Bathing
Do not look at what is inappropriate to see.
The early spring lake water was ice-cold and bone-chilling.
The coldness seeped into her bones, and Lu Yinxi’s teeth chattered from the cold, her jaws clenched tightly.
Once in the water, all her hesitation before leaving the shore faded away. She swam desperately towards Director Yan, with only one thought in her mind: to save him.
She grew up in the coastal regions of the south. Though she appeared frail, like all the village children, she spent her childhood catching fish and shrimp in the village’s ponds and ditches, growing up wild. When she got a bit older, she lived near the hospital in the city. Next door was the medical school, which had a swimming pool open to the public for free. Every summer afternoon, she would soak in the pool, mastering backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly stroke, and sidestroke.
Several people on the lakeshore were shouting for help loudly. Jian Qing ran over, leaning on the stone-built embankment railing, gazing at Lu Yinxi’s figure.
Lu Yinxi swam very fast, like a nimble fish, heading straight for the struggling man in the lake.
Jian Qing gripped the embankment railing tightly, watching Lu Yinxi, her heart pounding and her lips pressed into a thin line.
She couldn’t swim; getting into the water would be useless and only drag others down.
As the crowd around them grew larger, the panic in her eyes lasted only a few seconds before she quickly regained her composure and began organizing the onlookers to take off their coats and tie them into a rope.
Director Yan was bobbing up and down in the lake, his arms flailing wildly.
A drowning person who can’t swim will instinctively grab onto anything they can, so one must never rescue them from the front. Otherwise, it’s easy to get caught by the drowning person, making it hard to break free, leading to both drowning.
Lu Yinxi swam to Director Yan’s side, avoiding his front, and maneuvered around to his back. She threaded her left arm through his armpit and locked onto his body, using a sidestroke position to drag him towards the embankment.
Just now, he had climbed over the embankment railing and leapt down, jumping into the lake.
Fortunately, this was an artificial lake, calm and without waves, so when they jumped in, there were no waves pushing them away. The two were less than ten meters from the shore, and with a few strokes, they made it back.
However, the embankment railing was two meters above the water surface, making it impossible for Lu Yinxi to get them both up.
A hundred meters away, there was indeed a staircase-like entrance, but she wasn’t confident she could swim a hundred meters while dragging someone and then get ashore.
The embankment was built with rectangular granite blocks, rough and uneven on the surface.
With her left arm hooking onto the person, Lu Yinxi tried to grab onto the crevices between the blocks with her right hand, but the blocks had been eroded by rain and lake water over the years and were covered with algae, making them slippery to the touch.
Unable to hold on, she could only rely on paddling to keep her balance, as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.
On the shore, Jian Qing quickly threw down the rope made of tied clothes, with several young onlookers tightly holding onto the end of the rope on the shore.
Lu Yinxi grabbed the rope. With the support of the pulling force, she leaned most of her body against the rope, leaving her hands entirely occupied and unable to tie the rope around the person.
How was she supposed to get Director Yan up?
Just as she was wondering, Jian Qing shouted from the shore, “It’s a slipknot, loop it around his waist.”
Hearing this, Lu Yinxi examined the end of the rope closely and saw that it indeed had a slipknot, which could be directly looped around a person without needing to be tied manually.
She looped the rope around Director Yan’s waist, and the people above worked together to pull him up bit by bit.
Without the support of the rope and no one to drag, Lu Yinxi floated in the water, gradually losing the sensation of the bone-chilling cold of the lake.
She was numb from the cold…
She recalled a time in the dead of winter when she was an obscure, small-time actress filming a scene where she fell into a river. Jumping into the river water, she felt the same way upon emerging—her limbs were so numb that she couldn’t feel a trace of cold.
Her limbs grew increasingly stiff, and her teeth continued to chatter uncontrollably. She slowly paddled in the lake.
Jian Qing watched her from the shore, looking down from above.
Lu Yinxi noticed Jian Qing’s gaze and worried that she looked too disheveled, not presenting a good image. She wiped the water from her face, revealed a smile, and loudly explained to the people on the shore, “I’ve been able to swim since I was a child, don’t worry.”
Jian Qing’s eyes were deep and expressionless as she looked at Lu Yinxi for a few seconds before turning her gaze to watch the crowd untie the rope from Director Yan.
Director Yan’s eyes were tightly closed, and his abdomen was bulging, evidently filled with lake water.
