The sounds of the monitoring equipment rose and fell in this space, and the sunlight reflected off the electronic display screen.
The events of the dream were still vivid in Lu Shizhen's mind. She looked at Xu Shiyue's hand holding the apple, and the familiar feeling of overlapping with the dream made her feel somewhat dazed.
She hadn't thought about that hospital room for a long time, and she didn't know why she suddenly dreamed about it.
The disability in her legs was just the most obvious sign of Lu Shizhen's poor health; until she was six years old, she was constantly fighting for her life.
The square-shaped ward was because she needed a very high level of sterile environment.
So it's strange that her room door was suddenly opened.
Why did that originally horizontal corridor turn into a long, desolate vertical corridor, with another child who seemed to be about the same age as her standing on the opposite side...?
"Not eating?"
As Lu Shizhen was thinking this, another question came from within her sight.
Xu Shiyue was holding a freshly peeled apple in her hand. The red peel had been removed, and the golden flesh was exceptionally even and round.
She raised her gaze slightly and looked calmly at Lu Shizhen, showing no annoyance at Lu Shizhen's earlier disregard for her question.
Lu Shizhen had just dreamt of apples, and now Xu Shiyue was inexplicably asking her if she wanted to eat one. The feeling of dreams and reality overlapping at some point gave her an inexplicable sense of unease, and she subconsciously asked, "Why apples?"
Lu Shizhen still had a fever, and her throat, which had been dry all night, was a little hoarse.
Xu Shiyue looked up as she listened, placed the knife in her hand on the bedside table, and said, "Weren't you just talking about apples in your dream?"
Lu Shizhen paused for a moment, and indeed remembered that she had just shouted "Get out of here, apple!" in her dream.
It turns out she didn't just shout it in her dream.
"Thank you." Lu Shizhen nodded, then sat up and took the apple that Xu Shiyue had peeled.
"It's nothing," Xu Shiyue said calmly.
A crisp sound of an apple being bitten echoed in the quiet ward. The slightly sour juice burst on Lu Shizhen's tongue, as if distinguishing between dream and reality.
Yes, kid.
The hand that held the apple that had rolled into the corridor was clearly a child's hand; how could it possibly overlap with Xu Shiyue's hand?
Moreover, even if that was Xu Shiyue's childhood, it doesn't prove anything at all.
As the saying goes, what you think about during the day, you dream about at night.
Lu Shizhen recalled the nightmare that Xu Shiyue had when she first tutored her in physics, a nightmare that included physics problems.
She felt that it must be because of her fever, plus the fact that she had read a few chapters of an infinite flow novel in the car during the day, that she dreamed of that eerie corridor and the little girl holding an apple.
She and Xu Shiyue are from different worlds, so how could they possibly have any overlap or intersection with each other in their original world?
What's more, it was in that sterile ward where she had lived alone for three or four years.
"You really like eating apples?"
As Lu Shizhen was thinking this, Xu Shiyue's voice pulled her back to reality.
It was rare for Xu Shiyue to speak to her first. Having already comforted herself, Lu Shizhen nodded and said a phrase she often repeated over the years: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."
"Is that so?" Xu Shiyue said calmly, a hint of a smile in the corner of her eyes.
She looked at Lu Shizhen, who was sitting on the hospital bed, and asked, "But you still couldn't stay away from the doctors, could you?"
Lu Shizhen was taken aback upon hearing this.
The apple in her hand was set against a backdrop of a blue and white striped hospital gown, and a rather heavy blanket was pressing down on her in the ward.
Judging from this, she certainly wasn't very convincing.
Somewhat displeased that her profound truth had been so easily disproven, Lu Shizhen argued, "It's better to believe it's true than not to believe it's true. Besides, I'm not sick, but..."
Lu Shizhen blurted out that her hospitalization was because of Xu Shiyue.
But she stopped abruptly before she could finish speaking.
