Shen Nan froze, then lifted his head to look over.
Their eyes met. Seeing Zhou Zuizui’s cold expression, he instinctively frowned, wanting to explain — but the words reached his mouth and he suddenly felt like explaining would be pointless.
After a moment of silence, Zhou Zuizui walked straight in carrying a white plastic bag and placed it on the table.
Shen Nan glanced at it before asking:
“How come you’re here?”
Zhou Zuizui pulled out the chair on the side and sat down lazily, giving a soft “mm” before saying simply:
“I ran into your mom while shopping.”
She didn’t show much emotion at all.
Shen Nan: “…”
He stared at Zhou Zuizui with burning eyes for a long time. After a pause, he asked:
“What did she say to you?”
Zhou Zuizui gave a slight smile — the same polite, trademark expression she used with outsiders — and raised one eyebrow just a little:
“Nothing much.”
The whole room fell silent.
If this were when Shen Nan had just met Zhou Zuizui, he might have thought her attitude right now looked completely natural, like she was just being honest. But he wasn’t new to her anymore, and he wasn’t some shallow acquaintance either — he could clearly sense something was off. The calmer Zhou Zuizui acted on the surface, the more upset she actually was inside.
At least, that’s how it looked to him.
He watched her for a while longer before saying, with a touch of apology in his voice:
“This little injury of mine isn’t a big deal. Don’t worry.”
“Mm, I’m not worried.” Zhou Zuizui looked at Shen Nan with a hint of amusement.
Shen Nan: “…”
She lowered her head and untied the plastic bag on the table, taking out the food inside. She carried it over to the small table beside Shen Nan’s bed and said quietly:
“You’re injured, so you can’t eat anything spicy or stimulating. I just bought plain white porridge.”
Shen Nan looked down at her fair hands, staying silent.
After setting it down, Zhou Zuizui glanced at him:
“Eat. I bought two portions — should be enough.”
Shen Nan paused, looked at her expression, then reached for the porridge on the side. But the moment he twisted his body, the bandaged spot on his waist and abdomen pulled sharply with pain.
He looked at Zhou Zuizui — who didn’t even frown — and said:
“Can’t reach it.”
Zhou Zuizui lifted her eyes and glanced over, then handed the porridge right into his hand. After that, she said nothing more, just walked back to the chair on the side and lowered her head to keep playing on her phone.
Shen Nan paused for a moment, then finally lowered his head and started eating the white porridge.
The moment it touched his tongue, Shen Nan knew something was wrong… The white porridge Zhou Zuizui bought had absolutely no flavor at all.
His hand holding the spoon stopped for a second, but he still ate it without changing his expression. In the end… both portions of the completely tasteless white porridge went into his stomach.
And Zhou Zuizui, from start to finish, never once lifted her head to look at him. She kept her head down the whole time, playing mobile games. Sometimes she even chatted on voice call with someone — from the sound of it, she was in a pretty good mood.
After he finished eating, Zhou Zuizui tidied up the trash and threw it out. Then she came back, looked at him, and said:
“Since you’re fine, just focus on recovering. I’m heading out first.”
With that, Zhou Zuizui turned to leave.
She had only taken two steps when there was a loud bang behind her. She frowned tightly, turned around, and saw the man trying to get out of bed. She pressed her lips together and asked:
“What are you doing?”
Shen Nan’s face had gone deathly pale from the pain, his lips pressed into a thin straight line. He stared straight at her, but his voice was still steady and calm:
“Are you angry?”
“No.”
Zhou Zuizui gave him a cold glance and asked:
“Want me to call the doctor for you?”
Shen Nan: “…”
That day, after Zhou Zuizui called the doctor for Shen Nan, she left straight away.
For the next two days, Zhou Zuizui showed up at the hospital right on time — morning, noon, and evening — always carrying flavorless white porridge. She watched him finish eating, then left. Her whole attitude was cold to the extreme.
On the third evening, Zhou Zuizui appeared again as usual, holding the white porridge.
Shen Nan ate in silence. When he finished, Zhou Zuizui stood up to collect the insulated box. The moment she bent over, her wrist was suddenly grabbed.
She froze, lowered her head, and met Shen Nan’s eyes. In that one glance, she saw those deep, ink-black eyes staring at her intently, burning with focus. Zhou Zuizui pressed her lips together and looked at the hand holding her wrist:
“What do you want?”
Shen Nan let out a soft laugh and looked at her:
“Still not over it?”
Zhou Zuizui paused, then tried to pry his hand off:
“Over what? I’m not angry.”
She sounded a little too defensive, like she was trying to cover it up.
Shen Nan gave her hand a light tug and pulled her right into his shoulder.
The two of them were now way too close… so close that they could clearly see their own reflection in each other’s pupils.
Zhou Zuizui pressed her lips together, stubbornly refusing to look at him. Just as she tried to struggle free, Shen Nan pulled harder — this time dragging her straight onto the bed. His whole body fell back with her, and then he rolled over, pressing down on top of her. This chapter is updated first at NovelPing.
