Chapter 30
Bai Nan felt like she had a fever.
She finally made it to evening self-study and went to find Zeng Li, but the office was empty. None of the teachers were there; they had all gone somewhere.
Without a leave slip, the dormitory manager wouldn't let her return to the dorm, so she had no choice but to endure her discomfort and go back to class to continue her evening self-study.
Evening self-study time at No. 1 Middle School is from 8 pm to 11 pm.
She pulled out a packet of cold medicine and went to the water dispenser in the back corner to make another cup. This was the fourth packet already, but her symptoms still hadn't improved.
Bai Nan wrapped her school uniform jacket tighter around herself. She was feeling cold all over and had a headache, so she couldn't concentrate on the questions at all.
After struggling for half an hour, she finally couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep.
At first, no one noticed, since Bai Nan would fall asleep on her desk as soon as get out of class ended, and the class leaders basically didn't care when there were no teachers patrolling during evening self-study.
Besides, everyone's feelings have been complicated lately because of Huang Wanghe's exam results, so no one has taken the initiative to talk to him anymore.
But Chen Shu obviously didn't feel that there was anything wrong between the two. The day before, she had asked Bai Nan why he hadn't been with Xu Xin lately.
Chen Shu was the first to notice that Bai Nan was not in a good condition.
At first, she thought Bai Nan was asleep again, but when she saw that Bai Nan's body was curling up tighter and tighter and that she was trembling a little, she realized something was wrong.
She quickly patted Bai Lu's back: "Look at Bai Di, does he have a fever?"
Upon hearing this, Bai Lu turned his head and glanced at Bai Nan. Only then did he notice that Bai Nan's face was pale, her cheeks were flushed with an unnatural red, and she was sweating profusely on her forehead.
He quickly put his hand on her forehead and checked her temperature. "She really has a fever. What should we do? Should we tell the teacher?"
When Bai Lu turned to talk to Chen Shu, Huang Wangcai snapped out of his reverie and asked blankly, "Who has a fever?"
"Bai Di, you have quite a high fever." Bai Lu pouted. "You've already got a fever... Why weren't you this weak when you were bullying Bai Nan before..."
Huang Wang didn't hear his mutterings clearly. After realizing what he meant, he immediately got up, moved the table aside, and squeezed against the wall next to Bai Nan's table.
He reached out to test it and found that the temperature was already a bit hot, which meant that she had been burning up for at least the afternoon.
Chen Shu squeezed in as well, and the discipline committee member, hearing the commotion, quickly said, "Hey, what's wrong? Keep it down, the director of moral education is on patrol tonight."
"Bai Di has a fever, and his temperature is a bit high. Does anyone have a thermometer?" Chen Shu touched his temperature and found that it was indeed a bit high, so she immediately asked the other students.
Huang Wang took off his school uniform jacket and draped it over Bai Nan's shoulder. At that moment, Bai Lu suddenly thought, "The infirmary should have fever reducers. Should we carry her there?"
Huang Wang shook his head: "The infirmary is closed. I'll go to the hospital with her, but I need to tell the head doctor first, otherwise we won't be able to leave."
Chen Shu quickly said, "Let's take your temperature first. The class monitor has a thermometer, here you go."
Huang Wang took the thermometer, squatted down, and with great effort, managed to put it under Bai Nan's armpit.
Bai Nan felt a little uncomfortable and twisted her shoulders a few times, almost dropping the thermometer. Huang Wang quickly reached out to hold her arm steady.
"How are you going to get there? By taxi? There aren't many taxis at this time, and you probably didn't bring your phone, right? In that case, you won't be able to get a Didi (ride-hailing service) either."
Chen Shu's series of questions left Huang Wang bewildered. He was preoccupied with getting Bai Nan to the hospital for an injection as soon as possible, forgetting that it was too late and it would be difficult to get a taxi.
At this moment, the class monitor and the discipline committee member arrived. After thinking for a while, the class monitor said, "I have an electric scooter. If all else fails, Wangzai, you can ride your electric scooter to take her to the hospital."
