Chapter 69 -

Chapter 69: Chapter

The room grew thick and quiet, with only the fire crackling in the corner.

Yimei didn’t pull away. Instead, she slid closer, her hands moving higher up his thighs with slow, warm strokes. The medicine felt slick on his skin, making his muscles tighten up under her touch.

Zhengyu threw his head back, letting out a sharp gasp. His eyes squeezed shut as his entire body burned hot under her hands. He gripped the bedsheets so tight his knuckles turned white.

"Yimei..." he choked out, his chest breathing hard. "You’re driving me crazy."

Yimei just smiled, her eyes flashing with pure teasing. She slowly traced her thumbs right near his hips, pushing him right to the edge until his breath hitched. He looked like he was about to beg her to stop... or beg her not to.

Suddenly, Yimei pulled her hands back completely.

Zhengyu’s eyes snapped open. He stared at her, his face bright red, his skin burning, and his jaw locked tight.

"What on earth are you doing?" Zhengyu demanded, his voice raspy and frustrated. "Are you doing this just to get back at me? Is this some kind of revenge?"

Yimei looked at his completely flustered, hot face. She let out a small sigh, pitied him for a second, and rolled her eyes.

"Revenge?" she asked, leaning back on the bed. "I’m fixing your blood flow, husband. You’re the one making a big deal out of it."

Zhengyu stared at her, his jaw dropping in pure disbelief. "I’m making a big deal out of it? You were just touching me like—"

He cut himself off, biting his lip hard as his red face grew even hotter.

Yimei scoffed softly, shaking her head. She picked up a clean cloth from the bedside table and wiped the remaining oil off her palms. "Look at you. One little touch and you act like the world is ending. How are you going to take back the Bai Manor if a simple leg massage completely undoes you?"

"That was not a simple leg massage and you know it!" Zhengyu snapped, though his voice lacked any real bite. He grabbed his trousers, quickly pulling them back up to cover his bare skin before hiding under the thick blanket.

Yimei watched his frantic movements, a playful smirk returning to her face. She leaned over, placing her elbows on her knees so her face was only inches away from his.

"If you hate it so much, I can always stop," she said smoothly, her eyes glinting with mischief. "I’ll just let your legs stay stiff and cold every night. No more massages. No more oil."

Zhengyu froze. He looked at her smug, beautiful face, then down at the blanket covering his warm legs. The stinging pain in his joints was completely gone, replaced by a deep, comfortable warmth.

He swallowed hard, turning his face away toward the wall.

"...I didn’t say I hated it," he muttered under his breath, so low Yimei could barely hear him.

"What was that?" Yimei asked, putting a hand to her ear with an innocent smile. "I couldn’t hear you, Young Master."

Zhengyu glared back at her, his dark eyes burning with embarrassed defeat. "I said don’t stop! Just... do it properly next time without making fun of me."

Yimei let out a soft laugh, satisfied with her victory. She stood up from the bed, smoothing down her clean robes.

"Get some sleep, husband," she whispered, leaning down to lightly pat his cheek. "Tomorrow morning, the real pain begins. I’m bringing out Grandmaster Zhang’s needles."

Zhengyu’s eyes widened in horror as she casually turned around, blew out the candle, and walked into her adjoining room, leaving him alone in the dark with a wildly thumping heart.

After Yimei closed the door, Zhengyu sat right back up in bed, frowning heavily.

He lifted the heavy blanket and glanced down at his lower half. His little brother was clearly still fully turned on.

"Fucking woman..." Zhengyu cursed under his breath, his face burning with frustration. He threw the blanket back over himself, turned to his side, and forced his eyes shut, trying hard to sleep it off.

Meanwhile, Yimei walked down to the kitchen, dropped off the dirty bowl, and washed her hands. After cleaning up, she returned to her own room and locked the door behind her.

Inside her mind, Nine, her system spoke up.

[Host, can you really perform acupuncture on him tomorrow?] Nine asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Obviously not," Yimei replied casually in her head. "I don’t know the first thing about sticking needles into people. That’s where you come in."

[What do you mean, Host?] Nine asked, confused.

Yimei sat down on her soft bed, crossing her legs comfortably.

"Never mind that for now," Yimei said. "Tell me my current favorability rating with Zhengyu."

Nine quickly checked the stats. [From being deep in the minus before, it has now increased to +7!]

Yimei stopped, letting out an annoyed, disbelief-filled laugh.

"After everything I did for that jerk, nursing him, carrying him, massaging his damn legs... his favorability only went up by 7?!" Yimei snapped, shaking her head in irritation. "Is that man crazy or what?"

"Wait, can I use those +7 points to buy an acupuncture mastery skill from the store?" Yimei asked in her head.

[No, Host,] Nine replied immediately. [Seven points isn’t enough for a full master-level skill.]

Yimei frowned, but Nine quickly added, [However, you can purchase the Photographic Recall skill instead. It allows you to learn and master everything inside any book instantly just by reading it once.]

Yimei’s eyes lit up as she thought about Grandmaster Zhang’s detailed medical notebook sitting on her table.

"That’s good then," she said with a smirking grin. "Buy it."

[Host, you can’t buy anything on credit,] Nine stated firmly. [It costs 10 points, so you have to earn 3 extra points first to get that skill.]

Yimei frowned, her annoyance spiking instantly.

"How on earth am I supposed to get three extra points in just one night?" she muttered, staring at the wall separating her room from Zhengyu’s.