Xu Qinghe turned and went to the dressing room.
Shi Wenli placed the sticky note back in the gift box. When he looked up, he noticed a sticky note on the vintage desk lamp shade.
【Xu Qinghe, congratulations.
January 15th, your lucky day.
You and Shi Wenli are together.】
He peeled off the sticky note and brought it closer to his eyes.
So that day, she was even happier than he had imagined.
After reading it, he carefully stuck the note back on the lampshade.
Before looking away, he glanced again at the last line, which said “Forgive orthopedics,” and couldn't help but chuckle.
Xu Qinghe came out of the dressing room carrying a shopping bag: “It's not one of the two colors you usually wear.”
Shi Wenli took it and opened it. It was a dark brown sweater, similar in style to the one he had bought abroad.
“This color suits me better than others,” he said.
“I still really like you in black. But you have plenty of black ones, so I chose another color for you to try.”
When she bought it, she imagined how he would look wearing it and thought it would suit him.
Once their relationship became closer, she wanted to try him in lighter colors, like the light coffee and camel shades she had her eye on.
His facial features were actually quite deep and sharp, but because of his gentle nature and steady temperament, he lacked angularity and had more warmth. Someone like that could pull off both dark and low-saturation colors.
Shi Wenli folded the sweater and put it back in the bag, planning to wear it on an important day.
Xu Qinghe checked the time; it was just past nine-thirty.
It wasn't late, but for someone who had been in surgery all day, it must be very tiring.
Though reluctant, she urged him, “Go home and get some rest early.”
Knowing she was also tired, Shi Wenli had wanted to stay with her a little longer, but after looking at the time, he stood up.
Xu Qinghe saw him to the door.
The large house was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Shi Wenli asked with concern, “In such a big house, are you scared staying alone at night?”
Xu Qinghe had never thought about that.
Every day she came home exhausted and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow; there was no time to think about whether she was scared.
“My parents are often away on business trips; I'm used to it. But... now that you mention it, I actually do feel a bit scared.”
After saying that, she laughed at herself, thinking maybe she was being overly dramatic.
“It's okay. I just won't think about it when I go to sleep.”
Shi Wenli didn't respond immediately. Thinking that she would be living alone for the next week and could be called in for surgery at any time during the night, he considered it and then said, “Come stay at my place.”
Since they were going to get married anyway, it wouldn't be inappropriate for her to stay under the same roof temporarily.
As for how to arrange the sleeping, he had already thought it through: “You take my room. There's a single bed in the next room; I'll tidy it up and sleep there.”
Xu Qinghe was looking at him; when she realized what he meant, her heart started to race.
She wanted to decline, afraid of disturbing him by staying over.
But the words stuck in her throat.
Just then, they reached the living room. Shi Wenli reached out and grabbed his coat from the back of the sofa. She hadn't responded yet, so he dispelled her concerns: “Don't worry about the single bed not being spacious enough. No matter how basic the conditions, it's better than the on-call room.”
Him mentioning the hospital on-call room made Xu Qinghe laugh.
Shi Wenli added, “It's cold this week, and there are many cardiac emergency surgeries. If you need to go to the hospital at night, I can drive you.”
“Alright.” Xu Qinghe tried to appear casual, pointing to her room, “I'll go pack a few clothes.”
She wasn't sure if her steps were flustered.
In the dressing room, she steadied herself before finding a bag to pack clothes.
She would be staying at his place for a week, so she packed pajamas, a bath towel, and clothes for a few days.
When she packed, it didn't seem like much, but once she put them in bags, it turned into three large ones.
Even though her parents weren't home and she was only temporarily staying over, she still felt a bit guilty, as if she was afraid of being discovered.
Only after leaving her building and entering the stairwell of his rental apartment did she breathe a sigh of relief.
She tried to act as normal as possible, so she linked her arm with Shi Wenli's as before. He was carrying things in both hands—the sweater she had given him, her bag of clothes, and her toiletry bag.
Even so, he slightly raised the arm she was holding so that she could hold onto him more easily, saving her hand from getting tired.
Once home, Shi Wenli brought her things directly to the bedroom and set them on the windowsill.
The two piles of clothes that had been on the windowsill earlier had already been packed into his suitcase.
“I'll get you a new blanket,” he said. He took off his coat and went to the closet in the next room to get a fresh blanket and clean sheets.