'Could she consider my arrangement not to be professional enough?', Liu Fengying wondered, puzzled by Professor Wei's lack of cooperation.
Since she hadn't asked anything unusual of Professor Wei, she couldn't see what other reason she might have for being so hesitant, other than a potential lack of confidence in her competence.
"It's true that it would be better for you to lie completely flat during the massage, but it's not a problem if you sit in a chair in a comfortable position either; what's important is that you relax your leg…" Liu Fengying added, wanting to prove to Professor Wei that she intended to take her work seriously. It wasn't as if she had offered to give her a massage just to show off.
Hearing Liu Fengying's words and putting them together with what she had said previously, Professor Wei finally managed to figure out what was happening. However, that did not mean the confusion on her face disappeared.
'When did I tell her I agreed to let her give me a massage?', Professor Wei began to wonder. Finding herself suddenly in a situation she had never imagined she could agree to, she felt a sense of unreality—like when someone regains consciousness during a dream and begins to marvel at the absurd decisions made up to that point.
However, she was certain she was not dreaming at that moment, so it was out of the question for her to make such an irrational decision as letting a student give her a massage.
'Could Liu Fengying have gotten carried away?' Professor Wei tried to find an explanation; since she didn't believe the problem lay with her, she thought that maybe Liu Fengying was to blame for this misunderstanding.
Still, reviewing her own reactions, Professor Wei realized she couldn't place the blame entirely on Liu Fengying; her words could have truly been interpreted as approval. Furthermore, one thing was certain: she hadn't made the slightest attempt to refuse her. Under these circumstances, it was no wonder Liu Fengying believed she did not object to the massage.
".....", Professor Wei found herself in a predicament she had no idea how to get out of.
Could she tell Liu Fengying that there had been a misunderstanding? Well, that was simple. But what would she do then, if the student tried to find out why she had been so scatterbrained that she didn't realize what she was saying? Since the reason was the guilt she felt over the inappropriate thoughts that kept creeping into her mind regarding Liu Fengying, she would have wished for the ground to swallow her up the moment she met her questioning gaze.
Moreover, since she had unjustly suspected Liu Fengying of ill intentions all along, she felt guilty that now, when the girl was already prepared to get to work, she would have to tell her that she hadn't actually accepted her proposal. If she had refused her right from the start, invoking a hard-to-refute reason—for instance, that it was a strange situation for a student to secretly give her teacher foot massages—it would have been something expected and reasonable. But now, with things having reached the point where she had to get ready for the massage, anything she said would seem like a mere excuse, as if she had suddenly changed her mind. Wouldn't that make Liu Fengying wonder what she had done wrong?
Yet, just as a solid dam begins to splash water in all directions when besieged by large, relentless waves, so did Professor Wei—a proud person who disliked being in a position of inferiority—begin to fight back, weary of being controlled by fear and guilt:
'Why have I suddenly become such a coward?' Professor Wei scolded herself. Even if she was attracted to Liu Fengying, what was the big deal? As long as she didn't give in to these emotions, she wasn't doing anything wrong. After all, people are judged by their actions, not by what goes on inside their heads.
Furthermore, she found it embarrassing to display so much hesitation in her interactions with Liu Fengying; even if this was the first time someone had managed to catch her romantic interest, she was, after all, a grown woman, not a fifteen-year-old girl. If anyone ought to be nervous, it should be Liu Fengying; in terms of both life experience and accomplishments, the girl was vastly inferior. If Liu Fengying truly had designs on her, it was like a cat trying to hunt a fox; more than likely, she risked being the one eaten.
With this shift in perspective, which was far more favorable to her, Professor Wei matured emotionally in just a few seconds as much as others do in a year, suddenly becoming much more relaxed. As a great swordsman once said, once he had achieved perfect mastery of the blade, it became simple for him to master any other discipline. Why wouldn't this apply to Professor Wei as well, who was a true expert in the field of physics? Were feelings harder to understand than physics formulas?
Looking at her current situation with more objectivity than before, Professor Wei wondered why it would be such a big deal if she let Liu Fengying proceed with the massage. Was it unusual for a student to give a teacher a massage? Perhaps. But what was so immoral about it? After all, it was just a medical procedure, and not even one that involved much intimacy; for instance, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation performed in case of drowning was far more intimate, yet no one looked at it with suspicion.
As far as she was concerned, being massaged by Liu Fengying would hardly be unpleasant; after all, she had already established that, unlike with others, contact with the girl not only didn't bother her, but also had a beneficial effect on her. In addition, since Liu Fengying seemed highly determined to help her heal, Professor Wei expected her to take her work seriously during the massage, so she told herself she had no reason to worry about finding herself in another ambiguous situation—it was just a treatment and nothing more.