The discipline committee member glanced at the time: "Five minutes have passed. Let's check the temperature first, so we can explain when the teacher comes back."
Huang Wang quickly took out the thermometer, looked at the ceiling for a while, and said, "39.5℃, no, we have to get him to the hospital right away."
At this moment, Wang Zhuo suddenly raised his head from under the desk: "Wait a minute, I just sent a message to the old teacher and called for help."
Chen Shu glanced back and saw the phone that wasn't properly hidden in his desk drawer. She said menacingly, "Class monitor, I'm reporting someone for bringing a phone to class..."
"Alright, stop arguing. Bai Di's temperature is so high, if it keeps rising, he could be boiled into an egg, a soft-boiled one!" the squad leader said irritably, then turned to Wang Zhuo and asked:
"Who are you calling? Do you have a car? How long will it take to get there?"
The discipline committee member also hurriedly asked, "Did your teacher reply to your message? Can you leave the school gate?"
As the class leaders became disorganized, the students started whispering among themselves, and the classroom became noisy.
Just as Class 1 of the first year of high school was in complete chaos, a figure suddenly appeared at the door.
This person had long legs and was very fast. In just a few steps, he reached Bai Nan's table, touched the back of her neck, and then picked her up by the waist.
"Ah!" Several girls screamed involuntarily after seeing clearly, and quickly covered their mouths with their hands after realizing what had happened.
Bai Lu looked on incredulously: "Brother Xin? What brings you here?"
Xu Xin had already carried Bai Nan to the front door. Hearing his voice, she turned around and glanced back.
For some reason, Bai Lu felt a chill.
Xu Xin then strode away, and Class 1 immediately fell silent.
After a while, the class monitor also looked at Wang Zhuo with a sinister gaze and said in a flat tone, "Don't tell me the person you're calling is Senior Xu Xin..."
However, Wang Zhuo did not notice that her tone was off, and nodded very innocently, thinking: They are a couple, who else should I call if I don't call him?
The class monitor quickly walked over to him, swiftly reached into the desk and pulled out a cell phone: "Bringing a cell phone to class, confiscated."
The discipline committee member was still wondering about the teacher's reaction and hurriedly asked her, "Class monitor, quickly check if the teacher has returned yet? If she hasn't, I'm going to be skinned alive when she gets back, waaaaah..."
Chen Shu, always eager for a good show, leaned over to the class monitor and craned her neck to look at the phone screen, saying, "Let me see, let me see."
The classroom instantly descended into chaos again, except for one person who stood silently in place, staring at the school uniform jacket on the ground, his hand hanging down at the waist of his pants clenched tightly.
Less than two minutes later, the roar of an engine came from downstairs, and everyone in the class crowded to the window to look down.
A black sedan sped downstairs like a black cheetah, leaving only a blur in the night before disappearing from the school gate in an instant.
"Wow, isn't that the principal's Audi A6L? He usually treats it like a precious treasure, but the principal actually took the student to the hospital himself?"
"Are you stupid? Xu Xin transferred to the senior year of high school and got into the top class. Do you think he could get in without connections?"
While the squad leader was watching the commotion by the window, Wang Zhuo stole his phone back.
Bai Lu curled his lip after hearing their words:
“Brother Xin has a driver’s license.”
Chen Shu turned around sharply, "If you can talk, then talk more! Quick, quick, what other gossip do you know—pui, what other news do you know? Tell me everything about them!"
The discipline committee member was completely exasperated: "No...can anyone tell me if the teacher even knows about this?!"
On the other side, sitting in the driver's seat of the black Audi was indeed Xu Xin, who not only had an E license but also a C1 license.
At that moment, he was only glad that he had taken the C1 exam during the summer vacation, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to get her to the hospital so quickly tonight.
C City No. 1 Middle School is the largest high school in the vicinity, so its location is naturally remote, and the nearest hospital is more than ten kilometers away.
Therefore, the school specially equipped the infirmary with a full set of facilities, but the working hours could not be adjusted, since the school doctor position was not under the principal's jurisdiction.
