Chapter Thirty-Eight: Tension

At this moment, although Ziting was already aflame with desire, she had not been touched by a man for several years. She bit her red lips tightly, appearing noticeably nervous. For a while, she seemed at a loss, her two plump hips pressed together on the bed, forming an irresistibly alluring curve.

“Sister-in-law Ziting, don’t be nervous. I’m just giving you a routine checkup, I won’t do anything else,” Lu Hao said quickly, seeing how restless she looked, trying to reassure her. “Your condition does show some signs of uterine coldness, probably from too much contact with cold water in daily life.”

“I’ll start with some acupuncture for you, then prescribe you a herbal remedy. Take it twice a day, morning and evening. In at most a month, your body will be restored.”

Hearing this, Ziting nodded, her cheeks flushed. “Where will you be placing the needles?”

Lu Hao replied, “Just a few points on your back. The back represents yin, the front yang. By stimulating the back, the effect will naturally transmit through the skin to your internal organs.”

Ziting didn’t fully understand, but it sounded reasonable, so she nodded earnestly. “Is it easier if I lie on my side, or my stomach?”

Lu Hao waved his hand. “It doesn’t matter, any position is fine—I can place the needles either way.”

So Ziting lay down on her stomach on the large kang bed. “I’ll lie on my stomach, then. I prefer it that way.”

As Lu Hao approached, Ziting suddenly turned, and her round, full hips happened to brush against his thigh. That slippery, tender sensation immediately traveled through Lu Hao’s body, sending a shiver down his spine.

Lu Hao looked at her seriously and said, “Um… Sister-in-law Ziting, I may need you to take off some clothing, otherwise…”

“How much do I need to remove?” she asked, even as her hands had already found the straps of her dress and slipped it off.

In an instant, a vast expanse of snow-white, supple back was revealed before Lu Hao. Gazing at her broad hips, her slender, taut waist untouched by a single ounce of extra flesh, Lu Hao, no matter how upright a man, couldn’t help but feel his mind drift to more intimate thoughts.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to suppress his desires.

“Sister-in-law Ziting, please bear with it for a moment. I’m about to start,” he said, picking up the silver needles and moving to the major acupuncture points along her waist and back.

“Ah!” The moment the needle pierced her skin, Ziting let out a soft, seductive moan.

“Lu, could you be a little gentler? It hurts,” she said through gritted teeth, turning to give him a sultry glance that sent tingles over his scalp.

“Just hold on for a moment. It’ll be over soon,” Lu Hao assured her, not daring to slacken his concentration. As he worked the needles, he also massaged her back to help with her uterine coldness.

Under Lu Hao’s broad hands, the sharp pain on Ziting’s back gradually faded, replaced by a growing comfort. Her body temperature began to rise with his touch, as if a patch of hot coals were burning beneath her skin.

Suddenly, thunder crackled outside the window.

Booming, splattering—the weather shifted to a gloomy, rainy night, as if shrouded by a curtain of endless darkness.

Ziting glanced at the weather, her expression turning quietly pleased. “Lu, look outside—the rain’s pouring down. You didn’t bring an umbrella, did you? Why don’t you stay at my place tonight and go home tomorrow? What do you think?”

Lu Hao was taken aback. “I… Sister-in-law, I’m not sure if that’s appropriate…”

“Why not?” Ziting suddenly turned around and gripped his hands tightly. “Or do you find me unappealing?” She looked straight at him, eyes brimming with longing and desire, ready to overflow.

At this point, Lu Hao could no longer ignore the hints Ziting had been giving him. All these years as neighbors, helping her with chores, he’d never thought of her that way. The idea of suddenly becoming intimate with her left him momentarily unprepared.

“Besides, I’ve been enduring for years with no man in the house to help me,” she said, bowing her head, as if laying down all her defenses and pride. She gripped his wrists even more tightly, unwilling to let go. “And they forced me to take medicine—now the effects are coming on, and I can hardly stand it.” A flush crept into her hands.

Looking at those long, elegant hands, mature yet full and beautiful, Lu Hao swallowed hard. When she was seventeen or eighteen, Ziting had been the beauty of the region, and now, approaching thirty, her beauty was no longer flashy but had grown inward, more restrained—a blooming flower that seemed to draw a man’s very soul.

“About the medicine they gave you… I can help,” Lu Hao said, looking at her intently. “I can use acupuncture to counteract the effects.”

“No, there’s another way,” Ziting replied, lowering her gaze. She had hinted as boldly as she could—why wasn’t this young man making a move? Was she really past her prime, no longer attractive to men? If only she’d acted sooner…

Lu Hao took a long, deliberate look at her. Those full, flawless breasts, those firm, rounded thighs and hips, the fair, smooth skin, and above all, her gentle, womanly face, brimming with warmth—under the influence of the medicine, he wanted nothing more than to press her down on the kang bed and lose himself in her completely.

But memories and restraint held him back.

“I…” he began hesitantly.

At that moment, thunder rumbled deeply overhead.

“I’m scared,” Ziting suddenly cried out, flinging herself into his arms, her body brushing against him intimately.

In that instant, Lu Hao’s last shreds of self-control dissolved like spring water, and with a wild cry, he pounced.