Shocking! A three-year-old brings his aloof mother to their door.

Mo Ye was taken aback by her sudden "reward request," a smile spreading across his eyes as he followed her question:

"Hmm? What kind of reward do you want?" He guessed she would probably want a kiss or a hug.

Don't ask! It's just that we're on the same wavelength (๑`･ᴗ･´๑).

He Wanqing indeed stretched out her slender white finger and tapped her smooth, delicate cheek, her voice low, carrying a hint of shyness yet a confident anticipation:

"I want a kiss..."

The words had barely left his lips when a faint sound, yet incredibly clear in the quiet of the room, came from the doorway—

"Pfft."

He Wanqing stiffened and slowly turned her head.

Qin Yue was standing at the half-closed doorway, one hand still in the position of pushing the door open.

He covered his mouth with his other hand, his shoulders trembling suspiciously, and his eyes gleaming with a mischievous yet excited light that was about to spill out.

Eyes facing each other.

He Wanqing's face flushed red instantly, from her cheeks to the tips of her ears.

Finally, even his neck was tinged with a thin layer of pink, making him look like a shrimp that had been caught red-handed and cooked.

Qin Yue was extremely perceptive; she immediately raised her hands in a gesture of surrender, but a sly smile on her face said, "I understand, I understand."

He mouthed "You guys continue," then quickly backed away, gently closed the door, and the sound of his footsteps faded into the distance.

As soon as the door closed, He Wanqing buried her burning face in her hands, her ears turning so red they looked like they were about to bleed.

After a long while, she finally peeked out from between her fingers, glaring at Mo Ye with intense shame and anger:

"You! Why didn't you tell me she was coming?!"

Looking at her utterly ashamed and indignant yet irresistibly adorable expression, Mo Ye couldn't help but chuckle softly, his voice even gentler due to his weakness:

"I just saw the door move... I really didn't notice."

"Hmph!" He Wanqing knew her anger was a bit unreasonable, but she couldn't bear the awkwardness of the situation, so she could only try to save face:

"This time... I'll reluctantly forgive you this time. No, I have to go find Qin Yue! I have to make her keep everything she saw and heard to herself!"

She was about to get up as she spoke, looking like she was going to go out and "silence" someone.

Mo Ye smiled and took her hand: "Alright, stop fooling around, Qin Yue was just joking."

"No way! You don't know what she's got to say!" He Wanqing thought of her best friend's ability to make even the dead laugh out loud, and felt a surge of crisis.

She leaned down and quickly kissed Mo Ye on the cheek, a gesture that was both comforting and hurried:

"You get some rest, I'll be right back!"

After saying that, she took a deep breath, adjusted her expression, and with an air of "ready to die," opened the ward door and strode quickly toward Qin Yue's office.

The faint, suppressed laughter of a psychologist could still be heard in the corridor.

---

The door to the psychologist's office wasn't closed properly.

When He Wanqing stormed in, Qin Yue was sitting behind her desk, holding a water glass, with an expression that said, "I know nothing but I know everything," leisurely drinking her water.

Upon seeing He Wanqing, Qin Yue's eyes lit up instantly. She put down her water glass, pinched her throat, and imitated He Wanqing in an extremely exaggerated, saccharine tone:

"Hey~ Isn't this our 'Dear Sister'? What brings you here? Hmm~ I'm feeding you~ You have to give me a kiss~ Hmm~ ≧∇≦"

That tone of voice, that expression—it was practically a soul replica combined with artistic embellishment.

He Wanqing's blood rushed to her head instantly, and the blush that had just faded returned. She pointed at Qin Yue, both ashamed and angry:

"Qin! Yue! Shut up! You brat!"

☄(◣д◢)☄」

"Oh, I don't want that~ I want a kiss~ I want to show my love~"

Qin Yue wasn't afraid of her at all. She continued to tease her in a high-pitched voice while nimbly jumping up from her chair and dodging He Wanqing's "chasm" around the desk.

One was furious, the other was overjoyed, and they put on a childish chase in the not-so-large office.

"Qin Yue! Say that again! I'm not done with you!" He Wanqing felt that she had lost all face in her entire life today.

"Hehe, I won't! I'm going to write this into my memoir! 'How Big Can the Contrast Be When a Cool Best Friend Falls in Love!'"

Qin Yue ran and laughed:

"'I want a kiss~' Hahaha, you're finished, Lao Qing! I'll eat you for the rest of my life! I can play this joke forever!"

Finally, He Wanqing, who was slightly weaker, stopped in place, panting, knowing that it was useless to confront this female hooligan head-on.

She gritted her teeth, her face flushed and paled alternately, and finally, as if she had made a tremendous decision, she said in a low voice, as if bearing a heavy burden of humiliation:

"...Don't say anymore...the conditions."

Qin Yue immediately stopped, her eyes crinkling into crescents. She leaned closer, wiggled her index finger, and said in a low voice with a grin, "The usual."

He Wanqing closed her eyes, her face showing a heroic expression, and nodded quickly and slightly.

Having succeeded, Qin Yue immediately reached out and quickly and accurately "sense" the area through the clothes, then withdrew her hand with satisfaction, smacking her lips.

"Great feel~ Keep it up, try to do even better..."

"Qin! Yue!" He Wanqing gritted her teeth, her last shred of reason preventing her from smashing the folder on the table at him.

"Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore." Qin Yue knew when to stop. She picked up her car keys and coat from the table, walked to the door, turned back and blew a kiss to He Wanqing, who still had a dark expression, her tone light and cheerful:

"I'm off work! Take good care of your 'darling' husband~ Love you, mwah!"

After saying that, she slipped out as if she had greased her feet, and "thoughtfully" closed the door behind her.

"Snapped!"

He Wanqing finally couldn't hold back any longer. She grabbed a pen from the table and threw it at the door. The pen struck the closed door with a crisp sound.

The office finally quieted down. He Wanqing stood there, trying to calm her breathing and heartbeat, her face still flushed.

After a long while, she sighed helplessly and amusedly, rubbing her burning cheeks.

Seriously... such a bad choice of friends!

.........

Back in Mo Ye's ward, He Wanqing gently closed the door, and the room was once again enveloped in tranquility.

She walked to the bedside and her gaze fell on Mo Ye's face.

His eyes were closed, his face was much paler than usual, his lips were pale, and his soft hair fell down.

Shedding his usual refined and aloof demeanor, he revealed a rare and approachable vulnerability.

He Wanqing's heart felt as if it had been gently tickled by a feather, a little itchy, yet incredibly soft.

She suddenly understood the tropes of those online novels circulating in her college dorm—the "ice queen female CEO falls in love with a cute puppy" trope that she had once scoffed at.

What seemed absurd then now evokes a sense of sympathy—looking at the man in front of me who appears particularly "easy to bully" because of his illness.

A strange, inexplicable urge welled up within her; she wanted to hold him close to her chest, stroke his hair, and perhaps even… do something more “excessive.”

..........