It Seems I’m Not The Only One Who Reincarnated (Patreon)

Chapter 122: The Fig Leaf

Monday, September 17th

Thump, thump, thump— The sound of a knife rhythmically striking a cutting board echoed.

Gurgle, gurgle— As the noise grew clearer, the bubbling sound of boiling water also reached Shi Hai's ears.

He twitched his nose and caught the aroma of freshly cooked rice—something that didn’t match his usual impression of "breakfast smells."

When it was just Shi Hai and his mom at home, breakfast usually consisted of plain bread slices. At most, they’d warm it up in a frying pan to release its aroma.

But over the past week, breakfast had become noticeably more elaborate.

Still, it didn’t make sense for him to smell it so clearly from his own room.

Wait—he hadn’t slept in his own room last night, had he?

Shi Hai’s consciousness became sharper as he slowly opened his eyes. Through his groggy vision, a silhouette appeared before him.

He rubbed away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and as his pupils focused, the figure’s contours grew clearer.

What greeted his eyes was a creamy white back.

The spine’s groove was distinctly visible, forming a sublime S-line under the morning sunlight.

They say that men’s brains release hormones when they see curves, making them more excited—which is why so many men are drawn to chests and hips.

But aside from the chest and hips, there are other areas that showcase the unique "curvaceous beauty" of a woman.

The back is one such area.

A well-shaped back can enhance both the outward curve of the hips and the forward projection of the chest. In a sense, the back is the bridge that connects and accentuates both features.

And right now, the back before Shi Hai was in a state of perfect harmony.

The shoulder blades weren’t overly pronounced, the waist had no excess fat, and the proportions with the hips were just right.

Faintly visible muscle lines suggested the owner of the back exercised regularly, serving as proof of health.

It looked beautiful and alluring.

This is why there’s a term called "fitness beauty."

Shi Hai hadn’t always understood this kind of appeal. In fact, back in high school biology class, he had a misconception about fitness due to images of overly muscular women in the textbooks. He’d assumed that fitness enthusiasts were all muscle fanatics.

But as he deepened his own fitness journey, he realized that not everyone who exercises ends up looking like a bodybuilder. Only extreme enthusiasts aspire to that level of muscle development.

Shi Hai’s aesthetics leaned more toward the mainstream. For example, he appreciated the physique of weightlifters—muscular but not excessive, with a latent, explosive strength.

The same went for women. They didn’t need to have six-pack abs—just a slight improvement in posture and a touch of muscle definition, like toned abs, could convey a sense of health and confidence.

However, some features couldn’t be achieved through exercise alone.

For instance, the back before him… had dimples of Venus.

Dimples of Venus are two indentations near the lower back, rare and typically innate. They’re also referred to as "sacred dimples" or "Venus’s dimples," and are considered the eyes of sensuality.

It was Shi Hai’s first time seeing these dimples on a real person, and they indeed had an almost magical allure. He even felt tempted to reach out and poke them.

That said, he hadn’t seen many women’s backs in real life. His only reference point came from his mom…

It was a bit sad, really. Whenever something related to women came up, his thoughts always circled back to his mom.

Though his mom was undeniably a beauty, it wasn’t as if he were a mama’s boy…

In fact, it might be more accurate to say Liu Zhenshan was a “son-loving mom.” After all, she barely did any housework, leaving most of it to Shi Hai.

Since losing her husband, Liu Zhenshan’s life had revolved around Shi Hai and her work. In the past, her work took priority, but now she spent more time focused on him.

Of course, things would only improve moving forward. After all, she’d gained a daughter-in-law and had girls like Jian Sichun and Zhu Lingjie who called her “mom.”

After admiring the morning scene for a while, Shi Hai realized something was off.

Wait—why was the back exposed like that?

Though Jian Sichun and Zhu Lingjie had worn backless nightgowns last night, surely they would’ve changed by now…

Could it be the legendary apron with nothing underneath?

Oh— no, she was wearing shorts—very short ones.

So she was wearing something on top too. It was just backless.

It must’ve been a comfortable, casual home outfit. It indeed gave off a warm and blissful “girlfriend-at-home” vibe.

Waking up to a beautiful, bare back, with breakfast being prepared—this was definitely a premium experience.

After taking in the lovely view, Shi Hai finally turned his attention to his surroundings.

He noticed the bedding on either side of him had already been put away, leaving only himself still lying in the living room.

Thankfully, there was no one else in his bed, which was a relief.

