Volume 1, Chapter 52: Sweet Suffocation

Xu Mi looked a little curious. "How did I say it wrong?"

Lin Chen said with a straight face, "We aren't a couple, we're a married couple!"

"Darling, say 'husband' and let me hear it?"

Xu Mi's face instantly flushed crimson, and she delivered a light punch with her delicate fist to Lin Chen's leg. "Naughty, you're just being a slick talker!!!"

Lin Chen chuckled. "How can you call this being a slick talker? We've already registered our marriage, we're a legally recognized couple. Isn't it only right and proper for me to want to hear you call me husband?"

"Good wife, say it!"

"No."

"Say it, say it!"

"No, no!"

"I already called you wife, why are you unwilling to call me husband? Do you not love me anymore?"

As soon as Lin Chen said this, Xu Mi's face blushed even more fiercely.

She actually covered her face directly with her hands.

Seeing her like this, Lin Chen felt an even greater urge to tease her. "Good wife, we've been married for so long, and you still refuse to even say the word husband."

"I'm so heartbroken!"

Xu Mi was startled, and couldn't help but peek through her fingers.

Upon looking, she happened to lock eyes with Lin Chen's smiling ones, and instantly realized she had been tricked.

Realizing she had caught on, Lin Chen immediately put on a heartbroken expression. "Wife, look, I'm about to cry!"

Xu Mi burst into a laugh and punched him. "Hate you! Drive properly, you're not allowed to speak anymore!"

Lin Chen immediately made a zipping motion over his lips with his hand.

Only, closing his mouth was one thing, but the expression on his face became even more aggrieved.

Xu Mi laughed until she was doubled over.

The laughter inside the car never stopped.

They quickly arrived at Baiyun Mountain.

After parking the car, Lin Chen looked at Xu Mi with some concern. "Wife, can your body handle this?"

"Should we bring a wheelchair up?"

He knew very well in his heart that although Xu Mi was physically weak, she didn't quite like using a wheelchair and disliked the strange looks strangers would cast her.

That was why he had asked this question now.

Xu Mi frowned slightly, hesitating for a moment before saying, "But... if we don't bring the wheelchair, in case I can't walk anymore, won't you have to carry me a very long way?"

"I'm afraid it will be too hard on you..."

"It's not hard at all!"

Lin Chen immediately shook his head. "Then we won't bring the wheelchair, we'll just walk slowly!"

Anyway, from the foot of the mountain to Nengren Temple, all things considered, it was only a half-hour walk.

Xu Mi nodded. "Okay."

The two of them walked leisurely toward the mountain, holding hands.

Today was Sunday, and there were quite a few people climbing the mountain, even more parents bringing their children along. The mountain path was very lively.

Xu Mi held Lin Chen's hand, suddenly recalling the time she had come here with Ye Yun.

Back then, she hadn't yet decided whether she wanted to be with Lin Chen, and her heart was filled with uncertainty.

Yet coming here again, she was already together with Lin Chen.

And they had even been living together for so long...

Xu Mi raised her eyes to look at Lin Chen, feeling an incomparable sweetness in her heart.

Right at that moment, Lin Chen suddenly let go of her hand and quickened his pace.

Xu Mi was startled, only to see Lin Chen bend down and pick something up from the roadside.

When he returned, his hand held a small pink flower.

With a reach, Lin Chen tucked the flower right behind Xu Mi's ear.

"What are you doing!"

Xu Mi felt a bit shy.

"Putting a flower on my wife, of course!"

Lin Chen admired his own masterpiece. "Wife, do you know what I'm thinking right now?"

"What?"

"A beauty that puts flowers to shame!"

"You're impossible!"

Laughing and chatting, the two continued up the mountain.

They soon reached Nengren Temple.

Xu Mi was already breathing a bit unevenly.

Lin Chen felt a deep ache in his heart and simply pointed toward the square opposite the temple. "Wife, let's take a rest for a moment!"

