After her dramatic cousin stopped acting up, the aloof doctor got anxious.

She spoke softly, her voice trembling slightly.

"Cousin, are you done?"

Qi Wenshen's fingers stopped, his whole body froze, and then he suddenly came to his senses.

He quickly withdrew his fingers from her lips.

He lowered his eyes, put the ointment back in the medicine box, closed the lid, and didn't look at Shen Ruo again throughout the whole process.

His voice was hoarse from trying to calm himself down. "Alright, go to sleep early."

"I can heat up my own food."

Shen Ruo simply hummed in agreement, stood up, and walked upstairs.

She pushed open the door to the room, went in, closed the door, and leaned against the door panel.

She extended her index finger and gently touched her lower lip.

The ointment is still there, cool and minty.

Shen Ruo slowly slid down to the ground and buried her face in her knees.

The warmth of his fingers still seemed to linger on her lips.

The lingering palpitations in my chest seemed to remain.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and silently said to herself: Shen Ruo, you did the right thing.

But why does it hurt a little even though I did it right?

Downstairs, Qi Wenshen stood in the kitchen, facing the pot of food on the stove that hadn't been heated yet.

His mind was now in complete chaos.

He raised his right hand and looked at his index finger.

What did he just do?

Qi Wenshen stood in the kitchen for a long time.

He reheated the food, sat down at the table with his bowl and chopsticks, facing the empty seat opposite him, and ate the whole bowl of rice bite by bite.

Back in his room, Qi Wenshen closed the door and didn't turn on the lights.

He sat on the bed, his mind filled with the scene from earlier.

It wasn't until this moment that he truly confirmed it.

He fell for his cousin.

Qi Wenshen picked up his phone.

He opened Shen Ruo's WeChat chat window and looked at the message she had sent him that evening.

He did not reply.

He was in the operating room at the time and didn't see it.

Qi Wenshen placed his phone on the bedside table and lay down.

He didn't want to be her cousin.

The first thing Shen Ruo does when she gets up in the morning is look in the mirror.

It's not a big deal if you don't take a picture, but what you find is shocking.

The little burn I got on my lower lip last night from the oil splatter has turned into a small, transparent blister today.

It's not big, but it's particularly unsightly.

The key issue is that the location is too critical.

Right in the center of the lower lip, it looks like a tiny, transparent pearl.

But who wants pearls growing on their lips?

It would be one thing if this thing grew anywhere else, but it's on her lips, so she can't ignore it even if she wants to.

Shen Ruo looked at herself in the mirror from left to right, and the more she looked, the more irritated she became.

Shen Ruo wailed, "It's all over! My sexy outfit hasn't even arrived yet, and I've already got a blister on my lip! My image's ruined before I even got started!"

No, this must be resolved.

Shen Ruo found a brooch, walked to the mirror, and aimed the needle tip at the bubble.

My hand trembled slightly.

The needle tip stopped just short of the edge of the bubble.

She is afraid of pain.

Shen Ruo stared at the needle, her mind replaying all sorts of terrifying images.

What should I do if I poke the wrong spot and it goes into the flesh of my lip?

What should I do if I poke too deep and it bleeds?

What if it leaves a scar?

She put the brooch down. "No, no, I can't do it, I really can't."

She tried twice more, but each time the needle tip almost touched her lip, she didn't have the courage to prick it.

After her third failed attempt, Shen Ruo threw the brooch on the table, leaned back, and resigned herself to her fate.

"Never mind, let's find Qi Wenshen."

When she came out of the room, she saw Qi Wenshen preparing to go downstairs.

He was wearing a white shirt today, with the sleeves casually rolled up to his forearms, revealing his well-defined arm muscles.

Shen Ruo's heart skipped a beat, but the blister on her lip immediately reminded her, "Stop daydreaming, there's something wrong with your lips."

She walked over, tilted her head back, and pointed to her lower lip with her finger. "Cousin, look at this."

Qi Wenshen stopped in his tracks upon hearing her voice and looked down at her.

Her big, watery eyes were staring at him expectantly, and her slender white finger was poking below her lips.

Last night, those round little bubbles were like a tiny bug suddenly landing on a perfect rose; they were an eyesore no matter how you looked at them.

Qi Wenshen frowned slightly.

"Should we expose it?"

Shen Ruo nodded pitifully, "Yeah, I wanted to expose it myself, but I didn't dare."

Qi Wenshen glanced at her, then turned and walked towards the study. "Come here."

Shen Ruo followed along eagerly.

Qi Wenshen took out a small medicine box from a drawer in his study, took out a disposable sterile needle, and then took out some iodine swabs.

He looks like a professional.

Shen Ruo watched him unpack the package and sterilize the needle, and couldn't help but swallow.

"Sit still."

Qi Wenshen pointed to the chair in front of the desk.

Shen Ruo obediently sat down, placing her hands on her knees, looking very well-behaved.

Qi Wenshen opened a pack of mint-flavored disinfectant wipes and wiped his hands, the cool mint scent spreading between the two of them.

He bent down, his gaze falling on her lips, carefully examining the location and size of the blister.

He brought the needle close to her lips, the tip flashing coldly under the light.

Shen Ruo tensed up instantly and instinctively shrank back.

She raised her hand in a gesture of protest, "Wait, wait, will it hurt?"

"It won't hurt."

"Really, it won't hurt?"

"I am a doctor."

"Even doctors have shaky hands sometimes."

Qi Wenshen glanced at her. "Are you questioning my professional competence?"

"No, no, absolutely not."

Shen Ruo chickened out, shrinking her neck, but her eyes remained fixed on the needle, her whole body filled with resistance.

Qi Wenshen sighed and softened his voice, "Close your eyes."

Shen Ruo recalled that when she was applying the ointment last night, he was also this close, with the same deep voice, and at the same heart-stopping distance.

She obediently closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly, like two startled butterflies.

"bring it on."

She said her voice was much softer than she had expected.

Qi Wenshen did not move.

His hand holding the needle hovered in mid-air, his gaze fixed on the small face in front of him.

The morning light slanted in through the study window, falling on Shen Ruo's face and making her skin look even more rosy.

Her skin was fair with a pinkish tint, like a freshly peeled egg.

Her eyebrows were long and slender, and her eyelashes trembled slightly, like two small fans, making his heart itch.

Her lips.

Those lips that he had been fantasizing about all night.

It still has the same rosy and glossy appearance.

Qi Wenshen's gaze lingered on the bubble for two seconds before involuntarily moving downwards.

Her neck was snow-white and slender.

Further down…

Qi Wenshen's fingers tightened slightly.

Today, all the buttons on my sheep-themed pajamas are fastened.

The top button stayed obediently at the collarbone, blocking that alluring view.

I don't know why, but when it's all buttoned up, it's even more tempting than when it's not.

"cousin?"

Shen Ruo let out a small cry.