Chapter 48: Wife is So Strong
It was past twelve when everything was finished.
The car didn’t head home but stopped at a famous resort hotel not far from the Nan City First People’s Hospital.
Wen Yan remembered his own words: “You can do whatever you want.”
The elevator numbers climbed, stopping at the top floor.
The room door opened automatically.
Wen Yan stood at the door, head lowered.
Pei Zhouye couldn’t pull him, so he let go, turned around, and leaned in slightly.
“How did I upset you this time?”
There was no impatience in his tone; at this moment, it even carried a hint of teasing.
Wen Yan lowered his eyes, eyelashes trembling. After a long while, he managed to speak with difficulty:
“Be gentle tonight. I have to go to the hospital tomorrow. It can’t… it can’t be visible…”
His voice grew quieter as he spoke, his ears turning completely red from fear, humiliation, and shame.
Pei Zhouye sighed softly. He really didn’t know what to do with Wen Yan—he felt both angry and helpless.
He wasn’t that much of a beast. Tomorrow, he was going with his wife to meet his parents-in-law; he wouldn’t torment him tonight.
He raised his arm to pull Wen Yan into his embrace, closing the door with his other hand.
“Not today.”
The body in his arms, stiff and tense, finally relaxed.
A muffled, cold voice came from his chest: “Then let go.”
Pei Zhouye: ?
He almost laughed in exasperation. His hand slipped down to caress the soft waist. The person who had refused to be hugged just moments ago immediately went limp in his arms. The effect was instant.
“I. Won’t. Let. Go.” Pei Zhouye enunciated each word, deliberately teasing him.
Wen Yan hadn’t realized his lower back was so sensitive, and now it had become leverage in Pei Zhouye’s hands.
Angry at his inability to push away, he raised his fist and thumped Pei Zhouye’s chest twice.
“Pei Zhouye!” The fist hit the other’s heart, eliciting an exaggerated gasp of pain.
Wen Yan remembered that Pei Zhouye had just had his stomach pumped today and fell into a guilty silence.
Sensing the silence of the person in his arms, Pei Zhouye immediately loosened his arms and kissed him between the eyebrows.
“Wife is so strong.” He took Wen Yan’s wrist and pressed it against himself. “You haven’t hit this side yet.”
A pair of smiling black eyes shone under the overhead light, showing not a trace of his usual gloom.
Wen Yan was stunned for a moment, then frowned and glared at him before striding inside.
“Psycho.”
The next day.
Wen Yan woke up very early, just as the sky outside was turning a hazy gray.
He pushed the person holding him tightly twice, but the arm around him only tightened.
Wen Yan wasn’t usually grumpy in the morning, but seeing that handsome, noble face suddenly ignited a nameless fire. He lifted his foot and kicked the man away.
“Get off. I need to wash up and change.”
He didn’t know if the other heard him. He climbed out of bed, put on his slippers, and went to the bathroom to wash up.
The person in the mirror was still exquisitely beautiful, with cool brows and eyes, though thinner than before.
Wen Yan observed his face carefully, checking for any abnormalities.
It had only been three months, and his appearance hadn’t changed much, but he felt he had changed drastically from before.
He was afraid his parents would see this change too.
The door was pushed open directly from the outside. A tall figure stood behind him, looking up at the two of them in the mirror.
“You look good. After breakfast, we’ll go to the hospital.”
Pei Zhouye sensed Wen Yan’s low spirits. His heart ached with a bitter pain, many times worse than the stomach pumping yesterday.
Hospital, Fifth Floor
Wen Yan knocked on the door a few times. Pei Zhouye followed behind him, carrying several boxes of gifts, and they entered together.
Father Wen was looking down at financial news on his phone, while Mother Wen sat at the table preparing lessons.
Neither of them thought the knock was for them.
“Mom, Dad.” Wen Yan’s voice was dry.
Both parents froze, looked up simultaneously, their eyes lighting up.
When their gazes shifted to Pei Zhouye behind Wen Yan, their expressions grew a bit strange.
“Hello, Uncle, Auntie.” Pei Zhouye tried his best to make his smile look kinder.
He regretted not practicing in front of the mirror for a while beforehand.
Wen Yan walked over to sit beside his parents, while Pei Zhouye placed the gifts to the side.
Wen Yan’s parents glanced at them—wild ginseng, bird’s nest, cordyceps, and so on. Their expressions changed drastically.
Mother Wen: “This is too expensive. We can’t accept this. Please take it back…”
A friend Wen Yan suddenly brought home without a word, giving such expensive gifts on the first meeting—they absolutely couldn’t accept it.
Father Wen looked at Pei Zhouye, intuitively sensing something was wrong. He didn’t have a good impression of this young man who, at a glance, clearly came from an extraordinary background.
Mother Wen: “Yan-yan, this is…?”
Wen Yan pursed his lips, hesitating, unsure how to begin.
Boss? Classmate? Or friend?
“I am Pei Zhouye, a friend of Wen Yan. I just returned to the country, and Wen Yan has been taking good care of me.” Pei Zhouye’s smile was flawless, the sharp edge of his presence restrained significantly. “I came back to Nan City to visit my mother’s former residence. I heard Wen Yan was also returning to Nan City, so we came together. I apologize for not saying hello in advance.”
Wen Yan was somewhat surprised by Pei Zhouye’s reaction and his explanation of their relationship. He had just been worrying about how to salvage the situation if Pei Zhouye didn’t cooperate.
“Yes. We are friends,” Wen Yan added dryly.
He was truly unskilled at lying. The number of lies he had told since childhood could be counted on one hand, let alone lying to his parents’ faces.
Mother Wen’s expression softened, and she looked carefully at Pei Zhouye’s face again.
“Xiao Pei, have you lived in Nan City before?”
Pei Zhouye’s smile remained watertight, his voice steady: “I stayed here for a while two or three years ago.”
Mother Wen nodded. “That explains it. I just felt like I’ve seen you somewhere.”
Listening to their conversation, Wen Yan lowered his head and unconsciously bit his lip.
Pei Zhouye lied without even drafting a script. That was fine; as long as his parents didn’t find out, it was fine.
“Yan-yan.” A sudden call brought Wen Yan back to reality.
Wen Yan looked up and met Father Wen’s somewhat serious expression. “Why didn’t Yulan come?”
Bringing up personal matters in front of an outsider wasn’t like Father Wen’s usual character. Mother Wen looked anxious and winked a few times.
In the strange atmosphere, Pei Zhouye stood there, eyes still smiling, showing no intention of stepping out to give them privacy.
Hearing that name again, Wen Yan still felt a dull ache in his heart.
This was the biggest lesson the adult world had given him, the most expensive class he had ever taken.
“Gu Yulan and I have broken up.”
Father Wen’s frown deepened.
Another patient in the ward had to go for a checkup and got up to leave the room.
Pei Zhouye seemed to suddenly get the hint and nodded politely to Wen Yan’s parents. “Uncle, Auntie, I’ll head out first. Wishing Uncle a speedy recovery.”
The ward door closed, and silence returned to the room.
Mother Wen’s expression also sank. Seeing Wen Yan’s sad look, she felt distressed.
“Yan-yan, feelings aren’t a game. You and Gu Yulan were getting along fine; did something happen? You need to tell Mom and Dad if there’s anything wrong.”
Father Wen sat up straight, scrutinizing the changes in Wen Yan’s expression. “Is it because of my investment following him, or problems in his family?”
“Or is it… because of the person who came with you just now?”
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