take care of
"Don't go!!!"
Wen Xubai suddenly woke up from his sleep, startling the person sitting by the bed!
"I'm not leaving! I'm not leaving!" Qi Zui looked at the person who suddenly sprang up from the bed with a shocked expression and reached out to support his swaying body.
"What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?" Seeing the terror in Wen Xubai's eyes, Qi Zui quickly put down what he was holding and waved five fingers in front of him.
"Chen Che, Chen Che, can you hear me?" Seeing that the other person was just staring blankly and did not respond for a long time, Qi Zui panicked a little.
Has it burned your brains?
Just as he was about to get the thermometer to take the other person's temperature, his buttocks left the wound and he was suddenly grabbed by the shoulder and pulled back!
Qi Zui was startled and, caught off guard, slipped and fell back!
When his head slammed into the other person's shoulder and a pair of warm arms wrapped around his neck, Qi Zui's eyes widened suddenly!
"Don't go..."
Hearing Xu Bai's warm breath on the back of his neck, Qi Zui couldn't help but tremble. Xu Bai's voice, which was a little hoarse due to his illness, softened Qi Zui's heart.
Just as things were about to turn dangerously close, Qi was so afraid of crushing Wen Xubai that he used his legs to control his body.
But now...
"cough······"
Qi Zui's ears were already red. He suppressed his wildly beating heart, bent one knee on the bed to ease the pressure on his hands, and then lifted himself up from the position of supporting himself on the bed into the air.
With his hands hovering behind Wen Xubai's back, he thought for a long time before gently patting the other's back and explaining, "I'll go get you a thermometer to see if your fever has gone down..."
Before she could finish speaking, the arm around her neck tightened even more.
"Don't go."
A repeated sentence.
It was summer, and Wen Xubai was wearing thin pajamas. His bare arms touched his bare neck, and the fleshy contact made Qi Zui feel his blood rush to his head, and even breathing became difficult.
"Chen Che...did you have a nightmare?" Qi Zui swallowed hard and patiently comforted him.
"Hmm..." After a long while, a barely perceptible nasal sound came from the other side.
"What did you dream about?" he asked softly.
This time, there was no immediate response, but rather a long silence.
If you don't want to talk about it, then don't. That's what Qi wanted to say most. She didn't press further, but simply maintained that posture, holding Wen Xubai.
After a long while, Qi Zui heard Xu Bai's fluffy head nuzzle against his neck, almost making him a little distracted again. Xu Bai whispered in his ear, "I dreamt about my parents..."
"Huh?" Qi Zui was somewhat surprised, as he had never heard Xu Bai talk about his parents before.
After thinking for a moment, he still asked, "What... happened to them?"
The words had barely left his mouth when Qi Zui clearly felt the other person's body tremble for a moment...
"They died in a car accident...when I was six years old..."
Upon hearing this, Qi Zui was instantly stunned. He really hadn't expected it to be like this. Last time, when Wen Xubai told him that his parents were gone, he thought they had passed away from illness or something.
"Then your brother..." he asked subconsciously, but stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence.
A melodramatic, year-long story of an orphan who grew up alone and relied on her older brother suddenly played out in his mind...
After hesitating for a moment, Qi patted Wen Xubai's back tenderly, feeling that it was more important to soothe his emotions first. So, she changed the subject halfway through her sentence and comforted him, "It's okay, it's okay, it's all in the past, it was just a dream..."
Once the person in his arms had calmed down a bit, he cautiously asked, "When you were little...did you live with relatives or older generations?"
At this point, Wen Xubai lowered his eyes, paused for a while, and then suddenly pushed away Qi Zui's arm and sat up from his embrace.
"What happened?" Before Qi Zui could react, the fragrance that had been lingering around his nose suddenly disappeared.
The next second, a warm hand covered his forehead.
Qi Zui: "?"
Wen Xubai frowned, looking at his face which had turned red without him noticing, and said, "You have a fever too? Why is your face so red?"
He slept and felt much better. Now, apart from a slight soreness in his throat and head, and some weakness, he was no longer as groggy as he had been yesterday.
When he looked up and saw Qi Zui's face was flushed, he naturally assumed that Qi Zui was also sick.
Qi Zui suddenly realized what was happening, grabbed his hand, and then, under Wen Xubai's bewildered gaze, explained, "Well, maybe...maybe the room was too hot..."
It's true that summers in Jiangcheng are hot.
Wen Xubai frowned as he looked at the air conditioner on the wall that Qi Zui had repaired last time. Suddenly, he reached over and grabbed the remote control from the bedside table, preparing to turn the temperature down a bit.
Just as he was about to press the button, Qi Zui quickly stopped him, "Hey, hey, it's okay, it's okay, this temperature is fine. You still have a fever, don't catch a cold!"
The air conditioner remote was snatched from his hand. Wen Xubai tilted his head and looked at him, his expression clearly questioning.
Who just said the room was hot?
