Chapter 238: Chapter 155: To Shake Hands, or to Take Off Shoes, That Is the Question (2)
It was as if he were the one who had lost the bet.
Suddenly, Shen Yuan heard the sound of a hairdryer, and his previously slumped body immediately sat bolt upright.
Looking toward the bedroom, Shen Yuan swallowed nervously.
Even though he knew Li Zhi had way too much hair to possibly finish blow-drying this quickly, Shen Yuan couldn’t help but feel restless.
He even felt a little regretful. ’Why did I have to bring it up so soon?’
In the bathroom, the sound of running water came to an abrupt halt.
Li Zhi pushed open the glass shower door. Her damp, dark hair clung to the nape of her neck, and droplets from the ends trickled down her spine.
After toweling herself dry, Li Zhi stood before the steamy mirror and began to blow-dry her hair.
Once she was done, Li Zhi, wrapped in a bath towel, walked over to the closet in her bedroom.
Her fingertips paused as they touched the closet’s brass handle.
The closet track let out a faint groan as the black dress, suspended behind a dust cover, swayed gently.
The silk shimmered with a faint luster under the closet’s overhead light.
The sound from the closet was like a quickening heartbeat.
The moment Li Zhi’s fingertips brushed across the cool silk, her towel suddenly slipped off.
The sudden turn of events made Li Zhi let out a soft gasp of surprise.
Feeling the slight chill in the room, Li Zhi gently bit her lower lip and reached for the black dress and underwear.
As the hem of the dress fell to her ankles, the girl in the mirror suddenly curled her toes.
Moonlight filtered through the cracks of the blinds, plating the black silk with a flowing silver trim and making the cinched gathers at her waist look all the more like a meticulously wrapped gift.
Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Li Zhi blushed faintly.
’What a Selaan, getting a kick out of this.’
Li Zhi opened the closet and looked at the rows of black silk stockings, finally picking out one pair.
After finishing her outfit, Li Zhi picked up a bottle of perfume.
Shen Yuan didn’t know how long he had been waiting, but it must have been about an hour.
When the bedroom door’s hinge let out a barely audible creak, a warm yellow halo of light flowed from the widening gap into the dim hallway.
The girl’s knuckles, resting on the doorframe, looked as pale as jade. Her neatly rounded fingernails made a faint scraping sound on the lacquered surface.
"Hey..."
The breathy syllable hung in the air.
The phone screen in Shen Yuan’s hand, which had just gone dark, reflected his suddenly dilated pupils.
"Are you ready?" Shen Yuan asked softly, his heart pounding, a torrent of nerves and excitement reaching its peak.
"Mhm."
The girl’s voice was barely a whisper.
Li Zhi watched Shen Yuan walk over from the living room.
When Shen Yuan reached the doorway, he saw her hiding most of her body behind the door, revealing only her face, which was flushed a deep crimson.
Just like that other night.
Looking at the girl’s delicate face, the sound of Shen Yuan’s swallowing was especially clear in the silence.
At the entrance to Li Zhi’s bedroom, the light outlined the scene of the two facing each other, creating a subtle tension.
Shen Yuan suddenly chuckled. "Are you trying to do a repeat of that night?"
Li Zhi immediately furrowed her brows and glared at him, her damp eyelashes casting butterfly-wing shadows beneath her eyes. She raised her voice in a bluff, "Well, are you coming in or not!"
"I’m coming, I’m coming. Should I just turn off the lights?"
Shen Yuan glanced at the time. "It’s already dark out."
Li Zhi looked at Shen Yuan, her gaze suddenly turning evasive.
"Th-that’s up to you. In any case... I know how to honor a lost bet."
Under Li Zhi’s gaze, Shen Yuan stepped toward the bedroom.
Before Li Zhi could retreat, she saw Shen Yuan reach out and switch off the room’s light.
The light from the living room illuminated Li Zhi’s face, revealing the clear surprise shimmering in her eyes.
But beneath that surprise, there was also a trace of hidden delight.
Shen Yuan walked into the dimly lit bedroom.
Guided by the light from the living room behind him, Shen Yuan walked over to Li Zhi’s desk, and then Li Zhi closed the door.
The bedroom was plunged into pitch-black darkness.
Shen Yuan could hear the clicking of high heels in the bedroom.
"Aren’t you going to close the curtains?"
Li Zhi’s voice rang out in the darkness.
Shen Yuan shook his head and said to the hazy silhouette in the darkness, "No need. I can see."
"What can you see? It’s pitch black."
Before Li Zhi’s skeptical words had even faded, the rustle of a shoe sole against the carpet broke the silence.
The darkness outlined the young man’s approaching figure, and his suddenly quickened breathing wove an invisible net in the enclosed space.
"I can see."
The whisper, wrapped in a warm breath, pierced the darkness. Before he even finished speaking, Li Zhi felt a sudden warmth on her wrist.
Shen Yuan’s fingers had precisely closed around her wrist, which she had curled by the folds of her dress.
The young man’s scorching heat and the girl’s fresh-from-the-shower peach fragrance silently mingled where they touched.
The pressure of Shen Yuan’s tightening fingers was like a butterfly collector pinching the edge of a wing—firm enough that she could not escape, yet hesitant with a restrained force he dared not fully apply.
Li Zhi’s startled gasp brushed past Shen Yuan’s ear. Her captured wrist instinctively tried to pull back, but he held it fast.
"See? I can see, can’t I?"
"You..."
The word died in her throat. Li Zhi subconsciously wanted to struggle free, but feeling the warmth of Shen Yuan’s palm, she abandoned the thought.
The girl simply let him hold her wrist.
"O-only an idiot wouldn’t be able to see!"
Feeling the tension in her hand gradually fade, Shen Yuan slowly eased his grip.
As his thumb unconsciously caressed the throbbing pulse point on her wrist, the damp skin on its inner side immediately sent a fine tremor shooting up her spine to the nape of her tense neck.
"You..."
The girl grew tense once more.
In the darkness, the pad of Shen Yuan’s thumb slid from her wrist bone toward her palm, his fingers closing with a gentleness that seemed to be measuring a fragile curve.
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