Hua

An hour of blissful and uninterrupted sleep passed before the quietness of the bedroom gave way once again to unwelcome noise. This time it was An Mei's phone, and she had a call from Li Hua, CLO of the Wu Long group.

An Mei's phone was right next to Li Wei's on the other side of the bed. Li Wei, wide awake and feeling impish, was being playfully unhelpful. So An Mei, who was unwilling to leave the bed, had to crawl over him to get to her phone. While she did so, her raven-black hair cascaded over his face, prickling his nose. Li Wei immediately took his revenge by tickling her in her most sensitive spots. An Mei erupted in a fit of giggles and struggled to fight back against her mercilessly mischievous husband. But when she saw the caller ID, she almost dropped the phone and immediately shushed Li Wei. "It's Hua-jie," she whispered conspiratorially. As if saying Li Hua's name out loud might summon her right then and there.

She answered the call. "He... Hello?" she managed to say while still trying to recover from the tickle attack.

A razor-sharp voice answered her back. "Xiao-Mei. Did I catch you at a bad time?" There was also a slight hint of playfulness in the tone. "You sound out of breath."

"Er-jie. No! Not at all." An Mei was still lying on top of her husband, and Li Wei, unable to let go of the opportunity despite the fact that it was Li Hua at the other end of the call, tried to grope his wife. An Mei lightly swatted away his hands. "We were just...sleeping, that's all."

"At this hour?! My Didi is a bad influence on you, Di-mei," Li Hua quipped. "Well, forgetting about my brother for a while, listen, Xiao-Mei, I need a favour. The annual Bar Association gala is in a week, and I have nothing appropriate to wear. If the Group is not represented at the gala, it's just a bad look all around. So, I need to go shopping, and I need someone sane, with normal tastes, to help me pick something appropriate and formal."

Li Wei, unwilling to accept defeat, had changed tactics. He had gone for her most delicate area, her ears, and started nibbling on them.

While Li Wei was tormenting An Mei, on the other side of the phone, Li Hua continued her wry monologue. "You know I am not very good with these things. And I can't rely on my sisters. Da-jie is simply not an option. She is too busy. If I ask her, she will probably buy the entire store to get it over with in five minutes. Xiao-Na has a quarterly audit coming up, so she will be swamped with that. Xiao-Jing, let's not even go there. I mean, you know how she is. She will probably try to use me as her personal dress-up doll and pick something backless with a slit up to the thighs. And then there is our fifth sister, Xiao-Yue, whose idea of formal clothes is her 'good' hoodie."

An Mei was almost about to lose control and moan due to the constant stimulation of her ears. But she held herself back with great difficulty. She knew that next time she would not be so lucky. She had to do something drastic to stop her husband. A ridiculous idea flashed into her mind, and An Mei, in her desperation, leaned down and gave Li Wei's cheek a slow and deliberate lick. Li Wei, who was expecting An Mei to crack any second, was stunned for a moment and promptly dissolved into a puddle of giggles.

Meanwhile, Li Hua kept going. "And your sister has classes. So she is also not an option either. You are my only hope, Meimei. Are you free this Tuesday?"

"Of course, Er-jie," An Mei said, smiling down at her still giggling husband. "I'd love to go shopping with you."

"You are a lifesaver," Li Hua breathed a sigh of genuine relief. "Thank you, Xiao-Mei. Now, I'll let you get back to...whatever it is that's making my brother giggle like a little boy. Apologies for interrupting you both."

When the call ended, An Mei placed her phone back on the nightstand. Without relinquishing her position on top of Li Wei, who had now almost recovered from his peals of laughter, she playfully punched him on the shoulder. "Bendan. You almost gave me a heart attack with that stunt. It's a miracle that I did not embarrass myself in front of Hua-jie."

Without displaying the slightest sign of remorse, Li Wei grabbed An Mei's cheeks with both hands while squishing them. "My hero!" He teased before giving her another ardent kiss.

An Mei melted into his kiss and forgot all about her previous frustration. They kept sharing tender kisses and quiet laughter before falling asleep, with An Mei still on top of Li Wei. The shopping trip with Li Hua was by now a distant thought. In the timeless warmth of their bed, it felt a lifetime away.