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The procedure for resuscitating a drowning person differs from ordinary CPR. Ordinary CPR starts with chest compressions followed by artificial respiration. For drowning victims, due to hypoxia, one must first clear the airway, open the airway, perform artificial respiration, and then proceed to chest compressions.
Once the rope was untied, the crowd laid him on the ground. Jian Qing positioned him correctly, placed her hand on his carotid artery, and found a pulse.
Upon further examination, she also felt a movable lump.
A hint of surprise flashed in Jian Qing’s eyes.
Someone nearby patted his cheek, and he quickly regained consciousness, coughed a few times, and spit out some water.
It seemed that he had been rescued just in time, with no significant damage, only choking on some water.
Some kind-hearted onlookers took off their coats to keep him warm.
“Uncle, how could you be so careless?”
“How did you fall in even with the railing there?”
“Did something happen? Please don’t lose hope. Whatever the problem, sit down with your family and solve it together!”
The onlookers asked a few questions. Jian Qing stood up, walked back to the railing, and looked down at Lu Yinxi in the water.
The people by the railing checked the rope again and, finding no breaks, threw the rope down once more to rescue her.
Lu Yinxi looped the slipknot at the end of the rope around her waist, grabbed the rope, and pressed her feet against the embankment wall. The people above slowly pulled her up.
As soon as she crossed over the railing, her body slumped, almost collapsing to the ground.
Jian Qing quickly caught her.
She collapsed into Jian Qing’s arms, soaking wet and shivering uncontrollably.
“Should we call an ambulance?”
“Go to the hospital for a check-up. The First Affiliated Hospital is nearby.”
Director Yan waved his hand and spat out some more water, saying, “No need… no need… I’m fine, I’ve recovered…”
He didn’t want to make a big deal out of it and didn’t want his colleagues at the hospital to know.
Jian Qing picked up the clothes Lu Yinxi had previously dropped on the ground, wrapped them around her, and then, holding Lu Yinxi, asked the other person who had fallen into the water without any politeness, “Director, do you want me to call the police, or should I notify your family?”
She didn’t care about the reason he jumped into the lake, nor did she engage in any collegial concern or small talk. She just coldly followed procedure, making him choose between “reporting to the police” and “calling his family.”
Director Yan coughed a few times, his face pale, and said, “I’ll walk home myself.”
Jian Qing, straightforward and direct, said, “That’s not an option. I’ll contact the police and have them take you home.”
As she spoke, she took out her phone and dialed 110.
“Wait!” Director Yan stopped her, sat on the ground, gasped a few times, and hesitated, “Don’t call the police, I’ll give you a number…”
He gave her his wife’s phone number.
His wife, who lived in the family housing near the hospital, hurried over on her little electric scooter. Seeing Director Yan, drenched and soaking wet, she cried out in distress, rushed over to him, and began hitting him while sobbing, “Old Yan, you scared me to death! Why did you suddenly send me the bank card passwords and tell me where you hid your secret stash of money… Were you planning something stupid? Huh?”
With the handover completed, Jian Qing lifted the soaking wet person in her arms and was about to leave.
Lu Yinxi, clinging to her neck from her back, suddenly patted her shoulder vigorously, “Wait, wait, wait, don’t forget my spicy crayfish!”
The onlookers burst into laughter seeing Lu Yinxi, drenched but still thinking about food. Someone kindly picked up the crayfish and handed it to her, sparing Jian Qing the need to bend down.
Lu Yinxi accepted it with thanks and bid farewell to Director Yan, “Director, we’re leaving now. Discuss any issues with your wife calmly at home. Don’t rush. No matter how big the problem is, fill your stomach first. Live one day at a time, and enjoy one meal at a time.”
The onlookers also offered their advice, and Director Yan wiped away his wife’s tears.
Jian Qing said nothing and left with Lu Yinxi on her back.
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On the way, Lu Yinxi, draped over Jian Qing’s back, chattered incessantly, while Jian Qing remained silent.
“When I saw you coming, I jumped in to save him.”
“I was ninety percent sure I could rescue him.”
“He chose dusk, chose a crowded park. It must have been impulsive, not a planned, premeditated s*icide.”
Lu Yinxi cautiously asked, “Are you mad at me? Do you think I was too impulsive?”
“No,” Jian Qing’s face was frosty, “Showing courage and doing what’s right is a good thing.”
