Delicate, Yet Shamelessly Freeloading [Quick Transmigration] Chapter 36

Chapter 36: The Blind Widower in the Infinite Game (3)

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【So pink, so tender…】


【Fleshy♪ little bits… heehee, let me suck, let me suck!】


【Shui Shui, you know I never had a wife growing up.】


【Everyone move! Baby, you know I’m your little pup, I left my mom when I was little.】


【Up ahead is a real heavyweight…】


【Baby, don’t be scared! Who’s that dog-man scaring my precious in the corner?!】


【Wait, this pervert peeping looks familiar… didn’t I follow his livestream before?】

 

In the dark corner of the room, another livestream’s viewer count was skyrocketing.

 

【Hold up, bro, is this No.2’s stream? Did I click the wrong one?】


【I came to watch you smurf in an A-level instance, not to roleplay a pervert, thanks.】


【What are you looking at?! I said what are you looking at?! Why are you staring at my wife?!】


【You’re not allowed to look! Only I can look!】


【Holy crap, from Chu God’s angle it almost looks like… you know… maybe it’s that voyeuristic thrill (lol)】

 

Chu Jingting frowned and swept a cold glance over the screen, his face shrouded in a layer of icy frost as he turned off the chaotic barrage of comments.

 

The frightened boy had already thrown on a clean shirt in a panic. He hadn’t even managed to button it up fully. His fingers were pale, as if all his strength had gone into clutching the fabric, wrinkling it completely.

 

“Who…? Who’s there?”

 

Shui Que looked around in terror, sensing something was wrong. The shadow by the curtain was especially thick, and he remembered that the curtains in this room didn’t reach the floor. Yet in his vision, there was a long, dark figure standing by the window.

 

He shivered violently and shouted out, “Yuan Yu! Yuan Yu!”

 

Like a scared little kitten.

 

How amusing.

 

Chu Jingting watched coldly.

 

Back in the F-rank rookie instance, this person had bullied him so arrogantly—treating him like a pack mule, a human stepping stone. He had trampled all over him, made him wipe his dirty feet with his clothes, and still looked down on him for wearing rough fabric.

 

Now, with his backer No.1 out of the picture, he was trembling in fear of the unknown just because he couldn’t see…

 

Chu Jingting had wanted to resolve this quickly and personally eliminate the man who had wronged him.

 

After all, he had already used some tricks to make sure Xie Qian stayed trapped in that instance forever. He had even gone to great lengths to take care of the man’s powerful supporter. There was no reason to leave the real culprit alive.

 

But…

 

His brows were deeply furrowed, eyes locked on those glass bead-like pupils with the intensity of a hunting falcon eyeing its prey.

 

Shui Que wasn’t sure if he had just heard the sound of a window opening.

 

Yuan Yu pushed open the door and entered. “What’s wrong?”

 

His hair was still messy, making it easy to imagine he had heard Shui Que’s voice while in the courtyard, dropped what he was doing, and ran in quickly.

 

“Someone… over by the curtains, there was someone…” Shui Que was visibly shaken, his hand trembling as he pointed toward the window.

 

Yuan Yu met that pair of light tea-colored eyes and, to his surprise, saw the person’s clothes were disheveled, revealing a bit of their collarbone and a faintly pink navel.

 

It was as if he had been burned—he quickly looked away.

 

Trying to cover it up, he walked toward the window. A cool breeze happened to blow in, causing the linen curtain to flap like waves.

 

“There’s no one,” Yuan Yu turned and said. “Shui Que, there’s no one here.”

 

He knew Shui Que wasn’t completely blind.

 

“Did you maybe see it wrong?” Yuan Yu asked.

 

Still shaking, Shui Que buttoned up his shirt and whispered, “No, I didn’t see wrong. There really was someone there just now. He must have jumped out the window and ran away…”

 

He genuinely looked frightened.

 

Yuan Yu parted his lips, wanting to say something, but eventually fell silent.

 

He felt that comforting Shui Que wasn’t really his job—it should be their eldest brother’s.

 

Suddenly, a fierce barking came from the entrance of the courtyard.

 

Shui Que immediately thought of Coalball. Still unsure whether what had been in the room was a person or something else, he rushed to the window, held onto the sill, and called out as the barking grew farther away, “Coalball! Come back!”

 

The sound of paws kicking off the ground and running grew closer.

 

The German Shepherd panted heavily as it ran into the room from outside, whimpering affectionately at Shui Que.

