Thinking about that kiss, Xu Qinghe lay in bed for a long time, unable to calm down. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was the warmth of his lips and the burning heat of his breath. His gentle, teasing kiss on her lips seemed to reach straight into her heart. It wasn't just the kiss; being with him, she felt enveloped in a sense of safety at all times. Even just hearing someone call out "Director Shi" in the corridor of the operating room, without even seeing him, knowing he was nearby, made her feel at ease.
Just as she was drifting off to sleep, her phone vibrated. Xu Qinghe turned over, grabbed her phone from the nightstand, and opened it. Shi Wenli asked, [Fallen asleep yet?] Xu Qinghe: [No.] Shi Wenli: [Should I wake you a few minutes earlier tomorrow?] Xu Qinghe almost forgot she needed to drop off her things at home before work: [Wake me at 6:30.] Shi Wenli: [Okay.] Shi Wenli: [If you really can't sleep, I'll chat with you for a while.] Xu Qinghe: [Alright.] She set an alarm to remind herself to chat for at most twenty minutes, so as not to affect his rest. She started typing in the chat box: [Jiang Yang today—] Her fingers paused. It was rare to have time to talk before bed—why talk about someone else? She deleted those words and decided to talk about themselves. Since they got together, he had always spoken directly about everything, never avoiding anything, and she was slowly learning from him.
Xu Qinghe: [Let's talk about the arrangements after we get our marriage certificate.]
Shi Wenli: [Is it just the two of us, or both families?]
Xu Qinghe: [Just us. We'll have the families meet at the wedding. No rush for now.] She wanted to know: [Do we move in together right after getting the certificate, or after the Spring Festival?]
Shi Wenli thought for a moment: [If you don't stay at home during the Spring Festival, will your parents feel it's too quiet?]
Xu Qinghe: [They won't be home for the Spring Festival. I'm on duty every New Year's, and they take my grandparents out on trips. This year's itinerary is already set.]
Shi Wenli: [Then move in right after we get the certificate.]
The certificate comes first; they won't move into the new house until the 29th of the lunar year. He said, [We'll have to stay in the rental for a few more days.]
Xu Qinghe wanted to ask: Will they continue living separately, with him still sleeping on the single bed in the next room? Or will they share a bedroom, and he'll move in? But she found it hard to bring up. She typed a few words but felt too embarrassed to continue. After a few seconds of hesitation, her fingers touched the keyboard again: [Continue living like this? Or will you come over too?]
Shi Wenli: [I'll come over.]
By then, they would already be husband and wife. No matter how awkward it felt, they would have to gradually get used to sharing a room.
Xu Qinghe: [OK]
She was glad they were saying these things over text; he couldn't see her blushing or hear her heartbeat.
Shi Wenli: [I wake up early. I might disturb you when I get up. I'll try to be as quiet as possible.]
Xu Qinghe: [That's fine; I sleep deeply. Even if I wake up, getting up a few minutes earlier won't kill me.]
Shi Wenli knew she had trouble getting out of bed and would never get up half a minute earlier if she could sleep one more minute. He would try to get up as quietly as possible to avoid waking her.
Xu Qinghe's alarm went off, ending their chat. She sent a goodnight emoji.
Before sleeping, she remembered that the first thing tomorrow morning was to collect her clothes from the balcony. But when she woke up, she had completely forgotten.
--
This morning, Shi Wenli made her vegetable and shrimp patties, a breakfast she had never tried before. During this week, her breakfasts had never been the same twice.
On the way to the hospital, Xu Qinghe opened her phone, pretending to look at case files. In reality, it was because last night's kiss, which had briefly touched their tongues, made it hard for her to chat with him casually now. After years of measured interactions, the moment their tongues touched, she felt the blood rushing through her entire body. A tingling sensation spread from the tip of her tongue to her fingertips. Just thinking about them sharing a bed after getting the certificate made her even more flustered.
"Are Uncle and Aunt free recently?" Shi Wenli's voice interrupted her thoughts.
Xu Qinghe looked up from her phone: "Yes, they're free. School is already on holiday, and they'll be home until the New Year."
Shi Wenli said, "Then I'll go see them this weekend."
He had outpatient duty on Saturday morning, which wouldn't end until after twelve. Going back home then would be too late.
Xu Qinghe, for some reason, felt inexplicably nervous about him meeting her parents. At the same time, she was exceptionally excited. Before, when she mentioned him to her parents, she had to pretend to be casual and couldn't say too much. Soon, he would be their son-in-law. After that, no matter what she talked about with them regarding him, she wouldn't have to hide anything.
Today, they walked into the main building side by side again. The security guard was now used to them coming and going together and didn't even give them a second glance.
