Chapter 54 Ningning, it's time to go back to Huadu. ...
Chapter 54
After kneeling in the autumn rain for a while, Shen Suining finally fell ill.
She had a high fever, her voice was so hoarse she could barely speak, and she lay on the bed in a daze, a wet towel draped over her head.
Shen Heyang placed his fingers on her wrist through a handkerchief, taking her pulse. Looking at Shen Suining's lifeless state, he laughed angrily: "What kind of fate do you think I have? The first two days I had to treat your husband, and now I have to treat you. Did you two conspire to make things difficult for me?"
Shen Suining groaned uncomfortably. Upon hearing this, she couldn't help but retort, "It was your dereliction of duty that caused this. As for me, Sister Miao is here. You didn't have to come."
Her voice was muffled and hoarse, like a stone scraping against the roots of a century-old tree.
"Alright, alright, save your energy," Shen Heyang interrupted her, his expression showing a hint of disdain. "Xiao Wei is blind, and it just rained last night, so the mountain road is slippery. If it weren't inconvenient for her to come, do you think I would bother to come this far?"
Shen Suining scoffed, "The head of Jishitang, you can't even cure your own disciple's eyes."
"..." Shen Heyang laughed angrily, "You little brat, your throat is like this and you still can't shut up? Believe me or not, I'll stab your mute acupoints and make sure you can't speak for half a year?"
Shen Suining let out a soft hum, and whether she was too upset to speak or Shen Heyang's threat had worked, she finally fell silent.
Shen Heyang examined her carefully for a while, then said to He Hansheng beside him, "It's just a common cold. She overworked herself a few days ago and got caught in the rain yesterday, so her body couldn't handle it. It's nothing serious. A few doses of medicine, some sweating, and the fever will go down, and she'll be fine."
He Hansheng breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you for making this trip."
"Hey, it's nothing. Although this little girl is heartless, what can I do? I'm her uncle." Shen Heyang deliberately emphasized the word "uncle".
Shen Suining opened one eye and glanced at him sideways, then closed it again, seemingly too exhausted even to roll her eyes.
"Alright, just stay in the house and rest these next few days. You don't need to worry about anything inside or outside the village." Shen Heyang gently patted her face, but after she irritably dodged away, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
He left behind a few doses of medicine, packed his things, and took his leave. He Hansheng saw him to the door and then came back, instructing Huaixia to boil the medicine and asking Mengchun to warm some porridge.
Shen Suining was already delirious with fever. He Hansheng called her, but she didn't respond and even had difficulty opening her eyes.
But if she didn't eat something, it would be difficult to feed her medicine, so He Hansheng had no choice but to wrap her in a blanket, pick her up, and let her lean on his shoulder.
"..." Shen Suining opened her eyes, her brows furrowed, and snorted, "Hot."
"Bear with it, you'll feel better if you sweat it out," He Hansheng coaxed softly, taking a spoonful of porridge from Meng Chun's hand and bringing it to her lips, "Open your mouth."
Shen Suining glanced at it and decisively refused: "No."
"Eat a little bit, okay?" He Hansheng asked patiently, but Shen Suining kept her mouth tightly shut and refused to eat no matter what he said.
Meng Chun stood anxiously to the side, sighing softly, "Young Master has been like this since she was little. She refuses to eat anything when it comes to taking medicine. She hates bitterness the most, so every time we have to knock her unconscious and force-feed her."
"Shut up." Shen Suining glanced at her, then turned her head away. "It's just a minor cold; you can get better without medicine."
"Young Master, why are you still being stubborn at a time like this? Do you really want to call Master Shen back to give you a few acupuncture treatments?"
"..." Shen Suining was too weak to speak, her teeth clenched tightly, refusing to eat no matter what.
He Hansheng put the porridge aside and said to Meng Chun, "Go to the kitchen and see if there's anything else she likes to eat."
After sending Meng Chun away, He Hansheng turned his head and gently cupped her chin with his hand. "Still not going to open your mouth?"
Shen Suining kept his eyes closed and refused to give in.
"Fine." He Hansheng sneered, pinching her chin hard with his fingers and pulling her down. He lowered his head and kissed her burning lips, forcibly forcing them apart.
With the door wide open in broad daylight, Shen Suining suddenly opened her eyes, slapped He Hansheng's arm, and pushed him away in shock and anger: "You...you're being a pervert!"
He Hansheng chuckled, his fingertips gently caressing her lips. "If you still refuse to eat, I'll have to feed you like this. You shouldn't mind if others are watching, right?"
"..." Shen Suining's cheeks flushed red, whether from fever or anger, she didn't know. She stared intently at He Hansheng's upright and stern face, and after a long while, she finally gritted her teeth and squeezed out three words: "Shameless."
So when Meng Chun and Huai Xia returned, Shen Suining had already obediently finished her porridge.
When she saw the dark medicine that Huai Xia was holding, her face immediately turned bitter. Just as she was about to refuse, she saw He Hansheng's eyes sweep over her, as if he really wanted to feed her mouth-to-mouth in front of Meng Chun and Huai Xia.
Although Shen Suining wasn't exactly thin-skinned, she still cared about her reputation, especially in front of others and her subordinates. So she closed her eyes, picked up the hot medicine bowl, and drank it all in one gulp, her face instantly contorting into a bitter expression.
Meng Chun and Huai Xia both breathed a sigh of relief, "Young Master really knows how to do things."
