Chapter 89: Can I Kiss You?

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Can I Kiss You?

Shen Songyao was secretly delighted.

’Good grief, does his face have a button? It turns red at a single touch and even has a heating function. How amusing!’

She jogged down the stairs behind him, reaching for the bag as soon as her feet hit the floor.

"Hubby, give me the bag. I have to go catch my bus!"

"I’ll drive you."

His tone was level.

"No, no, don’t go to all that trouble. It’s much faster for me to just take the bus!"

As she spoke, she snatched her own bag, slung it over her shoulder, and strode off.

Li Hanchen stood rooted to the spot, watching her figure recede into the distance as a trace of vexation clouded his eyes.

He knew he couldn’t break the rules or violate discipline.

But shouldn’t he have spent more time talking with her?

Instead of always avoiding her and being cold, which had made her so jumpy now.

That very day, he went to his unit and requested half a day of leave.

He could have actually taken a few days off after his mission was over, but he had never felt it was necessary, so he never asked.

This time, when his superior heard he wanted to take leave, he laughed.

"Your wife’s here? Why not take a few more days off? Show her around the city, buy her some nice things, treat her to good food. Isn’t that better than anything?"

Li Hanchen paused, recalling the bright spark in Shen Songyao’s eyes from a moment ago, and nodded.

"Yeah, alright."

Once his leave was approved, he headed straight to the city hospital and registered for an appointment with the psychiatry department.

The doctor looked up and asked.

"Are you the patient?"

"No..."

He shook his head, his voice low.

"The patient didn’t come."

The doctor glanced toward the door, then his gaze returned to Li Hanchen’s face.

"Is the patient’s condition urgent, then?"

Li Hanchen shook his head, then nodded, opening his mouth several times before managing to force the words out.

"She... didn’t used to pay me much attention."

As soon as he said it, his ears began to burn again.

The doctor looked him over, pausing for a couple of seconds.

"Do you know her well?"

"She’s my wife."

The doctor was stunned for a second, then smiled.

"Oh, I see. In that case, why don’t you tell me, point by point, what you think is wrong?"

Li Hanchen turned his head to look at the tightly shut door.

The doctor followed his gaze and said.

"Don’t worry, I don’t have any other appointments today."

"Strictly speaking, you aren’t an official patient, either."

Li Hanchen breathed a sigh of relief.

’Everyone was tightening their belts to get by these days. People had to budget carefully just for food, let alone for a visit to the psychiatry department.’

The doctor tapped the desk lightly with the tip of his pen.

"Go on, take your time."

Li Hanchen took a deep breath and poured out everything about Shen Songyao’s changes over the past few days.

"She used to go out of her way to avoid me, but now..."

He paused, the tips of his ears bright red.

"Now she calls me ’hubby’ all the time."

The pen in the doctor’s hand stilled. His tone was placid.

"So, based on what you’ve said, she was always being mistreated by her family, and now she’s suddenly realized that you’re the one she can actually rely on?"

"Alright, but the surest way is to have the patient come in herself. I need to see her in person to get a real handle on things."

"From what you just said, she’s been deeply hurt recently, and it’s changed her completely. So we absolutely cannot rub salt in her wounds now."

"You have to coax her into agreeing, get her to walk into my office willingly. Otherwise..."

He spread his hands.

"You get it, right? Who likes being told to their face that there’s something wrong with their head?"

"If she doesn’t buy it and you try to drag her here, she might just fly off the handle on the spot. It would be a messy situation."

Li Hanchen nodded. He understood.

Shen Songyao carried her bundle of goods into the city and promptly set up a small stall in front of another department store.

New turf, new faces. The goods she laid out were stylish and well-made, and her prices were twenty cents cheaper than the stall next door.

In less than ten minutes, a crowd had gathered around her stall.

Shen Songyao’s eyes curved into crescents as she counted her money, completely oblivious to the fact that Li Hanchen had just used her name to make an appointment with the psychiatry department.

There were plenty of customers here, and she sold over sixty items in a single morning.

