CHAPTER 66: CHAPTER 66: KIND OF LIKE A HOOLIGAN

The soft, moist touch unique to lips brought Ye Manman back to her senses in an instant. Her eyes widened as her face turned beet red.

She stared at He Chen, both shy and incredulous.

Ye Manman retracted her foot, feeling so embarrassed she seemed as if she’d be cooked alive, with steam about to burst from her head.

Oh my god.

He Chen hadn’t expected himself to suddenly do such a brainless thing. He quickly leaned backward, his face blazing with embarrassment.

"I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to..."

He Chen felt extremely guilty all of a sudden, embarrassed to the point he wished he could drop dead on the spot.

"Ahhh, you pervert!"

Ye Manman wanted to curl up and hug her suddenly-attacked foot, but the pain in her knee and palm made her stop.

So she could only blush and stretch her foot back out.

"Hurry up and clean it! You’ve smudged my foot!"

She spoke with a tone still slightly haughty, but her pretty toes curled instinctively, as if showcasing her nervousness.

He Chen looked down at her small foot, no longer daring to entertain any wild thoughts, fearing he might repeat such a brainless and perverse act again.

He carefully wiped her foot again, then fetched her special foot cream, and gently applied it with the back of his hand.

His hands were calloused both on the fingerpads and palms, and Ye Manman’s skin was so delicate that any pressure from him would cause her pain.

However, applying cream with the back of his hand wasn’t distributing it evenly, and the action looked awkwardly strange.

Ye Manman felt like he was teasing her foot with the back of his hand, though she had no proof.

The guy seemed so earnest.

So she could only feel embarrassed in secret, her earlobes faintly turning red, forcibly suppressing that strange feeling.

And He Chen himself felt the action was weird as well; her foot was so soft and smooth that he almost doubted if he was touching a face without her toes and nails.

Applying with the back of the hand felt embarrassingly improper, somewhat like a rascal.

The odd atmosphere hovered between the two until the sound of knocking at the front door broke the awkwardness.

He Chen opened the door to find that the visitor was the team leader.

"He Chen, pay attention to the flu lately. Your aunt, Li Hongmei, hasn’t recovered from her illness for a while now; we suspect it might be the flu. Liu Dongliang is sick too; they’re both stuck at home."

"Try not to have contact with their family members for a while. The town doctor suspects it’s related to the recent flood problem. Our village wasn’t experienced with flood control, and we didn’t do disinfection, so there might be some virus spreading."

"Li Hongmei was the first in the village, and today we found out Liu Dongliang is infected too. Other families have members with fevers and colds. Your household is close to theirs, so you need to be careful."

The team leader came specifically to remind He Chen. He knew about Li Hongmei’s family situation and their entanglements with He Chen’s family, concerned that Liu Tiejun might still be around causing trouble.

After all, he hadn’t found Liu Tiejun at Li Hongmei’s and planned to warn him not to wander around recklessly.

Now he had to settle for the second-best option and asked He Chen, whom Liu Tiejun might contact, to be extra cautious.

He Chen was stunned after hearing this and immediately thought about Liu Tiejun having recently touched Ye Manman’s foot.

Could it be contagious?!

Seeing He Chen’s face suddenly turn pale, the team leader felt a jolt of alarm.

"You didn’t come into contact with their family, did you?"

He Chen nodded, retelling the incident where he caught Liu Tiejun trying to steal from them, excluding mentioning Ye Manman.

The team leader slapped his thigh, realizing it was bad.

"You need to sanitize immediately at home, disinfect. Liu Tiejun might be carrying the virus."

He Chen quickly agreed, and after the team leader left, he hurried back to the room to share the situation with Ye Manman.

Ye Manman was also taken aback.

She really hadn’t considered this possibility; they’d never experienced flooding before, so they had no experience whatsoever.

Moreover, the original text hadn’t even mentioned the flu; it was nowhere in the novel, so why mention it now?

Or perhaps it was in the novel but not from the protagonist Ye Xiaotong’s perspective, so it was simply ignored?

Ye Manman also worried about herself and He Chen getting involved by Liu Tiejun, urging He Chen to close the home’s windows and rub vinegar.

But there was only a bit of vinegar at home; He Chen needed to buy more from town.

Besides vinegar, Ye Manman also instructed He Chen to buy medical alcohol and other items like mugwort and garlic.

Even though it was uncertain if disinfecting would be timely, doing something was better than nothing.

Ye Manman felt she needed thorough disinfection, especially since her foot had been grabbed by Liu Tiejun!

There had been physical contact, and she had exposed wounds, which was definitely dangerous.

So she endured the unpleasant vinegar smell, staying in the room while He Chen went to town to shop, feeling as if she had become stinky from the vinegar.

He Chen was very worried about Ye Manman getting infected, so he rode his bike swiftly, not stopping even when someone called his name from the roadside.

Leaving Gao Huifang at the roadside, angrily cursing.

"Really, why ride so fast? We finally met and couldn’t even exchange a few words, as if rushing for reincarnation."

Gao Huifang kicked a small stone on the roadside, feeling extremely frustrated.

She had been desperately seizing opportunities to encounter He Chen, wandering every day in places he might pass by in the village. However, after finally meeting him, she couldn’t even strike up a conversation, which worried her to death.

Perhaps he was deliberately ignoring her or something.

Strolling dejectedly, Gao Huifang suddenly discovered Liu Tiejun, who had fainted in a corner due to extreme hunger and pain.

This road was seldom traveled, a more remote area of the village, but it was on the way for Gao Huifang to return from the village to the zhiqing headquarters. This dilapidated corner had been crumbling for years; she wondered why someone would suddenly be lying there.

Gao Huifang found Liu Tiejun familiar and couldn’t recall who he was until she got closer to recognize him as He Chen’s cousin.

She had once witnessed firsthand their family confrontation with He Chen and Ye Manman at the square meat distribution. She’d heard Liu Tiejun’s father ended up in jail later.

Gao Huifang remembered Liu Tiejun vividly because he had once said something particular; he believed his cousin’s wife would be his when he grew up.

In other words, Liu Tiejun surely fancied He Chen’s current wife, Ye Manman.

If she saved Liu Tiejun and goaded him into snatching away or tormenting Ye Manman, and if that left He Chen heartbroken, would she then not have her chance?

With this thought, Gao Huifang was delighted, feeling heaven-sent and quickly crouched down intending to wake Liu Tiejun up.

However, Liu Tiejun was so filthy, his face covered in a disgusting mix of snot and soot, that Gao Huifang couldn’t bring herself to push him even after several attempts.

Finally, she came up with an idea and picked up a stick to poke him.

It took quite a while for Liu Tiejun to wake up from the poking.

As he opened his eyes, his head was spinning, and his vision was blurred, but he could clearly see Gao Huifang’s fairly pretty face, which seemed as beautiful as a fairy.

Seeing him awake, Gao Huifang immediately feigned joy as she leaned in.

"Oh my, you’re finally awake?"