Ding dong~
When the doorbell rang, Jiang Chi raised his hand to open the door. The moment he saw that familiar smiling face outside, his expression darkened instantly. He was about to close the door, but a hand firmly stopped the door panel.
“Jiang Chi, don’t be so distant. After all, we’ve already had skin-to-skin contact,” Ji Yuennian beamed with a wide smile.
“Get lost! You’re not welcome here.” Jiang Chi’s face was cold, enunciating each word.
“Aiya, don’t say things like that. Our two families have a partnership. Saying things like this will hurt our relationship. Even if it’s not for me, think about your family’s corporation.”
Ji Yuennian said with a smile, forcibly squeezing through the gap in the door and striding into the house.
“Ah Chi, who are you talking to?” From the bedroom came Chen Mengrou’s lazy and gentle voice.
Jiang Chi opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Ji Yuennian answered first, calling out loudly, “Aunt Chen, it’s me.”
“Jiang Chi applied for a club activity. I’m here to pick him up. The bus is at the bus stop next to the building.”
“Oh, Ah Chi, be careful during the club activity. Socialize with your classmates and blend into the group.”
“Yueyue, I’ll have to trouble you to take care of Ah Chi during this club activity.”
“It’s nothing, we’re classmates. It’s only right.”
Jiang Chi listened to the exchange with a dark expression, until Ji Yuennian politely gestured to him with a smile, “Let’s go, Classmate Jiang Chi.”
Jiang Chi followed Ji Yuennian to the temporary underground parking lot of the complex. A Radiance was quietly parked there. Ji Yuennian shook the car remote key in his hand with pride, “My brother’s favorite car. I sneaked it out today.”
“Let’s go, kid, I’ll take you to soak in the hot springs.”
“When the time comes, let’s bare our hearts, lay everything out on the table.”
*****
Half an hour later, Ji Yuennian steadily parked the Radiance at a 3A-rated tourist spot in Wanqing City.
Dragging Jiang Chi out of the car, the two walked one after the other into a hot spring resort named “Dragon and Phoenix Pool”.
As they stepped into the resort, the first thing that caught their eyes was a lush Gardenia Grove. Snow-white gardenias swayed gently in the breeze, giving off a rich, intoxicating fragrance.
Between the Gardenia Grove, smooth, rounded pebbles paved a winding, twisting path. The two followed the pebble path, one after another, walking for several minutes before reaching the resort’s reception area.
Standing at the reception was a beautiful young woman in her twenties, dressed in a traditional-style qipao. Seeing Ji Yuennian show the previous reservation, she instructed someone to lead the two to their reserved private room.
The receptionist had a sweet and enthusiastic smile, reminding them along the way of the precautions for soaking in the hot spring and the variety of free snacks offered by the resort. When she remarked that the two looked so well-matched they must be a couple, Ji Yuennian, who was walking in front, couldn’t hold back his composure, while Jiang Chi’s expression didn’t change, perhaps waiting to see what trick Ji Yuennian was going to pull next.
No one knew how many wooden corridors they passed. Eventually, the receptionist stopped.
She opened the door for the two of them.
Click.
As the door swung open, the entire room layout was revealed clearly before Ji Yuennian’s eyes.
It was a spacious room, open and grand. In the middle, a transparent glass partition divided the space. On the left side was a large, dry hot spring pool, its bottom carefully paved with smooth, rounded pebbles. The water sparkled, creating a stunning scene.
On the right stood a wide, comfortable double bed, a bathroom, and on the square bedside table were a few bottles of premium red wine, several exquisite goblets, two chairs, and a wide assortment of snacks and treats.
The whole room seemed as if it was pieced together from a hot spring pool and a bedroom: one half for playing and relaxing in the water, the other half for cuddling and resting to regain energy.
“Please enjoy the hot spring to your heart’s content. I wish you both a pleasant time.” After reminding them of the hot spring precautions once more, the receptionist bowed respectfully, then quietly closed the door and left.
The room was empty and silent.
A gentle stream of water flowed steadily from the bottom of the hot spring pool. In no time, the entire pool was filled.
The left side of the room was now steamy, water splashing and white mist swirling, as if the whole room was wrapped in a dreamlike haze.
“Come on, let’s soak in the hot spring.” The short-haired, queenly woman beside him had already stripped off her clothes and patted Jiang Chi’s shoulder before striding towards the hot spring.
She sat at the edge of the spring, toes stirring the tiny shells floating on the water. She turned to look at the man still rooted to the spot.
“Jiang Chi, what are you spacing out for?”
“Hurry up and come soak with me.”
Her alluring figure was partly veiled by the mist, her fair skin even more enchanting in the haze. As she turned slightly, her graceful curves became more pronounced. Her slender neck was elegant as a swan’s, her flat abdomen smooth and firm, her back a flowing line. Those beautiful curves stretched out as she turned her head, reminiscent of the murals of the Dunhuang flying deities.
Jiang Chi gazed at her, momentarily lost in thought.
When he finally snapped out of it, he walked over and sat down beside her. He didn’t take off his clothes but rolled up his pants and slowly put his legs into the hot spring.
He turned his head to look at her, “Ji Yuennian, are you really not afraid I’ll do something to you?”
“Of course I am.”
Ji Yuennian admitted without hesitation, “But I’m even more afraid of being kept awake at night by guilt.”
“I only seek to be true to my conscience. If I say I owe nothing, my heart is at ease; even if someone weeps bitterly before me, I won’t waver. But if I say I owe, then no matter the cost, I will make it up to the other person.”
Hearing this, Jiang Chi chuckled softly, “So? How do you plan to make it up to me? Give me another ‘ragdoll’ just like before?”
“I don’t know,” Ji Yuennian answered truthfully. She shifted closer, half leaning against him, exhaling gently beside his ear, “But I do know you have feelings for me. Like I’ve always said: you can do whatever you want to me, as long as it’s not that one thing. Treat it as my way of making it up to you.”
“Oh, so that’s your main point.” Jiang Chi’s voice was cold, “Using your body to make it up to me, huh… Ji Yuennian, do you really think I’d be interested in just a bit of your flesh?”
“Isn’t it?” The beauty countered, her eyes glancing at the bulge in his pants. The corners of her lips curled up in a meaningful smile. She reached out and flicked the fabric there, her touch lingering.
“Chi-bao, admit it—you’re interested in me.”
“Stop pretending to be a cold, aloof male god. There are no secrets between us.” Her fingertip slid carelessly across his chest, teasing and tempting.
Jiang Chi frowned, his eyes narrowing dangerously into slits, “Ji Yuennian, didn’t you say you liked strong men? That you weren’t interested in me.”
“That’s right, I like strong men,” the beauty admitted, but her hand didn’t stop moving. “But who says strong men can’t tease other men?”
Jiang Chi: ……
His face darkened, his eyes turning dangerous and icy, “Ji Yuennian, you’re playing with fire.”
“See, I told you—you have feelings for me. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t make such a domineering declaration.”
She pressed her body even closer to his, her fingers gently tracing the hard lines of his chest, a touch both soft and deliberate. “So, let me make it up to you, all right?”
“I haven’t had a good night’s sleep for days.”
Silence. A long, heavy silence.
Jiang Chi just gazed quietly at the stunning beauty in front of him. Suddenly, he smiled—a sharp, chilling smile that sent a shiver down the spine.
“Ji Yuennian, you want to make it up to me?”
The beauty nodded, eyes filled with determination.
“Then…” He slapped his own thigh heavily, gaze ambiguous as he looked at her, a smirk playing on his lips.
“Sit here. Move yourself.”