When Jiang Huai used his deterrence weapon, circling in front of Mu Yao, Mu Yao finally calmed down. She stopped her playful antics and obediently went behind Jiang Huai, her white and tender little hands gently massaging him.
“Press a little harder.”
Mu Yao puffed out her cheeks and pressed down forcefully a few times, annoyed. However, Jiang Huai remained unfazed. After massaging him for a while, Mu Yao resentfully reached out and poked his chest. “Wipe off what you drew yesterday.”
“Go lie down on the bed.”
Mu Yao, now satisfied, went to the bedside, lifted her skirt hem, and lay down obediently. Jiang Huai leaned in, picked up the damp handkerchief, and carefully wiped away the flowers on her lower abdomen. After cleaning them all off, he poked her lower abdomen with his fingertips. Mu Yao’s lower abdomen was soft and smooth, and it felt surprisingly good to poke.
As for her mournful gaze? Jiang Huai was immune.
He lightly poked her delicate pink navel with his finger, and her body arched like a shrimp. She stopped him from playing with her stomach and sat up from the bed, looking up. “Come play chess with me.”
Jiang Huai took out the chessboard. With the system’s full computational power, he defeated Mu Yao within three games, leaving her dizzy and mentally unstable.
As the daughter of the Chess Saint, she had naturally followed her father to learn chess skills from a young age. She was talented, but unfortunately, her talent was insignificant against algorithms. When one cheated too much, the fun of the game was lost. That’s why Jiang Huai didn’t enjoy playing chess as much. He preferred to engage in a battle of wits with Chu Xianning using his clumsy chess skills, and then steal glances at Chu Xianning’s white and tender little feet under the table while he was thinking.
Mu Yao, on the other hand, was quite enthusiastic. Despite being mentally defeated, she became more determined with each loss and pestered Jiang Huai to continue playing. However, unfortunately, Jiang Huai no longer wanted to play with her. Looking at her expectant eyes, he said, “Lose one game, take off one piece of clothing.”
“You’re not Jiang Huai; you’re a bastard! Give me back the gentlemanly Jiang Huai! Give him back to me!”
“If you don’t want to play, then forget it.”
Mu Yao gritted her teeth and stared at him. “I’ll play.”
But before playing, she put on her underwear, bra, and white silk stockings. Then, Jiang Huai defeated her four more times. Her legs were left with only over-the-knee white silk stockings. At this point, she had her legs pressed together and her arms crossed over her chest. Jiang Huai tilted his head. “Don’t take off the white silk stockings yet; they’re quite cute.”
He took out the little butterfly clip. “Do you want to put it on yourself, or should I help you?”
Mu Yao resentfully took it and gritted her teeth. Jiang Huai played another game with her, aiming for symmetry. Finally, Mu Yao’s dao heart shattered. “I surrender! I surrender! I’m not playing anymore! You bastard!”
“Tsk, how boring.” Jiang Huai glanced at her dismissively. “I thought you would last longer.”
“I won’t fall for your tricks.” Mu Yao resentfully put on her clothes. However, when she couldn’t fasten the bra clasp on her back, she turned around and asked him for help. The charming girl put on all her clothes again. At this moment, she no longer dared to casually go without her little pants. In just one day, she had transformed from a flirtatious woman into a shy girl. Jiang Huai was very satisfied with her change.
Indeed, only evil could conquer evil.
There weren’t many things to pass the time on the spirit boat, so Jiang Huai chose to take a nap. Mu Yao, who had been shrinking away from him earlier, now snuggled into his embrace. “Let’s sleep together.”
Jiang Huai casually pulled down the strap on her shoulder.
Mu Yao pushed it back up.
Jiang Huai pulled it down again.
After several rounds of this, Mu Yao looked up at him resentfully. “Through the clothes… you can touch…”
See, this is the allegorical story of smashing a wall and opening a window.
“I won’t touch anymore.” Jiang Huai retracted his hand again.
When she didn’t let him touch, he was very motivated. When she let him touch, Jiang Huai no longer wanted to. Mu Yao gritted her teeth in his arms, wanting to bite Jiang Huai to death.
It was truly baffling. She hated his gentlemanly demeanor, yet she also hated his frivolous and shameless behavior at the moment. But while hating him, she couldn’t help but gravitate towards him. The thought that Jiang Huai had already seen her naked body, and even played with it, suddenly made Mu Yao feel a sense of inexplicable panic.
