Yu He’s gaze fell upon Qin Beiting, sweeping up his body as if she could see his well-built physique through his clothes, finally resting on his devastatingly handsome face.
“Want a gift? Alright, give me ten of your photos first, and I’ll trade them for medicinal herbs,” she said.
Qin Beiting: “……”
“The kind you accidentally sent last time,” Yu He added.
Qin Beiting: “…………”
He had been quite curious about how the young girl would photograph him. He never expected her to directly ask him for photos!
“None. I don’t take selfies,” Qin Beiting flatly refused.
“Didn’t you send one to someone else last time? And sent it by mistake,” Yu He looked at him, her eyes filled with suspicion. She clearly didn't believe him.
“Are you jealous?” Qin Beiting looked at her, a smile of unknown meaning playing on his lips.
Yu He thought of his past dealings with Qi Yuanyuan, and the annoyance that had finally faded was stirred up again.
“Don’t change the subject! The herbs are for you. Hurry up,” she urged, her expression unreadable.
The young girl was truly stubborn.
Qin Beiting opened his phone’s photo album and handed it to her.
“There really are none. I didn’t send it to someone else by mistake last time; I chose the wrong photo to send to you. I originally intended to send you a different one. My private photos are only for you to see.”
Yu He had intended to say she wouldn't look, but her eyes involuntarily drifted to his phone screen.
There were only two photos in the album.
One was the abdominal muscle photo from last time, and the other was a selfie of his stunning beauty. There was text below it, but it was too small to read.
Yu He: “……”
She didn’t quite believe him, so she raised her hand and swiped the screen to check.
The phone’s album truly only had two photos!
“…………”
“Who did you make this deal with? And what herbs are you trading for?” Qin Beiting asked, feigning ignorance.
Yu He didn’t want to reveal too much. She lowered her thick, long eyelashes. “Someone with peculiar tastes. The herbs are to cure you.”
Qin Beiting: “……”
“The Black Spirit Pearl? I heard it fell into the hands of the Anonymous Divine Doctor,” Qin Beiting asked again.
He looked at Yu He, his gaze subtly probing her expression.
She remained expressionless. Upon hearing ‘Anonymous Divine Doctor,’ her eyelashes merely flickered slightly. She had disguised it well, but he still noticed.
“Then you’re overestimating yourself!” Yu He scoffed.
Ten private photos to exchange for the Black Spirit Pearl?!
If it were that easy, she wouldn't have had to bid at Xing Que, spending 880 million and agreeing to three demands.
Now she was short on cash for the herbs and the remaining payment…
Qin Beiting’s lips couldn’t help but curve upward. The young girl didn’t want to confess, and he wasn't going to expose her.
“Less nonsense, take ten photos of yourself and send them to me!” Yu He threw the phone back at him and turned to go upstairs to bed.
Qin Beiting grabbed her hand. “I’m still sick and can’t take photos. Could you take them for me?”
Yu He paused. His hands were large, his fingers long and slender. Even with the strong heating indoors, his body temperature was still cool, a sign of deep-seated coldness.
She turned back to see Qin Beiting leaning against the back of the sofa, his long, well-defined fingers unbuttoning his shirt, one button at a time.
The buttons on his shirt weren't fully fastened to begin with, leaving his collar open and revealing his slender collarbone.
In the span of a moment, he had undone two buttons, exposing his firm chest, revealing a large expanse of light honey-colored skin. Under the black shirt, it exuded an aura of restraint.
Yu He’s gaze involuntarily followed his left hand downwards, and the image of the sexy muscle lines from the photo, as well as the time they had accidentally fallen onto the bed, suddenly flashed through her mind.
That firm, hard muscle texture…
Seeing Qin Beiting’s hand reach for the fourth button, Yu He abruptly turned back and stopped his hand from unbuttoning further.
“I’ll have Chen Dong take them for you tomorrow,” she said, her earlobes turning slightly red.
Who was he trying to tempt in the middle of the night!
“No, my body isn’t something just anyone can see,” Qin Beiting refused.
Yu He: “…Weren’t you in the military? Did you not have communal baths?”
Besides, wasn’t Chen Dong the one who had been helping you with your baths these past few nights?
“The military baths were a long time ago, and I was usually last, so there was no one else.”
Qin Beiting said, sitting up and leaning close to her ear, “Do you want to see more?”
Yu He’s breath hitched.
It wasn't the first time she had seen his body. She had accidentally glimpsed it before, but she hadn't felt this drawn to it then.
Perhaps it was ever since she received that photo from him that his robust physique had been lingering in her mind.
“Do you want to touch?”
Qin Beiting looked at her face, so close he could feel her breath. Her features were exquisite, her skin like jade, her eyelashes long and curled like little fans, and her dark eyes sparkled.
“……”
Yu He felt the breath on her ear and suddenly realized how close they were.
She instinctively wanted to step back, but Qin Beiting had already grabbed her hand and pressed it against his chest.
Yu He’s earlobes immediately turned red, but she didn’t pull her hand away.
With such a good physique, who could resist the temptation!
And she had wanted to touch it for a long time!
She subconsciously swallowed, bracing herself on the sofa with her legs. Her fair hand, like a tender shoot, rested on his chest.
The muscles were firm, the lines clear, and his physique was perfectly proportioned, not overly bulky, hitting all the right spots for her.
It was just that his skin temperature was slightly cool, and a jagged gunshot scar on his left chest marred the aesthetic.
She remembered he had scars on his back and sides, almost all of them life-threatening. It was truly a miracle he was alive.
The thought of him injured every time made Yu He feel a pang of sadness.
“It must have hurt a lot, right?” she asked, rubbing the scar on his chest.
Qin Beiting felt a tremor in his heart from her touch, his breathing deepening. “It’s alright. I’m numb to it now.”
Yu He’s heart ached even more. How many serious injuries must one endure to become numb to pain?
If he had left the Qin family with her and her grandmother back then, would his fate have been different?
The thought of the Qin family flashed a fleeting coldness in her eyes.
Qin Beiting noticed the subtle shift in her mood. His lips moved, “It’s getting late. I’ll tell you the stories behind these scars next time.”
Yu He snapped back to reality, realizing her current posture was that of a hooligan teasing a well-behaved boy. She quickly withdrew her hand, stood up, her ears bright red, and turned to go upstairs.
Behind her, Qin Beiting’s voice echoed, “Sleep early. For the photos you want, we’ll take them on the weekend. I’ll prepare myself.”
Yu He: “……”
What did he mean, ‘the photos she wanted’?
It was clearly a trade for his illness and medicine, wasn't it!
And what kind of preparation did he intend to do?
…
Back in her room, after washing up and lying in bed, Yu He felt the lingering sensation on her fingertips from just now.
She had finally fallen asleep, only to have a dream too shameful to utter. The next morning, she woke up startled by her own dream.