Judging by the scene, nothing too disastrous had happened last night.

But truth be told, he couldn’t clearly remember what had happened before he fell asleep.

He vaguely recalled someone knocking on the door, and then himself going to open it…

After that, his memory was blank.

Who had come knocking? His mom or his sister?

It was probably his sister… If it had been his mom, she would’ve egged those two on to make a move. In that case, there was no way he’d be waking up so peacefully.

If it was his sister, though, then he could relax.

Although he would need to explain things to Shi Meng later, his sister didn’t like those two very much and would never allow them to pull a fast one.

It seemed that the peaceful sleep he managed last night was all thanks to his sister standing guard for her brother.

Then, he noticed the clock in the living room. The hands pointed to 7:20.

Subtracting the five minutes he had spent admiring the beautiful back, Shi Hai deduced he had woken up around 7:15.

He had uncharacteristically overslept.

Although it was only a little over ten minutes, for Shi Hai, this might be the first time in years he had woken up late.

Clearly, he had been utterly exhausted yesterday—his mental state had been pushed to its limit.

Fortunately, he had managed to hold the fort in the end. Persistence had paid off.

However, just as Shi Hai was about to lift the blanket and get out of bed, an unfamiliar sensation made him freeze.

"…"

How long had it been since this last happened?

It seemed like it hadn’t occurred ever since he’d ramped up his workouts.

Apparently, while Shi Hai’s mind believed he was in control, his body had other ideas.

Shi Hai didn’t think it was anything to be embarrassed about. After all, every guy had been through this.

But the issue was that he wasn’t in his own room—he was in someone else’s living room.

And there were other people present.

This made things… a bit awkward.

Shi Hai suddenly felt like he was in a stealth game, trying to escape the scene without being detected.

But unlike video game enemies that act like blind and deaf crayfish, real people weren’t so easy to fool.

Hearing the faint sound from Shi Hai’s side, the owner of the beautiful back, Zhu Lingjie, finally turned around.

Seeing that Shi Hai was awake, she greeted him with a sweet smile.

"Good morning, darling."

Then, realizing that her address was overly intimate, she hesitated, touched her cheek shyly, and asked cautiously:

"Um… Is it okay if I call you that?"

Actually, "darling" wasn’t Zhu Lingjie’s usual way of addressing Shi Hai. It felt a bit too cheesy and impractical for everyday use.

Her go-to term of endearment was "husband," but for now, she was only his girlfriend.

Sure, many couples casually called each other "husband" and "wife" as soon as they started dating, but Zhu Lingjie valued a sense of ceremony.

She wanted to wait until she was wearing a wedding dress, with a ring on her finger, and had been undressed by him on their wedding night before she started calling him "husband."

Meanwhile, Shi Hai was entirely focused on figuring out how to leave the scene without Zhu Lingjie noticing anything unusual.

Trying to cover things up would definitely draw her attention, and even if she didn’t actually see anything, the mere realization would be a social death sentence.

He had maintained such a stoic demeanor yesterday, but now his body was betraying him. Being teased was the least of his worries; the scariest part was that this incident could become leverage for those two.

Once they realized that Shi Hai wasn’t immune to such situations, they would only escalate their advances.

There was no way he could let them find out.

But if he didn’t cover up at all…

Shi Hai remembered that the boxers he was wearing were gray, and any "issue" would likely be very noticeable.

If he pulled back the blanket and Zhu Lingjie saw it, everything would be over.

Fortunately, the person in front of him was Zhu Lingjie. If it were her, maybe she would empathetically pretend not to notice…

As he considered this, Shi Hai noticed that Zhu Lingjie was still looking at him expectantly, awaiting his response.

So he gave her an answer.

"Just use whatever you’re comfortable with."

"Mm!"

The former cold and aloof childhood friend now wore an openly delighted expression. The contrast was so striking that Shi Hai found it refreshing no matter how many times he saw it.

Jian Sichun and Shi Meng weren’t around—who knew where they had gone.

Thank goodness they weren’t there; otherwise, he wouldn’t have any room to maneuver.

Shi Hai decided to use the couch as cover and get dressed before making any moves.

Even if it was uncomfortable, he couldn’t afford to discard his "last fig leaf."

Once he was back in his own room, he could change into a clean pair.

But before that…

Just as he reached out to grab his clothes, he froze.

The outfit in front of him wasn’t the one he had worn yesterday.

And on top of the neatly folded pile was a fresh pair of boxer briefs.