Would what he said next come true? Hadn’t she already given so much in front of him? Would she gradually become reluctant to abandon the costs incurred, and fall deeper and deeper? Would she end up as just a toy by his side, no matter how hard she tried?
Thinking this, Mu Yao suddenly became a little clearer-headed. Just as she was about to struggle out of Jiang Huai’s embrace, he held her.
“I’m not sleeping with you! Let go!” Mu Yao looked up, puffed out her cheeks, and said indignantly.
“Okay.” Jiang Huai obediently let go, and at the same time, snatched away all the quilts covering them. Then, he lay down flat on the bed and closed his eyes. Mu Yao sat up, staring resentfully at the sleeping Jiang Huai, and blurted out, “You don’t like me at all! You’re just treating me like a toy!”
“Mm.”
“You even admitted it?!”
“Mm.” Jiang Huai’s reply was still perfunctory.
“I need to re-examine our relationship!”
“Okay.”
“You’re not allowed to take advantage of me anymore!”
“Okay.”
“Don’t just say ‘okay’!” Mu Yao glared at Jiang Huai resentfully. But Jiang Huai didn’t even open his eyes, as if he wasn’t taking her words to heart at all. This feeling of not being taken seriously made her increasingly frantic. She clearly just wanted to be treated seriously, so why had Jiang Huai turned into a bastard?
Jiang Huai didn’t even reply. He turned over, burying his face in the pillow, appearing to be sleeping soundly. Mu Yao sat grumpily on the bedside, staring at him intently, her mind racing.
Why… why had she fallen for him?
Mu Yao didn’t believe in love at first sight.
The first time she saw Jiang Huai was at Qingmu Immortal Palace, watching him play chess with her father, which sparked her curiosity. The next time they met, she heard him mentioning her injury. She clearly remembered the gentle and clear look in his eyes when he treated her wounds. As the persistent pain in her body gradually healed under his acupuncture, her body became lighter.
That day, he leaned so close, it was so shameful. The clothes she had put on were so light, and she was forced to assume such a shameful posture in front of him, yet his eyes were so reassuring. For many nights afterward, she couldn’t help but think of him.
So she began to want to get closer.
She had projected so many fantasies onto those eyes, but now she saw another side of them: playful, evil, perfunctory, teasing, contemptuous. She could no longer distinguish which was the real Jiang Huai. But she was already very clear that she had gradually lost the initiative in front of Jiang Huai and no longer had the ability to actively seduce him. If she stayed by his side, would she be gradually “played” by him?
Mu Yao sat by the bed, her arms crossed, her mind full of thoughts. But when she wanted to say something, she realized that Jiang Huai had already fallen asleep.
This heartless fellow!
***
Jiang Huai deliberately slept for a long time. Time on the spirit boat was counted day by day. He only woke up when the sunset outside the window was brilliant. Mu Yao, who was not far from him, was already curled up and asleep.
He carefully got up, left the room, and went to the deck to start preparing dinner. Fortunately, he still had enough ingredients. He made a plate of fragrant and tender scallion oil chicken, scrambled eggs with tomatoes from his own garden, and a pot of fish soup. After preparing these simple two dishes and one soup, he returned to the room and looked at the still-sleeping Mu Yao. His voice was soft. “Mu Yao?”
Mu Yao slowly opened her eyes and looked at Jiang Huai in front of her.
At this moment, Jiang Huai made her pause for a moment, so much so that she rubbed her eyes. The look in his eyes was gentle and clear, completely devoid of the evil and perfunctory demeanor from before they slept. Instead, he looked like he did during their first meeting.
“Dinner is ready. You can get up and eat. Let’s eat outside; the sunset is beautiful.” Jiang Huai said softly. Mu Yao’s eyes, however, were filled with vigilance. “What kind of look is that?”
“What do you mean?” Jiang Huai looked at her, confused.
“Your eyes are wrong.” Mu Yao sat up, her white and tender feet in over-the-knee white silk stockings touching the floor. She looked at Jiang Huai. “Have you changed your ways again?”
Jiang Huai didn’t rush to answer her question. He just walked towards the deck, replying softly, “You said not to take advantage of you, and I promised.”
Mu Yao snorted coldly and followed him out of the room. Outside the spirit boat, the sunset burned brilliantly, and the dishes on the table were steaming. Jiang Huai sat in a chair, picked up his chopsticks, and began to eat dinner.
