Chapter 35: Silent Love

While Zeng Xiaofan’s mind was in utter turmoil in the bathroom, Bai Qingyao had also returned to her own room.

Xiao Changgui took the initiative to pick up the hair dryer and approached, inviting Bai Qingyao to sit before the dressing table so he could dry her hair himself.

“Well now? What’s gotten into you?” Bai Qingyao asked with a face full of puzzled amusement. “Has the sun risen in the west today? You’re actually volunteering to dry my hair? Are you after something?”

Xiao Changgui laughed heartily. “Nonsense, darling, what are you saying? Isn’t it only right for a husband and wife to help each other? It’s my fault, I admit, for not caring enough before. It’s just drying your hair—after this, I’ll do it for you every day if you like!”

“Hmph,” Bai Qingyao smiled, shaking her head and feigning annoyance. “I don’t believe a word you’re saying. Out with it—what do you really want? More gambling debts you can’t pay off?”

“No, no, really,” Xiao Changgui shook his head with a smile. “What, am I not even allowed to dry my own wife’s hair?”

“Fine, fine…” Bai Qingyao rolled her eyes, not bothering to spar with him further, knowing full well he’d get to his point eventually.

Sure enough, before her hair was even fully dry, Xiao Changgui leaned in, inhaled her fragrance deeply, and gazed earnestly at her reflection in the mirror. “Darling… you’re so beautiful!”

“Hmph.”

“I mean it, darling. You’re so sexy! I can hardly stand it…” Xiao Changgui swallowed hard.

Bai Qingyao’s face immediately darkened. “What’s wrong with you? Are you trying to bother me again? I’m not having it!” With that, she snatched the hair dryer from his hand and began drying her own hair. “I knew it—no one is attentive for no reason; you must be up to something. Don’t even think about it. All you ever manage is to cover me in your slobber, nothing else! Every time you leave me more uncomfortable, I can’t sleep, and for days after my body is left aching. Do you even know how miserable it feels?” She looked thoroughly aggrieved as she spoke.

Xiao Changgui hurriedly placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It won’t be like that! Darling, this time I have a really good feeling! I think if you just excite me a little more, I’ll be fine! My body will recover! Remember that remedy we read about online? It said that if I get a sufficiently strong stimulus, I might even have a second puberty!”

“Can we not?” Bai Qingyao sighed in exasperation. “Didn’t you tell me to buy those outfits to wear for you, saying it would excite you and make you better? Didn’t I do as you asked and wear them all? Wasn’t that stimulating enough? And yet you were still the same as ever…” She shook her head. “Please, just let me be. I’ve been feeling more and more irritable these days. Why don’t you just go wash up and get some sleep?”

She gently pushed his hand away, while Xiao Changgui frowned in growing anxiety. If Bai Qingyao wouldn’t agree to be intimate with him, then his whole plan would fall apart. He also heard Zeng Xiaofan, as per his earlier arrangement, had finished showering and was waiting in the living room…

“Qingyao… darling… don’t you want a son?” he asked, hitting her sore spot. Bai Qingyao fell silent at once.

Sensing her wavering, Xiao Changgui pressed on persuasively, “If we want a son, we have to try, don’t we? You know what they say: persistence doesn’t guarantee success, but without persistence, there’s no chance at all. That’s true in life and work, and also in our wish for a son!”

“Oh, enough already,” Bai Qingyao muttered, exasperated. “Stop with the grand speeches. Just get on with it.” She lay down on the bed, ready to remove her towel.

But Xiao Changgui quickly caught her hand and said seriously, “Qingyao, let’s not be so hasty. Why don’t you put on those special outfits you bought and we’ll play a stimulating game, all right?”

“You’re always coming up with something new,” Bai Qingyao shot him an impatient look. “What kind of game this time?”

Xiao Changgui’s eyes sparkled. “Let’s play a game called ‘Silent Love.’ You wear a blindfold and try to seduce me, but neither of us can speak—not at any crucial moment, not at all—until everything is over. How about it?”

Bai Qingyao nodded helplessly. “Whatever you say—it’s always about what you want. Since you can’t manage any other way, as long as you find it exciting, do as you wish. But don’t say I didn’t warn you—I'm sure you’ll be just the same as before, unable to do anything. In the end, I’ll be the one suffering again…” She let out a long sigh.

Xiao Changgui patted his chest, vowing, “Don’t worry! Qingyao, as long as you follow the rules—keep the blindfold on, don’t speak, and put on those clothes—I guarantee I’ll succeed this time. I promise!”

Bai Qingyao suddenly sensed something was amiss. Her brows drew together as she asked coldly, “What’s this supposed to mean? You’re making promises now? Why are you suddenly so confident? Are you up to something? Did you take medicine?”

“No, no…” Xiao Changgui waved his hands, but as he did, he worried she might suspect something else, so he quickly changed to nodding enthusiastically. “Ah! Nothing escapes you, my dear. Honestly, I got some imported medicine from the doctor, and I feel great after taking it. That’s why I know it’ll work this time!”

“I don’t want to hear it. I can hardly stand it myself right now. Go get changed!” she ordered.

“Really?” Bai Qingyao eyed him skeptically.

“Just you wait until you see me after you’re dressed,” Xiao Changgui urged.

Bai Qingyao could only shake her head in resignation. “Fine. You win—always full of tricks.” With that, she walked to the wardrobe and fetched the outfit she’d stowed away at the very bottom…