Chapter 21 Seeing His Muscular Arms Only Made Her Think of Violence…

Chapter 21: Where Muscular Arms Once Meant Violence...

Gao Yan wasn't kidding about being faster at folding the little red flowers.

By the time Lu Yingxiao and Gao Youhe returned from their walk—just an hour and a half—he had already folded over twenty.

At two flowers per meal, three times a day, they were set for three days.

Gao Youhe: "Brother, you're the best! I'll give you both your little red flowers for tonight's dinner now."

She gave one each to Gao Yan and Lu Yingxiao.

Gao Youhe: "This time, you'll put the little red flowers on the reward chart yourselves. That way it feels more like an achievement, and you'll want to earn more."

Gao Yan, being tall and strong, effortlessly stuck his little red flower onto the chart.

Even stretching her arm as far as she could, Lu Yingxiao still couldn't quite reach.

Gao Youhe had hung the reward chart too high. She'd also put Lu Yingxiao's name on the top row, which was even higher than where Gao Yan's flower went. Lu Yingxiao had to press her body against the wall, stretch her arm, and stand on tiptoe, but she was still just a little short.

Seeing this, Gao Youhe went over, wrapped her arms around Lu Yingxiao's legs, and heaved with all her might. "Sister-in-law, I'll help you."

Gao Youhe's strength was truly impressive.

She lifted Lu Yingxiao up immediately.

But she didn't coordinate with Lu Yingxiao, and the lift was so sudden that Lu Yingxiao's balance shifted, sending her lurching to the right.

On instinct,

Lu Yingxiao waved her arms, grabbing for anything that could steady her.

A muscular arm shot out in front of her.

Without hesitation, Lu Yingxiao firmly grasped it.

This arm was truly powerful. As it slowly rose, Lu Yingxiao's body gradually righted itself. Even with most of her body weight resting on it, it remained steady, supporting her firmly. It also took a lot of the weight off Gao Youhe, letting her lift Lu Yingxiao higher and steadier.

In that moment, Lu Yingxiao—who usually saw muscular arms and thought only of violence—suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of security.

Even after the danger of falling to the right had passed, she didn't immediately remove her hand from that arm.

Gao Youhe's voice came from behind. "Sister-in-law, can you reach?"

Lifting from behind, Gao Youhe's face was buried in Lu Yingxiao's back. She couldn't see a thing, only feel that she had a steady hold.

Lu Yingxiao snapped back to reality.

She withdrew her hand from Gao Yan's arm and said, "I reached it. I'm sticking it on now."

Gao Youhe: "Tell me when you're done."

Lu Yingxiao: "Okay."

However, during the lurch, her left hand, in her hurry to find support, had crumpled the little red flower she was holding.

She tried to smooth it out, hoping to fix it.

A broad, thick hand appeared, its palm cradling a perfectly folded little red flower. Its owner said, "Use this one."

Lu Yingxiao didn't refuse. "Thank you."

Maybe because their earlier contact hadn't been uncomfortable, Lu Yingxiao reached for the flower in his palm more casually.

This casualness allowed her fingertips to easily brush against the skin of Gao Yan's palm.

Lu Yingxiao just felt a burning sensation at her fingertips.

Gao Yan, however, felt as if Lu Yingxiao had tickled his palm. A tingling, numbing sensation spread outward from his palm. It was somewhat uncomfortable, yet strangely addictive. His fingers instinctively wanted to curl in, to hold onto that feeling, but Gao Yan forcefully suppressed the urge. Maintaining a normal expression, he kept his hand open, waiting for Lu Yingxiao to place the crumpled little red flower from her hand into his.

When you take something, your fingertips brush the palm. But when you give something, you can just drop it.

Gao Yan loosely held the little red flower Lu Yingxiao had dropped into his hand. His thumb caressed the spot where her fingertip had lightly brushed, lingering there.

With the help of Gao Yan and Gao Youhe, Lu Yingxiao successfully stuck the little red flower onto the reward chart.

"Youhe, I'm done."

Lu Yingxiao patted Gao Youhe's arm as she spoke.

Gao Youhe set Lu Yingxiao down.

Tilting her head back to look at the reward chart, Gao Youhe praised Lu Yingxiao. "You stuck it on perfectly."

Lu Yingxiao: "That's all thanks to you two."

Gao Youhe: "We just helped. It was mainly Sister-in-law who did it well."

Lu Yingxiao gently pinched Gao Youhe's sweet little mouth. "It's getting late. You should go to bed."

Gao Youhe hugged Lu Yingxiao reluctantly. "Sister-in-law is so fragrant and soft. I wish I could always be this close to you."

"Sister-in-law, can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Just for one night, please?"

She blinked her bright, sparkling eyes, looking at Lu Yingxiao with hopeful anticipation.

How could Lu Yingxiao resist? She nodded in agreement.

Gao Youhe whooped with joy and dashed to the second floor to get her pillow.

Lu Yingxiao also prepared to go upstairs.

Gao Yan stopped her.

Lu Yingxiao turned around.

Gao Yan reminded her, "Youhe likes to hug something while sleeping."

So he was telling her how to take care of Youhe when sharing a bed.

Lu Yingxiao nodded. "Anything else?"

Gao Yan: "That's all."

Lu Yingxiao thought to herself that taking care of Youhe at bedtime seemed quite simple—just make sure she had something to hug.

Gao Youhe had already gathered her things to sleep over in Lu Yingxiao's room and excitedly ran back downstairs, tugging Lu Yingxiao along. "Sis, come on, let's go to bed."

She also gave Gao Yan a wave in passing. "Goodnight, brother."

Gao Yan: "Goodnight."

