Chapter 13 Chapter 13 You're not even helping me when I'm being held hostage...
Gu Shiyue took the medicine and slept for a while. He felt much better when he woke up in the morning. He wasn't that weak. The reason he had such a high fever yesterday was mainly because of the long journey and lack of rest.
It was just dawn, the windows were closed, and the room was still dark. Gu Shiyue picked up his phone from the bedside table and glanced at the time. The first thing he saw when the screen lit up was a message from Jiang Luo that had been sent ten minutes earlier.
Jiang Luo: Senior, how are you?
Jiang Luo: Has the fever gone down?
Gu Shiyue stared at the screen for a moment, then typed a reply: I've withdrawn.
Jiang Luo replied instantly: You woke up so early!
Jiang Luo: You really retired?
Jiang Luo: Did you take your temperature?
Gu Shiyue: No
Jiang Luo: Let's take your temperature, just to be safe. You have a forehead thermometer in your first-aid kit.
Jiang Luo: Let me know when the test is done, I'm going to wash my face now.
Gu Shiyue got out of bed to get a forehead thermometer and checked his temperature. The fever had indeed subsided. He sent a message to Jiang Luo: It's gone.
Jiang Luo: Okay, okay
Jiang Luo: It's good that you've withdrawn.
Gu Shiyue went to the bathroom to wash up, and when he returned to his room to change clothes, he received several more messages from Jiang Luo on his phone.
Jiang Luo: Senior, which evening are you free this week?
Jiang Luo: I'd like to invite you to dinner.
Jiang Luo: I didn't mean anything by it, I just wanted to thank you.
Jiang Luo: Thank you for hiring me to feed the cats.
Jiang Luo had wanted to treat everyone to this meal for a long time, but hadn't found a suitable opportunity to bring it up.
Gu Shiyue: No need
Jiang Luo: Use it, use it
Jiang Luo: Then how about you just consider it as me simply wanting to invite you to dinner?
Jiang Luo: It's not wrong for a junior to want to have dinner with a senior, right?
Jiang Luo sent over a meme of a pitiful puppy.
Jiang Luo: Can I, senior?
Gu Shiyue replied: Okay
Jiang Luo: Okay!
Just as Jiang Luo was about to ask which day to meet, Gu Shiyue suddenly replied: "I'll treat."
Jiang Luo: Huh?
Gu Shiyue: I won't eat your birthday noodles for nothing.
Jiang Luo: Hahaha
Jiang Luo: Then wouldn't I be taking advantage of you too much?
Jiang Luo: My birthday noodles were... well, let's just say they were a disaster.
Jiang Luo: That won't do.
Jiang Luo was collecting socks on the dormitory balcony and didn't have a free hand to type, so he sent a voice message: "It was agreed that I would treat you. I said it first, senior."
Gu Shiyue replied with a voice message: "You can have your meal next time. This time it's on me."
Jiang Luo pressed the record button, about to speak, when he received another voice message from Gu Shiyue. He listened to it, and Gu Shiyue asked, "Any objections?"
Jiang Luo was once again unwittingly put in control, and replied with a smile, "Alright, no objections."
Jiang Luo went inside. His roommates were all there, still half asleep. Since it wasn't convenient for him to send a voice message, he replied by typing: "So, when should we meet?"
Gu Shiyue: Do you need a tutor tonight?
Jiang Luo: Don't [spin around]
Gu Shiyue: Then let's do it today.
Jiang Luo: Okay
The two arranged a time, and Jiang Luo only had two classes that afternoon, so she could arrive early.
This semester, Jiang Luo's school team will be participating in the ICPC National Regional Competition, which will be around November or December. At noon, Qin Yifan, the team captain, sent a notice in the group chat, asking the team members to have a short meeting at the school team lab at 5:30 pm today, mainly to discuss preparations for the regional competition.
Jiang Luo and Gu Shiyue had originally arranged to meet at 5:30, but because of a meeting, they changed it to 6:00. Meetings usually don't last long, usually ending within half an hour, but today the coach was talking non-stop, and it seemed like it was almost 6:00 and still not over. Jiang Luo quickly sent Gu Shiyue a message: "Senior, I'm still in a meeting in the lab, I might be a little late, why don't you go ahead?"
They agreed to meet at the north gate of the school. Gu Shiyue had just come out of his advisor's office and was walking towards the school gate.
Gu Shiyue asked: Where is the meeting being held?
Jiang Luo: I'm at the Computer Science Institute
Gu Shiyue: Understood
Gu Shiyue: I came to find you
Jiang Luo: It's okay, you go ahead. I'll be there as soon as I finish my meeting.