“Then why… why are you ignoring me?”
She always denies it when she’s angry, even though her face is frosty enough to freeze someone to death.
Jian Qing was silent for a few seconds and said, “I’m not ignoring you.”
Lu Yinxi tightened her grip on the arm around Jian Qing’s neck and obediently said, “I know I worried you. I’ll be more careful in the future.”
Jian Qing responded with a simple “Hmm” and didn’t say much more.
As the sun set, the twilight cast its glow on them, stretching their shadows long.
As soon as they got home, Lu Yinxi was dragged into the bathroom of Jian Qing’s bedroom.
Jian Qing said, “Take off your clothes and soak in the bath.”
Lu Yinxi looked at the bathtub, “I just realized today that your bathroom has a bathtub. Why does mine only have a shower?”
Jian Qing explained, “Your room is the guest bedroom.”
“Oh, so the guest bedroom is a lower tier…”
“Stop chattering. Take off your clothes and take a bath.”
Lu Yinxi grabbed her damp collar, sat on the edge of the bathtub, and looked at Jian Qing, “Are you upset that I’m dirtying your floor? But, with you watching me now, how am I supposed to undress?”
She blinked innocently.
“I’m not upset…” After this explanation, Jian Qing folded her arms, her eyes moving as she looked Lu Yinxi up and down.
Drenched from head to toe, a few soft strands of hair clung to her temples. Her small face was pale from the cold, lips colorless, and her wet clothes clung to her body, outlining her delicate curves.
Jian Qing’s eyes darkened, and she turned her gaze away, saying, “There’s nothing much to see anyway.”
Lu Yinxi made a goofy face at her, baring her teeth: “Shoo, shoo, shoo, go away!”
Jian Qing turned and left, not forgetting to close the door behind her.
Near the bathtub were several bottles of shower gel, shampoo, body lotion, hair conditioner, and other toiletries. Lu Yinxi looked at them one by one and chose a bubble bath shower gel.
This block of ice actually likes this kind of shower gel that makes a lot of bubbles.
She squeezed some into the bathtub, turned on the water, and soon the bathtub was filled with hot water and bubbles.
In the steamy mist, Lu Yinxi took off her soaking wet clothes.
Stripped bare, she looked down, her gaze sweeping over her chest, abdomen, and legs, muttering to herself, “What’s not to look at… still looks fine…”
She stepped into the bathtub and lay down. Her cold body was submerged in the hot water, her pores expanded, and warmth seeped into her limbs and bones. Her frozen body gradually relaxed, and Lu Yinxi closed her eyes, letting out a long sigh.
The hot water made her drowsy. It was so comfortable that she nearly drifted off to sleep in the bathtub, when suddenly there was a “knock, knock” at the door.
The gradually slipping Lu Yinxi was startled awake, splashing water everywhere as she slapped the surface.
She shouted towards the door, “What do you want?”
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A cool, calm voice came from outside the door, “Bringing a bathrobe.”
Lu Yinxi hurriedly scanned the bathroom, looking for something to cover herself with, but found nothing.
Not even a curtain to hide behind…
She glanced at the bubbles in the bathtub, completely covering her body. There shouldn’t be any risk of exposure.
“Thanks, come in.”
Jian Qing pushed the door open, hung the bathrobe on the wall hook, and didn’t immediately look over.
Lu Yinxi watched Jian Qing’s every move like guarding against a thief.
After hanging the bathrobe, Jian Qing lowered her arms and turned her head, looking at the person soaking in the bathtub. Her gaze carefully traced her brows, her eyes, her lips.
Lu Yinxi raised her hand to cover her suddenly flushed face, “Don’t look at what you shouldn’t! Don’t peek at others bathing, I’m not good-looking!”
Jian Qing didn’t respond, taking one step closer.
The author has something to say:
Hahaha, you all dislike my book title so much. Alright, I’ll find some time tomorrow to ask the editor to change it to 《She is the Third Kind of Peerless Beauty》.
I want to apologize to everyone. After the New Year, work has been busier, and sometimes I work overtime until very late, so I may not always be able to update regularly. If it weren’t for entering the VIP section, I would have chosen to update sporadically. For VIP works, no matter what, I will ensure updates of at least 10,000 words per week, aiming to update every other day, and if I have time, I will update daily, guaranteeing the story’s completion. Thank you all for your continued support. Good night, kisses.
