Chapter 31 No Clean Underwear

<strong>Definitely NOT!</strong> She internally screamed to herself, trying to get that image out of her head. Her imagination continued to provide her an elaborate fantasy, of Sun Jingwei cradling her half-naked body close to him, carefully dripping water down the flush skin of her chest, asking her if she's feeling alright, his mouth coming closer to lick -

She aborts that train of thought immediately, face flushing heavily. Perhaps this was a side effect of the shock of having hot soup spilled on you just when you were finally enjoying dinner, Xue Ning rationalises to herself. These were unusual circumstances, so no wonder her mind was frazzled and coming up with strange scenarios to comfort her.

Yes, that was it. Xue Ning definitely wasn't someone that would daydream about playboy sons of billionaires. She was only here to protect him.

She grits her teeth and decides to begin the arduous task of peeling off her jeans that were plastered to her thighs after the hot soup spilled on her. She takes her deep breath, unbuckles her jeans and slowly tugs them, unable to stop hissing at the sensation of her painful skin exposed to cold air.

"Ah fuck," she mutters bitterly to herself.

That hurt! And it continues to hurt, even after she removes her shoes to completely take off the jeans. She is almost too afraid to look, but she forces herself to examine the state of her thighs. The skin there is a painful red, with raised welts.

Her panties are also stained with soup - she should have taken them off, but there aren't any replacements. Double fuck.

"Xue Ning, are you okay?" Jingwei asks, his concern still audible even when he's stuck in the cubicle. "I can help you! Do you need anything?"

"It's fine!" Xue Ning squawks. "Unless you're carrying spare panties with you, you can't help! Wait, do you carry spare panties?" She asks, almost afraid of the answer.

Was he that sort of man to carry women's underwear around with him in case of emergencies?

She hears the sound of him spluttering a denial.

"Of course not! Actually, now that this has happened, I'm thinking I should. But for now, I don't have spare underwear… how about I lend you my pants first?" Jingwei asks.

"Nonsense! What will you be wearing then?" Xue Ning exclaims, while trying to see if she can get her thigh under the tap. She winces - the stretch is uncomfortable to say the least. Even with her flexibility, stretching when her skin is mildly burned is more painful than expected.

"I can just wear my boxers. It's not as though I'm lacking in that department," He replies matter-of-factly. She can just imagine his carefree shrug.

"Are you crazy?" Xue Ning yells, over the sound of running water. Finally, one of her thighs was experiencing sweet relief. "What if you end up on the news?"

"Then they'll know that along with having large amounts of money, I also have a large package and a great taste in underwear." Jingwei answers easily. "It's branded, you know. I didn't pay 80000 yuan for it for nothing."

"What on earth?" Xue Ning exclaims, choosing to ignore everything else but the last part of his statement for her own sanity's sake. "Is it made of gold? What kind of underwear is this?"

"It's made out of quality silk to protect my family jewels, of course I need to invest in a good one!" Jingwei argues. "The future of the Sun family is at stake!"

She snorts as she uses more paper towels to dab her upper body.

"There's still your older brother, I'm sure he can help in ensuring the future of the Sun family." Xue Ning says dryly.

"Anyways," Jingwei continues, as though she didn't say anything, "I wouldn't mind letting you wear my boxers, but I have a feeling you'll say no."

"Smart of you. I'm definitely saying no," she replies flatly. No matter how desperate and uncomfortable she was, she wasn't going to put on Sun Jingwei's expensive boxers. Like he said, they were protecting his family jewels.

Wearing them would be an indirect kiss between their nether regions! Practically indirect sex! She would rather go without underwear and she wasn't even an exhibitionist!

"Even if I was close enough to wear your underwear, you also can't appear half-naked for goodness sake. Think of your reputation!" Xue Ning continues, still eyeing her thigh. It is less painful now, but doesn't look any less red. But she also needs to care for the other one.

"Why not? Am I supposed to let you continue wearing your soiled panties?" Jingwei asks incredulously. "And everyone already thinks I'm out of my mind half the time. It's not like my reputation can sink any lower!"

