Chapter 28: Fever-reducing medicine 38.6 degrees.
The sun was three poles high in the sky, and a husky male voice echoed intermittently in the air of the living room filled with sunlight.
"I'm not here, so please pay attention to the acceptance meeting. It's best to put bugs and optimization projects on the agenda."
"Taking sick leave makes it seem like you're entrusting your orphan to someone else," Zhuang He teased over the phone. "Are you planning on not coming back?"
"Can you hope for me to be well?"
"Relax, the disaster will last for thousands of years."
Turning on the hands-free mode, Fang Qingzhuo poured himself a glass of warm water and said, "Well, compared to you, a thousand-year-old bastard, it's the same."
"...Looks like I didn't burn myself into confusion." The other party continued to curse, "Why didn't I burn your silver tongue into silence?"
"That's not as sexy as you."
Zhuang He laughed angrily, then he started to talk about something else with a bit of bad intentions: "It must be hard to be alone. How about I beg you to be kind, brother? I'm doing this with reluctance. I'll bring you a sick meal and visit you as soon as the meeting is over."
"No need, I have hands and feet." Fang Qingzhuo opened the medicine box and found a thermometer. "Also, if you want to be kind, go to the desert and raise camels and write your own green legend. I'll sponsor the plane tickets."
"Fang Qingzhuo, we've been classmates for four years. Don't think I can't hear your hidden meaning. You're the green legend, your whole family is green..."
A sudden crackling sound erupted from the receiver. Fang Qingzhuo moved the phone further away. While taking his temperature, a new message popped up on the screen: [My class is over.]
He quickly turned off the call and without thinking, he made a voice call to the person who had sent the message.
"Beep..." The moment the call was connected, both ends fell silent tacitly. Fang Qingzhuo's mind was blank. He rushed to call back and didn't even organize his opening remarks.
After a few seconds of silence, Luo Shu was the first to call out his name: "Fang Qingzhuo, you're looking for me."
"Yeah." With a little bit of awkwardness after revealing his true feelings, Fang Qingzhuo responded softly, "Is get out of class over?"
He had a completely different expression from the one he had just retorted to.
"I was in class just now and didn't see the message." Luo Shu paused, unable to conceal her excitement, and asked, "What do you want to talk to me about?"
"It's a nice day today."
"Then what……"
"Want to come out..." This wasn't the first time they had a dinner date. Fang Qingzhuo couldn't explain the sudden fluttering of his heart. He rested his head on the sofa, one hand holding his phone to his ear, the other hand resting on his forehead, which was as sticky as a ball of paste. "Let's eat together? I know a place..."
"I'm afraid not today. We're having a dorm dinner."
The following text was all stuck in Fang Qingzhuo's throat. He couldn't spit it out or swallow it, and as a result, he couldn't help but cough.
This person has been coughing since last night, and Luo Shu couldn't help but worry: "What's wrong? Is he feeling unwell?"
"I have a slight headache and fever."
"Is it serious?"
"Taking it." Fang Qingzhuo pulled out the thermometer he had been tucked under his armpit and looked at the number on the scale that had jumped to 37.5. Without blinking, he called it a "38.6 degrees."
"It's likely he got caught in the rain last night." Luo Shu asked with concern, "Do you have any fever-reducing medicine at home?"
Fang Qingzhuo paused in grabbing Gan Kang's fingers, then decisively and neatly threw it into the trash can.
"No."
As soon as he finished speaking, he coughed in a fake manner and added, "It's okay, you can go to the dinner party without worry. I can just sleep at home. I once had a cold and recovered after sleeping for a day and two nights without taking any medicine."
"That won't do. I'll come over to buy some medicine."
From the time the phone call was hung up until the doorbell rang, Fang Qingzhuo waited at the entrance hall. In order to verify that the fever was indeed serious, he washed his face with hot water and ruffled his hair before opening the door.
As soon as Luo Shu entered the room, she didn't even have time to change her shoes. Without saying a word, she inspected him thoroughly. She stood on tiptoe, pushed aside the strands of hair on his forehead, and used the back of her hand to feel his body temperature: "It's really hot."
It is said that a woman's heart is as deep as the sea, and so is a man's heart. Not long ago, he was trying every means to get her to come over, but at this moment, facing a face full of anxiety and heartache, Fang Qingzhuo felt so weird and regretted it. He shouldn't have pretended and made her worry.
Luo Shu looked at Fang Qingzhuo who was silent in front of her, his eyes were dull, and it was so abnormal that it couldn't be more abnormal. She had common sense that sick people would be slow, but his reaction was obviously stupid?
He's not moving at all. Could he be burned out?
She smoothed back her messy bangs and asked him seriously, "Fang Qingzhuo, what is our relationship?"
