Chapter Thirty-Seven: Estrangement

Lu Hao couldn’t understand why such strange symptoms were appearing on Ziting. He relied on the ancient medical techniques passed down through his Azure Dragon heritage, utilizing the "observation" and "scent" methods among the four classic diagnostic approaches, to investigate Ziting’s condition.

At once, Lu Hao noticed something unusual.

“Ziting, why are you sweating so much?” he asked, puzzled.

Upon hearing this, Ziting quickly shook her head, turning her delicate, graceful face away. “It’s nothing, I’m fine. Thank you so much for today,” she replied.

Lu Hao waved his hand. “Ziting, there’s no need to be so formal. You’ve helped my family so much before. When those scoundrels bullied you, it was only right that I stepped in.”

Then his brow furrowed. “Wait, Ziting... why do you smell like medicine? This scent...”

His face changed. “This isn’t good.”

Lu Hao had detected a trace of aphrodisiac in the medicinal odor clinging to her—compounds like diethylstilbestrol, a synthetic estrogen. He would not have recognized it before, but not long ago, his family had brought in a boar to breed with the sows, and he’d happened to notice the ingredients on a box of medication used for the animals. He’d even sniffed the scent once, and it had stuck with him.

“Ziting, did they drug you? Those bastards—truly vile to the core!” Lu Hao’s fury flared; he slammed his fist down onto the table beside him.

Ziting hurriedly grabbed his arm, feeling the searing warmth radiate from his skin. As a woman who suffered from a cold constitution, often working hard and exposed to the elements, her body temperature was always rather low. Now, touching Lu Hao—whose body seemed to burn like fire—and seeing the rugged lines of his face, his tall, masculine build, it was as if a secret jungle in the Amazon had grown even more humid.

Lu Hao was one of the few university students from the village, the first young man to ever study in the capital—a promising youth. Tall, handsome, cheerful, and warm-hearted, he had no flaws apart from his modest family background. He’d just now chased away Sun Wenguo and his gang for her.

In Ziting’s eyes, Lu Hao’s image had grown taller and brighter than ever.

“If you’re alright, I’ll head off now,” Lu Hao said, attempting to make his exit. He knew if the drug took further effect, things could become awkward.

Ziting heard the implication in his words, but for some reason, an unexpected reluctance arose in her heart. She didn’t want Lu Hao to leave at this moment.

Her enchanting eyes gazed at him, brimming with longing.

“Yes, but I’m much better now, really... Let me get you some milk, please, just wait here a moment.”

“Would you wait here for a bit, please?”

Lu Hao was a little surprised, but couldn’t refuse, so he nodded in agreement.

Ziting quickly went over to the fridge, retrieved two cartons of milk, warmed them in a pot of hot water, and brought one over for Lu Hao. As she approached, he noticed her face was flushed, her gait unsteady, and the way she stared at him was almost predatory.

“Ziting, are you really alright?” Lu Hao asked, accepting the warm milk, his own heart beginning to stir.

After all, Ziting’s plump, shapely hips and legs, crossed as she sat on the bed, resembled a grinding stone—one capable of crushing all his desires in the space of half an hour.

Meeting Lu Hao’s burning gaze, Ziting understood his meaning. Her hand drifted to the buttons of her lace camisole.

The drug’s effects had reached their fevered peak within her, making it impossible for her to control her emotions. Hormones surged through her body.

“It’s so hot... Do you mind if I loosen my clothes a bit?” she asked softly, but her hands were already undoing the taut buttons.

The snowy curves of her chest spilled into Lu Hao’s view.

A single glance at those proud peaks, and Lu Hao could barely restrain himself. He quickly turned his eyes away.

Good heavens—a lone man and a beautiful widow, both young and attractive, alone together; how could sparks not fly?

To dispel the awkwardness, Lu Hao raised his milk and took a sip. “Thank you, Ziting.”

He managed a strained smile.

“It’s nothing, Lu Hao. I’m just not feeling well today. Could you check my pulse? I haven’t been sleeping well lately. You’re the university student here—please have a look for me,” Ziting said, licking her crimson lips.

To her, Lu Hao was like a delicious dessert, and under the drug’s influence, he seemed even more irresistible. These years of widowhood had left her painfully lonely.

“Of course, let me have a look,” Lu Hao replied, eyeing her fair arm and imagining what it would feel like gripping his back.

Ziting’s gaze, soft and dewy as spring rain, fell upon him. She had never looked at a man this way before.

Firstly, out of loyalty to her late husband, she had never allowed herself to become involved with any of the men in the village. Secondly, none of the local ruffians or older men had ever appealed to her.

But in the blink of an eye, more than four years had passed. She had gone from a woman of twenty-three or twenty-four to a young widow of twenty-nine.

“You’d better take a good look at me. If you can’t, I’ll have to hold you responsible,” she teased, with all the expertise of a woman who knew well how to deal with men.

Tonight, seeing Lu Hao, it was as if the forbidden chains within her heart had finally broken. Once the floodgates burst, how could the tide be held back?

She no longer wished to endure. The modern world was open—she refused to be the so-called chaste widow the old women of the village revered.

She wanted to live for herself, to give herself to a man she truly accepted.

Lu Hao’s hand gripped her wrist with steady confidence, and in that instant, Ziting felt as if her whole being had been set alight.