Xu Qinghe discovered that she and Shi Wenli both had a peculiar trait: even when they were in an awkward moment, they would still put all matters related to love and desire on the table, leaving no room for misunderstanding. For example, kissing every day. Or, after marriage, sleeping in the same bed without separation. And also, when to make love. Even if it wasn't enough, they would directly tell each other if they wanted another round. Every time, communication between her and Shi Wenli was effective. She wondered if this counted as emotional compatibility.
Last night, when they were together for the first time, they used two condoms. She could tell that Shi Wenli wasn't fully satisfied. With so many things happening between them today, maybe two weren't enough. Xu Qinghe stopped looking up at him and pressed her forehead against his lips. "The two boxes I bought each have three condoms. I'll need to buy some more tomorrow." Her voice was timid, but her words were bold.
Shi Wenli kissed her forehead and said, "I was too busy today to take care of it. I'll stop by to buy some after work tomorrow." There was a pharmacy at the entrance of their community, right next to the courier station. "Should I buy the same scented ones you got, or does any kind work?"
"...Any kind works. It's all the same when you use them anyway." The only difference was the scent on her fingers. When she put on the first one yesterday, her hands had the strongest fragrance because she didn't know how to do it and got it all over her hands. Shi Wenli probably worried she might not enjoy doing that, and after she struggled to put it on for a long time, he said hoarsely, "Let me do it." She blushed and shook her head, insisting on putting it on herself. When it was finally on, her cheeks were burning red. The moment he pressed against her, she felt shy and embarrassed, unable to meet his eyes, so she kept her face turned toward the window.
After a pause, she added, "Buy more of the apple and orange flavors."
"Okay." Shi Wenli's lips moved from her forehead down her nose bridge. When they reached the tip of her nose, he paused and pressed his lips against it. His hot breath brushed against her face. Xu Qinghe loved his tender kisses like this. Only lovers could be so intimate.
Shi Wenli kissed her lips again, lightly a few times, then paused before speaking. "If it hurts at any point, tell me directly, and I'll slow down." Xu Qinghe's ears immediately turned red. With his lips on hers, it wasn't easy to speak, so she just hummed softly. They kissed deeply again. She clung to him, clearly feeling his arousal. Shi Wenli carried her from the living room to the bedroom, kissing her all the way until he reached the bed and set her down. Xu Qinghe had been held in his arms for so long, feeling completely satisfied.
Shi Wenli took out the three new shawls he bought today. "See if you like them." Xu Qinghe opened them one by one. They were the same brand as the scarves she often wore in winter, and the colors were similar. She nodded and said she liked them. "I was planning to go shopping tomorrow evening to buy a blanket or a shawl." She hadn't expected him to be so thoughtful and buy them for her.
Shi Wenli said, "There was another one that suited you better, but it was out of stock. I ordered it, and it should arrive after the New Year."
"You don't need to buy so many. These are enough to rotate. Buying more would be wasteful."
"Not wasteful. I only bought them because they were pretty." Shi Wenli asked her, "Which one will you use tonight?" He planned to put the other two away in the wardrobe. Xu Qinghe chose the classic khaki one. She took the shawl and went straight to the bathroom to shower. Shi Wenli put away the other two shawls, went to get his phone, and sat on the edge of the bed, opening it.
The group chats were still active, but not as intense as two hours ago. Today there had been over a hundred missed calls, and countless unread messages. To avoid missing important work messages later, he manually marked all today's gossip-related messages as read. With thousands of unread messages, he scrolled quickly, not even having time to see whose avatar it was. When he finished, the sound of water in the bathroom stopped.
Shi Wenli thought for a moment and posted his third Moment of the day: [Thank you all again for your concern. I'm not sure if any of the many missed calls today were important work calls. If so, please leave me a message, and I'll reply as soon as possible.] Soon, a colleague commented: [Yes, mine was. It's too late today. I'll call you tomorrow morning.] Shi Wenli replied: [OK.]
Section Chief Wu from the Medical Affairs Office immediately appealed: [Everyone, please stop sending private messages and calling Chief Shi. He definitely can't reply to all of them, and it's easy to miss normal work messages and calls. If there's anything you want to say, just say it in the comments.] Then Section Chief Wu commented again: [This hasn't only affected Chief Shi. Dr. Xu from Anesthesiology must also be flooded with messages. I sent her a message, but she didn't see it.] Shi Wenli replied to Section Chief Wu, concerned: [Has Dr. Xu been complained about again?] Section Chief Wu: [No, not that.] Shi Wenli: [If you have something urgent, I can pass it on to her.] Section Chief Wu replied to Shi Wenli: [It's not that urgent. Let her reply when she sees it tomorrow. No rush.] Shi Wenli: [In the future, if you can't reach her, contact me directly.]
Jiang Yang quickly chimed in: [Section Chief Wu, they live in the same community, very, very close. It's a one-minute walk, about the distance between your office and my dad's.]
