Shen Ruxue’s embrace fell around her, and Jiang Lai could clearly feel that warm hold gently wrapping around her. It lacked Chi Yingyu’s urgent tightness, instead leaving just the right amount of space, letting her slowly catch her breath in the middle of the hug.
“So when you said hug gently, you actually meant it.”
Chi Yingyu watched Shen Ruxue’s hand resting lightly on Jiang Lai’s back, not daring to press down. This gentle demeanor made her look like a child rushing to grab candy, yet she didn’t feel wrong about it at all. She never let go of Jiang Lai’s hem, instead sidling closer to the two of them, her knee lightly pressing against Jiang Lai’s calf, her gaze locked firmly on Jiang Lai’s flushed cheeks.
Shen Ruxue’s movement paused, a helpless smile flickering beneath her eyes, but she didn’t argue. She simply lowered her head and brushed her nose tip gently against Jiang Lai’s crown of the head, her voice soft as melted sugar:
“If I don’t go gentle, am I supposed to let Xiao Yu hold Jiang Jiang and squeeze her to death?”
But the moment the words left her mouth, her hand around Jiang Lai’s back tightened slightly. Not a forceful restraint, but a restrained fit, letting Jiang Lai feel the warmth of her palm even more clearly.
Jiang Lai’s body instantly tensed, her fingertips tightening abruptly around Shen Ruxue’s hem.
That tightening seemed to be a signal for Chi Yingyu. Her hand holding Jiang Lai’s hem suddenly slid upward, lightly brushing Jiang Lai’s wrist, her fingertips carrying a hint of deliberate chill:
“Jiang Jiang, you didn’t lean on me at all just now. You only leaned on her. Isn’t that too unfair?”
As she spoke, her thumb gently rubbed the skin on the inside of Jiang Lai’s wrist, where the blood vessels beat fast and urgent:
“Is sister’s embrace better than mine?”
Jiang Lai’s cheeks burned again instantly, even her earlobes reddening to the point of dripping blood. She wanted to shake her head, but Shen Ruxue’s embrace still wrapped around her. That warm touch mixed with familiar aura drained her of even the strength to speak.
What made her even more flustered was Chi Yingyu’s fingertip sliding slowly up her wrist, gently hooking the cuff of her pajamas and pulling it down bit by bit, revealing a small patch of faintly reddened skin where shallow red finger marks from her earlier struggle still remained.
Shen Ruxue finally loosened her embrace slightly, but didn’t pull back too far:
“Xiao Yu, what are you trying to do? Don’t be so impatient.”
Her warm breath landed on Jiang Lai’s forehead, carrying a trace of warmth from their recent embrace:
“Let Jiang Jiang catch her breath.”
But the moment she finished speaking, her own fingertip also gently brushed over the cuff Chi Yingyu had pulled aside, her finger pad lightly tracing that reddened patch of skin. It was like soothing, and also like confirming something.
Jiang Lai didn’t know whether to shrink back or hide under the quilt. She could feel two hands firmly gripping hers, leaving her no way to escape.
Shen Ruxue’s fingertip was warm and soft, carrying a careful treasuring. Chi Yingyu’s fingertip was slightly cool, yet held an insistence that refused rejection.
Two completely different touches tangled together like two thin threads, wrapping her breath tight. She wanted to shrink back, but her back pressed against the soft pillow, with nowhere to retreat. She could only let herself sink between the two of them, letting them entwine around her, even her fingertips trembling slightly.
“I’m not causing trouble. I just want to see if Jiang Jiang is uncomfortable.”
As Chi Yingyu spoke, her fingertip suddenly slid toward Jiang Lai’s waist side, lightly brushing the edge of her pajama hem:
“Jiang Jiang, your waist is so soft.”
Jiang Lai’s body stiffened abruptly. She instinctively tried to shift sideways, but Chi Yingyu’s knee blocked her, leaving her unable to move. Shen Ruxue’s brows furrowed slightly. She reached out and gently pressed down on Chi Yingyu’s hand:
“Don’t be so eager. Be careful, you’ll wear Jiang Jiang out.”
