Chapter 7 Happy Birthday

"37 degrees, the fever has subsided." After removing the IV needle, the nurse took Ji Tong's temperature again.

"Thank you." Gu Lin said, and while thanking the nurse, he raised his hand and pressed down on Ji Tong's IV patch. "Keep it in place."

Having not moved for a long time, Ji Tong's bones ached and her knuckles were stiff. After a moment of stunned silence, she slapped Gu Lin's hand away, pressed the IV patch herself, and slowly got up from the bench.

"There's bleeding, press down."

After a long pause, Ji Tong finally responded in a muffled voice, "I know."

Gu Lin turned around to gather the blanket and thermos, folded them neatly, and put them in a bag. As he looked up, Ji Tong's gaze was fixed on the trash can.

It's like wanting to.

Gu Lin said nothing, letting him be. He leaned down and reached out, but Ji Tong pressed his hand down.

Ji Tong paused for a few seconds before speaking: "...Never mind."

What's with hugging a trash can?

Ji Tong didn't really mean anything by it; she just felt it was a shame to throw it away since she'd never used it before.

He thought for a moment, then picked up the brand-new trash can and walked to the side.

Gu Lin stood there, watching as the young couple walked towards them. He didn't know what they said, but the young mother smiled and accepted the trash can.

Not surprising.

Gu Lin had long been accustomed to this person's tireless "vitality".

It's easy to make someone feel treated well, whether it's this unfamiliar mother or anyone else.

Gu Lin's fingers curled slightly, then relaxed again.

Ji Tong waved goodbye to her fellow "mini-patients," seemingly forgetting for a moment that she was still in a "cold war" with Gu Lin, and walked back with a smile: "Let me tell you, that little kid..."

He suddenly stopped talking and stood a few steps away from Gu Lin.

—Gu Lin was unhappy.

Ji Tong sometimes felt that Gu Lin was transparent.

Like now.

Although his expression was almost identical to before, he knew that the person was unhappy.

"What's wrong with the little one?" Gu Lin replied very naturally, as if nothing had happened.

Ji Tong stood quietly for a few seconds without answering.

There's a used clothing recycling point about 100 meters from the hospital. They wash and disinfect the clothes, then make them into hand warmers and send them to various stray cat and dog shelters. Ji Tong knows the person in charge of this point. After putting the blanket in, she sent him a message explaining the situation. Although she only used it for half an hour, it was brought from the hospital after all, so she was told to disinfect it.

The boss even made a special phone call when he heard that Ji Tong was sick.

After hanging up the phone, Ji Tong glanced at the time; it was almost eleven o'clock.

He didn't say a word to Gu Lin during that time.

Ji Tong stood with her back to Gu Lin, absentmindedly pressing the lock screen.

The screen goes off, then on, then off again, then on again.

I don't know how many times it went back and forth.

Ji Tong let out a long, even breath, unlocked the screen, opened WeChat, tapped the "New Friends" section in the Contacts app, and accepted the request.

A few seconds later.

A buzzing sound came from behind me.

Gu Lin's phone rang.

He looked down and opened it.

The cat avatar, which had been silent for half a year, along with the nickname that Ji Tong had changed himself and hadn't touched since, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

[Everything you said is correct, listen carefully: [Transfer 3000.0]]

"Accompanying fee." Ji Tong gripped her phone, her voice icy.

“You paid 580 for me, and the rest,” Ji Tong finally turned to look at him, “is your fee for accompanying me to the doctor.”

The facade of peace that had been maintained all night finally crumbled with the question, "Your escort fee."

All artificial attempts at peace, decline, and disintegration.

Perhaps it was the lighting, but Ji Tong actually thought Gu Lin's lips were a bit pale, making him look more like a patient than he did.

This untimely thought annoyed Ji Tong. He didn't care whether Gu Lin would back down, and turned to leave. But before he could even lift his foot, his wrist was suddenly seized—

Gu Lin's palm was cold, and he gripped it tightly. For a moment, Ji Tong even felt that it wasn't Gu Lin who had "abandoned" him, but rather that he had abandoned Gu Lin.

