Chapter 21 Chapter 21 Taking Medicine

Time goes back to before Chen Luan woke up.

Jiang Xun and Jiang Ling bought medicine at the airport pharmacy and half-supported and half-carried the person to the lounge.

But Chen Luan, who had a fever so high that he was barely conscious, was extremely resistant to taking medicine. He was struggling and thrashing around, and was harder to control than a pig during the Chinese New Year.

No matter how much he was coaxed, Chen Luan just threw a tantrum and refused to listen.

Jiang Xun pulled away Jiang Ling, who was still frowning and trying to coax him patiently, and directly raised his hand to press Chen Luan into his arms. He forcibly pulled Chen Luan's hand away from his mouth and twisted it behind his back, holding it tightly. With his other hand, he wrapped his arms around Chen Luan's chest and pinched his chin: "Jiang Ling, feed him the medicine."

The young man, whose face was slightly flushed due to a high fever, was trapped in the arms of a cold-looking boy. He was forced to tilt his head back, his half-closed eyes drooped, with a hint of red water at the corners of his eyes, and his eyelashes like butterfly wings trembled slightly.

Jiang Ling held the pill in her hand, paused for a moment, then half-knelt in front of Chen Luan with a glass of water.

The warm fingertips touched the latter's hot and soft lips, pried open the mouth, and saw the wet and crimson tip of the tongue inside.

Jiang Ling felt like a pigeon was fluttering on his chest.

Then he held down the pigeon,

Even though the pigeon was still struggling desperately in his palm.

The pills were mixed with warm water and swallowed smoothly, and several people broke out in a sweat.

Chen Luan seemed to have hurt his wrist, and he was leaning drowsily against Jiang Ling with his hands in his arms, his head down and not saying a word.

"You deserve it for not listening."

Jiang Ling pulled Chen Luan's hand over, only to find that there was a faint red mark on the latter's thin, pale wrist.

So he kicked the heel of Jiang Xun beside him: "Can't you be gentler?"

"You can't hold him down if you're gentle." Jiang Xun took a sip of ice water and slowly swallowed it with his eyes lowered. "He's too strong to be a beta."

When a special car was called to pick him up at the airport, Chen Luan fell asleep on the way after the fever-reducing medicine took effect.

Fortunately, he still remembered the hotel and room number he booked before falling asleep.

After tossing around until dusk, Jiang Ling finally put Chen Luan to rest and took out a can of soda water from the hotel refrigerator. He drank it in one gulp, then casually threw the bottle aside and fell back on the sofa in the hotel, then he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Chen Luan, you'd better not get sick. Others' illnesses waste money, but yours wastes you."

Chen Luan buried himself in the soft quilt, breathing heavily with his eyes closed, and did not answer.

"I'm going to go out and call grandpa and tell him that we were delayed and might be back two days later."

Jiang Ling collapsed on the sofa and waved his hands to indicate that he understood.

After taking a breath, Jiang Ling pushed herself up from the sofa and lay down beside the bed to look at Chen Luan.

He seemed to be sleeping very uneasily, with a hint of melancholy between his brows that was rarely seen before. His brows were slightly furrowed, and the corners of his mouth were turned down, as if he had suffered some injustice, or had had some unpleasant dream. His cracked lips were slightly moving.

When Jiang Xun came back after finishing the call, he saw Jiang Ling half-kneeling beside the bed, with her ear almost touching Chen Luan's face.

Seeing him come in, Jiang Ling frowned: "What is he talking about?"

Jiang Xun glanced sideways: "What?"

Jiang Ling made some space to allow Jiang Xun to come over.

Chen Luan was clutching the corner of the quilt, his eyelashes trembling restlessly, like the wings of a frightened bird.

The two people got close enough that they could almost feel Chen Luan's breathing, and only then could they barely hear some intermittent and broken words.

"sister……"

"I have... lots and lots of chocolate now..."

"...your gun...is..."

“…”

"...Sister, I miss you so much."

A hidden trace of water seeped out from the corner of Chen Luan's burning red eyes and quietly disappeared into his messy temples.

Jiang Ling and Jiang Xun looked at each other.

They had never heard that Chen Luan had any sister.

Chen Luan mumbled a few words in a daze, and then fell into a deep sleep quietly again.

Until he was awakened again by the burning throat and thirst.

After taking the cup from Jiang Xun and moistening his throat, Chen Luan seemed to have regained his soul. He said in a hoarse voice, "Am I talking nonsense? What did I say?"

"You say..." Jiang Ling dragged out the words, and suddenly grinned under Chen Luan's probing gaze: "I won't tell you."

As he spoke, he rested his head on his arm and slowly fell onto the soft quilt next to Chen Luan. Then he pulled a pillow over and rubbed it against his chest, closing his eyes comfortably. "I don't even remember what I said. Chen Luan, I have no obligation to tell you."

Chen Luan narrowed his eyes and looked at Jiang Ling.

This kid must have been teased too much before, so now he is looking for an opportunity to make fun of him.