Shen Ruxue said that, but her fingertip slid down the back of Chi Yingyu’s hand, gently stroking her little hand.
“But you’re calling me out, and you’re just as bad, aren’t you?”
Chi Yingyu’s voice rose a pitch instantly, carrying a grievance in her accusation. She pulled free from Shen Ruxue’s hand, her fingertip pinching Jiang Lai’s hand harder:
“Why can you touch her and I can’t? Only you get to start the fire, and I can’t even light a lamp?”
Jiang Lai’s mind instantly went into chaos. She could feel Chi Yingyu’s fingertip lightly tickling her waist side, that itching sensation spreading through her skin and racing across her whole body, making her want to laugh, yet she was trapped by Shen Ruxue’s embrace, only able to let out muffled sounds.
These two were simply teasing her. Jiang Lai no longer knew where to focus — on Shen Ruxue’s hand around her back, or on Chi Yingyu’s descending fingertip. Before, handling just one was already overwhelming; now facing both at the same time, she was completely at a loss.
Shen Ruxue’s attention was still on Jiang Lai’s flushed cheeks, but Chi Yingyu’s fingertip had gently pulled open the collar of Jiang Lai’s pajamas, revealing a small patch of faintly reddened collarbone.
Chi Yingyu’s gaze was instantly drawn to that patch of skin. She leaned in, brushing her nose tip gently against it, her voice carrying a grievance-tinged rasp:
“Jiang Jiang, I want to hold you too, just like sister did, okay?”
The moment she finished speaking, she reached out and gently wrapped her arms around Jiang Lai’s arm, her chin resting on Jiang Lai’s shoulder, her body leaning slightly into her with clingy coaxing:
“I’ll hold you gently. I won’t hurt you.”
Shen Ruxue felt Chi Yingyu’s body pressing close. Now the two of them were pressed against Jiang Lai from left and right, their arms touching.
In the past, she might have reminded Chi Yingyu not to rush. But now she couldn’t bear to let go of Jiang Lai either, so she simply followed her heart, her hand around Jiang Lai’s back tightening gently again, letting Jiang Lai rest more steadily in her embrace:
“Don’t press down on Jiang Jiang. She doesn’t have much strength left. She can’t take you leaning on her like that.”
Shen Ruxue’s fingertip slid up Jiang Lai’s wrist, lightly touching Jiang Lai’s earlobe, her voice soft as a sigh:
“Jiang Jiang, your earlobe is so soft. Still just as soft as before.”
But Shen Ruxue and Chi Yingyu had overestimated Jiang Lai’s endurance. One wrapped around her back, the other leaned against her arm, even their breaths landing on her, giving her not a moment of rest.
The strength she had barely recovered just now was already nearly spent. Jiang Lai knew clearly that today’s affair wouldn’t end easily.
As long as they were by her side, as long as their eyes carried that kind of expectation, she could only obediently sink into this warm soft embrace, without even the strength to flee.
But she really couldn’t hold on any longer. She only wanted to fight for a chance to catch her breath. If this kept up, she felt her mind would go hazy.
Just as Shen Ruxue loosened her embrace slightly to help straighten Jiang Lai’s messy hair, Jiang Lai seized the opening. Her voice carried a visible tremor, soft as rain-soaked feathers:
“Xiaoxue… Ying Yu, please… can we rest for a bit?”
Her gaze swept over both their faces, her eyes already rimmed red. They had even tickled her just now, and the tears forced out by the itching sensation still hung on her eyelashes. A blink sent them rolling down her cheeks, landing on Shen Ruxue’s hand with a burning warmth. She looked genuinely pitiful.
Jiang Lai was breathless from being tickled, and even her voice came out in fragments:
“I… I really can’t breathe anymore. It’s so late now. Why don’t you just go to sleep? What if we disturb the neighbors? That wouldn’t be good, right?”
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