Ji Tong didn't understand and was about to turn around when the person standing behind him moved.

He felt Gu Lin take a step toward him and then speak.

"sorry."

His voice was low and hoarse.

I'll talk about those things later.

Ji Tong remained silent for nearly half a minute.

"when."

"after."

"Not now?"

"Um."

“.

Gu Lin, the idiot.

Don't they even know what day it is today?

If you say something nice... he might soften up.

Gu Lin still didn't let go; their bones were touching, and their skin was pressed against each other.

Ji Tong was still feeling suffocated, unable to catch her breath.

"Why not now?"

This time, Gu Lin took a long time to answer.

You wouldn't want to know.

"...???"

"How do you know I don't want to know if you won't tell me?"

Ji Tong was instantly ignited, but the moment he turned around, he saw Gu Lin staring at him intently, his eyes dark and unfathomable.

It's very unfamiliar.

His face was expressionless, but his emotions seemed very heavy, so heavy that Ji Tong was momentarily speechless.

a long time.

Ji Tong calmed down.

"Gu Lin, do you think I have no temper?"

His anger dissipated after being looked at by Gu Lin, but the blank six months were there in the background, and he couldn't just ignore them.

“Okay,” Ji Tong said softly, “Since you don’t want to talk about it now, then we’ll talk about it another day when you do…”

Ji Tong originally wanted to say "Let's make up another day," but after thinking about it, she realized that saying it might not necessarily lead to a reconciliation, so she changed her mind and said, "Let's talk about it another day."

Ji Tong finished his closing statement and waited for Gu Lin to "appeal."

He guessed at Gu Lin's answer.

Given his taciturn nature, he will most likely just say "okay" or remain silent.

But then he heard a sentence—

"Can we not get angry today?"

It's a sign of weakness.

It was requested.

Ji Tong's thoughts suddenly stopped.

He had rarely seen Gu Lin like this before, so he was stunned for several seconds before his brain started working again.

Ji Tong moved her fingers and realized that her hands were still being held.

"Let go." Ji Tong twisted his wrist.

He lowered his head somewhat awkwardly, thinking that since there was only an hour left until the end of the day, he might as well do a good deed for the day.

"I'm too lazy to get angry with you," Ji Tong muttered, then changed the subject by staring at the ground, "How do we get back?"

The atmosphere finally returned to calm.

"You haven't told your family about the fever yet?" Gu Lin asked.

Ji Tong hummed in agreement, her voice still slightly nasal: "You're not allowed to say it either."

Gu Lin: "What time is the dormitory curfew?"

Ji Tong: "11:30."

Half an hour for the return trip is obviously too rushed.

First they asked if I had told my family, and then they asked about the dormitory access control.

Ji Tong guessed what Gu Lin was going to say next.

Sure enough, Gu Lin called a car on his phone and then said, "I'll miss the curfew, I'll head back tonight..."

Ji Tong: I knew it.

Although he promised not to be angry today, it's still a long way off before they make up.

Ji Tong turned his face away.

“I’m not going to your place,” Ji Tong said.

“Haiyuan,” Gu Lin said.

Their voices rang out simultaneously.

Ji Tong: "...?"

Ji Tong: "??"

Ji Tong: "!!???"

Haiyuan is the location of the Ji family villa.

During the two minutes of silent confrontation, the car Gu Lin had called arrived.

Ji Tong didn't know what Gu Lin meant by being silent for those two minutes.

But he knew what his two minutes of silence meant.

Use the first 30 seconds to calm yourself down.

The second 30 seconds were reserved for Gu Lin's emergency public relations efforts to retract his inappropriate remarks.

The third and fourth 30-second intervals are reserved for Gu Lin to apologize.

Gu Lin did not attempt any emergency public relations efforts, nor did he apologize.

