Chapter 435: Whispers in the Boudoir

Lin Xiaoxi wore a white nightgown, her exquisite figure faintly visible, radiating infinite allure. Her hair, like soft waves, hung loosely, giving rise to infinite charm.

She greeted me in a rush and immediately ran into the kitchen to busy herself. I slumped onto the sofa, staring at her bustling back, a warm scene of domestic life appearing in my mind.

A woman is at her most beautiful in the kitchen. Women are born with a strong desire to control food. This is likely because we humans began in a matriarchal society. In ancient times, the ancestors of humanity were composed of a matriarchal society. The propagation of humanity was made possible by the boundless contributions of the matriarchal society.

Even now, many women understand that exquisite food is a magic weapon for controlling men. Hence the saying: to capture a man's heart, one must first capture his stomach.

She busied herself for a while, then walked out gracefully. She stood opposite me, smiling sweetly.

I stared at her, my gaze seemingly wanting to pierce through her thin nightgown. On her body, apart from the nightgown, there was nothing else. I could even see her braless breasts, trembling and ready to burst forth.

She became uneasy under my gaze, her face reddening, and she raised her hands to cover her chest. Yet, seeing my ambiguous smile, she lowered her hands and scolded coquettishly, "What are you looking at?"

I shifted my gaze away, then lingeringly moved it back, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and said, "Infinite scenery lies on the dangerous peaks!"

Lin Xiaoxi was greatly embarrassed, jumping like a little deer as she ran into the bedroom. After a while, she came out, having changed into a set of modest loungewear, and said resentfully, "Go ahead and look, look until you're full."

I let out a long sigh and said, "Xiaoxi, that's right. This way I won't have wild thoughts anymore."

She examined herself for a moment and said wistfully, "In the eyes of you men, do women only stir primitive impulses when they are exposed?"

I beckoned her to come over. She hesitated for a moment, then moved her lotus steps lightly and walked over gracefully.

I grabbed her small hand and pulled with a little force. She rushed into my arms like a mass of pink powder, hiding there and trembling.

I stroked her delicate body and said softly, "Xiaoxi."

She let out a hum, looked up at me, and reached out to touch my face gently, like a spring breeze brushing against it. It was as if a small hand were soothing my fragile soul deep within.

"You've lost weight," she murmured. "When I first met you, you weren't like this."

"Like what?" I asked curiously.

She giggled, twisted my ear, and said, "Like a country bumpkin."

"No!" I said solemnly. "The me back then was like Fan Jin upon passing the imperial examination."

She crawled out of my arms, tidied her hair, and said sweetly, "I'll nourish you."

"Nourish?" I smelled a sweet fragrance in my nose, drifting out from the kitchen.

"What is it?" I asked, looking toward the kitchen.

"You'll know in a moment." She stood up, gave me a mysterious smile, and turned to go to the kitchen.

Before long, she came toward me carrying a small, snow-white porcelain bowl, wearing the smile of a happy little woman.

"Cordyceps stewed with black-bone chicken," she said, lifting the lid, blowing gently on the steam, and handing the bowl over.

I hurriedly reached out with both hands to take it, but she avoided my hands, placed the bowl on the coffee table, picked up a spoon as white as silver, scooped up a small spoonful of soup, blew on it gently at her lips, and brought it to my mouth.

I stuck out the tip of my tongue and took a small taste. I felt a mysterious power shoot from the tip of my tongue, circle through my brain, and immediately rush through my entire body. My whole body instantly turned hot, as if I were in a world of mist.

"Good stuff," I praised with a smack of my lips, drinking down the soup in the spoon.

"Of course it's good stuff. My old man brought it for me; there were only a dozen or so. Today I stewed four for you," Lin Xiaoxi said dismissively, picking up the spoon to stir the soup in the bowl. After stirring for a while, the aroma dispersed, and the entire living room was filled with a scent that made one feel refreshed.

"I heard this stuff is precious. It's grass on top and a worm on the bottom. The worm buried underground in winter grows grass out of its body by the following summer; it's called Cordyceps sinensis. This stuff only grows at altitudes above four thousand meters. And it can't be artificially farmed." I enumerated the origins of the Cordyceps before me, leaving Lin Xiaoxi dumbfounded for a long time.

She said with admiration, "Chen Feng, you really know a lot."

I smiled conceitedly, thinking to myself, little woman, this is nothing. If you asked me now whether immortals actually live in the heavens, I could talk to you about it for half a day without stopping.

A man's eloquence is the trump card for winning over a woman. Eloquence must have "substance," not just random babbling. How much depth and cultivation does the word "substance" embody?

Some men can talk incessantly in front of women. But every sentence, aside from being vulgar and flattering, is just baseless bragging. This isn't called "eloquence," it can only be called "having a big mouth."

"Why did Governor Lin give you these things?" I asked hesitantly. Actually, a girl like Lin Xiaoxi doesn't need Cordyceps for compensation at all. She is young and in the prime of her life. Like a flower bud waiting to bloom, naturally absorbing the essence of heaven and earth, she is a Cordyceps herself.