Gu Shiyue: Let's go through it together
Gu Shiyue: Give me the location
Jiang Luo: What?!
Gu Shiyue: What the hell? Positioning.
Jiang Luo: Oh oh
Gu Shiyue found the Computer Science Institute according to the location Jiang Luo gave him. Jiang Luo had just finished a meeting and hurriedly got off the elevator with his backpack on. He sent messages to Gu Shiyue while running wildly out of the building. As soon as he left the building, Qin Yifan, who was following behind, grabbed him and said, "Where are you going? Why are you running so fast?"
Gu Shiyue stood a few steps away from the building and saw Jiang Luo being hugged from behind by a boy. The two were very close and talking.
"I was wondering why you seemed so distracted during the meeting; your mind was elsewhere," Qin Yifan said with a smile. "Why are you in such a hurry? Did you meet someone? Your date?"
Jiang Luo didn't pay attention to what Qin Yifan said; his mind wasn't on it. When Gu Shiyue said he would come to find him, he subconsciously glanced outside the building.
That glance met that of Gu Shiyue, who was standing not far away.
Seeing that Jiang Luo remained silent, Qin Yifan quipped, "You were right, weren't you?"
Jiang Luo snapped out of her daze and turned to look at him: "Hmm?"
"Hmm what?" Qin Yifan poked his forehead. "Look at how distracted you are, are you dating someone?"
Jiang Luo smiled helplessly: "Captain, why do you just spout off like that?"
Qin Yifan was incredibly strong, and Jiang Luo was unable to move because he had his arm wrapped around her neck. She tried to pull him off but couldn't.
"It's me again, spouting off whatever comes to mind. I saw it during the meeting just now; you looked at your phone at least ten times in half an hour."
"Captain, I'm in a hurry. Can you let me go first? Your neck is hurting from being strangled."
Qin Yifan still didn't let him go: "You'll be playing in a competition in just two months. Let me tell you, you're not in good shape."
"I really don't have a boyfriend..." Jiang Luo was at a loss and glanced at Gu Shiyue not far away.
Gu Shiyue looked over here, his face expressionless.
Jiang Luo ignored everything and directly begged him for help: "Senior, save me."
Qin Yifan was stunned for a moment, then looked up following his gaze. He loosened his grip, and Jiang Luo slipped out from under his arm.
Jiang Luo ran over to Gu Shiyue with her backpack on and jokingly said, "Senior, you're not even helping me when I'm being held hostage."
Gu Shiyue glanced in Qin Yifan's direction, then lowered his eyes and asked Jiang Luo, "Who?"
"Hmm?" Jiang Luo turned around and glanced back. "Oh, he's the captain of my competition team."
What competition team?
"Algorithm competition." Jiang Luo smiled. "I'm a computer science major."
Qin Yifan walked over, glanced at Gu Shiyue, and asked Jiang Luo, "Luozi, what's this...?"
“He’s a senior I know.” Jiang Luo emphasized the word “senior”. “Now I don’t need to explain anymore, right, Captain?”
Qin Yifan chuckled, "I misunderstood." He smiled at Gu Shiyue and greeted him, "Hello."
Gu Shiyue nodded in response.
"Ah." Jiang Luo nodded. "Of course, you've got your mind all wrong, completely off-topic."
Qin Yifan chuckled and flicked his forehead: "So what if I end up in Antarctica?"
People gradually came out of the building, greeting Jiang Luo and Qin Yifan as they passed by, and glancing at Gu Shiyue.
"Alright, I'll be going now," Qin Yifan said to Jiang Luo. "See you later."
Goodbye, Captain.
"Let's go, senior." Jiang Luo walked to Gu Shiyue's side.
Gu Shiyue asked casually, "Do you need to explain to your team captain who you're having dinner with?"
Jiang Luo turned to look at him.
"What do you need to explain?" Gu Shiyue said as he walked forward. "Tell me."
Jiang Luo realized what was happening and laughed, saying, "I kept checking my phone during the meeting and I left in a hurry, so he thought I had a date. Luckily you were there, otherwise I wouldn't be able to explain myself no matter what."
Jiang Luo suddenly turned her head to look at Gu Shiyue's face.
Gu Shiyue met his gaze: "What are you looking at?"
"Check on your overall condition," Jiang Luo asked him. "Is the fever really gone? How are you feeling? Do you still feel unwell?"
"Shouldn't we bring you a forehead thermometer to check your temperature?"
