Chapter 90: Taking Advantage of Him

Chapter 90: Chapter 90: Taking Advantage of Him

Li Hanchen stayed away until the sky began to glow orange, only then stepping through the door.

He came in carrying two large bags of fruits and vegetables.

The moment the door opened, Shen Songyao caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and called out loudly.

"You’re back?"

Li Hanchen let out a small breath of relief and asked, a little awkwardly.

"Want a banana?"

"I bought bananas! And a few other things. I’ll cook tonight, so we don’t have to squeeze into the cafeteria!"

Hearing this, Shen Songyao immediately dropped her rag and turned around, her eyes sparkling.

"Hubby, you’re going to cook?"

Li Hanchen’s hand clenching the bag tightened, and the tips of his ears flushed red. He only managed a low "mm-hm."

After a two-second pause, he added.

"Do you want a banana?"

Shen Songyao glanced down at her paint-stained fingers, then tilted her head with a smile.

Before he could say anything, she held out her palm and wiggled her fingers.

"I’ve been working all afternoon, my hands are filthy! Hubby, won’t you take pity on me and feed me a bite?"

Li Hanchen’s Adam’s apple bobbed. In the end, he relented.

He set down the groceries, pulled a banana from the bag, peeled it, and gently offered it to her lips.

Shen Songyao leaned in and took a deliberate sniff.

"Wow! It smells so good! Hubby, you have great taste in fruit!"

Sure enough, the moment she finished speaking, all of Li Hanchen’s visible skin flushed bright red.

"Is it sweet?"

he asked in a low, slightly hoarse voice.

Her lips hadn’t even touched the banana when she replied with a grin.

"Not as sweet as your lips, I bet!"

Li Hanchen: "..."

SNAP!

His hand trembled, and the banana snapped in two, falling to the floor with a soft THUD.

Shen Songyao: "..."

’How did that banana just snap like that?’

"Hubby, the banana gave up!"

"Oh... oh."

Li Hanchen responded dazedly, then slowly bent down, picked it up, and tossed it in the trash can.

He then grabbed another one, peeled it, and held it up to her.

’Do we really have to eat a banana right now?’

’Can’t we have something else?’

"I—URK!"

Before Shen Songyao could finish, her mouth was stuffed with banana.

With her mouth full, she could only glare daggers at Li Hanchen.

Li Hanchen, for his part, didn’t blush or flinch. His expression was perfectly serious.

"Is it good?"

’He didn’t shove that banana in my mouth that fast just for the fun of it.’

’It was because the fire inside him was burning too hot, and he was about to lose control.’

’So he had to find a random excuse to stop her from poking at his heart.’

Shen Songyao took a huge bite of the banana, then cupped her chin in her hand and looked up at him with a beaming smile.

Li Hanchen frowned.

"Does it not taste good?"

She tilted her head and beckoned to him with her finger.

Thinking there was really something wrong with the banana, Li Hanchen leaned down obediently without a second thought.

Shen Songyao lifted her chin and pressed her lips firmly against his.

Then she pulled back slightly, her eyes crinkling at the corners, and asked slowly.

"Hubby, is it sweet?"

Li Hanchen’s entire face felt like it was on fire, the skin instantly flushing red.

He grabbed Shen Songyao’s hand and thrust the banana into her palm.

Then he turned, grabbed the bags of groceries, and bolted for the kitchen.

Shen Songyao called after him from the living room.

"Hubby, was it sweet?"

"Hubby, say something!"

"Hubby..."

In the kitchen, the sounds of a knife slicing meat and the clatter of pots and pans mingled, but all he could hear was her voice calling "Hubby" again and again.

Li Hanchen paused, taking a deep breath as his chest rose and fell.

’Right, I’ll go to the hospital again tomorrow morning. If the doctor says this condition really isn’t affecting Shen Songyao’s health, then...’

’...then we’ll just live like this!’

’He actually really, really liked the Shen Songyao of right now!’

That evening, he made three dishes: sweet and sour pork ribs, scrambled eggs with spicy peppers, and a ham and cabbage soup.

He silently counted. Over the course of the meal, Shen Songyao had called him "Hubby" a grand total of thirty-eight times.

’Looks like she was really holding back in the cafeteria at lunch.’