Ji Tong only heard a sigh.

Very low.

Immediately afterwards, his wrist was grabbed again, as if worried that the scene of "turning around and leaving" would be repeated, so he cut off all possibilities in advance, except this time Gu Lin relaxed his strength.

He closed his eyes briefly.

"The house isn't ready yet, so it's not convenient to take you there."

Excuse.

Ji Tong could easily tell.

Gu Lin is a clean freak with an incredibly low material desire. Unlike Ji Tong, who believes in "more is more" and wants the whole world to be filtered through a saturated lens, Gu Lin is a minimalist. Even his small high school dormitory is transformed into a showroom. It's easier to believe he's Qin Shi Huang than to believe that his room is unkempt.

Ji Tong hardened his fist.

He looked down at the hand on his wrist.

They wouldn't let him in, and even tried to pull him away.

Just as Ji Tong was about to punch him, the driver, who hadn't seen any passengers boarding for a while, rolled down his window: "Need any help?"

Don't get angry.

We promised each other we wouldn't get angry today.

Ji Tong pinched her fingertips, pulled away from Gu Lin's hand, turned around and got into the car.

Gu Lin stood quietly for a moment before getting into the car.

The driver seemed to sense that something was wrong and didn't say anything.

The vehicle slowly started moving.

The carriage was filled with a gloomy atmosphere, like a mobile pressure cooker.

Gu Lin rubbed his temples helplessly: "Call home..."

"Master, give me your mobile payment QR code." Ji Tong interrupted Gu Lin.

The driver exclaimed "Ah!" and opened his phone in confusion.

Ji Tong immediately scanned the QR code and sent 200 yuan.

"Instead of going to Haiyuan, go to Peninsula Apartments and stop when you pass by Anhui University."

"Huh?" The driver was completely bewildered. "The order..."

“Cancel it, I’ll pay for it,” Ji Tong said, and then directly scanned 100.

driver:"……"

The order to Haiyuan was clearly placed by someone else, so the driver could only look at the back seat through the rearview mirror. The person was sitting silently in the shadows.

The car navigation system finally beeped, indicating that the destination and route had been changed.

Ji Tong felt like she was about to explode and reached out to open the window.

My hand had just touched the window button—

"Don't let the wind blow on you."

Ji Tong: "..."

They want to manage everything.

They wouldn't let him in.

Just thinking about Gu Lin's tone when he said, "Can you not be angry today?" annoyed Ji Tong, and he stopped looking at him.

"Master, please play an announcement."

He might want to jump out of the car if he hears that person's voice again.

"Is the radio okay?" The driver, sensing the awkward atmosphere in the car, quickly asked.

"Um."

The driver immediately clicked on the in-car channel—

Have you ever experienced a fading of feelings?

Ji Tong: "..."

The melodious voice of a late-night radio host rang out.

"If you notice the following seven signs, it means your relationship is deteriorating. First, you communicate significantly less..."

Ji Tong gave a forced smile.

"Excuse me, could you please change the channel?"

"OK."

Driver frequency switching —

"Next is a listener's letter: Five months after the abrupt breakup, I'm sick today. On my way to the hospital, I thought of him..."

Driver frequency switching —

A cheerful melody filled the carriage.

Great, it's the music channel. The driver was just about to relax.

"Next up, I'll be singing a cover of a classic Hokkien love song, 'Love Liar, I Ask You'."

Cut it off.

Ji Tong was exhausted.

The late-night radio stations kept repeating the same few emotional themes, so the driver eventually tuned in to a music channel.

Ji Tong would glance at the screen every now and then.

He thought a long time had passed, but when he looked down, he realized that only three minutes had gone by.

11:56.

11:57...

The rain pattered against the car window; it had started raining outside sometime earlier.

The sound of rain accompanied the melody of a familiar love song playing on the car radio.

The gentle female vocals in the cover song range from "You didn't say it, but you are also weak and need to rely on me" to "I swear I will never lie again, the more I love you, the tighter I will hold you."