Lu Shizhen didn't regret falling off the boat while trying to save Xu Shiyue at all. She was even somewhat relieved that no one had noticed that she had been punished by the system for losing both her legs because of this incident.
She did it willingly, without any complaints or resentment.
However, if you tell this to another party involved, the meaning changes.
The faint scent of apples overpowered the smell of disinfectant in the room, and their coolness pressed against Lu Shizhen's fingers.
She didn't know how Xu Shiyue managed to peel the apple so cleanly when she couldn't see clearly. Perhaps it was because she was Xu Shiyue, the omnipotent Black Moonlight in the original text.
Even though she is omnipotent in the eyes of everyone in the story and even all the readers, it still cannot change the fact that she is just a girl who has just turned nineteen.
Lu Shizhen was afraid that Xu Shiyue would blame herself for what she said.
She didn't want to blame herself.
Thinking this, Lu Shizhen immediately pretended to be nervous, took a bite of her apple, and vaguely changed the subject: "Oh dear, I remember I was unconscious in the morning, how come it's still morning now? How long have I been asleep?"
Lu Shizhen's acting skills were not very good; she even portrayed surprise in a somewhat hesitant and exaggerated way.
The sentence that was forced to pause took an abrupt turn, and the transition was full of obvious flaws.
Xu Shiyue could only see clearly, not hear clearly.
She knew what Lu Shizhen hadn't finished saying, and she also knew why Lu Shizhen had suddenly changed the subject.
Although it was rather clumsy, Xu Shiyue had to admit that she was protected by this person.
Xu Shiyue watched Lu Shizhen's exaggerated performance, which was full of theatrics, without any intention of exposing her. Instead, she touched the watch on her wrist and replied in cooperation, "It's 7:11 in the morning now. You've been unconscious for nearly 20 hours. If you don't wake up in another four hours, it will be dangerous."
"So it's been that long..." Lu Shizhen was indeed surprised, and finally understood why she had been given such an expensive monitoring device.
She recalls that her parents only put her on this device during a particularly critical situation.
After all, this thing costs several zeros just to open once.
They really are a wealthy family.
Lu Shizhen sighed inwardly and couldn't help but look around at the large single room, which was even more luxurious than the wards she had stayed in before.
Then, as if she had just remembered something, she suddenly turned around and looked at Xu Shiyue: "Have you eaten? Have you been here since yesterday?"
"No." Xu Shiyue shook her head and answered Lu Shizhen's question in an orderly manner, "I left for a while when Mr. Lu came last night."
"Brother?" Lu Shizhen tensed up upon hearing Lu Shize's name. Before she drowned, Lu Shize was the person she was most worried would make things difficult for Xu Shiyue. "Did he call you out? Did he make things difficult for you? Did he scold you?"
Xu Shiyue listened to Lu Shizhen's rapid-fire questions and couldn't hide her emotions as she curled her lips into a smile.
As if remembering something, she lightly touched the knife on the bedside table with her finger and asked in a joking tone, "Lu Shizhen, why do I feel that you and your brother aren't as close as the rumors suggest?"
Lu Shizhen was taken aback by Xu Shiyue's question.
The man's tone was indeed relaxed, but it was like a bomb that exploded right next to Lu Shizhen's ear.
She didn't know if it was because she felt guilty, or if her feverish mind couldn't immediately grasp the meaning of Xu Shiyue's words. Guilt felt like fine drumbeats, pounding against her chest.
Is Xu Shiyue starting to doubt herself?
The large ward fell silent, with only the tireless, orderly sound of the medical equipment operating.
Xu Shiyue listened to the sounds from the monitoring equipment, slightly lowered her gaze, and said in the same voice, "Lu Shizhen, do you know that if Mr. Lu heard these words, he would be heartbroken?"
Huh? Is that what you mean?
Hearing Xu Shiyue's additional statement, Lu Shizhen immediately relaxed a lot: "Oh, even if you don't tell me and I don't tell him, he won't know."
