Qin Ruan paused for a moment, but soon obediently followed Wen Yixin's instructions and moved her body deeper into the bed.
As soon as she settled herself, the spot closest to her suddenly sank as well, and at the same time, a sweet fragrance of roses wafted to her nose.
Qin Ruan sniffed, unable to resist inhaling lightly.
It wasn't until her nose bumped into a slender, pale finger that she stopped her sniffing.
She looked up at the owner of the finger, her lips moved slightly before falling silent, and she silently met Wen Yixin's gaze.
Wen Yixin tapped Qin Ruan's pinkish nose and smiled, "What are you doing?"
"Nothing," Qin Ruan responded shyly, lowering her eyes, her long, curled eyelashes casting a shadow beneath her eyelids.
Wen Yixin couldn't help but curl her finger and brush Qin Ruan's eyelashes, her voice laced with amusement, "You seemed like you were smelling something just now."
"What were you smelling?"
Wen Yixin thought for a moment, her gaze swept around the room, pausing on the incense burner not far away before finally returning to Qin Ruan, as if waiting for her answer.
Being stared at like this, Qin Ruan felt inexplicably nervous, her breathing quickened a bit.
She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Wen Yixin shook her head and sighed.
"Alright, I'm just teasing you," Wen Yixin said, then glanced at the incense and murmured to herself, "Is the incense too strong?"
It shouldn't be. She had chosen this incense because it was light, which is why she placed it in the room.
However, maybe for Qin Ruan, the scent wasn't that light?
Forget it, she thought she'd replace the incense another day.
As Wen Yixin was thinking about what incense to replace it with, a small voice reached her ears.
"It's not the incense."
Wen Yixin was startled and looked at Qin Ruan in confusion, "It's not?"
If it wasn't, then what was she smelling? Other than the incense, Wen Yixin couldn't think of anything else in the room that would be noticeable.
"What was it?" Wen Yixin asked, unable to figure it out.
"It was..." Qin Ruan's gaze wavered slightly, and she whispered, "It was your scent."
"The scent on you is very nice."
Sweet but not overwhelming; she liked it very much, so much so that she couldn't help but smell it a few more times earlier.
"Really?" Wen Yixin raised her arm curiously and sniffed, only catching the clean scent of her body wash.
"It's the scent of my body wash." She concluded simply, then dismissed it as she reached over to the nightstand, pressing the pump of a light green bottle to dispense some transparent lotion into her palm.
Wen Yixin looked at Qin Ruan, gesturing with her palm up, "Give me your hand."
"Oh," Qin Ruan responded and obediently held out her hand to Wen Yixin.
In the next moment, a cool, soft sensation spread across her arm.
Qin Ruan watched Wen Yixin seriously applying lotion to her, her gaze flickered, and a slight smile involuntarily appeared on her lips.
She thought, the scent she had smelled earlier wasn't from the body wash. After all, she had used the same body wash, but the scent was entirely different from what she had just smelled.
Maybe... it was Wen Yixin's natural scent?
For some reason, just thinking about it made Qin Ruan's heart warm up a bit.
Qin Ruan's thoughts drifted until the cool sensation on her stomach brought her back to reality.
She lowered her eyes to see Wen Yixin's hand resting on her stomach, seemingly intent on moving upward.
Qin Ruan stared at that hand, her cheeks flushing uncontrollably.
The next second, she quickly pulled Wen Yixin's hand away with a blushing face.
"Sister Wen, I can do the rest myself," Qin Ruan said hastily, her face tinged with pink.
This made her look more lively compared to her previous quiet demeanor, Wen Yixin thought.
Understanding that Qin Ruan was just shy, Wen Yixin said nothing more, only adding, "Alright, but you probably can't reach your back. I'll help you with that later."
"Okay," Qin Ruan nodded, not hesitating this time.
She mimicked Wen Yixin's earlier movements, squeezing some lotion into her palm before slowly applying it to her skin.
It was a simple task, but because Wen Yixin was nearby, Qin Ruan couldn't help but feel uneasy.
Even as she applied the lotion, she couldn't resist sneaking glances at Wen Yixin out of the corner of her eye.
But every time her gaze landed on the skin revealed by Wen Yixin's lifted skirt, she instinctively averted her eyes.