What was Brother Shi trying to do? Was he eager to announce to the world that he and Sister Qinghe were living together? After the New Year, Sister Qinghe would still be rotating through basic departments. If she had a conflict with any department, and no one knew about her relationship with Shi Wenli, at worst people would gossip behind her back, and it would blow over. But if they knew, then even a slight stir involving Sister Qinghe would be exaggerated, and she'd never have peace in the operating room again. He had to keep a close eye on Brother Shi until Sister Qinghe completed her surgery quota and submitted her application for associate chief physician.
Jiang Yang privately messaged Shi Wenli: [Brother Shi, steady, steady, steady!] Shi Wenli: [I know what I'm doing.] Jiang Yang: [You finally replied! You're in the middle of it, so you don't realize how ambiguous that message was. Who would say something like that except a couple?]
Shi Wenli pinned Jiang Yang's chat to the top. Besides Qinghe, his sister, and his brother-in-law, Jiang Yang was his fourth pinned contact. He scrolled back to the comments and read that sentence again. It was indeed a bit intimate, but everyone probably wouldn't overthink it.
Jiang Yang: [Brother Shi, I won't disturb your rest.] He added: [I was so excited that I forgot to send my blessings. I wish you and Sister Qinghe a long and happy marriage and a child soon.] Shi Wenli: "..." He probably didn't know any other blessing. At Shi Miao's wedding, he had wished Shi Miao and Min Ting the same thing.
Not looking at the group chats, he exited WeChat and locked his phone, placing it on the bedside table. Turning his head, he accidentally caught sight of Xu Qinghe's camisole nightgown on the pillow. Had she forgotten to take it to the bathroom? Shi Wenli reached for it, intending to bring it to her, but just then the hairdryer in the bathroom stopped. Immediately after, the sound of the frosted glass door sliding open and closed reached him. It seemed he didn't need to deliver it after all, so he put the nightgown back.
Xu Qinghe shuffled in wearing slippers. Shi Wenli turned to look at her. Her long hair was draped over her shoulders, and the shawl was wrapped around her like a towel, covering her from chest to thighs. Before they could meet eyes, the bedroom light suddenly went out, and Xu Qinghe casually closed the door. The room was plunged into darkness. Last night, Shi Wenli had fumbled his way to the bed. Tonight, it was her turn. The shawl he had specially bought for her—naturally, it should be put to good use. Shi Wenli's eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light. After making out her silhouette, he reached out to take her hand. "Careful." The shawl tended to slip, so Xu Qinghe pressed her hand against her chest.
Shi Wenli said, "This probably won't hold as well as a bath towel." Xu Qinghe said it was fine. In one step, she was in front of him, and she wrapped her arms around his back. They pressed together seamlessly, trapping the shawl between them. Shi Wenli pulled her into his arms with his long arms, one hand pressing below her shoulder blade to hold the upper edge of the shawl, the other hand resting on her hip to secure the lower part. The shawl wasn't thin, but for some reason, Xu Qinghe felt that once his palm was on her, the warmth of his hand seeped through the shawl to her hip.
Shi Wenli's lips landed on hers, even hotter than the warmth of his palm. Tonight, he kissed slowly and gently. Xu Qinghe was most afraid of him kissing her neck, yet he loved that spot the most. Her long hair was in the way, so Shi Wenli negotiated with her, "Can you tie your hair up?" As he spoke, he kept kissing her lips. It was coaxing and negotiating. Xu Qinghe couldn't resist his gentle kisses. She nodded and hummed in agreement. A black hair tie was already around her wrist. She raised her arm, gathered her hair with her fingers, and tied it into a high bun on top of her head. That way, even if she lay down later, it wouldn't be in the way or press against the back of her head. Shi Wenli lowered his head to kiss her slender, delicate neck.
Xu Qinghe had little memory of how they ended up on the quilt. She only remembered that when his kiss made her tremble, she reached out and hugged him tightly. Shi Wenli buried his face in her neck, kissing her one after another. Fearing that she might feel uncomfortable because of tonight's events, he wanted to say a few things to her.
"Wife," he called. Xu Qinghe was startled, still catching her breath, but she quickly responded, "Mm?"
Shi Wenli said, "Even if Director Zhao had set us up a year or two earlier, or even three years earlier, I wouldn't have refused. If it was you being introduced, it had nothing to do with time. Whether a year earlier or a year later, I would have agreed. It's not because we're married now that I'm saying this to make you feel better. Besides family, you're the only one I've ever translated literature for over the years, and we're not even in the same field—only some overlapping areas."
Xu Qinghe hadn't known that he had only translated for her. Back then, when she was overwhelmed and frantic, he had taken the initiative to ask if she needed help translating literature. She thought he was just being helpful, often translating for others in the group. So she never thought she was special to him.
Shi Wenli continued, "I treat everyone the same. I wouldn't do something for just one person, I wouldn't treat just one person to a meal. If I treat, I treat the whole group; if I help, I help anyone in the group who needs it."
