Disguised as a Man, She Has Eight Men Fighting Over Her - Chapter 67 - Watch Yourself
Jiang Si swallowed, released the shirt from his teeth, and obediently sat down. He pulled it off and tossed it onto the floor.
Lin Cheng said nothing.
Keeping her gaze under control, she gave his bare chest and abs a quick glance.
He really did have a good body.
She crouched in front of him, dipped a cotton swab in povidone-iodine, and carefully dabbed along the obvious cut across his abdomen.
The light was dim. She had to narrow her eyes, leaning closer and closer without realizing it.
Her small nose hovered near his skin. Now and then, her warm breath brushed his lower abdomen.
Jiang Si tilted his head back slightly. His throat moved beyond his control, and he quietly tensed every muscle, deepening the contours of his stomach.
“Does it hurt?” Noticing, Lin Cheng tipped her face up to ask.
He lowered his eyes to her. His pupils were dark and deep, his voice a little rough.
“…Mm.”
For a moment, she was lost in the way he looked at her.
His features were already strikingly sharp. Looking down at her like this, he seemed dangerous and mesmerizing at once.
She counted her heartbeats, feeling a series of inexplicable flutters.
The man sat bare-chested on her bed, muscles taut, his presence powerful in a primal way.
She knelt on the rug between his legs, raised slightly to tend his wound, her face tipped toward his.
As their eyes met, the air seemed to warm, degree by degree, into something intimate.
“…I’ll be gentler.”
Lin Cheng broke first. Flustered, she looked away and lowered her head to continue.
But her thoughts were scattered. Misjudging the pressure, she pushed the swab hard into the wound.
“Sorry!”
A muscle jumped at Jiang Si’s temple.
“It’s fine.”
She hurriedly finished, stood, and turned to leave.
Jiang Si suddenly reached out and gently pulled her back.
Turning with the tug, Lin Cheng lost her footing and pitched forward.
Her hand groped for support. One knee landed on the edge of the bed as she fell toward him, and she had no choice but to loop her arms around his neck to steady herself.
In the quiet room, deep into the night, she was all but straddling his thighs, holding him in a partial embrace.
Both of them froze.
The arm Jiang Si had curved behind her waist went taut.
“Sorry…”
His gaze rested on her bewildered face.
“You haven’t cleaned the cuts on my hands.”
Lin Cheng scrambled off him. “Right. I’ll treat your hands,” she said, her voice barely louder than a mosquito.
This time, she kept her distance.
She lifted his strong-boned hand and began cleaning the wounds.
Somehow, the air felt even more charged than before.
Jiang Si looked down at her reddened nose and tightly pressed, glistening lips.
The fingertips supporting the back of his hand were trembling. That tiny shiver ran through him like an electric current.
He swallowed and softened his breathing.
“Done.” Lin Cheng stepped back in relief.
Jiang Si rose and put his shirt on. At the door, he paused.
“Don’t worry,” he said, his voice low and rough.
Then the door closed.
Lin Cheng patted her chest and let out a long breath, trying to settle her breathing.
She picked up her phone and refreshed the trending list again and again.
Sure enough, there was nothing about tonight.
—
Early the next morning, her phone buzzed.
Lin Cheng blinked sleepily and felt beneath her pillow for it.
“Hello? Mom, what’s up?”
Her mother sounded hesitant and a little shy.
“Chengcheng, I’m… pregnant. You’re going to be a big sister.”
Lin Cheng was instantly awake. “Really? That’s wonderful!”
She was genuinely happy for her mother.
She had never met her stepfather in person, only seen photographs.
He reminded her of a well-maintained vintage Ferrari. Handsome, certainly, though the chain around his neck was a little too thick, and he wore a few too many rings.
“In two days—this Saturday—your Uncle Pei wants to hold a banquet to celebrate. Can you come?” Her mother’s tone was tentative. “You’ve stayed away all these years. I know you’re afraid of intruding…”
Lin Cheng tightened her grip on the phone.
She had indeed kept her distance from her mother’s new family. She had even missed the wedding because she was boarding at school. Hearing the hope in her mother’s voice now, she hesitated for a few seconds.
“Okay. I’ll come on Saturday.”
“Really? That’s wonderful!” Her mother sounded delighted. “I’ll be waiting for you, Chengcheng!”
After hanging up, Lin Cheng sat staring at her phone. She checked the time: only 6:10 a.m.
Her sleepiness was gone, so she got up and went downstairs.
In the living room sat the formidable Ji Hanzhou, looking even colder than usual, a heavy atmosphere surrounding him.
“Peak Showdown has been canceled.”
He went straight to the point. His voice was flat, but his eyes scrutinized her.
A chill crept up the back of her neck. Her heart sank.
“W-why?”
“Blaze. KA’s family is in trouble. They’re under investigation for large-scale bribery. The organizers have suspended every connected project.”
Lin Cheng suddenly remembered Jiang Si’s utter certainty the night before.
While her thoughts tangled, Ji Hanzhou’s gaze shifted past her.
She turned. Jiang Si stood at the foot of the stairs in casual home clothes, his expression indifferent, as though he had simply happened to pass by.
Ji Hanzhou asked evenly, “Jiang Si, how is the choreography I assigned you for the new song coming along?”
Jiang Si met his eyes. “It’s finished.”
“Since the competition has been suspended…” Ji Hanzhou nodded. “Start rehearsing today.”
He glanced at Lin Cheng again, though his words were for Jiang Si.
“Walk me out.”
He turned and strode toward the door.
A faint cold sweat gathered in Lin Cheng’s palms. She couldn’t help looking at Jiang Si.
It didn’t feel as simple as seeing him off.
As though reading her unease, Jiang Si took a step toward her. “It’s fine. Go back upstairs.”
Too nervous to do so, she sidled over to the window and peered through the glass.
Jiang Si followed Ji Hanzhou beyond the garden gate. The morning air was cool.
Ji Hanzhou stopped and studied him.
“Were you involved in what happened to KA’s family?”
Jiang Si’s expression didn’t change. He answered with silence.
Ji Hanzhou watched him. “And his wrist tendons. Was that you?”
Still no answer, but the admission in his eyes was clear enough.
Ji Hanzhou frowned slightly, his tone carrying both puzzlement and warning.
“One new teammate was worth all that trouble? Worth you doing it yourself? That’s not your usual style.”
Without waiting for a response, he continued more gravely, “Uncle Jiang called me just now.”
Jiang Si’s brows drew together.
“He wasn’t asking about KA’s family. They aren’t important enough for his personal attention. He wanted to know why his normally levelheaded son had acted so rashly this time, leaving such obvious leverage against himself.”
Ji Hanzhou lowered his voice in warning.
“I don’t care what special bond you have with Lin Chen, or what you see in him. But this is Wild7. I won’t have personal grudges dragging the entire group into unnecessary trouble. Watch yourself.”
“I explained things to Uncle Jiang for you. It doesn’t happen again.”
With that, he drove away.
