txolops Chapter 117 Su Peixue catches a cold
Chapter 117 Su Peixue catches a cold
In the video, Hsu Wan-ju leans close to the camera, with the counter of her family's small supermarket behind her. Lin Yue-feng is standing next to the shelves, arranging goods.
"Happy birthday, son! Your holiday is almost here, right? This is the first time you haven't celebrated your birthday at home. You little rascal, you've been gone for almost half a year!"
"The kids are going away to study, not to play," Lin Yuefeng called out from behind. "Be careful driving back during winter break."
Xu Wanru shifted the camera's focus towards Lin Ran, where she saw Su Peixue huddled in the corner of the sofa, her head covered by the hoodie, her face flushed.
Xu Wanru gave Lin Yuefeng a look. Lin Yuefeng put the bottle of soy sauce back on the shelf and walked out. Xu Wanru brought her phone closer and lowered her voice.
"The legal marriage age for you two is 22 for men and 20 for women, which means you'll have to wait until your senior year of college. You can do whatever you want now, just don't get someone pregnant."
Su Peixue pulled her hoodie down further, covering most of her face except for the tip of her chin. Her pretty face was a delicate pink.
She nodded earnestly from the shadow of her hat. "Understood, Auntie."
Lin Ran glanced at her. What do you know? Nothing happened.
After hanging up the phone, Su Peixue pushed her hat back and tilted her head to look at him. "Zookeeper. Does Auntie like me and want me to be her daughter-in-law?"
"I don't know. Are you suggesting making cats and dogs your daughters-in-law?"
"Xuexue is a pet that can have babies." She lay down on the bed, twisted around, and buried her face in the pillow.
Lin Ran composed herself and turned on her computer, pretending to look at the backend data. "Didn't you hear Ms. Xu say? You're not of legal marriage age yet."
In the evening, Yao Ziwen sent a message saying that he was celebrating Lin Ran's birthday at a barbecue restaurant near the school gate. Several people from the dormitory came, and Sun Pangzi also rode a shared bicycle from Anhui University.
Su Peixue said she was a little sleepy and went back to her dorm first. She had already celebrated with Lin Ran alone and didn't like too many outsiders, so she didn't want to join in the fun. Mainly, she felt a little dizzy.
When Song Yin returned to the dormitory, she was removing her makeup. She asked if the cake had been delivered, and Song Yin hummed in response. She then took off her shoes, climbed into bed, and pulled the blanket around herself.
Before climbing into bed that night, Song Yin passed by Su Peixue's bedside and heard a muffled cough. She turned on her phone screen to look at it—Su Peixue was wrapped in the blanket, her shoulders shaking, each shake accompanied by a muffled cough.
Song Yin gently pressed her fingers to Su Peixue's forehead, which burned her, causing her to recoil. She leaned close to Su Peixue's ear and whispered, "Xuexue, you have a fever! Should we inform your master?"
Su Peixue shook her head, her throat hoarse. "I'll talk to him myself."
But she didn't say anything. She was afraid Lin Ran would worry, afraid Lin Ran would feel guilty, and afraid of passing on her cold to Lin Ran.
She rolled over, burying her burning face in the pillow. After a while, she sat up, supporting herself on the edge of the bed, and pulled back a corner of the blanket. "I'll go to the clinic in a bit. Don't worry."
"We'll go with you," Song Yin said, already grabbing her coat. Zhao Yining tossed the potato chips onto the table, and her roommates chimed in.
"Lin Ran will come to pick me up," Su Peixue said.
The three of them exchanged glances. Song Yin put her coat down. Su Peixue walked slowly down the stairs alone, heading to the community clinic near the school gate.
The doctor took her temperature; it was 38.6 degrees Celsius, and put her on an IV drip to reduce the fever. Leaning back in the plastic chair, she sent a message to Song Yin with her other hand: "Lin Ran picked me up, so everyone can rest assured."
Then she sent Lin Ran a message: "Keeper, I'm going to sleep now, goodnight."
Lin Ran replied with "Goodnight." He placed his phone on the table.
Yao Ziwen was holding up a skewer of grilled chives and boasting that he and Huihui had started holding hands. Li Yifan, standing opposite him, said that holding hands counts as progress.
Su Peixue had been on an IV drip all night. At dawn, she removed the needle herself, pressed the cotton swab against the pillow, walked out of the clinic, and went back to Lin Ran's apartment alone. She snuggled into Lin Ran's bed. The blanket smelled of Lin Ran; she buried her face in it and fell into a deep sleep.
Song Yin called this morning to ask if Su Peixue was feeling better. Su Peixue's voice was thick with nasal congestion: "Yes, I'm with Lin Ran. He's taking care of me, and I'm feeling better. Don't worry."
Song Yin said that Ningning, Shuangshuang, and I wouldn't be third wheels. After hanging up the phone, Su Peixue put her phone next to her pillow and went back to sleep.
Her phone vibrated around noon. Lin Ran asked her what she wanted to eat for lunch. Su Peixue sat up abruptly, then felt dizzy and slumped back down.
She lay on her pillow for about ten seconds to calm herself down, then held her phone up to her face and slowly typed, word by word: "I'm having lunch with my roommate. You don't need to worry about me." After sending the message, she pulled the covers up and curled up into a ball, with only a little bit of her hair showing under the covers.
Lin Ran received the message, replied "Okay," and went to the revolving hot pot restaurant near the school gate alone. He was dipping a piece of fatty beef into the pot when he looked up and saw a row of familiar faces sitting opposite him—Song Yin was dipping tripe in the pot, Zhao Yining was peeling garlic, and Tan Shuang was picking quail eggs one by one into her bowl. Three people; Su Peixue wasn't there.
Lin Ran put down her chopsticks and walked over. "Where's Su Peixue? Why isn't she with you?"
Song Yin looked up, her expression completely matter-of-fact. "Isn't Xuexue with you? She has a bad cold and said you're taking care of her."
Lin Ran placed his chopsticks on the edge of the plate. He remembered Su Peixue saying last night that she was sleepy and would go back to the dorm first. In an instant, he understood everything. She lied to her roommate that she was taking care of her, and she also lied to him that she was having lunch with her roommate. She was keeping it from both sides.
"She's not here with me." Lin Ran picked up her coat, turned around, and left.
Upon entering the apartment, the bedroom curtains were drawn tightly shut, allowing only a sliver of white light to filter through the gaps. A quilt was piled up on the bed, covering Su Peixue completely, with only half of her face visible. Her face was flushed, her lips were dry and chapped, her brows were slightly furrowed, and her forehead was damp and warm to the touch.
Hearing the noise, she slowly opened her eyes. When she saw Lin Ran standing by the bed, her eyes changed from dazed to tense. She propped herself up on the mattress and sat up, shrinking behind the blanket, only revealing her dark, bright eyes. "Zookeeper..." her voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible.
"You're getting bolder and bolder. You had a cold and didn't even tell me. You lied to both of us."
Su Peixue pouted, the edge of the blanket crumpled from her grip. "Because I don't want to infect..."
Lin Ran bent down and pecked her chapped lips. Her lips were so hot that they made his heart skip a beat.
Su Peixue was stunned.
All the words in her mind were stuck the moment her lips were pecked; she froze there as if she had been struck by a magic acupuncture point.