Chapter 100 Comfort

When Si Zhui opened the door, the entrance light was blindingly bright. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were both standing at the door, their faces expressionless, but their eyes were like searchlights fixed on him, especially on his bandaged elbow.

"I'm back." Lan Wangji's voice was deep, and no emotion could be heard.

Si Zhui was about to respond when Wei Wuxian grabbed his wrist. His strength was immense, and with a barely perceptible tremor, his fingertips quickly swept over his arms, back, and knees, as if checking for any hidden wounds.

"Daddy..." Si Zhui was pinched a little by him and called out softly.

Wei Wuxian ignored him until he was sure everything except his elbow was intact. Then he abruptly let go of his hand, turned around, and wiped his face. Sizhui saw his shoulders sway slightly, and although there was no sound, it was more painful than crying.

"Come here." Lan Wangji picked up the medicine box, sat on the sofa and motioned him over.

Si Zhui obediently walked over, sat in front of him, and handed over his injured elbow. Lan Wangji was very gentle when he untied the gauze, but when he saw the bloody wound, his fingers holding the gauze paused, and his Adam's apple rolled.

When the alcohol cotton swab touched the wound, Si Zhui winced in pain, but bit his lips tightly and didn't make a sound.

“Just tell me if it hurts.” Lan Wangji lowered his voice and moved his hands more gently.

Si Zhui shook his head, but his gaze drifted involuntarily to Wei Wuxian. He was still standing in the entrance, his back to them, his shoulders still tense. The setting sun shone through the window, gilding his shadow, yet revealing an inexplicable sense of grievance.

"I'm sorry." Si Zhui suddenly spoke in a soft voice, "I shouldn't have used my spiritual power without permission."

Lan Wangji didn't say anything, but just changed a piece of clean gauze and carefully wrapped it around the wound.

Wei Wuxian then turned around, his eyes red as a rabbit's, staring at him but unable to utter a word. He wanted to say, "Do you know how dangerous this is?" or "You scared us to death," but when the words reached his lips, he saw Sizhui's pale face and tightly pursed lips, and all he could feel was pain in his heart.

“You…” Wei WuXian sniffed, his voice hoarse, “Don’t you take care of yourself that much?”

Si Zhui lowered his head, scratching the texture of the sofa with his fingers: "The situation was urgent at the time, and the car was going too fast..."

“No matter how urgent it is, you can’t use yourself as a scapegoat!” Wei Wuxian finally raised his voice, tears streaming down his face. “Can’t you think of another way? Why did you have to throw yourself on the limestone? Look at this wound! What if it leaves a scar?”

As he spoke, tears fell rapidly and fiercely, as if he had suffered a great injustice. Si Zhui watched him cry, his eyes also reddened, but he didn't know what to say.

He wanted to say "I'm fine", but Wei Wuxian's tears made him feel that this sentence was too pale; he wanted to say "I won't do it next time", but he knew that if he encountered such a situation again, he would still do the same.

"Daddy, don't cry." Si Zhui stretched out his uninjured hand, wanting to wipe his tears, but he was a little afraid, so he held his hand in mid-air. "I don't feel any pain anymore, really."

Wei WuXian opened his hand, but cried even harder: "If you don't feel pain, then I do! If anything happens to you, what will happen to your father and me?"

Those words pierced Sizhui's heart like a needle. He suddenly remembered how, as a child, he'd run a high fever in the mass graves, and Wei Wuxian had stayed by his bedside, crying and muttering, "Please don't be in any way." It turned out that even after all these years, his father still cried because he was hurt, still fearing losing him.

"I was wrong." Si Zhui's voice was choked with sobs. "I won't do it again. I will protect myself and never let you worry again."

Wei Wuxian looked at his red eyes, and the anger in his heart suddenly subsided. He squatted down and carefully hugged Si Zhui's uninjured shoulder, burying his head in the crook of his neck. His voice was muffled: "Don't do this next time, do you understand?"

"Yeah." Si Zhui nodded vigorously, resting his chin on his hair. He suddenly felt that crying in his father's arms like this was more painful than the pain of the wound.

Lan Wangji watched the two embrace and silently packed up the medicine box. He walked over to Wei Wuxian, patted him gently on the back, and glanced at Sizhui again. The severity in his eyes faded a little, and a subtle softness appeared.

"Are you hungry?" Lan Wangji said, breaking the silence. "I'll go cook."

Wei Wuxian then let go of Sizhui, wiped his tears hastily, and pulled him to sit on the sofa: "Raise your arms high, don't get them touched." As he reminded him, he placed a pillow behind him, ran to the kitchen, got a bottle of ice milk, and stuffed it into his hand, as if he was taking care of a fragile item.

Si Zhui held the iced milk in his hand, watching Wei Wuxian bustling about, and suddenly whispered, "Daddy, your eyes are red, like a rabbit's."

Wei WuXian glared at him, but couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth. "You still dare to criticize me? If you continue to talk nonsense, I'll punish you by not letting you eat spareribs tonight."

"Oh." Si Zhui responded obediently, but a smile flashed in his eyes.

When Lan Wangji came out with the cut fruit, he saw this scene: Wei Wuxian was still muttering, Si Zhui lowered his head and listened, the atmosphere between the two had eased, like the sky after the rain, although still wet, but revealing clarity.

He put the fruit on the table, said nothing, just sat down next to Sizhui, picked up the remote control and changed a cartoon.

Si Zhui looked at the cartoon characters jumping on the screen, then looked at his daddy with red eyes and his father with gentle eyes beside him, and suddenly felt that the pain he had just felt at school seemed nothing.

It turns out that being cared for and cherished by someone like this feels so good.

As for words of comfort, perhaps they didn't need to be spoken. The best consolation would be for him to be obedient, take good care of his injuries, and never let them worry again.

Si Zhui quietly leaned closer to Wei Wuxian. The coolness of the milk passed through his palms, but his heart felt warm as if there was a little sun in his arms.