Choking on Water

After dinner.

An Zhiwu opened the refrigerator and showed off to Song Yihe. "I was worried you'd get hungry, so I made 20 snow meiniang today. I've packed them separately, so take them to the hospital tomorrow. You can share them with your colleagues."

"Snow meiniang?" He had never heard the term before.

An Zhiwu took one out of the refrigerator. "Yeah, this is it."

Song Yihe looked at the round, plump, snowy-white thing in her palm, and his heart grew unusually soft.

"Okay, I'll take them tomorrow."

Early the next morning, An Zhiwu went to Cainiao Post to pick up a package.

The swimming gear she had bought had arrived.

When choosing a swimsuit, she had made a point of picking one that was modest but a little playful.

In the end, she had chosen a pale-yellow set.

She tried it on in front of the mirror. Not bad. As long as she didn't eat too much that evening, her little tummy was hardly noticeable.

To show off her perfect figure in front of Song Yihe, An Zhiwu even had just a tiny bit of congee for lunch.

Song Yihe, meanwhile, was in an exceptionally good mood that day.

After eating lunch in the staff cafeteria.

He took the snow meiniang An Zhiwu had made out of the little refrigerator in his office.

After a moment's thought, he took out five and brought the rest to the nurses' station.

The nurse on duty at the station that day had just graduated. When she suddenly saw Song Yihe walking over with a gift in his hands, her eyes sparkled with excitement.

Song Yihe handed her the bag. "There are some desserts here. When you see the doctors and nurses later, please share them out."

The young nurse took the bag with both hands and glanced at the snow meiniang inside. She put on what she considered her most perfect smile. "Dr. Song, you're so thoughtful! These are my favorite."

The corners of Song Yihe's mouth lifted slightly too, and he was clearly in a good mood. "Mm, my girlfriend made them."

When the young nurse heard that, her smile froze.

That afternoon, some of Zhikang's doctors and nurses got to eat desserts said to have been made by hand by the girlfriend of Song Yihe, the hospital's "flower on a lofty peak."

For a time, they were even more curious about this girlfriend of his.

Tsk, tsk. Sure enough, to capture a man's heart, you had to capture his stomach first.

Look, even Dr. Song was no exception.

That evening, Song Yihe came home earlier than usual.

An Zhiwu had made noodles with pickled mustard greens and shredded pork. For the sake of her figure later, she only ate until she was thirty percent full.

After dinner, the two headed to the swimming center.

City A's swimming center was located in the sports complex.

Unlike the pools in gyms, the swimming center's facilities and decor were very luxurious.

The whole venue was sea blue, with individual changing rooms, lockers, and showers. It had every amenity.

Because it was summer, the swimming center was crowded: parents with children, couples, and swimming instructors with students.

After changing into her swimsuit, An Zhiwu came out of the changing room to find that Song Yihe had already changed and was waiting for her.

Unlike other swimming centers, where the changing rooms were divided into two large ones for men and women.

This swimming center had individual changing rooms, one per person. They were a little like fitting rooms in a mall, but they also had lockers and doors that could be locked.

An Zhiwu couldn't help sizing Song Yihe up.

He wore a black swim shirt and trunks.

And there was a bulge in the middle of his trunks... Ahem. She turned away awkwardly.

At the same time, Song Yihe was looking at An Zhiwu's swimsuit.

The top was a fairly modest short-sleeved shirt, and the bottom was a pair of skirted shorts that showed off her long, snowy-white legs. Compared with those bikinis, it was already very modest.

Song Yihe was quite satisfied with her outfit.

The two of them went to the shallow area, where the water was 1.2 meters deep.

Most of the people in the shallow area were children learning to swim, along with male instructors teaching students.

An Zhiwu glanced at the long legs and 36C breasts everywhere and felt a little annoyed. If she had known, she wouldn't have chosen such a modest swimsuit.

Both of them were exceptionally good-looking.

They immediately attracted the attention of some men and women.

Song Yihe frowned unconsciously. "Let's begin."

The reason An Zhiwu had never managed to learn to swim before was that she was afraid of water. Whenever she entered it, her chest would feel tight. After choking on water several times, she had become even more afraid of learning to swim.

Fortunately, although she hadn't learned before, she still knew a little of the basics.

Seeing that she was a little apprehensive, Song Yihe reassured her. "Don't be afraid. I'll be here the whole time, right beside you."

An Zhiwu nodded and put on her goggles.

She had always practiced the breaststroke before, so she recalled the arm and leg movements.

The ideal was beautiful; reality was cruel.

Even though she had gone over the essentials of the movements in her head hundreds of times, once she was in the water and her body began to float, she grew afraid. Never mind swimming forward; she felt as though she couldn't muster any strength at all.

An Zhiwu held her breath and floated there, unable to draw her legs back no matter what she did. Then her hands went down, and she began dog-paddling in the water.

Song Yihe pulled An Zhiwu up after she had swallowed a few mouthfuls of water. "You need to learn how to float and stand up first. Follow my instructions."

Song Yihe held her hand, and under his guidance, An Zhiwu relaxed her body, slowly looked straight down, pressed her thighs together, and held her breath. With Song Yihe's help, she successfully floated.

"First bend your knees toward your stomach, press down on the water hard with your arms, then straighten your legs toward the bottom of the pool. Once you're sure your feet are on the bottom, lift your head out. Make sure you relax."

When he finished, Song Yihe signaled that he was going to let go. An Zhiwu curled her fingers against his palm to show she was ready.

But as soon as Song Yihe let go and An Zhiwu tried to stand, she choked on water again.

An Zhiwu had choked so badly that she couldn't stop the tears from flowing. Her eyes were red and wet, and the sight made Song Yihe's heart melt.

Song Yihe immediately picked her up. Looking at her little face, flushed red from choking, he felt a pang of distress. "Do you want to take a break?"

They were both wearing swimsuits and were in the water. Held in Song Yihe's arms like this, An Zhiwu was pressed tightly against him and could clearly feel the warmth of his body.

An Zhiwu blushed a little and awkwardly shifted her lower body. "I still want to practice a bit more."

Song Yihe hadn't thought much of it at first and had simply been holding her. But when she moved, a nameless fire suddenly rose in his lower abdomen. Fortunately, they were both in the water, so no one saw his predicament.