Chapter 30 – Fever
Translator: Xena
“Is it only meant as a reward?” Chen Xiangsui hesitated for a moment. “I bought you some rice candy from Xunxi Old Street. I’ll bring it back for you tomorrow. Can you chat with me like you did with Age?”
Cheng Yinian thought that Chen Xiangsui must have been busy tending to his sick father today. Since he had already called him that once in person, it didn’t seem like a big deal to call him that a few more times. “Then… Gege, when will you be back?”
As the words left his mouth, Cheng Yinian felt so ashamed he wanted to vanish right there on the other end of the phone. Sure enough, some things should not be started, because once a precedent was set, Chen Xiangsui would likely latch onto it like glue.
“I like hearing it. I recorded it and saved it so I can listen to it often.” Chen Xiangsui even played the audio he had just recorded over the phone, making Cheng Yinian want to shove his head into a drawer. “How could you be so…”
“I won’t let anyone else hear it. Have you ever called anyone else that?”
“Except when I was a child, I don’t think so.…” Cheng Yinian thought for a moment. As the eldest son in his family, he usually didn’t address friends or strangers like that.
“So that’s just how you address me.” Chen Xiangsui seemed to realize that he had gone off-topic, so he answered Cheng Yinian’s question directly, “I should be there around 11 a.m. tomorrow. You haven’t seen me all day, did you miss me?”
Chen Xiangsui asked very seriously, as if he were asking which accounting category this expense should be classified under. Cheng Yinian gave a helpless smile. “Why would you ask that question?”
“Is it difficult to answer?” Chen Xiangsui asked like a bewildered child.
“…” Cheng Yinian sighed inwardly, “Stop fooling around. Aren’t you tired today?”
“At least I have the strength to talk to you.” Chen Xiangsui paused for a moment, his words carrying an emotion that the other person could hardly perceive. “If you won’t say it, then I will. I always think about what you’re doing when I have free time. So, did you wear the scarf I gave you today? How well did the practical lesson go?”
Cheng Yinian couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. “Just like usual. I wear a scarf when it’s too cold.”
“And now? Can I video call you?”
“Okay.” Cheng Yinian accepted Chen Xiangsui’s video call invitation, and soon the other person’s face appeared on his phone screen, looking much less reserved than during their online exchanges.
Upon seeing the black and white checkered scarf around Cheng Yinian’s neck, Chen Xiangsui’s lips curved into a smile. “It’s good that you’re wearing it, but you’re still dressed too lightly.”
“It’s getting warmer in Xunxi lately, you’ll sweat even if you wear thermal underwear.” The weather in the south is still so unpredictable, Cheng Yinian thought.
“I feel like you catch a cold easily, so just make sure you feel warm.” Chen Xiangsui hesitated for a moment, then said, “If you won’t wear thermal underwear, can I see you wear stockings?”
Cheng Yinian swore he never expected Chen Xiangsui to steer the conversation to this direction when he first mentioned thermal underwear. He adopted a solemn tone as he addressed Chen Xiangshui. “I’ve already promised you one thing. I can’t make a second one.”
“But I’m feeling a little sad because I miss you so much. Can’t you comfort me?” Chen Xiangsui looked as if he had been wronged, “You used to agree to these things so easily when Age asked you about them.”
Cheng Yinian couldn’t think of a reply for a moment. Chen Xiangsui’s sudden words were like bullets hitting his brain, and he stood there stunned in front of the screen. “I am Age, so why not?”
“That’s not how it works.” Cheng Yinian tried to explain, but his emotions were like a rusty knife, painfully slicing his words between concealment and revelation. “I have no complaints about you. Like you said, we’re brothers, aren’t we? But Age and I are…
“Then we should be closer than brothers.”
“That’s…”
Chen Xiangsui hesitated for a moment, then finally uttered a sentence, “Like sworn brothers.”
Fortunately, Cheng Yinian was mentally prepared, wearing an expression that said ‘I knew it’. He furrowed his brow almost imperceptibly. “Do sworn brothers have something to do with wearing stockings?”
“There’s nothing to hide between sworn brothers.” Chen Xiangsui smiled.
Cheng Yinian gave a faint hum. “But you haven’t shown me anything.”
“What would you like to see on me? I don’t really understand what’s so interesting about a guy like me. Can you tell me?”
Cheng Yinian didn’t dare to say it aloud. He had so many things he wanted to see. Countless fabricated images flashed through his mind. In the end, he didn’t say anything, and Chen Xiangsui didn’t do anything either. He merely blushed slightly because of the messy associations in his mind.
“What’s wrong?” Seeing that Cheng Yinian hadn’t spoken for a while, Chen Xiangsui asked a question subconsciously. As if he had taken a moment to think during the silence, he continued, “I remember you liked my childhood photos. Did you want to see me fall into mud? But I probably won’t cry now.”
Cheng Yinian was thoroughly amused by Chen Xiangsui’s thought process. “Will you really?”
“It’s hard to say. It hasn’t rained much lately, and I don’t know where it could get that muddy.” A decade or so ago, Xunxi Old Street was very underdeveloped and some roads weren’t even properly paved. But now it’s much better. Chen Xiangsui’s earnestness made Cheng Yinian’s lips want to curl upwards, but he held back. “Let’s do it later then.” Cheng Yinian imagined the scene and found himself unexpectedly looking forward to it.
