Chapter 28: The Stove of Warmth - Jin Zhao is Gone and Never Returns.
"Miss, are you feeling unwell?" Yisiler's voice was somewhat cautious, her fingers still on the doorknob, not daring to push the door open.
She tentatively called out "Young Miss" twice more, but the room remained silent, without any response.
"Stop shouting, just go in." Jin Zhao leaned against the wall, in a blind spot where neither the person inside nor the person inside could see into the room. His chest heaved violently as he breathed heavily without making a sound.
He had run at almost all his might to get there within ten minutes, and only when he stopped did he realize that his throat was tight and the taste of blood was churning from his chest to his throat. He forced himself to keep from coughing.
"Should I go in alone?" Yi Sile felt that Jin Zhao was trying to harm her. The young lady seemed to care a lot about her personal space. Wouldn't it upset her if she went in rashly?
"Hmm." Jin Zhao explained casually, "Men and women shouldn't touch each other. I'm a boy, so it's not appropriate for me to go in."
Although the two had already seen what they should and shouldn't have seen, Jin Zhao still stood firmly outside that invisible line.
Yi Sile was unaware of Jin Zhao's affair with the young lady, and finding his words reasonable, she tiptoed in, saying, "Young lady."
She approached and was startled to see the young lady with her eyes open: "Young lady, you're awake?"
"Anyway, I'm not dead." Jiang Xiliu had only just opened her eyes. "Where's Jin Zhao?"
Without hesitation, Yisile betrayed Jin Zhao: "Brother Jin Zhao is at the door."
"Make him come in and serve me." Jiang Xiliu closed her eyes again. "You go and study."
Without Yisile relaying the message, Jin Zhao, who had been paying attention to the movements inside the room, had already reached the door: "Xiao Le, you can go out now."
Having been given a perfectly clear explanation, Yisile said "Oh," and only after leaving the room and closing the door did she hesitantly glance back.
Just a moment ago, men and women were not supposed to touch each other, but now they can kiss again?
Thinking about the young lady's less-than-pleasant expression earlier, Yi Sile finally understood: Sure enough, Brother Jin Zhao was deliberately trying to harm her, making her leave the young lady with the impression that she was immature. That's why the young lady sent her away to study, so that he could be left alone.
—A man with a clever mind.
The scheming Jin Zhao was standing by the young lady's bedside, his gaze fixed on Jiang Xiliu's pale face. His hand, which was hanging by his side, twitched, but he didn't raise it in the end: "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Jiang Xiliu opened her eyes, but didn't speak. Her eyes clearly said: Are you blind? Can't you see how pale I am? You can't even be bothered to speak?
Jin Zhao was fooled by her pitiful appearance and regretted listening to her and leaving at noon. He was about to say a few more words of concern when he saw Jiang Xiliu frown. Her gaze swept over the difference in their eye level, clearly showing her displeasure.
The next second, she spoke harshly in a soft voice: "Why are you so tall? Kneel down and talk to me."
Jin Zhao: ...She still has the energy to fuss, so it seems her body isn't as uncomfortable as she's making it out to be.
Jin Zhao didn't kneel down completely as she asked, but he didn't stay standing either. His right knee was against the foot of the bed, and his line of sight was barely at the same level as the young lady's.
"What exactly happened?"
Jiang Xiliu reluctantly said, "I'm on my period, and I'm in so much pain."
As she finished speaking, she stretched out a cold hand from under the covers and weakly placed it on Jin Zhao's neck, the cold sweat from her palm rubbing against his warm skin.
Jin Zhao grabbed her hand: "Why are your hands so cold during your period?"
His hands were warm, and Jiang Xiliu felt comfortable touching the heat source, so she simply stretched out her other hand as well.
Jin Zhao held her hand and squeezed it a few times.
The young lady has a tough temper, but her body is soft.
Jiang Xiliu looked up, about to scold him for moving around, when she saw him unbutton two buttons and kick her hand into his arms.
The 360-degree heat source surrounding her hand felt so good.
Looking at the pretty face so close to her, Jiang Xiliu's mood improved slightly.
The Importance of a Handsome Face for a Man.
The young lady, taking advantage of the situation, touched upwards and roughly pinched the uneven spot, then moved her head forward: "My feet are cold too."
To be precise, it was cold inside the blanket.
Jin Zhao let out a muffled groan.
Because Jiang Xiliu was feeling unwell and his hands were weak and powerless, even rough movements didn't hurt much, but that didn't mean he could accept it.
Jiang Xiliu seems unable to learn to respect people.
But faced with her listless and pitiful state, Jin Zhao couldn't bring himself to say anything to her.
Of course, telling her would only provoke her to treat him even worse.
He could only suppress his emotions and reach his hand under the edge of the blanket. It was damp, probably from the young lady's cold sweat.
"The blanket is cold. I'll turn off the air conditioner and make it warmer for you."
Jiang Xiliu remained silent, watching him work.
He carried her to a cushion by the window, where she sat down, holding a cup of warm water and sipping it slowly.
On the surface, it's quiet, but inside, it's a raging inferno.
Jiang Xiliu poked it, her finger sinking into the body of the ball of light. She asked, "Why can you still turn into a physical form?"
[System 0777: ...You didn't faint just now?]
"Ah~" Jiang Xiliu drawled, then poked him again with a smile, "So you thought I had fainted? What were you planning to do when you turned into a physical form? Save me?"
System 0777: ...