The cool fingers poked at his forehead, which was quite comfortable. Fang Qingzhuo said slowly: "Lovers."
"Is there anything else?" Luo Shu slowly guided.
“Alumni.”
"What else?"
Fang Qingzhuo pondered for a long time and said, "For now, I can't think of anything."
It wasn't that he hadn't refuted anything, but that he hadn't thought of it yet. Luo Shu decided not to embarrass him anymore: "We still have a comradeship."
"?"
"Because, you possess me, and I possess you."
“…”
"Isn't it funny?" Luo Shu lifted his rosy cheeks and lowered them a little. "It's over. He's not really delirious, is he?"
"I'm fine, it's nothing serious."
"Serious!" He covered his forehead, which was only getting worse. "I've finally gotten back to normal. I don't want to go back to the old days overnight."
Fang Qingzhuo was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
"No, take the medicine quickly." As she said this, she hurriedly opened the box of antipyretic medicine, studied the instructions herself, and threw the remaining medicine to the patient. When she finished studying and looked up again, Fang Qingzhuo had already broken out a pill and put it directly into her mouth and swallowed it with water.
"Why did you eat?"
"Didn't you ask me to eat it?" Fang Qingzhuo looked innocent.
She started: "Oh, you can't take this medicine on an empty stomach, spit it out quickly."
If Fang Qingzhuo hadn't said that she had already swallowed it, it would have reached her stomach by now. Looking at her posture, she would definitely be ready to dig her throat to induce vomiting.
Luo Shu was so angry that she sent this troublesome fool to the living room, and put on an apron and soaked in the kitchen to cook porridge. She covered her ears and stole the bell and shared with him the precedent of getting on the bus first and buying the ticket later. Similarly, as long as the problem was not solved, there was still room for remedy.
Fang Qingzhuo didn't agree whether there was any room for remedy, but he felt firsthand that the medicine in his body was gradually taking effect.
He felt groggy and blinked more frequently. He stared intently at the figure busying around for him in the open kitchen across from him, repeatedly washing rice under the faucet. It was really hard for her; he had no idea his barren kitchen even had such a thing. Then, with his lips opening and closing, he gestured and eloquently recounted what had happened when he came up: "Fang Qingzhuo, is there a stray dog downstairs in your neighborhood? It's off-leash, barking at everyone it sees. It's probably as high as me when it jumps, and its teeth could at least fit a pot when it opens."
The vivid expression hooked him like a hook.
"Did it bite you?"
"No." Luo Shu stirred the rice porridge in the casserole and took the time to look over. "But it roared at me and bared its teeth."
"Maybe this is why no one wants it." Fang Qingzhuo spoke with feeling, but there was a hidden meaning in his words.
The afternoon sun lazily came in through the window and climbed up to his eyebrows. He tilted his head to look, and immediately the air blew into his ears.
"It didn't actually bite anyone, so you can't just kill it with a stick. It's a bit aggressive, but maybe it just ran away on its own and couldn't find its owner, so it's just a momentary reaction of stress."
The warm sun dazzled his eyes, and his eyelashes trembled slightly. Perhaps the effect of the medicine had reached its peak, and Fang Qingzhuo's eyelids became heavier. Before his consciousness fell, an idea took root in his mind.
"Fang Qingzhuo, I only put a spoonful of sugar in it because it's too sweet. You can try it first. If it's not enough, try again..." Luo Shu brought out a bowl of steaming white porridge, and her words suddenly stopped when she saw the man lying quietly on the sofa.
His eyelids were closed, as if he was uncomfortable, his eyebrows were slightly furrowed, one hand was holding a pillow against his chest, and the other hand was clenched into a fist and hung on the edge of the sofa, as if he was completely asleep.
Time passed, the light in the room faded, and Fang Qingzhuo slept until sunset with no sign of waking up. Luo Shu was distracted, watching the TV series at 2x speed episode after episode. She didn't remember the general plot, but she glanced to the other side whenever there was any movement. Unable to resist her curiosity, she exited the page on her mobile phone and tiptoed over. On the large sofa, Fang Qingzhuo was still sleepy as usual, with a little black hair soaked with sweat on his forehead. His breathing rhythm was steady, and his fair complexion had returned to normal. It seemed that the fever had subsided.
After finally seizing the initiative, she took advantage of him being half asleep to point fingers at him and chatter away with a lot of complaints, saying things like, "You have come to this day, and you can't find a girlfriend as competent as her even with a lantern." She said that he really didn't know how to appreciate the blessings he had, and her voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible.
From beginning to end, the person on the sofa was unconscious and had no idea what was happening around him, like a fish on the chopping board, being trampled on by anyone.
