Chapter 295 - 174: I... Can I Hug You?
Shen Yuan once again skillfully picked up the pure white cotton sock that belonged to Li Zhi. His movements were even gentler and more careful than before.
His slender fingers stretched open the soft cuff. He steadily and meticulously slid the sock over the tip of her foot, then her instep, finally settling the cuff snugly over her slender ankle.
As Shen Yuan carefully adjusted the sock’s cuff, Li Zhi’s gaze was fixed intently on his hands.
The young woman lowered her lashes. Her gaze slowly lifted, traveling past Shen Yuan’s bowed head and his gentle hands until—filled with complex emotion, it landed squarely on his eyes.
Just then, Shen Yuan finished the last step, his fingertips habitually smoothing a nearly nonexistent crease on the side of her ankle.
He then looked up.
Their gazes locked in the silent air.
The moment Shen Yuan looked up, Li Zhi’s face was clearly reflected in his eyes.
The focused tenderness in the depths of her eyes, not yet fully concealed, froze the instant she met his gaze.
Shen Yuan’s eyes held an unsettling intensity and a flicker of emotion he hadn’t had time to hide.
His gaze was so deep, so searing, it felt as if it would pull her in.
Li Zhi’s heart felt as if something had gently squeezed it, only to then give it a hard thump that echoed dully in her chest.
The blush she had just managed to suppress flared up like a wildfire, instantly sweeping across her pretty face. It stained her fair neck a deep crimson and spread all the way to her ears, which felt as if they were about to burst into flame.
Under his scorching gaze, Li Zhi’s shyness threatened to burst from her chest.
She jerked her head away but couldn’t resist sneaking a glance back, only to find her eyes colliding with Shen Yuan’s unflinching gaze.
Finally, unable to bear the weight of the charged atmosphere, her lips trembled slightly.
"You... what are you looking at?!"
At her words, the corners of Shen Yuan’s mouth lifted, and he let out a low chuckle.
"I’m looking at—the way Li Bao looks when she’s blushing."
Shen Yuan didn’t move. He simply held his position, his searing gaze an invisible net that held her fast.
"Who’s blushing?!"
Li Zhi kicked out at Shen Yuan again.
With a smile in his eyes, Shen Yuan had fully anticipated her little kick.
The moment she lifted her foot, Shen Yuan’s hand darted out and wrapped around her ankle, still covered by the pure white cotton sock. His fingers tightened with an inescapable sense of control.
"You never learn, do you?"
Shen Yuan’s fingertips traced a dangerous path across the sole of her foot, tapping a sensitive spot twice through the cotton sock. His voice was laced with mischief.
"Kicking me the second I put your sock on? Do you want to find out what it feels like to be tickled again?"
At his words, Li Zhi was instantly reminded of the uncontrollable feeling of being relentlessly tickled on the sole of her foot.
A short whimper escaped the beautiful girl’s throat, and her captured foot began to tremble violently.
The next second, a film of tears welled up in Li Zhi’s eyes.
All the strength suddenly drained from her body, and she let her ankle go limp in Shen Yuan’s palm.
The young woman curled her fingers and gave his cuff a gentle tug.
"I won’t do it again..."
A faint, tearful note clung to the end of her trembling words.
Suddenly, Shen Yuan felt a nudge against his knee. His gaze fell to the comforter beside it.
As if in response to his gaze, the foot hidden beneath the comforter tapped his knee again, gently.
Shen Yuan, of course, knew she was putting on an act.
But before he could say anything, Li Zhi’s fingers tightened on his sleeve, her voice barely a whisper.
"Bro... Brother... I was wrong..."
The beautiful girl bit her lower lip, the rims of her eyes tinged with a glistening crimson.
The moment the title, choked out in a soft sob, slipped from her lips, Shen Yuan’s pupils constricted sharply.
Li Bao’s sudden move completely shattered all of Shen Yuan’s defenses.
The young man’s fingers slowly loosened their grip, and he gave her tense ankle a gentle squeeze instead.
"Th-this is the last time."
With that, Shen Yuan released his hold.
Her ankle, clad in the pure white cotton sock, fluttered away like a startled butterfly’s wing, quickly retreating into the warmth of the comforter.
The foot that had just been clutched in his palm was now curled into a small ball, its tense outline vaguely visible through the fabric of the comforter.
Li Zhi kept her head down, not daring to look at Shen Yuan, as if trying to hide away both the lingering heat of his touch and the soft, pleading title that had shattered his defenses.
The air grew suddenly quiet.
Shen Yuan’s palm felt empty, but the intense emotion churning in his eyes had yet to fade.
Shen Yuan remained in the same position, his gaze fixed on the slight lump under the comforter, as if he could pierce through the fabric and see the ankle still trembling beneath.
Li Zhi took in Shen Yuan’s unmoving form and buried her face deeper to the side, leaving only the burning tip of her ear exposed to the air.
Shen Yuan’s gaze landed on the crimson tip of Li Zhi’s ear. The searing emotion in the air had yet to dissipate, flowing silently between them, captivating his very soul.
Under Shen Yuan’s stare, Li Zhi burrowed deeper and deeper into the comforter.
She looked like a small animal curling in on itself.
Her clumsy attempt at hiding, along with that sudden, soft-spoken "Brother," was like an invisible vine, quietly tightening around Shen Yuan’s heart, leaving trails of a warm, tingling numbness.
And there was another, very crucial factor that both of them had previously overlooked—
This was Shen Yuan’s comforter.
Li Zhi had wrapped herself in Shen Yuan’s comforter. And she was sitting on Shen Yuan’s bed.
Shen Yuan looked at Li Zhi, and the tide of emotion in his chest, which had yet to subside, suddenly burst through an invisible floodgate.
’I want so badly... to hold her.’
The thought wasn’t formed of clear words, but was a sudden, incredibly pure and intense desire that erupted from the depths of his being.