79: I didn't have time to dress you.

A deathly silence spread wildly throughout the bedroom.

The air seemed to solidify into a physical substance, weighing down until it was hard to breathe.

Lin Chao's chest, which had been heaving violently, finally began to steady.

He tilted his head, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Shen Zhixia's pretty face, which was filled with shock and daze.

His voice was raspy as he broke the suffocating silence.

"Sorry."

"It was an emergency."

"I didn't have time... to dress you."

His voice still carried the weakness and trembling of exhaustion.

After a pause, he added another sentence.

"Still, it's good that you're alive."

"In a bit... dress yourself."

Shen Zhixia gave no response.

She continued to stare fixedly at the silver needles glinting coldly on her body, as if her soul had left her.

Lin Chao didn't hear an answer, but he didn't mind, continuing to talk to himself.

His gaze remained stubbornly fixed on the ornate crystal chandelier on the ceiling.

"Also, you should change your door lock code."

"Your birthday?"

"Too simple."

"I tried it on a whim and got in."

He took another breath, as if remembering something.

"And then there's your phone."

"From now on, even if you're showering, don't let it out of your reach."

"At a critical moment, it can save your life."

This string of words finally acted like a key, unlocking Shen Zhixia's chaotic thoughts.

The shock in her eyes slowly faded, replaced by a complex, indescribable glimmer.

After a long silence.

She finally spoke, her voice as dry as if it had been polished by sandpaper.

"Even if I had my phone on me and called 120..."

"From dispatch to arrival, it would take at least ten or twenty minutes."

"By the time they got here, they'd probably only be able to collect my corpse, right?"

Her words were very soft, but they struck Lin Chao's heart like a heavy hammer.

Lin Chao's breathing suddenly hitched.

Involuntarily, he turned his head to glance at her.

Just one glance.

His gaze collided directly with her.

It crashed into that breathtaking snow-whiteness.

And... those towering, majestic, undulating peaks.

Boom!

A bomb seemed to go off in Lin Chao's brain.

He jerked his gaze away as if struck by lightning, staring fixedly at the ceiling again, his Adam's apple bobbing uncontrollably.

"Cough!"

He gave a heavy, dry cough, trying to hide his loss of composure.

"Then... in a bit, you should save my number."

His voice was even raspier than before.

After saying this, he felt as if it wasn't enough.

He hesitated for a moment.

He moved his body somewhat awkwardly, pulling out a corner of the quilt that was pinned beneath him bit by bit.

Then, with his back to Shen Zhixia, he reached back and moved the quilt toward her, wanting to help cover her.

This action was filled with the respect of a gentleman.

But as he watched... that large, well-defined hand with thin calluses was about to cross the line.

It was about to touch that incredibly sensitive area around her waist and abdomen.

Shen Zhixia's cheeks suddenly burned scorching hot.

She reached out like lightning and grabbed Lin Chao's wrist.

"I... I can do it myself."

Lin Chao's hand froze in mid-air.

The delicate sensation from his wrist made his heart skip another beat.

Shen Zhixia herself was also stunned.

She hadn't felt anything before.

After all, when this man was administering the needles, every inch of her skin had likely already been seen by him.

That was life-saving, a matter of extreme urgency; she had no right to be fastidious about such things.

But now... she was conscious.

A conscious woman, lying naked beside a conscious man.

To then be touched by his hand in such a sensitive spot... that feeling was completely different.

The air at the point where their skin touched seemed to ignite instantly.

Burning hot.

The stalemate lasted for less than two seconds.

As if he had been burned, Lin Chao abruptly pulled his hand back.

He said nothing.

He just silently turned over, his back to her, using his spine to shut out that enchanting spring scene.

He lay back down, turned on his side, facing the wall.

Even, deep breathing began to sound in the quiet room.

It was as if he was using this method to recover from the massive exhaustion brought on by that heart-stopping rescue.

It was also as if he was using this method to show her that he was harmless.

Shen Zhixia looked at his broad back, her knuckles turning slightly white from the force of her grip on the quilt.

Her heart was beating wildly and erratically.

Shame, lingering fear, relief, doubt... countless emotions, like an overturned palette, swirled madly in her mind.

Silently and carefully, she pulled over the soft down quilt.

She wrapped her lower body up tightly.

As for her upper body... she looked down at the silver needles still inserted in her and ultimately didn't dare move recklessly.

If she accidentally bumped one and caused some other problem, the loss would outweigh the gain.

The warmth of her body being wrapped in the quilt finally allowed her heart, which had been suspended in mid-air, to settle back down bit by bit.

It was at this moment that a thought so inconceivable it surprised even her surfaced as an afterthought.

I... was just dead, wasn't I?

That feeling of her heart being crushed and her consciousness sinking into boundless dark despair was definitely not an illusion.

But now, she had actually been brought back to life by Lin Chao!

Using these... silver needles?

Shen Zhixia's gaze fell once more on the slender metal pieces glinting coldly on her chest.

A tidal wave of shock surged in her heart.

But Lin Chao, wasn't he just a supervisor who had recently been promoted in the company's Marketing Department?

How could someone in sales have such miraculous medical skills?

This was even more absurd than the fact that she had returned from the dead!

Just as Shen Zhixia's thoughts fell into chaos, Lin Chao beside her moved.

He turned and sat up: "I'm going to wash my face."

He still didn't look back at her, simply leaving those words before standing up and walking straight toward the bathroom.

Shen Zhixia hadn't yet reacted from her shock.

It wasn't until the bathroom door was pushed open with a "click" that her brain seemed to hit the restart button.

Wait!

Her clothes!

All the clothes she had changed out of were still in the laundry basket in the bathroom!

The professional suit was one thing.

The key was... her personal bra and panties were in there too!

Shen Zhixia's cheeks burned hot once again, enough to fry an egg.

"You..."

She spoke up instinctively, wanting to stop him.

But the words "don't go in" just wouldn't come out.

She suddenly thought that he had already seen her whole body, touched her, and poked her with needles.

To get all fussy about those two pieces of personal fabric now, wasn't that a bit... too much?