Bo Yan was injured and took his time washing. Wen Ning finished a round of gaming outside before he emerged from the bathroom, drying his hair.
Perhaps because of what had happened before his shower, the atmosphere was inexplicably a little awkward.
Wen Ning coughed, taking the initiative to break the strange silence. "Come here. I'll change your dressings."
Bo Yan's hand paused on his hair. "No need," he said flatly.
Wen Ning clicked her tongue, not particularly pleased with his tone. "What, are you really afraid I'll eat you?"
Bo Yan ignored him, walked over to her, and bent down to pick his phone up off the bed.
Catching him off guard, Wen Ning tugged him down to sit beside her.
Bo Yan stiffened.
Wen Ning's eyes curved. "If you're afraid I'll eat you, why dare come so close? Believe it or not, I could dig in right now."
As she spoke, she leaned toward him.
Bo Yan's brows knitted tightly, and he instinctively leaned back.
But Wen Ning stopped two fists away from his face, then abruptly smiled and snapped her teeth at him through the air with a little "nom."
Bo Yan: "..."
Only the floor lamp was on in the bedroom, its light dim and intimate.
The tips of Bo Yan's ears beneath the towel burned fiercely.
Wen Ning placed the medical kit behind her onto his lap. "All right. I said I wouldn't force you again, and I keep my word."
She picked up her pajamas and headed for the bathroom. "Change them yourself. If there's anywhere you can't easily reach..." Wen Ning turned at the bathroom door and winked at Bo Yan. "Feel free to trouble your wife anytime~ Or you could help your wife change hers later~"
Bo Yan: "..."
Bo Yan remained expressionless. "Shut up, close the door, and take your shower."
Wen Ning pouted, her tone almost coquettish. "My baby really is so stingy~"
Bo Yan: "..."
Bo Yan was left speechless.
Once the bathroom door closed, he pressed the towel to his hair and scrubbed hard several times in frustration.
How could this woman be so shameless!
He thought of the tantalizing glimpse beneath her neckline after the water on his body had soaked it...
For no apparent reason, Bo Yan grew even more agitated.
After that bout of agitation, another thought struck him. Why were the buttons in front? What kind of ridiculous design was that...
That thought made him even, even, even more irritated.
Before he could finish being irritated, music drifted out of the bathroom.
This was Bo Yan's first time encountering someone who played music while showering.
He had essentially lived alone since childhood. Even after marrying Wen Ning, that woman had never slept in that dark, damp basement. Of course, although she didn't stay in the basement, she monopolized the bed and wouldn't let Bo Yan touch it.
So that night, when Wen Ning supported him and had him sit on her bed to tend to his injuries, then even invited him to sleep in the bed before turning in, Bo Yan could hardly help being surprised.
He simply hadn't paid much attention at the time, assuming it was just another excuse for Wen Ning to punish him...
The music in the bathroom skipped to the next song. Wen Ning apparently knew this one better and started singing along.
Bo Yan lowered his head and unwound the gauze on his hand, listening quietly.
Could the old Wen Ning sing? Had her singing sounded this good?
Bo Yan pressed his lips together and started feeling irritated again.
He didn't understand the old Wen Ning, leaving him unable to determine accurately whether they were the same person now.
Meanwhile.
Wen Ning held a concert lasting over forty minutes in the bathroom and was still humming, not quite satisfied, when she came out.
Seeing Bo Yan still sitting on the bed with the open medical kit beside him, Wen Ning froze.
She walked over to him uncertainly.
Bo Yan was looking down and scrolling through his phone. The dizzying pile of data and documents on its screen instantly awakened Wen Ning's corporate slave DNA.
"Still working so late? You've worked hard, hubby." Wen Ning instinctively slipped in some bootlicking, though there was certainly some fellow corporate slave empathy mixed in.
Bo Yan gave an indifferent "Mm" and said without looking up, "Didn't you want your dressings changed?"
Wen Ning's eyes slowly lit up. "Yes! Of course I do!"
She plopped down beside Bo Yan.
The bed dipped slightly.
It felt as though a piece of Bo Yan's heart sank along with it.
He turned off his phone screen, thinking he should stop working at night. His efficiency was terrible; he couldn't take anything in.
Wen Ning had already extended her hand.
Bo Yan looked at the savage scrape on her arm. Even the flesh had peeled back.
He had thought it was just a graze, not expected it to be this serious.
When he didn't move for a while, Wen Ning thought for a moment and said, "The doctor said it'll heal in a while."
Bo Yan murmured an acknowledgment and reached out to peel off the waterproof dressing on her arm.
His touch was gentle, and he peeled it off very carefully.
His care made Wen Ning pause.
She had never seen Bo Yan like this before.
Her heartbeat suddenly became irregular.
Silently, Bo Yan disinfected the wound, applied medicine, and put on a dressing.
Only after treating the injury on her arm did he look up and ask, "Will it scar?"
His expression and tone were both flat. If one ignored what he had said, he wouldn't have sounded concerned at all.
Yet Wen Ning felt he probably was concerned about her.
Her breathing grew a little tight.
A man covered in scars was worrying about whether her little wound would leave one.
Wen Ning thought she really never changed, starting to feel sorry for a man again.
She smiled. "No."
Bo Yan nodded and said nothing more.
Wen Ning leaned her neck toward him. "Help me change this one too. It's not very convenient to do myself."
Bo Yan's gaze fell on her neck.
