277: Chapter 277 Hard-won - 3

Having barely endured until the second half of the plank variations, Su Ning's physical strength finally ran out completely. Her core gave out, and with an "Ouch," she flopped directly onto the floor.

"I... I can't... let me rest a bit... my life depends on it..."

Ye Cheng was actually nearing her limit as well. Seeing that Su Ning, the "main force," had crashed, she followed suit and pushed herself up to sit cross-legged on the floor, her chest heaving violently and drenched in fragrant sweat.

She glanced at Jiang Ye on the sofa, who had already transitioned from "observing" to "appreciating" mode with a mysterious smile on his face, and she suddenly felt a surge of irritation.

Good grief, the two of us are working ourselves to death here just to give you an "eyeful," exhausted like dogs, and here you are, watching us like it's some kind of movie?! Do you have any humanity left!

She rolled her eyes irritably and gave a heavy cough.

"Jiang Ye! Your smile is too lewd, tone it down! Get over here and hand us some towels! To wipe the sweat!"

Being called out, Jiang Ye finally snapped out of his "artistic appreciation." He hurriedly said "Oh, oh" a couple of times, grabbed the three towels, and walked over.

Lin Wanxing looked at Su Ning slumped on the floor and Ye Cheng with her face flushed red, feeling a bit impressed in her heart.

Pamela Reif workouts are quite intense for those without a foundation. Since they managed to hold on until now, it seemed their determination to exercise this time was quite strong.

"Wanxing..."

Jiang Ye handed her towel over. "Wipe off the sweat promptly after exercising so you don't catch a cold."

"Thank you."

Lin Wanxing smiled, took the towel, and wiped her forehead and neck.

Although the amount of exercise wasn't much for her, having to explain and demonstrate while leading two beginners had caused her to break into a light sweat as well.

When Ye Cheng and Su Ning saw her finally take the towel, they both breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling that their long setup had finally seen the light of day.

Ye Cheng quickly finished wiping her sweat, coughed again, and naturally handed the towel back to Jiang Ye. "Thanks, help me put it back."

Su Ning blinked and also waved her hand to hand over her towel. "Thanks, help me put it back too."

Then...

Jiang Ye silently squatted down next to Lin Wanxing, who had just finished wiping her sweat and was about to stand up.

Ye Cheng, Su Ning, and Jiang Ye—the eyes of all three people instantly focused on Lin Wanxing... and the towel in her hand.

Lin Wanxing: "???"

She looked down at the towel in her hand, then looked up at the three people in front of her with their burning gazes, and suddenly felt a strong, bizarre urge to "maintain the formation."

Under this invisible pressure, almost subconsciously, Lin Wanxing also handed the towel in her hand toward Jiang Ye, saying casually:

"Thanks, help me put it ba—"

Halfway through her sentence, she suddenly snapped out of it!

Wait!

Where did this inexplicable sense of ritual come from?

She looked at those three faces with different expressions but highly unified gazes (Ye Cheng: Give it to him! Su Ning: Give it to him, give it to him! Jiang Ye: I'm begging you!), and she was hit by a sudden realization.

Oh no! It's a setup!

Her strong survival instinct made her change her words instantly as she stood up abruptly. "You guys chat, I'm going to wash up first..."

Before she could finish, Su Ning, who was slumped on the floor, suddenly jerked upright like she'd been electrocuted. "Oh! My body is covered in sweat, it's so sticky... I need to go take a shower right away!"

"Yeah! We really should wash up properly. A hot shower after exercising is the most comfortable thing."

Ye Cheng also stood up instantly and gave an exaggerated stretch. "Jiang Ye, sorry to trouble you with throwing the towels in the washing machine. We'll just use bath towels directly."

After saying that, the two exchanged a look that said "cutting off the enemy's retreat" and zoomed into the two public bathrooms respectively, closing the doors with two loud "bangs."

In an instant, the living room was left with only Lin Wanxing, who was still holding her towel and standing there a bit dazed, and Jiang Ye, who was squatting on the floor, looking up at her expectantly.

Jiang Ye gave a dry cough and tried to make his expression look incredibly sincere.

"Wanxing, look, they're both showering, and the bathrooms are occupied. If you want to wash up too, how about... going to my master bedroom to wash? There's no one else there, you can wash with peace of mind."

"..."

Lin Wanxing glanced at him expressionlessly, then looked down at the towel in her hand that felt like a hot potato.

She couldn't guess at all what this guy was up to.

He wanted her towel?

That didn't make sense; her towel was always hanging in the bathroom, and her bath towel was also drying on the balcony. If he really had some special fetish, he could just go and get it himself; there was no need to go through all this trouble to put on a play.

However, she had a very strong intuition.

If she didn't hand over this towel now, there would surely be a "sequel" waiting for her that would be even more embarrassing and harder to handle.

Choosing the lesser of two evils.

Lin Wanxing took a deep breath and expressionlessly placed the towel gently onto Jiang Ye's palm, which had been held out all this time.

"Here, then I'll trouble you to wash it along with the others."

"No trouble at all!"

Jiang Ye looked at this hard-won trophy and quickly scanned the light screen in his mind.

[Monthly Mission 'Intimate Treasure' Completion Progress: 2/3]

Success!

It finally freaking worked!

A huge weight was lifted off Jiang Ye's heart, and he almost wept with joy.

Heaven knows how many brain cells he had sacrificed and how many resources he had mobilized for the sake of the word "natural"!

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the entire Jiang Group had been mobilized!

He stood up and watched Lin Wanxing turn back to her room with a face full of confusion. He casually tossed the three towels into the washing machine, poured in some laundry detergent, and pressed the start button.

With the mission sorted, Jiang Ye rubbed his chin, reminiscing about the moving scenery from just now, and his heart suddenly felt an itch.

He turned and walked to the bathroom door that Ye Cheng had just entered and knocked.

"Cheng Cheng, have you started washing yet?"

Ye Cheng's wary voice came from inside. "Not yet, just took off my clothes. What's up?"

"Oh, then come out for a bit and make some room for Wanxing."

Jiang Ye's tone was full of criticism. "She's exhausted after a whole day of work and wants to take a shower when she gets home, but you're still hogging the bathroom. Tell you what, if you're really in a hurry, you can go to my master bedroom..."

"Not this again?!"

Before he could finish, a hand suddenly shot out from the crack in the door, and a middle finger was pointed straight at him.

"Falling for the same trick once was enough, you think I'll fall for it a second time? My exercise volume today was over the limit, I'm exhausted, so you just hold it in! If you really can't hold it, find any 'runway' on the balcony drying rack and solve it yourself!"

After saying that, the hand retracted with a whoosh, the door closed again, and the clear sound of the door locking followed.

"...You person, you simply don't recognize a good heart! Like a dog biting Lu Dongbin! Later, when you two sisters' relationship breaks down and you come to blows over grabbing the bathroom, you'll know who truly cares about your harmonious coexistence!"

Just as he finished speaking, another bathroom door was suddenly pushed open a crack, and an exclamation came from inside:

"Oh! How did the door open? I've already taken off my clothes!"

"..."

Jiang Ye rolled his eyes, conveniently helped the drama queen girl close the door, gave a huff of annoyance, and strolled back to the master bedroom with his hands behind his back.