Chapter 552: Soaking In the Hot Springs
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
‘The men went to put down their luggage, while Zi Yi pulled Dou Xiangling to tour around the maple forest.
The red maple trees were reflected in the water. There were also snowflakes falling from the skies and evaporating due to the heat from the hot springs, along with the occasional maple leaves that fell.
Dou Xiangling was so mesmerized by the scene before her that she was not willing to even blink. “I’ll paint here in the afternoon.”
Zi Yi agreed. “It’s a sin not to paint such beautiful scenery.”
Dou Xiangling was amused by her words. “That’s right. There are many places here that we need to take photos of and I feel that even three days is insufficient.”
“Then we’ll stay here longer.”
“No way. Your wedding date is approaching and we have to help out then.”
Zi Yi shrugged her shoulders. “Alright then.”
‘They took a walk around and stopped at a large maple tree. Zi Yi caught two maple leaves that fell with one hand and she suddenly had an idea. She asked Dou Xiangling in a casual tone, “What do you think of same-sex love?”
Dou Xiangling was a little surprised at her question, but she still answered her, “As long as it’s true love, it is worthy of being treated with respect.”
Zi Yi turned her head to Dou Xiangling. “Have you ever met someone like that around you?”
“Yes.” Dou Xiangling nodded her head. “There are many artists with such sexual orientation.”
Zi Yi pondered for a moment and continued asking, “Then if that man has feelings for both men and women, and he wants to sleep with both, what do you think about it?”
“It’s not good.” Dou Xiangling furrowed her eyebrows. “This type of person can be considered as having an abnormal mindset.”‘ At the thought of such a situation, she was unable to accept it.
Zi Yi finally felt slightly at ease after hearing Dou Xiangling’s answer.
However, she did not continue on this topic and decided to wait until Lu Jingye had taken action on his side.
The two of them walked around the forest for quite some time until Dou Zerui came looking for them.
“My dear beautiful ladies, are you planning to treat the scenery as your meal? It’s already lunchtime. Aren’t you hungry?”
Both of them answered at the same time,
“Let’s go and grab a meal. We can soak in the hot springs after lunch.”
The three of them made their way to the building that was closest to them, as there was a restaurant there.
Lu Jingye was already at the restaurant and had ordered the dishes. By the time the three of them had arrived, a staff member just so happened to walk past them as he headed to the kitchen with the order and menu in his hand.
The other customers who entered were all seated at other tables.
There was also other staff within the restaurant and all of them were sneaking peeks at Lu Jingye.
Dou Zerui deliberately teased her. “Yiyi, you have to keep a close eye on Little Lu. Look at those women, all of them are acting as if they can’t wait to stick their eyeballs onto him.”
Zi Yi gave him a glare and headed towards Lu Jingye who was currently sitting at the table while on his phone.
Dou Xiangling scolded Dou Zerui. “Brother, how could you joke about that with Yiyi at this point in time. What if she gets angry?”
Dou Zerui laughed in response. “Don’t worry. Yiyi is extremely confident and so do you think she will be angry?”
Dou Xiangling also gave him a glare before she made her way over.
Just as Zi Yi made her way over, Lu Jingye had ended the call.
The tables in the restaurant were all square-shaped while the seats were long benches. All the furniture was made of elmwood.
Supposedly it was just right for each of them to sit at one side of the table.
However, Zi Yi did not do that and instead, she went to sit beside Lu Jingye.
Dou Zerui could not help but scold her. “There’s four of us and it’ll be spacious for each of us to sit in each direction. Why do you insist on squeezing together with Little Lu.”
Zi Yi looked at him with an apathetic gaze. “I like it.”
She even deliberately hugged Lu Jingye’s arm and leaned her head on his shoulders while speaking in a coquettish voice. “Ah Jing, are you willing to sit with me too?”
Dou Zerui felt shivers coursing through his body due to Zi Yi’s voice. “Can you speak normally?”
Zi Yi narrowed her eyes. “No.”
Dou Zerui revealed an expression as if he could not take it anymore.
Dou Xiangling masked a smile behind her hands as she looked at their bickering.
Lu Jingye let Zi Yi and Dou Zerui bicker however they wanted and he said, “Ian will be coming to attend our wedding reception. He has already set off and will be arriving tomorrow morning.”
Zi Yi surprisingly released his arm and sat up properly. “Isn’t Ian supposed to be very busy? Why is he coming over so early?”
“He said that he’s going to stop by for a holiday too.”
Zi Yi was silent for a moment before she said, “Why do I feel that he’s thinking of skiving off work, and that’s why he came here so early?”
It had to be known that there were still dozens of days before their wedding. If Ian were to arrive during this period, he would have to stay in the capital for around half a month.
Dou Xiangling recalled the scene of Ian standing outside and playing the violin all night when he was drunk and she could not help but laugh. “Perhaps Mr. Ian wants to be the best man for Little Lu. You can use him to stop the incoming offers of alcohol.”
“Is Ian’s alcohol drinking capacity that good?” Zi Yi was suspicious.
Dou Xiangling said, “I don’t know if he’s good at drinking or not, but I feel that his behavior when drunk is not bad.”
Even if he got drunk, the only thing he did was play the violin and Dou Xiangling felt that Ian played the violin rather well.
Just then, a few staff members came over and served their dishes.
The dishes in the restaurant were mainly delicacies. There were fresh bamboo shoots, various types of mushrooms, as well as free-range chicken, duck, and goose meat.
Zi Yi and Dou Xiangling liked to eat the mushrooms.
Lu Jingye noticed that and said, “If you like it, we can take some home when we leave.”
Zi Yi nodded her head. “Sounds good. We can bring some back for Mom to try too.”
After lunch, the two men helped Zi Yi move the painting tools to the maple forest in the back.
Zi Yi and Dou Xiangling set up their easels and started painting.
Lu Jingye got someone to fetch a table and chair. He then placed his laptop on the table and the area immediately became his office.
Dou Zerui had nothing to do so he grabbed a lounge chair and borrowed some books from the villa owner. He simply lay down to read while enjoying the beautiful scenery.
There was heat dissipating from the hot springs and it was not chilly in the slightest.
A day’s time passed by very quickly.
After dinner, Zi Yi and Lu Jingye returned to their small courtyard.
The courtyard they were staying in had a wooden house and in the middle was a small hot spring.
Zi Yi saw the hot spring the moment she came in and she said, “Ah Jing, let’s soak in the hot springs.”
“Okay. The bathrobe is in the bedroom. Change into it and come out.”
Lu Jingye led her to the bedroom.
After they changed into their bathrobes, Zi Yi came out barefooted.
Lu Jingye, who was following behind her, held onto two large bath towels. “Test the water temperature before you go into the hot springs. Don’t be in a rush to jump in or else it will be uncomfortable.”
Zi Yi walked to the edge of the hot springs and one of her feet was already soaking inside. Upon hearing what he said, she turned around and gave him a sweet smile. “Got it.”
She then placed her feet in the water gently and started to undo her bathrobe.
Lu Jingye walked over and placed the bath towels on the long wooden chair before he came over to where Zi Yi was.
Zi Yi waited for him to approach and removed her bathrobe.
A lithe and graceful body was revealed in front of his line of sight and it was so brilliant that it dazzled his eyes.
Lu Jingye’s throat tightened. “I prepared a bathing suit for you, why didn’t you wear it?”