Chapter 204: Is This Massage Legitimate?
Though Yu Shouling had lived an almost isolated life for over twenty years, lacking common sense in many areas, she was not foolish. On the contrary, her intelligence and professional capabilities were exceptional, as evidenced by her single-handedly creating the current Snow Mountain Villa.
The moment Wen Nan presented the three small bottles filled with white powder, Yu Shouling recognized it as the "Adam's rib powder."
And there was only one possibility of how the other party could obtain it—
"Did Xiao Ji give it to you?" Yu Shouling thought for a moment, then chuckled softly and shook her head. "It seems you've impressed her somehow. Let me guess, did you taste her bizarre cooking and even praised it?"
Wen Nan ignored the teasing question and instead asked, "You don't like her cooking? Then why did you hire her as the chef of the villa?"
Yu Shouling shrugged. "I don't handle the daily trivial matters in the villa; those are managed by Leng Leng and Qingqing. Perhaps they like Xiao Ji?"
Wen Nan said nothing.
Yu Shouling looked at him and continued, "You like Xiao Ji too, right?"
Wen Nan shook his head and denied it seriously, "I don't like her."
"Oh."
Yu Shouling wanted to say more, but Wen Nan did not want to continue discussing this topic, so he simply interrupted and redirected the conversation back on track,
"Do you have any 'Eve's Aromatic Oil' here?"
Wen Nan asked as he scanned the room.
In the airtight basement, every corner was filled with bottles and jars of different colors, resembling an organic chemistry laboratory.
Yu Shouling did not answer him, just looked at him slightly surprised, "You sure know a lot about the secrets here."
But on second thought, it wasn't surprising—within just half a day, he first obtained the "Adam's rib powder" from Xiao Ji, then acquired the key to her room from Leng Leng and Qingqing. Just now, he almost used a strange watermelon-flavored trick to coax out the villa's biggest secret...
This man in front of her was indeed extraordinary.
Thinking this, Yu Shouling unconsciously sized Wen Nan up from head to toe with a playful glint in her eyes.
That gaze gave Wen Nan an illusion for a moment, as if what he was wearing was also a set of "thousand faces."
"As for Eve's, I'm afraid not," Yu Shouling said, turning and walking to an experiment table at the wall. "But I've recently made a new batch of other-scented aromatic oils. Mr. Ye Jiu, would you like to try?"
Wen Nan was not particularly interested in aromatic oils; his only knowledge of them came from the mall's public restroom.
However, he glanced at the main mission countdown displayed by the system, then at the Mind Reading Technique cooldown timer, and finally nodded and agreed gladly, "Sure."
Yu Shouling's smile deepened, her fingers moved like playing a piano as she tapped through the entire row of colorful glass test tubes in front of her, eventually selecting a tube of blue liquid at the end. She pulled a cotton swab from the nearby rack, dipped it into the glass tube, saturating it with the solution, turning the white swab light blue swiftly.
Yu Shouling beckoned Wen Nan over, and he cooperated by bending down and leaning his face closer.
The blue cotton swab lightly spread over the peak of Wen Nan's lips, slowly rolling upwards until it touched the tip of his nose before stopping.
The scent of a moist, salty sea breeze immediately filled the air.
Such a realistic scent, as if he were truly there.
Wen Nan lowered his head, rubbing his fingertips, and indeed felt a wet and sticky sensation.
Immediately following that, the ground he stood on gradually transformed into a light golden beach, with the change in scenery radiating outward from his toes.
Raising his head again, Wen Nan's eyes beheld an endless sea and a midsummer night's sky full of evening glow.
The waves crashed in rhythm onto the shore, accompanied by the ethereal calls of seagulls, emphasizing the summer night's tranquility and harmony.
Mesmerized by the distant horizon, Wen Nan was deep in thought when his hand was clasped.
He snapped back to focus and turned, seeing Yu Shouling holding his hand, her body leaning slightly towards him, smiling gently.
Yu Shouling remained the same as before, her only attire being the hairpin for her hair and the Ruby necklace resting on her collarbone.
However, in the vast, unpopulated wilderness by the sea now, her appearance was entirely fitting.
"Do you like this 'Midsummer Night's Dream'?" Yu Shouling asked.
The distant waves crashing and the gusting sea winds created a noisy environment, forcing her to slightly raise her voice.
Wen Nan nodded with a smile, "Yes."
Uncertain how she achieved this, Wen Nan couldn't help but admire, as the character's background introduction had noted, that Yu Shouling was a talented alchemist.
"Is this aromatic something you made?" Wen Nan asked.
Yu Shouling shook her head, "This is just aroma, not oil."
After thinking for a moment, she reached out and took a small flask from the air, shaking the transparent liquid inside. "This is the accompanying oil."
She paused for a moment, then winked at Wen Nan, "Want to try it?"
"Sure." Wen Nan nodded gladly.
Yu Shouling smiled, leading Wen Nan to an open space, spread a mat on the beach, and gestured, "Lie down, take off your clothes."
Wen Nan: ?
Yu Shouling shook the small bottle in her hand again, "Oil, massage."
Wen Nan: ??
Something seemed off, but Yu Shouling's calm demeanor made Wen Nan think he might be overthinking it.
A girl who didn't even know what a little rain umbrella was, the oil she mentioned could only be for soothing muscles, right?
However, fifteen minutes later, lying on the beach, feeling unbearably hot, Wen Nan realized he had been careless.
He propped himself up on his arms, his skin flushing red, his voice a bit hoarse, "Is this massage oil... proper?"
Yu Shouling looked bewildered, startled, realizing something for the first time, "I hadn't tested it on a male body, I didn't expect... there would be side effects."
Wen Nan felt utterly helpless.
Without prior testing, she dared to use it on him recklessly? If something went wrong, whose fault would it be?
Yu Shouling, a bit flustered, raised her hand to rub Wen Nan's skin without a method, "I'll wipe it off for you."
That only added fuel to the fire.
Wen Nan raised his hand, grabbing her wrist, "Don't move."
Deliberately suppressing his irritation, Wen Nan's body grew more restless, just as he was contemplating a solution, a system alert rang in his mind—
9527: "Detected that your portable item is in an activatable state. Would you like to activate it now?"