"My dad said this stuff is best for men to eat. Whether women eat it or not isn't important."

"You don't even have a man, who are you giving it to?" I blurted out. Once the words were out, I wondered if this would hurt her self-esteem.

Sure enough, Lin Xiaoxi raised her willow eyebrows, and her expression darkened. Just as I was waiting for her roar, she smiled sweetly, flicked my nose with her finger, and teased, "Aren't you my man?"

I was startled and hurriedly waved my hands in refusal, saying, "Xiaoxi, I might be a passerby in your life, not your true love."

"A passerby?" She laughed coldly. "What do you take me for? Back on the highway, did you think of me as just a plaything?"

I denied it flatly, but couldn't find a suitable reason to prove myself.

That's right! If I had known back then that she was the daughter of Vice Governor Lin, even if I were given the guts of three leopards, I wouldn't have dared to cross the line with her.

Did I only think of her as a lowly reporter for a TV station, a grassroots nobody? Was my intimacy with her a favor I bestowed? Was it a grace I granted?

"Speak!" She stared straight into my eyes.

"Speak about what?" I said with a fake smile, reaching out to hold her.

She pushed my hand away and said, word for word, "Chen Feng, if you think I am a passerby in your life, I ask you to leave now and never see me again."

I hesitated for a moment, sighed, and got up to leave.

Seeing me about to leave, tears streamed from her eyes instantly, and in a flash, she was like pear blossoms in the rain, like duckweed beaten by the rain.

I hardened my heart and did not look back. I walked straight toward the door.

She called out to me, then lunged over, hugged me from behind, pressed her face against my back, and sobbed.

I tried to pry her hands apart. Her fingers were locked tight, like iron chains.

"Xiaoxi!" I called out. "I've let you down."

"No!" Lin Xiaoxi cried. "Don't say anything. I'm willing."

"But..." I stopped mid-sentence, pondered for a long time, and said, "I can't give you happiness."

"No!" she shouted stubbornly. "Happiness must be fought for by oneself. I cannot let my happiness slip through my fingers."

"But you also know I have a lover," I sighed. "You don't want me to become a Chen Shimei, do you?" After finishing, I smiled lightly, wanting to adjust the atmosphere to a relaxed state.

Lin Xiaoxi, however, ignored me and shouted, "I know, isn't it just Huang Weiwei? I'll only ask you one thing. Do you love me or not?"

I pondered and refused to answer.

"Speak. If you don't speak, don't think about leaving."

"How do you want me to say it?" I said, my heart aching as I turned around and pulled her into my arms. "The two of you, one is a rare flower from the celestial garden, the other is a flawless piece of jade. How do you expect me to choose?"

Lin Xiaoxi gave a faint, bitter smile and said, "Chen Feng, are you thinking of the blessings of having two wives? Even if I were willing, would others agree? Can this society tolerate it?"

"That's right! So, I have to make choices."

"How will you choose? What will you give up?"

"I don't know."

Lin Xiaoxi resentfully wriggled out of my embrace, pointed at my nose, and shouted, "Chen Feng, believe it or not, if I shout right now, everyone in Chunshan County will know that you have your eyes on the pot while eating from the bowl."

I smiled bitterly and said, "I believe you."

"Whether you believe me or not isn't important. You just need to tell me, have you ever loved me?"

I nodded and said earnestly, "Xiaoxi, you also know that some love cannot always be as one wishes."

"I don't care. As long as you love me, I will fight for it. Even if the road ahead is full of thorns, even if I am covered in cuts and bruises, I will fight for my own happiness." Lin Xiaoxi said with infinite longing, "Chen Feng, promise my dad; go and be his secretary."

"No!" I refused flatly.

"Why?"

"Xiaoxi, if you want what's best for me and don't want others pointing at my spine and cursing me, then don't bring up this topic again in the future."

"Can we control what others say? Let them talk; anyway, we won't be in this place, so we won't see or hear it." Lin Xiaoxi comforted me, "Besides, once you become my dad's secretary, who would dare to gossip behind your back!"

"Xiaoxi! We cannot seal the mouths of the common people." I said, full of worry.

"Do you mean you aren't coming with me to Central Province?"

"I cannot go at the moment."

"When will you go?"

"When the organization needs me, I will go." I patted her back, my fingers brushing over her smooth nape, and felt a wave of heart-shaking sensation rising from the soles of my feet.

Lin Xiaoxi clearly felt it; she wrapped her arms around my waist and pressed her head against my chest, letting her full, soft breasts tease my nerves.

"Chen Feng, if you aren't going to Central Province, I won't go either. I will continue to stay in Chunshan County." Lin Xiaoxi smiled faintly, "I'm afraid that if I leave, you will forget me."

My heart stirred, and I kissed the tips of her hair, saying, "Silly girl!"

She sniffled sadly and murmured, "Women are always fools in the face of love."

A ray of sunlight pierced through the darkness before dawn, revealing its brilliance on the horizon. This was a bright and sunny morning!