Chapter 90: Enchanting Scenery
“Do you live here all by yourself in such a big place?” Ye Fei asked, glancing around with curiosity.
“Yes,” Li Yueyao said with a bright smile. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“Er...” Ye Fei gave an awkward laugh. “That’s not what I meant. I was just curious.”
“All right.” Li Yueyao shrugged, then slipped off her outerwear, revealing the camisole beneath. “Do you want to take a shower? I’ve had too much going on today, and I want to relax a little.”
“A shower?” Ye Fei instantly felt a heat rise in him, but he forced it down in time and asked, “Why would I take a shower? I’m here to eat the food you made.”
“Oh, right, I forgot.” Li Yueyao giggled and darted into the bathroom. “Then I’ll go wash up by myself!”
“Go ahead.” Ye Fei rubbed his nose and sat down on the sofa.
Soon, the faint patter of running water came from the bathroom, soft and enticing.
But Ye Fei had excellent self-control; he was not the sort of man who would so easily yield to temptation. He lowered his gaze, calmed his mind, and quickly shut out everything around him.
“Ye Fei!”
“I forgot to bring my underwear!”
“Help me get it! It’s in the cabinet by the door!”
And yet those three sentences shattered his defenses in an instant.
He drew a deep breath, told himself to endure it, and went to the cabinet by the side. From inside, he took out a very cute intimate garment, then knocked on the bathroom door.
Thud, thud, thud.
Click.
The crack of the door opened, and a white, water-dappled hand reached out from within. With a soft, yellow-warbler-like laugh, it snatched the garment inside.
“Thank you.”
Li Yueyao even said it teasingly as she shut the door.
Ye Fei rolled his eyes. Only then did he realize that this woman was not nearly as innocent as he had imagined; on the contrary, she was quite skilled at flirting.
Still, his resolve would not be so easily shaken.
Half an hour later, the water sounds in the bathroom gradually faded.
Then, all at once, came the noise of something falling.
Ye Fei frowned, sensing that something was wrong. He stepped to the bathroom door and tried calling out, “Li Yueyao? Can you hear me?”
No answer.
“Li Yueyao?”
“Hey?”
Thud, thud, thud.
He knocked on the door.
Still no response.
After hesitating for a moment, Ye Fei drew a deep breath and muttered to himself, “Don’t blame me.”
With that—
Bang!
He raised his foot and kicked the bathroom door open.
There, Li Yueyao was lying on the floor naked, her face deathly pale, blood steadily streaming from her nose, her whole body already unconscious.
“This...”
Ye Fei froze for a moment, then hurried forward, draped the bathrobe over her, wiped away the water, and carried her to the sofa in the living room.
After that, he took her hand and checked her pulse.
It was extremely rapid, but not chaotic.
It seemed to be only a fainting spell brought on by excessive pressure.
“That’s good.”
Ye Fei let out a breath of relief. After wiping away the blood from her nose, he placed a hand at her waist and released a wisp of inner force into her body.
Then he hesitated again, covered her properly with the bathrobe, and turned to leave.
By the time Li Yueyao woke up, three hours had already passed.
She struggled up from the sofa and looked around in a daze, then sniffed with her delicate nose and frowned. “What is that smell... so foul.”
“Medicine decocting,” came Ye Fei’s voice from the kitchen.
Li Yueyao froze. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she lowered her head to look at herself, and the pale skin exposed everywhere left nothing to the imagination.
In an instant, her lovely face flushed red.
“You fainted in the bathroom just now. It should have been caused by excessive stress and insufficient blood and vital energy, so I went out to get some herbs.” Ye Fei said with a smile without turning around. “While I’m not in the mood to sneak a look, hurry and change clothes before you come out.”
Hearing that, Li Yueyao hurriedly staggered into the bedroom. After changing into a cute set of sleepwear, she walked into the kitchen.
Seeing the clay pot she usually used for soup now filled with a mass of black, unidentified, viscous liquid, she covered her nose and mouth, looking astonished. “Th-this is Chinese medicine? I have to drink this later?”
“Yes.” Ye Fei still did not turn around. “Drink it, and it’ll take effect right away.”
“No, no, I’m not drinking that!” Li Yueyao shook her head again and again. “It’s... disgusting...”
“It won’t be disgusting after a while.” Ye Fei smiled. “If you don’t want to die in the bathroom next time, then drink it properly.”
“Well... all right, then.” Li Yueyao was somewhat helpless as well.
More than ten minutes later, Ye Fei came over carrying a bowl of broth that was half black and half translucent, and set it before Li Yueyao. Then he took out two silver needles from his pocket and said softly, “Drink it. Once you finish this bowl, I’ll use the needles to help stabilize the blood and vital energy in your body. In about ten minutes, your illness will disappear.”
“And it won’t come back.”
“Is it really that effective?” Li Yueyao asked in surprise. “I... what illness do I have?”
“Of course.” Ye Fei nodded calmly. “It’s not a serious one. You must have been staying up late these past few days, haven’t you? Not sleeping well no matter what?”
“Yes.” Li Yueyao stared at him in amazement. “How do you know?”
“From a traditional medicine perspective, the blood and vital energy in your body have fallen out of balance. If this goes on, before long your blood vessels will become blocked. Once clots form, in mild cases you’ll be paralyzed; in severe cases, you could die.”
Ye Fei shrugged.
“What?” Li Yueyao was startled and quickly picked up the medicine on the table, then gulped it down.
After she finished, she looked at Ye Fei, who was holding the silver needles, bit her lower lip, and with a blush on her face asked, “For... for this... do I need to take off my clothes?”
“Take off your clothes?”
Ye Fei had not expected her to ask that. Helplessly, he said, “Of course you have to. If you don’t, how am I supposed to do the acupuncture? But don’t worry, it’s only the acupoints on your back.”
“My back?” Li Yueyao blinked.
“Yes.” Ye Fei shrugged. “Just your back. There’s no problem with that, is there? If you mind, we do have a more conservative method of treatment, but this one works faster.”
“Then... a-alright...” Li Yueyao nodded and was about to reach for her top.
A trace of alluring beauty appeared before Ye Fei’s eyes.
Li Yueyao had her back to him. On her smooth spine, there was actually a visible scar from adulthood, looking as if it had been caused by some kind of whip-like weapon.
“This...”
Seeing the wound, Ye Fei could not help frowning.
“My adoptive father hit me,” Li Yueyao said.
“He liked to drink heavily.”
“So...”