“What the hell do you want?” She was a little angry now.
Shen Nan stared down at her with deep, heavy eyes. In that gaze there was heat, and some kind of emotion that couldn’t quite be named.
They looked at each other, breaths tangling together. Shen Nan kept his weight on the woman beneath him. The wound pulled painfully, but he didn’t let it show. He lowered his eyes and stared at Zhou Zuizui for a long time before finally speaking, voice a little hoarse:
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to hide it from you on purpose. I just thought this injury wasn’t a big deal — a few days of rest and I’d be fine. I didn’t tell anyone, not just you.”
In this matter, Shen Nan treated everyone the same.
He was a soldier. Getting injured wasn’t super frequent, but it wasn’t rare either — it happened often enough. As long as it wasn’t life-threatening, he almost never told people. People always share the good news but keep the bad to themselves. Everyone does it. For someone in Shen Nan’s line of work, the family already lives in constant worry every day, so he definitely wouldn’t tell them about small problems.
It was just his personal habit.
And with Zhou Zuizui, Shen Nan had been ninety-something percent sure she wouldn’t find out.
He just never calculated that she would run into his mom.
Zhou Zuizui’s eyes flickered. Being pressed down like this made it a little hard to breathe. She gave a cold, flat “Oh”:
“I know.”
She reached up and pushed at Shen Nan’s shoulders:
“Can you talk to me normally?”
Shen Nan raised an eyebrow, eyes full of teasing as he looked at her:
“If I talk to you normally, will you even listen?”
This girl’s temper was like a little leopard — wild and impossible to hold back.
Zhou Zuizui: “…”
She lifted her eyelids, looked at the man in front of her with a cold tone:
“What else do you want to say?”
Shen Nan thought for a moment, then explained:
“I’ll try to be more careful in the future. But if I do tell you, don’t worry too much either.”
He was afraid of what happened before happening all over again.
Zhou Zuizui lowered her eyes and stayed quiet. She could actually understand why Shen Nan didn’t tell her. But understanding is one thing — after understanding, she still felt a little uncomfortable.
Right now they didn’t really have much feelings between them, but at least they were legally married, right? And yet… her own husband got injured, and she had to find out from her mother-in-law. Zhou Zuizui still didn’t dare think too much about the look on Shen’s mom’s face back then.
She hid her emotions and said in a low voice:
“Oh.”
The two of them looked at each other in silence. A strange, hard-to-describe atmosphere hung around them. Shen Nan stared at the woman so close to him, his throat bobbed, eyes deep and heavy.
Their position right now was super awkward… one on top of the other, way too intimate and suggestive.
Zhou Zuizui avoided his gaze, turned her head to the side. Just as she was about to say something, the door got pushed open from outside, and a male voice came through:
“Shen Ye, you’re way too…”
The words stopped halfway. Lu Jia Xiu and Hu Yi froze at the door. Both of them stared wide-eyed at the scene inside the room. Lu Jia Xiu blinked. Hu Yi picked up where the unfinished sentence left off and changed it:
“…sexually blessed…”
Zhou Zuizui froze. Her face flushed bright red as she shoved Shen Nan completely off her. Shen Nan wasn’t paying attention — the sudden move tugged his wound. He let out a muffled groan.
Zhou Zuizui didn’t care. She climbed straight off the bed and looked at the two guys.
For a moment, the atmosphere was unbelievably awkward.
Even the hospital at night wasn’t quiet. The nurse came to re-bandage Shen Nan’s wound. When she saw the blood on it, she frowned and looked at the man in front of her. She coughed lightly and whispered a reminder:
“You really need to be more careful. Don’t let it bleed too much again.”
Shen Nan didn’t say anything.
The little nurse on the side glanced at his shirt lifted up, catching sight of the perfect mermaid line under the fabric. Her face turned red, cheeks burning.
This man was a soldier — everyone in the hospital knew. The little nurse had only started not long ago but already got assigned to handle Shen Nan’s daily dressing changes. She was careful and serious with her work, but every time she saw Shen Nan, she still couldn’t help blushing… He just felt too outstanding — cold and sharp features, tough and manly, and a body that was top-tier good.
The girls at the nurses’ station often chatted about all kinds of random stuff. She sneaked another glance at that bronze skin, and suddenly her mind went boom with the things her girlfriends had said. Her hand accidentally pressed a little harder.
Shen Nan frowned slightly.
Zhou Zuizui, watching from the side, asked coldly:
“Not done yet?”
The little nurse snapped back to reality, looked at Zhou Zuizui with a bit of apology:
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Shen Nan said.
After the nurse finished bandaging him, she reminded him:
“Don’t touch the wound for now. No water when showering either — infection risk.”
Once the nurse left, Zhou Zuizui’s face finally darkened.
Lu Jia Xiu and Hu Yi exchanged a look, then coughed to break the silence:
“So… Shen Ye feeling better?”
