Chapter 136 -

Chapter 136: Chapter

Yimei reached out and pulled back the heavy blanket Zhengyu had used to hide himself. Under the soft golden light, his tight trousers made his erection impossible to miss.

Yimei tilted her head slightly, her face completely calm and unbothered. Without saying a word or poking fun at him, she opened the small ceramic jar, scooped up some warming balm, and pulled his trouser legs up to his knees.

Zhengyu immediately turned his face toward the dark wall, his ears burning hot with pure embarrassment. He closed his eyes tight, praying she would just hurry up and finish before his body betrayed him any further.

Yimei’s cool, smooth fingers rubbed the fragrant balm into his calf muscles, applying firm, even pressure to ease his stiff joints. The room was silent save for the quiet rustle of fabric and the crackle of the charcoal brazier.

"Do you find me attractive?" Yimei asked out of nowhere, her voice completely smooth and casual.

Zhengyu’s breath hitched in his throat. He kept his face turned away, but his jaw clenched tight. "Why are you asking such nonsense in the middle of the night?"

"It’s a simple question," Yimei replied, pressing her thumb into a tight knot near his ankle. "You react like this every time I touch your skin. So I am curious."

Zhengyu let out a low, strained exhale. He slowly turned his head back, his dark eyes locking onto her unblinking face.

"Any man with normal blood in his veins would react if a woman looked like you, acted like you, and touched him like this," Zhengyu said, his voice deep and raspy. "You know very well what you do to people, Yimei."

A tiny, satisfied smirk touched the corner of Yimei’s lips, but she didn’t say another word. She finished massaging his other leg, wiped her oily hands on a clean cloth, and pulled his trouser legs back down

She looked up from his ankles, her dark eyes locking onto his with absolute seriousness.

"What do you find attractive in me?" she asked.

The sheer bluntness of her question made Zhengyu sit up straighter, forcing him to face her directly. Her expression was completely unreadable, no faint blush, no flustered twitch, and not a single sign of shyness. Zhengyu found it utterly bizarre. Yimei was a very strange woman indeed.

He stared at her for a long second before he finally began to speak. "You are tall... taller than most women I know. And you are slender, but not because you are malnourished or bony. You are slender with flesh, meaning you are healthy. Your face is clear and smooth, but your eyes... your eyes look like they can read a person’s deepest secrets without even trying."

Zhengyu paused, his dark gaze lingering on her face, searching for even the smallest hint of hesitation. But Yimei just sat there, resting her hands on her lap, listening to him with the same cool, unbothered expression she gave when reading a prescription list.

"You don’t act like other women," Zhengyu continued, his voice dropping low and deliberate. "You don’t cry, you don’t panic, and you certainly don’t wait for a man to save you. You are sharp, dangerous, and completely shameless when you want something." A faint, amused tug appeared at the corner of his lips. "That is what makes you attractive. You are unlike anyone I have ever met."

Yimei processed his words in silence, taking her time to absorb everything he had just said. Her dark eyes then slowly shifted downward, landing straight back onto the prominent bulge in his trousers.

"Do you study other women the same way you studied me?" she asked, her face deadpan and serious.

Zhengyu frowned instantly, his brow furrowing in deep irritation. "I do not study women! What do you take me for, a creep?"

A tiny, razor-sharp smirk touched the corner of Yimei’s lips. She stood up smoothly from the bed, smoothing down her dress and wiping her hands on a clean cloth.

"Get some rest," she said calmly. "Tomorrow we will go visit grandmaster Zhang so he can check on your legs.. it’s about time you started moving."

Yimei climbed onto the bed and lay down right beside him, turning onto her side to face him.

Zhengyu kept his eyes squeezed tightly shut, his entire body stiff as a board as he pretended to be fast asleep. But the frantic beating of his heart and the dark red lingering on his ears betrayed him completely.

Yimei quietly stared at his sharp profile in the dim darkness. Reaching out, she casually pulled the heavy blanket up over his shoulders to cover him properly.

"I also find you attractive," Yimei said softly, her voice cool and unbothered in the quiet room.

Zhengyu’s breath hitched in his throat. His eyelids twitched, but before he could react or find his voice, Yimei simply turned her back to him, closed her eyes, and let herself drift off to sleep.

Left alone in the dark with her words echoing in his mind, Zhengyu slowly turned his head toward her back. He stared at her quiet, peaceful frame for a long time, his heart pounding wildly in his chest before he finally let out a helpless, quiet sigh.

Meanwhile, inside their quiet bedchamber, Master Bai slammed his palm onto the tea table, making the porcelain cups clatter violently.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Master Bai demanded, glaring at Madame Bai in frustration. "How could you just hand over the deeds of this town shop to Yimei?!"

Madame Bai smoothed her silk sleeves, completely unfazed by her husband’s outburst. She gave him a cool, unimpressed look. "And why shouldn’t I? Lower your voice before you wake the entire compound."

"She is just a young girl who married into our branch!" Master Bai hissed, pacing back and forth across the floor. "That shop is one of the few prized assets our First Branch holds in this area. What does a girl like her know about running a business? She will run it straight into the ground, and then where will we be?!"

"You talk as if you have done any better yourself," Madame Bai replied smoothly, taking a deliberate sip of her tea. "Yimei does not know how to manage a business, you say? Have you not watched her? She is sharper than anyone in this family. She handles the household without a single mistake, and she takes care of your crippled son better than any physician we hired."

Master Bai stopped pacing, his brow furrowed in annoyance, though he couldn’t deny her words.

"I gave her those shop deeds as a welcoming gift," Madame Bai continued calmly, setting her cup down with a soft clack. "She is Zhengyu’s wife now, she belongs to our branch. Giving her the means to build something for our family is the smartest move I have made. What on earth is wrong with that?"

Master Bai let out a heavy, frustrated sigh, rubbing his temples. "I only worry she is taking on too much. If the Second and Third branches find out she holds the shop deeds, they will target her even harder."

"Let them try," Madame Bai said, a quiet, knowing smile touching her lips. "If those greedy fools try to mess with Yimei, they will be the ones suffering in the end. Now stop shouting and go to sleep."

"You should have given it to me instead." He murmured before laying down on the bed angrily.

"When I told you about it.. you told me that the shop will be of no use to the family and that I should just focus on being a dutiful wife instead.. now you want me to hand it over to you.. you make me laugh!"