"He lied to you." Jiang Xun took the empty cup from Chen Luan's hand and refilled it for him: "You were sleeping very soundly and didn't say anything."

"Ha, I knew you had bad intentions. Still trying to trick me?"

Chen Luan smiled and gently kicked Jiang Ling's thigh: "Your brother is better."

His brother? Good?

Jiang Ling curled the corners of his lips, as if he had heard a joke.

Jiang Xun has a lot of bad intentions.

Only a fool like Chen Luan would truly believe that his brother is a good boy.

Without saying a word, Jiang Ling turned over with the pillow in her arms and glanced at Jiang Xun.

Their eyes met for only a moment before looking away.

"Get up a little, I want to lie down."

Jiang Xun walked to the bed and patted Jiang Ling's legs which were spread out.

Jiang Ling didn't move, looking up at her brother provocatively: "The bed is so small, go sleep on the sofa."

"Why me?" Jiang Xun raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Just because I call you brother." Jiang Ling laughed.

"A brother who was born only five minutes before you?"

"Just tell me whether I screamed or not."

Chen Luan watched with great joy as the two brothers bickered with each other, a rare occurrence, and wished he had a handful of melon seeds in his hand.

"Chen Luan, what are you looking at?"

"Is it pretty, brother?"

The two people who were arguing turned their heads at the same time and looked at Chen Luan.

Chen Luan: “…” Oh, innocent people are affected.

Chen Luan blinked and took a sip of warm water slowly. "Can't we just go get another one? There should be some vacancies in the hotel."

"no."

"don't want."

The twins spoke in unison again.

"I have to stay here and take care of you, so you don't burn out and become an idiot again in the middle of the night."

"I have to stay here and look after Jiang Ling. I'm afraid he can't take care of you by himself."

Chen Luan held his forehead with his hand: "...I'm just sick, not disabled."

"Right, right, right. I don't know who refused to take medicine in the afternoon and insisted on being tied up."

Chen Luan: “…”

Then he looked away from Jiang Ling feeling somewhat guilty.

He has had difficulty taking medicine since he was a child and doesn't like taking medicine.

When he was sick as a child, Jiang Mingming had to chase him two blocks away before he could catch him. Then he would pinch his neck and force the medicine into his mouth while Chen Luan was struggling.

At that time, he was probably feverish and unconscious, so he resisted subconsciously.

"Speak, Chen Luan." Jiang Ling had been tormented by Chen Luan in the afternoon. Now, seeing Chen Luan trying to act like an ostrich, he laughed angrily.

He climbed up and pressed on Chen Luan, trying to pull away the quilt that had secretly covered Chen Luan's nose.

Chen Luan immediately closed his eyes: "I fell asleep."

Jiang Ling gritted her teeth: "You can still talk to me when you're asleep?"

"daydream."

“…You’re really good.”

To be honest, Jiang Ling has always admired Chen Luan's ability to lie without changing his expression.

The dispute over who would sleep on the bed and who would sleep on the sofa was interrupted and inexplicably resolved.

Fortunately, the bed in the hotel was wide enough for three people to squeeze in.

That's right...

It’s a bit hard for Chen Luan.

He woke up in the middle of the night because of the fever.

When he woke up, he found himself sandwiched between his two younger brothers, barely able to move.

Jiang Ling's sleeping posture is really not good. He had kicked the pillow in his arms onto the carpet at some point.

At this time, he was holding Chen Luan's arm tightly in his arms, his forehead resting on Chen Luan's shoulder, his thighs also pressing on Chen Luan's legs dishonestly, and he was sleeping with heavy breathing.

On the other side, Jiang Xun lay on his side facing Chen Luan properly, without moving his hands or feet.

It was probably because the winter in Yuminlik was too cold, the hotel heating was not turned on enough, and Chen Luan's neck, which was still a little feverish, was not warm enough.

So Jiang Xun rested his head on Chen Luan's shoulder, with the tip of his straight nose almost touching Chen Luan's neck. His warm and shallow breath sprayed slowly and gently on the skin on the side of his neck, causing a slight itch.

His arm was a little numb from being pressed by that little bastard Jiang Ling, so Chen Luan moved his shoulder slightly.

Jiang Ling's dissatisfied grumbles immediately came to my ears.

Then he was hugged even tighter, and Jiang Ling rubbed his shoulders like a dog.

Jiang Xun on the other side seemed to be disturbed as well, and he also slightly turned sideways, with one hand seemingly unconsciously placed loosely on Chen Luan's wrist.

There was a subtle rubbing sound beside his ear, and the warm breath close to his neck moved, finally stopping behind Chen Luan's sensitive ear.

Almost in an instant, Chen Luan felt goose bumps appearing uncontrollably and subconsciously dodged to the side.

It seemed that the movement was a bit too big and Jiang Xun was awakened.

"Hmm? ...Brother?"

The young boy half-opened his clear eyes in confusion, with a hazy tear at the corners of his eyes. Even his voice was not as light as usual, but rather soft and lazy.

