Rustling noises echoed by his ear, and Lin Xuâs eyelids twitched as he slowly woke up, his eyes immediately meeting Ji Zeqiuâs somewhat surprised gaze.
âYouâre awake? How do you feel? Has the fever gone down?â Lin Xuâs voice was still groggy and slurred from sleepiness.
He shuffled his stiff limbs around and sat up in the bed, reaching out to check the temperature on his forehead.
The temperature was normal.
Lin Xu breathed a sigh of relief and then poured a glass of water for him, âYou sweated a lot last night, drink some water to hydrate.â
But Ji Zeqiu just stared at the glass in her hand, unmoving, apparently lost in thought.
âDo you want me to feed you?â Lin Xu asked, puzzled, but she had no objections to it.
She had fed him his meals when they were children, so a glass of water now didnât make much difference.
As the glass touched his lips, Ji Zeqiu suddenly snapped back to reality, jerking his head back and away from the glass.
Even though the fever was gone, his cheeks were now flushed with redness, and his speech was unclear, âWho-who-who⦠Who said I wanted you to feed me!â
âIf you donât want me to feed you, then why donât you hold the glass yourself?â Lin Xu said, irritably pushing the cup into his hands.
âI was just thinking!â Ji Zeqiu huffed, gulping down the water in one go, âHow come you are here?â
âYour agent told me you were sick, I asked for the address and came to check on you.â
âHe just told you like that!â Ji Zeqiu fumed.
The woman in front of him was his fan, and possibly a girlfriend fan who waved âI love youâ support sticks!
What if she did something sneaky!
At that thought, Ji Zeqiu crossed his arms and looked at her with suspicion, âYou didnât do anything to me, did you?â
Lin Xu rolled her eyes, âWhy donât you ask what you did to me?â
âWhat could I possibly do?â Ji Zeqiu dismissed the idea.
âI donât know who it was last night, holding my hand and constantly shouting not to go.â
Ji Zeqiu: ?
âImpossible!â He exclaimed, his black eyes wide with conviction.
Lin Xu pulled out her phone and played a recording in front of him, which indeed captured Ji Zeqiuâs weak voice begging her not to leave.
Hearing this irrefutable evidence, Ji Zeqiu froze in place, visibly shaken.
How could he possibly beg this woman not to leaveâ¦
âI, I must have mistaken you for Wen Li last night,â he claimed, forcing a smile.
Right! Exactly!
Lin Xu glanced at him with a light expression, keeping to herself that the recording hadnât finished playing; the rest was filled with his painful cries for his âmom.â
Remembering his icy look whenever she mentioned his mother, she had no intention of telling him about it.
Lin Xu yawned and pushed Ji Zeqiu from the bed, âGet up, let me sleep for a while.â
Ji Zeqiu had a persistent fever all last night, and Lin Xu busied herself wiping his sweat, and changing his fever-reducing patches until she fell asleep on the edge of the bed around three or four in the morning.
âIâm still sick, why should I letâ¦â He started angrily, but when he saw the dark circles under Lin Xuâs eyes, his voice trailed off.
He hesitated for a moment and got out of bed, âDonât misunderstand, Iâm just getting up to breathe some fresh air, not specifically to let you sleep on the bed.â
âOkay, okay, then go breathe, and donât forget to bring me back some breakfast, Iâm so hungry,â Lin Xu mumbled.
âWhy should I bring breakfast for you, get it yourself if youâre hungry!â Ji Zeqiu complained loudly, but when he turned around, he found she had already fallen asleep, like punching cotton.
Fury subsided, Ji Zeqiu clenched his teeth, hummed in his throat, and turned to leave the room.
The manager just happened to come back from outside and met an invigorated Ji Zeqiu in the hallway, finally putting to rest the worries that had plagued him all night.
âYouâve just recovered, instead of staying in the room, where are you going?â he asked.
âLooking for something to eat,â Ji Zeqiu replied casually.
The manager gave a grunt, and as he was about to return to his room, seemingly to rest, Ji Zeqiu stopped him before he could open the door.
âBrother Zhao, come with me,â he said.
âOkay, let me just grab something from my room,â the manager replied.
âDonât bother with that, letâs hurry,â Ji Zeqiu seemed urgent, and dragged him away.
The hotelâs buffet was lavish, Ji Zeqiuâs fever had subsided, but his appetite wasnât great, aimlessly poking at the scarce food on his plate.
Just then, his phone in his pocket started ringing.
It was Wen Li calling.
If it had been any other day, receiving a call from her would have immediately thrilled him.
But remembering how she had broken their agreement yesterday, his eyes grew complex as he stared at her picture on the incoming call screen.
The phone rang for a long time, and just when it was about to disconnect automatically, he couldnât help but answer.
He thought, maybe she really had something incredibly important that kept her away.
Maybe she had an accident, fell ill, or there was some emergency at homeâ¦
He should give her a chance to explain.
Thinking this, Ji Zeqiu spoke, âWen Li, are you okay?â
âHuh?â The person on the other end was taken aback, not understanding what he meant by that, âIâm fine.â
âSorry, I said I would visit you yesterday, but my teacher suddenly demanded the homework early, and I pulled an all-nighter, didnât even have a chance to check my phone,â Wen Li explained. âIâm really sorry. Are you feeling better now?â
Ji Zeqiu opened his mouth to respond but felt his throat tighten with a prickly pain, and he couldnât speak.
âWen Li, thereâs just a bit left, come over and finish it,â a distant voice came from her phone, someone beside Wen Li spoke.
âXiao Yu, donât move, Iâm still on the phone!â Wen Li scolded playfully.
Ji Zeqiuâs throat rolled, his usually deep magnetic voice now raspy and harsh. âWho are you with?â he asked, knowingly.
Wen Li hesitated but responded, âItâs Xiao Yu, I donât know how to do a lot of the homework, and he said he could tutor me.ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
So had she been with Xiao Yu from yesterday to now?
Ji Zeqiu felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, a chill running up from his feet.
âRight, are you feeling better now? Iâm free after class today, should I come see you?â
Wen Li was still talking, but Ji Zeqiu no longer wanted to listen, holding no expectations, he abruptly hung up the phone.
âAre we done eating? Letâs go back if weâre done,â Ji Zeqiu stood up to leave, walked a few steps, then appeared to remember something, turned back, and packed up another breakfast.
The manager assumed he hadnât eaten enough, and didnât ask further.
It wasnât until they returned to the hotel room and saw him devouring the breakfast Ji Zeqiu had brought back that he realized.
No wonder he didnât let him go back to the room earlier and insisted on grabbing food, as Lin Xu was inside.
Indeed, being alone with a woman was not right.
Confronted with the managerâs teasing eyes, Ji Zeqiu thought he was referring to the breakfast and defensively retorted, âI didnât bring it especially for her. Iâm just afraid sheâll starve to death in my room and the police will come after me!â
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