After a long time, Deng Tianyu found that Li Shishi had fallen asleep in his arms, her breathing now even and steady.
He shook his head and sighed. “Wasn’t easy, was it?”
Telling the story had made his mouth parched and his tongue dry. If this big loli still hadn’t fallen asleep, he probably couldn’t have kept it up.
But just as Deng Tianyu made a move to get up, the Li Shishi in his arms stirred slightly. Her eyes remained closed, but she murmured in a sleep-talk,
“Thirsty… water…”
“I’ll go pour you a cup of water!”
Deng Tianyu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and prepared to get up.
Perhaps because of the alcohol, the already-sleeping Li Shishi probably felt her throat was a bit dry, hence wanting water.
That was normal, as his own throat was a bit dry too.
But to his surprise, Li Shishi, seemingly sleepwalking, groped her little hand across Deng Tianyu’s face, stopping at the corner of his lips. She giggled coyly, “Hehe… a water kettle?”
“What water kettle?”
Deng Tianyu blinked, not yet understanding.
In the next instant, Li Shishi’s little hands wrapped around his neck. Her flawless, delicate oval face drew close, her rosy lips parted slightly, and she latched tightly onto the “kettle spout.”
“Mm…”
Deng Tianyu’s eyes widened. Now he understood.
His mouth = the kettle spout?
But why did this feel so wrong?
Deng Tianyu got it now — it was because he was being forcefully kissed that it felt wrong.
But the question was, should he push Li Shishi away or not?
If he didn’t push her away, she’d keep taking advantage of him, and most likely still wouldn’t get any water.
If he did push her away, he’d definitely wake up the big loli he’d worked so hard to get to sleep, and then she’d cling to him again for more stories.
After pondering for a moment, Deng Tianyu adopted a compromise. He gently shifted back, stirred his True Essence to bring the actual water kettle on the table over to him.
Then, tilting his head back, he very slowly and carefully pushed her away bit by bit, bringing the real kettle spout to Li Shishi’s rosy lips, hoping to replace the fake kettle with the real one.
“Why is there no water in the kettle?”
Li Shishi, still not awake, found it very strange and once again clung to the “kettle,” pressing herself against it.
Deng Tianyu’s expression was strange as he looked at the water kettle in his hand, then at Li Shishi, who was kissing him again.
Clearly, the real water kettle was right in front of her. Why did she insist on using the fake one?
Could she be pretending to be asleep?
But looking at her expression, it didn’t seem like she was faking it.
At this thought, Deng Tianyu reached out and fiercely tickled her waist.
In his memory, the big loli Li Shishi had always been very ticklish.
As long as he did this, she would surely jump up.
Unfortunately, she didn’t react at all and remained completely focused on hugging the “kettle,” using all her strength to drink water.
Deng Tianyu frowned. “She’s really asleep? Not pretending?”
Suddenly, he felt a wave of suffocation hit him.
“Uu…”
Only then did Li Shishi push him away, switching her embrace to the real water kettle. She gulped a few mouthfuls and then revealed a sweet smile.
“Phew…”
Freed at last, Deng Tianyu took a deep breath and sat on the edge of the bed.
He glanced at the little fox in his arms and found she was sleeping soundly, completely unaffected.
“Can’t even sleep peacefully!”
Helplessly, Deng Tianyu took the water kettle from the now-quenched Li Shishi’s hand, covered her with the silk blanket, and finally turned around and left the room.
After the door was closed and his figure had been gone for a long time, Li Shishi, who had already been asleep, opened her eyes. Her pretty face was flushed red as she giggled infatuatedly.
“So this is what kissing feels like!”
She couldn’t describe the sensation.
It was just a tingling, numbing feeling that made her whole body weak, yet she didn’t want to let go.
Anyway, during that lingering entanglement earlier, it felt like she was floating up into the clouds, her mind completely blank and dizzy.
It was also like soaking in warm water — warm, moist, and smooth.
“Hehe, so looking forward to the next time!”
At this moment, Li Shishi’s expression was dazed, both her eyes a demonic red, and her long, jet-black hair had, at some unknown point, turned a cinnabar red.
Her slender, pale fingertips stroked her delicate, glossy lips, seemingly savoring the sensation from before.
Suddenly, the tip of her nose caught the scent of alcohol, causing her elegant brows to furrow. She got up, drew a bucket of hot water, scattered brightly colored flower petals into it, shed her clothes, and slowly submerged herself.
“Splash…”
As ripples spread across the water’s surface and mist rose, Li Shishi leaned languidly against the edge of the tub and gradually drifted off to sleep.
The next day, warm, gentle light streamed through the window, spilling into every corner of the room.
“Mm…”
Feeling the faint warmth, Li Shishi opened her dazed eyes and scanned her surroundings, muttering to herself, “Why am I in the bath?”
“Last night you were dead drunk. Senior Brother carried you back to your room.”
A voice sounded, and a red phantom figure appeared inside the tub. It was unmistakably Hong Shi.
“And then?” At the mention of this, Li Shishi asked nervously.
She had no idea if she had managed to get Deng Tianyu drunk last night. Everything was still fuzzy in her head, and she couldn’t remember clearly.
Hong Shi’s lips curled into a charming smirk. “Then, you clung to Senior Brother, asking for a story, and fell asleep soon after.”
“How could this happen?!”
Li Shishi felt utterly miserable, as if the sky had fallen.
She had clearly seized such a rare opportunity, yet she hadn’t managed to do anything over the line with Deng Tianyu.
Suddenly, Li Shishi gnashed her teeth and questioned angrily,
“I remember now! Senior Brother wasn’t drunk at all last night.”
“Why didn’t you come out and drink in my place back then?”
They had agreed to get Deng Tianyu drunk together, but in the end, the other party hadn’t emerged, giving her the feeling of being stabbed in the back.
“It wouldn’t have helped even if I came out.”
“Senior Brother’s alcohol tolerance is too high, and the Peach Blossom Wine we bought was all finished.”
Facing her glare, Hong Shi was remarkably calm and explained unhurriedly.
The big loli Li Shishi said skeptically, “Is that so?”
She felt something was off, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what.
“What else?” Hong Shi sat on the edge of the tub, her snow-white, smooth jade legs swinging rhythmically as she shot back a question.
Hearing this, Li Shishi rested her little head on her arm, also leaning against the tub’s edge, and sighed. “Then what do we do now?”
“We can’t get Senior Brother drunk. The first step of the conquest plan has failed!”
“First, seize the time to cultivate the ‘Empress Reincarnation Art’ and strive to reach the entry level soon, so you can freely transform your form.”
“After that, we’ll find another chance to implement the second step of the conquest plan.”
Hong Shi narrowed her beautiful eyes and spoke with her red lips slightly parted.
Just as she finished speaking, recalling that lingering kiss from last night, she looked at Li Shishi and added,
“Actually, although the plan to get Senior Brother drunk failed last night, the objective was achieved.”
Li Shishi was taken aback. “What do you mean?”
“Through that ‘oral discussion’ with Senior Brother last night, I discovered a key point to conquering him.”
“What key point?”
“Senior Brother is too gentle with us. As long as we seize upon this point, we can slowly let the feelings between him and us heat up.”
“It’s like boiling a frog in warm water. By the time the frog realizes it, it’s already cooked through!”
Hong Shi smiled charmingly and laid out her idea.
Li Shishi frowned and loudly rebuked,
“Senior Brother treats me so well. How can you use his gentleness to achieve such a goal?”
“Oh? Then should we just forget about it?” Hong Shi glanced at her with keen interest.
Li Shishi took a deep breath, her expression turning serious. “No, that’s exactly what we’ll do!”
