Gu Yebai was still immersed in his idle chatter with Yukino when the bathroom door suddenly pushed open.
“Whew, after walking all day, a hot bath feels amazing!”
Along with her voice, warm steam overflowed and slowly spread through the room.
Gao Hongyi stepped out of the bathroom.
Her deep cherry-colored hair was still wet, wrapped in a white towel that she patted leisurely as she walked.
Droplets of water were squeezed from her hair, sliding down her slender neck, pausing briefly in the hollow of her collarbone, and then continuing downward.
Because she had just bathed, her skin possessed a soft, warm, and radiant glow, as if completely awakened by the steam.
Gu Yebai, who had been looking down at his phone, suddenly froze.
The impact of this scene was simply too great.
If he looked for even one more second, he would surely get a nosebleed.
Driven by instinct, he quickly turned around to face away from her.
“Uncle Bai.”
Gao Hongyi’s voice came from behind him, carrying the softness that followed a bath.
“Why won’t you look at me?”
“You’re asking the obvious!”
Gu Yebai’s tone was flustered.
“Do you have any idea how much damage you’re doing?”
“Uncle Bai is so cute,” she chuckled.
“Take a good look at me. We are going to get married in the future, and it’s perfectly normal for a husband and wife to bathe together. So, Uncle Bai, please look at me boldly and with peace of mind. I’m not even embarrassed, so as a man, you aren’t allowed to be either. Act like a true gentleman and look at me as if you were admiring a work of art.”
Gu Yebai slowly turned around.
His heart was pounding exceptionally hard.
Her thin nightgown clung to Gao Hongyi’s body, and because of the moisture, it outlined her curves even more tightly than usual.
Her waist was incredibly narrow, and the rise and fall of her chest was even more undisguised than before.
Gu Yebai subconsciously swallowed.
“Uncle Bai,” Gao Hongyi said in a lighthearted tone.
“I was just soaking in the bathtub. You should take a good soak in a little while, too.”
Gu Yebai naturally understood the implication of those words.
She wanted him to soak in the same water she had just used.
“By the way,” Gao Hongyi said as if suddenly remembering something.
“When I came out just now, I saw you smirking to yourself. Were you chatting with your readers?”
Her tone was casual, but her voice held a damp quality from the bath, the end of her sentence trailing off slightly.
Gu Yebai looked at her, the corners of his mouth curling up into an unguarded smile.
“Who else could it be? I’m chatting with that student in Tokyo, Yukino. Using Chinese pronunciation, it’s ‘yu ki no,’ but you can also call him Yukinoshita Yukino.”
“Thank you, Uncle Bai, for explaining his name to me, even though I have a Japanese N1 certification.”
Gao Hongyi looked at him with a beaming smile.
Everything seemed unprovoked, and there was no sign of hysteria.
However, deep in Gao Hongyi’s heart, a string was slowly and clearly being pulled tight.
The girl she had seen in the chat logs this morning was a threat in her own right.
Even if the girl did nothing, her mere existence was dangerous enough.
“You really like chatting with Yukino, don’t you?”
“Of course! You read my novel all the time, so check the donation leaderboard.”
Yukino, whose avatar was Yukinoshita Yukino, sat firmly at the top of the donation rankings.
If converted into currency, the fan points were worth more than 30,000 yuan.
“I really enjoy chatting with him. He always tells me many interesting things that happen during his time studying abroad in Tokyo.”
“I see,” Gao Hongyi’s voice remained gentle.
“So to you, he is a very important person?”
“Absolutely!”
Gao Hongyi subconsciously clenched her fists.
Originally, she had intended to let Uncle Bai off the hook for a while.
Yet, he was being so tactless as to discuss another woman right in front of her.
Perhaps Uncle Bai didn’t know that the person named Yukino was likely a woman.
But even if it were a man, she couldn’t tolerate it.
Once this thought surfaced, it was like a drop of ink in water, quickly spreading through her heart.
‘…I should just end this here.’
Anyway, she had already prepared everything.
Whether it was the Durex or the Sure-Kill Critical Strike Attack Speed Set, she only needed to take one step closer, reach out, and pin him to the bed.
Everything would become simple then.
Like a leopard gathering strength before a hunt, it only took one decisive strike to ensure the prey could never escape.
She knew very well that she had too many ways to leave Gu Yebai with no room for resistance.
In the midst of desire and chaos, he would soon learn to depend on her and obey, perhaps even mistaking it for being unable to help himself.
If anyone was to blame, it was that failed candlelight dinner.
It was also his fault for responding to someone else’s gaze and expectations behind her back.
‘Uncle Bai. This is your own choice.’
She would just handle him right now.
Gao Hongyi felt as if her body were a wound-up spring, ready to snap at any moment.
Just as her emotions were about to spiral out of control….
“When we get to Donghai, let’s go to the amusement park and ride the Ferris Wheel!”
Gu Yebai suddenly said, his eyes shining.
“…What?”
Gao Hongyi, who had already mentally prepared to pin him to the bed and execute her plan, was momentarily stunned.
“I said,” Gu Yebai repeated, his tone so serious that he didn’t seem to be joking, “once we get to Donghai, we should go to the amusement park and ride the Ferris Wheel, okay?”
“Uncle Bai?”
At that moment, the anger that had been churning in her chest was completely overwritten by an unheralded sense of happiness.
This man, who was as dull as a block of wood, had actually taken the initiative to make such a request.
“Do you want to go on a date with me at the amusement park?”
Gao Hongyi’s voice rose slightly, carrying unmistakable joy.
“Yeah.”
Gu Yebai didn’t hide or evade.
He straightforwardly pulled out his phone and held the chat log in front of her.
“Look, this is Yukino’s girlfriend. He told me before that her name is Himuro Mio. Doesn’t she look like a Japanese doll? This is a photo of them on a Ferris Wheel. Isn’t it great?”
He looked up at Gao Hongyi, his tone more serious than ever.
“In the future… can we go on the Ferris Wheel together, too?”
“Of course!”
Gao Hongyi practically blurted out.
“Of course we’re going to ride the Ferris Wheel together! We’ll go tomorrow night to the Donghai Disney Resort, Uncle Bai!”
She threw herself into Gu Yebai’s arms.
Her damp, deep cherry-colored hair brushed against his chin, carrying the warmth and scent of her recent bath.
“And then, Uncle Bai, you have to post a photo of us on the Ferris Wheel in the group chat. No, wait, I won’t post it; you have to post it yourself. You have to let everyone see so they can only watch in envy.”
“I know,” Gu Yebai replied with a smile.
“Uncle Bai, now it’s your turn to shower,” Gao Hongyi said, looking up at him with a face full of delight.
“Honestly, to think you’d actually suggest taking me on the Ferris Wheel. Uncle Bai, you’re quite the smooth talker, aren’t you?”
“Haha.”
Gu Yebai scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.
“Then I’ll head to the shower first.”
“Go on, Uncle Bai.”
Watching his back as he walked toward the bathroom, Gao Hongyi hugged the pillow Gu Yebai had been using and pressed it against her chest.
‘Uncle Bai, taking the initiative to invite me… it truly makes me feel wonderful.’
‘Not just that.’
‘Tonight, we’ll sleep in the same room.’
‘We’ll fall asleep in the same space.’
‘We’ll wake up on the same morning.’
‘And then, we’ll return to the home that belongs to us, never to be apart again.’