Chapter 960: Drenched Kitten In A Gunny Bag...
After adding more woodblocks to the fire and making sure it was enough, Ming Rusheng got one round flat clay pot kept at one corner of the workshop.
Sitting on the couch, wrapped in a warm blanket, Lu Lian observed what he was doing so seriously.
Ming Rusheng got one tong and put the half-burned blocks of wood in that clay pot. Once he filled the clay pot, he carried it towards the couch and put it on the floor, in front of Lu Lian, as he kneeled with his one knee resting on the floor while the other folded up.
She was puzzled by what he was doing. Even before she could understand, Ming Rusheng held her feet.
"What are you doing?" Lu Lian asked.
She tried to retreat her feet, but Ming Rusheng held it tighter as he glared at her.
"If you don't want to burn your feet, then stay still."
His warning worked on her, and she kept quiet but still embarrassed that he was holding her feet.
Ming Rusheng lifted the blanket a bit to uncover her feet and stopped just below her knees, "Hold it," he ordered.
Lu Lian held the corners of the blanket with her shivering hands, and Ming Rusheng held her feet just above the hot clay pot at some distance so only the heat from it would touch her feet.
Lu Lian could only stare at him while he was busy doing his things, making sure her feet won't feel much heat and checking her feet with his hands to check if they are warm enough.
A pink blush covered Lu Lian's face as she gulped and heard her heart beating in her ears.
Ming Rusheng looked at her to ask, "Is it too hot?"
Her eyes opened wide, "W-What..."
"Your feet," he replied and asked, "Is heat bearable, or should I hold them a little away?"
"N-No, it's fine," she answered.
Just as Ming Rusheng was about to look away, he noticed something, "Your face looks red? Are you feeling feverish?"
"N-No, I'm fine. When it's too cold, I turn red," she explained.
"Hmm," nodding a little, Ming Rusheng focused on warming her feet.
Lu Lian felt caught off guard with his sudden question but managed to answer somehow though what she said was not the truth.
When Ming Rusheng looked away, she touched her face with one hand, 'Am I that red?' she thought and glared at the man kneeling in front of her, 'This man is so dangerous. Never before has such an embarrassing thing happened to me.'
"Are you feeling warm enough?" Ming Rusheng asked again.
Trying not to blush, Lu Lian nodded.
Ming Rusheng let go of her feet and stood up as he picked up the hot clay pot to keep it away.
The atmosphere turned suddenly awkward, but Ming Rusheng finally asked the main thing.
"Why did you come here?"
Clearing her throat, she answered, "I came to ask you to go to your room as it was cold outside."
"And you?" he asked.
"I would be here as I was occupying your room," she answered, knowing she was acting like an idiot.
"So you think you can stand to this cold?" he asked sarcastically, glaring at the thoughtless lady in front of him.
"I wouldn't have died, so it was fine," she replied.
Ming Rusheng didn't know how to react as he pressed his temples, and Lu Lian could see he was not happy with what she did.
"Anyways, we can't go back now, so stay here," he instructed.
"Hmm," she agreed.
Lu Lian, too, understood it better that it was impossible to go back in that rain as she somehow managed to reach there. Also, those frightening lightning sounds she heard while walking in the dark path were enough to scare her and make her drop the idea to go back.
Feeling all cold, Lu Lian felt like she needed to pee but didn't know how to say it.
Seeing her awkward expressions, Ming Rusheng asked, "Do you need something?"
"I need to go to the washroom," she answered, not knowing if she would be able to hold it for so long if she didn't go now.
"You know where it is," he said as she worked here the entire day, so she knew it.
"Hmm."
Nodding, she stood up and left the blanket on the couch. She felt the cold the moment she let go of the blanket and circled her hands around her chest as she rubbed the sides of her arms.
Ming Rusheng knew she felt cold, but nothing more he could do at this moment as it would be like crossing lines and making her uncomfortable.
The shirt she was wearing was wet because of rain in some places, and at some part, her undergarments were visible through the white shirt.
Ming Rusheng averted his sight, but he couldn't ignore that her clothes were wet.
Sighing deeply, he instructed. "Wait."
She stopped, her legs shivering a bit, and trying to warm her palms by rubbing them.
Ming Rusheng pulled out the black full-sleeved T-shirt he was wearing and went to her.
Lu Lian looked away as he was topless and his toned drool-worthy body was exposed to her.
Ming Rusheng didn't mind it and stepped towards her. Holding her hand, he put the T-shirt in her hands, "This is the last piece of clothing I can give you. If you ruined it now, expect yourself to wear nothing in front of me."
COUGH! COUGH!
Her face turned even red, "I don't need it."
"Then you should have protected what I already gave you," said Ming Rusheng and stepped closer to her.
Shivering, she stepped back, but Ming Rusheng held her at the waist and pulled her closer.
Even before she could utter a word in between chattering of her teeth, Ming Rusheng held the two sides of her shirt at the waist and pulled on either side that made the stapler pins undone.
She could only stare at him in disbelief as she had no energy left to argue or protest. The cold and the shivering made her weak.
"You would not want to wear it now," Ming Rusheng commented and pulled the sides of the shirt on her thighs up and did the same with it that made the stapler pins on her thigh's side come off.
The shirt restored its original look, and she looked like a poor drenched kitten in a gunny bag, which made Ming Rusheng smile.
Ming Rusheng stepped back, and she could finally breathe. She looked at him, "What will you wear?"
"I'm fine as long as your imagination won't go wild seeing me like this," he teased, but his expressions were serious.
She frowned and thought, 'My ass," and stepped towards the bathroom.
'Making her angry is the easiest way to make her work faster,' Ming Rusheng thought as he smiled.
Cold shiver hit his bare body, 'Damn this cold.' he thought and went towards the fireplace so he could warm himself.
Lu Lian went to the bathroom. Relieving herself while shivering to her bones, she managed to change her clothes. The T-shirt was not as long as a shirt to cover her lower body completely. Though it completely covered her butt, she felt it was short and tried to adjust it longer by pulling.
But there was no use, so she let it go and came out of the bathroom while holding a wet white shirt in front to cover her bare thighs.
Ming Rusheng, who was warming himself in front of the fire, saw her and instructed, "Get into the blanket before you freeze to death."
She did so, and Ming Rusheng went to her as he kept the hot clay pot near the couch to keep the air warm.
"Shirt," he signaled her to give it to him.
Lu Lian did so, and he hung it on the backrest of the chair near the fireplace so it would dry soon.
Lu Lian sat on the sofa and covered herself with the blanket as she looked at Ming Rusheng, who was putting more woodblocks in the fire.
Though she tried to avoid looking at him, she couldn't deny he had such a great body and could make anyone drool over it. She could see his toned back with a wide shoulder and his strong arms. Her sight traced his body from his long neck down, along his backbone to his waist, where she had to stop as he wore pants.
She felt disappointed with the sudden disturbance when she just started to enjoy, but the next moment shook her head to get back to her senses.
'What the heck! What am I doing?' she frowned at herself.
Ming Rusheng looked at her, "Is there anything wrong?" he asked.
"Huh?" His question startled her, and she felt caught by him.
Ming Rusheng looked at her questioningly.
Smiling awkwardly, she tried to explain, "N-Nothing. Just a bit hot...I..mean cold, so need this place to be a bit hot."
Just then lights went off.