Chapter 96:Please Let Me Have a Bite to Eat, Jinshi

Plop!

A drop of nosebleed fell onto Su Jinshi’s phone screen.

At that moment, Shen Shilang had just finished rinsing off the soap suds from his body.

Su Jinshi picked up her phone and used her finger to wipe away the blood that had fallen on the screen.

Inevitably, her fingertip brushed against Shen Shilang’s skin.

Shen Shilang jolted in surprise, looking down at himself in disbelief. In that brief moment, he froze, so shocked that he even forgot to cover himself. His face turned red with embarrassment, and after a long pause, he finally stammered in embarrassment and anger, “Jinshi!”

Su Jinshi, unaware of where exactly she had touched, turned to Shen Shilang curiously upon hearing his flustered call. But just a glance was enough to send another drop of blood falling.

Plop!

This time, Shen Shilang felt something like raindrops lightly landing on him. However, when he looked down, there was nothing there.

Seeing the blood on the screen again, Su Jinshi quickly wiped it off once more. Shen Shilang suddenly had a bold thought – could it be that Su Jinshi… had the audacity to use her lips directly? That would explain why he felt those droplets earlier.

“Jinshi!” Shen Shilang finally snapped back to reality and hurriedly grabbed a nearby piece of clothing to cover himself temporarily.

Seeing Shen Shilang’s exaggerated reaction, Su Jinshi wondered why he was so flustered this time when they had touched before without such a response. He seemed on the verge of exploding. Confused, she looked over and suddenly noticed the faint mark left by the bloodstain she had wiped off on the screen. And the mark was right where…

Now Su Jinshi understood. Shen Shilang had misunderstood!

She quickly explained, “Shen Shilang, I didn’t mean to! I didn’t… I didn’t intend to touch you…”

“Jinshi…” Shen Shilang was so embarrassed that he felt drained of energy, and now his voice sounded weak and helpless.

“Really! I just had a nosebleed!” Su Jinshi hurriedly clarified.

Shen Shilang: “!!!”

You saw me and ended up with a nosebleed!

This explanation wasn’t much better!

“Did you… see everything clearly?” Shen Shilang thought to himself that it was a pointless question. If Su Jinshi hadn’t seen clearly, would she have gotten a nosebleed?

Su Jinshi tore off a corner of a tissue, rolled it up, and stuffed it in her nostril to stop the bleeding. “Didn’t see clearly?” she asked tentatively. “Do you believe that?”

Shen Shilang: “…”

He truly had no way to deal with Su Jinshi. He felt both angry and reluctant, but having been seen by her made him feel embarrassed no matter how he thought about it. He could only sulkily walk behind the screen to get dressed properly.

Su Jinshi privately thought Shen Shilang looked incredibly handsome. But she couldn’t say that out loud; if she did, he would probably explode with embarrassment.

“Ahem…” Su Jinshi had to explain, “I wasn’t trying to look on purpose.”

Shen Shilang snorted, clearly annoyed, “Are you suggesting I deliberately showed myself to you?”

“Well, I don’t know about that…” Su Jinshi mumbled.

“Jinshi!” This time Shen Shilang really couldn’t hold back anymore.

Su Jinshi quickly replied, “You were avoiding me while bathing and drying off before. This time you didn’t avoid me at all; I thought… I thought you felt like I didn’t need to avoid you anymore and that it was okay to look…”

Shen Shilang: “……”

Shen Shilang sighed deeply in resignation. “This time it was my oversight; I was too focused on cleaning myself and forgot everything else.”

“Oh! Me too!” Su Jinshi quickly said. “I was worried your wound hadn’t fully healed and might get infected from the dirt. So I was only paying attention to your condition and didn’t think about avoiding anything.”

Shen Shilang: “……”

If your tone didn’t sound like you were finally finding a reasonable excuse, with that pitch rising slightly, I might have believed you more easily.

“Forget what just happened,” Shen Shilang said reluctantly.

Su Jinshi thought to herself that not only could she not forget it, but she would probably dream about it tonight as well.

“Oh no!” Su Jinshi regretted, slapping her thigh. She should have taken a picture! It was rare for Shen Shilang’s body to be so beautifully artistic; how could she not have documented it?

After this incident, Shen Shilang would definitely be more cautious around her; there would be no chance of him being careless again and letting her see anything.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Shilang asked anxiously, thinking something might have happened on her side.

“Nothing.” Su Jinshi casually made up an excuse, since Shen Shilang couldn’t see her. “I was cooking something just now and forgot to turn off the fire.”

“That’s too dangerous; you mustn’t do that again,” Shen Shilang said sternly with a serious expression.

“Okay,” Su Jinshi quickly agreed.

Shen Shilang sighed. “Given the current situation, we can’t go out to buy groceries.”

The neighbors were probably always watching his movements; as soon as he stepped outside, they would attack him immediately.

“What should we do then?” Su Jinshi noticed that Shen Shilang wasn’t dwelling on what had just happened anymore and secretly sighed in relief.

Shen Shilang shook his head. “Fortunately, there are still some supplies at home; they should last for these next few days. Plus, I’ve been promoted; His Majesty has also rewarded me with a house. Once I get everything sorted out there, I’ll move in. For now, we’ll just have to endure for a few days.”

“But you still have to attend court and go on duty; you’ll have to pass by those neighbors’ doors when you come back from duty. You can’t possibly stay indoors forever.”

“I’ll just have to be careful,” Shen Shilang replied. “Not everyone is idle all day long. I need to leave for court before dawn; they won’t be able to get up so early. By the time my duty ends at night, I’ll just need to be cautious.”

“As for food during the day, we can think of ways to ask someone to buy some,” Shen Shilang said as he rolled up his sleeves and went into the kitchen to prepare dinner since he wouldn’t be going out now.

“The food is fine; I can buy some for you. You definitely won’t go hungry—don’t worry about that,” Su Jinshi said. “There’s no need to ask someone else for help with food.”

Moreover…

Su Jinshi reminded him not to forget: “Don’t forget that in others’ eyes right now, you’re seen as an ungrateful person who turns against others without hesitation. Who would want to help you?”

Shen Shilang: “…”

Shen Shilang chuckled helplessly. “I actually forgot about that point. Those who enjoy flattering others would be willing to help me out; however, I don’t want such connections.”

After starting the fire and standing straight in front of the stove again, he bent down towards Su Jinshi in a bow. “If it comes to that, I must beg Jinshi to spare me a meal.”

“Of course,” Su Jinshi replied with a smile.

Shen Shilang stewed half a dried fish with radish and prepared a small plate of pickled radish. He steamed one bun and four large corn cakes. The corn cakes were specially made for his dog using leftover beef scraps bought from the butcher and leftover vegetable leaves sold cheaply at night, mixed with cornmeal before steaming them into cakes.

…