The sensation at that moment was too vivid.
Xu Qinghe's face burned hot. She buried her face in his neck.
Shi Wenli kissed the top of her head, not moving his hand away, letting her feel it intimately.
...
The next morning when she woke up, Xu Qinghe touched her cheek.
Maybe it was psychological, but thinking about the incident last night when she had clamped down on his finger, her cheeks still felt hot.
“Hubby, I'm walking to work today. I won't take your car.”
As she said this, she didn't look at him at all. She pretended to be checking her bag, grabbed her phone from the nightstand, and stuffed it inside.
“From now on, I'll walk to and from work. It's good exercise.”
Both the old apartment and the new home were very close to the hospital—just over a ten-minute walk.
Shi Wenli said, “It's fine to hitch a ride.”
Xu Qinghe was adamant: “No, it's not. You think it's fine because I'm your wife, and you've been giving me rides for years.”
But others could easily see through it.
She was in a hurry. She quickly put on her coat and grabbed the breakfast he had packed for her: “Hubby, I'm off.”
Shi Wenli saw her heading for the entrance and called out, “No kiss?”
Xu Qinghe turned back.
She was going to say she'd kiss him when she got home tonight, but when their eyes met, she suddenly hesitated to leave.
Before she could take a step, Shi Wenli was already in front of her.
The instant their lips met, all the familiar feelings from last night came rushing back.
If it had been a weekend morning, they would have been tempted to do it again.
But they had to go to work, so the kiss was brief.
When she arrived at her office and finished breakfast, Xu Qinghe still hadn't realized she had taken the wrong phone.
Not until she tried to check the group chat and facial recognition failed did she realize that in her morning haste, she had grabbed Shi Wenli's phone instead.
Their phones were the same color, and neither had a case, making it easy to mix them up.
Just then, Shi Wenli called her. Her screen showed the caller ID as “Wife.”
Fortunately, they had shared each other's phone passwords; otherwise, they'd have to borrow someone else's phone just to contact each other.
Xu Qinghe answered: “You've arrived? I'll bring your phone over now.”
Shi Wenli said, “No need to come all the way. I'll come swap with you.”
Xu Qinghe was already on her feet and walking out: “I'll come swap. It's too conspicuous for you to come to our office.”
But she stopped at the door, turned back—she had forgotten to put on her white coat.
When she reached the neurosurgery ward, she was walking briskly.
A familiar nurse greeted her: “Good morning, Dr. Xu.”
“Morning.”
As an anesthesiologist, no one thought twice about her appearing in any surgical ward.
Especially for someone like Xu Qinghe, who did very frequent post-op follow-ups.
She was walking so fast that when she reached Shi Wenli's office and saw how many people were inside, she nearly stumbled.
Shi Wenli was just about to lead his team on rounds. Ding Qihang and the others were reporting how many patients were still in the hospital and who would be discharged today.
Now, everyone in the group knew what Xu Qinghe meant to their director.
Since they often did surgeries with her, they all greeted her: “Good morning, Dr. Xu.”
“Morning.” Xu Qinghe pretended to be calm. “You go ahead. I'll come back later.”
“It's fine. They all know.” Shi Wenli handed her phone over. “Don't want to hold you up from surgery.”
And so, under everyone's watchful eyes, they swapped phones.
Even Xu Qinghe, as composed as she was, couldn't withstand so many people staring at her.
“Carry on.” Her ears slightly red, she quickly turned and left the office.
The moment she left, everyone tacitly refrained from looking at Shi Wenli.
Exchanging phones first thing in the morning...
They didn't expect things had progressed so quickly.
They felt the director might soon be getting married.
Ding Qihang picked up where he had left off and continued his report.
At 7:40, Shi Wenli led the team to the wards.
Today was the 27th of the lunar year. The patients who could be discharged had already gone home for the Spring Festival. The ward was nearly half empty.
The workload for the past few days had been light.
After rounds, Shi Wenli said he would treat them to lunch today—they could choose any restaurant they wanted.
Every year-end, they had a little get-together in the office.
During work hours, they wouldn't pry into Shi Wenli's personal life. But at lunch, thinking about the morning phone swap, Xu Qing asked openly, “Chief Shi, when will we get to taste the wedding candy from you and Dr. Xu?”
Shi Wenli said, “We're already husband and wife. I'll bring the candy for you all tomorrow.”
Already husband and wife?
Everyone was dumbfounded.
At that moment, back in the Anesthesiology Office, Xu Qinghe received another crystal swan cake.