 

Shui Que squatted down to hug Coalball. He was small himself, with a shirt that cinched tightly around a very slim waist, looking every bit like a frail widow who had lost her husband and had no one to rely on.

 

He turned back to Yuan Yu, trying to prove he hadn’t lied. “Coalball noticed it too. There really was someone. He jumped out the window before you came in…”

 

Yuan Yu shut the window. The linen curtain slapped against him before slowly drifting down again.

 

Looking out the window, there was no sign of anyone.

 

The courtyard outside was paved with cement, not mud, so there were no footprints left behind.

 

“It’s my fault I didn’t notice someone sneaking in. I’ll be more careful next time,” Yuan Yu said quietly as he tied the curtain with a hemp string wedged in the window frame.

 

Shui Que nodded, eyes half-closed. “…Mm.”

 

He still felt uneasy and chalked it up to the fact that he’d never gone through an instance on his own before.

 

If Xie Qian were still here…

 

For the first time, he felt that clingy Xie Qian—who insisted on being with him even when changing clothes and would wait outside the wall just to be nearby—wasn’t all that annoying after all.

 

In this small world, Shui Que was just a cannon fodder character who flaunted his connection with top-ranked yin affinity partner Xie Qian to bully others.

 

This world was actually born from and operated by a no-CP infinite flow novel starring a male protagonist. The male lead was Chu Jingting, who had entered the same F-rank rookie instance as Shui Que. Xie Qian was the main antagonist, and Shui Que was a petty villain who relied on Xie Qian to bully others.

 

In the very first instance, Shui Que had treated Chu Jingting awfully—just like in the plot, making him wipe his feet, acting like a horse for him to ride…

 

If Chu Jingting resisted, Shui Que would threaten to have Xie Qian kick him out of the team to feed him to ghosts.

 

But Xie Qian was often furious: if Chu Jingting didn’t obey Shui Que, he’d threaten to feed him to ghosts, but when Chu Jingting did follow Shui Que’s orders, he’d become even angrier and still threaten to throw him to the ghosts…

 

Anyway, Shui Que was the key figure who forced the protagonist to endure humiliation early on, suffer through it all, and finally stage a dramatic comeback to become number one.

 

You could say that 90% of the bad things Shui Que did in this world targeted Chu Jingting, and the other 10% fell on Xie Qian.

 

After all, this character was a spoiled brat who didn’t know how to treasure his partner, so he had to run through some plot progression with Xie Qian too.

 

Though he was a recurring character throughout the novel, he only appeared before the protagonist’s rise and during the post-comeback revenge arc.

 

Early on, he abused the male lead terribly; later, he met a miserable end, suffering the consequences of his own actions.

 

So, Shui Que had already completed about half of his storyline in the F-rank instance.

 

＊

 

Evening.

 

The golden-yellow sunlight streamed in like a golden carpet laid across the floor. It was sweltering outside, but inside the house it was pleasantly cool.

 

The big dog was sprawled out, sleeping soundly on the floor.

 

Yuan Yu came in from the kitchen hut in the courtyard, carrying two bowls of mung bean porridge into the living room.

 

“Eat some mung bean porridge first to fill up a bit. I’ll make dinner a little later,” he said with his eyes downcast, placing a bowl with a spoon onto the wooden table.

 

He called it mung bean porridge, but in truth it was quite luxurious—there wasn’t even any rice in it, just pure mung beans boiled soft with rock sugar until they nearly fell apart.

 

Yuan Yu’s own bowl was filled to the brim. He didn’t even bother with a spoon—just held the bowl and drank straight from it.

 

Shui Que’s portion was smaller, just over half a bowl.

 

Yuan Yu worried that if Shui Que ate a whole bowl, he wouldn’t eat dinner.

 

The smooth wooden spoon scooped up a spoonful of mung bean mash and delivered it to his mouth.

 

Shui Que had barely eaten anything at lunch from fear, so now that he was hungry, he quickly emptied most of the bowl.

 

After finishing, he set down the bowl and spoon with a clink.

 

“I want to take a bath.”

 

He turned his head and spoke in Yuan Yu’s direction.

 

Yuan Yu replied, “Okay.”

 

Shui Que was still sitting nicely on the wooden chair, but Yuan Yu stood up naturally to clear the dishes, preparing to take them to the water basin in the courtyard to wash. In a mild tone, he said, “I’ll heat some water for you later.”

 

With Yuan Zhou gone, he had no choice but to follow his elder brother’s example and care for this delicate and particular little widower.