As expected of NetEase Cloud Music, Ji Tongxiang.

11:58.

Ji Tong resigned himself to his fate, unlocked his phone with a blank expression, and tapped on that profile picture.

Buzz.

Buzz.

Two vibrations sounded on Gu Lin's phone in quick succession.

Gu Lin didn't look at it.

Ji Tong waited a few seconds, but didn't see any movement from him out of the corner of her eye.

If we don't check now, it'll be past midnight.

"Look at your phone." Ji Tong's face was still turned towards the window, but she nudged Gu Lin with her elbow.

Gu Lin belatedly realized who had sent those two messages, and looked down to open them.

[Everything you said is correct, listen carefully: 1]

[Everything you said is correct, listen carefully: [Transfer 910.0 yuan]]

They didn't say "Happy Birthday," but it was all "Happy Birthday" all along.

The faint light from the phone screen illuminated the profile of Gu Lin's face, reflecting it into the car window.

Ji Tong looked on.

Gu Lin's jawline was already well-defined, much like the impression he gave off—sharp and edgy. He had lost some weight in the six months since I last saw him, and the jawline was even more pronounced.

Ji Tong was somewhat lost in thought.

"Master!" Ji Tong suddenly called out.

The driver asked, "What's wrong?"

Ji Tong paused for a moment, looked out the car window, and said very softly, "...Happy Teachers' Day."

Gu Lin's fingers twitched slightly.

Driver: "Huh??? Me?"

Ji Tong: "Mm."

driver:"???"

What is this called?

Three people go together there must be my teacher?

The driver couldn't understand and was greatly shocked, but since the customer is king, he agreed.

"Okay, thank you, thank you."

"You're welcome."

The person reflected in the car window remained motionless, neither accepting the red envelope, replying to the WeChat message, nor speaking.

It's almost past midnight.

Ji Tong: "You—"

The person finally moved.

Ji Tong's phone pinged.

Gu Lin returned the transfer, along with the previous 3,000.

Great, no steps needed.

Just as Ji Tong was about to study the angle of jumping from the moving vehicle, his phone pinged again.

【XX: Change to something else】

Two more seconds passed.

[XX: Is this okay?]

Ji Tong: "..."

Ji Tong had no idea where Gu Lin had learned the "Is it okay? Is it okay?" phrase.

It wasn't like this before.

"You have a few seconds to speak, hurry up and say it!" Ji Tong couldn't take it anymore.

Gu Lin looked up from his phone screen, turned his head to the side, but didn't look at Ji Tong beside him. Instead, he stared straight out the car window, as if he knew Ji Tong was watching him.

The two met each other's gaze through the car window.

Ji Tong was startled and instinctively turned her head.

Ji Tong has light pupils, with an amber hue that always appears moist and bright in the light. Gu Lin, on the other hand, has deep-set eyes and a dark hue, giving him a fiercely aggressive look. Yet, despite his sharp eyes, his thick and long eyelashes soften his cold and aloof aura.

I haven't seen this face up close in a long time.

"Gu Lin, if you dare to use this opportunity to ask for my forgiveness, you're dead..."

"Keep your WeChat account."

Their voices overlapped once again.

"What?" Ji Tong was stunned.

Gu Lin's gaze was very focused.

Keep the WeChat account; don't delete it.

Ji Tong hadn't expected that this was what Gu Lin wanted to exchange for. She turned her face back and leaned against the back of the chair, unconsciously pinching the mineral water bottle on the back seat armrest.

"It's past midnight, let's talk about this later..."

"Okay."

"…………"

-

In the seconds before the car stopped at the back gate of Anhui University, Ji Tong was still considering whether Gu Lin, after much agonizing, might change his mind and beg him to go to his small apartment, which wasn't yet ready and inconvenient to take him there. He might reluctantly agree. Then, the car stopped—

"Are you feeling better? Is your fever gone now? What's your temperature? Where's the medicine you brought back?"

