Chapter 38 Woman, you're playing with fire!

Xia Qianqian's voice was soft and gentle, with a hint of languor, like a feather tickling Lu Zheng's heart.

Seeing Lu Zheng's Adam's apple bob, Xia Qianqian's smile deepened. She tiptoed and breathed softly into his ear, "Then... shall we go back and talk?"

She's a real enchantress!

Lu Zheng froze—he never expected that Xia Qianqian would dare to provoke him so brazenly!

Xia Qianqian noticed that his breathing had become heavy, yet his body remained motionless as if nailed to the ground, and her eyes narrowed into a hint of suspicion.

Could it be that he... has a problem in that area and can't perform?

Wait a minute! Didn't he have two daughters with his ex-wife? If it's really not working out, where did the children come from?

Or was he injured later?

I overheard villagers gossiping that he came from the provincial capital. They said that with such good conditions, why would he buy a wife in the countryside? It must be because even the big hospitals in the provincial capital couldn't cure him.

The more Xia Qianqian thought about it, the more she felt that she had guessed the truth, and her eyes turned to Lu Zheng with a hint of sympathy.

Men are always particularly perceptive to this kind of gaze. Lu Zheng noticed the strangeness in her eyes, and his gaze suddenly darkened: "What are you looking at?"

"No, no, no!" Xia Qianqian quickly waved her hand in denial.

She never expected Lu Zheng to be so perceptive; she had only glanced at him a few times before he noticed.

There was indeed a problem.

Oh... God is so unfair! Such a great figure and such a wonderful face, yet she's all looks and no substance. What a waste! She thought to herself.

Seeing that Xia Qianqian had withdrawn her gaze, the coldness between Lu Zheng's brows softened slightly.

He looked away: "Go back and rest early, you have to go to the fields tomorrow morning."

"Mmm!" Xia Qianqian nodded and said, then, still unwilling to give up, she said, "Then... I'll make you breakfast tomorrow, okay?"

She remembered that one of the recipes she learned at the Xia family's house was a mild and aphrodisiac dish!

No matter what, we have to give it a try. How can we give up if we don't try?

"You're going to cook?" Lu Zheng glanced at her sideways, interrupting her without any mercy. "Forget it. I'll get up early tomorrow, I'll cook. What do you want to eat?"

Xia Qianqian's smile froze. He still remembered how she almost set the stove on fire earlier, so it seemed he wouldn't let her touch the earthen stove again.

She said dejectedly, "Then... anything will do."

But secretly, she thought: Once he's in the fields, I'll learn slowly and then I'll impress him.

......

It was late at night, and the two lay on the same bed. Xia Qianqian turned to her side and looked at Lu Zheng's broad back. Her eyes were very different from before.

In the past, she had harbored other thoughts, but now, Lu Zheng had become her sister. She sighed softly, turned over to face the wall, and decided to just have a peaceful "plain sleep".

Xia Qianqian was indeed exhausted, and having lost all desire to flirt, she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but she started dreaming again.

In her dream, she got up very early, rushed into the kitchen, and busied herself for a long time before bringing out a large plate of "all-in-one tonic dishes"—stewed pork kidneys with goji berries and angelica, stir-fried chicken gizzards, and scrambled eggs with chives...

Lu Zheng buried himself in his food and devoured it in a flash, but after he finished eating, he remained unchanged and didn't make a sound.

"Why doesn't it work? Why is it not working?" Xia Qianqian stared at him intently, exasperated, wishing she could verify it herself.

Outside the dream, Lu Zheng, who had just fallen asleep, suddenly felt a chill on his body. The blanket covering him had been pulled off!

Immediately afterwards, a warm and soft little hand reached down to his lower abdomen!

Lu Zheng's muscles tensed instantly, his breath caught in his throat, and he almost jumped off the bed!

He suddenly opened his eyes, and by the faint moonlight from the window, he saw Xia Qianqian beside him with her eyes closed, her brows slightly furrowed, her mischievous little hands still stubbornly groping...

What happened before was at most teasing, but this is practically playing with fire!

A wildfire surged in Lu Zheng's eyes, and his breathing suddenly became heavy.

He stared at the woman in his arms, who was sleeping soundly with her little hands still fidgeting, his eyes burning with a intensity that could pierce through a person—did she really think he wouldn't dare to devour her alive?

He suddenly stretched out his long arm and wrapped it around Xia Qianqian's slender waist like an iron hoop, pulling her into his embrace.

He hit her hard chest with a bit too much force, causing Xia Qianqian's head to hit his hard chest. She let out a soft moan in pain and opened her eyes groggily.

Before Xia Qianqian was fully awake, her first thought was: Lu Zheng's chest is too hard; he must have really been working out a lot.

Even through his thin vest, she could clearly hear the beating of his heart, a loud, pounding sound that made her heart tremble along with it.

Lu Zheng did not expect her to wake up at this critical moment.

Looking down at himself, he realized he was still clinging to the other person's waist, practically wanting to meld them into his very bones. He frowned, forced a calm smile, and asked in a hoarse voice, "...Is it comfortable leaning against me like this?"

Xia Qianqian belatedly realized how close the two of them were. Her mind went blank, and she almost bit her tongue off.

This is insane! Lu Zheng is practically a sister to me, how could I still be holding her tightly in my sleep?

No wonder Lu Zheng looked at her so strangely just now!

Xia Qianqian wished she could disappear into the ground, secretly cursing: Xia Qianqian, Xia Qianqian, how desperate are you to even go for him...

She buried her face in the blanket, too ashamed to look up, and with a stubborn calm, she deliberately feigned disgust: "It's too hard! It's uncomfortable!"

She shifted her body to the side, intending to pretend nothing had happened, but the movement was so large that she almost rolled off the bed.

"It's almost dawn, I'm going to make breakfast."

Xia Qianqian didn't want to stay under the same roof with Lu Zheng for even a second longer, so she made up a lame excuse and rushed out as if she were escaping.

Lu Zheng watched her almost fleeing figure, but his dark eyes seemed to be glued to her.

I used to tease him all the time, but why is he acting like a frightened rabbit today?

Could it be... that she's shy?

Thinking of this, Lu Zheng's lips curled up almost imperceptibly. He threw off the covers, sat up, and called out to her, "Wait, I'll help you."

At this moment, Xia Qianqian picked up the vegetables she had just washed and placed them on the cutting board to prepare to chop them. While chopping, she was thinking about whether she should secretly go into Peach Blossom Spring to kill a chicken and cook the chicken kidneys for Lu Zheng.

Chicken kidneys don't seem to have any effect in dreams, but people say dreams are the opposite of reality, so who knows, maybe they'll work in real life.

As she was thinking this, she became somewhat distracted.

Just then, her wrist was suddenly grabbed by a large hand, the force so strong that she winced in pain.

"What did you do..."

"How can you be so distracted while chopping vegetables!" Lu Zheng's voice was fierce.

Xia Qianqian was surprised that he dared to be so fierce to her, and her anger flared up instantly.

"You're yelling at me?! I got up to make you breakfast out of kindness, and you're yelling at me?"

Next door, Huang Zhaodi was sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), lost in thought.

She tossed and turned all night worrying about Liu Xiao'e. When she heard arguing coming from next door, Huang Zhaodi's eyes lit up instantly, and she sat up straight—the opportunity had come!