Chapter 473: Secretly
It had snowed all night. The next day, everything was a blanket of pristine white.
Fortunately, the snow had stopped by the time Wu Sheng was discharged from the hospital the next day.
"Let’s hurry back. It’s going to snow again, and once it starts, it’ll likely go on for days."
As they left the hospital building, Wu Qihua looked up at the sky and spoke from experience.
It was already December, so it was perfectly normal for it to keep snowing.
"Mrs. Wu, it’s cold. Hurry and get in the car."
While Su Li was urging Wu Qihua, Wu Sheng was urging Su Li.
"Stop telling Mom to hurry up. You get in the car, too." Wu Sheng pushed Su Li toward the car.
"I’m fine." The words were barely out of her mouth when she let out a loud sneeze.
"You call this being fine? Get in the car." Wu Sheng gave her a firm push into the vehicle.
"I’m supposed to be driving, I can’t sit here." Su Li, realizing she was in the passenger seat, tried to get up.
"Just stay put. I’ll drive." Wu Sheng shut her door and got into the driver’s seat.
"But you just got out of the hospital. I should be the one driving," Su Li said, unconvinced.
"It’s snowing, so I’m driving. Don’t worry. I could drive better than you with just one hand." Wu Sheng started the car decisively.
Wu Qihua, who had been quiet until now, finally spoke up. "Su Li, just let Wu Sheng drive."
Only then did Su Li fall silent, though she kept her eyes fixed on Wu Sheng for the entire drive.
Wu Sheng sighed in exasperation. "You don’t have to worry. I’m fine. It’s not like my hands are injured."
The car made it back to the Wu family home without incident.
Grabbing their things from the trunk, Wu Sheng watched Wu Qihua’s back as she went to open the door, then whispered to Su Li.
"Su Li, want to take this chance to satisfy a craving?"
Su Li had just picked up some bags and was about to head inside. She stopped, puzzled.
"Satisfy a craving? What kind of craving?"
With his free hand, Wu Sheng pointed to his lips. "What else? Weren’t you thinking about it this morning?"
Su Li’s face instantly flushed crimson.
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
She cursed, snatched up her things, and bolted after Wu Qihua, not even bothering with the items she dropped on the way.
Watching Su Li’s panicked retreat, Wu Sheng was both amused and a little disappointed.
’Sigh, I knew she’d get scared and run off.’
’What a shame.’
Though he thought it was a shame, a smile remained on his face.
Su Li, meanwhile, wished she could find a hole to crawl into and disappear.
The story behind Wu Sheng’s talk of ’satisfying a craving’ had started the previous night.
Originally, Wu Sheng had wanted Su Li to go home last night. But when he saw the heavy snow, and with Wu Qihua having already taken Little Tang Mo home, he told her to stay.
Su Li was also worried about Wu Sheng, so she stayed to watch over him through the night.
She was quite used to it, having taken turns with Wu Qihua to watch over him before.
However, she had forgotten that this time was different. Previously, Wu Sheng had been in a coma. This night, he was awake.
After going through such a major ordeal, the feelings between them, both his for her and hers for him, had grown much stronger.
Wu Sheng and Su Li had endless things to say to each other. Or rather, it was mostly nonsense, but the two of them spoke with boundless enthusiasm.
Wu Sheng was still a bit weak and spent most of his time lying down. As he lay there, he grew tired of seeing Su Li sitting in a chair. Noticing it was snowing again and that even the hospital room felt a little chilly, Wu Sheng asked Su Li to come onto the bed with him to warm up.
The hospital bed was small, and it would be a tight squeeze for two people. Su Li didn’t want to get on, thinking of warming up on the folding cot to the side, but Wu Sheng wasn’t having it.
In the end, thanks to Wu Sheng’s insistence, Su Li hesitantly climbed onto the bed.
Wu Sheng was content once Su Li was on the bed. At first, they leaned against the headboard, half-lying down, but after talking for a while, they lay down fully.
Of course, at first, lying down was just that—lying down. Wu Sheng was a patient, and they were in a hospital. He was more than content just to hold her hand under the covers, their fingers intertwined.
Compared to before, Su Li was much more comfortable with his closeness and far less resistant. Plus, Wu Sheng was a gentleman; no matter how much his mind raced, he didn’t dare make a move.
With Wu Sheng being so well-behaved, Su Li relaxed more and more. She was utterly content holding his hand, and later she snuggled down, nuzzling his shoulder in a state of pure bliss.
"This is so nice..."
Su Li felt wonderful, completely unaware of the torment Wu Sheng was enduring.
Wu Sheng was a patient and a gentleman, but he was also a man. With the woman he loved lying beside him, so reliant on him, it was impossible for him to remain unaffected.
Wu Sheng desperately tried to control himself, but his body temperature began to rise anyway.
It was only then that he was forced to admit he had dug a hole for himself and then happily buried himself in it.
Su Li didn’t notice anything unusual. She just felt that Wu Sheng was getting warmer and warmer. She mumbled a few words, and as she spoke, the warmth made her drowsy, and she eventually drifted off.
Wu Sheng had been holding back for what felt like ages. When Su Li finally fell silent, he saw that she had actually fallen asleep.
Wu Sheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Su Li had fallen asleep, but what about him? What was he supposed to do?
’Su Li is lying right beside me, trusting me so completely, but my mind is racing... I can’t possibly sleep.’
And that was only the beginning. As she slept, Su Li completely relaxed and began to seek a more comfortable position. She went from lying on her back to her side, pressing close to him as if he were a natural furnace, and even wrapped an arm around his.
He couldn’t bear to wake her...
Since he couldn’t bring himself to wake her, Wu Sheng had no choice but to suffer through it.
Wu Sheng didn’t even know how he managed to get through the first half of the night.
He wanted to distance himself from Su Li, but she wouldn’t let him go. He was in agony, yet he couldn’t bear to leave her, so he simply endured it for half the night.
Later in the night, Su Li finally fell into a deep sleep, rolled over, and released his arm. Only then was Wu Sheng freed.
He dragged his half-numb body off the bed, glanced at the soundly sleeping Su Li, and finally, feeling utterly wronged, lay down on the folding cot.
However much Wu Sheng had suffered that night was a measure of how well Su Li had slept.
When she woke from a satisfying dream, the first thing Su Li saw was herself sprawled out on the hospital bed, while Wu Sheng, the poor patient, was curled up uncomfortably on the folding cot.
’You pig! Are you some kind of pig? How could you just fall asleep...?’
Su Li smacked herself on the forehead twice and then scrambled off the bed.
She wanted to wake Wu Sheng and let him sleep in the bed, but she couldn’t bring herself to disturb him.
In the end, Su Li just squatted by the folding cot, gazing at Wu Sheng’s sleeping face with a look of pure contentment. As she watched, perhaps because he was just so handsome, she didn’t know what came over her and found herself leaning closer and closer to him.
Just as she was inches away from him, Wu Sheng’s eyes suddenly snapped open.
And just like that, Su Li was caught red-handed.