Amnesia Trap (GL) - Chapter 64

Help her bathe?

How did the conversation suddenly swerve to the bathroom?

Sheng Zhi instinctively let out a slight, rising breath of surprise. She didn’t even realize that her mind was now entirely focused on Ji Qingfan.

Originally, she was supposed to be feeling dejected and melancholy because of Jiang Wanyin, but from the moment Ji Qingfan suddenly appeared to the series of events that followed, she no longer had any mental energy to spare for anyone else.

Hearing the questioning tone in Sheng Zhi’s breath, Ji Qingfan answered quite naturally: “Jiao Jiao helped me wash before, didn’t she?”

As she spoke, she very lightly touched Sheng Zhi’s thin, rose-colored earlobe, her breath scented like flowers: “Is it possible you’re still… shy?”

The soft current of air brushed against her ear along with the voice. It was tingling and electric.

Sheng Zhi covered her ear and struggled out of the embrace: “Who… who’s shy?”

Realizing her reaction was a bit too large and that she had suspiciously stuttered, Sheng Zhi dropped her hand and pretended to be calm. “Seeing how much you want to, I can only reluctantly agree. Anyway, it’s just a bath.”

She tried her best to ignore the lingering waves of heat still radiating from her ear.

Ji Qingfan was right. They had bathed together, and she had helped Ji Qingfan wash. It was just a bath, right? No matter how you wash, a wash is a wash. It’s not like she could wash flowers out of it, could she?

—As it turns out, a bath can actually produce “flowers.”

Sheng Zhi bit her lip. Before this, she truly couldn’t have imagined a bath could be done this way.

Pale flower petals floated on the surface of the water. Ji Qingfan held herself very steadily, using herself like a lathered bath lily to apply the body wash to Sheng Zhi.

But no bath lily was this soft or delicate.

“Are you in a good mood?” she asked her, slowly leaning over, almost draping herself over her, yet without any sense of pressure or aggression. Like a handful of clouds that were hard to refuse.

The double bathtub was very spacious; there was more than enough room to move around. It was comfortable—exceptionally comfortable. So comfortable it felt as if one’s senses were about to descend into decadence.

She didn’t know if the water temperature had been set too high today, but Sheng Zhi felt hotter and hotter, her whole body filled with a strange, burning sensation.

“No, I’m not. No,” she spoke, repeating the word as if she were terrified of exposing even a hint of liking this. If she admitted to being in a “good mood,” it would be… too strange.

Sheng Zhi gave up on torturing her lips, bit her knuckle, and turned her head away.

However, her spoken denial seemed to be interpreted by Ji Qingfan as a sign of dissatisfaction. Her voice was innocent and weak, her eyes curving: “Are you not satisfied…? Hmm, I’ll work a bit harder then.”

The actions became increasingly face-flushing.

Sheng Zhi thought back to her words from a few hours ago—”Anyway, it’s just a bath”—and felt a literal slap to the face. How could she have imagined this kind of washing? No, wait—who would hear “take a bath” and associate it with this method?

She realized she was still too simple, too naive. After hearing so many of Ji Qingfan’s various lies, she thought Ji Qingfan would play by the book, but the truth was that Ji Qingfan didn’t follow a script at all. It was like a “chaotic fist beating the old master,” and since she wasn’t even a “master,” she was currently defenseless against this onslaught.

“Work harder? What else are you going to work harder at?”

She even wondered if she had been stained by something invisible. Ji Qingfan’s way of washing was like trying to scrub something off her over and over, only to brand something else in its place. If this continued, she was going to be “marinated” in this scent.

Sheng Zhi looked at her with a mix of shame and irritation, her amber pupils seeming to melt with emotion. They were clear and shimmering, like sweet, enticing honey, or like the one and only cherry used to garnish a cream cake.

By the time Sheng Zhi realized she had blurted the question out loud, Ji Qingfan’s voice had already sounded again.

“So Jiao Jiao is actually very satisfied in her heart?” Ji Qingfan suddenly propped herself up slightly and kissed her eyes with deep affection. “Can I interpret this as playing hard to get?”

As she rose, a large spray of water rose and fell with her. Her long, waterfall-like hair dripped with droplets. With her crimson lips, porcelain skin, and low, soft voice, the way she emerged from the water made Sheng Zhi hallucinate that she was a mermaid. Her indignation died down for a second, only to flare up even hotter.

—Enough. Has her brain developed a new personality? Last time it was Sleeping Beauty, this time it’s a Mermaid. When will it end?

Sheng Zhi’s lashes trembled, the thick curls nearly clumped together by the water. She gritted her teeth: “Who’s playing hard to get? You’re the one playing hard to get!”

Ji Qingfan seemed to let out a soft chuckle, making Sheng Zhi even more embarrassed, so she simply bit her.

The bite was a mistake. The moment she bit her, she remembered the vast expanse of “red camellias” she had seen on her own skin in the mirror. She applied a bit of vengeful pressure, hearing Ji Qingfan let out a very mellow, enchanting moan: “Jiao Jiao, you promised last time you’d call me ‘Sister’…”

Sheng Zhi let the title roll silently in her mouth before huffing: “I’m not calling you that. I’m supposed to do it just because you told me to?”

The anticipation in Ji Qingfan’s eyes was instantly replaced by disappointment. “You don’t keep your word. Jiao Jiao is a puppy.”

Hearing that specific word, Sheng Zhi couldn’t help but snap: “You have the nerve to use that word with me?”

The scene she had seen in the mirror was far too vivid. She reached out and traced a wide area on her own body: “See this? These are all from your bites.”

