The Foot Massage

“Qingqing, open the door, it’s me.” Shen Lanzhi’s gentle voice drifted from outside the door.

‘Open the door? For you? Never!’

‘I’ve already fallen for your tricks!’

“Qingqing, it’s my fault. I scared you just now.” Shen Lanzhi’s voice was filled with remorse. “I just want to apologize to you. Please don’t be angry with me, okay?”

‘Listen to her! Just listen to that saccharine, manipulative talk!’

Xiang Qing was rolling her eyes furiously in her mind, but her body was surprisingly honest.

She couldn’t just leave the person hanging outside. What if Shen Lanzhi got angry and decided to stop playing along? Who would she find then to complete Gu Wei’s mission?

‘I’ll just have to endure it!’

Xiang Qing took a deep breath, adjusted her expression, and then cautiously opened the door just a crack.

“Sister Lanzhi, I… I’m not angry.”

Shen Lanzhi stood right at the doorway, her hair loosely tied back, a perfectly apologetic smile gracing her face.

“That’s good then.” She let out a sigh of relief, then proceeded to scrutinize Xiang Qing from head to toe.

“You spent the whole day shopping with An Qi. You must be exhausted, right?”

“I… I’m alright, not tired.” Xiang Qing replied, forcing herself to speak.

“How could you not be tired?”

Shen Lanzhi clearly didn’t believe her. Her gaze fell upon Xiang Qing’s smooth calves. “Shopping is the most tiring thing for a girl’s feet. How about I give you a massage? Consider it my apology for scaring you earlier.”

‘Huh?’

‘A foot massage?’

Xiang Qing’s mind momentarily crashed.

‘Isn’t this development a bit too bizarre?’

“No, no, no! There’s no need, Sister Lanzhi!” Xiang Qing’s survival instinct kicked in once more, her head shaking like a rattle-drum. “I’m really not tired! My body is perfectly fine, made of iron!”

“Just let me do something for you, otherwise, I’ll keep feeling guilty about it.”

Shen Lanzhi’s eyes instantly misted over, making her appear utterly pitiful, impossible to refuse.

Xiang Qing’s heart was bleeding.

‘She understood this feeling all too well. This woman was truly wasted if she didn’t become an actress!’

‘But… it was just a foot massage.’

‘It didn’t seem… like too much of an outrageous request, did it?’

Xiang Qing quickly convinced herself.

“Then… I suppose I’ll trouble you, Sister Lanzhi.” She reluctantly agreed.

A gentle smile immediately blossomed on Shen Lanzhi’s face.

“No trouble at all, not in the slightest.”

Resigned, Xiang Qing sat down by the bed, her heart aflutter with unease.

Soon, Shen Lanzhi returned with a basin of perfectly warm water, having thoughtfully added a few drops of essential oil.

Instead of taking a stool, she gracefully knelt on the carpet directly in front of Xiang Qing.

‘That posture…’

Xiang Qing felt a rush of heat surge from the soles of her feet straight up to her crown.

Shen Lanzhi looked up, smiled at her, then reached out and gently took one of Xiang Qing’s feet in her hand.

Xiang Qing’s feet were small, her skin fair, her toes round and adorable, and her nails neatly trimmed, radiating a healthy pink sheen.

“Qingqing’s feet are truly beautiful.” Shen Lanzhi praised genuinely, her voice laced with infatuation.

‘Big sister! Stop praising them!’

‘Xiang Qing wailed internally.’

Shen Lanzhi placed her foot into the warm water, testing the temperature.

“Is the temperature alright?”

“Y-yes… it’s fine.” Xiang Qing was so nervous she could barely speak.

Shen Lanzhi meticulously washed her feet clean, then carefully dried them with a soft towel.

Next, she placed Xiang Qing’s foot on her own lap and began to massage it.

Xiang Qing’s eyes instantly widened.

‘Professional! So incredibly professional!’

Shen Lanzhi’s technique was skilled, her pressure varying between light and heavy, precisely targeting each acupuncture point.

A sensation of soreness, numbness, and sheer pleasure instantly spread from her sole throughout her limbs.

Xiang Qing couldn’t help but let out a comfortable sigh.

“Mmm…”

The moment the sound escaped, she wished she could burrow into the nearest crack in the floor.

‘It was utterly mortifying!’

Shen Lanzhi’s hands paused in their work. She looked up at Xiang Qing, a meaningful smile playing on her lips.

“Did I hurt you?”

“N-no, not at all!” Xiang Qing’s face was flushed crimson, as if it could drip blood. “It’s… it’s just too comfortable.”

“Good, as long as you’re comfortable.”

Shen Lanzhi’s voice dropped even lower.

