RWWAI 25

Chapter 25: If You Do That Again, I'm Going to Scream for Help!

Staring at that top-tier physique right in front of me, I finally lost control of my hands, letting them drift right onto those clearly defined, easily countable eight-pack abs.

"Whoa! So abs really are hard!" I gasped in admiration.

Since it wasn't even his own original body, Luo Fan didn't care in the least and replied:

"I was just flexing for you, that's why. They can be soft too, especially right after a meal."

Judging by how thoroughly researched he looked, I'd bet my life that Luo Fan's real-world self definitely didn't have a body like this.

Swallowing hard, I asked:

"What about the back? Is the back just as impressive?"

Luo Fan generously stripped off his upper garments, turned his back to me, and said:

"Well? Since I can't see my own back, give it a score!"

Without an ounce of shame, I planted both hands straight onto his trapezius muscles, slowly slid them down over his latissimus dorsi, and answered:

"Can't give it a score, I'm pretty sure I'm about five seconds away from forgetting my own name."

Luo Fan chuckled and said:

"Have you seen enough yet? I need to take a bath."

Reluctantly dropping my hands, I scurried around to his front and demanded:

"How come you get to look at this every single day?"

Luo Fan laughed:

"You get to look at Liang Jingjing every single day too!"

"Whatever she's got, I've got too, what's there to look at?" I complained.

Without missing a beat, my runaway curiosity took over and I reached out to yank at the waistband of Luo Fan's trousers, eager to check if the lower half was just as jaw-dropping.

This time, Luo Fan finally stopped me.

"What are you doing?! Have a little shame, will you?" he stared at me in absolute disbelief.

Pouting, I argued my case:

"It's not even yours anyway, what's the big deal about taking a peek?"

Clutching his waistband for dear life, Luo Fan backed up a full giant step and declared:

"No way!"

"Oh, come on! Just one look!" I fought relentlessly for my visual enjoyment.

Driven to his absolute limits, Luo Fan roared:

"If you do that again, I'm going to scream for help!"

Left with no other choice, I had to stomp out of the bedroom in bitter, unfulfilled defeat, letting him wash in peace—absolute garbage behavior.

Right as I stepped out the door, I didn't forget to hurl a final parting shot of dissatisfaction:

"Don't forget, you still need my help! Why hog all the fun for yourself and refuse to share the wealth? Such a stingy-pigs!"

Acting like I was trying to peek at a set of building blocks rather than his lower anatomy.

Since I'd been banished from the bedroom and had nothing better to do anyway, I wandered over to the kitchen and lugged the chicken soup Qin Miaomiao had previously brewed for Luo Fan's recovery right back into our room.

To my complete lack of surprise, the freshly bathed Luo Fan had the utter shamelessness to ask:

"Is there any rice left in the kitchen? I want to dump it into the soup and eat it like porridge, I'm genuinely starved."

I shot back unhappily:

"There is, but don't you have legs of your own?"

Luo Fan paused for a second, then slowly lowered the collar of his robe to reveal his water-warmed, flushed, incredibly tempting collarbones and pectoral muscles, and drawled:

"You go get it for me, and I'll eat with my upper body bare."

Fuming with resentment, I had no choice but to trudge right back to the kitchen to fetch his rice.

Damn it, I've completely fallen into his grasp!

Returning to the room with the bowl of rice, watching him chow down with his chest completely exposed to the open air, I couldn't help lecturing:

"Ease up a bit, don't just shove carbs down your throat, eat some protein too—you need to build muscle."

Otherwise, at the rate he was eating, any muscle definition he had was going to melt right off.

"Build more?" Luo Fan looked down at himself.

"Probably don't need to, right? But working out and maintaining it is probably still a good idea."

He set down his spoon and continued:

"I might not be great at fighting yet, but Qi Lu is a military commander after all—what happens if I get thrown into battle one day? I figured starting tomorrow, I might as well mess around with a spear and practice some swordplay; doing a little something is better than nothing at all!"

Staring at his arms, I chimed in with absent-minded agreement:

"Whatever you want, martial arts is one thing I sure as hell can't help you with."

He nodded and went right back to stuffing his face with his chicken-soup rice.

The second he finished eating, Luo Fan immediately threw his shirt back on with ruthless efficiency, ensuring I didn't get to sneak a single extra second of free viewing.

Such a cheapskate!

Considering he was still recovering from a major illness, I let him take the bed that night while I slept on the floor.

Right as I was drifting off to sleep, I suddenly heard Luo Fan's voice cutting through the quiet.

"Zhang Yue, are you asleep?"

I murmured a vague, drowsy acknowledgement.

"Actually," he went on, "I asked the system what the exact conditions for clearing your mission are."

After a brief beat of silence, he lowered his voice:

"But the system didn't answer."

"If I knew how to clear your mission, I promise I'd tell you."

Those were the last words I heard before slipping completely into deep sleep.

I didn't know whether I should trust him or not, but aside from believing him, I didn't seem to have any other options left.

If Luo Fan had never shown up in the first place, I probably could have gritted my teeth and toughed it out all by myself.

Yet he had gone and transmigrated right along with me.

Once a person gets used to relying on someone, letting go becomes genuinely difficult.

I knew that if I really wanted to, I could pack up and walk right out of the commandant's estate tomorrow.

But right now, I was too terrified to face the unknown all by myself anymore.

I wondered how much of the original Liang Jingjing's inability to walk away was born out of genuine love, and how much of it was just an inability to break free from her dependence.

The next morning, Luo Fan actually did start practicing spear and sword forms.

Watching him move with surprising grace and fluidity, I remarked with mild shock:

"How are you picking this up so naturally?"

Looking equally perplexed, he replied:

"I have no idea either—muscle memory? Though it's not quite at the level where I can pull off actual combat moves on command yet."

Right around that time, I received an invitation card of a kind the previous-life Liang Jingjing had definitely never laid eyes on.

Remembering Lady Lin—the Minister of Revenue's wife whose in-laws had been plotting to take in a concubine back at the farewell banquet?

Her household was actually going through with taking in that concubine.

Having apparently been successfully brainwashed by yours truly, Lady Lin was handling the whole ordeal with surprising enthusiasm, even going so far as to invite us close sister-friends over to join in.

Now this was something I absolutely had to go check out!

Because she had explicitly written on the invitation that the female guest quarters would feature a live baixi variety performance.

You probably don't know what that is, right?

To put it simply, it involved male actors dressing up in women's clothing to perform high-intensity acrobatic physical stunts.

It looked like every single word of advice I'd given had been taken to heart by Lady Lin without missing a beat.

If I didn't go, it would be an absolute insult to all her hard work!

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