The secret to the delicious scallion oil chicken lay in the quality of the chicken. The chicken was a spirit chicken raised by Jiang Huai on the mountain of Tian Xuan Sect. As the owner of the farm on the Tian Xuan Sect mountain, he had reclaimed a lot of wasteland for planting and raising livestock. The scallion oil sauce, used for seasoning, was brewed by himself, fresh and not overpowering.
The tomatoes were grown from seeds Jiang Huai purchased from the system. Nourished by the worldly spiritual energy, they had become spirit fruits, with a sweet and sour juice. The eggs were laid by the chicken used for the scallion oil chicken. The entire family was neatly arranged by Jiang Huai on the dining table.
The fish head was from a white spirit fish from Snow Lake. The fish face meat was tender, and a little pepper was added to the fish soup to balance its sweetness. Drinking the soup alone was extremely satisfying.
The pearl rice was crystal clear and perfect for eating with the fish soup.
Only delicious food should not be neglected.
Jiang Huai ate rice for the entire evening, his stomach full. Mu Yao ate even more than him, finishing two large bowls of rice. She slumped in her chair, rubbed her stomach, and let out an unladylike burp. Jiang Huai cleared away all the tableware from the table, brought a chair, and sat by the edge of the spirit boat, watching the sunset gradually descend and the moon quietly light up in the dim sky.
Mu Yao, who had rested for a while, looked at Jiang Huai sitting in the distance. She brought a chair and sat beside him. Just as she leaned slightly towards Jiang Huai, he reached out and supported her shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“Let me lean on you.”
“No.” Jiang Huai shook his head, his tone still gentle and calm.
“Are you playing hard to get?” Mu Yao’s voice became sour.
Jiang Huai was first taken aback, then smiled helplessly and shook his head. “That’s not true.”
Mu Yao stared intently into his eyes and suddenly realized that when his eyes were playful earlier, they were very close. But now, when his eyes were gentle and calm, the distance between them seemed to have become very far.
Too close, and they become presumptuous; too far, and they become resentful.
“Are you angry with me?” Mu Yao poked his shoulder with her finger.
“What would I be angry about?” Jiang Huai shook his head. “That’s not true.”
“Then why are you suddenly so indifferent? Hmph… you’re angry with me.”
“How am I indifferent?”
“You won’t even let me lean on you. Earlier in bed, you wanted to hug me. You’re angry because I won’t let you hug me…”
“I’m not angry because you won’t let me hug you,” Jiang Huai shook his head. “You said you didn’t want me to take advantage of you. You can’t be flitting around me while also demanding that I be obedient to you. That’s unreasonable.”
“I’m just unreasonable… So what? Are you going to punish me?”
Mu Yao suddenly felt a sense of incomprehensible panic. She felt that even being spanked by the evil Jiang Huai would be better than his current seemingly gentle, but actually indifferent, demeanor.
But Jiang Huai just shook his head. “There’s no need for that. It’s nice to quietly watch the moon. Do you want to hear a story? I’ll tell you one.”
However, the gentler Jiang Huai’s tone became, the more panicked Mu Yao felt. Damn it… had she fallen into the vortex that Jiang Huai had mentioned? Her head felt dizzy. She suddenly felt that she didn’t actually dislike Jiang Huai’s bad behavior earlier. She just wasn’t used to it… but it was very stimulating, making her head feel muddled, as if she were drunk.
“I was wrong… Can I be a good little bunny for you?” Mu Yao grabbed Jiang Huai’s arm and began to speak in a soft, cooing voice, her tone no longer sulking. Her eyes were moist as she looked at Jiang Huai, her voice full of pleading.
“You’re not wrong.” Jiang Huai shook his head.
After waking up, his gentleman’s power had been replenished. He had quickly separated himself from the previous evil Jiang Huai. At this moment, his heart was clear, and he was completely unmoved by her pleas.
“Why are you so petty…” Mu Yao pouted. “Don’t be angry with me anymore… I know I was wrong… I’ll be obedient next time. I’ll do whatever you say…”
Jiang Huai lowered his head, looking at the white and tender little hand gripping his arm, and slowly pried it open. “It’s over. I’m really not mad at you.”
“You are mad at me!”
When communication failed within three sentences, Jiang Huai gave up trying to reason with her and continued to gaze at the bright moon. Mu Yao still held his arm, and tears began to fall.
Tears were a woman’s best weapon, but unfortunately, Jiang Huai was cold and aloof now.