After satisfying her craving for food, Luo Shu stopped talking and lay down beside him to carefully observe Fang Qingzhuo's rare harmless side. It was not as eye-catching as the lively facial features that invaded all your senses at the first moment. In the stillness, the traces of sorrow hidden in the arrogant brows finally glimpsed into the light of day. She inexplicably thought of the freehand paintings in the history of art written by the Chinese who were reserved all their lives. They did not require meticulous brushwork, but only a few strokes and a few spots of ink to express their ideas and emotions.
This helpless look is indeed rare, and the opportunity should not be missed. Luo Shu took out her mobile phone and turned on the camera function. In order to achieve the best photo effect, she even bravely climbed onto the sofa to devote herself to art, and took pictures of her face from all kinds of tricky angles, looking for composition and camera positions.
During this time, a strand of curly hair stuck in the corner of her eye, which was really unsightly. She reached out to fix it with a professional spirit, but when her wrist was halfway extended, someone suddenly grabbed it.
The movement was so fast that there was no warning. Luo Shu was caught off guard and immediately lost her support and fell down. When she got up, Fang Qingzhuo had woken up at some point, and his originally distracted eyes had regained their usual unyielding look.
For a moment, an awkward staring fit filled the air between the two of them. Luo Shu was never good at beating around the bush, and now she was riding on someone, a sick person, and more importantly, she was caught red-handed by the real owner. How was she supposed to argue?
"Oh, there's a little mole at the corner of your eye." She feigned surprise, trying to evade the question, and pointed at the spot as she spoke. "Did you know about it?"
Fang Qingzhuo below said nothing, repeatedly suppressing the itch in his throat and staring at Luo Shu.
Of course he knew he had a mole, so why bother asking him? He didn't even want to expose this clumsy way of confusing the audience.
Luo Shu forced a polite smile: "Are you still sleepy? Do you want to sleep a little longer? I won't disturb you."
"No, I woke up early."
"when?"
Fang Qingzhuo suddenly wanted to touch the place she had touched. His fingertips secretly curled up for a moment, but he finally gave up: "When you were taking pictures with the flash on."
Luo Shu's smile froze: "Then why didn't you continue pretending to sleep?"
"I'm afraid you'll slap me."
No, how did she show that she likes to hit people?
"Why?"
"Because I deserve it." He answered lightly.
This self-awareness successfully made Luo Shu withdrawn, and she was a little unable to come to terms with it.
But Fang Qingzhuo called her lovingly at this moment: "Luo Shu."
"Um?"
Although there was a pillow between the two hot bodies, there was an indescribable tension between them.
"I'm sweating all over. I want to take a shower. Can you get off me first?"
He was so polite. Luo Shu felt even more uncomfortable and moved away from him awkwardly.
Fang Qingzhuo lowered his head, clutching the back of his neck as he shuffled into the bedroom, not shying away from the slightest hint of leniency as he shed his sweat-soaked shirt. Luo Shu sat at the armrest of the sofa, hands on her knees obediently, her gaze fixed on him with the utmost respect. As the hem of her shirt lifted and lifted her skin inch by inch, the vast Medusa tattoo covering two-thirds of her back quickly filled her entire field of vision.
Just as Luo Shu was amazed that Fang Qingzhuo had such a wild side, as if he guessed that someone was peeping at him, he suddenly turned around, and his tight muscle lines, which were comparable to those of various bloggers on the Internet, were immediately exposed to the air in every detail, meeting her enlightened gaze.
Unlike the gangster-like skin on the back, the skin on the front is clean and spotless. What's rare is that the skin is actually fair to white.
Then, the person in question is perfectly composed and open, looking back without any qualms, the kind of gaze that's staring at you but not really staring, giving you the unwarranted illusion that it's him who's being taken advantage of, but it's actually you. In a moment of subtle change, the familiar formula returns, the familiar Fang Qingzhuo.
Although he is an abstinent young man, he always inadvertently reveals the ease and control of a veteran in the love field, which makes her have wild thoughts.
"Do you know that your expression right now is like someone who has never seen a man before?" He turned back, not only joking but also giving an example. "The episode about the Kingdom of Women in Journey to the West is just like everyone else seeing Tang Sanzang."
The two untied drawstrings on the waist of his casual pants trembled violently with his steps. Luo Shu felt itchy inside, but she couldn't explain why. She looked away with a discerning eye and denied it with a tongue-tied look: "Yes... your tattoo is special."
"Really?" He swam back to the living room area slowly, passed the coffee table, and deliberately stopped in front of Luo Shu, "There are other places."
He bent down and whispered in her ear which parts of the body to touch. At that moment, Luo Shu could almost feel the residual heat from the high fever the man had brought.
"Want to see it?" Fang Qingzhuo slowly revealed a malicious smile from the bottom of his eyes, extending to his lips, just like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue to lure humans to eat an apple.
"No, thanks." She stammered, her eyes avoiding him, and her ears turned visibly red.