If there was a problem with this scenario, it was that it wouldn't be a good thing for a third party to find out about it. But how would that happen? The door was locked from the inside, so no one could catch them by surprise. As for the possibility of Liu Fengying telling someone about the massage she had given her, Professor Wei believed it was almost nonexistent; the girl was smart, well aware of what should be shared and what should not.
After drawing these conclusions, Professor Wei told herself that it was better now to go with the flow rather than try to swim against the current; after all, no matter which way she looked at it, trying to convince Liu Fengying that a misunderstanding had occurred between them was only going to complicate the situation further. So, she began to follow her student's instructions so that she could get to work.
Liu Fengying breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that she had managed to dispel Professor Wei's doubts for the moment; she was now quite convinced that she had guessed what the teacher had been thinking.
'It seems Professor Wei is a truly demanding client…' Liu Fengying jokingly said to herself. Still, it was a statement she felt she had to take seriously, as there was a risk that, at the first sign of unprofessionalism, Professor Wei would stop her.
However, as confident as she was at that moment that she would deliver an excellent performance, she was bound to become completely shaken only a few seconds later, because Professor Wei put her professionalism to the test right from the very start.
More precisely, what managed to fluster her was the coquettish way Professor Wei addressed her before placing her injured leg on her lap:
"Liu Fengying, this will remain our little secret, alright?"
"…Of course," Liu Fengying replied, avoiding prolonged eye contact with Professor Wei for the first time.
It wasn't that Liu Fengying doubted what the professor meant, but taken out of context, those words sounded truly ambiguous. And what was with that provocative expression on Professor Wei's face? For a brief moment, the thought crossed Liu Fengying's mind—absurd, in her opinion—that the professor had been flirting with her.
The way things unfolded next not only failed to reassure her, but actually reinforced this impression. After making her leg accessible and settling comfortably into her chair, Professor Wei continued to speak in the very same manner:
"I think you can begin. But please, be gentle…"
"…Gulp!" It felt to Liu Fengying as though the office had suddenly grown much warmer. Seeing her thoughts begin to wander down the wrong path, she wondered if she hadn't bitten off more than she could chew—either by overestimating her own self-control or by underestimating Professor Wei's charm.
Well, in moments like these, the best way to clear one's mind was to focus on the work at hand. But now, when the subject of her work was precisely one of Professor Wei's "sexy teacher" legs, was this method still valid? On the contrary, it had the exact opposite effect.
Despite being injured, the leg in her lap remained visually perfect, or rather, lethal. With joints and ligaments easily discernible through the sheer black stocking, yet with enough flesh to give weight to its pressure, it was capable of stealing anyone's gaze, easily considered one of the most defining materializations of feminine sexuality. If there was any difference from how it should normally be, it was only that it was two to three degrees warmer around the ankle; however, this not only didn't diminish its charm, but actually made it even more appetizing. Liu Fengying had to swallow hard a few more times as she wondered just how many cold, wet kisses it would take to bring its temperature down.
Yet, aside from the fact that her palms had begun to sweat, Liu Fengying realized there was another thing standing in the way of starting the treatment on the leg—specifically, the stocking that complemented it. Truthfully, she didn't know if the treatment would have a much weaker effect through the thin stocking; after all, the world where she had spent her past life had not been blessed with the presence of such a miraculous clothing item, so she hadn't had the chance to try such a procedure on a leg wearing one. Still, since she had only one chance to prove to Professor Wei that she knew what she was doing, she couldn't take any risks.
Liu Fengying felt a bit irritated with herself for forgetting to tell Professor Wei to take off her stocking beforehand. She wondered what on earth had been on her mind; to her, was Professor Wei incomplete without stockings?
However, she didn't spend too much time searching for an answer, because at that moment she had to solve another, much more urgent dilemma: how should she proceed? Should she tell Professor Wei that she needed to remove her stocking? Honestly, Liu Fengying would have preferred not to; not only would all this back-and-forth affect her professional image, but it would also mean disturbing the professor, who had just found a comfortable position.
And wasn't there a more convenient solution? Well, maybe that option was a bit inappropriate; normally, Liu Fengying wouldn't have even dared to think about it. Still, encouraged by Professor Wei's change in attitude, she found her courage:
"Professor Wei, I forgot to tell you that you should take off your stocking. So you don't have to trouble yourself, do you think it would be a problem if I helped you?" Liu Fengying asked, trying to sound as submissive as possible.
Yet, how obedient can a hungry wolf truly look?