CHAPTER 75: CHAPTER 75: THE MAN’S CRISP, COOL SCENT

"As long as your brother is alive, I don’t need to worry about him. Even when he studied abroad in the United States, he lived on his own for years and didn’t starve," Mr. Jing’s expression finally relented a bit when mentioning Jing Jihan.

Jing Luozhou raised an eyebrow, "Is that so? So during those years outside, did he hone his cooking skills to perfection?"

Mr. Jing took a sip of soup without responding, probably because he hadn’t tasted Jing Jihan’s cooking before and couldn’t comment.

"Tsk, I wonder if I’ll ever get to taste my brother’s cooking in this lifetime," Jing Luozhou muttered, chewing on a mouthful of saucy West Lake vinegar fish with a clicking sound, "Even if he just cooks some noodles, that would be fine."

Mr. Jing snorted, "You know how busy Jihan is every day, and you want him to drop everything at the company to cook noodles for you? You little rascal aren’t afraid of shortening your lifespan!"

"It’s just a bowl of noodles, what lifespan am I shortening?" Jing Luozhou scoffed, "He’s been gone for a while now, who knows how carefree he’s living out there."

Jing Luozhou slurped some soup, silently exhaling a breath filled with envy, jealousy, and frustration.

At least he’s seen with his own eyes the way his brother cozies up next to his sister-in-law.

She easily calls him ’Jihan’, even brews him love tea, his brother is living the life now.

This seemingly lofty Jing Family actually walks a dangerous path with every step, one wrong move could be disastrous. No wonder Jing Jihan isn’t in a hurry to come back, one side is all sweet talk and tender whispers, the other is a bloodless battlefield, he’s been fighting at Yu Jing Group for so many years, finally having a chance to rest, there’s no need to bother him.

It’s just tough on Jing Luozhou himself.

Instead of playing the cool and sought-after celebrity at the well-known medical college, he’s been dragged home by Mr. Jing, forced to take over a broken entertainment investment company, and has to report every day at the Jiang Jing Ru Hua office building. If he skips a day, Mr. Jing nags him until his ears buzz, and those people keep calling him ’Little Mr. Jing’, ’Little your grandma’s egg’, ’Chief your grandma’s leg’.

It took him a few days to correct those people; they’re only allowed to call him ’Second Young Master’, not ’Little Mr. Jing’.

-

On the other end, Shi Su, who had just enjoyed Jing Jihan’s homemade braised ribs, was very full and satisfied.

Currently, wearing a cervical collar and unable to move freely, she was practically half-disabled, and her only strength left was in eating.

Though her usual appetite wasn’t as pitifully small as some female artists’, it was within the healthy normal range. But today, she had indeed eaten a bit too much, pacing around the room several times to digest.

Finally enduring until the evening with that huge device on, she could finally take it off, take a shower, and go to sleep.

Once she took it off, as long as she didn’t move her neck, she was fine, but how could she not move?

Her body could be washed simply by letting the water and foam flow down from the shoulders, a bit rough but at least it would be clean. But how to wash her hair?

She hadn’t washed her hair the night before, and skipping another day made her worry she might actually start growing pimples on her scalp. Shi Mianmian’s extremely imaginative painting loomed vividly in her mind.

Jing Jihan had given her the bedroom to shower in, and upon coming out, he saw Shi Mianmian sitting on the couch hugging an intelligent little doll, learning nursery rhymes.

"Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake, sitting on a plane..." The intelligent doll spoke in a sweet yet mechanical voice.

Shi Mianmian followed earnestly, "Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake..."

Jing Jihan was just about to walk over when suddenly the door he had casually closed behind him was opened from inside.

Shi Su, wearing the nightdress she hadn’t yet changed out of, opened the door and stood in the bedroom looking at him, her gaze direct and as if she had something to say.

Jing Jihan glanced at the lit bedroom behind her, "What’s up?"

Shi Su awkwardly cleared her throat, "Um... I can’t lower my head, so I can’t wash my hair myself..."

Jing Jihan understood her meaning, focused on her for a moment, said nothing, and went straight in.

Shi Su quickly followed in.

The bathroom was actually not big, usually just right when she was alone bathing and washing; but suddenly with two people inside, especially with a frosted glass door divider, the space felt much more cramped.

Shi Su stood under the showerhead, not intending to undress, planning for him to help wash her hair while she stayed dressed, intending to remove the wet clothing herself afterwards.

That way she could avoid the exposure and awkwardness of getting wet, and it wouldn’t be too intimate either...

However, what she thought was merely her own thought.

At 168 cm, Shi Su’s height wasn’t short, but Jing Jihan was much taller. When he took down the showerhead to wet her hair, she didn’t even have to endure pain to lower her head, just standing straight was enough.

In the cramped space, showering quickly filled it with mist, and Shi Su stood stiffly straight facing his direction, trying to maintain a state of focusing on her nose and heart. But the man standing right in front of her needed to lean in to rinse her hair from behind, closing the gap between them.

As they drew closer, Shi Su found herself facing him, her nose brushing against his clothes several times, the fresh cold scent on him leaving her a bit dazed.

Strangely, the shower gel he used in her home was just something she randomly picked up at the supermarket, not expensive, only seventy to eighty yuan. How could it smell this good?

Every time she smelled it, it felt special, but it seemed more than just the scent of the shower gel. Instinctively, she pressed her nose against his clothes again to discern the wonderful fragrance, focusing to determine its source.

Could it be the scent of her laundry detergent?

No, that wasn’t right.

He couldn’t have been using men’s cologne in her home, she didn’t have that in her place.

But it smelled so good, like the fresh cold scent lingering in the air at dawn before the mist dispersed.

Just then, the water from the showerhead that had been raining on her head suddenly stopped, and she was startled. Lifting her gaze abruptly, she met his eyes, looking down silently at her.

!

What was she doing?

Shi Su quickly shifted her head back, raising her hand to scratch her damp hair, steadily directing her fingers to the side shelf, speaking rapidly, "That white bottle at the top is my shampoo."

Jing Jihan remained still, watching her with deep eyes.

While Shi Su’s eyes darted away, she hastily urged, "The bottle in the middle at the top level, if you’re not going to help, just pass it to me, I’ll do it myself..."

The man set the showerhead aside, and as her words trailed off, whether intentionally or unintentionally, extended his long arm past her neck to fetch the shampoo from the shelf beside Shi Su.