Chapter 239: Chapter 155: To Hold Hands, or to Take Off Shoes, That Is the Question
The moment a breathy protest escaped the girl’s throat, Shen Yuan’s hand slid down again, gently taking hold of her soft palm.
The sound of Shen Yuan’s Adam’s apple bobbing was clearly audible in the darkness.
The next second, he felt Li Zhi’s palm slip back half an inch through his fingers. Her neatly trimmed, rounded nails scraped lightly across his lifeline, like the trailing tail of a meteor streaking across the night sky.
Before Li Zhi could succeed, she felt the pressure on her hand increase.
For some reason, Li Zhi suddenly stopped struggling. But in the next instant, she felt Shen Yuan’s fingers give a slight squeeze.
"Don’t..."
The broken, breathy sound was drowned in their mingled breaths before it could even fully form.
Li Zhi’s tense knuckles suddenly relaxed, allowing Shen Yuan’s fingers to slide between hers.
"It’s just... for the bet..."
Li Zhi’s voice sounded softly in the darkness.
"Mm,"
Shen Yuan replied, his fingers gently closing around Li Zhi’s hand.
But just then, Shen Yuan felt a slight pressure on his own fingers as well.
Li Zhi’s fingers were also closing gently.
As their fingers interlocked, the heartbeats lying dormant in their veins suddenly exploded.
Two hearts, separated by two layers of skin and flesh, beat out a chaotic code of attraction in the pitch-black darkness.
In the darkness, their palms fit together seamlessly.
They held that position for an unknown length of time, until Li Zhi’s soft voice broke the silence.
"My... my leg’s a little numb."
Li Zhi’s voice startled Shen Yuan back to his senses.
"Then, you want to sit on the bed?" Shen Yuan asked tentatively.
Li Zhi shook her head, then suddenly realized there wasn’t enough light for him to see.
"No, you haven’t changed your clothes."
The moment she said it, Li Zhi realized she had misspoken.
"No, that’s not what I meant..."
The beautiful girl who had just said the wrong thing felt the temperature of her face instantly rise.
Especially when she heard a chuckle from Shen Yuan’s throat, Li Zhi’s face burned even hotter.
"Wh-what are you laughing at!"
In the darkness, the girl’s soft, sweet voice sounded like she was pouting.
Shen Yuan shook his head. "I’m not laughing. You go sit on the bed. I’ll just sit on the floor."
"Okay."
Shen Yuan led Li Zhi by the hand to the edge of the bed, as if he were already completely familiar with the room.
Only after Li Zhi sat down did Shen Yuan slowly sit on the floor.
Throughout this process, their hands never parted.
For a moment, they formed a rather comical picture.
Shen Yuan sat on the floor, his right hand raised, while Li Zhi’s hand hung down naturally.
Li Zhi seemed to notice this as well and chuckled softly. "I feel like I’m holding a puppy on a leash."
Shen Yuan immediately turned to look at Li Zhi, but as he did, he suddenly became aware of something.
Li Zhi’s calves were right next to him, and the faint fragrance from her stockings drifted into his nostrils. Shen Yuan decided he wasn’t angry anymore.
’A puppy, huh? Fine, I can be a puppy.’
But before Shen Yuan could fully come to terms with it, he heard Li Zhi’s voice again.
"SMOOCH, SMOOCH, SMOOCH."
The sound was still echoing in the room when Shen Yuan’s threat reached her ears.
"Say that again, and I’ll bite you."
As he spoke, he blew a puff of warm air onto Li Zhi’s ankle, startling her into immediately pulling her leg back.
"You!"
In the darkness, the beautiful girl gritted her teeth, then scolded, "Pervert!"
Shen Yuan chuckled slyly, letting out an amused laugh.
Listening to Shen Yuan’s laughter, Li Zhi felt an overwhelming urge to kick him, but she was worried her high heels would hurt him too much.
"How long are you going to hold on?"
Li Zhi’s voice rang out in the darkness.
Although the beautiful girl said this, she didn’t let go of his hand either.
"I want to hold on forever," Shen Yuan said, looking up.
"In your dreams! I’ll give you two choices. First, we just hold hands. Second,"
Li Zhi paused, then continued, "Help me take my shoes off. They’re a little uncomfortable."
She had put them on in a hurry, and the straps were a bit tight.
It wasn’t that Li Zhi didn’t want to take them off herself.
For one, she was wearing a skirt. For another, she was sitting on the bed with her hand still held by Shen Yuan.
It was just really inconvenient.
Of course, it was also possible that the shoes Shen Yuan had bought were just a bit tricky to remove.
The straps wrapped around her ankles made it impossible to just slip the shoes off.
"I can hold your hand and take off your shoes at the same time."
"In your dreams!"
Li Zhi kicked out with one foot.
The pointed-toe high heel struck his thigh, and Shen Yuan immediately sucked in a sharp breath.
’Did she just fucking kick me with a stiletto?’
But then Shen Yuan pictured Li Zhi kicking him with that look of disdain...