“Shen Ye’s recovering nicely. We just happened to run into Zhou Ran today, so we came to check on him.”
But neither of them expected to walk in on such a spicy scene. Thinking about it, Lu Jia Xiu suddenly felt like once Shen Nan was fully healed, he’d better prepare to hide out somewhere for a while. Interrupting Shen Ye’s good moment… he was definitely getting punched.
Zhou Zuizui was still thinking about that embarrassing moment and trying to find an excuse to leave when her phone rang first. Her eyes lit up when she saw the caller ID:
“You guys chat first. I’m going out to take this call.”
After Zhou Zuizui left, Lu Jia Xiu and Hu Yi couldn’t hold back anymore — they both burst out laughing. They looked at Shen Nan, whose face didn’t look too good, and teased: Read this novel at novelping(.)com for the best experience.
“Shen Ye, did your bros just ruin your good time?”
Hu Yi chimed in perfectly:
“Little sis-in-law’s figure is seriously good — better than most celebrities.”
“Coming to the hospital every day to keep Shen Ye company, no wonder you couldn’t hold back.”
Hu Yi smirked and raised an eyebrow:
“Exactly!”
Shen Nan got a little angry and glared at them:
“Shut up!”
On the other side, the call was from Xia Wen.
“What’re you up to?”
Zhou Zuizui walked to the end of the hallway and gave a casual “mm-hmm”:
“At the hospital. What’s up?”
Hearing that, Xia Wen laughed:
“Coming out drinking? Ai Zeyang’s here tonight too.”
Zhou Zuizui thought for a second:
“I’m not coming tonight.”
“You’re not coming? You think you’ll actually sleep?” Xia Wen knew Zhou Zuizui way too well. Lately she’d been having insomnia — unless she drank herself into a daze, she could only manage a couple hours of sleep. Otherwise it was sleeping pills or nothing.
Zhou Zuizui: “…”
Xia Wen heard the silence on her end and teased:
“Or are you planning to sleep with your husband tonight?” She whistled like a total hooligan: “So how’s it going? Did your hubby explain things yet?”
“Mm.”
“And the rest?”
“What rest?”
“Feelings! Can’t you two married people just be a little more direct? Just go for it! What are you scared of? It’s legal anyway.” She thought for a second and asked: “Or are you worried your charm’s not working anymore?”
She tsk-ed and gave Zhou Zuizui a naughty idea:
“How about… you try seducing him?”
“…” Zhou Zuizui rolled her eyes: “Shut up.”
Seducing? What seducing.
She thought about Shen Nan’s wound from earlier and let out a speechless huff. Even if she had that kind of idea, Shen Nan wouldn’t have the energy for it anyway. With his messed-up body right now… completely impossible.
After chatting a couple more sentences, Zhou Zuizui hung up the phone.
When she got back to the hospital room, Shen Nan had already changed his clothes and even put on his jacket.
Zhou Zuizui paused, glanced at Lu Jia Xiu and the others beside him, then asked:
“You’re going out?”
Lu Jia Xiu winked at her and said quietly:
“Little sis-in-law, Shen Ye says he wants to discharge himself.”
Zhou Zuizui: “…”
She looked at Shen Nan with a flat expression:
“Didn’t the little nurse just say not to touch the wound? And now you’re leaving already?”
Shen Nan glanced at her and gave a soft “mm”:
“As long as it doesn’t get touched, there won’t be any big problem. I already called the doctor.”
And just like that, after one inexplicable night, Shen Nan went from the hospital straight back home.
Lu Jia Xiu and the others dropped them off at the door and then left. Zhou Zuizui supported Shen Nan all the way to the bedroom. She stayed cold the entire time, not saying a single word to him.
Once they were in the room, Zhou Zuizui slowly helped him lie down on the bed, carefully protecting the spot that kept bleeding on and off. After he was settled, she turned to leave — but once again, her hand got grabbed.
“What now?” Her tone wasn’t great.
Shen Nan let out a soft laugh, studying her face:
“Let’s talk a bit more.”
Zhou Zuizui went quiet for a second, then said coldly:
“Talk about what? We’ve got nothing to talk about.”
She really struggled this time — she wanted to leave for real.
Shen Nan wouldn’t let her.
“You… ah…” Before she could finish, Zhou Zuizui got pulled down again and ended up face-first on Shen Nan’s chest.
She crashed into his hard chest, a little dazed, and blurted out:
“You keep moving like that and there won’t be any gentle little nurse left to bandage you!”
Hearing that, Shen Nan raised one eyebrow slightly. He hooked his lips into a smile, leaned in closer, reached out to press against Zhou Zuizui’s back, lowered his head to look at the woman lying in his arms, and whispered right next to her ear in a slightly hoarse voice:
“Jealous?”
Author’s note:
Shen Ye(Master): Later on I’ll let you feel for yourself just how capable my body really is.