Qi turned his head away guiltily, and suddenly noticed the white porridge on the side, which he had brought in and let cool.
As if he had suddenly found a suitable reason, Qi Zui quickly picked up the bowl of warm congee and held it in front of him, smiling, "I just went to cook congee, so I got hot in the kitchen. Now, as soon as I came into your room, I felt so much cooler..."
The man held a bowl in one hand, while making exaggerated gestures with the other, accompanied by a beaming expression. Wen Xubai found it amusing and couldn't help but cover his temples to suppress his throbbing nerves.
But some people who just can't see things clearly can't understand the helpless expressions on others' faces.
Qi asked with concern, "What's wrong? Headache again?"
Wen Xubai: "·······"
"Hmm..." He didn't want to explain too much, so he simply agreed.
Fortunately, this tactic worked. The other person immediately stopped talking, instead stuffing the thing in their hand into his, and then pulled his blanket up, tucking the corner of the blanket in as they said, "Eat the porridge first, so it won't get cold later. While you eat, I'll massage your head."
As he spoke, he pushed Wen Xubai to the side, placed his large hand on the other's temple, and slowly began to press.
Wen Xubai wanted to refuse, but when the weight on his head actually came, he was stunned.
The movements, neither too light nor too heavy, neither too fast nor too slow, with just the right amount of weight, were all soothing his tense nerves. Waves of tingling sensations washed over him from the top of his head. After a long while, Wen Xubai couldn't help but ask, "Qi Zui, have you ever studied massage?"
“Yes,” Qi Zui said frankly. “When I was fourteen, I worked as an apprentice at a massage parlor, thinking that I could massage my mother when she had a headache, and I could also earn some tuition fees by doing this.”
As if he had just thought of something very interesting, he suddenly leaned over and smiled at him, "You know what? I went to apply for a job at a massage parlor. They only accepted people over sixteen. I wasn't old enough, and I was afraid the owner wouldn't hire me, so I patted my chest and swore to the owner that I was definitely over sixteen! The owner saw that I was tall and didn't suspect anything or even check my ID! Hey! I actually got away with it!"
Qi smiled smugly, patting his chest as he spoke, "How about that? Pretty impressive, right?"
Wen Xubai couldn't help but shake his head and smile, scooping up a mouthful of white porridge from his bowl and taking a sip. "Why didn't you stay there any longer?"
It's soft, sticky, and smooth, with a rice aroma and a slightly sweet taste. I think I added a little bit of white sugar in case he couldn't drink it.
"Ahem..." Qi Zui was a little embarrassed now, scratching his head and saying, "But it got discovered later..."
"So you were kicked out?" Wen Xubai raised an eyebrow.
"Um······"
Come to think of it, the boss was running a successful business and was too busy to handle everything, so he wanted to find someone to help out, but a minor showed up. It would have been better if he hadn't investigated, because once he did, he'd be in jail. Nobody wants to get into trouble, so it's understandable that he kicked Qi out.
As he was deep in thought, Qi Zui suddenly said, "Oh, by the way, Chen Che, I have a question for you."
"What?" Wen Xubai tilted his head.
Qi Zui stared at the bruise on the corner of his mouth, his eyes darkening for a moment. "You...did you offend someone?"
"No," Wen Xubai said, puzzled. "Why are you suddenly asking this?"
The movement behind him paused for a moment before Qi Zui pointed at his face and continued, "Who hit you on the face?"
Wen Xubai suddenly remembered the injury on his face and subconsciously touched the corner of his mouth, feeling a slight sting.
Wen Xubai thought for a moment, then said expressionlessly, "I smashed it myself." He then took a sip of porridge as a cover-up.
"How is this possible?! You smashed it yourself and it looked like this? You're really going to hurt yourself!" Qi Zui clearly didn't believe it, his face saying, "Do you think I'm stupid?" "What kind of deep-seated grudge do you have???"
"Really." Wen Xubai pretended to be serious, glanced at the top of the wardrobe out of the corner of his eye, and then calmly said, "Last time I wanted to put a storage box up there, but I didn't hold it properly and it fell down."
Qi Zui looked in the direction he was pointing and indeed saw several storage boxes. He frowned slightly, hesitated for a moment, then turned back and asked with some doubt, "Really?"
“Really.” Wen Xubai nodded.
The man's eyes flickered, and it was unclear whether he had any news.
After a long pause, Qi Zui scratched his head, seemingly annoyed, and said, "Alright... next time you want to put something down, just come downstairs and find me, and I'll put it down for you."
Wen Xubai nodded.
Qi Zui thought for a moment and then added, "And...and also, if you are ever bullied, you must tell me, and I will help you get revenge!"
Wen Xubai joked, "How do you get revenge? Help me beat him up?"
Qi Zui looked shocked: "This is a society governed by law! Of course I'll call the police for you!"
"Are you sure?" Wen Xubai gave Qi Zui a meaningful look. "Who started it when we ran into those thugs at the noodle shop? And that time at the bar..."