HISS—
’No, no, that’s not right. How the fuck did I turn into Ai Muyu?’
Just then, Li Zhi’s impatient voice rang out.
"Hurry up! It’s not even satisfying to kick you with them on!"
"Alright, alright, I get it. Th-then you have to let go of my hand first?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Shen Yuan felt Li Zhi’s fingers loosen slightly.
Sensing this, Shen Yuan pressed his lips together and began to withdraw his fingers.
The moment Li Zhi’s fingers were about to pull away completely, Shen Yuan’s curled fingertips suddenly chased after them for half an inch.
"Hey!"
Just as Li Zhi’s indignant protest sounded, Shen Yuan spoke.
"Can we hold hands again later?"
"Selaan!"
Li Zhi gave Shen Yuan a light kick.
But after a moment of silence, a single syllable vibrated softly in the enclosed space.
"Mm."
Li Zhi turned her face away, the wisps of hair on the nape of her neck sliding into the hollows of her collarbones with the movement.
"Anyway... the bet isn’t over yet."
The mumbled words were crushed by the tip of her tongue into granules of feigned confidence. The girl’s knuckles turned a pale, jade-like white as she clutched her skirt, the silk wrinkling into ripples within her palm.
Finished, Li Zhi nudged Shen Yuan’s calf with the toe of her shoe.
"Aren’t you going to let go? My feet really are uncomfortable."
"I know, I know."
Shen Yuan laughed and let go, the puff of air from his low chuckle brushing against Li Zhi’s ankle.
A crisp CLICK soon echoed in the darkness as a metal buckle sprang open.
As Shen Yuan’s palm cupped the arch of the girl’s stocking-clad foot, Li Zhi said tremulously, "Your hand is so hot."
Shen Yuan didn’t speak, merely continuing to remove Li Zhi’s other high-heeled shoe.
After taking off the shoes, Shen Yuan didn’t let go.
"Is this where it’s uncomfortable?"
As Shen Yuan’s knuckles brushed against her ankle, Li Zhi’s tense voice suddenly rang out.
"D-don’t push your luck!"
"Didn’t you say your feet were uncomfortable?"
"Pervert! Who asked you to— Mmm..."
Her trembling, angry cry suddenly changed key. Shen Yuan had abruptly cupped her heel in the web of his hand, the edge of his palm kneading her Achilles tendon with a hatefully precise pressure.
The moment his fingertips sank into the stocking, Shen Yuan could feel the heat rising from beneath the silky fabric.
In the darkness, the unconscious curl of the girl’s foot was just like the leaves of a sensitive plant folding under the moonlight.
As Shen Yuan applied just the right amount of pressure, Li Zhi’s trembling sigh sank into the wrinkled sheets, the tips of her toes just barely brushing against the young man’s chest.
"You... That’s enough!"
Li Zhi said through gritted teeth, trying to keep the tremble out of her voice.
"Then let’s switch to the other foot."
"You!"
Before Li Zhi could refuse, Shen Yuan said, "You made me eat two wasabi bombs."
Li Zhi immediately shut her mouth.
’The trouble I started back then has finally come back to haunt me.’
When Shen Yuan’s searing palm once again closed around Li Zhi’s foot, the ticklish sensation was infinitely magnified in the darkness.
Li Zhi’s knuckles, clutching the bedsheet, grew increasingly pale. In the darkness, every nerve he touched was screaming.
The beautiful girl bit down hard on her pearly teeth, the heat on her face almost matching the heat of Shen Yuan’s palm.
As nervous as Li Zhi was, Shen Yuan was actually in the same state.
In the dimness, Shen Yuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed heavily, and fine beads of sweat forming on his temples trickled down his jawline.
The young man deliberately kept his breathing light and slow, yet a few chaotic streams of air still escaped through his clenched teeth.
Every time Li Zhi’s toes flinched, creating a rustle of silky fabric, his tense shoulder blades would follow the imperceptible arch of his spine.
The pressure of his fingertips kneading her tendon varied from light to heavy, as if he were calibrating a precision instrument. He would always hesitate for a beat after a slightly heavier press, only daring to continue after hearing a soft, nasal sigh from the girl.
Before long, however, Shen Yuan reluctantly released her.
If he held on any longer, Shen Yuan wouldn’t dare step into the light.
"Feeling better?"
Li Zhi nodded quickly, a faint sound escaping her throat.
"Mm, much, much better."
"So, uh, can we hold hands again now?" Shen Yuan’s tentative voice sounded.
Li Zhi looked down at his silhouette in the darkness and bit her lip gently.
"You were just touching my feet."
"Didn’t you take a shower? What, you didn’t wash your stockings?"
Shen Yuan had barely finished speaking when he felt a force slam into his chest.
"Go to hell, you dumbass!"
Li Zhi knocked Shen Yuan over with a kick.
"Damn pervert! Dumbass Shen Yuan!"
The large dog-shaped plushie had escaped disaster.
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