 

People in the village didn’t have solar water heaters. Only four or five well-off households in town had them. Most folks went to public bathhouses in the village or town to bathe.

 

Only this city boy refused, saying it wasn’t clean after so many people had used it.

 

Yuan Yu didn’t expose the truth—Shui Que was simply too embarrassed to strip naked in front of others to bathe.

 

Actually, in summer, the two brothers often didn’t go to the bathhouse either. They’d just bathe in the courtyard under the moonlight, spraying themselves with cold water from a hose and using soap pods to scrub clean. After drying off in the breeze, there wouldn’t be a trace of sweat or sea odor left.

 

But Shui Que couldn’t do that.

 

He couldn’t handle cold water. He needed hot water—always had to mix hot and cold to make a warm bucket, even in summer.

 

Bathing at night was out too. There were no lights in the courtyard. At least during the day, he could make out some shadows. At night, he couldn’t see a thing and would get scared.

 

Also, he couldn’t bathe directly in the courtyard.

 

That last rule was something Yuan Yu added himself. Though Qingtian Village didn’t have many people and their home was in a secluded spot, there was still a chance someone might pass by.

 

Yuan Yu wasn’t sure why, but he felt it wasn’t right for Shui Que to bathe out there fully naked.

 

It just didn’t seem appropriate.

 

Yet he and his brother used to do it all the time without a second thought.

 

No one would just wander by at night and peek into someone’s yard unless they were a thief.

 

Yuan Yu stared into the roaring fire in the stove. His pupils glowed gold from the reflection.

 

Using a newly bought stainless steel ladle, he scooped boiling hot water into a wooden bucket.

 

He went back and forth several times until the bucket was half full.

 

Then he turned on the courtyard faucet to add cold water and adjust the temperature to lukewarm.

 

Just like Yuan Zhou had done before, Yuan Yu used a thin rope to tie up a curtain in the courtyard, stringing it between two bamboo poles suspended overhead.

 

The bamboo poles had originally been used to dry a few ears of corn, which he pushed to the ends of the poles.

 

The curtain formed an enclosed space just large enough to turn around in and take a bath.

 

“You can add more cold water yourself,” Yuan Yu said flatly before turning and walking back to the kitchen hut.

 

Without his older brother to share the household chores, he had to cook dinner himself.

 

In the tiled house, the sound of chopping vegetables and mincing meat echoed from the wooden cutting board.

 

Shui Que stepped through the curtain and mixed the warm water.

 

He tiptoed slightly to hang his clean clothes on the bamboo pole.

 

Using a towel, he soaked his body and then lathered himself with the newly bought sulfur soap.

 

Wearing a pair of slippers that were one or two sizes too big, he took a step back as he set the soap down.

 

His heel seemed to step on something sticky.

 

A cold, slippery sensation crept up from his heel along his calf.

 

Snake?

 

Shui Que stomped his foot hard in fright. That cold, living thing was incredibly long, wet and sticky, and there were several of them. After drooping for a bit, they slithered back up from his ankle, winding upward again.

 

In the blink of an eye, it had spread from his heel up to the back of his knee.

 

“Yuan Yu!” Shui Que didn’t dare move, terrified of being bitten. “Yuan Yu, come quick! There’s a snake on my leg!”

 

The boy hurriedly ran back out from the kitchen.

 

The curtain wasn’t very long—it completely covered the upper body, but only the knees and calves were visible from below.

 

Pinkish knees and lotus-like calves.

 

Yuan Yu looked down. “No, there’s no snake.”

 

As soon as he said that, Shui Que realized the cold, strange sensation on his leg had disappeared.

 

But he still wasn’t convinced and softly asked Yuan Yu again and again, “Really? There’s really nothing?”

 

Yuan Yu crouched down for a careful look. Realizing he had nearly stretched out his neck to look up from below, he abruptly straightened up.

 

“No, Shui Que. No snake, no bugs. It’s safe,” he said.

 

“Oh…”

 

Did he imagine it? Maybe it was just a cool breeze?

 

Or some sprout from a crack in the ground brushing against his calf?

 

Whatever it was, Shui Que didn’t dare continue bathing. That night, he finished up in half the time he usually took and came out in his sleepwear.

 

Well, not actual sleepwear—just a short-sleeved shirt and shorts he found in the wardrobe made of softer fabric. After putting it on, he realized the shirt was much too big. The hem even covered his butt. The “soft fabric” just meant it had been washed so many times it had worn thin.

 

But if it was just for sleeping, it was perfectly fine.