"..." Shen Suining was too lazy to speak, letting He Hansheng slowly lay her flat on the bed. As soon as her head touched the pillow, she immediately fell into a deep sleep and almost lost consciousness.
The damp handkerchief draped over her forehead was warmed by her body heat, then taken away. After she heard a faint sound of water, the handkerchief was returned to her forehead, cool and refreshing, and this process repeated itself.
It seemed that Shen Yan and Madam Shuyu came by once in the middle of the journey. Shen Suining could only hear them talking, but she could not understand what they were saying at all.
She slept for a long time, and when she regained some consciousness, she heard He Hansheng call her to get up and take her medicine.
Shen Suining was dizzy and didn't want to open her eyes to drink the bitter medicine. She turned her head and said "no," and she didn't know if the other person heard her. She buried her face in the quilt, and her breath was hot and scalding, which even frightened herself.
He Hansheng did not forcefully wake her, which restored Shen Suining's consciousness to tranquility. However, after a moment, she felt the blanket covering her face being gently lifted, fresh air flowing in, warm lips touching hers, and bitter medicine being poured into her throat.
Shen Suining was too exhausted to care whether anyone else was around. All she wanted was to get better quickly and give that shameless bastard a good beating. He had fed her medicine and water in this way.
After a night like this, Shen Suining felt that she had sweated a bit. By nearly noon the next day, her body temperature had finally returned to normal, but her voice was even hoarseer, and she couldn't make a sound at all.
Shen Suining couldn't help but reasonably suspect that Shen Heyang might have actually put a mute drug in her medicine, making her voice hoarse.
Seeing that she was in better spirits, He Hansheng finally fed her medicine and water normally, instead of using that ambiguous method.
Perhaps because the two were too open about their relationship, Shen Suining's illness was transferred to He Hansheng. By nightfall, Shen Suining's condition had improved considerably, but He Hansheng started coughing again, his body was slightly feverish, and he felt somewhat dizzy.
Shen Suining sat on the edge of the bed, gloating. Even though it was extremely difficult for her to speak, she couldn't help but squeeze out a sarcastic voice: "Serves you right for being a hooligan! You've caught it!"
He Hansheng: "..."
Both of them fell ill and neither could take care of the other, so Meng Chun and Huai Xia had no choice but to ask Shen Heyang to come over again.
Shen Heyang looked at the two people who took turns lying down in the same shabby spot and instantly exploded, "You two still say you didn't do it on purpose! You just can't stand to see me have a few days of peace and quiet, can you!"
Since Shen Suining couldn't speak, Meng Chun brought her a small table to set up by her bedside, and also brought her paper and pen.
Hearing Shen Heyang's resentful tone, she picked up her pen and scribbled a few large characters in a flourish—
No, that's not true.
He got caught in the rain too.
Shen Heyang: "..."
Meng Chun ground ink for Shen Suining, who gripped the brush and quickly wrote another line of text—
Tell me honestly, did you put a mute drug in my medicine? My throat feels like it's sealed with mud, I can't make a sound at all.
Shen Heyang sneered, "If such a drug really existed, I should have given it to you when you were born!"
Shen Suining: As expected. Their true colors have been revealed!
Shen Heyang: "Can't you understand right from wrong? What kind of patient doubts their doctor like this?"
Shen Suining picked up her pen to write again, but Shen Heyang quickly reached out and snatched the paper and pen away from her. "That's enough! These are normal symptoms of a cold. Don't try to use this as an excuse to label me with all sorts of nonsense! Otherwise, I'll really give you a drug to make you mute."
Without paper and pen, Shen Suining could only glare at him fiercely.
Shen Heyang prescribed a few more doses of medicine, and the two of them took them in turn for two days, finally managing to recover to normal.
Shen Suining coughed a few times and was finally able to speak, though her voice was still a little hoarse. She held the medicine and looked at He Hansheng, who was suffering from the same illness, silently clinked bowls with him, and drank it down with a frown, as if she were drinking alcohol.
“We’ve truly been through thick and thin together, no—” Shen Suining wrinkled her little face and quickly stuffed a piece of candied fruit that Meng Chun had brought into her mouth, “We’ve shared joys and sorrows. Why is this medicine getting more and more bitter?”
"It's not that the medicine has become bitter, it's just that you were quite ill the past two days and couldn't taste it." He Hansheng drank the medicine without changing his expression.
Seeing that he didn't even flinch, Shen Suining couldn't help but ask, "Are our medicines different? Or does your tongue have no taste? I get the feeling you're not afraid of bitterness at all."
He Hansheng: "Why don't you give it a try?"
"You drank it all, how can I try it?" Shen Suining realized her mistake after saying that and laughed, "Why should I try it? What if you're like me..."
Before she could finish speaking, He Hansheng cupped her face and kissed her lips. Just as she had guessed, the bitter taste of medicine in his mouth was exactly the same as hers.
"Ugh, we can't kiss anymore! If this keeps up, neither of us will be able to have a happy ending!" Shen Suining pushed him away with difficulty, and angrily swung her fist to hit his shoulder. "You never learn!"
He Hansheng raised his hand to wipe the corner of his mouth and laughed, "This is what true sharing of joys and sorrows looks like."
Shen Suining realized what he meant, rolled her eyes at him, and pushed the jar of candied fruit in front of him. "If you want some, just say so. Why make up excuses?"
He Hansheng didn't move, but just looked at Shen Suining. Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, the smile in his eyes gradually disappeared.
"Ningning," he called softly, hiding the myriad thoughts in his heart, "it's time to go back to Huadu."
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