As she spoke, she raised her hand and rubbed her face, which had been tense, and then explained in a conciliatory manner, "You know, my brother has always been very concerned about me. Today, no, yesterday, such a serious thing happened, and I was afraid that he would be too worried and make a mistake... I was just worried about you."
Xu Shiyue raised an eyebrow slightly and said, "I didn't realize you were so worried about me?"
Lu Shizhen was taken aback.
She had shown Xu Shiyue her affections countless times before, but this was the first time Xu Shiyue had responded to her advances.
But why does this response sound somewhat...ambiguous?
Xu Shiyue's voice was no different from before, and her question was as calm as ever.
Lu Shizhen couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she felt that something had subtly changed, and the ordinariness didn't seem so ordinary after all.
The sun slowly rose from below the window to its highest point, and Xu Shiyue sat by the window, bathed in its light.
Lu Shizhen could tell at a glance that the dark gray hoodie she was wearing was not her usual style. It was loose and oversized, covering her whole body. Although it wasn't exactly neat, it unexpectedly gave off a casual vibe.
It was as if the aloofness that surrounded her all day long had been washed away.
It looks good in a slightly different way.
Lu Shizhen looked at Xu Shiyue sitting by the window, and then thought carefully about what she had just said, and what Xu Shiyue had just said. She felt inexplicably hesitant and wavering.
Is this considered ambiguous?
This isn't considered ambiguous, is it...?
You can say these things to ordinary friends too.
It's okay to ask this kind of question between ordinary friends, right...?
"Ding, ding, ding..."
Lu Shizhen was still analyzing herself in her mind when the alarm clock on the bedside table rang.
She turned her head to look at the electronic alarm clock with some confusion, noticing that it had just been taken away when a slightly cool hand pulled it back.
The alarm clock's notification sound was deliberately muted just before it was about to ring again, the last lingering sound turning into a distorted electrical current. Xu Shiyue stood up unhurriedly and placed her hand on Lu Shizhen's forehead.
The sun shone brightly outside the window, casting a long, slender shadow that shrouded Lu Shizhen in darkness.
She was completely unprepared, and Xu Shiyue closed the distance between them one-sidedly. Her heartbeat, which was already racing due to the fever, suddenly quickened.
The sunlight transformed into a golden pen in Lu Shizhen's vision, outlining a bright golden edge around the girl in her line of sight.
The flowing lines swept across her long hair, sprinkling each strand with golden hues, delicately outlining her slightly curled eyelashes, and adding a touch of brilliance to the tip of her nose.
Finally, it landed on the lips.
The pale cherry blossom pink petals parted slightly, allowing a gentle breeze to escape softly.
As if a memory had flashed back, Lu Shizhen suddenly remembered that Xu Shiyue had given her air underwater yesterday.
The warm oxygen landed on her lips and tongue, and she still remembered the softness she felt when her lips were covered by another's.
Just like the feeling of the wind Xu Shiyue exhaled landing on her lips at this moment.
She kissed Xu Shiyue in the water...
He kissed Xu Shiyue...
They kissed...
Lu Shizhen felt a burning sensation on her face, and her whole body felt hot.
It's like a cold getting worse.
At this moment, Xu Shiyue withdrew her hand and calmly said to her, "The nurse told us to check your temperature every hour. It doesn't feel as hot as before."
As she spoke, Xu Shiyue picked up the thermometer and said to the girl sitting on the bed, who seemed to have crashed, "Let's check her temperature again, just to be on the safe side."
Lu Shizhen was still caught up in the kiss she had just remembered and didn't realize that Xu Shiyue's actions were a bit unnecessary. She obediently accepted the thermometer that Xu Shiyue handed her and said, "Okay."
Unintentionally, their fingers touched for a fleeting moment.
The intense heat brushed against the slight coolness, instantly creating countless wisps of heat in Lu Shizhen's world.
Just then, the door to the ward was suddenly opened.
A rabbit-like figure rushed into Lu Shizhen's arms, her voice trembling with tears: "Sister..."
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