She had no intention of sleeping at this moment, so she could only close her eyes and force herself to do so.
Unbeknownst to her, she drifted off into a daze, but she didn't sleep for long before waking up, only about half an hour had passed.
She wasn't accustomed to napping, and the brief sleep left her feeling a bit groggy.
Quietly, she got up from the sofa and went to check on the bedroom.
The curtains were drawn, making the room dim. The quilt on the bed was slightly raised, and motionless.
The person on the bed was still asleep, so she gently closed the bedroom door and returned to sit on the sofa.
With her mind on the hospital, she sent a message to Ling Yuchen, asking, "How is Grandpa?"
There was no reply for a long time.
Xia Wantang figured he must be busy, so she didn't send another message.
Her phone still had several unread messages from Wen Xuanyuan.
They were all about asking how she was, if she was okay, and telling her to take care of herself.
"Grandpa had a cerebral hemorrhage. His condition is stable for now. I've taken half a month off to look after him here."
Wen Xuanyuan had no classes that afternoon, so she replied quickly.
"Half a month? Are you crazy? Aren't you going to attend classes?"
Xia Wantang thought for a moment and then shared her plans with her.
The next second, Wen Xuanyuan's call flooded in.
The noisy ringtone was a bit grating. Afraid of waking the person sleeping inside, Xia Wantang turned the volume down a bit.
When the call was connected, Wen Xuanyuan was extremely flustered, "Xia Wantang, have you lost your mind? You're in your crucial third year of university and you're going to get pregnant and have a baby? And you call me lovesick..."
Wen Xuanyuan launched into a torrent of words.
Xia Wantang remained unfazed, even finding her a bit overly dramatic.
However, that was just Wen Xuanyuan's temper; when she got emotional, no one could get a word in edgewise.
After she finished, Xia Wantang calmly said, "Calm down. I know what I'm doing, and I'm aware of the pros and cons..."
Before she could finish, Wen Xuanyuan spoke again.
"You know the risks and you're still doing it? I really don't understand."
"No, you listen to me..."
After Xia Wantang's explanation, Wen Xuanyuan calmed down considerably.
While she still didn't understand, she no longer strongly opposed it, only advising Xia Wantang to think carefully, as it was not a trivial matter.
Xia Wantang had already made up her mind, but she still agreed to Wen Xuanyuan's suggestion to think it over.
The call ended.
With nothing else to do and no news from the hospital, Xia Wantang idly scrolled through her phone.
She stumbled upon a post shared by a novel author.
The author said she was a university student who wrote novels as a side hustle and earned a maximum of 100,000 yuan a month.
Xia Wantang became interested and read through all of the blogger's posts.
A thought slowly began to form in her mind.
Could she also try writing novels as a part-time job?
But this was something she hadn't fully explored and would require gradual exploration. Moreover, she had barely read any novels herself.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side, Wen Xuanyuan was feeling quite upset after hanging up the phone.
She felt Xia Wantang was being too emotional.
Putting aside whether Grandpa Ling would recover, he was already over eighty years old.
Even without illness, he could pass away at any moment. It wasn't worth sacrificing her academic career for him, especially since her third year was a critical time.
But Xia Wantang's words also made sense. She wasn't heartless, after all.
The Ling Yuchen family had indeed treated her very well.
As she was wrestling with her thoughts, Li Bowen walked over with a cup of water, asking, "Why the long face?"
Wen Xuanyuan didn't want to say much, only looking up at Li Bowen.
At this moment, sunlight streamed in through the window, bathing his face and casting a glow on his angular, handsome features.
Beneath his gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes were like stars, his nose was high-bridged, and the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, creating an urge to kiss him.
Li Bowen was wearing a white crew-neck sweater that day, adding to his gentle and spring-like aura.
Wen Xuanyuan found herself captivated by his handsome face and perfect physique, unable to look away.
The image of the eight-pack abs she had seen last time automatically surfaced in her mind.
She swallowed and looked at him with burning eyes, opening her arms and pouting, "Hug me."
In her heart, she was thinking: It's been two days since we kissed, *sob*...
For the past two days, her mother had been staying with her, so she hadn't dared to meet Li Bowen.
Yesterday, her mother had left, and today the nanny had also taken two days off to go back to her hometown. Thus, only the two of them were in apartment 802.
No, it was just the two of them on the entire eighth floor. Even Aunt Ou had rushed back to see Grandpa Ling.
Hearing her affectionate tone, Li Bowen's breathing deepened. He couldn't resist stepping forward and pulling her into his embrace.
The familiar scent filled his nostrils. The soft, fragrant warmth in his arms felt tender and yielding.
Li Bowen's heart fluttered, and his breathing became rougher.
He desperately wanted to devour her, but now was not the time.
His eyes were filled with restrained desire. He held her tightly, greedily inhaling her scent.
Wen Xuanyuan stirred restlessly in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and looking up into his eyes.
She smiled shyly, mustered her courage, tilted her head back, and kissed his thin lips, but it was just a fleeting touch.
This action was like pouring oil on the fire. Li Bowen's eyes darkened as he gently pressed the back of her head, deepening the kiss.
It escalated uncontrollably... It wasn't until the very last step that Li Bowen managed to stop himself, his reason ultimately prevailing.
He placed his hands on either side of Wen Xuanyuan, his eyes still filled with lingering desire, his voice hoarse with restraint, "Baby, you've completely captivated me."
Wen Xuanyuan shyly turned her head away, unable to look at him. Except for the final step, they had done everything they should and shouldn't have.
Li Bowen rolled over and lay down beside Wen Xuanyuan, his breathing ragged and sensually inviting.
He took Wen Xuanyuan's hand, his voice filled with a pitiable tone.
"Baby, help me."
Wen Xuanyuan bit her lower lip, having no choice but to let him hold her hand.
After an unknown amount of time, they finally finished their intimate embrace.
Just as they were tidying themselves up, preparing to go out for a walk, the doorbell rang.
Perhaps it was due to their recent activities, but Wen Xuanyuan instinctively felt a pang of panic, anxiously asking, "Who would be coming here at this time?"
Li Bowen glanced at her and softly reassured her, "It's okay, let's go see who it is."
They walked to the entryway.
Wen Xuanyuan leaned closer to the peephole and took one look before her face changed drastically. She said to Li Bowen, "It's my parents, what should we do?"
"It's fine."
Li Bowen remained calm, only looking at her intently. "If you want to tell them, open the door. If you don't, I'll hide."
Those who do nothing wrong have nothing to fear.
Li Bowen wasn't afraid of facing Wen Xuanyuan's parents, but he was concerned about her reaction.
Wen Xuanyuan looked at his fearless gaze and suddenly felt she was being unnecessarily flustered.
She hadn't done anything wrong, so why should she panic?