 

【Side quest: Get Yuan Yu to massage your legs once (0/1). Reward: 15 points.】

 

If it hadn’t been for the phrase “side quest” and the fact that Yuan Yu was listed as the target, Shui Que wouldn’t have even realized this was part of the infinite game system.

 

He almost thought it was System 77 giving him a story progression mission, especially since it was so similar to that “make Chu Jingting wipe your feet” storyline…

 

Why did his character in this game have to be one of those pampered, unreasonable types too?

 

Inside and outside the game, he was playing the role of a fragile and dramatic widow whose husband had died. Shui Que fell silent.

 

During dinner, Yuan Yu suddenly remembered something. He said that when he brought Coalball home that morning, someone had been waiting at the door. The person told him they were an old gaming friend of Shui Que’s and asked Yuan Yu to pass along a message—they’d be waiting under the big banyan tree in town tomorrow.

 

Shui Que guessed it was probably another player.

 

After Yuan Yu finished tidying up the dishes, Shui Que sat on the bed and finally found a chance to speak:

“Yuan Yu?”

 

The boy was by the window, untying a hemp string to lower the curtain. When he heard Shui Que, he turned around right away. “Hm?”

 

If Shui Que hadn’t been blind, he probably would’ve sighed at how much this little brother-in-law resembled a sharp-eared puppy.

 

Shui Que hesitated for a second but still mumbled, “I walked really far in town today. I’m so tired.”

 

Yuan Yu: “Mm.”

 

His tone had a slight upward lilt at the end, sounding a bit confused.

 

Sigh… Even this kind of hint didn’t get through?

 

If Xie Qian were here, he wouldn’t even need to ask—he’d already be over here giving him a massage…

 

Wait!

 

Shui Que became alert.

 

Why had he started thinking of being waited on like this as completely natural?

 

Was it because Xie Qian had spoiled him, or had he been fully assimilated into his character?

 

His eyelids drooped slightly. He bowed his head and pursed his lips, then quietly continued, “My legs are really sore. Yuan Yu, can you massage them for me?”

 

There was no reply—no agreement.

 

After a while, Shui Que heard footsteps growing fainter as Yuan Yu left the room.

 

Not even a word—he just walked away. Probably thought Shui Que was too much trouble…

 

But less than the time it took to burn half a stick of incense, the footsteps returned.

 

In his hazy vision, Shui Que could just make out a shadow squatting in front of him.

 

“Both legs?” Yuan Yu’s voice was calm—not impatient at all.

 

Shui Que was dazed for a moment, then nodded slowly. “Yeah, both are sore. I need both.”

 

“Mm.”

 

Yuan Yu half-kneeled as if unsure how to begin. After a brief hesitation, he started with the right calf.

 

He held it with one hand while the other massaged and tapped lightly.

 

His palms were still damp.

 

Shui Que leaned forward and asked, “What did you just go do? You left without a word—I thought you were annoyed with me.”

 

As he leaned in, his scent wafted into Yuan Yu’s nose.

 

Yuan Yu paused.

 

“I wasn’t annoyed.”

 

“I just went to wash my hands.”

 

He had gone to the courtyard to fetch water and washed thoroughly with soap pods. He had even worried that his hands, long hardened by labor and the sea, would feel too rough.

 

Though he had only just reached adulthood, his palms were broad, his lines deep, and they bore numerous scars from years of fishing.

 

The villagers called these scars the ocean’s medals for brave men.

 

But Yuan Yu didn’t think so.

 

They didn’t look like medals at all.

 

They were ugly.

 

Shui Que’s hands didn’t have those scars. They were pale, like they’d never seen the sun—tender and soft.

 

To Yuan Yu, that was what beauty looked like.

 

His calves were the same—completely different from his own.

 

Even when tensed, there was no sign of muscle. They were so soft that pressing lightly left a small, pale pink dimple.

 

Suddenly, Shui Que burst out giggling and grabbed his hand. “That’s enough! Just the calves, okay? Massaging the thighs tickles too much.”

 

Only then did Yuan Yu realize that his hands had wandered past the back of Shui Que’s knees, crossing the line and landing on the soft flesh of his thighs.

 

What was he doing?

 

What did this even mean?

 

In the confused mind of a teenage boy still transitioning to adulthood, everything went blank.

 

Here he was, in his dead brother’s room, massaging his brother’s fiancé’s legs.

 

And Shui Que was even wearing his brother’s shirt.

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Huge shoutout to @candycorns2 on Discord for commissioning this! The chapter will be posted regularly, show your support for Ciacia at Kofi.

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