Ji Qingfan looked at the area she was pointing out. Sheng Zhi was indeed delicate; her skin showed marks from the slightest bump, and because she was so fair, these marks were magnified manifold. They looked very, very… erotic.

Ji Qingfan swallowed silently and lowered her lashes as a cover.

“Why are you quiet now?” Seeing her suddenly lower her eyes, Sheng Zhi thought she was avoiding the issue, and her temper flared. “Nothing to say? Fine, I’m biting you back.”

Ji Qingfan still didn’t look at her, looking utterly helpless: “Then where does Jiao Jiao want to bite back?”

Sheng Zhi’s original thought was an eye for an eye, but looking at her now, and thinking about what she had just done, her plan shifted slightly: “Here.”

This impromptu change was also meant as a form of retaliation. However, the implementation gradually changed in nature, veering off the tracks from “revenge” into “mischief.”

By the end of the chaos, the bathroom mirror was covered in water streaks, indistinguishable whether they were splashes from the tub or something else.

The upside was that they didn’t have to change the bed this time. The downside was that playing in the bathroom for too long resulted in a slightly heavy head when she woke up the next morning.

When Sheng Zhi opened her eyes, she was still a bit dazed. Feeling something in her mouth, she instinctively ground her teeth slightly.

Ji Qingfan was woken up by the grinding, but her moan was very faint. It was as if she had been bullied too much and had no energy even after waking. Hearing that weak sound, Sheng Zhi snapped out of it, and her heavy-headed feeling was instantly forgotten.

She quickly let go and looked—not just in that spot, but all the surrounding skin looked piteously miserable. Her heart skipped a beat, her ears burned, and the crimson flush immediately spread to her cheeks.

She had actually… done that all night while sleeping? That was a bit…

Sheng Zhi blinked slowly. The shock was too great, creating a sense of frozen time. She obviously didn’t know that it had slipped out only to be cupped and fed back to her lips. She thought to herself that she really was a bit “bad.”

Since it’s like this… I should buy some medicine to apply for Ji Qingfan, right?

A subtle sense of guilt and remorse rose in her heart, but this feeling turned into even greater guilt when she realized Ji Qingfan seemed to have caught a cold. Aside from the initial heaviness, Sheng Zhi felt fine after a while, but Ji Qingfan’s voice was now thick with a nasal tone.

Clearly, the root cause was playing in the bathroom for too long, plus they hadn’t dried their hair properly. Sheng Zhi uneasily touched Ji Qingfan’s forehead and called for the private doctor immediately.

The private doctor was specifically hired and worked only for her, with a very high salary and bonuses. They weren’t called often—sometimes months went by without contact—but the requirement was that if the employer had a sniffle or a fever, they had to arrive as fast as possible.

The message was sent, and the doctor arrived quickly. They took her temperature first; confirming Ji Qingfan didn’t have a fever, Sheng Zhi breathed a partial sigh of relief.

She didn’t have a fever, but she definitely had a cold. The doctor prescribed some cold medicine, and after a few whispered words from Sheng Zhi, also provided a tube of ointment, very tactfully suggesting that they might want to practice some moderation and mind the frequency.

Listening to the doctor, Sheng Zhi pressed a hand to her cheek and nodded. Even after the doctor left, the heat in her face hadn’t subsided.

“Don’t go to the company today…” She handed the prepared cold medicine to Ji Qingfan. She had specifically tested the temperature; it was perfect for drinking.

Ji Qingfan looked at the bowl but didn’t take it, preparing to drink it directly from Sheng Zhi’s hands. Seeing this, Sheng Zhi reflexively adjusted her position, afraid she’d find it hard to drink or would choke. Thus, without intending to, she ended up feeding her the medicine.

After finishing the medicine, she heard Ji Qingfan say: “It’s not a big deal. I can just wear a mask.”

“Just rest,” Sheng Zhi said, feeling even worse as she heard her weak, nasal voice. “Stop thinking about work, just leave it to me.”

After a few more words, she paused and took out the tube of ointment. “This… do you want to do it yourself, or should I help you apply it…?” Her voice got quieter and quieter, especially after Ji Qingfan simply lifted her nightgown.

No answer was needed; she had made her choice through action. The ointment was transparent with a faint, clean fragrance.

“…It’s a bit cool.”

Perhaps because of the nasal tone, Ji Qingfan’s voice sounded different from usual—not just gentle, but soft. Sheng Zhi’s finger trembled as she applied the medicine, nearly missing the mark. She let out a breath, focused her mind, applied it meticulously, then put the ointment away and tidied her nightgown. “Lie down and sleep a bit more.”

As she spoke, Sheng Zhi pushed Ji Qingfan back onto the bed, pulled up the covers, placed a glass of warm water within easy reach, and ordered breakfast. Once everything was arranged, she still looked uneasy as she left for the office: “Message me if anything happens.”

Ji Qingfan looked as obedient as ever.

However, as soon as Sheng Zhi left, she got out of bed and stood by the window to steal a glance at Sheng Zhi’s departing figure. She gazed without blinking, the image of Sheng Zhi’s worried and caring face still seemingly floating before her eyes.

A very ordinary cold… but it proved that she was caring about her more and more, didn’t it?

Was she getting closer to the love she desired?

Ji Qingfan watched Sheng Zhi leave until she was completely out of sight, yet she still lingered, unwilling to withdraw her gaze.

“…She will definitely fall in love with me,” she whispered to herself, pressing her fingertips together in a prayer-like gesture.