Ling Feng looked helpless, "If you don't sleep, I still need to; I have to go to town tomorrow!"
Li Shiyun was startled by his words, then realized that staying at someone else's house so late at night was indeed inappropriate.
But the thought of returning to the village committee office made her heart hammer with trepidation, feeling that the person who had been peeping at her earlier was still lurking around. What if that person took advantage of the blackout to force his way into the room?
She hesitated for a moment, battled internally, then raised her head and asked in a soft voice, "Can, can I stay over at your place?"
Huh?
Ling Feng thought he misheard, and took a good look at this beauty. She radiated a special fragrance all over her body because she had just taken a bath!
Moreover, her slightly bashful plea was tantalizingly irresistible!
So Ling Feng immediately nodded without hesitation, "Of course, no problem. If the Village Chief likes to stay, she can stay here as long as she likes!"
Li Shiyun was startled, and quickly shook her head, "No need, I'll just reinforce the doors and windows tomorrow."
She thought to herself, 'What a joke, to always stay at your house? Alone with a man, what would the villagers think?'
Ling Feng had just said it casually, knowing she wouldn't agree, so he smiled, "My place is a bit simple. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Village Chief, you can sleep on the bed inside the inner room."
Li Shiyun nodded, got up, and walked toward the back. She had only taken a few steps when she turned around and asked, "And you?"
"I'll make do, and sleep on that sickbed," Ling Feng said.
They arrived in the inner room one after the other, with Ling Feng patting the bed he'd used for her acupuncture, "I'll sleep here; you sleep inside."
When Li Shiyun had visited for medical treatment before, she was too nervous to take a close look at the house. Now, illuminated by dim candlelight, she was instantly taken aback!
Two curtains were drawn open, revealing another single bed with neatly folded bedding on it.
It seemed that the bed was where Ling Feng rested at night; by day, the curtains were drawn to separate it from the consulting room outside.
Seeing this, Li Shiyun was bewildered and turned around in disbelief, "You mean, you want me to sleep in the same room as you?"
"How is it the same room? Isn't it separated once the curtain is drawn?" Ling Feng asked.
Li Shiyun was speechless, tempted to walk away, yet she feared the darkness outside and found herself struggling internally.
Seeing her silence, Ling Feng guessed what she was thinking, so he asked, "Village Chief, are you afraid that I would take advantage of you at night?"
By asking this, he essentially blocked Li Shiyun's response; it wasn't like she could nod and agree, right?
She hesitated for a moment, bit her lip, and then boldly decided, "No, I'm just not used to it."
After speaking, she walked inside and reached out to lower the curtain.
The candle was still outside, so as soon as she lowered the curtain, Li Shiyun was plunged into darkness, seeing nothing.
Ling Feng chuckled inwardly, lit a candle, and called out, "Village Chief, here's a candle for you, otherwise you won't see anything."
"Okay."
Li Shiyun replied softly, took the candle, and quickly ducked back into the room.
The house fell silent, and she heard rustling noises from outside—it was Ling Feng undressing!
Hearing these sounds, her heart began to race, secretly wondering if this guy would suddenly burst in on her?
Just as she thought this, she heard a creak from the sickbed, followed by the candlelight going out, and Ling Feng said, "Village Chief, I'm going to sleep first, huh!"
Li Shiyun said nothing, sat by the bed for a while, and lay down only when she was too tired to sit.
When she first came to Shiliu Village, she had conducted surveys from house to house, and almost every family had a unique smell compounded of various odors.
But Ling Feng's place was different; the bedding was clean, without a trace of sweat, and there was instead a faint medicinal scent.
"Who knew a bachelor like him could be so conscientious about cleanliness," Li Shiyun thought quietly to herself.
As she lay unable to sleep inside, Ling Feng outside also had a rough time, tossing and turning on the small bed, unable to sleep either.
After all, having a woman stay at his home for the first time, and such a stunning beauty at that, who could sleep?
Ling Feng's mind was full of jumbled thoughts: perhaps, under cover of night, as the beauty slept, he would sneak in for a surprise attack!
But as much as he entertained the idea, he knew it was improper. Li Shiyun wasn't Wang Yan; behaving this way would ensure a bad outcome the next day!
After much thought, he let his guard down and suddenly his eyelids grew heavy, and he fell fast asleep.
Meanwhile, Li Shiyun, who had been wide awake inside, finally relaxed a little after hearing snoring from outside, and she drifted off into a fitful sleep.
The next morning, a bout of crowing woke Ling Feng up. Opening his eyes to check the sky, he saw the sun hadn't risen yet!
"Damn, are these mountain chickens too? Do you guys also have the habit of crowing?"
Ling Feng was very frustrated. Having no rooster at home, he normally didn't hear crowing, and now, to be awakened by it today was just unlucky.
Since he was up, he couldn't fall back asleep, so he rolled out of bed and went out to freshen up.
When he came back, Li Shiyun was also up, the curtain was open, and she was folding the bedding.
Unfortunately, this lovely scene lasted only a few seconds since Li Shiyun had already finished folding the bedding and straightened up.
Seeing this, Ling Feng hurried to say, "Village Chief, you're up early."
"Mm, thank you for last night, I will head back now," she said.
Li Shiyun nodded slightly, flicked her hair, and prepared to leave.
She thought since it was still dark, no one in the village would see her leaving his place, sparing her from idle gossip.
But to her surprise, Ling Feng suddenly reached out to stop her, "What's the rush? You can have breakfast before you go."
"You! Stop manhandling me, I won't eat, I'm leaving!"
Li Shiyun, flustered and annoyed, glared at Ling Feng with a flushed face and quickly walked out.
Now it occurred to her, surely the beautiful Village Chief rushed to put on clothes during the blackout after her bath, discovering someone peeping outside, without even managing to wear a bra!