Unfortunately, even though he pressed against Xin Yi’s brows and eyes, he restrained himself and rubbed her lips with his fingertip for a long time, but still couldn’t bring himself to kiss her.
In the end, he obediently carried her to the bed, removed the embroidered shoes and silk stockings from her feet, carefully tucked her in, stared for a good while, and only then left.
Xin Yi appeared as a fragile, drunken beauty on the surface, but inwardly she cursed: ‘Look at shit! He didn’t even kiss!’
Once the door closed and the candle flame went pop, she stopped pretending and opened her eyes, her little face flushed red with anger.
The Melodramatic Transmigration System saw her about to puff up like a pufferfish and chimed in coolly beside her, “Who told you to pretend to be drunk so early? If you’d teased him a couple more times, wouldn’t that have done it?”
Xin Yi ground her teeth. “Wasn’t it you who said my current demure lady persona needs to be more reserved? I closed my eyes precisely so he’d steal a kiss from me.”
Who knew he’d nearly rub her lips swollen with his touches, and with that scorching gaze sticking to her like a spiderweb, he actually held himself back.
No, she had to think of a way. Next time, she absolutely had to get that kiss.
She needed to keep brushing his favorability, and push their relationship further. After all, relying solely on Shen Ru Jie’s one-sided daydreaming made it hard to pull favorability to one hundred percent.
Even at critical moments, to stimulate Shen Ru Jie, she’d have to clean up that dog of a Shen Gui and drag him out as a tool to catalyze emotions.
The system wasn’t clear on her scheme and asked suspiciously, “Host, you don’t actually like Shen Ru Jie, do you? Remember, your duty is to complete the conquest task, not fall in love for real. We leave once the conquest is done—don’t drop the ball then.”
It had seen romance-brained hosts before; some even threw tantrums and refused to leave, insisting on staying in the small world to be all sweet with the male lead, which led to task failure and got it implicated too.
After a brief frustration and contemplation, Xin Yi had already calmed her emotions.
Hearing its reminder, she didn’t overreact. Instead, she smiled coolly. “Shen Ru Jie? Yeah, I like him.”
To be fair, the youth was quite likable. Apart from being hard to approach at first, he hadn’t done anything later to make her lose favor.
She didn’t even mind kissing him, or even more intimate physical contact.
The system’s processors ached. As expected, its worst fear had come true! It wanted to advise her—turn back while you can, the illusory world isn’t real.
But then it heard Xin Yi continue, “Who doesn’t like a handsome guy? Crushing on someone young and handsome is totally normal. If the next small world has another hunk, I’ll like him too.”
She paused slightly, then changed tack. “Besides, didn’t you make me take the emotion suppressant early? What’s there to worry about? Everyone at the Space-Time Bureau, even the newbies, knows the rule for tasks: all body, no heart.”
She, with no grand ambitions and just wanting to earn money and slack off, understood it even better. Flirt with the villain, sleep with him, max out favorability, then pull up your pants and run.
Mm… Now they were about to enter the second stage.
Shen Ru Jie, that beautiful obsessive pup, looked like he’d be great in bed.
Another half month passed, and Xin Yi’s health finally improved bit by bit. Lately, she didn’t even need medicine anymore.
Even without A Ying accompanying her, she could go out for walks.
And she’d specially invited Shen Ru Jie.
She wanted him to accompany her strolling around the Capital City. As for an excuse, any would do. “I’ve been cooped up too long and want to see the bustle,” or “A Ying nags too much and I don’t want to hear it.” Anyway, he’d definitely agree.
Sure enough, Shen Ru Jie arrived on time… no, two quarters of an hour early to pick her up.
Xin Yi had long been dressed and made up by her maidservant. Seeing him arrive, she set down her teacup and stepped out of the courtyard with him.
At the carriage, she deliberately lifted her almond eyes to look at him, feigning weakness in a shy voice. “I… can’t get on.”
No sooner had she spoken than the youth scooped her up horizontally. Her temple locks obediently nestled against his chest, her boneless, soft body melting into him.
The gentle medicinal scent from her skirt mingled with her floral fragrance, intertwining with the cold pine aroma of his own, making the youth’s throat parched. “I’ll carry Xin Yi up.”
He no longer called her sister-in-law. He called her Xin Yi.
Sometimes when they went out together, he’d even playfully echo the cloth shopkeeper and call her “Little Lady Xin Yi.”
This time, they went to the cloth shop first.
Xin Yi had plenty of loose silver—some from her dowry, some that Shen Ru Jie had insisted on giving her lately. She pretended surprise and pushed it back. “A Jie, where’d you get so much silver?”
The youth averted his eyes, his ears turning red as he muttered he’d saved it. He’d save even more in the future, all for Xin Yi.
