To Jiang Ning’s complete surprise, Chen Yuan was seriously studying her fair feet.

Overcome with shyness, Jiang Ning’s toes curled slightly. Her delicate, translucent toes looked like a row of tiny steamed buns, waiting to be devoured.

It was the first time he had ever examined his girlfriend’s feet so closely. He was amazed to find how delicate Jiang Ning’s feet were. They didn’t look like they were meant for walking at all, but rather like sculptures carved by an artist for display.

Normally, feet that were often in high heels wouldn’t be this fair. After all, heels were all about elegance, not comfort.

For anyone who wasn’t used to them, just half a day was enough to rub their ankles raw.

Any guy who paid attention to women’s feet knew this—for jobs that required high heels, like the front desk staff Chen Yuan saw when he arrived at the hotel or the flight attendants at the airport, their feet often had a layer of thick calluses that detracted from their natural beauty. It wasn’t noticeable when they were wearing shoes, but it was obvious the moment they took them off.

But Jiang Ning’s feet were completely different. There wasn’t even a trace of a callus.

On her fair, tender insteps, you could faintly see the delicate, blue-green veins beneath the skin. The nude-colored nail polish added a hint of shine, and the soles of her feet were a soft, pinkish-white.

These were basically popsicle-grade!

“Don’t keep staring…” Ningning’s voice trembled strangely, filled with an unprecedented level of embarrassment.

“Your feet are so soft,” Chen Yuan said, giving one a gentle squeeze.

At his touch, another shiver ran through Jiang Ning’s body. A sensation like an electric shock made her flush all over.

“Of course they are. It’s because I have a whole maintenance routine every day. When I get home at night, I soak them in hot water and put all sorts of things on them. Otherwise, the skin gets old and ugly and doesn’t look good at all,” she mumbled, covering her face.

“You do that for your feet, too?”

“I *am* talking about my feet.”

“I see. Girls are so meticulous. Just hearing about the process sounds complicated enough,” Chen Yuan said, nodding thoughtfully. “I always thought all those beauty products were just a scam. They actually work?”

He squeezed again, just a little harder, feeling how countless times softer her small foot was compared to a hand.

A sudden sense of satisfaction washed over him.

Chen Yuan might have been enjoying himself, but Jiang Ning’s reaction was extreme. She snatched her leg back, crossing her long legs and draping them over the corner of the sofa.

“I’m warning you, you can’t just do that to a girl’s feet! It’s too embarrassing. A girl’s feet are very private, at least they are to me,” Jiang Ning said, glaring at Chen Yuan, but her anger was steeped in bashfulness. “No more touching them from now on.”

“Is it really that big of a deal?”

Unconvinced, Chen Yuan reached out and grabbed her foot again, the pad of his finger brushing against her sole.

“Ah—!”

An exaggerated shriek immediately followed.

A pink blush instantly bloomed on Jiang Ning’s cheeks. Her body suddenly arched, and her shriek even had a tremor to it.

Her reaction startled Chen Yuan for a moment.

He stared at Jiang Ning with the astonishment of Columbus discovering the New World, his gaze a mixture of puzzlement and excitement.

What Chen Yuan didn’t know was that Ningning’s feet were the most sensitive part of her entire body. Not even Yaoyao had ever touched them, so her reaction was only natural.

He had unintentionally unlocked an achievement: discovering the most secret part of Ningning’s body.

“I’m going to hit you!” Jiang Ning raised her hand high and smacked his shoulder in mock anger. The gesture held no real menace; instead, it was tinged with the playful intimacy of a couple.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop teasing you. I’m going to take a shower now.”

Chen Yuan blinked, but the smirk playing on his lips looked utterly wicked. He finally tore his gaze away from Jiang Ning’s feet.

On the sofa.

Ningning hugged her knees, using a pillow to shield her small feet. She kept muttering to herself, occasionally glancing toward the bathroom where Chen Yuan was headed.

The corners of her mouth turned down, and she snorted softly.

“Hmph… So disrespectful to his teacher.”

…

Outside the window, a light rain was falling. Even inside the hotel room, the scent of dampness hung in the air. Droplets fell from high above, splashing against the ground and kicking up a thick, earthy smell that drifted about. Buffeted by the wind and rain, the leaves of a banana tree drooped low.

Jiang Ning rested her chin on her knees, turning her head slightly to watch it all.

In that moment, she seemed less like the mature, sophisticated older woman she was and more like a young girl.

She had come from distant Lanjing to this unfamiliar place with the person she loved. Everywhere she looked, the sights were new. The driver who picked them up from the airport spoke halting Mandarin with a thick Hainan accent. The streets and alleys here felt like another world.

For some reason, Jiang Ning felt as if she were eloping with Chen Yuan. It was a wonderfully romantic feeling.

Right then, separated by just a pane of glass, the young man who made her heart flutter was taking a shower.

And here she was, sitting idly on the sofa with nothing to do, letting her thoughts wander aimlessly.

Nights like this were rare for Jiang Ning—or rather, moments like this were. For the past twenty-six years of her life, she had always been in a frantic rush to get things done. She planned to become an outstanding person, so she threw herself into her studies. She planned to see the world, so she worked hard to learn several foreign languages and get into Yale University. She planned to take her sister and leave Mingzhu City, so she never stopped absorbing knowledge and publishing papers to obtain her teaching qualifications.

Every morning when she woke up, she would open her phone’s notes app to find it crammed full of tasks she needed to complete.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep