Chapter 462 - 296: Like Mother, Like Daughter

Chapter 462: Chapter 296: Like Mother, Like Daughter

Lin Chen hadn’t thought much of it at first, but her sudden closeness made his heart skip a beat. He had been trying to stay calm, but now it was pounding uncontrollably.

Erica’s skin was incredibly smooth. She wore only a whisper-thin layer of setting powder, yet not a single pore was visible to the naked eye. Her complexion was as fair and radiant as a piece of fine jade.

Her plump, supple lips were coated in an alluring, light pink gradient style, reminiscent of Asian makeup trends. They shimmered brightly in the sunlight.

This style of makeup was especially captivating for a shy guy like him, one who rarely dared to get close to women. They were now only a finger’s width apart. If he just lowered his head slightly, he could capture those tempting lips.

The moment the thought entered his mind, the events of that night in the hotel room flashed before his eyes. His breathing grew heavy.

Subconsciously, his gaze drifted down from her eyes.

"You lost again."

As he stared, dazed, at her tempting lips, a triumphant smile spread across Erica’s face.

"Oh, dear. Your eyes don’t seem to be obeying you. Why can’t you hold my gaze?"

Lin Chen swallowed hard and rolled his eyes, speechless.

’Damn you for playing so dirty,’ he thought. ’What guy could possibly resist this?’

’You’re just taking advantage of me because I’m a man of quality, with self-restraint, a moral compass, and integrity! Because I’m easy to pick on!’

’Fine! I know when I’m beaten!’

"Go on, what’s the punishment?"

"Sleep with me tonight."

"..."

He opened his mouth and sighed helplessly. "I really can’t. It’s a Great Xia tradition that we can’t cohabitate before marriage, especially when parents are around. When it’s just the two of us in private, it’s a different story."

"Your mother also explicitly objected, and I have to respect her wishes."

Erica seemed to have anticipated his answer. Her expression was perfectly calm, showing no sign of surprise as she tilted her head and thought for a moment.

"Geez, it’s so hard to think of a fun punishment. You Da Xia People are so complicated, with all your rules about what you can and can’t do."

’A fun punishment?’

Lin Chen grimaced.

’Looks like her head is full of wild ideas again,’ he thought. ’Good thing I warned her in advance, or who knows what would be happening right now.’

After racking her brain for a while without coming up with anything good, Erica started to lose interest. She turned her head and tapped her cheek.

"Then give me a kiss."

’Just on the cheek?’

Lin Chen breathed a sigh of relief. ’Looks like this girl is still being considerate of my feelings.’

’I mean, I could kiss her on the lips, but that might seem like I’m rushing the relationship. Girls are usually better at understanding these things than guys are.’

Gazing at her flawless, lovely face, Lin Chen took a deep breath.

’Theoretically, this is the first time I’ve actually taken the initiative.’

Just as his lips gently touched her smooth skin, the sharp SNAP of a twig breaking came from not far behind them.

SNAP!

"What are you two doing?"

Lin Chen shot back as if he’d been shocked, his face instantly turning bright red.

’Damn it!’

’Couldn’t she have come earlier? Or later? Why did she have to show up right now?!’

’Getting caught in the act by your girlfriend’s mom... Is there anything in the world more embarrassing than this?’

"What’s it to you?"

Erica suddenly threw her arms around Lin Chen’s neck and, taking advantage of his flustered state, forcefully kissed him.

’????? ’

Lin Chen’s eyes went wide. ’I can’t believe this girl would pull a stunt like this! Forcefully kissing me right in front of her own mother!’

’I thought we agreed on just the cheek?!’

Marcia watched the scene unfold in silence. She didn’t have a strong reaction; instead, she just shook her head with an amused smile.

"Her personality... She’s exactly like I was at her age."

Erica didn’t kiss him for long. After two or three seconds, she pulled away. She shot a defiant look at Marcia, only to find that her mother wasn’t the least bit angry. On the contrary, she was gazing at them with a broad smile.

’What’s going on?’

’Shouldn’t she be screaming and charging at us, shaking her fists in anger?’

"Looks like you’re much more restrained than I was. I thought you were going to give him a French kiss."

’A French kiss?!’

Lin Chen’s expression changed, and he quickly backed away a few steps to avoid another surprise attack.

"You back then?"

Erica frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like," Marcia said, limping over. "Back when your father and I were dating, your grandfather was dead set against it. He even said he’d bash your father’s head in if I kept seeing him."

"And then?" Lin Chen asked, his eyes lighting up with curiosity.

"And then..."

She paused, shooting a wary glance at Erica. Then she beckoned Lin Chen over, gesturing for him to lean in so she could whisper.

"And then I ran away from home with her dad. We went out to our family’s wheat field and had a... fierce battle... for over an hour. By the time they found us, it was far too late."

’????????????’

’Hold on.’

’Oh, good heavens.’