As long as she was willing to leave a teacup and a pallet on the floor for him in the residence.
Xin Yi feigned hesitation for a moment, then accepted it somewhat reluctantly.
She liked buying fabric to make clothes, and bought fabric for his clothes too. Whenever she ate something tasty, she habitually saved a portion just for him. So in a way, it went both ways.
But today was particularly unlucky.
They ran into an unexpected woman in the cloth shop—Zheng Wu, whom Shen Gui had already brought into the marquis manor and set a wedding date for.
She was there accompanied by her maidservant to pick fabrics for her wedding dress.
After looking at a few bolts, she glanced up and spotted the reclusive yet strikingly handsome youth from the marquis manor.
The first time Zheng Wu saw Shen Ru Jie was mid-last month, at the manor.
She’d never seen such fair-skinned, handsome youth; even Shen Gui seemed coarse in comparison. Especially those narrow phoenix eyes sweeping over her cheek, staring fixedly for a long time, which made Zheng Wu blush despite herself.
Of course, she had no idea it wasn’t her looks that attracted him.
Rather, he was coldly appraising this woman before him, wondering what she had over Xin Yi that made Shen Gui unable to control his filthy lower half despite having a wife at home.
The two hadn’t really interacted, but now they met outside the manor.
As his soon-to-be sister-in-law, Zheng Wu planned to take the initiative and say a few words.
But upon seeing her approach, his brows furrowed in disgust like he’d seen the plague, his eyes glinting with veiled threat.
He even reached out to steady the arm of the woman beside him, as if hiding her behind himself.
Only then did Zheng Wu notice the woman at his side, her face filling with shock and admiration.
The woman wore a deep blue floor-length ruqun, a plain white cape tied at her shoulders and neck. Her face was exquisite as spring snow, her dark eyes like water, lips vermilion red. She stood by the youth, smiling warmly as she spoke to him—a sight to melt hearts at a glance.
She’d never seen the frail wife Shen Gui described as secluded in her chambers, so naturally she didn’t know this was Xin Yi.
She vaguely guessed this must be the person Shen Ru Jie liked, to make him so intimate and dependent, showing such a strange, nervous expression.
Xin Yi seemed oblivious to anything amiss, tugging the youth’s sleeve with a laugh. “A Jie, what are you doing? You’ve blocked me so I can’t even see those two fabrics. I haven’t decided which one yet!”
The youth still wouldn’t budge. Even if Xin Yi was dense, she sensed something off.
She pursed her lips and gently pulled free from his grasp, then spotted Zheng Wu, who had come with her maidservant to select wedding dress fabrics.
Zheng Wu met her gaze, nodded politely with a smile amid her curiosity.
But perhaps intimidated by the youth’s gloomy stare, she didn’t approach and quietly moved away.
Of course Xin Yi knew who she was. She’d secretly gone to the manor in the Capital Suburbs to spy on Shen Gui’s outer chamber.
Her lashes fluttered down, her face paling. Visibly distraught and unsteady on her feet, she still forced a smile.
She looked up at Shen Ru Jie, eyes rimming red, as if flustered and grasping for words. “A Jie, between these two fabrics, which one looks better?”
That look of desperately hiding her grievance tore at the heart.
Shen Ru Jie couldn’t tell if the dense, needle-like pain in his chest stemmed more from pity or jealousy.
He grasped her soft little hand gently, as if afraid to hurt her, his voice slightly hoarse. “Both are lovely. Both suit Xin Yi perfectly.”
The system tsked admiringly nearby, tinged with respect. “Host, you’re something else. You timed your outing for when Zheng Wu came to pick wedding dress fabrics—exactly for this. It worked great, though. Shen Ru Jie looks like he’s dying of heartache for you.”
Xin Yi thought it an old fogey with a pig brain.
She chuckled lightly in response. “Heartache alone isn’t enough. Enough jealousy builds up and turns into offense. Once that rift in emotions tears open, it’s impossible to cover again.”
The cloth shop was huge, the array of colorful fabrics dazzling the eyes.
Zheng Wu, supported by her little maidservant, browsed all the way to the back. Amid many vermilion silks and satins, there were also bolts of green gauze and red silk hung on wooden racks, like hazy screens.
Suddenly, her fingers on a fabric pattern stiffened.
From behind the curtain came a woman’s pale, pitiable voice, sounding extremely weak, as if hard to voice. “A Jie, my chest feels stuffy. Help me rub it…”
Not just Zheng Wu—even her little maidservant blushed.
She figured Shen Ru Jie, with his lack of chivalry, would refuse outright. But after a brief silence, there came the faint rustle of fabric.
The youth seemed to restrain himself desperately, but his obedient voice was still husky. “Like this… is it better?”