With all his past controversies dug up, Qi Zui quickly covered Wen Xubai's mouth, exclaiming in shock, "How do you remember all of this?!"
Wen Xubai struggled for a moment in dissatisfaction, glared at him, and Qi Zui slowly released him, scratching his head sheepishly and saying, "Well... well, we can't just stand by and watch someone die, can we? We should definitely help those in need!" As he spoke, he even raised his fist with a sense of righteousness.
"Looks like you've really been in quite a few fights before." Wen Xubai shook his head helplessly, then patted the shoulder of this "Mr. Qi" who was bursting with a sense of justice very solemnly, and said with a heavy responsibility, "Remember to call the police first next time."
Qi Zui: "..."
Qi Zui immediately felt a little embarrassed. After a long silence, he looked at the injury on Wen Xubai's face with a strange expression. Suddenly, he patted Wen Xubai's shoulder solemnly and said, word by word, "Then you must remember to call me, no matter what happens."
A pair of bright, black eyes held unwavering sincerity. Wen Xubai and Qi Zui stared at each other for a long time, and suddenly a feeling stirred within them, an indescribable emotion welling up inside…
Not for any other reason than that this person's eyes were so intense and sincere, without any boastful arrogance or contempt, but a truly earnest request.
Qi Zui stared intently at him, as if determined to get his way. Wen Xubai couldn't withstand the "visual assault" and had no choice but to quickly look away, muttering under his breath, "Okay..."
Qi Zui smiled with satisfaction and turned back to continue massaging Wen Xubai. Wen Xubai quickly sipped his porridge to suppress the turmoil in his heart.
After sleeping all day, I was indeed a bit hungry, and I quickly finished a bowl of plain porridge.
Scooping up the last bit of rice paste at the bottom of the bowl, Wen Xubai suddenly seemed to remember something and turned to ask Qi Zui behind him, "Aren't you going to help out at the noodle shop today?"
If he remembers correctly, today shouldn't be a day off, right?
But Qi Zui calmly replied, "I've taken leave."
"A request for leave?" Wen Xubai was taken aback, and it took him a while to react. He pointed to himself hesitantly and said, "Is it because... me?"
As soon as he said those words, he suddenly realized that he was being a bit narcissistic.
But looking at the bowl in his hand, and remembering that Qi was the first person he saw before he fainted and after he woke up, he couldn't help but suspect that Qi Zui had taken care of him at his house for a day...
"Yeah, you're in this state, I can't just stand by and watch you die, can I?"
Qi Zui took the empty bowl from his hand, put it aside, and then took out a tissue to wipe his mouth.
"Are you full?"
Wen Xubai nodded and pressed for details: "What does 'like this' mean?"
He couldn't help but touch his face. Did he look really that bad? Wen Xubai quickly turned his head away.
Qi Zui didn't notice his abnormality. Thinking he should make him realize the seriousness of the problem, he exaggerated, "You have no idea how haggard you looked when I came in. Your eyes were dark, your lips were pale, and water was dripping from your head. You were walking unsteadily, and it felt like you would fall over if you were touched!"
His expression was exaggerated, his voice rose and fell, and he spoke with great seriousness, even pointing to the place where Wen Xubai was lying.
"Oh yes, that's it! I had just helped you down when you closed your eyes and fell asleep right away! It scared me to death! If I hadn't happened to be right next to you, you probably would have collapsed right at the bathroom door! That wouldn't have been a matter of taking medicine or not, you would have had to go to the hospital for stitches!"
Qi Zui was secretly pleased, thinking: Now you should feel a little threatened, right? But when he met Wen Xubai's eyes, which were full of "unconvinced", he knew that the other party did not really agree with his statement.
Wen Xubai clenched the white paper in his hand, crumpling it into some wrinkles, and said somewhat displeasedly, "I'm already 24 years old."
The implication is that he is already an adult and can take care of himself.
Qi Zui choked for a moment, stunned for a long while, before letting out a deep sigh and saying, "Yes, you are capable of taking care of yourself, but it's always better to have someone else around. More people means more support, and if something happens, it can be resolved more quickly, right?"
Wen Xubai thought about it and felt that it made some sense, so he didn't refute it. Besides, the other party really came to help him and had taken care of him for so long without complaint, so why should he be pretentious?
After hesitating for a while, he spoke up: "Thank you, Qi Zui."
"Oh, it's no big deal." Qi Zui waved his hand dismissively. "Friends should help each other out, after all."
“Hmm…” Wen Xubai responded softly.
There was a moment of silence, then Qi Zui suddenly asked, "Hey, Chen Che, why don't you live with your brother?"
Wen Xubai was taken aback, not expecting him to ask this question so suddenly. After a pause, he said, "It's inconvenient."
“What could two grown men possibly do…” Qi Zui suddenly slapped his forehead. “Oh right, you and your brother probably don’t work in the same place, so it’s definitely a bit inconvenient.”
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