Chapter 131: The Rabbit’s Awake

Hanchuan tightened his arms around her.

Zhiyi woke with her face against Hanchuan’s chest and one leg trapped between his.

The bedroom remained dark except for the dim line of light beneath the bathroom door. Nothing had disturbed her sleep. No alarms sounded from the shelter network, and Hanchuan’s breathing remained slow beneath her cheek.

She stayed motionless while determining how she had arrived in that position.

The last thing she remembered was asking him to move closer.

Apparently, he had interpreted the instruction literally and maintained the distance she requested throughout the night.

Zhiyi lifted her head enough to see the clock.

It was 8:17.

She had slept for more than seven hours.

The number seemed implausible, so she checked it twice before shifting her attention to Hanchuan. His eyes opened before she could determine whether he was awake.

"You’re staring at the clock," he said. His voice remained rough from sleep, but his arm tightened around her waist before she could move away. "That means you’re about to tell me how much work you could have completed."

Zhiyi checked the time again as though the clock might revise its answer. "I lost seven hours and 11 minutes."

Hanchuan heard the accusation she directed at herself. "You slept for seven hours and 11 minutes," he corrected while reaching for the water beside the bed.

"The result is the same." She accepted the glass, although her attention had already moved toward the work waiting downstairs.

"It isn’t." Hanchuan kept one hand around the glass until she looked at him. "Lost time gives you nothing. Sleep means you can think clearly today without collapsing tomorrow."

Zhiyi considered the distinction before taking a drink.

She still disliked the number of unattended hours, but she couldn’t dismiss the fact that her headache had disappeared and her thoughts no longer dragged beneath exhaustion.

Zhiyi considered arguing, but the warmth surrounding her made the effort less appealing. She lowered her head to his chest again and listened to the steady beat beneath her ear.

Hanchuan brushed his fingers through her hair. "Do you want another 20 minutes, or do you want breakfast?"

The limited choices allowed her to answer without sorting through everything the morning required.

"Twenty minutes."

He smiled against the top of her head. "Good."

Zhiyi closed her eyes.

She didn’t fall asleep again, but Hanchuan didn’t expect her to.

The additional time prevented her from moving directly from unconsciousness to the communications wall, and his hand continued stroking her hair in a slow rhythm that gave her nothing to calculate.

After several minutes, she shifted higher against him.

Hanchuan looked down at her. "What do you need?"

The question was too open.

Zhiyi became still while possibilities separated and multiplied.

She could ask about the hospital, Qingsong, Jinhai, the government shelters or the morning environmental report. She wanted information about all of them, but none explained why she had moved.

Hanchuan recognized the hesitation and narrowed the question. "Do you want me closer, or do you want to get up?"

"Closer," she replied instantly.

His expression changed in a way she couldn’t immediately identify.

They were already pressed together from shoulder to knee. There was no meaningful distance left for him to remove, but Hanchuan rolled until she lay beneath him and supported his weight on one arm.

"Is this close enough?" he asked.

Zhiyi examined the position. "Yes."

His mouth curved before he kissed her.

The first touch was gentle enough to leave her room to change her mind. When she lifted one hand to the back of his neck instead, he deepened the kiss without hurrying her.

Zhiyi’s awareness narrowed.

The Heat, hospital and failing city moved outside the range of immediate problems. Hanchuan’s mouth was warm against hers, and the weight of his body provided enough pressure to quiet the remaining thoughts competing inside her head.

She understood why people could become distracted by kissing.

When Hanchuan drew back, she followed him before realizing what she had done.

He stopped less than an inch from her. Satisfaction warmed his eyes, though he didn’t tease her for the instinctive movement.

"Again?" he asked.

Zhiyi nodded.

He kissed her until the 20 minutes passed without either of them checking the clock.

A reminder eventually vibrated against the bedside table. Hanchuan ignored it the first time. The second vibration made Zhiyi turn her head toward the sound.

"Shichen’s call," she realized.

Hanchuan rested his forehead against hers. "It’s his call."

"He scheduled it for eight," she replied, getting worried that he was late for it.

"He knows how clocks work," Hanchuan assured her with a soft laugh.

She looked at the time and calculated that Shichen had probably reached his family at exactly 8:00. The reminder belonged to Hanchuan’s morning schedule, not hers.

He hadn’t missed anything.

The realization allowed her to remain beneath him for several more seconds before she asked, "Breakfast?"

Hanchuan accepted the choice. He kissed her once more, then left the bed and carried her toward the bathroom despite her being fully capable of walking.

Zhiyi didn’t object.

By the time they reached the kitchen, Shichen’s niece occupied the communications wall.

Nian sat at her grandparents’ dining table wearing yellow pajamas while holding the same picture book from the previous night.

Shichen faced her from the Xiling terminal with a cup of coffee beside one hand and Qingsong’s mechanical readings beside the other.

"The rabbit is awake because it is morning," Nian explained patiently. "You don’t read the sleeping part again."

"I understand the order of events," Shichen assured her. He turned one page before beginning the next section with the same formal seriousness he applied to structural reports.

Zeyu sat at the kitchen island eating oatmeal while pretending not to listen. His expression suggested that he had been waiting for Hanchuan and Zhiyi to appear so someone else could appreciate what was happening.

He glanced at their joined hands, then at Hanchuan’s face.

His interest sharpened.

Hanchuan met his gaze until Zeyu returned his attention to breakfast.

Jingwei had already finished the morning security inspection, while Qinghe monitored the hospital from a portable terminal.

His parents remained inside the eastern wing. They had established exterior triage before sunrise but hadn’t slept.

No one commented when Hanchuan prepared Zhiyi’s breakfast rather than allowing her to open the reports first.