"You'll be surprised," she argues, switching to her other thigh. It could be the cold water that made her feel better, but the conversation with Jingwei was also doing a fantastic job of distracting her so that she didn't feel much pain. "I'm sure if pictures of you in expensive underwear show up online, you'll give your father a heart attack at his old age."

,m "When you put it like that, you make me sound like some sleazy underwear model." Jingwei muses. "But then, what about you?"

"We're going to the hospital soon. I'll live." She replies dryly. The hospital better have some good painkillers and burn cream.

"If you say so," Jingwei says, begrudgingly. "Just let me know when it's okay for me to come out?"

"Not yet," she replies, remembering to take off her wet bra to rinse. She shrugs off the suit jacket and takes off her bra, lamenting at the soup stains.

Maybe she can make Jingwei get her a new one, seeing that this was technically ruined when on duty. One that's not as expensive as his underwear, but still gloriously comfortable to wear.

She then uses more paper towels to gingerly tap at the reddish skin on her chest to clean and soothe it, wincing all the while. She shivers when a particularly strong gust of cold air from the air conditioning blew at her, causing her nipples to harden and goose pimples to erupt.

Time to put the suit jacket on - oh. She flushes at the feeling of her bare breasts rubbing against his suit jacket. Her nipples were already sensitive from the cold air, and the soft silk lining of his suit jacket was a bigger distraction than she expected, along with the smell of his cologne along the collar.

Focus. Just as she was trying to put her socks back on, the toilet door swung open.

She jumps in surprise, preparing for an attack.

But it was only their server, Xiao Hui, who looked incredibly apologetic, almost close to tears. She holds a wad of fabric in her arms, with a tube of burn cream on top, offering it to Xue Ning with a deep bow.

"I'm really sorry! Please use this for now!"

Xue Ning stares back at her, surprised that she even bothered to show up.

"Thanks, I guess." Xue Ning says, taking the bundle from her.

Xiao Hui still stands in front of her, twisting her fingers anxiously.

"You can leave now," Xue Ning says.

"But - but I - " Xiao Hui stutters, giving her a pleading look.

"It's fine, I'm not going to sue," Xue Ning says, giving her her best comforting look. Judging by the look of increased panic on Xiao Hui's face, she had failed utterly. Ah, to be born with a resting bitch face that wasn't any good at smiling was the worst!

"I'm serious, stop looking like I'm going to eat you. Or I'll really complain." She says threateningly. Ironically, that seemed to reassure their server more than her attempt at comfort.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Xiao Hui whimpers in relief.

"It's fine. Accidents happen," Xue Ning shrugs. "I know how it feels to be so tired that mistakes happen. Don't worry about it."

Somehow, Xiao Hui looks even more conflicted after her words. Xue Ning wonders if she is indeed so bad at comforting people with her words, and so she gives her an awkward pat on the shoulder too.

Xiao Hui twitches, like she just managed to not jump out from her skin.

"It's fine, really, don't you have work to go back to?" Xue Ning asks, hoping that she'll leave so that she can change into the new clothes. She finds herself strangely more comfortable with stripping in front of Sun Jingwei than putting on clothes in front of a stranger, but she doesn't not wish to examine that thought in detail.

"I…. I have something to say." Xiao Hui says, stammering as she gives the restroom a quick look, stilling at the occupied cubicle. Xue Ning sees where she's looking and stands in front of it protectively, just in case. Xiao Hui blinks at this reaction, her face clearing like she somehow understands.

Xue Ning doesn't know what she could be thinking of, but she has no patience to even bother finding out.

"Spit it out then," Xue Ning says, giving her a warning glance. "Quickly."

"I'm sorry it wasn't an accident - I was made to do it - don't hurt me -" The words escape Xiao Hui in a mad rush like air from a deflating balloon.

"WHAT?!" Everyone jumps as they hear the outraged yell of Sun Jingwei from the cubicle.

Xue Ning was hoping he would remain silent throughout so that his presence in the women's restroom is kept a secret, but that hope was quickly dashed when he unlocks the cubicle door and throws it open with a bang, pulling himself to his full height to level a glare at Xiao Hui.

"How dare you do such a thing to my wife!"