Chapter 104
J IANG CHENG’S TEARS didn’t flow so much as gush out of control. It was relentless—they poured like crazy. He could distinctly feel the warm liquid percolating, then running into two clear tracks down his cheeks which very quickly merged into a veritable flood of wetness.
For all these months, Jiang Cheng had felt like he had blocked out all distractions. He hadn’t thought of anything other than studying. Except, of course, when he needed to catch a habitual glimpse of Gu Fei in the corner of his eye to feel grounded during his study sessions.
Aside from that, he had held no extraneous thoughts in his mind.
It was only today, listening to his classmates’ conversations, that he’d found out someone else had fallen sick in the class next door, and that there had been a fight that’d raged all the way from the third floor to the ground floor of the school building—all the commotion had passed him by completely.
All this time, his mind had been completely stuffed and his nerves tightly wound—until now.
All the heavy burdens were set down, all the pressure was cast off, and all the emotions were let back into his body.
It felt as though the container he had sealed himself in suddenly popped off its lid.
Everything he saw, heard, experienced, and felt suddenly became clear—even clearer than before.
With these renewed senses, when he suddenly noticed Gu Fei’s weary countenance and heard his weak voice, Jiang Cheng finally seemed to realize the pressures, one piled on top of the next, that Gu Fei had carried over these past several months.
The overwhelming remorse and heartache was almost more than he could bear.
Day after day, Gu Fei had taken care of his own family and the store while also looking after him.
He had to make time for Gu Miao, to watch the store, to bring in stock; Even with all of that, he’d still looked up recipes every day to make sure Jiang Cheng was getting the proper nutrition in his meals.
Then he’d kept Jiang Cheng company while he studied…
Jiang Cheng had always thought the endless studying was grueling; he felt tired constantly.
He’d never noticed how tiring it must have been for Gu Fei—how tired he must’ve been working round the clock every single day, always keeping him company until midnight, only sleeping after he fell asleep, and always waking up before he did.
Compared to his own, simpler kind of exhaustion, Gu Fei’s fatigue was by far the more difficult to bear.
“I’m sorry.” Jiang Cheng held Gu Fei, whose whole body burned like a little furnace, searing waves of panic into his heart. “I’m so sorry, Gu Fei.”
“I was afraid you’d say that.” It seemed that Gu Fei had finally relaxed—or it could have been that the fever really was getting to him. Either way, his voice was getting hoarse. “I was afraid you’d say ‘I’m sorry’ and all that.”
“I really…” Jiang Cheng lowered his head and dried his eyes against Gu Fei’s shoulder, but more tears gushed out almost immediately. “This whole time, I never really considered whether you were tired at all.”
“But I didn’t even feel tired myself.” Gu Fei gently rubbed Jiang Cheng’s back. “Besides, lots of people get sick after the exams…”
“Don’t be mad at me.” Jiang Cheng tried his best to curb his tears.
He could hardly speak through the crying, his voice hitching every time he opened his mouth.
He kissed Gu Fei’s neck, but when his lips touched Gu Fei’s scalding hot skin, the barely controlled tears broke out of their dam again. “Don’t be mad at me.”
“I’m not mad at you.” Gu Fei smiled. “How could I be mad at you? I didn’t even think it had anything to do with you.”
“Stop talking.” Jiang Cheng held him tight. “My heart hurts hearing you talk like this.”
“Mm,” Gu Fei answered, and he didn’t say any more.
With his eyes shut, Jiang Cheng held Gu Fei tightly in his arms. He only loosened his grip when he felt his lower back getting stiff—but when he did, Gu Fei didn’t move. Jiang Cheng turned his face to look and realized that Gu Fei had fallen asleep against his shoulder.
Jiang Cheng braced one hand against the back of the sofa to keep his balance as he held Gu Fei’s back with the other, slowly lowering him until he was lying down.
Then he ran into the bedroom and brought out a small pillow and a blanket.
He stuffed the pillow under Gu Fei’s head and wrapped the blanket tightly around his whole body.
After all this, Jiang Cheng stood in the middle of the living room, not sure what to do next.
He zoned out for a few seconds, then went to wet a towel in the sink before placing it carefully on Gu Fei’s forehead. He’d wanted to use an ice-cold towel, but Gu Fei was sleeping so soundly that he didn’t want to risk waking him up.
After pacing a few circles around the room, Jiang Cheng brought over a little stool, set it down in front of the sofa, and sat there staring at his boyfriend’s face.
It was still flushed, though Jiang Cheng couldn’t tell if it was from the fever or from being completely wrapped up—or both.
He reached back for the thermometer and checked Gu Fei’s temperature again.
