An Eye for News Chapter 26

The second floor bathroom was rolling in shower mist and the calming scent of lavender.

In the middle of it was a black marble spa with 4 stone sculptures at each side that poured out water.

The spa tub was family-sized and could easily fit 3 to 4 people.

Xin Yu selected a few pebbles of bath salts from the rack before wading into the spa with them.

The multicolored bath salts fizzled in the warm water instantly to create a perfumed, colorful pond of bathing water.

Xin Yu had a penchant for taking long bath, and with luxuries like these, who wouldn’t be?

She leaned back into the water and sighed in satisfaction. Then, she caught herself.

“Oops, Se Cai is still waiting for me downstairs… I better hurry.”

She pulled her hair up into a bun with a hair clip and started lathering up the soap.

“This Se Cai… He doesn’t look like much… but who knew he could step up to the plate so nicely when the situation calls for it.”

She thought back to the misadventures that they had had that day and shivered.

“Then again, was I being too forward with that kiss?”

It was hard to tell whether it was caused by the heat of the bath or something else but a blush crawled up to her face.

She submerged her body back underwater and relaxed under the bath’s warm embrace.

She was too at ease to notice the flicking shadow outside her bathroom window.

The shadow belonged to Se Cai. After he left the front door, he went round the yard following the sound of water.

Thankfully, the wall of the house was decorated with many motifs that he could use as foothold to get up to the second floor.

The bathroom had a design that opened to nature so its French windows were seldom closed and the only cover was a curtain of Venetian blind.

The house sat in a corner that was isolated from other residences and had a verdant woodland around its compound so normally privacy wasn’t an issue.

However, if a person could get past security, he could easily gain access into the house through the bathroom like Se Cai did.

“Should I go in? But if I do, it’ll be really hard to explain to her that I’m not a s.e.xual predator.”

Se Cai hesitated as he listened to the sound of water gushing within.

The bathroom was heavily misted by the steam but he was certain he saw Xin Yu’s silhouette inside.

“I shouldn’t be wasting time or else I might be too late…”

Se Cai steeled his nerves and pushed himself in.

He looked left and right and realized with a sinking feeling that there was no one there.

Se Cai ran to the door, praying that he wasn’t too late.

The door opened to a dimly-lit walk in closet. Xin Yu wasn’t there either.

 Se Cai was heading out of the closet when he heard a series of footsteps coming from the corridor.

“Miss, I’m here with some new towels…”

It was Sister Xu’s voice. Se Cai quickly rushed back to the bathroom since she was coming his way.

The moment Se Cai stepped back into the bathroom, Xin Yu emerged from the water. She shook her hair out and wiped the water from her face. She chirped, “Sister Xu, you shouldn’t have brought them in here yourself, you can just left them in the closet. I don’t want to trouble you…”

She blinked the water out of her eyes and meant to thank Sister Xu but she realized with a start that it was someone else standing there.

“Who… Se..”

With desperation, Se Cai rushed to her side and covered her mouth. He didn’t want her to alert Sister Xu.

“Please keep your voice down! Trust me, I’m not here to spy on you!”

Se Cai whispered.

Xin Yu though had far greater things on her mind to worry about to hear what Se Cai was whispering. She struggled initially against his grasp before calming down enough to nod cooperatively at Se Cai.

“Help me keep Sister Xu out! Don’t let her in here!”

Se Cai released Xin Yu when he felt her body relaxed. He said hurriedly while pointing at the bathroom door.

“Sister Xu, one moment, I’m almost ready!”

Xin Yu called out as she pulled her hands in front of her chest. In a lower voice, she asked, “Why are you here in my bathroom?”

“I… It’s a long story but believe me, I’m not here to harm you. In fact, I’m here to save you!”

Se Cai stammered in his desperation to explain.

Se Cai didn’t know where to place his eyes but it would be weird if he didn’t look at Xin Yu while he was talking to her.

Xin Yu, in her vulnerabilities, felt Se Cai’s lingering gaze. She had half a mind to lecture Se Cai when Sister Xu’s voice came back from the door.

“Miss, is everything fine in there? I thought I heard you screamed. Anyway, I’m here to bring you the towels and we’ll need to move on to the packing soon. We have to leave early tomorrow!”

Sister Xu’s voice sounded closer and closer.

“Quick, hide!”

Xin Yu hissed.

“Hide? But where?”

The bathroom was huge but it was ascetically furnished. There was no object big enough for him to hide behind or in.

“Well… Down here!”

Xin Yu tilted her head at the spa.

This time it was Se Cai’s turn to blush. He really didn’t expect things to turn out this way.

The sound of footsteps drew nearer.

“Get Sister Xu out and I’ll explain everything later!”

Se Cai kicked his shoes out of sight, sucked in a deep breath and jumped into the water.

It is common knowledge that the human body has natural buoyancy. Therefore, Se Cai felt his body pushed to the surface by the water.

Furthermore, he went in fully-clothed. The air bubbles in his clothes only added to his buoyancy.

Se Cai waved his hands around wildly to find something he could grab on to pull himself deeper into the water. His hands found a pole-like object and he pulled on it hard. Little did he know it was Xin Yu’s leg.

Dragged by the unexpected force, Xin Yu slipped and fell with a splash.

At that moment, Sister Xu burst into the room.

She carried a stack of towels and looked at Xin Yu curiously.

“Sister Xu… I’ve asked you to leave the towels in the closet, you don’t need to come in here.”

Xin Yu lowered her blushing face and said softly.

“Miss, why are you acting so weird tonight? Come, I’ll help you get dried.”

She took a few more steps towards the spa tub.

“No, it’s okay. Thanks, Sister Xu, I can do it myself.”

Xin Yu said hastily. When Sister Xu didn’t stop, she gathered herself and uttered with authority.

“Jin Feng, didn’t I tell you stop? Put the towels down and leave me alone!”

Sister Xu stopped midstride. She looked at Xin Yu with equal measure surprise and wariness.

“Yes, miss…”

She set down the towels and retreated out of the bathroom wordlessly.

[I've edited this chapter for quite a bit since this is a blog that is open to the public of all ages. The deleted scene doesn't detract from the overall plotline so don't worry.]