Chapter 67: Just Because the Milk-Scented Body Wash Was on Sale
“Not quite.”
Lu Zheng gave a wry smile.
He looked at Yi Ning, who stood with her arms crossed, waiting for his explanation with an expression of disdain. A subtle, awkward look crept across his face as he deliberated on what to say.
After all, wanting to confirm whether Yi Ning had changed her body wash because he noticed a different scent—wasn’t exactly something easy to explain aloud.
Even if there was no indecent intent behind it, he had still done it.
It wasn’t something that could be declared openly and justifiably.
Seeing Lu Zheng fall silent, Yi Ning grew a bit impatient.
She clapped her hands, and the robot that had been following Lu Zheng walked over to her.
Yi Ning climbed atop the robot’s head, crossing one leg over the other and sitting there casually.
“What’s wrong? Can’t think of a good excuse?”
With the robot’s assistance, she now had the height advantage, casting a cold, sharp gaze down at Lu Zheng.
At the same time, she tapped her finger rhythmically on her arm.
Under this invisible pressure, Lu Zheng began to buckle.
Better to just tell the truth.
After all, Yi Ning used to be male—surely she’d understand… right?
Feeling a little guilty about what he was about to say, Lu Zheng shrank his head slightly and avoided eye contact with Yi Ning.
He hesitated as the words reached his lips, hoping to somehow dodge this moment.
But unfortunately, evasion was never sustainable.
Under Yi Ning’s gaze, Lu Zheng eventually came clean.
“Actually… I just noticed your body wash scent changed and wanted to confirm it, that’s all.”
Yi Ning: “?”
Her expression shifted from surprised to mildly disgusted.
Truthfully, she wasn’t particularly bothered by Lu Zheng’s olfactory cells catching and relaying her scent to his brain.
Like she said earlier, having once been male herself, she knew all too well what teenage and twenty-something guys were like.
At that age, girls’ hormones were the ultimate stimulant.
She had firsthand experience.
So—
She could understand a momentary lapse of control.
Her earlier aggressiveness was mostly because her upcoming trap was a little aggressive, and she wasn’t sure how Lu Zheng would respond—so she wanted to gain some leverage first.
But Lu Zheng’s explanation… gave her the creeps.
Because she had, in fact, changed her body wash the night before.
She’d run out of the previous one.
But how could he know that?
Was her scent really that obvious?
Yi Ning tilted her head slightly and gave herself a discreet sniff.
She didn’t smell anything.
Seeing her sit silently atop the robot for so long, Lu Zheng began to feel uneasy.
He couldn’t read what she was thinking.
Their relationship had only just started to improve, and he didn’t want this random incident to ruin it.
“I know it seems a bit pervy, but I swear my intentions were pure!”
“You got close to me, I caught a different scent, and I just got curious, that’s all!”
Desperate to salvage whatever reputation he had left with Yi Ning, Lu Zheng scrambled to explain himself.
“Oh, so now it’s all my fault?”
Yi Ning interjected.
Her tone was much softer than before, though.
Because she too recognized that, in this instance, she bore some degree of responsibility.
She and Lu Zheng were a little too close—both physically and otherwise.
Though sometimes she forgot to factor in her new female identity and misjudged personal space, more often than not, she reduced the distance on purpose.
Why?
Simply because she found Lu Zheng’s reactions amusing.
So yes, she felt a little guilty too.
Her earlier smugness gradually faded.
Unfortunately, Lu Zheng didn’t notice these subtle changes.
“I didn’t mean it like that! I just genuinely wanted to know why your scent changed from mint to milk!”
Still struggling, he didn’t realize how inappropriate his phrasing was.
If Yi Ning weren’t who she was, Lu Zheng would probably be waiting for Miss Qiu Yu to bail him out of jail.
“Sigh—”
Yi Ning let out a light sigh.
She pouted.
“Because the milk-scented one was on sale last night.”
She no longer wanted to waste time on this topic.
She had only intended to gain the upper hand for her upcoming villainous scheme, so things would go more smoothly.
Now that she’d done so, there was no need to fuss over it any longer.
Obsessing over such trivialities was starting to give her a headache.
“Huh?”
Lu Zheng was caught off guard by her sudden leniency.
He froze.
He had been fully prepared for a desperate struggle, yet before his battalion even reached the Arc de Triomphe, Yi Ning’s troops had already retreated.
“What the hell are you ‘huh’-ing about?”
Yi Ning rolled her eyes.
If she had something handy, she’d have whacked him with it already.
This guy could be so slow sometimes.
She bent down and pressed a few buttons on the robot’s belly beneath her, triggering a drawer to pop open.
“Catch.”
Yi Ning grabbed the clothing inside and tossed it to Lu Zheng.
He unfolded it.
A loose bathrobe and a pair of swim trunks.
Lu Zheng stared at her in confusion, unsure what she meant.
“Sigh—”
Yi Ning had lost count of how many times she’d sighed today.
When she grew old, Lu Zheng was definitely going to bear part of the blame.
“You didn’t forget what you came here for, did you?”
Yi Ning sounded resigned.
What kind of hero needed the villain to remind him of his job?
“Uh…”
Lu Zheng looked embarrassed.
After a whole string of incidents, he had honestly forgotten he was here to destroy Yi Ning’s evil invention.
He folded the clothes neatly, held them in his arms, and struck a textbook fighting pose at Yi Ning.
Watching him, Yi Ning covered her face.
“Don’t tell me the one coming to stop evil today is some guy named Lu Zheng?”
She pointed toward a room behind him.
“Your helmet’s in there.”