Milk-Scented Green Tea

Shi Junyi took the cotton swab and helped Jiang Qiao apply the medicine.

Jiang Qiao's body had once been covered in wounds, leaving behind many scars. Now, however, it was smooth and delicate, perfectly presentable.

That made the wound on his arm, still crusted with blood, seem especially vicious and conspicuous.

Shi Junyi clicked his tongue. "It's going to scar."

But Jiang Qiao did not care. Grinning, he said, "This is a medal for protecting my brother."

Everything Jiang Qiao had done tonight had been outside Shi Junyi's plans—utterly unstructured and exceptionally reckless.

But there was no denying that Jiang Qiao had indeed been protecting him the whole time.

"What do you want?" Shi Junyi asked.

Jiang Qiao was very close to Shi Junyi. Looking at the tiny mole at the corner of Shi Junyi's eye, his Adam's apple bobbed. "Can I make up for my mistakes with merit?"

Shi Junyi gave a soft laugh. "Which mistake? Neglecting your duties, or drugging your companion?"

Jiang Qiao froze, pretending not to understand. "I don't know what you mean, Brother."

"Do I need to pull up the surveillance footage and put it in front of you before you'll admit it?" Shi Junyi asked.

The Shi family bodyguards' meals were specially planned by a nutritionist. Sang Ye's condition had clearly been an accident.

Though Shi Junyi had not seen it with his own eyes, it was not hard to guess that the source of that accident was another unexpected factor: Jiang Qiao.

Jiang Qiao fell silent.

Yet Shi Junyi was unexpectedly easygoing. "Don't let it happen again."

Jiang Qiao nodded obediently.

Shi Junyi actually did not like using his mind-reading ability. Except when necessary, he tried his best to avoid doing so.

If he became dependent on it and lost his own ability to discern people's hearts, the gains would not be worth the loss.

After applying the medicine, Jiang Qiao thanked him, then shoved the still-warm glass of milk from the table into Shi Junyi's hands. "You didn't eat anything tonight, but you drank quite a lot."

Shi Junyi did not refuse his kindness. He merely took another cup from the rack, poured half the milk into it, and pushed it in front of Jiang Qiao.

Jiang Qiao could not tell whether Shi Junyi was simply sharing or suspected that there was something wrong with the milk.

But since Shi Junyi did not say it outright, Jiang Qiao assumed it was the former and picked up the cup, drinking the milk in one go.

Shi Junyi reclined elegantly against the sofa, watching Jiang Qiao's profile and the movement of his Adam's apple as he swallowed. Who knew what he was thinking.

After drinking the milk, Jiang Qiao used looking for something as an excuse to circle the villa.

There was another bathroom around the corner on the first floor. It was a little smaller than the one Shi Junyi had used upstairs earlier, probably intended for guests. There was no bathtub, only a shower.

And there were exactly two bedrooms fit for sleeping.

The one he had dragged Shi Junyi into upon entering was a guest bedroom. Its bed was relatively small, not even one and a half meters wide by the look of it.

The master bedroom was upstairs, spacious and comfortable, with a large bed. It was perfect for taking a shower and getting a good night's sleep after such an exhausting night.

So Jiang Qiao got an idea. He filled a basin with water, pulled back the neatly made quilt, poured the water onto the master bed, and covered it back up.

Then he found two bath towels and two sets of pajamas in the walk-in closet before heading downstairs.

Jiang Qiao walked over to the sofa and looked down at Shi Junyi, who was sitting there with his eyes closed. He handed him one set of towels and pajamas.

"There aren't any new ones, but they've all been washed. Brother must be tired after such a hard day. Take a shower and get some rest. The master bedroom is upstairs."

Shi Junyi opened his eyes, accepted the towel and pajamas, and openly lifted them to smell them.

Only after confirming that they carried no scent other than the faint fragrance of detergent did he politely say, "Thank you."

How hypocritical.

But Jiang Qiao did not seem bothered in the slightest. Smiling, he said, "Of course. Don't stand on ceremony, Brother."

Jiang Qiao watched Shi Junyi go upstairs, then immediately took off his pants in the living room, letting it all hang out as he took a roll of plastic wrap from a kitchen cabinet and wrapped the wound on his arm.

Only then did he take a towel into the bathroom.

Warm water was one of the best ways to ease fatigue, but to keep water from getting into the wound and worsening the pain with the heat, Jiang Qiao could only hurriedly wash his hair, apply body wash once, and come out.

Wrapped in a towel, he dried his hair and rummaged through the cabinets until he found a bottle of Moisturizing Whitening Green Tea Milky Body Lotion.

Just from the name, he could tell it probably belonged to Fu Zhilan.

Jiang Qiao opened it and sniffed it. It had a light, non-overpowering scent of milk and tea. It was probably expensive.

So he squeezed out a dollop and rubbed it over his body.

After leaving the bathroom, Jiang Qiao pricked up his ears to listen for sounds upstairs. The water was still running, so Shi Junyi was probably not done washing yet.

Thus, humming quietly, he walked into the guest bedroom, turned on the warm yellow bedside lamp, casually tugged off his towel, and slipped beneath the soft, comfortable covers.

Twenty minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

Jiang Qiao pretended to have just fallen asleep and called hoarsely, "Come in."

Shi Junyi, dressed in pajamas, pushed open the door and leaned against the frame. "The bed upstairs is wet."

Jiang Qiao rubbed his eyes, sounding incredulous. "Wet? That can't be. I haven't been back here to stay in a while."

"Is that so?" Shi Junyi looked at Jiang Qiao's bewildered expression and made a questioning sound.

Jiang Qiao propped himself up with his arm and sat up in bed. "Then trade with me, Brother. You definitely can't sleep on a wet bed."

The room was filled with a faint milky fragrance. The warm yellow light fell across Jiang Qiao's face, casting shadows beneath his long lashes.

The upper half of his body, exposed above the quilt, was also tinted with a soft, warm hue.

He looked sleepy, soft and harmless, completely unlike the Jiang Qiao from a few hours ago who had dragged Shi Junyi out of the car to escape and acted with such madness.

He looked like someone who could easily make others lower their guard.

Shi Junyi remained composed, though no one knew what he was thinking. He walked into the bedroom, shut the door behind him, and said, "No need. We'll squeeze in."

Jiang Qiao lay back down, pulled the covers over himself, and shifted inward against the wall, giving Shi Junyi more than half the bed.

Shi Junyi turned off the light, lifted the quilt, and got into bed very close to Jiang Qiao.

His fingers brushed Jiang Qiao's hand. "Why do I feel like you did this on purpose?"

Jiang Qiao hooked his pinky around Shi Junyi's and denied it. "Don't wrong me, Brother. How could I have done it on purpose?"

But Shi Junyi heard:

[That's right, I did it on purpose.]

Shi Junyi said, "True enough. The master bedroom's bed is more comfortable. If you had done it on purpose, you should have tampered with this bed instead."

Jiang Qiao asked, "Was the bed upstairs very wet? Could it have gotten damp from humidity?"

[Distance makes the heart grow fonder; closeness breeds love. The smaller the bed, the better.]