Wen Ning had soft, delicate skin, and because she was so fair, even a small injury looked particularly serious.
The knife wound on her neck had already scabbed over, but after her shower, the skin around it looked terribly red.
She had been different ever since that night, starting with this wound.
Bo Yan finished changing the dressing and closed the medical kit. "Time to sleep."
It sounded as though he was speaking to her, and also to himself.
Wen Ning vaguely sensed that Bo Yan wasn't in a very good mood, at least much worse than when he had emerged from his shower.
She wanted to ask, but Bo Yan had already walked over to the hanging chair, sat down in it, and closed his eyes, clearly not wanting to talk to her.
Wen Ning instantly lost the inclination.
She had more or less farmed enough simp points tonight anyway. That would do. Time to sleep.
Wen Ning turned off the light, closed her eyes, and steadied her breathing.
Five minutes later-
"Are you really sleeping there?" Wen Ning sat up and asked, looking speechless.
Bo Yan's long legs were crossed on the footstool. His eyes remained shut. "Mm."
Wen Ning really didn't want to bother with him, but she was a simp now. What kind of simp let their partner sleep in a hanging chair?
She forced a smile. "You'll catch a cold sleeping there. You're already badly injured. Come sleep in the bed." At the end, she promised, "Don't worry. I won't go back on my word. Until you're willing, I won't touch you. Come sleep in the bed."
Bo Yan remained lying there, unmoving.
Wen Ning secretly rolled her eyes. Just as she was about to persuade him further, the man in the hanging chair said coldly, "I don't want to sleep on myself."
Wen Ning: "?"
Wen Ning looked down at the quilt printed with Bo Yan's photo covering her, then at the sheets beneath her, also printed with Bo Yan.
She immediately bit her lip.
Behave, damn mouth. Don't laugh!
With a click, Wen Ning slapped the bedroom light on.
Wen Ning hopped off the bed and strode barefoot over to the hanging chair.
Before Bo Yan could react, she wrapped her arms around his waist and hoisted him upright out of the chair.
Bo Yan's eyes flew open. His beautiful peach-blossom eyes, usually pools of stagnant water, were now filled with shock!
Wen Ning tossed him onto the bed and planted her hands on her hips. "If you don't want to sleep on yourself, sleep on me, okay? What's wrong with you!"
Bo Yan tried to sit up without thinking, but Wen Ning reached out and pressed him back down.
"Stop being so fussy, hubby. I'm exhausted. Hurry up and sleep." With that, she bounced onto the bed.
Bo Yan's pupils widened, and he immediately rolled inward.
Wen Ning nearly burst out laughing.
She reached out and switched off the light.
The room sank into darkness again.
Amid his bewilderment, Bo Yan heard the person beside him call his name.
"Bo Yan."
"..."
"Good night."
"..."
After an endless silence, Wen Ning heard a hoarse-
"...Good night."
His voice sounded a little muffled.
Wen Ning's lips curved.
She had always slept well. After all, she was someone who had managed to sleep soundly even on the night she transmigrated into a book and was nearly killed.
Before long, Bo Yan heard steady breathing beside him.
Wen Ning was asleep.
Bo Yan, however, couldn't fall asleep no matter what.
His insomnia was already severe, and in these circumstances, sleep was even more impossible.
Realizing Wen Ning was asleep, Bo Yan wanted to get out of bed and return to the hanging chair.
He couldn't lie in the same bed as someone else. It made him feel unsafe.
But he had barely lifted a corner of the quilt when the person sleeping beside him reached out and slapped him.
Bo Yan: "..."
Bo Yan grabbed the hand lying across his face and tossed it back, telling himself to endure it.
Yet the next second, a leg crashed down onto his stomach.
Bo Yan's breathing grew heavy. He closed his eyes briefly, then grabbed Wen Ning's pajama leg and flung her leg back.
He would endure it!
Wen Ning knew nothing of this. She was used to sleeping alone, and no one had ever told her she tossed and rolled around in bed.
In her dreams, she only felt that she had hugged a wonderfully comfortable body pillow, except this pillow kept moving as if it had come to life, constantly provoking her!
Wen Ning gave a cold scoff and immediately locked the pillow down with both arms and legs.
The pillow finally stopped moving.
Wen Ning smacked her lips and slept sweetly.
Some people slept in basic fashion; others had a decidedly less basic time.
Bo Yan, caught in Wen Ning's four-limbed stranglehold: "..."
Bo Yan stared at the pitch-black ceiling, clenched his back teeth, and finally let out a low, intolerant roar. "Wen Ning!"
Wen Ning was sleeping like a pig. Hearing his voice, she nuzzled deeper into the crook of his neck.
Bo Yan's peach-blossom eyes abruptly widened. He hurriedly tipped his head back, too frightened to move again.
His face flushed scarlet as he lowered his gaze to the person sleeping in his arms. Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.
He might as well just kill her.
His killing intent surged for a second, then dissipated completely when Bo Yan reached out and pressed his hand against Wen Ning's neck.
In the darkness, Bo Yan stared at Wen Ning's fair neck beneath his palm.
He only needed to exert force to snap the woman's slender neck.
But in the end, Bo Yan merely brushed a fingertip gently, carefully, along that finger-length scar...
So ugly.
He closed his eyes.
A moment later, a long sigh sounded in the darkness.
Forget it. He would sleep like this.
Neither Bo Yan nor Wen Ning knew that, at this very moment, the Bo Family had been thrown into utter turmoil because of them.