Chapter 61

Her body started feeling increasingly warm.

Zhu Zi covered her face with both hands, her cheeks completely flushed, and said in a tiny voice, "Boss, my foot doesn't hurt anymore."

"Mm."

"Boss..."

"You've been standing all day. I'll massage your feet a bit longer so you won't suffer tomorrow."

"Ah..."

"Don't worry, I won't charge you."

"Oh... thank you, boss."

Zhu Zi bit her lip, trying hard to suppress those embarrassing sounds.

After enjoying it for a few minutes.

Xia Zhi stopped his movements. He truly wasn't trying to touch Zhu Zi's legs, although they did feel nice to touch. His main intention was to help relax her leg muscles, as a reward for her hard work today.

To avoid misunderstandings, he only massaged her calves and didn't touch any higher.

That would cost extra.

"Alright, try moving your ankle a bit."

"Mm."

Zhu Zi tried gently rotating her ankle and found that there was no pain at all, as if she had never been injured.

She climbed down from the small bed, barefooted, and jumped twice on the ground.

"Boss, you're amazing!"

"Running a shop, one needs to have some skills."

"My legs don't feel sore anymore either."

"I offered to give you a massage at noon, but you didn't believe me."

"Hehe..."

Zhu Zi lowered her head, feeling somewhat embarrassed, realizing she had earlier doubted the boss's good intentions.

How could such a good person like the boss have any bad thoughts?

It was her own mind that wasn't pure!

"Don't wear high heels anymore in the future."

"Mm."

"Of course, you can still wear them if you want to normally. After all, high heels do make a girl's figure look better."

"Mm!"

"I just don't want you to force yourself. You're not used to high heels, and it's tiring to rush around the shop in them."

"Mm..."

"Alright, go change your clothes quickly, they got wet earlier."

Only then did Zhu Zi notice the coolness on her body. She had already sweated a lot from working all day, and then falling and getting splashed with water had left both her inner and outer clothes completely damp.

Her toes curled against the floor.

They must smell...

She secretly glanced at the black stockings thrown on top of her high heels, dirty from the dust on the ground.

But the boss hadn't seemed disgusted at all earlier...

How embarrassing!!!

Zhu Zi's face turned red again as she stammered, "B-boss! I'll go get water for you to wash your hands!"

Xia Zhi watched as the girl grabbed her shoes and stockings and rushed to the back again. He shook his head with an amused smile and followed her.

Zhu Zi filled a basin with clean water and brought it to him, lowering her head as she said, "Boss, the water's ready."

She looked so docile, oddly like a newlywed wife bringing water for her husband to wash his feet.

Xia Zhi crouched down and put his hands in the basin.

Actually, because he had used [Healing Arts] earlier, there was no odor on his hands.

But he still washed them thoroughly to avoid any misunderstandings from Zhu Zi.

The water rippled, making light reflect off his fingers.

Zhu Zi looked over curiously and noticed a silver ring on the boss's left index finger.

She hadn't seen it yesterday; it seemed to have appeared suddenly today.

Was it given to the boss by someone?

It looked like an alchemical item.

The boss's fingers were so long and strong...

As Zhu Zi stared, her thoughts inexplicably wandered back to the earlier massage experience. A strange sensation crept up from her feet to her calves, then abruptly stopped.

After all, the boss had only massaged below her knees earlier.

She couldn't experience or even imagine how comfortable it might feel above that point.

It felt somewhat regrettable...

Wonder how much the boss's massage service costs, maybe when she gets her salary this month...

No, no!

What am I thinking about!

Zhu Zi shook her head, her face red. Seeing that Xia Zhi had finished washing his hands, she quickly handed him a towel: "Boss, here's the towel."

"Mm, thanks."

Xia Zhi dried his hands.

"I'll wait for you in front."

"Okay, boss, I'll change clothes right away!"

Zhu Zi watched his figure disappear, then covered her face with both hands and let out an adorable whimper.

Afterwards, she patted her warm cheeks, quickly returned to her room to change out of her wet clothes, put on white socks and flat shoes, then went back to wash her face again and fix her hair. After checking herself in the mirror several times to make sure nothing was amiss, she finally came out from the back.

"Boss, I'm ready!"

"Mm, let's go."

Xia Zhi nodded, thinking Zhu Zi looked great even without black stockings.

Though Zhu Zi seemed quieter during the walk, not talking as much as usual.

They had dinner at Wanmin Restaurant again, where Xia Zhi deliberately ordered some more expensive dishes.

Money wasn't an issue; it was mainly to celebrate the shop's opening day.

At first, Zhu Zi just kept her head down while eating, but after Xia Zhi intentionally brought up several topics to chat with her, she gradually returned to her usual lively self.

After dinner, Xia Zhi took Zhu Zi for a walk in the harbor area, enjoying the sea breeze, eating snacks, and talking about life.

By the time they returned to the shop late at night, that subtle awkwardness between them had completely disappeared.

Zhu Zi went to the kitchen to boil water. Once it was ready, Xia Zhi took a bath first, then said goodnight to Zhu Zi before going upstairs to write his manuscript.

Zhu Zi entered the bathroom, which was still filled with white steam.

In the corner, a wooden basin held a pile of clothes - the ones Xia Zhi had changed out of today.

After finishing her bath, Zhu Zi went over as usual to take the clothes from the basin to wash them together.

At this moment, she inexplicably lowered her head and brought the clothes closer to smell them.

The clothes had no unpleasant sweat smell, only a faint incense scent that was very comforting.

So this is the boss's scent...

Then she came to her senses and froze in place.

What... what was I just doing!?

Zhu Zi's face turned red as she guiltily looked around - no one was there.

Fortunately, the boss wasn't around.

No, wait, the boss can't see, so even if he were here, he probably wouldn't notice.

Ah! No! This behavior itself is wrong!

I must be broken!

Zhu Zi shook her head, threw the clothes into the bucket, and started washing them earnestly.

After hanging up the clothes, she quietly returned to her room and closed the door.

Zhu Zi thought for a moment and decided not to lock the door, feeling it wasn't necessary anymore.

Climbing into bed, she hung an omamori charm at the headboard, then clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and began to pray.

"Lady Narukami, please protect Mr. Xia Zhi and me from evil spirits..."