However, most students get minor illnesses like headaches and fevers, which can usually be resolved during the school doctor's working hours. It's rare to see someone like Bai Nan endure it for so long.
Xu Xin parked the car, made an emergency appointment on the mini-program, and then carried Bai Nan out of the passenger seat.
There happened to be a doctor on duty in the emergency room. He placed Bai Nan on the resuscitation bed. Seeing that he looked nervous, the doctor quickly took out his stethoscope.
While asking and listening, ask: "Where does the patient feel unwell? Is their heart beating a little fast? Do they have a fever?"
He touched Bai Nan's forehead and found that her temperature was a bit high: "Put the thermometer on her first, take it out in five minutes, and call me if it's above 38°C."
The doctor was busy, and after saying that, he turned and left.
Xu Xin stayed by Bai Nan's side, staring at the clock on the wall. When the minute hand reached two marks, she suddenly opened her mouth and murmured.
He brought his mouth close to Bai Nan's lips, but her voice was weak and low; all he could hear was her repeating something intermittently.
"...Grandma..."
Xu Xin looked up and gazed at her furrowed brows, then couldn't help but reach out and touch them, gently smoothing them out.
"...Grandma...misses you...sob...sob..." This time he heard clearly.
Besides their similar eyes, Bai Di and Bai Nan also have fair skin. At this moment, her pale and weak cheeks were flushed with an abnormal redness, and her lips were bloodless, making her look very haggard.
Looking at her like this, his heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly by a hand, and a sharp pain shot through him.
Five minutes later, he immediately went out to call the doctor, and the emergency room returned to silence.
It wasn't exactly quiet; Bai Nan was talking unconsciously, but the sounds she made were as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
She was surrounded by thick fog, so thick that she couldn't see her hand in front of her face. She clearly remembered that just a few minutes ago she was catching cicadas in her grandmother's yard, but she didn't know when she had gotten here.
After traveling through the thick gray fog for a while, Bai Nan suddenly realized that this place was very familiar, especially the clusters of black holes existing in the gray fog.
She came here, before Master Huang Qi died...
As he chanted scriptures and twirled his whisk, she felt her soul lighten and float up, arriving at this very place.
She looked inside herself and found that her body had turned a bright yellow, just like last time.
Bai Nan subconsciously imagined searching for the same luminous yellow color as her in the gray fog, just like last time; it was an intuition.
She drifted for a long time, searching for a long time, but couldn't find another luminous yellow. Everywhere was a chaotic thick fog and unfathomable black voids. She wanted to give up and go back to her grandmother's courtyard.
"...Grandma..."
Xu Xin, who had returned with the doctor, heard Bai Nan's murmur as soon as she entered the emergency room. This time, her voice was loud and filled with unease.
He immediately stepped forward and held Bai Nan's hand tightly in his own: "Nan Nan, Grandma went to the backyard to fetch water... She'll be back soon, don't be afraid..."
"Oh dear, her fever has reached 40℃. Here, you stay here and watch over her. Give me your phone, I'll go get the medicine." The doctor looked at the two people's hands clasped tightly together and realized that he would have to go to the pharmacy himself.
"Thank you." Xu Xin glanced gratefully at the doctor. He really couldn't leave right now. Bai Nan gripped his hand tightly the moment he touched it, using even more force than he did.
She slowly tightened her grip on Xu Xin's arm, holding it tightly, and mumbled, "Grandma...cold..."
Xu Xin bent down using the momentum, resting his other hand on her face. At that moment, her breath was noticeably hot, and when it sprayed onto the inside of his wrist, it made his ears turn red.
After what seemed like an eternity, the doctor finally returned carrying a medical tray. He glanced at Xu Xin and said, "Young man, are you tired? There's a chair over there, why don't you sit down?"
Xu Xin was in an awkward position, but he dared not move, afraid that Bai Nan would suddenly wake up.
She had her grandmother with her when she had a fever, but after she woke up...
He didn't want to see her disappointed eyes again, not even for a second.
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