Chen Luan watched Jiang Xun raise his head dazedly, still looking dazed. He subconsciously raised his hand to touch Chen Luan's forehead: "Fever again?"

The slightly cool fingers fell on the forehead again.

Jiang Xun lowered his eyes and felt it for a while: "It's okay, it should be just a low-grade fever."

Chen Luan looked at Jiang Xun's forced eyes, pulled his hand down and stuffed it back into the quilt, tucking in the corners: "It's not a big problem. It should be fine tomorrow, go to bed early."

The two children must have been exhausted during the day.

Chen Luan knew how difficult it was to deal with himself when he resisted taking medicine. When he was a child, he was often beaten by Jiang Mingming for refusing to take medicine.

I guess I gave my younger brothers a lot of trouble today.

He actually started resisting taking medicine when he was 7 years old.

Many people died in the base that year, and Chen Luan was also taken into the collective education institution at the base that year.

Chen Luan was sick with a fever that day, but his parents had to go out for an urgent mission.

The base seemed very chaotic and noisy. Chen Luan cried and hugged his mother's legs to prevent them from leaving.

But they said that as long as Chen Luan took the medicine obediently, they guaranteed that when Chen Luan woke up, he would see them as soon as he opened his eyes.

Chen Luan has always been an obedient child.

So he listened to his parents, took the medicine, and went to bed obediently.

But after waking up, Chen Luan never saw his parents again.

A few days later, they were sent home with only the blood-soaked nameplates representing their identities, followed by the silent teachers of the reformatory.

They came to take him away.

From that day on, little Chen Luan never wanted to take medicine again.

For many years after that, the still-young Chen Luan kept thinking, what would have happened if he hadn't taken his medicine that day and had dragged his parents away from participating in the mission?

...would the ending be different?

Later, when Chen Luan grew up, he no longer thought about such childish questions.

His parents had their reasons for going, just like he was also rushing to a one-way abyss for the sake of his homeland.

It’s just that the wounds from his childhood were sometimes like moss growing secretly between bones, slowly gnawing at his subconscious mind, leaving unhealable wounds that he couldn’t notice and was powerless to do anything about.

He still doesn't like taking medicine; it has almost become an instinct.

I'm afraid I can't change it in this lifetime.

The dim room became quiet again, leaving only the long, rising and falling sounds of breathing.

Jiang Xun opened his eyes in the darkness, and his fingertips gently tapped the metal watch strap on Chen Luan's wrist.

The next day, just as the sky was getting light, Chen Luan was the first to wake up.

He carefully pulled his numb arm out of Jiang Ling's arms, held his breath and walked across Jiang Xun's body on the other side, then he exhaled lightly and walked into the bathroom with a still somewhat shaky step.

I had just turned on the faucet to wash my face when I heard footsteps at the door.

Chen Luan lifted her wet hair and turned around, only to see Jiang Xun and Jiang Ling standing on either side of the door, blocking it.

Chen Luan squeezed some toothpaste, turned around and leaned against the sink like a boneless person. He brushed his teeth with his eyelids raised while teasing, "You two are not sleeping so early in the morning and come to my place to cosplay as door gods?"

"We should be asking you this, Chen Luan." Jiang Ling's hair was all over the place, and her pajamas were already tangled from a bad sleeping posture all night. But she folded her arms and leaned against the door with a clear conscience:

"Why don't you rest so early in the morning? What are you doing up so early? Do you still remember that you are a patient?"

"I've reserved..." Chen Luan paused, slowly chewing the words "Base S17" on his tongue. "I've reserved tickets for the Base S17 Ruins Memorial Museum today. I want to go there and take a look."

He put the toothbrush in his mouth, reached out and put his arms around his two younger brothers and pushed them towards the bed: "Don't worry about me, you two can go back to sleep. You must have been exhausted yesterday."

"You want to go out?" Jiang Ling slapped Chen Luan's arm away, turned around, frowned, and slapped Chen Luan on the forehead: "You are not running a fever again, are you talking nonsense? Why are you running around when you are not well yet?"

"The fever has subsided." Chen Luan took Jiang Ling's claws off. "Private museums like this rarely sell tickets. If you miss today, you don't know when the next opening will be."

Jiang Ling was puzzled. "S17 is a small-scale base, right? Even history books only mention it briefly. If we want to visit the base ruins, why not go to a large base?"

Chen Luan lowered his eyes and was silent for a moment, then raised his hand to ruffle Jiang Ling's hair: "I have a reason why I must go."

It sounds a bit hypocritical.

Chen Luan has been here for a few months and is actually living a good life.

But he just kind of,

...I miss home.

"If you must go, then take us with you." Jiang Xun, who had been holding the tablet without saying anything, suddenly spoke up.

“But I only got one ticket.”

"It's okay, there's a way." Jiang Xun turned the tablet in his hand over, his voice light and calm:

"I found the ticket upgrade service on the official website. Adults can upgrade to family tickets if they bring two or fewer minors into the museum."

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