Ji Tong looked at Li Yuan and Cui Mingying standing on either side of him.

"...I feel better now, no fever, 37...What are you all doing out so late?"

Li Yuan began, "Lin sent me a message saying you were going back to the dorm, but it would be quite late, and asked the dorm supervisor to leave the door open. We went downstairs to let her know, and then it started raining halfway there. Lin sent another message saying..."

Ji Tong raised her hand and pinched Li Yuan's mouth shut.

Brother Lin said, Brother Lin said, Brother Lin said.

Stop talking.

"Is Auntie waiting for me?"

“No, they gave us the spare key,” Cui Mingying said. “Auntie was worried about your high fever and came to ask about it several times.”

Ji Tong deliberately waited a few seconds, but the person did not say anything to "beg".

He took the medicine expressionlessly, ignoring the person next to him and not even glancing at him, and got out of the car on his own.

Li Yuan and Cui Mingying exchanged glances.

They don't look like they've made up.

"A Yuan."

Gu Lin's voice rang out, and Li Yuan quickly snapped out of his daze, chasing after Ji Tong with a "hey hey hey" sound.

"Tongtong, umbrella!"

Cui Mingying took a step forward, leaned down, and was about to ask something through the car window when she saw Gu Lin turn his head to look in Ji Tong's direction. His left index and middle fingers, which were hanging on his long legs, were slightly raised, while his ring and little fingers were naturally curved towards his palm, and his thumb was also hanging down. It was an extremely familiar gesture.

Cui Mingying thought for a while.

Like smoking?

Because they were close, Cui Mingying saw that Gu Lin's shoulder line slumped slightly, as if he was releasing his strength.

Cui Mingying subconsciously glanced in Ji Tong's direction.

"Brother Lin, why don't you go upstairs and take a look?" Cui Mingying felt that Gu Lin's behavior was a bit strange, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. "You can sleep at our place, whichever bed you want. There are only two people in A Liang's dorm next door, and we often go to sleep there."

"I can't today, I have something to do."

"It's late, you should go home early."

Cui Mingying had no choice but to nod: "Alright, you should go back early too."

Gu Lin hummed in agreement and then said, "If anything happens tonight, call me."

"good."

Gu Lin watched Cui Mingying walk past the corner before leaning back in his chair.

The driver didn't need him to say anything more and started the vehicle.

It only took about ten minutes to see the second guest off.

After the announcement "You have arrived at your destination" finished playing.

"We've arrived at the peninsula," the driver said, turning around from the driver's seat. He paused for a moment when he saw the person in the back seat.

Perhaps he was a bit dizzy from driving for an hour, but the driver felt that the handsome guy in the back seat was a completely different person from him before.

Her bangs were pulled back, the collar of her black coat was open, and her thin eyelids drooped. Perhaps it was the black clothes that made her appear even more aloof.

Just as the driver was wondering whether he should get out and help open the car door, the person in the back seat suddenly spoke up.

"master."

"What's wrong?"

"Is the mobile payment account and the order number the same?"

"Ah? Oh, yes, yes, something's up..."

The notification sound of "1000 yuan received in Alipay" interrupted his voice.

The driver was so breathless.

What do you want to order tonight?

"This...this is...?"

"Sorry for the car wash fee and lost wages."

"The back seat back may be dirty."

The person had already opened the car door and gotten out. Only after they had walked a distance did the driver seem to finally come to his senses and get out of the driver's seat.

He opened the car door; the back seat was spotless, just as always.

Where exactly is it dirty?

The driver used a flashlight to check the back seat bit by bit, and after a lot of effort, he finally found a small reflective "stain" on the back of the seat.

It was about the size of a coin, half-dry and half-wet, and practically invisible unless you were shining a flashlight.

The driver was skeptical, but he took a tissue, pressed it against the area, wiped it, and his eyes widened little by little.

It looks like... bloodstains?