[System 0777 is somewhat withdrawn: You won't die. If you die unexpectedly before the mission ends, I will also be punished.]
The agreement that the system and Jiang Xiliu signed before was not a one-sided constraint. Before the agreement was completed, the two of them were essentially in the same boat.
"Okay." Jin Zhao took the water glass from her hand and refilled it with hot water.
The curtains were half-drawn, and the orange glow of the setting sun shone from behind Jiang Xiliu, as if adding a soft halo around her.
However, the young lady's expression was not very pleasant.
She stared at the bedding that Jin Zhao had just changed out of and piled up by the door, and asked, "Are you going to throw my things in the washing machine?"
When Liao came to supervise the construction earlier, he asked Jiang Xiliu if she wanted all the appliances she might need to be reinstalled separately, but Jiang Xiliu refused at the time.
Her reason for refusing was simple: she wanted Jin Zhao to do it.
Someone as kind-hearted as her would never do anything as messy as kidnapping in the original story, but for the sake of System 0777, she still has to maintain her persona.
Jin Zhao glanced at her, but didn't answer. Instead, he asked, "What do you want?"
"You'll have to hand wash them, not just today, but every night from now on, you have to take the clothes I threw in the laundry basket on time." Jiang Xiliu spoke slowly because she wasn't feeling well. "Oh, they all have to be hand washed too."
Although she might not wear it again, Jin Zhao definitely has to wash it.
Jin Zhao's expression changed repeatedly, and he suppressed his emotions again and again.
Jiang Xiliu continued, "You're my sugar daddy. Even though I don't pay you, it still counts as being kept. If you don't wash it, do you expect your sugar daddy to wash it himself?"
Jin Zhao gritted his teeth and retorted, "We have a washing machine."
"The washing machine is too rough; it'll ruin my things." Jiang Xiliu took a sip of perfectly warm water, her tone light and casual. "You can't afford to pay for the damage."
So, she's making him eager to come and be her nanny, with no pay for good performance and compensation for bad performance?
Jin Zhao stood still, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
He shouldn't have come back to take care of her!
Jiang Xiliu thought about what she had just said, and after confirming that she had made herself clear, she stretched out her hand to him with a pale face and said only one word: "Cold."
Subtext: Come and be my human heater.
Jin Zhao didn't move.
The young lady wrinkled her nose unhappily and called out weakly again, "Jin Zhao."
Jin Zhao looked at her.
The medium-length curly hair shone brightly under the light.
She appears as innocent as an angel, and her personality seems naive and carefree, but in reality, she is nothing like an angel. Instead, she takes advantage of her apparent "innocence" to do annoying things with a smile.
Jin Zhao approached with a blank expression.
The young lady was too lazy to move, so she wrapped her legs around his waist, her cold feet pressed against his warm lower back under his shirt, and her not-so-cold hands were also placed in his arms.
"Hold it."
The young lady was too lazy to even exert herself; she leaned lazily against him and urged, "Hurry up."
Jin Zhao held her ankle without saying a word.
Since the young lady couldn't see Jin Zhao's expression from her position, the system actively complained to her.
[System 0777: Miss, Jin Zhao is very unhappy that you're ordering him around!]
"Hmm~" Jiang Xiliu responded perfunctorily to the artificial intelligence, "Don't make a sound." She was genuinely mentally exhausted.
Time slipped away little by little as the light receded from the window.
It was almost dinner time when System 0777 finally remembered that it and the young lady still had tasks to complete.
but!
System 0777 probe: The young lady is leaning against the human heater, motionless, and looks like she's asleep.
Jin Zhao, who was "forced" to stand, stood as straight as a pillar, motionless, but unlike the young lady, he did not close his eyes. Instead, he stared at the top of the young lady's head.
It looks like he wants to assassinate the young lady.
System 0777's small brain sometimes felt that the young lady was right: Jin Zhao looked like a dangerous element.
The lower abdomen, where the cramping sensation has lessened, is pressed against a heat source.
My empty stomach rumbled.
Jiang Xiliu tilted her head back and met Jin Zhao's gaze.
It was somewhat gloomy.
Jiang Xiliu pretended not to see it. She stretched and, instead of saying she was hungry, asked Jin Zhao, "You've worked hard. Are you hungry?"
Tsk, if she wanted to, the young lady could skillfully use any useful language art.
But sometimes, there are people who don't understand subtle cues and won't fall for it.
For example, a male protagonist with an annoying personality.
Jin Zhao stared intently at her with his dark eyes: "I'm not hungry."
Jiang Xiliu:......
The system first cursed the ungrateful Jin Zhao in a string of gibberish, then quietly begged the young lady.
[System 0777: The male lead is unreliable, but Miss, you are definitely reliable! You'll surely complete the mission, right?]
If it could materialize right now, its eyes would probably be blinking.
Jiang Xiliu pressed her slightly cold hands against the ground again: "I'm hungry, make me something."
Jin Zhao gave a sarcastic smile: "You want me to make it for you?"
"Hmm." Jiang Xiliu smiled at him, looking obedient, but she ordered without any politeness, "I want to drink soup, something light, and I also want to eat peeled pomegranate, seedless."
Jin Zhao let go, and without support, Jiang Xiliu no longer had the strength to cling to him.
She sat cross-legged on the cushion, and before pulling her feet back, she kicked Jin Zhao's thigh: "Go ahead."
Jin Zhao never returned.
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Author's Note: Miss: It's just something I did without thinking.
Jin Zhao: I'm running away from home!
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