Chapter 31 – A Clueless Girl

Translator: Lunarise

Editor: Lunarise

Proofreader: Livyuna

“Lying down for long stretches of time can impair your body’s circulation, consequently affecting your legs. But you’ve also broken three ribs and your left hand, so you can’t get up and move… I have to give you a massage.” Zhao Xi flipped the blanket, turning to sit on his leg, “In Chinese medicine, we massage acupuncture points. It’ll be good for you.”

But she was too tired, too lazy. She actually didn’t want to do it. An occasional massage was passable but having to do it frequently could even disform her fingers over time. Especially with a patient like Shen Fei, where he couldn’t feel anything, she would need to double the effort.

Shen Fei was propped up against a high tower of cushions. Zhao Xi removed two cushions, lowering his body, and with a tug, she laid him down completely against the bed. His clothes were loose, and when she had pulled him down, the fabric rolled up, revealing his legs. Zhao Xi lifted them, straightening his clothes, and tucked the blanket under his knees. She sat on his legs; she first pressed acupuncture points on specific areas. With every nudge, she would ask, “Can you feel anything?”

She wasn’t just massaging. She was also trying to test how much pressure it would take for Shen Fei’s legs to feel. The point of this was to test his perception of pain. Was it really that they were completely void of any reaction? If so, it would mean he was completely crippled.

Shen Fei shook his head. Zhao Xi pushed harder, “What about now?”

He shook his head again.

She increased the pressure again, “Can you still not feel anything?”

Shen Fei finally furrowed his brow. After a moment’s silence, he nodded, “A little…”

Zhao Xi had tried not to show her worry, but at last, she was ecstatic, “If you can feel something, then it means that you’re not completely paralyzed, and you have a chance of recovery.”

“It’s only a little.” Shen Fei was similarly moved with her reaction, his voice hitching from its usual, flat tone. His dark, ink-colored irises reflecting Zhao Xi’s figure.

“It’s better than nothing.”

Zhao Xi continued massaging his legs with this pressure, then, turning him on his chest, began doing the same from his back. The process was tiring, and with the arduous efforts she put, sweat droplets began falling from her forehead, rolling down onto Shen Fei’s back.

Shen Fei felt this, and when he turned to look at her, he earned a shove backs into the pillows.

“I’m almost done, stop moving,” she merely said.

He quietly laid still on the cotton, allowing her to press his legs, completely putting himself into the girl’s mercy.

With his condition, unable to feel anything below his waist, he wouldn’t even know if Zhao Xi did anything inappropriate to him. And he was truly careless, brave enough to put himself into the hands of someone who had her eyes on him.

However, Zhao Xi didn’t let him down. She was well-behaved throughout, even as she finished the massage, and fell to his side in exhaustion, “I can’t anymore, I’m tired.”

Having focused all of her strength into her fingers for such a long time, Zhao Xi’s entire hand, from her wrist to her fingertips, were trembling. Shen Fei was still lying on his chest against the pillow. He procured a handkerchief and gingerly wiped the sweat off of her face.

Zhao Xi remembered this particular handkerchief. The first day she met him, it had fallen from his sleeve whilst she was undressing him and drifted beneath the bed. She had only discovered it several days after. Upon finding it, she smelled a hint of fragrance. It was definitely not hers; being made of high-quality silk, and moreover, scented. She guessed that it belonged to Shen Fei. As expected, a small “Fei” embroidered in its corner greeted her as she unfolded it.

She had washed it in her leisure time, returning it to him for further use.

Now, he was using that handkerchief to wipe her sweat, his movement ever gentle and soft. His fingers, like white porcelain, occasionally brushed across her forehead. They were cool to the touch, yet she still felt it was nice.

Usually, she would always play with these hands, forcing them into all sorts of positions to her fancy. Today, however, they would touch her forehead on their own accord.

At that moment, the girl felt that all of the sweat and exhaustion was worth it. She hadn’t done it all in vain. Perhaps, Shen Fei had grown closer to her.

He was still bad at expressing his feelings, immediately retracting his hand after finishing. The pair of them went quiet, one lying on their back, and the other on their chest, for some time.

She knew that it was hard for him to turn over. She sat up, flipping him on his back, and straightening him, rearranging his hair so that it rested away from the pillow.

Shen Fei didn’t dodge her anymore. His eyes looked at her intently. Zhao Xi was also not one from shying, he greeted his gaze with her own.

The gods have their favorites; he was such an attractive, to the point of being flawless. Even an unflattering position had no effect on his perfection.

She couldn’t bear it. She tapped on his head with her still trembling fingers. Shen Fei raised his eyes, confused with what she was trying to do. His long eyelashes trembled in reflex, like a fluttering butterfly, lifting its wings in flight. She hurriedly covered his eyes, making the latter blink his eyes in confusion. His lashes tickled her palm, the sensation like a playful tap of a kitten’s paws.

“Shen Fei.” Zhao Xi moved, crazed and adamant, her body pressed against Shen Fei’s chest, momentarily forgetting the wounds on his body. Shen Fei didn’t make a sound, allowing her to do so.

After some thought, she sat up, scooting over to Shen Fei, stopping only when she was a finger’s distance away from him, “Your eyes are really pretty.”

They were like the galaxy, wide and limitless, holding everything in their midst. In them was light, clarity, and ripples along the autumn waters.

“Can I kiss them?”

Without waiting for his answer—rather, rejection—Zhao Xi moved. Taking advantage of the fact that he couldn’t move the lower half of his body, and had broken one of his hands, it being tied up in a bamboo splint, and unable to bend or move, she trapped his only uninjured hand beneath her knee.

“Just once, I’ll be quick,” she bargained, like a child clueless of rights and wrongs.

She held his head, slowly moving closer. He tried moving but found that he had nowhere to go. Deciding to accept his fate, he closed his eyes.

It was a chaste brush of her lips. She could feel his eyes nervously moving beneath his eyelids. After Zhao Xi let go of him, he opened his orbs, his dark irises were dewy, as if it was covered with mist. They were beautiful.

“It’s warm.”

In the unfamiliar warmth of another person’s body, there was a fragile, vibrant entity: life.