Girl, There's Something Wrong With You - Chapter 21

It seemed that his actions were a bit noisy, causing Xing Yuanzhi to wake up.

“Ah, you’re awake.” She quickly stood up and said, “I’ll get you some water.”

Soon, Xing Yuanzhi returned with a cup of hot water, which had noticeable bloodstains on it.

“You…” Cheng Jinyang hesitated, thinking to himself that this couldn’t be the real Ah Zhi, “Aren’t you going to take a shower?”

“It’s fine.” Xing Yuanzhi smiled brightly, “That’s not important. How are you feeling?”

“Not bad,” Cheng Jinyang hesitated, thinking it was strange that a shower seemed unimportant to Ah Zhi. What was going on? It was as if he was seeing a humble version of the proud Miss Wang.

“Maybe you should take a shower?” After finishing the hot water, and seeing Ah Zhi still staring at him, Cheng Jinyang finally asked.

“Alright,” Xing Yuanzhi said, sniffing her own scent and smiling, “It does seem a bit dirty.”

There’s something wrong with Ah Zhi today…

Xing Yuanzhi went to the bathroom while Cheng Jinyang struggled to get out of bed.

The physical strain was too great, and even demon transformation was beyond him; it caused a headache whenever he tried.

But this mission was just to rescue the princess, not to reclaim the capital, Jiankang.

As Wang Changshi said, the four major military garrisons that received the emperor’s food were responsible for the work of serving the king. As a small commander in the cavalry system, he could not independently shoulder the responsibility of saving the country and the people.

The current tasks were to quickly inform the ladies of the situation here and confirm whether the princess was safe and sound. Once these were settled, he could escape.

As he lay on the bed, lost in thought, he heard the shower in the bathroom stop, followed by Ah Zhi’s voice:

“Jinyang, I forgot to bring in the clothes I need. Can you hand them to me? They’re on the table beside the sofa.”

Cheng Jinyang turned his head and saw the neatly folded clothes on the table. It was a relief that even when leaving home, she didn’t forget to bring a change of clothes.

Such a clean-loving girl was indeed my Ah Zhi!

Supporting himself against the wall, Cheng Jinyang awkwardly got up and walked over to the table to carefully pick up the clothes.

“Should I put them on the small stool by the bathroom door, or…” he asked toward the inside.

“No need, I’ll open the door, and you can just hand them to me,” Xing Yuanzhi said from inside.

Cheng Jinyang: ?

Wait a minute, is this okay?

I remember there was a similar incident in the Cheng family’s Tianluo’s public bathhouse before, and someone had been very upset about it for a long time!

As he hesitated, the bathroom door was already slightly ajar, and a smooth, pale arm reached out with an open palm.

Xing Yuanzhi’s skin was the best among all the girls. She took meticulous care of it, and describing it as “skin like congealed fat” was no exaggeration.

Seeing the delicate arm like ivory lotus root, Cheng Jinyang swallowed hard.

To avoid awakening any strange preferences, he turned his attention elsewhere and handed the clothes to her.

The arm retracted, and he heard rustling sounds from inside as she changed.

When he returned to the bedside, he saw Xing Yuanzhi, with her hair wrapped in a towel, stepping out of the bathroom.

Holding a cotton swab in her right hand, she elegantly twirled it to dry the water in her ears and asked Cheng Jinyang:

“How about now? Are there any traces left on me?”

Saying this, Ah Zhi spun gracefully, showing off her beautiful figure to Cheng Jinyang.

“No, no, it’s all clean,” Cheng Jinyang said with a forced smile, feeling increasingly suspicious.

Something was really off.

This wasn’t the Ah Zhi he knew!

She should be… should be the aloof and proud type!

If it were the Ah Zhi he was familiar with, she would never let herself get dirty in the first place.

Even if she accidentally got dirty, she would wash herself thoroughly while I was unconscious and then, upon my waking, scold me for recklessly venturing into danger alone, her face sternly criticizing me for my recklessness, only to end with a cool, “In any case, it’s really good that you’re fine this time.”

She clearly cared about my safety, yet stubbornly wrapped it in rigid lecturing—that’s the proud Ah Zhi I knew!

Who is this impostor who is all sweet and no pride?

Cheng Jinyang felt his headache worsening and had to shift the topic to ask again, “Where exactly is this place?”

“A secret intelligence outpost of the Ground Network,” Xing Yuanzhi said, removing the towel from her hair, revealing her long, wet black hair. “Our Xing family’s Ground Network has outposts divided into transportation nodes and intelligence nodes. The former are known, the latter hidden.”

“Then why is there a bathroom…”

“Sometimes, intelligence workers stay at the outpost in complete isolation for months, so it’s built to hotel standards, with ample supplies for a long stay.” Xing Yuanzhi took a hairdryer from the bedside table. “Come, help me dry my hair, okay?”

“Oh.”

From her actions and tone, Cheng Jinyang keenly sensed that their distance had rapidly closed—so much so that Ah Zhi no longer seemed to put on any airs in front of him.

But wasn’t she the one who carried him out of the dark underground passage while he was on the brink of death?

Shouldn’t he be the one feeling grateful and letting down his guard?

Why did Ah Zhi act as if he had saved her instead?

Reflecting on the words exchanged between them when his consciousness was fading, and her reactions, Cheng Jinyang began to vaguely understand: perhaps it was because they had cleared the air, allowing her to face her feelings honestly and admit she was completely captivated by him?

Great!

“Aren’t you going to help me dry my hair?” Xing Yuanzhi plugged in the hairdryer and gave the cord a small shake.

“Oh, I’m coming.” Cheng Jinyang took the hairdryer and turned on the hot air.

“Yes, please start drying from the roots,” Xing Yuanzhi sat next to him on the bed, and the faint fragrance of the shower gel wafted over, becoming especially rich and fragrant with the heat of the hairdryer.

Cheng Jinyang gently stroked her hair, moving the hairdryer back and forth to avoid overheating any one spot.

Xing Yuanzhi sat quietly beside him, occasionally tilting her head slightly to make his touch more comfortable.

“Jinyang,” she suddenly spoke up.

“Hmm?” Cheng Jinyang responded.

“Do you know, I actually hesitated before growing my hair long because, while it’s manageable to wash, it takes extra time to dry,” Xing Yuanzhi said softly. “Even having a maid dry it for me didn’t help much.”

“But if it’s you, I think, no matter how long it takes, it’s fine.”

“Is that so?” Cheng Jinyang smiled, “That means I must be good at drying hair.”

“Sort of.” Xing Yuanzhi smiled warmly as well. “So, I’ll be counting on you from now on, okay?”