Her fingers traced the lines on the sole of Xiang Qing’s foot, moving upward until they reached her slender ankle.

The warm pads of her fingers gently circled on the skin, sending shivers of ticklish sensation through Xiang Qing.

Xiang Qing’s toes curled inward.

‘This wasn’t a foot massage; this was clearly soul-snatching!’

‘My mission was to seduce her, so why did it feel like I was about to be taken down by her?’

‘This isn’t right!’

Xiang Qing’s mind had turned into a muddled mess, leaving her to be completely at Shen Lanzhi’s mercy.

After finishing one foot, Shen Lanzhi switched to the other.

The room grew incredibly quiet, with only the faint sounds of their breathing audible.

Just as Xiang Qing was about to succumb to this damnable gentle embrace, Shen Lanzhi’s fingers suddenly paused on the sole of her foot.

She looked up, her beautiful eyes fixed steadily on Xiang Qing.

“Qingqing.”

“Hmm?” Xiang Qing responded, half-dazed.

Shen Lanzhi’s thumb lightly, yet deliberately, stroked the sole of her foot, and her voice eerily echoed.

“Don’t you also think that An Qi is… quite noisy?”

Xiang Qing jolted, instantly sobering up.

Before she could even formulate a reply, she felt a tightening sensation on her leg.

Without her noticing, Shen Lanzhi’s hand had already slid from her ankle to her calf, gently gripping it.

A sudden, undeniable possessiveness entered her voice.

“I don’t like her being so close to you.”

‘What did that mean?’

Xiang Qing felt Shen Lanzhi’s hand gripping her calf, every inch of skin there screaming a warning.

‘Calm down!’

‘I absolutely must calm down!’

‘You’re here to make money, not to lose your life!’

“Sister Lanzhi, you… you need to calm down.” Xiang Qing’s voice trembled. “An Qi just has a childish temper; don’t take her seriously.”

“I am very calm.” Shen Lanzhi’s fingers slowly moved along the curve of her calf. “I am simply telling you my thoughts.”

As she spoke, she lowered her head again, resuming her massage.

Only this time, her movements had noticeably slowed.

Her fingertips lingered on the top of Xiang Qing’s foot, her thumb gently circled the sole, then stopped, remaining motionless.

‘Every hair on Xiang Qing’s body stood on end.’

‘She’s doing it again, she’s staring again!’

‘What kind of expression was that?’

‘What the hell was that look, as if she wanted to cradle her feet and worship them?’

‘Big sister, this is just an ordinary, unremarkable foot!’

‘Sure, it’s a bit pale, a bit small, but fundamentally, it’s still just a mode of transport!’

‘Staring at it like that is putting a lot of pressure on it!’

Xiang Qing even entertained an utterly absurd and terrifying thought—was she about to lick it the next second?

‘Damn it!’

‘I treat you like a sister, and you want to taste the saltiness of my feet?’

“Sister Lanzhi?” Xiang Qing tentatively called out, trying to rouse the other woman from her strange trance-like state.

Shen Lanzhi seemed to awaken from a dream, lifting her head with a bewildered expression still on her face.

“Hmm? What is it?”

“N-nothing,” Xiang Qing stammered, “I just felt like… you seemed to be spacing out.”

“Really?” Shen Lanzhi chuckled softly. “Perhaps. I’ve been busy lately and a bit tired.”

‘Liar!’

‘Absolutely a liar!’

‘You weren’t spacing out just now; you were clearly drooling over my feet!’

‘Your expression practically screamed ‘lewd thoughts’ for all to see!’

But she dared not say it aloud.

What if she angered the woman, who then accused her of having dirty thoughts and overthinking things?

‘Never mind, never mind.’

‘A moment’s patience brings calm seas.’

Finally, the foot massage service concluded.

Shen Lanzhi meticulously dried Xiang Qing’s feet with the towel, not missing a single space between her toes.

Then, she stood up, picking up the basin of water, ready to leave.

Xiang Qing quickly pulled her feet back onto the bed, covering them tightly with the blanket, as if they were something indecent.

Shen Lanzhi carried the basin to the door, then suddenly stopped and turned around.

She raised her hand, the very hand that had just massaged Xiang Qing’s feet, and gently rubbed her own cheek.

“Well, I’ll go pour out the water now. Get some rest soon.”

Xiang Qing: “…”

Xiang Qing was stunned.

Xiang Qing looked down at her feet beneath the blanket.

Xiang Qing’s face flushed hot.

‘Seriously, big sister, you’re really something else!’

‘You just touched someone else’s feet, and then immediately touched your face?’

‘Even though I’d showered and my feet were clean, this… this isn’t right!’

‘Was she genuinely unconcerned with minor details, or was she subtly hinting at something with this action?’