“Can I see you now?”
“…” Cheng Yinian turned his face away shyly, stood up and went to the wardrobe in the room to rummage through it. “Alright.”
……
Thinking about the recent high temperatures, Cheng Yinian didn’t close the balcony window for ventilation when changing into stockings. In the end, he couldn’t help but sneeze a few times and he inexplicably felt a little feverish when he woke up the next day.
Cheng Yinian checked the time and sent a message to Chen Xiangsui. Chen Xiangsui said he was on the subway and would probably arrive at school in half an hour. He touched his burning forehead. He barely had the strength to lift his fingers to type, and could only send a few simple words to the other person.
“What’s wrong? Yinian, are you alright?” Lu Yan, who was sitting at his desk, turned around and noticed that Cheng Yinian’s expression was not good, so he quickly asked.
“I don’t feel to good. I’m going to the hospital.” Cheng Yinian hurriedly changed his shoes. “When Xiangsui comes back, remember to tell him that I’ll eat the rice candy.”
Not long after Cheng Yinian left the dormitory, Chen Xiangsui opened the dormitory door with his key. It was around 11:30 a.m. when he glanced at Cheng Yinian’s empty bed. “Did Yinian buy food?”
“He felt unwell and went to the hospital. He asked me to tell you that he’ll eat the candy you brought him.” Lu Yan replied.
“…How can he eat candy when he’s not feeling well?” Chen Xiangsui seemed to be muttering to himself. As soon as he put down his luggage, he immediately went back out the door and got into the driver’s seat of his car. There was only one hospital near the school, so he started the car without thinking.
When he arrived at the hospital, he tried sending a message to Cheng Yinian, who replied after a long time that he was waiting to pick up his medicine. When Chen Xiangsui found Cheng Yinian at the pharmacy waiting area, the latter looked drowsy in the chair, as if he was about to fall asleep at any moment.
“Go to sleep.” Chen Xiangsui let Cheng Yinian rest his head on his shoulder and spoke softly.
“No, I want to go back.”
“I’ll carry you on my back.”
“…Idiot, you’ll draw too much attention on the street.”
Chen Xiangsui placed his palm on Cheng Yinian’s forehead, which was burning hot from a fever. Then his fingertips slid down and gently swept across the other’s face. “I wish I could shrink you down and put you in my pocket.”
“Am I too heavy?” Cheng Yinian didn’t even have the energy to lift his eyelids to look at Chen Xiangsui’s face. Meanwhile, the expression of the person next to him was as gentle as if it were inlaid with moonlight.
“That way I can hide you away and take good care of you.” Like raising a baby doll.
“That would be good.” Cheng Yinian couldn’t help but lean his whole body against Chen Xiangsui, as if all his strength had been drained in an instant. He subconsciously imagined the scene Chen Xiangsui had described. Being a doll held in Chen Xiangsui’s palm didn’t seem so bad.
It wasn’t until the hospital announcement called out Cheng Yinian’s name that Chen Xiangshui took the paperwork from the person beside him. “I’ll go, wait for me.”
Chen Xiangsui quickly retrieved the medicine and returned to Cheng Yinian’s side. The other’s rented room was actually closer to here than the school, so he suggested that they go to the rented room to recuperate first. He helped Cheng Yinian into the car. Even though the other party repeatedly emphasized that he was not that fragile, he was still worried and kept letting him lean on him or holding him.
After Cheng Yinian took the medicine, Chen Xiangsui helped him to the bed, carefully laid him down, and finally tucked him into the blankets. An empty water glass was placed on the bedside table. Worried that Cheng Yinian might want to drink water at any time, Chen Xiangsui stayed by the bedside, feeding Cheng Yinian water several times and refilling it countless times.
After confirming that Cheng Yinian was fast asleep, Chen Xiangsui casually grabbed a few tissues, wiped the patient’s sweat, and was about to cook some congee when he heard Cheng Yinian suddenly mutter a few words in his sleep, each word indicating that he was not in a coherent state. “Wait a little longer… wait a little longer before you go, Mom. I want to stay with you a bit longer.”
He reached out without thinking, but only grasped at empty air. Upon seeing this, Chen Xiangsui quickly grasped Cheng Yinian’s hand. “I won’t leave, I’ll stay with you.”
“Niannian wants to play building houses with Mom.”
“I’ll build many houses together with Niannian.” Chen Xiangsui held Cheng Yinian’s hand even tighter. He couldn’t help but find the nickname ‘Niannian’ cute, so he called out to the sleeping Cheng Yinian a few more times, “Niannian, Niannian.”
Cheng Yinian was talking a lot in his sleep, and Chen Xiangsui thought that he must be dreaming about his childhood self. For a moment, he even thought that he would be happy to be Cheng Yinian’s mother, so that he could see the milky white young Cheng Yinian acting cute towards him, and he could call out “Niannian” countless times without any restraint.
“The big house is all built, and I’ll live with Mom and sister.” Cheng Yinian rolled over in bed, his face facing Chen Xiangsui. “The house I built is so pretty, want Mom to kiss me.”
“Hmm.” Chen Xiangsui leaned down and gently touched Cheng Yinian’s exposed right cheek with his fingers, then left a light kiss on his hot skin.
“Niannian… you’ve been a good child, haven’t you?”
“Mmm, Niannian’s good.”