"Haha, I think it's a good idea. I should have let you bring it."
Someone greeted Jiang Luo from behind. Jiang Luo turned around and responded, but as she did so, the back of her hand accidentally brushed against Gu Shiyue's hand. Gu Shiyue's hand was quite warm, and Jiang Luo instinctively felt that his fever hadn't subsided. She widened her eyes and asked, "Why is your hand so hot? Is your fever really gone?"
"Do you need me to go back and get you a forehead thermometer now?"
"Don't joke around, senior..." Jiang Luo frowned.
Gu Shiyue really didn't expect him to be so serious about this matter, and whispered to him, "I said I'd back it, and I meant it."
Jiang Luo's brows were still furrowed.
Gu Shiyue said, "If you don't have a forehead thermometer, you can use your hand. If you're really worried, you can use your hand to take the temperature."
"Then I'll take the test." Before he finished speaking, Jiang Luo walked up to Gu Shiyue, raised his hand and placed it on his forehead, acting very quickly. Jiang Luo used to get nervous whenever Jiang Chen had a fever, especially if the fever wouldn't go down, it would make him feel very panicked, he had a kind of conditioned reflex.
Jiang Luo tilted her head back, her brows furrowed, and lingered her hand on Gu Shiyue's forehead for a few seconds, sensing his body temperature.
A gentle evening breeze stirred, causing Jiang Luo's hair to flutter slightly across her forehead.
Gu Shiyue lowered his eyes and stared at him silently.
Jiang Luo was relieved to find that the temperature on her forehead was normal, and her furrowed brows relaxed.
"Are you relieved?" Gu Shiyue asked.
Jiang Luo removed his hand and chuckled twice, "I'm relieved." He glanced at Gu Shiyue's hands hanging by his sides, "Why are your hands so hot? I really thought your fever hadn't gone down."
"It's because your hands are cold," Gu Shiyue said.
It's a cloudy day today, and the temperature has dropped; Jiang Luo's hands are indeed a bit cold.
The two of them are having barbecue today, which was ordered by Jiang Luo at Gu Shiyue's suggestion. Jiang Luo thought that Gu Shiyue probably wouldn't like hot pot, and that stir-fry wouldn't be cost-effective for both of them, so she chose barbecue.
The two of them didn't go too far; they went to a popular barbecue restaurant near the school.
As soon as they entered, the waiter warmly led them inside and picked out a window seat for them. Jiang Luo put his backpack on a chair next to him, and Gu Shiyue glanced at it—a simple black backpack with several fluffy plush toy keychains hanging on it.
Jiang Luo handed the tablet for ordering food to Gu Shiyue, but Gu Shiyue didn't take it and said, "You order."
Okay. Do you have any dietary restrictions?
Gu Shiyue has too many dietary restrictions, but he didn't list them all, only saying, "Just order whatever you want to eat."
"Do you want to eat beef?" Jiang Luo asked.
Gu Shiyue nodded.
"Where's the mutton?"
Gu Shiyue shook his head.
"Where's the pork?"
Gu Shiyue picked up his cup, took a sip of tea, and said, "Are you going to recite all the dishes on the menu to me?"
Jiang Luo laughed.
"Just tell me what you want to eat, you don't need to ask me."
Jiang Luo nodded: "Okay."
Today, Gu Shiyue is treating, so Jiang Luo didn't order too much. She ordered a few dishes she liked, and the rest were mostly beef, because Gu Shiyue eats beef.
After the meal officially began, Jiang Luo realized just how extensive Gu Shiyue's dietary restrictions were. According to his observation, Gu Shiyue didn't eat onions, cilantro, potatoes, lettuce, mushrooms, or offal. He only used sauces without scallions, ginger, or garlic, and only drank beverages without any sweetness.
Gu Shiyue ate very politely, quietly and slowly.
Jiang Luo was a little full. She rested her chin on her hands, sipped her cola, and looked longingly at Gu Shiyue. Suddenly, she laughed and said, "Senior, you look so good when you eat."
Gu Shiyue had just eaten a small piece of beef when she heard this and looked up at him.
“You don’t look bad when you eat,” Gu Shiyue replied.
Jiang Luo chuckled: "I'm serious, watching you eat is so relaxing, it feels like watching an ASMR video, a live one."
Jiang Luo took a big gulp of cola, then bit the straw and said, "But the main thing is that she's good-looking."
The natural flatterer is always sweet-talking, and when he praises someone, his eyes are very open and honest. He just stares directly at Gu Shiyue in a very generous way.
A note from the author:
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