Desiring yet restraining herself.
Her whole being was a bundle of contradictions.
As for Wen Yixin, she had none of Qin Ruan's jumbled thoughts.
She was just focused on her bedtime skincare routine.
She carefully applied the lotion to every inch of her skin that she could reach. After a few minutes, she stopped and looked at Qin Ruan, asking, "Are you done?"
Qin Ruan rubbed the lotion residue on her fingers and slowly replied, "Yes."
"Then help me with my back first, right here..." Wen Yixin said, raising her hand behind her to point at the spot she hadn't been able to reach.
When she had to do it herself before, Wen Yixin could barely reach her back, but it was never thorough. Now that Qin Ruan was there, Wen Yixin naturally wanted her to help.
She turned her back to Qin Ruan and, for convenience, even gathered her long hair to the front, revealing her smooth, porcelain-like back, with the straps of her nightgown slipping down her arms.
In that instant, Qin Ruan felt as if time had stopped.
She stared at the glowing skin before her, her gaze frozen for a few seconds, before slowly moving to apply a small amount of lotion to the jade-like back, spurred by Wen Yixin's urging.
The sensation was warm and silky, like jade, making it hard to let go.
After about a minute or two, Qin Ruan finally pulled her hand back.
Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly as she whispered, "Sister Wen, I'm done."
"Okay," Wen Yixin replied. She adjusted her nightgown before turning to Qin Ruan with a gentle smile, "Now it's my turn to help you."
Qin Ruan silently turned her back, without saying a word.
Wen Yixin raised her eyebrows in mild surprise.
She didn't expect Qin Ruan to be so obedient this time.
Wen Yixin's gaze lingered on Qin Ruan's back for a moment before she reached out to lift a corner of Qin Ruan's nightgown and gently pressed her lotion-covered palm onto her slender back, slowly massaging.
But when she felt the bony ridges of Qin Ruan's spine, Wen Yixin couldn't help but comment, "You're too thin. You need to eat more and gain some weight."
Qin Ruan, listening to Wen Yixin's words, couldn't help but respond softly, "I don't think I need to."
"I've already gained two pounds recently," she added, thinking she should go on a diet soon, yet here was Wen Yixin talking about making her gain more weight.
Wen Yixin chuckled, "Just two pounds? You'd lose that in a day if you skipped a meal."
"Besides, being too thin isn't good. A little more weight looks better."
Qin Ruan bit her lip, "Sister Wen doesn't like skinny girls?"
"Not that I don't like them. I just prefer a slightly fuller, more proportionate figure," Wen Yixin answered casually.
"I see..." Qin Ruan murmured, falling silent as she lowered her head, absentmindedly picking at her fingers, lost in thought.
Wen Yixin, meanwhile, continued to focus on massaging Qin Ruan's back.
The room fell into a quiet, almost serene atmosphere between the two of them.
It wasn't until Wen Yixin withdrew her hand and said, "All done," that the silence was broken.
Qin Ruan straightened up and softly thanked her, "Thank you, sister Wen."
Wen Yixin smiled warmly, "You're welcome. Go rest early."
"Okay," Qin Ruan replied, looking at Wen Yixin as she said, "Goodnight, sister Wen."
With that, she got up to return to the room next door.
But just as her toes touched the pink slippers on the floor, she was stopped.
"Wait," Wen Yixin called out.
Qin Ruan turned back, about to ask why, when Wen Yixin spoke, "Didn't I say I'd give you a bottle of lotion?"
"Here it is," Wen Yixin said as she bent down to pull out a still-sealed light green bottle from the bottom drawer of the nightstand.
It was the same kind they had used earlier.
Wen Yixin handed it to Qin Ruan, "Take it with you."
Qin Ruan accepted the bottle, her lips parting as if she wanted to say something, but before she could, Wen Yixin smiled and asked her:
"Qin Ruan, could I trouble you to help me with my back from now on?"
She realized having someone help was much better than doing it herself, so she couldn't resist asking Qin Ruan.
Qin Ruan was caught off guard by Wen Yixin's sudden request.
She hesitated for a few seconds, then heard her own voice, hoarse and dry, answering.
"Okay."
She couldn't wish for anything more.