His girlfriend couldn't handle the teasing, so Fang Qingzhuo stopped laughing and grabbed his phone from the coffee table, typing away the incoming calls, then went back to his room. About half an hour later, he emerged looking brand new from head to toe, even his hair a delicate touch. He walked over to Luo Shu, his voice cold and ruthless, "Let's go."
Just one short word makes the listener feel like he is trying to deny his own mistake.
Luo Shu stood up reluctantly: "You're not going to kick me out again, are you?"
She curled her lips, "I didn't make you angry this time. Wait until I finish watching this episode, okay?"
"..." Fang Qingzhuo was in no hurry to explain. He followed her request and looked at the electronic screen. At first, he thought it was some trendy hit drama, but after a closer look, he saw that it was a CCTV12 legal education program.
The taste is really unique.
"I'll take you back to school." He raised his chin to indicate the sky outside the window, and at the same time, he walked towards the door. "You can catch up on the drama in the car. If you really want to stay until night to watch my tattoo, just ignore what I said."
Luo Shu followed reluctantly, trying to stay a little longer: "I haven't cleaned the kitchen yet."
After changing his shoes, Fang Qingzhuo leaned against the door frame and picked up the car keys on the chest of drawers in the entrance hall: "An aunt will come to clean up."
His eyes fell on the little figurine running towards him in slippers that were several sizes larger than his own, and he seemed to be lost in thought.
Sensing she couldn't escape the reality of being expelled, Luo Shu plopped down on the shoe-changing stool, sighed deeply, and resigned herself to her fate: "Forget it, it's too much trouble to send her back and forth. I can take a taxi back to school by myself."
"You really don't need me to send you off?"
It would have been fine if he hadn't asked. But when he did, Luo Shu was filled with bitterness. "Damn it, Fang Qingzhuo, he just destroyed the bridge after crossing it." Her voice rose unconsciously: "If I say no, then no."
"But I want to give it to you."
Sure enough, the hand that was pulling the shoelaces stopped immediately.
Fang Qingzhuo bent his knees and half-knelt to continue helping her tie her shoelaces: "If I don't send you off, how can I help you get back the place you lost downstairs? If I don't send you off, how can I go to dinner with you?"
With a twist of his slender fingers, he quickly tied a slipknot, nodded with satisfaction, and took something out of his coat pocket with an expression of seeking praise. He opened his palm like a magic trick, and a silver clavicle chain was hanging between his index finger.
Under the light, it was a platinum necklace inlaid with three circles of diamond pendants, sparkling brightly. The brand name was engraved on the lock plate. Luo Shu didn't know if it was because of dazzle, but she vaguely made out the shape of a snake. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed a silver snake entwined at the head and tail, swaying from side to side, making Luo Shu unable to take her eyes away.
Coming back to her senses, her eyelashes fluttered, with surprise, confusion, and questions. She looked at Fang Qingzhuo, and he was also looking at her, in the warm sunshine that melted the ice and snow.
"It's for you."
"Why did you suddenly think of giving me something?"
"It's not sudden." He smiled, his half-closed eyes filled with the deep affection he showed towards a child. "It's a gift for our one-month anniversary."
It turns out that even the turbulent eyes and heart can ripple.
It was almost ten o'clock and there was no one in the girls' dormitory.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Xia Yimo unbuckled her seatbelt and told her boyfriend who was playing games beside her: "I have a full class tomorrow morning. Come pick me up after dinner."
As she was speaking, the back of the Rolls-Royce that had been driving in front of her since she entered the school jumped out and immediately caught her attention.
Noticing his girlfriend's distraction, the man looked up and casually glanced at the graceful figure flying into the dormitory door. Compared to his girlfriend, they looked like two different types: "Do you know her?"
"Yeah, my roommate."
Upon hearing that he knew her, the man immediately became interested. He threw his phone away and blurted out a sour guess: "It seems that your roommate has a sugar daddy!"
Hearing this, Xia Yimo paused in opening the car door, turned around and asked him seriously, "Do you have any evidence?"
"At my age, I can only afford a Cayenne. Look at that car in front. With the added features, it can buy at least four of mine. If it's not a rich sponsor, what is it?"
"Then there's no evidence." Xia Yimo warned him, "Don't ever say that about my roommate again. She's not that kind of person."
The man hadn't expected her to defend her roommate so much. He usually didn't seem to care much about his classmates, so he couldn't help but say something insincere: "Yes, yes, yes, I won't say it again. Aren't you in a hurry to get back to the dormitory? I have a party tonight, so I can't accompany you."
After a moment of silence, Xia Yimo got out of the car tactfully. Before she had taken two steps, the engine of the car behind her roared, and the car drove away in a cloud of dust, like an arrow shot from a bow that cannot be retrieved.
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