He kept piling more food into her bowl.

Finally, Shen Songyao clutched her stomach with one hand and leaned back in her chair, waving the other in surrender.

"No, no more! One more bite and I’ll be down for the count."

After dinner, he quickly cleaned up the kitchen, then went to their room and came out holding his pajamas.

Shen Songyao was just about to start on her own work when she saw him walk out with his pajamas.

"Going to bed already?"

She patted her full little belly, a bit annoyed.

"I would’ve eaten a couple fewer bites if I’d known."

Li Hanchen completely missed the hidden meaning in her words and just nodded.

"Yeah. Tell me what you want for breakfast, and I’ll go buy it in the morning."

Shen Songyao: "?"

’She’s sick right now. If I took advantage and made a move on her...’

’...how could I ever face her when she gets better?’

’Absolutely not!’

’I can hold back.’

Afraid he’d lose his composure if he stayed another second, Li Hanchen clutched his pajamas and bolted.

Shen Songyao bit her nails, pacing back and forth in the room, her mind racing.

’First, there was Li Hanchen’s reaction. She’d already seen it that morning.’

’Setting aside whether his "tastes" were varied, if he truly had a problem with her, he wouldn’t just be avoidant like that.’

’But if he was open to it, why did he react to her as if he’d seen a ghost?’

’Could it be that because the original owner of this body hadn’t been at the military base for the past two years, Li Hanchen had already found someone else locally?’

’But the original novel never mentioned anything about that!’

’Then again,’ she thought, ’that makes sense. The author was writing the female lead’s story. Who would bother writing a day-to-day diary for the husband of some cannon fodder side character?’

’Ugh, this is exhausting!’

She flopped back into the chair at her workstation, her expression immediately shifting into work mode.

’Men? They’re just a snack, at best. Money—that’s the real hard currency you need to survive!’

After getting doused with cold water twice in a row, Shen Songyao’s enthusiasm had dropped to absolute zero by the time she saw her husband the next day.

She just gave a lazy wave.

"Yo, you’re up."

Li Hanchen stole glances at her face as he set out the bowls and chopsticks.

"Didn’t sleep well last night?"

Shen Songyao shot back without thinking.

"How am I supposed to get a good night’s sleep without a body pillow?"

"COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!"

Li Hanchen, who was in the middle of drinking his porridge, choked unexpectedly, his face instantly turning beet red.

She reflexively rushed over and began frantically patting his back.

"Hubby, Hubby, can you not breathe? Quick, say something! Say something!"

"Do you need me to give you mouth-to-mouth?"

This little performance was all the confirmation Li Hanchen needed: she wasn’t fully recovered yet.

"COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!"

He coughed even more violently, his shoulders shaking, but he shrank away from her into his chair.

Shen Songyao gave up on trying to get a reaction out of him and went back to her seat.

"Boring," she muttered under her breath.

Li Hanchen kept his eyes lowered, not daring to look at her.

’He was afraid she’d realize he actually really wanted to kiss her on the forehead.’

After breakfast, he cleared the table as usual and even offered to take her to work.

After all, he was on annual leave at the moment.

Shen Songyao wasn’t the type to turn down a good offer, so she immediately nodded.

"Yes! You absolutely have to take me!"

’Not only is he going to drive me, he’s going to be my new recruit.’

"Park the car a little ways away, and we can walk. We don’t want anyone catching you using a government car for personal errands. Someone could send an anonymous tip, and you’d lose your post."

But Li Hanchen looked troubled.

"I have to go somewhere else this morning, so I might not be able to help you with your stall. But I’ll definitely be there at noon to pick you up."

"What’s up?"

she asked, tilting her head and propping her chin on her left hand.

He hemmed and hawed for a long time without giving her a straight answer.

So she pressed him.

"Is it army business that you can’t talk about?"

He shook his head.

"It’s not official business. It’s personal."

Shen Songyao’s eyes lit up instantly.

"Ha! So you really are hiding someone on the side?"

"Huh?"

She threw her hands up.

"What else could it be?"

"You won’t let me touch you, you won’t help me with my work, and now you’re being all mysterious about ’personal business.’ If you’re not keeping a mistress in a secret love nest, then what is it?"

"Tell me! Did you buy another house? Are you keeping another woman there?"