Xue Jinxu sniffed her husband"s chest and found home contentedly.
The Chen couple were lying side-by-side in Xue Jinxu"s hospital bed, cuddling. They were making up for the three weeks of stress and anxiety-filled daily lives, or at least to Chen Linyun.
The wife was drawing invisible circles onto Chen Linyun"s forearms while the husband stroked her hair lovingly, a lock of her hair intertwined between his fingers.
Chen Linyun"s arm was underneath the lady"s neck while the other was wrapped around her waist.
They were satisfied even without speaking. Once in a while the lady would look up to meet his eyes, cheeks blus.h.i.+ng, smiling, and with the lashes flickering with such femininity exclusive to Missus Chen alone.
Chen Linyun"s eyes shone brightly as if a fire had ignited it as if life had returned to him. True enough that was the case, because Xue Jinxu was his life, his one, and only love.
"You"ll be discharged in a few days." Chen Linyun brought up.
"Yeah, I can"t wait to go home and go out. I"ll be dying from boredom here…" She moped, with a cute pout.
The husband dotingly caressed her face with the back of his fingers and kissed the tip of his nose. "What do you want to do when you go out?"
"Let"s do it, just don"t overexert yourself."
The wife giggled excitedly. "Mhmm, let"s me see." She rubbed her chin, lost in her own thoughts. "Just the mundane ch.o.r.es, I guess. How about we return the bentos. I"ll be delivering your lunch at the office. They would all look at me, and say, look at the former COO, she"s such a good wife, taking care of our OIC. She excels in everything that she does."
"Of course, you do." Chen Linyun seconded proudly.
"The men would say, "I want a wife just like her.""
"And the ladies would say, "She"s a role model. I want to be like her.""
She giggled again and became dreamy. "Let me pamper you this time, love." Turning serious, she rubbed her thumb on Chen Linyun"s right cheek, eyes getting misty. "I"m really sorry."
"Jinxu." He warned. "We"re already happy discussing your bucket list. You"re getting sentimental again. I"m just thankful you"re here with me now. Let"s laugh until our tummies hurt. No more crying."
"What else do you want to do? Perhaps there"s somewhere you want to visit or something you want to eat?"
"Nah, you"re enough with me, Chen Linyun."
The husband pursed his lips and his face turned into the legendary tomato-face. "Say it again."
"What?" Xue Jinxu blinked then laughed at the realization.
Turning aegyo with doe eyes, she baby-talked, and repeated the exact same words, "You"re enough with me, Chen Linyun." She pinched his tomato-face cheeks gently. "You"re so cute, husband."
"I want little buns like you."
The lady shrieked lightly after saying her wish, then buried her burning face on her palms. She squirmed out of embarra.s.sment.
Chen Linyun"s back went rigid. He froze, eyes wide in bewilderment."Jinxu…"
"Does it mean…"
"It means what it means!" She cut him with a m.u.f.fled voice.
At this point, a slight knock was heard from the door. Turning around, Chen Linyun saw his own mother come in.
Xue Jinxu panicked. She pushed Chen Linyun away from the bed. The husband did not budge from her actions, but in an understanding, he went down the bed and met his mother halfway from the door.
"Mother!" Xue Jinxu greeted. She tried to sit up, stand up to give a proper bow. It was their first time meeting face-to-face.
"No, don"t. You don"t have to stand up, child. Just stay there."
"How are you feeling, daughter-in-law? I made some dishes for you. It will aid your quick recovery."
"Oh, mother! Thank you. You shouldn"t have! I… uhm…" The lady bashfully threw her gaze on the floor. She was being coy in front of the mother-in-law that gave birth to her husband. The only family he had spent most of his life with while growing up.
Although the two were civil with each other, still, Xue Jinxu would want to be at her mother-in-law"s good side.
"When did you arrive, Mother?"
"A few weeks ago. When I heard the news, I closed the shop and immediately went here." She squeezed Xue Jinxu"s hands. "I was too worried for the both of you. So young yet you"re facing too many trials already."
"We"re a power couple, mother. Hehehe." Jinxu retorted playfully, grinning.
"You, child. It was a narrow escape! I haven"t even met you yet. You"re such a darling, Jinxu." She hugged her daughter-in-law tenderly. Jiang Ying Yue somehow accepted and loved Xue Jinxu like a real daughter even before meeting her in person. They were only able to meet via video chats.
She gingerly wiped the edge of her eyes with her index finger.
"Both of you. You should know your limits too! You have a long way ahead of you so you should better take care of yourselves, of each other!" She clutched her chest near her heart and exhaled deeply. "It was such a scare…"
"Mother, calm down. It"s not good for your health, too, to get fl.u.s.tered over something that"s done." Chen Linyun wrapped one arm around his mother and rubbed her upper arm with his had rea.s.suringly.
"Yes, yes. Next time you go to a hospital, I would be waiting for some good news." She put both hands together in antic.i.p.ation of what she was implying.
The two knowingly blushed at the mother"s statements.
"Mother!" Chen Linyun touched the lower rim of his eyegla.s.ses in an attempt to cover his overly red face.
Xu Jinxu flickered her eyelashes and looked down, her cheeks flushed a lovely pink. "I would love that." She said coyly while glancing up, first at Chen Linyun, then at Mother Chen. Then she withdrew her gaze again towards the floor.
Chen Linyun turned even redder.
"You make a perfect tag team."
Although still blus.h.i.+ng, Xue Jinxu laughed boisterously. Then as if she was encouraged by her husband"s words, she grabbed Mother Chen"s arms and clung to it like a koala bear. Mother-in-law went closer to Xue Jinxu, surprised with her actions, though pleased with it too.
b.u.t.tering up, Xue Jinxu rested her head on mother-in-law"s shoulder and bootlicked some more. "Mother, when I go out, will you teach me how to cook Linyun"s favorite dishes? He says your version is the best! We can go to the market to search for the best ingredients! Mhmm? Mhmm? Mother, can we do that please?" She was on full-blast cute mode.
Mother-in-law felt warm from the sweet gesture of her daughter-in-law. She"s enjoying every minute of it. Being the kind and gentle person that she was, she was inclined to agree to the daughter-in-law"s whims. Having Chen Linyun, being an only child, and a boy at that, mother-in-law welcomed with open arms such requests from a daughter that she never had.
"Sure, sure." She grabbed one of her hands and squeezed it. "When you"re well and strong enough, let"s go ransack the market for fresh finds."
Xue Jinxu was so lucky.
Chen Linyun who was left gawking at the sight was forgotten. "Just who"s her real child here?" He thought with a smirk.