Hearing that, Lin Wangxi subconsciously touched her face.
“Where?”
She took out her phone and turned on the front camera. It had been too dark in the bathroom earlier, so she had not noticed.
Looking closely, she indeed saw several red bumps on her face—two on her left cheek, one on her forehead, and another on her chin.
“Oh no, what happened?”
Lin Wangxi was horrified.
She had always loved beauty. In the past, whenever she went out, she always dressed herself up beautifully.
It was only after coming to Zhou Jinyuan’s place, where conditions were limited and her injured leg made going out impossible, that things changed. Even so, she still insisted on keeping herself neat and clean.
She washed her face every day. Bathing was inconvenient, so she only bathed once every two or three days.
How had she suddenly broken out?
Zhou Jinyuan leaned forward slightly, examined her carefully, and said, “Those are mosquito bites.”
When Lin Wangxi heard it was only mosquito bites, she let out a small sigh of relief.
“You scared me to death. I thought I was getting pimples. No wonder it’s been so itchy.”
“Wait, why are there mosquitoes in your house?”
Zhou Jinyuan curled his lips faintly. “Isn’t it normal to have mosquitoes this season?”
Lin Wangxi knew there was no way this place could compare with where she used to live, so she did not argue further.
Zhou Jinyuan stood up, walked to the shelf where the medicine box was kept, and took out a tube of ointment.
He returned to sit beside Lin Wangxi, squeezed out a little ointment, and moved to apply it to her face.
“Put some medicine on it, and it won’t itch anymore.”
Lin Wangxi sat obediently, tilting her face up and letting him do as he pleased.
She could smell the clean scent of laundry detergent on him, mixed with the freshness of clothes dried in sunlight.
She could also clearly see his lowered eyelashes, and beneath his high nose bridge, those tightly pressed thin lips.
His movements were very gentle—so gentle that it did not feel like he was applying medicine, but rather caressing her cheek.
That tingling sensation spread from her face straight into her heart, making her feel even itchier instead.
She already had no resistance to that face. Now that he was so close, close enough for her to count every distinct eyelash, her thoughts began to stir again.
She could not help wanting to take advantage.
Lin Wangxi felt as if her body was no longer under control and slowly leaned closer to him.
Just as she was about to succeed, Zhou Jinyuan suddenly lifted his eyes and met hers.
Caught red-handed trying to steal a kiss, Lin Wangxi bit her lip and looked at him awkwardly.
The distance between them was less than a centimeter.
She stared into his dark eyes, as if something hidden and turbulent was surging inside them.
Finally, she steeled herself and timidly spoke.
“I’ll just kiss you once, okay?”
Her breath brushed past the tip of his nose, carrying a faint minty scent of toothpaste.
The hand holding the ointment stiffened, and his whole body froze in place.
Seeing that he did not speak, Lin Wangxi took it as silent consent. She quickly pecked his lips, then tried to retreat at once.
But in the next second, Zhou Jinyuan suddenly wrapped an arm around her waist and blocked her escape.
Their lips pressed tightly together, yet there were no extra movements.
Lin Wangxi widened her eyes and looked at him in shock.
The man’s gaze was especially complicated, revealing no clear emotion she could grasp.
The two of them simply stared at each other in silence.
She vaguely felt his lips move slightly, as if he had gently taken her lower lip between them, but it was so faint that she wondered if it had been an illusion.
Just when she thought Zhou Jinyuan was about to give her a passionate kiss, he suddenly released her and abruptly stood up.
The chair behind him scraped harshly across the floor.
Without saying a word, Zhou Jinyuan lowered his eyes, capped the ointment on the table, turned around, and returned it to the medicine box on the shelf.
Lin Wangxi slowly raised a hand and touched her lips, then looked at his figure in the distance.
He… was angry, wasn’t he?
She sighed inwardly, reflecting on how she had once again been dazzled senseless by good looks.
She had nearly forgotten that he disliked her to begin with.
“Eat first. I’m going to wash the clothes.”
Zhou Jinyuan tossed out those words and entered the bathroom.
Lin Wangxi was basically certain now—he really was annoyed.
She felt somewhat regretful and secretly resolved to restrain herself in the future. She could not keep being so impulsive.
She casually ate a few bites, then put down her chopsticks and used her crutch to make her way to the balcony.
She had intended to apologize, but her gaze was first drawn to what he held in his hands.
It was a dark gray pair of men’s underwear. The style was ordinary, except several frayed threads hung from one corner.
As he scrubbed it, the loose threads spread out in the water. It looked oddly stylish, though it did not suit his cold and aloof image at all.
“I didn’t expect you to be fashionable. You actually wear fringe underwear.”
Zhou Jinyuan’s washing movements paused.
He silently looked at the underwear in his hand, then silently crumpled it into a ball, especially the part with the loose threads, which he clenched tightly in his palm.
After a long while, he finally said, “It’s torn.”
“…”
Lin Wangxi bit her lip awkwardly, feeling both sorry and amused.
“S-sorry…” She held back her laughter and tried to make her tone sound sincere. “I just thought it looked pretty nice.”
The moment the words left her mouth, she lost control first and burst out laughing.
She hurriedly covered her mouth, desperately begging herself inside to stop laughing.
Zhou Jinyuan said nothing. As if he had given up struggling, he loosened his grip on the underwear and continued washing it silently.
Lin Wangxi hobbled to his side on her crutch and apologized.
“Zhou Jinyuan, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh at you.”
“If you want to laugh, then laugh.”
“I really didn’t want to, but why don’t you buy new ones?”
“They’re worn underneath. No one sees them.”
Lin Wangxi blurted out, “But I saw them, didn’t I?”
Zhou Jinyuan’s movements paused again.
“I’ll buy you new ones.”
“No need. I like wearing torn ones.”
“…”
Lin Wangxi could not understand it, but she was deeply shocked. How could someone actually like wearing torn underwear?
Then a strange thought came to her. When he had refused to undress in front of her before, could it be because he was afraid she would see the torn underwear?
Zhou Jinyuan picked up the underwear, wrung it dry forcefully, then shook it open right in front of her without the slightest embarrassment before hanging it on the rack.
There truly was nowhere else to dry it.
She had occupied the bedroom. He could hardly hang it in Yuean’s room.
To put it bluntly, he had no other choice.
He turned to look at Lin Wangxi.
“Don’t go out today.”
“Why? I still have several toys left unsold.”
He said expressionlessly, “It’s going to rain today. Your leg isn’t healed. If you catch a chill, it’ll be even more troublesome.”
Lin Wangxi froze for a moment and subconsciously looked out the window.
“But the sun is out.”
“It’ll rain later.”
“Uh… how do you know?”
“The weather forecast said so.”
Lin Wangxi took out her phone and checked. The forecast clearly showed sunshine for the entire coming week.
Meeting her suspicious gaze, Zhou Jinyuan remained completely calm.
“If you’re bored staying at home, you can come out with me today.”
“To do what?”