At noon, Shi Wenli, after finishing his surgery, ran into the hepatobiliary department director Yin Zhengqian in the cafeteria again. This time, it was Director Yin who proactively sat down next to him.
"Wenli, is this seat taken?"
Shi Wenli looked up: "No, Director Yin, please sit."
Xu Qinghe was still in the operating room and didn't have time to come to the cafeteria.
Director Yin had previously talked with Shi Wenli about Shi Jianqin. After not seeing each other for years, he went home that evening and called Shi Jianqin to catch up. The feelings for friends made in youth were different from those made after achieving success—more pure. The call lasted nearly two hours. After lamenting about themselves, they inevitably talked about their children.
Director Yin's son was about the same age as Shi Wenli and had already married and had children a few years ago. Shi Jianqin regretted deeply, saying that the divorce had caused great harm to both children: his daughter had a flash marriage, and his son still didn't even have a girlfriend. Both children were so outstanding, and so many people were introducing potential matches to them, but they simply weren't interested. Director Yin comforted his old friend: "Don't worry. I'll talk to Wenli and find out what's going on. Wenli has always respected me; he should listen to what I have to say."
Today at noon, he deliberately waited in the cafeteria for Shi Wenli, hoping to help his old friend resolve the children's emotional block. As for love and marriage, that depended on fate; he didn't intend to meddle.
Director Yin didn't like beating around the bush: "Yesterday at lunch, after we ate together, I called your father in the evening." He joked about himself, "Getting old, starting to reminisce." "Your father's been running around his whole life, leaving and coming back. I don't know what he's after."
Shi Wenli smiled faintly but didn't respond. He had no judgment about his parents' choices back then. They had loved each other, gotten married right after graduation, and had him and his sister. Maybe even the strongest feelings can fade over time. After the divorce, both quickly remarried, shocking everyone. Their marriage, in one way or another, had influenced him and his sister. In their view, even the best relationship might not last a lifetime. Conversely, a marriage that started without love might not necessarily be short-lived.
Shi Wenli had been set up on blind dates too many times. As soon as the other person started talking, he could roughly predict where it was going. Director Yin seemed to be reminiscing, but was likely paving the way to set him up.
Sure enough. Director Yin sighed, "Your father's been messing around for nothing. Apart from making you two kids fear marriage, what has he accomplished?"
Shi Wenli was worried that if Director Yin started to introduce someone, and he refused after being asked, it would hurt their feelings. So he decided to nip it in the bud: "Shi Miao and I have indeed been influenced by our parents' marital views. But it's okay. We siblings are lucky; along the way, we've met many good people. Shi Miao and my brother-in-law are very happy now. Right now, I'm also dating someone I met through a blind date."
Director Yin was taken aback: "Didn't you refuse the one Dean Jiang introduced?"
Shi Wenli said, "It wasn't introduced by Dean Jiang."
Director Yin nodded and got back to the point: "It's good that you're willing to try. No rush. Take it slow." As for who the matchmaker was this time and what the blind date did for a living, Director Yin had the tact not to ask further. Shi Wenli had just rejected Dean Jiang's introduction, only to accept someone else's good intentions soon after. It wasn't appropriate to ask too much, so he pretended not to know.
At the next table, Ding Qihang and the others were quietly eating, occasionally saying something related to surgery. Director Shi didn't treat them as outsiders. Knowing they could overhear, he didn't hesitate to say he had a blind date. They would have to be even more tight-lipped about it, to avoid it reaching Dean Jiang or the Vice Dean. After three to five months, it would be fine for people to know. But it was still a bit early, since it had only been a week since Shi Wenli rejected Dean Jiang, and he was already dating someone, with no time gap at all.
Ding Qihang finally understood why Shi Wenli had been glued to his phone chatting recently. It turned out he was replying to his blind date. It seemed the woman who had bought them coffee yesterday was the director's potential girlfriend. The word "potential" could actually be removed. With Director Shi's personality, if he was willing to meet, willing to date, and willing to drink the coffee she bought, that meant he had already made up his mind about her. And Director Shi was moving to a new house before the New Year—double happiness.
After eating, Ding Qihang hurried to the operating room. While scrubbing in, he ran into Jiang Yang.
Jiang Yang asked casually, "Have you noticed anything different about Wenli lately?"
Ding Qihang thought, 'I'm not trying to hide it from you, but I'm afraid you might accidentally let it slip one day and embarrass your father.' "Has he?" he countered.
Jiang Yang: "Yeah. I can't quite put my finger on it." He thought that since Ding Qihang was with Shi Wenli every day, he might know the reason.
Ding Qihang said, "Maybe the department's been busier lately, and he's stressed."