It was 100.9 degrees, not much different from before. Of course, it had only been a few short minutes.
Jiang Cheng removed the towel after a while. It hadn’t been long, but it already felt warm to the touch. He went into the bathroom, soaked it through with cold water again and wrung it out, then set it back on Gu Fei’s forehead.
Gu Fei had always been in good health. As far as Jiang Cheng could remember, he had never really gotten sick before, not even with a mild cold. But of course, whenever sickness befell someone who rarely got sick, it always crashed into them with a colossal force.
Jiang Cheng checked Gu Fei’s temperature two more times. It read 100.9, then 101.1.
Shit. It’s rising!
He was having trouble sitting still. When he remembered that Gu Fei had said digital thermometers weren’t accurate, he dashed swiftly out the door, jumped on his bike, and flew toward the community clinic. He needed to buy a mercury thermometer and ask the doctor for any medicines they had.
Just as he was charging up to the clinic, he saw Li Yan walking out of Gu Fei’s convenience store. He was pulling out his phone and tapping at it as he crouched down on the front stoop.
“Li Yan!” Jiang Cheng called out to him.
“Yeah?” Li Yan turned back. “How come you’re here by yourself? I was just calling Gu Fei. Is he—”
“Don’t—don’t call him!” Jiang Cheng hopped off his bike. “He’s sleeping right now! He has a fever.”
“Fever?” Li Yan hung up the call, a little surprised. “ He has a fever? That guy has the constitution of the Bull Demon King, how can he have a fever?”
“How would you know if the Bull Demon King gets fevers or not?” Jiang Cheng said. “Are you married to him, Princess Iron Fan?”
“And what if I am?” Li Yan tutted. “What’s his temperature?”
“Just over a hundred. I was worried the digital thermometer wasn’t accurate, so I came to buy one of those mercury ones,” Jiang Cheng said with knitted brows.
Li Yan went into the clinic with him, where the doctor gave Jiang Cheng a mercury thermometer and two fever-reducing pills.
“A lot of people get sick after the exams, so it’s probably not that big a deal,” he told them.
“He can take the medicine later, but make sure he gets plenty of fluids so he’s not dehydrated.
If his fever doesn’t subside, or if it goes up tonight, you can bring him here to check and see if there’s anything else wrong with him. ”
Jiang Cheng took the thermometer and medicine. As they came out of the clinic, he finally remembered to ask Li Yan, “What are you doing here?”
“Well, I thought we could all have a meal together now that you’re done with your exams,” Li Yan said. “Who would’ve guessed that he’d get sick?”
“Then…” Jiang Cheng looked at him.
“Oh, don’t mind me. Just hurry back and take care of him.” Li Yan checked the time. “I’ll keep watch here for a while and then lock up.”
“Where’s his mom?” Jiang Cheng asked.
“As soon as I got here, she went out with that little hubby of hers to take Er-Miao clothes-shopping,” said Li Yan.
“Oh.” Jiang Cheng nodded. As he got onto his bike, he asked, “So if I wanted to make steamed eggs…”
Li Yan cut him off. “Steamed eggs? Really? He shouldn’t have high-protein foods when he still has a fever.” After some thought, he added, “Foodwise, just go with things like plain congee and plain noodles.”
“But that’s so unappetizing,” Jiang Cheng sighed. “Would he even eat it?”
“Don’t worry, he’s super good at sucking it up and dealing,” Li Yan said. “He could eat shit if it didn’t stink.”
“Hey!” Jiang Cheng glanced at him, then let out a big sigh.
“It’s the truth.” Li Yan smiled. “You should hurry back.”
Li Yan might have put it in an especially gross way, but he wasn’t wrong.
Gu Fei really was good at enduring unpleasant things.
No matter what it was, he was able to bear it without so much as a peep.
Jiang Cheng could even imagine how Gu Fei would react when he was presented with plain congee and plain noodles—he’d be unhappy, but he’d still calmly finish a whole bowl.
And so he felt another surge of heartache.
“Do they have noodles in the store?” Jiang Cheng asked. “Like a really fancy, really tasty kind?”
“…Wait here, I’ll get it for you.” Li Yan went back into the store and quickly came back with a plastic bag containing a cylindrical pack of noodles, as well as a few bottles of seasoning.
“Here, I’ve cooked this brand before; it’s smooth and has a good bite to it.
And these seasonings—all kinds of savory-this and yum-that—you can add them in to taste. ”
“Okay.” Jiang Cheng hung the bag on the handlebar and flew back to the apartment on his bike.
Gu Fei was still asleep. By the looks of it, he hadn’t woken up at all since Jiang Cheng had left.