My cousin-in-law helped me achieve my ambitions.

Qiu Tong rolled her eyes at him, clearly annoyed.

"Didn't you know I'm on my period?" she scolded playfully. "Honestly! I even asked you to help me warm my uterus last night, have you forgotten?"

Upon hearing this, Su Ming suddenly understood.

"I see..." he muttered.

Qiu Tong glanced at him, both amused and exasperated: "You think men and women can just come and go as they please? It depends on the situation! Really."

Su Ming blushed and stammered, "I...I don't know either!"

Qiu Tong laughed and gently pushed him: "If you don't understand, why don't you go find a girlfriend? You'll understand once you have one."

Su Ming wanted to say, "I've already looked for someone," but the words caught in his throat. His face flushed, and he changed the subject: "Let's not talk about that. By the way, cousin-in-law, you said he pinched you five times. Are there any other injuries? Can I take a look?"

Qiu Tong glanced at him and shook her head: "No, that won't do. I can't show it to you."

Su Ming asked, puzzled, "Why?"

Qiu Tong's face flushed slightly. She lowered her head and lowered her voice, "The other three places were pinched on my inner thighs. And on my buttocks, there was one too."

She looked up at him and said, "I can't exactly take my clothes off for you to see."

Su Ming's face instantly turned red, the color spreading to the roots of his neck. He lowered his head, murmured an "Mmm," and dared not look at her again.

After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly remembered something, looked up and asked, "Oh right, should I go buy you an ice pack?"

Qiu Tong was taken aback: "What do you need an ice pack for?"

Su Ming said earnestly, "You need to apply ice to the injury to help it heal faster. This will stop the bleeding from the capillaries inside. You can apply safflower oil tomorrow, which will make recovery easier."

Qiu Tong felt a warmth in her heart as she looked at his earnest expression.

She nodded and said softly, "Go to the refrigerator, open the freezer compartment, there are ice cubes inside. Take one out for me, wrap it in a towel, and apply it to my skin."

"Okay, I'll go right away!" Su Ming quickly stood up, turned around, and went to the kitchen.

He opened the refrigerator, took out a block of ice from the freezer compartment, wrapped it in a clean towel, and returned to the living room.

Qiu Tong was already seated on the sofa. She leaned back against the sofa, one leg slightly bent, the other straight, her skirt hanging down to just above her knees.

Su Ming sat down next to her and first applied ice to the bruises on her arm.

The ice cubes were wrapped in a towel, and the coolness seeped through the towel. He gently pressed them against the bruise, circling them in circles.

Qiu Tong initially hissed softly, but quickly got used to it, and her brows gradually relaxed.

After applying the ice for about ten minutes, Su Ming picked up the ice and looked at it. The bruise had faded noticeably.

Upon seeing this, Qiu Tong couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Wow! It really works! It's faded a lot!"

She sat up abruptly, pulled up her skirt to reveal the bruise on her thigh, and called out to Su Ming, "Quick, help me apply some ointment to the bruise on my left leg too!"

Su Ming glanced at her fair thigh—the bruise was a small, purplish-red patch on her calf, near the knee.

He took a deep breath, bent down, and began to carefully apply the compress to her skin.

A towel wrapped around ice was gently pressed against her thigh. Her skin was delicate, with a faint warmth from her bath. The bruise stood out starkly against her fair skin, causing Su Ming another pang of heartache.

He applied the compress with focused care, in circles, gently and softly.

Qiu Tong leaned back on the sofa, closed her eyes, and enjoyed his care.

As she was applying the compress, Su Ming suddenly felt her legs trembling.

The trembling was very slight, but he could clearly feel it as his hand pressed against her thigh. It was a gentle trembling, like something inside her body.

Su Ming was stunned for a moment, then looked up at her.

Qiu Tong closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly, and two blushes rose on her cheeks. Her breathing seemed a little more rapid than before, and her chest rose and fell gently.

"Sister-in-law?" Su Ming asked softly, "Are you cold?"

Qiu Tong opened her eyes, met his gaze, and blushed even more.

"No...no," she said softly, "It's just...a little cold."

Su Ming said "Oh" and continued to apply ice to his face.

But her legs were still shaking.

The trembling passed through the towel, one slap after another, to his palm, as if something was gently flowing between the two of them.

The living room was quiet. The only sounds were the creaking of the fan and Qiu Tong's soft inhalation as ice cubes occasionally touched her skin.

The dim light shone on the two of them, casting their shadows on the wall. They were very close together, as if they had become one.

Su Ming didn't dare to look up, focusing intently on the bruise as he applied the compress in circles. But his heart was beating faster and faster.

He didn't know why his cousin's wife was trembling.

But he knew that somewhere deep inside him, a soft spot was quietly and uncontrollably softening.

He realized he was starting to like his cousin's wife. He even fantasized about doing the things Jiang Jian could do with her.

No, I can't let my mind wander like that, she's my cousin's wife!

Su Ming forcibly interrupted his distracting thoughts.

Qiu Tong's thighs were still trembling.

Su Ming didn't dare to look up, only staring at the bruise, focusing intently on applying the ointment. But his heart was beating faster and faster, as if it were about to jump out of his chest.

This atmosphere is unbearable.

Just as he was agonizing over this, Qiu Tong suddenly spoke up, her face flushed.

"Okay," her voice was a little strained, "Let's go somewhere else!"

Su Ming was stunned for a moment, then looked up at her.

Qiu Tong leaned back on the sofa, the blush on her cheeks still lingering, her eyes looking elsewhere, avoiding eye contact with him.

Su Ming asked in a low voice, "Sister-in-law, we've already applied it to my arms and thighs, where else should we apply it? Didn't you say... those three areas shouldn't be shown?"

Qiu Tong bit her lip, hesitated for a moment, and whispered, "It's nothing... just the inner thighs and buttocks."

She paused, then lowered her voice even further: "It's not convenient for you to apply it to your inner thighs, so forget it. I'm on my period, so I'm sensitive to cold and can't apply it there. Or... could you apply it to my buttocks instead?"

Su Ming was stunned: "Huh?"

Qiu Tong stood up, blushing, and glanced at him somewhat embarrassedly: "If you don't want to, then forget it."

Su Ming quickly stood up, waving his hands repeatedly, "Yes, yes! I'm willing!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt something was off. Something about those words sounded rather strange.

Qiu Tong was also stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.

She handed the towel to Su Ming, turned around, and lay down on the sofa.

The sofa was an old-fashioned fabric sofa, large and soft. Qiu Tong lay on it, her face turned to one side, her hands folded under her face, her long hair falling down and covering half of her face.

She was wearing a light purple short skirt that reached mid-thigh. As she lay prone, the skirt stretched taut, outlining the beautiful curves of her waist and hips.

Qiu Tong reached out and slowly pulled her short skirt down a little.

The hem of her skirt slipped down from her waist, revealing a small patch of fair skin. On that patch of skin, a purplish-red bruise stood out starkly, just above her buttocks, near her waist.