He watched as the two women went upstairs.

Back in the room, Lu Yingxiao told Gao Youhe to take a shower first.

She would go after Gao Youhe was done.

Stepping out of the bathroom, still damp, Lu Yingxiao found Gao Youhe already obediently lying in the middle of the bed. She patted the spots on either side of her and asked, "Sister-in-law, which side do you prefer to sleep on?"

Lu Yingxiao: "I'm fine with either. Sleep on whichever side you like."

Gao Youhe scooted over to the left side. "I like sleeping on this side."

So Lu Yingxiao walked around the foot of the bed to the side near the window.

Gao Youhe had already turned down the covers for Lu Yingxiao, so she could just lie down.

As soon as she settled in, Gao Youhe immediately snuggled up, tightly hugging Lu Yingxiao's arm. "It's been so, so long since I've shared a bed with someone."

Lu Yingxiao: "How long?"

Gao Youhe counted on her fingers. "About five years, I think. Ever since I started kindergarten at three, my brother stopped sleeping with me."

Lu Yingxiao: "He was the one who slept with you until then?"

Gao Youhe: "Yeah, my brother raised me from a tiny baby. Even though we had a nanny at home, maybe because our parents passed away one after another back then, and I was his only close family left, he didn't feel comfortable leaving me with others. But luckily, according to my brother, I was a pretty easy baby and didn't cause him too much trouble."

Lu Yingxiao kissed Gao Youhe's head. "How could you ever be trouble for your brother? You're his emotional support and his motivation to keep going and make each day better."

Gao Youhe giggled.

She told Lu Yingxiao many more stories about how Gao Yan took care of her during her infancy and toddler years.

From the initial panic and chaos to gradually becoming skilled.

"I've always been a sturdy kid, rarely getting sick. The first time I fell ill, it really frightened my brother. He didn't even have time to put on his shoes, just grabbed me and rushed straight to the hospital. He's already pretty intimidating-looking, and with the panic on top of that, bursting into the emergency room from outside, he looked like a huge black bear about to eat someone. The doctors and nurses on duty were all startled, thinking someone was trying to rob the hospital. It wasn't until they saw me in my brother's arms that they realized it was a misunderstanding."

Lu Yingxiao couldn't help but laugh. "Your brother's appearance really does tend to cause misunderstandings."

Gao Youhe: "Actually, my brother is a very, very good person."

Lu Yingxiao didn't deny it.

In some ways, Gao Yan really was a very, very good person.

As a brother and a boss, for instance.

After chatting for half an hour, Lu Yingxiao urged Gao Youhe to sleep.

Gao Youhe was a sound sleeper.

As soon as she closed her eyes, she fell soundly asleep.

Her sleeping posture was also quite proper. Just as Gao Yan had mentioned earlier, Gao Youhe liked to hold something while sleeping.

Gao Youhe was tightly hugging her arm.

Seeing that Gao Youhe was sleeping soundly, Lu Yingxiao didn't pull her arm away. She tucked Gao Youhe in and prepared to sleep herself.

Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly noticed that the vase on the nightstand had been rotated. Last night before bed, she had turned the wolf-shaped relief sculpture to face the window, but now it had been turned back, facing the head of the bed. Lu Yingxiao guessed Youhe must have turned it back; when she entered the room earlier, the wolf's head was clearly still facing the window.

Lu Yingxiao reached out, intending to turn it back.

But her arm was tightly held by Youhe, and she couldn't move her body. Trying to force it would easily wake Youhe up.

Lu Yingxiao ultimately gave up.

Perhaps she was too tired from a day's work. Last night, she needed to turn the wolf's head on the vase toward the window to fall asleep, but tonight, it didn't bother her much, and she soon drifted off.

Sleeping in a daze.

Lu Yingxiao suddenly felt her entire body constrained by something, a sensation like sleep paralysis.

She struggled to open her eyes.

Gao Youhe, who had been lying straight and neat before sleep, now had all her limbs wrapped around Lu Yingxiao like octopus tentacles.

At this moment, Lu Yingxiao finally understood why Gao Yan had seriously reminded her that Youhe liked to hold something while sleeping.

Now fully awake and unable to fall back asleep, Lu Yingxiao looked out the window. Though still dark, it wasn't the deep black of night; there were faint traces of light. It was probably around five in the morning.

Lu Yingxiao decided to get up.

Before getting out of bed, she slipped her pillow into Gao Youhe's arms and slowly extricated herself from her grasp.

Fortunately, Gao Youhe was a deep sleeper. By the time Lu Yingxiao successfully got out of bed, she still hadn't woken up.

Tiptoeing to the bathroom, Lu Yingxiao washed up and went straight downstairs.

Perhaps by coincidence, or perhaps this was simply Gao Yan's usual morning exercise time, Lu Yingxiao ran into him again, just like yesterday.

Lu Yingxiao: "Morning."

Gao Yan: "Morning."

Noticing Lu Yingxiao's body seemed somewhat stiff and uncomfortable, Gao Yan asked her, "Did Youhe end up pressing on you last night?"

Lu Yingxiao: "It was okay."

Gao Yan: "You should stretch a bit. Otherwise, your body will feel sore and achy all day."

He pointed outside. "There are stretching equipment in the garden. Shall I take you there?"

Lu Yingxiao rubbed her stiff shoulders, not wanting to feel uncomfortable all day.

"This way."

With Lu Yingxiao's agreement, Gao Yan walked ahead, just like he did the night before last.

Lu Yingxiao followed behind Gao Yan.

His tall figure cast a shadow that completely enveloped her, but it also shielded her from the morning dew and the slight chill of the autumn morning.