285: Chapter 285 Bald Wild's Troubles - 4

Three seconds might have passed, or perhaps an entire century.

"Bang—!"

The door was yanked open with tremendous force!

Behind it stood Lin Wanxing, her face flushed crimson all the way to the tips of her ears, her eyes blazing with a mixture of utter mortification and murderous intent!

Without a word, she swung the pillow in her hand, raining down a flurry of blows on Jiang Ye at the doorway!

"Jiang! Ye! You...! You shameless pervert! You creep! Just die already!"

"Ouch! Damn it! Stop hitting! Stop!"

Jiang Ye dodged and weaved, shielding his head as he protested in a pitiful voice, "You told me to ask! I even said it wasn't convenient... You insisted I say it right at the door!"

Furious beyond reason, Lin Wanxing didn't bother analyzing whether this was some new trick of his. Gritting her teeth, she chased him from her doorway all the way into the living room.

Only when Jiang Ye had cowered into a corner of the sofa, raising his hands in surrender, did she stop, panting heavily, her chest heaving as she pointed the pillow at him:

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?! What kind of insane question was that?! What on earth were you thinking?!"

Jiang Ye forced a bitter smile as he sat up from the sofa cushion, fully aware of how shocking and inappropriate his question must have been for Lin Wanxing.

But the problem was... he was genuinely, seriously seeking a solution for the upcoming "growth period"!

It wasn't like he hadn't asked Doubao, but Doubao actually said, 「You could try applying some moisturizer, but aren't you a guy? It feels weird... better just endure it.」

Jiang Ye strongly suspected Doubao was deliberately messing with him, but he had no proof.

With nowhere else to turn, he had finally pinned his hopes on Coach Lin, who might have relevant experience and, more importantly, was trustworthy enough not to blab.

Looking at Lin Wanxing standing there with her hands on her hips, teeth clenched, he scratched the back of his head, his expression earnest:

"Wanxing, calm down. I really asked with a serious, academic mindset, purely for discussion. I absolutely didn't mean to offend you! Really! I swear!"

Lin Wanxing was still fuming, but seeing him sitting there, scratching his shiny, reflective bald head with a look of pure distress and helplessness, the corner of her mouth twitched. She almost couldn't hold back a laugh.

Jiang Ye's current appearance was simply too powerful—it severely interfered with her ability to maintain her anger.

She forced her face to remain stern, snorted coldly, and turned to head back to her room.

Spending even one more second with this jerk, she was afraid she'd either lose control and hit him again... or burst out laughing.

"Wanxing!"

Jiang Ye quickly called out to stop her, "Don't go! This is a legitimate, serious, scientifically-minded plea for help! Science doesn't differentiate between men and women!"

Lin Wanxing paused mid-step, turning her head to shoot him a venomous glare.

Seeing the spot where his eyebrows should be tightly furrowed, his face a picture of "thirst for knowledge," that urge to laugh bubbled up again.

She kept her face stern, struggling to maintain the last shreds of her dignity, "A question like that! You should have Xiao Ye come ask me herself!"

"It's not Ye Cheng!"

Jiang Ye looked utterly exasperated, "It's me! Me! It really is me! If it were her issue, wouldn't she have come to ask you herself?!"

"...?"

Lin Wanxing frowned, staring at him, her gaze involuntarily drifting downward slightly.

In her mind, uncontrollably, certain shockingly vivid, inappropriate memories resurfaced...

This guy... clearly has some... So why would he ask a question like that?

Jiang Ye immediately guessed what she was thinking and rushed to salvage his crumbling image:

"You might not believe this... but I booked an online experience today, said it was the latest tech for 'Full-body Hair Removal'... I thought it'd be like shaving, who the hell knew 'full-body' meant literally..."

He pointed at his smooth, hairless head and face, his expression pained:

"Wanxing, let's just have a purely academic discussion. Mainly because, among the people I know, you're the only one who's... uh..."

Halfway through his sentence, seeing the air pressure around Lin Wanxing visibly drop further, as if she were about to explode again any second, Jiang Ye wisely shut his mouth.

The air was once again thick with suffocating awkwardness.

Lin Wanxing stood frozen, looking at Jiang Ye's bald head reflecting the light. She vaguely felt he might be telling the truth—that he really had landed himself in this awkward physical discomfort due to a botched experience. This time, it might genuinely not be one of his schemes.

To be fair, as a friend—especially one who had helped her immensely and didn't even charge rent—it was only right to offer some help within her means when he encountered a problem.

But!

The key issue was that Jiang Ye was a man!

And the question he asked... was far too private, far too embarrassing to voice!

Was she, an unmarried woman, supposed to discuss the tactile sensations of hair regrowth in such sensitive areas with her male roommate?!

Seeing her look as if she were about to snap at any moment, Jiang Ye's heart began to sink too.

He hesitated, thinking he might indeed be asking too much, and sighed, preparing to give up:

"Sigh, forget it, forget it, Wanxing. If you don't want to tell me, or... ahem, if you're exceptionally gifted, born without... well, never having experienced this kind of trouble, then just forget it. It's fine!"

He waved a hand, feigning nonchalance, "Anyway, I don't need to go out recently. At worst, I just won't wear pants for the next few days..."

Lin Wanxing: "!!!" (But I'm off tomorrow and will be home all day!!!)

The moment the words left his mouth, Jiang Ye immediately realized his mistake and hurriedly waved his hands to explain:

"Misunderstanding! A huge misunderstanding! I meant I'd just hole up in my own room playing games! Definitely not in the living room! And I absolutely won't run around bare-assed... ahem, all over the house! I swear!"

His explanation only made the atmosphere in the living room even more bizarre.

Lin Wanxing took a deep breath, then another, several in a row, barely suppressing the urge to grab the pillow again.

She didn't answer Jiang Ye's absurd question about whether she was "born that way." Shooting him one last fierce glare, she turned, slammed the door shut with a "bang," and retreated to her room once more.

Jiang Ye looked at the firmly closed door, sighed helplessly, and collapsed onto the sofa, utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally.

It seemed this path was a dead end.

If all else failed, he'd just have to brace himself and ask Ye Cheng.

She understood makeup and skincare; she should know at least some ways to deal with the aftereffects of such a "beauty mishap," right?

He was gloomily pondering whether to go knock on Ye Cheng's door right then—better a short pain than a long one—when the recently closed door suddenly clicked open again.

Lin Wanxing, her face still tinged with a fading blush and not looking at him, strode quickly into the living room and casually tossed a small object toward the sofa:

"Apply it!"

After uttering that single word, she immediately turned and ran back to her room without a backward glance, slamming the door shut once more with a "bang."

Jiang Ye was momentarily stunned, then quickly reached out to pick up the small object she had thrown.

It was a small, round, semi-transparent pale yellow plastic container with three words written on it: Vaseline.

Understanding dawned on him instantly. A wave of immense relief and gratitude washed over him, and he couldn't help but call out toward Lin Wanxing's door:

"Wanxing! Thank you! You're truly a lifesaver!"

With this, at least the initial prickly itchiness would be bearable!

As expected! Coach Lin was the reliable one after all!