’So that’s where Erica gets it from. She purely inherited this wild streak from you, didn’t she?’

Recalling the wild stories of her youth, Marcia gave a slightly sheepish smile. Then, her eyes narrowed as she continued, still smiling.

"I’ve dealt with many Da Xia People, so I have some understanding of your culture and values. I trust that you won’t hear a story like that and immediately drag my daughter off to do something... inappropriate. Right?"

"Right, right, of course!"

She was smiling, but Lin Chen could feel a wave of killing intent wash over him. He immediately began nodding his head like a chicken pecking at grain.

"Rest assured, I would never do something like that! Even the other night when we were drunk, nothing happened!"

"That’s good. I generally have faith in the integrity of Da Xia People."

Marcia nodded and patted him on the shoulder.

"What are you two whispering about? And then what? What happened next? Why couldn’t I hear it?"

Erica wasn’t an idiot. She immediately guessed her mother had done that because she was afraid Erica would get ideas and follow her example.

’I just forcibly kissed a man right in front of her, and she’s this calm—she even seems to think it’s no big deal.’

’So what kind of scandalous, world-shocking thing did she do back in her day?’

’That era was completely different from today. People weren’t nearly as open-minded.’

’Putting it all into perspective, even without knowing the details, she could make a pretty good guess.’

’This mother of hers was really no ordinary woman.’

’And someone who did something like *that* has the nerve to stop me from sleeping in the same bed as a man?’

’Hah, what a joke!’

As if guessing Erica’s thoughts, Marcia spoke up again. "How about this? I’ve been thinking. Everyone is exhausted, and building three separate shelters isn’t realistic."

"You definitely don’t want to sleep with me, and I won’t agree to you sleeping with him. So, let’s just build one shelter big enough for all three of us to lie down in. It’ll be warmer at night, too."

"Great idea!"

Lin Chen eagerly raised both hands in agreement and immediately headed into the forest to start gathering materials for the shelter.

Erica’s camera was still in his pocket, but it didn’t matter. The three days of footage would be edited down to two hours, maybe even one, in post-production anyway.

If it wasn’t recorded, so be it. That whole sequence of events would have been cut anyway.

The important thing was to record the process of gathering materials and building the shelter. That was the key content.

With the core conflict resolved, Erica was no longer in a mood. She fished the camera out of Lin Chen’s pocket, put it on, and resumed filming.

The shelter construction was simple. Since they only needed it for two nights and had no tools, they had to rely on gathering fallen branches.

They used Y-shaped branches for the main supports, building a basic frame which they then covered with a thick layer of pine boughs, followed by moss and leaves.

They were building a right-angled lean-to shelter. It was a relatively small project but would provide protection from the wind and rain. It was deep enough for the three of them to lie down side-by-side. The only thing left was to cover the remaining open sides with pine needles.

By the time the shelter was finally complete, it was already four in the afternoon. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

"Phew... The shelter situation is handled. Next, we need to figure out how to make a fire, and then gather firewood and food."

The long day of intense work had been draining. Even he and Erica felt noticeably exhausted. For Marcia, a middle-aged woman with a sedentary lifestyle and an erratic schedule, it had nearly killed her.

"I’ve noticed your posture has been a little strange when you walk. Did you twist your ankle, or do you have blisters?"

He didn’t rush on to the next task. Making a fire wasn’t essential; they could get by for now by finding some oysters or something on the beach to tide them over.

"It’s probably blisters."

Marcia sat on the ground, looking a little embarrassed. After she took off her shoes and socks, several blisters were clearly visible on the balls of both feet.

’Blisters in that spot meant she put most of her weight on the balls of her feet when she walked,’ he mused. ’It was probably a habit from wearing high heels all the time.’

"You should rest, then. If the blisters pop, they could easily get infected, especially out here in the wild. Besides, the plan for tonight is just to find some shellfish on the beach. Starting a fire will be tough; we’ll have to see if we can find any suitable bark."

"It’s fine, I can keep going. Besides, I brought an antiseptic spray to prevent infection. It’s in my backpack."

All three of them had brought backpacks as a safety net. They wanted to avoid using the contents if at all possible, especially since Marcia herself had chosen this challenge theme.

Using their gear before the first day was even over would be a bit pathetic.

The antiseptic spray, however, was a medical necessity. It would help her keep going. If the wounds got infected, carrying her all the way back would be a serious problem.

"Alright then, let’s go. The blisters are still pretty small, so we don’t need to pop them yet. We might be going in the water later, and we don’t want them to break and get infected. We can think about lancing them once they get to be about the size of a fingernail."

The shelter was located in the forest not far from the shore, only about a hundred meters away in a straight line.

Marcia stumbled along, when she suddenly seemed to think of something.

"Oh, right. Recently, all the online reviews have been saying that the White Whale’s garlic-roasted oysters became even more delicious after you improved the recipe. Do you think we could make some here?"