But Shi Wenli had already helped her make the bed.
He asked her, "What time do you usually get up?"
"6:40."
Shi Wenli knew she had a hard time getting up and was the type who wouldn't get up even one minute earlier. If she had to make the bed, she would need to get up at least three to five minutes earlier.
"You don't need to get up early tomorrow; I'll make the bed."
Xu Qinghe felt embarrassed: "No need."
Shi Wenli noticed her unease: "Don't habitually think of me as a friend or colleague. If you think of me as a colleague, you'd definitely be too embarrassed to let me do these things. In the future, I'll be doing much more for you than this."
Xu Qinghe tried to control her heartbeat and didn't refuse again.
First, she really did have trouble getting up.
Second, she also wanted to make their relationship closer.
If they still kept everything separate while living together, who knew how long it would take to cultivate their feelings.
With that thought, she became much calmer.
Shi Wenli went to the next room to prepare the single bed he would sleep on tonight, while she took her pajamas and toiletry bag to the bathroom. The last time she came over when Jiang Yang was mooching a meal, she had felt too embarrassed to even wash her hands in a man's bathroom.
When the showerhead turned on and the warm water touched her skin, she felt as if her relationship with Shi Wenli had broken through an invisible barrier. Before this, she had unconsciously treated him as a friend, reflexively hiding her feelings from him, afraid he might notice.
When she opened her toiletry bag, she almost laughed at herself—she had even brought toothpaste.
After she finished showering, the bathroom was damp and steamy, filled with the scent she left behind.
Passing by the next room, Xu Qinghe glanced inside—no one was there.
The kitchen light was on, so she walked over.
"Preparing breakfast for tomorrow?" she asked from the doorway.
Shi Wenli turned around: "Mm. Getting it ready in advance to save time in the morning."
She was wearing a loose camel-colored knit cardigan over her loungewear, not much different from how she had dressed when she came before. The only difference was that her freshly blow-dried long hair was loose on her shoulders.
Probably because the bathroom was too hot, her fair face had a moist pink flush.
"Go to bed early. If something comes up during the night, just call me directly."
Xu Qinghe made an "OK" gesture: "Good night."
"Good night."
Xu Qinghe took two steps then came back: "I don't know how to use your washing machine."
"It's okay, just leave your clothes there; I'll do the laundry later."
Xu Qinghe returned to her room.
At 10:30, the light in the master bedroom went out on time.
Xu Qinghe lay in bed, feeling that the room was filled with his faint, cool scent.
She tossed and turned several times but still couldn't fall asleep.
She was destined to have insomnia.
Worried that she might be too sleepy in the morning and turn off the alarm without waking up—something she often did before, though her parents would knock on the door if she hadn't gotten up by 7:00—just to be safe, she reached for her phone and sent a message to Shi Wenli: [Wake me up tomorrow morning.]
Shi Wenli: [Alright. Do you want me to call you at 6:40?]
Xu Qinghe: [Mm. If you really can't wake me up, call me 'Dr. Xu.']
The words "Dr. Xu" would trigger a reflex in her; half-asleep, she would think a colleague was calling her for an emergency consultation and snap awake immediately.
Shi Wenli set his own alarm 25 minutes earlier.
The next morning at 6:15, he got up to start making breakfast.
He hadn't slept well that night.
He thought he had good self-discipline.
But he still couldn't fall asleep as peacefully as he had expected.
At 6:40, he knocked on the door on time.
The bedroom door wasn't tightly closed—just ajar.
Shi Wenli gently pushed it open and called out from the doorway, "Qinghe, time to get up."
After a long pause, a sound came from the bed: "Mm."
Her voice was hoarse and muffled; she probably didn't even realize who was calling her.
For someone who had such a hard time getting up, one call wouldn't be enough.
Shi Wenli called again, "Qinghe?"
Still no response.
If he called her "Dr. Xu" now, she would definitely open her eyes immediately, but he didn't. Whenever he was on night shift and got called "Director Shi" in the middle of the night, even when waking up, his nerves were tense.