds and making sure Chu Yu wouldn’t return, she clutched the jacket to her chest like a lovesick stalker, buried her face in it, and took several deep, greedy breaths.
It smelled like Chu Yu.
I love it so much. What should I do? It feels like I’m starting to get in the mood again.
With wet, glistening eyes, she could only endure it while secretly scheming how she could take this jacket with her when she left without arousing Chu Yu’s suspicion.
Her logic was simple yet overbearing.
Chu Yu took this jacket out for her to wear, so now this jacket belonged to her. What was wrong with taking her own clothes?
Of course, she only dared to think about it. If you were to let her say that to Chu Yu, it would be an entirely different story.
When she finally emerged, Chu Yu was sitting at the dining table, where a cup of steaming brown liquid had been placed.
Chu Yu didn’t raise her head to look at her, but Ci Wenjun just knew that thing on the table was meant for her.
She obediently walked over to a nearby chair, still feeling somewhat guilty because of what she had done in the bathroom, not daring to make the slightest sound.
Chu Yu didn’t even lift her eyelids, sitting to one side and playing with her phone.
Ci Wenjun pinched the cup. It was a bit hot.
Chu Yu frowned slightly, but maintained her posture, looking light and airy, indifferent to worldly matters.
As she brought the cup closer, a pungent, spicy wave of heat rushed into her nasal passages.
Ci Wenjun frowned and scrunched up her face. She didn’t like ginger and hated anything related to ginger.
Unsurprisingly, this matter was also inextricably linked to Chu Yu.
For both Chu Yu and Ci Wenjun, it had been an extremely painful experience.
Yet, to Ci Wenjun, its significance went far beyond that.
She liked that version of Chu Yu very much.
Because a Chu Yu like that—a Chu Yu provoked to anger by her own hands—was like a wild, frenzied beast.
At that time, she didn’t even need to think to know that Chu Yu’s mind must have been entirely filled with her.
How could she not love a Chu Yu whose mind was completely filled with her?
A Chu Yu like that was simply so beautiful!
Pinching her nose to gulp down the ginger-flavored tea, Ci Wenjun scrunched her face up like a child, sticking her tongue out and panting for breath like a little dog.
At a time like this, she had no mood left for maintaining any image.
Besides, what kind of look hadn’t Chu Yu seen from her?
Beside her, Chu Yu, who had been solemnly playing on her phone, unconsciously smoothed out her brow, letting out a long breath from her chest.
Before brewing it, she had been terribly afraid that Ci Wenjun wouldn’t drink it.
She knew how much Ci Wenjun hated ginger, especially after that out-of-control incident, which had practically left Ci Wenjun with a psychological shadow regarding ginger.
Perhaps even Ci Wenjun herself didn’t realize that ever since then, whenever she saw her holding ginger, her words and actions would involuntarily rein themselves in a bit.
A trace of annoyance would unconsciously brush across her brows.
It wasn’t obvious, but anyone with even a sliver less understanding might not have noticed the issue at all.
Yet, as it happened, Chu Yu had noticed.
It wasn’t that she had never regretted it, or rather, she regretted it profoundly.
She vexed over why she had allowed herself to be provoked so easily by Ci Wenjun’s little tricks.
Ever since then, she had begun paying exceptional attention to managing her own emotions.
She no longer wanted to hurt Ci Wenjun.
That rage had distorted her beyond recognition, turning her into a tyrant.
Chu Yu had hesitated, felt lost, and felt helpless. She was terrified that she would ruin Ci Wenjun.
Ci Wenjun was a good girl. She had chosen to stay with her out of trust, but her own behavior felt like a betrayal of that trust.
Yet in the end, it was Ci Wenjun who hugged her tightly, offering comfort and encouragement.
She understood completely, and even took the blame upon herself.
The sunlight that day was very gentle, streaming through the glass onto her face, making her look as pretty as an angel.
Ci Wenjun, the best Ci Wenjun in the entire world.
She loved Ci Wenjun the most.