"Alright then, get some rest." Seeing how exhausted Lin Wanning looked, Li Qingxue said with concern.
"Yeah, a good night's sleep, and we'll hit the baths together tomorrow," she replied in a half-teasing tone before hanging up the video call.
As the call ended, Lin Wanning placed her phone on the bedside table and turned over wearily.
Her frequent dance practice had given her a remarkably flexible body.
Stretching into a pose, the alluring curve of her hips could easily stir the imagination.
After finishing her stretches, the soreness in her muscles eased slightly.
Only then did she get up again to change out of her clothes.
Her skin was pale—not just her face, but her entire body was as smooth as jade, making the red marks on her skin stand out even more.
This body had completely molded itself to Long Aotian's touch.
Every mark was undeniable proof of that.
Hesitating over whether to wash away the traces, her mind wandered to the words Hu Yuying had spoken when showing her concern.
Lin Wanning sighed quietly to herself.
In the end, she was the one who had wronged Hu Yuying.
"If only... if only A-Ying could accept me..." Lin Wanning murmured softly.
But she knew it was just wishful thinking. Right now, she was like a rat hiding in the shadows...
She wasn’t greedy—she understood how important Hu Yuying was in Long Aotian’s heart.
No one could ever replace the little girl who held his heart.
"Actually, this is fine. At least Brother is slowly starting to accept me. Today’s... happiness is proof enough."
Thinking this, Lin Wanning felt a flicker of joy. As she had told herself, she wasn’t asking for much—just a little was enough to satisfy her.
She put on her pajamas, covering the lingering marks on her collarbone, then drew the curtains and settled into bed.
Her exhaustion, her drained energy, pulled her swiftly into sleep.
......
Perhaps she had been too worn out—she slept soundly through the night, not waking once until dawn.
Slowly opening her eyes, she found that the lingering soreness no longer hindered her.
Stretching, Lin Wanning picked up her phone from the edge of the pillow.
There were messages from Hu Yuying, Li Qingxue... and Long Aotian.
Her gaze lingered on Long Aotian’s text—just like the others, asking if she was alright.
She couldn’t help but laugh. "What’s wrong with me? Hu Yuying and Li Qingxue might not know, but you do, don’t you?"
No doubt, Hu Yuying had been worried and mentioned her condition to him.
And so, he had played along, pretending ignorance while sending the same concerned message as the others.
After stretching again, she began replying one by one.
She simply said she had been too tired the night before and had gone to bed early.
To Long Aotian, she sent just two emojis: 【Left Hmph】【Right Hmph】.
The playful, slightly sulky tone of the stickers suited the conversation without raising suspicion.
Around eight, Hu Yuying messaged her. They chatted for a while before Hu Yuying mentioned going out for breakfast with "Long-ge," ending their conversation.
It wasn’t until nine-thirty that she got a reply from the sleepyhead Li Qingxue.
After teasing her mercilessly for being a lazy pig, they set a time to meet for a meal and then a bath.
The bustling snack street was lively as ever.
The moment they met, Li Qingxue and Lin Wanning started playfully roughhousing.
Only after confirming Lin Wanning was truly fine did Li Qingxue drag her off to eat their way through the street—effectively combining breakfast and lunch in one go.
As they wandered, Li Qingxue’s sharp eyes caught sight of a stall selling vegetable seeds.
"Wanning, what kind of veggies do you like?" she asked, pointing at the seeds.
"What does that have to do with seeds?" Lin Wanning chuckled, pinching Li Qingxue’s cheeks.
"Of course it does!" Li Qingxue protested. "Long Aotian’s rented place has a pretty big yard, right?"
"Yuying’s planning to set aside a patch to grow vegetables."
Her voice took on a dreamy tone. "A little garden, a little world... it feels so idyllic."
Lin Wanning took a deep breath and gazed at the sky. "It’s nice."
Whatever A-Ying wanted to do, Brother would indulge her. How wonderful.
After a moment, Li Qingxue gave up—she realized she had no idea how to grow vegetables.
No telling if these seeds would even sprout if she bought them.
Better to just mooch off Hu Yuying’s future harvest.
"Let’s just go take a bath."
Lin Wanning couldn’t help but laugh at how quickly Li Qingxue’s thoughts jumped around.
But that was just her nature.
"You really love baths, don’t you?"
Li Qingxue grinned mysteriously. "I’ll tell you a secret."
"What secret?" Curiosity was a universal trait among girls, and even someone as composed as Lin Wanning couldn’t resist.
Leaning in, Li Qingxue whispered, "It’s a secret."
Lin Wanning blinked—then realized she’d been tricked.
Immediately, she went for Li Qingxue’s ticklish spots.
The truth was, Li Qingxue often saw Hu Yuying exercising in the mornings.
Her great figure came from discipline.
But since Li Qingxue couldn’t drag herself out of bed that early, she shifted her workouts to the evening.
Unlike the crisp morning air, evenings made her sweat more easily.
That was one reason she loved baths. The other? Purely personal preference.
In summer, everyone showered daily, regardless of gender.
But in colder months, habits varied—some bathed every three days, some weekly, some even monthly.
Once in their private room, they started filling the tub. As steam rose, they began undressing.
Overnight, the marks on Lin Wanning’s body had faded, leaving only faint traces near her collarbone.
Li Qingxue’s hair tie fell to the floor. As she bent to pick it up, she froze for a second when she looked up.
Then she turned to Lin Wanning with a puzzled expression.
Lin Wanning smirked. "What? Staring like that—don’t tell me you’re tempted to do something naughty with me?"
Li Qingxue snapped out of it and shook her head. The idea was thrilling, but... not the time.
"I’ll take the left side. You go right." She headed toward the left side of the tub.
But as she watched Lin Wanning’s back, her eyes drifted downward.
The teasing words she’d once said to Hu Yuying—about a girl becoming a woman—suddenly resurfaced in her mind...
【Please support me, hehe...】
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