Xu Qinghe met his eyes, her chest still slightly heaving—because of the way he had just called her "wife." At that moment, she didn't want to care about anything else. She asked softly, "So you did like me a little, didn't you?"
Shi Wenli said, "Looking back now, yes, I did like you a little." But back then, he had completely regarded her as a like-minded friend. Yet even as only a friend, she was the most special friend in his heart—a friend he would voluntarily call on her birthday.
Xu Qinghe wrapped her arms around his neck. "I find myself very greedy. Before we got married, I thought it was enough if there was just a little liking. Now I hope we can deeply love each other, like those couples who marry out of passion."
Shi Wenli looked at her. "We will." With that, they both sought each other's lips at almost the same time.
Xu Qinghe whispered against his lips, "Don't keep staring at me later."
Shi Wenli smiled. "If I don't look at you, where should I look?"
Xu Qinghe said, "Wait a few days until we're more familiar, then you can look."
She paused. Finally, she mustered the courage to ask, "We've been so polite to each other for so many years. Suddenly doing something this intimate—do you feel a bit awkward when you do it? Or is it just me?" Last night, when he was moving in and out, her face was so hot it could have cooked an egg.
Shi Wenli kept kissing her. "It's not your problem. It's mine." They had so little intimacy that her first instinct was always friendship, not marriage. He gently licked her lips. Xu Qinghe's breath hitched. They had never kissed like this before.
Maybe the shawl was too thick. She felt a wave of heat wash over her. Shi Wenli loosened it a bit for her. The shawl slipped from her front, and suddenly without cover, she felt a chill. Shi Wenli leaned over, gathered her in his arms, and bent down to kiss along her collarbone. Tonight, the washing machine on the balcony wasn't running, so she couldn't rely on the music prompt to cover the sounds escaping her throat. Xu Qinghe thought she could control her volume, trapping all sounds firmly in her throat. But when his kisses reached the edges of her breasts, and the next moment he sucked on the left one, all sounds were no longer under her control.
Xu Qinghe grabbed his hand, interlacing their fingers. Shi Wenli finally lifted his head, kissing her lips again to comfort her. "It's okay to be loud. Don't feel burdened. All married couples are like this." Xu Qinghe loved wrapping her arms around his neck. She did so again, passionately kissing him back. With her holding his neck like that, Shi Wenli couldn't lower his head to kiss her chest anymore.
After sucking on the left side, he gently pressed his thumb pad over the right side. Almost simultaneously, he pushed open her teeth and kissed back all her sounds. Xu Qinghe instinctively recoiled, but her back was against the bed; there was nowhere to retreat. By instinct, when there was nowhere to hide, she wanted to press closer into his arms. At that moment, Xu Qinghe finally understood what he meant by "It's mine." He left her no escape. When she tried to push him away, he not only didn't budge but his thumb became even gentler. When she was completely overwhelmed, she no longer cared whether she was loud or soft.
Last night, her hands had been full of the fragrance of apples. Tonight, the tips of her fingers held a sweet mixture of orange and apple. She still didn't dare to look, only relying on touch to put it on. Shi Wenli's throat bobbed slightly, and he took deep breaths from time to time. Tonight, they opened another box, mixing the two boxes. The first was apple-scented, the second orange-scented. The scents blended into her, time and again.
...
When Xu Qinghe showered, she carefully washed her hair again. It had been soaked in sweat; if she didn't wash it thoroughly, she would feel uncomfortable and unable to sleep. Under the hair dryer's hot air, her wet hair gradually became dry and fluffy. She looked at herself in the mirror without turning to look at the person under the showerhead. If she waited until her hair was dry and she applied lotion before he came in, it would take another twenty minutes. This way, she saved time, allowing him to sleep earlier.
"Will you be in the ward or the lab tomorrow?" she asked without turning to look at him. Shi Wenli said, "In the ward." "Then I'll bring Song Xintan to see you at noon. I won't disturb your work."
Shi Wenli asked, "Do you want to have lunch with me?"
"No. The people in my department know I'm off tomorrow." If she showed up at the operating room cafeteria on her day off, it would be as good as admitting something. Shi Wenli turned off the shower, grabbed a dry towel, and dried his hair. His movements were slow and deliberate, as if he were thinking. He asked again, "So you'll eat with Song Xintan?"
"We'll see. He has a headache, so he probably can't eat much." Xu Qinghe casually brought up Song Xintan's condition, feeling sorry for him. "Why is his withdrawal reaction so severe?"
Shi Wenli said, "It varies from person to person. Some are worse. Every year, there are people hospitalized because of severe withdrawal from quitting smoking or drinking." Actually, Song Xintan's condition didn't require seeing him. Several other departments at their hospital specialized in such conditions. But maybe Song Xintan insisted on seeing him, and Xu Qinghe couldn't refuse easily.
"Is Song Xintan married?" he asked, as if making small talk.
Xu Qinghe: "No. His dad is almost worried to death. Sometimes he calls my dad twice a day to complain."