Shi Hai was stunned.

If the clothes were prepared by them... why would they include underwear?

No, don’t overthink it. Maybe it’s just that girls tend to be more meticulous about cleanliness.

But Zhu Lingjie’s next words shattered Shi Hai’s attempt at self-reassurance.

Lowering her head shyly, her face turning slightly red, she said awkwardly,

"Um... if you’re going to change, you should take off what you’re wearing first…"

"Huh?"

Shi Hai was so shocked that his voice cracked.

This clearly implied that Zhu Lingjie already knew about his current... situation.

But how? How could she know?

Zhu Lingjie promptly provided an answer.

What?!

She could smell it?!

Even though Shi Hai, who was closest to himself, could only catch the faint scent of rice, Zhu Lingjie... smelled that?

Shi Hai was utterly stunned. What kind of sense of smell was this?

And through a blanket, no less! Could the smell really be that strong? Could it have traveled that far?

For instance, earlier in the morning, when he entered Liu Zhenshan’s room, he couldn’t even tell if his mom had worn stockings to bed. The blanket blocked any scent.

Little did he know, Zhu Lingjie was particularly sensitive to such smells—it was something she rather enjoyed.

Anything that carried Shi Hai’s scent, she could distinguish clearly, even pinpointing the exact origin.

And a certain soapy, salty odor? She could catch that instantly.

However, no matter how sharp her sense of smell was, it wouldn’t be enough to detect through a blanket and from several meters away.

So the truth was...

Someone had already "checked" him before he woke up.

And it wasn’t just Zhu Lingjie—everyone had participated in this "inspection."

This also explained why all three of them had gone to take a shower earlier—just like why Shi Hai now needed one.

Had Shi Hai remembered the events of last night, he might have pieced it all together.

Last night, after pushing Shi Meng onto his bedding and covering her with a blanket, Shi Hai himself had fallen asleep without any cover, leaning against the couch.

But this morning, he woke up with his head on his pillow, tucked neatly into his own blanket.

Clearly, someone had "relocated" him.

However, since he didn’t remember the state he was in before falling asleep, he couldn’t realize that he had already been "handled."

"Don’t worry, I don’t mind... but if you’re going to put on clean clothes over it..."

"Uh…"

"So, maybe take a shower first. But right now, Mengmeng and Sisi are using the bathroom, so you’ll have to wait a bit."

Ah, so that’s why those two had gone to shower.

But Shi Meng, agreeing to bathe with Jian Sichun? Their relationship must have improved.

Was it because Jian Sichun had earned the "girlfriend" title, leading Shi Meng to soften her attitude?

"I bathed quickly, so I came out first to start breakfast. I was in a hurry, so I just wore an apron..."

So, she really wasn’t wearing anything but the apron on her upper body!

But did she really need to say that out loud?

Seeing Zhu Lingjie’s increasingly red face, Shi Hai realized she was embarrassed too.

So why did she feel the need to mention it?

"Um, do you think I’m being... a little too ‘casual’?"

"No, not at all. You look great—your back is really beautiful."

Hearing his compliment, Zhu Lingjie’s joy was boundless. She gathered her courage and continued with what she wanted to say.

"Really? Thank you, darling... Actually, what I mean is... since we’re a couple now, I don’t mind showing you this kind of ‘casual’ side of me. So, you can relax a bit more too... After all, we’re at home, right?"

"Oh... oh..."

Shi Hai felt like he was beginning to understand.

The reason Zhu Lingjie, despite her embarrassment, wore this outfit, struck this posture, and made those remarks, was to lead by example.

She was trying to tell Shi Hai: "At home, we’re family—there’s no need to feel awkward."

I’m being open with you, so there’s no need for you to feel shy either.

It was a form of mutual understanding and acceptance.

But Shi Hai had missed a deeper layer of her intent.

Zhu Lingjie wasn’t just satisfied with looking.

"So, you can go ahead and change... As for what you take off... I’ll make sure to wash it thoroughly!"

Zhu Lingjie’s gaze locked onto Shi Hai, her eyes drifting downward, her expression growing more intense.

"In fact... please! Let! Me! Take care of it!"

This was Zhu Lingjie’s true intention.

What she really wanted was the one remaining item on Shi Hai’s body—the "soiled fig leaf."

To Zhu Lingjie, it wasn’t just a piece of clothing. It was a precious, consumable item of the highest grade.

And one she couldn’t wait to savor.