Xu Mi nodded, but the very next second, she shook her head violently and pulled Lin Chen to walk toward the side.

"What's wrong?"

Lin Chen was taken aback.

Before he could say another word, Xu Mi had already wrapped her arms tightly around him and leaned up to kiss him!

Quite a few people around cast glances over, but most of them were friendly.

After all, it was quite common for young couples climbing mountains to share a kiss.

Yet Lin Chen was completely petrified!

Over this period of time, although the two of them had been sleeping in the same bed and shared kisses before falling asleep, every single time he had taken the initiative, while Xu Mi would always be unbearably shy.

Even on the rare occasions when she took the initiative, it was limited to a brief dragonfly-touch-the-water peck on his cheek.

Directly initiating a real kiss like today was an absolute first in history!

Lin Chen was stunned for only a moment before he gathered Xu Mi into his arms and took the initiative.

Xu Mi was left breathless by his kiss, her eyes fixed the entire time on a family of three ahead.

That man was the deputy manager of the company's business department.

If he were to see her and Lin Chen together, things would blow up into a massive scandal!!!

Just as that man turned his head, Xu Mi was startled and buried her entire body in Lin Chen's embrace, hugging him tightly to prevent him from turning around.

"Honey, what are you looking at?"

The woman holding the child followed his gaze, looking somewhat curious.

The man frowned and said, "Take a look at that person. Doesn't she look a bit like our chairperson?"

The woman glanced over and chided playfully, "She does look a bit like her, but your chairperson isn't this thin, is she? And wasn't she sick and hospitalized?"

"Besides, didn't you say her mind is filled only with work and she has never thought about anything else? And she cares most about her image. A person like that, how could she possibly be showing affection to someone in broad daylight!"

"That's true. I must have seen wrong. Let's go! Let's keep climbing."

It wasn't until that family had walked far away that Xu Mi pushed Lin Chen away.

The prolonged kiss had left her slightly oxygen-deprived, draining the color from her face.

"Wife, why were you so proactive today?"

Lin Chen was both surprised and delighted, though more than anything, he felt worried. "I'm sorry, it's all my fault!"

Once they started kissing, he had completely forgotten that his wife's health wasn't good.

Leaning weakly against Lin Chen, Xu Mi spoke with some difficulty. "I... I want to go home. Can we go down the mountain?"

Lin Chen nodded without the slightest hesitation. "Okay, I'll carry you down!"

Fortunately, he had the habit of working out regularly, so carrying Xu Mi all the way down the mountain didn't feel too strenuous.

It wasn't until she was back in the car that Xu Mi recovered, some color returning to her cheeks.

Lin Chen handed her a carton of milk. "Drink some milk first. Is anything feeling uncomfortable? Do you want to go to the hospital to get checked?"

"No need."

Xu Mi shook her head, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry. We clearly agreed on a date today, but it got ruined because I wasn't feeling well."

In truth, she had simply been worried about being spotted by people from the company.

Lin Chen frowned. "It's just climbing a mountain. If today doesn't work, we can just come another time! How could that possibly be more important than your health?"

"Besides, as for dates, there's no need to rush them on just one specific day. We have a lifetime ahead of us!"

A lifetime...

Muttering those three words, Xu Mi blushed again.

Worried about her health, Lin Chen didn't dawdle. After fastening Xu Mi's seatbelt, he drove her back home.

The next day.

After finishing breakfast, Lin Chen bent down as usual to ask Xu Mi for a goodbye kiss.

Only after Xu Mi blushed and planted a kiss on his cheek did he contentedly set off for the company.

As soon as he stepped into the office, the door was knocked on.

"Lin Chen, the general manager is looking for you. Go to his office!"

"Huh?"

Lin Chen was dumbfounded.

Jiang Yao instantly perked up with energy. "The general manager?! My boy, has your stunning beauty managed to conquer even the general manager?!"