At noon, after gobbling down a bowl of hot noodle soup at a street-side stall, she swayed onto a bus for the return trip.

Her head rested against the window glass and her eyelids grew heavy. Shen Songyao murmured to herself.

’I have to bring a couple more bags tomorrow!’

’I thought changing spots might be a bad move, but who knew my stuff would be even more popular.’

She transferred buses twice, and it was almost three o’clock by the time she walked through the door.

Just as she stuck the key into the lock, the door suddenly opened from the inside.

Shen Songyao froze.

"Huh? Why are you home?"

"Just finished a mission. I’m on leave."

"Wow, seriously? That’s great!"

Shen Songyao’s face immediately fell.

"I would’ve asked you to come with me if I’d known! Business was booming today. Guess how much I sold?"

"Over sixty sales! All cold, hard cash! That’s more than your salary for three weeks, right?"

"In just one day!"

She tilted up her chin, her face practically screaming, ’Praise me!’

Li Hanchen smoothly took the light, empty cloth bag from her hand.

"Yeah, impressive."

Shen Songyao immediately put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest.

"So... is there a reward?"

"Reward?"

He glanced at the untouched passbook on the coffee table.

"I’ve only got a few small bills and half a book of meal tickets in my pocket. You want them?"

Shen Songyao let out a playful "Pfft!"

"Who’d want that!"

Before the words were out, she raised her arms to drape herself over him.

Li Hanchen recoiled reflexively, catching her by the wrist.

"Do I look like I’m short on cash?"

Shen Songyao leaned against his forearm, her voice dropping low.

Li Hanchen raised an eyebrow. His gaze rested on her face, his tone calm.

"And who might this ’I’ be?"

Shen Songyao stood up straight and waved a dismissive hand in the air.

"Oh, never mind that!"

The important thing was...

She suddenly paused. Her eyes darted for a moment, then she stared at his jawline for two seconds as her voice softened.

"Can I have a kiss?"

Li Hanchen tilted his head, his gaze dropping to the tip of her nose, his expression earnest.

"What? Kiss where?"

Shen Songyao stood on her tiptoes, tilted her face up, and beckoned to him with a finger.

He didn’t hesitate and obediently lowered his head.

She leaned in, her lips touching his lower lip for just an instant before she pulled away.

"There, a kiss!"

She covered her mouth to stifle a giggle, blinked, then leaned in closer and whispered.

"Your lips are so soft, like a freshly steamed red bean bun~"

Li Hanchen was speechless.

She then stomped her foot abruptly, her brow furrowing.

"Oh, wait, that’s not right! My mind was all fuzzy just now, I wasn’t paying attention at all, I..."

Before she could finish, she rose onto her tiptoes again, wanting to get closer and try again.

But Li Hanchen had already turned and bolted, his figure vanishing from the room in a flash.

Shen Songyao was speechless.

’Did I just successfully hit on him?’

Li Hanchen rushed out the door and leaned his back heavily against the hallway wall, his heart THUMPING like a drum in his chest.

He couldn’t be sure if Shen Songyao had actually lost her mind or not.

But he, on the other hand, was definitely about to be driven over the edge.

His mind was buzzing, the thread of his sanity stretched taut.

’I can’t act recklessly. Shen Songyao is delirious with fever right now; she has no control over her words or actions.’

’If I get handsy with her while she’s not in her right mind, she’ll probably just burst into tears once the fever breaks and she’s lucid again.’

At that thought, he glanced down at his trousers, which suddenly felt uncomfortably tight.

’I have to get her to the hospital. Soon. An illness can’t be left to linger, and I can’t let her go on like this. If this drags on, she’ll suffer, and I’ll end up with internal injuries from holding it all in.’

After getting her kiss, Shen Songyao felt refreshed and invigorated. She immediately rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

As for Li Hanchen, who had just bolted?

She wasn’t worried in the slightest.

’He’s a grown man, not a three-year-old. It’s not like he could get lost, could he?’