Sobbing
With a loud bang, the door to the room was suddenly pushed open from the outside, the force so great that the door panel bounced back against the wall.
"Yun Jin—"
A hurried, even slightly broken shout came from the doorway. Looking up, Shen Yi'an stood panting in the doorway.
His chest heaved violently, his bangs were soaked with sweat, a single stray hair stood up in his messy hair, and his light purple eyes were filled with the eagerness of someone who had lost something and then regained it.
Seeing Shen Yi'an, Yun Jin felt relieved and smiled, "I'm fine."
As soon as she finished speaking, Shen Yi'an rushed over in a few steps, staggering as he lunged forward and opened his arms to tightly embrace Yun Jin.
He pressed Yun Jin's head against his chest, and she could even hear Shen Yi'an's rapid heartbeat. The strength of his embrace made Yun Jin feel a little suffocated.
Yun Jin was stunned for a moment, then reached out and gently hugged him back.
Only then did he realize that Shen Yi'an's body was trembling slightly.
Is he afraid?
Yun Jin gently patted Shen Yi'an's back, while giving Yun Chen a wink.
Yun Chen immediately waved to Qi Qi and the others, and whispered, "Hurry up and go."
The crow cawed crisply and flapped its wings and flew away, while Qiqi remained motionless, seemingly wanting to continue watching the excitement. Yunchen had no choice but to step forward and push Qiqi away.
Before she could even wipe her sweat, she turned around and found her mother still watching the two embracing with great interest, her tail wagging back and forth with fascination.
Yun Chen: ...
She had no choice but to turn back, hug her mother tightly, and walk out, gently closing the door behind her.
Amidst the chaos, the room gradually quieted down, and Yun Jin could even hear Shen Yi'an sobbing softly.
"Shen Yi'an... why are you crying?" Yun Jin reached out and touched Shen Yi'an's face, then placed a gentle kiss on his forehead, and whispered to comfort him, "I'm fine now."
"Really?" Shen Yi'an's voice was a little hoarse as he buried his head deeply in Yun Jin's shoulder. "You have no idea how worried I was about you... Yun Jin, I thought... I was the one who hurt you."
“It’s not your problem.” Yun Jin hugged Shen Yi’an, stroking his arm with one hand. “It has nothing to do with you, it’s…my problem.”
Yun Jin suddenly felt a shallow bump. She looked down and saw a light red, scabbed bloodstain on Shen Yi'an's arm.
"You're injured?" Yun Jin was startled and quickly asked, "What happened?"
"It's nothing... a small matter, I just accidentally scratched myself." Shen Yi'an gave a vague answer, glossing over the incident.
Yun Jin recalled some vague fragments; it seemed like something had hit the ground outside the door, making a loud noise.
She hesitated for a moment, unsure how to begin, but still asked, "When I fainted, were you outside... alright?"
Shen Yi'an was silent for a few seconds before answering in a low voice: "Outside the door, I managed to stop them... then I was called to the company to handle some matters, and after I finished, I rushed back."
He looked up at Yun Jin and said, "However, all of this is over, Yun Jin. There will be no penalty for breach of contract, and no one will force you to do things you don't like anymore."
Yun Jin found it increasingly strange, sensing that Shen Yi'an was hiding something from her: "How did you do that? What impact did it have on you?"
"Don't ask so many questions, Yun Jin," Shen Yi'an didn't answer directly, but just hugged her tighter, as if trying to persuade Yun Jin, or as if trying to persuade himself, "Just trust me, Yun Jin."
"Shen Yi'an..." Yun Jin wanted to ask more, but her vision suddenly went black and her body couldn't support her and she wanted to fall.
"Yun Jin, what's wrong?" Shen Yi'an was startled and helped her lie down slowly.
"She can't get too excited right now; she needs to rest."
As a stern voice rang out, the door was kicked open with a paw, and the black cat strode in with elegant steps.
But Yun Chen, Qi Qi, and Crow, who were eavesdropping by pressing their faces against the door, all lost their balance when the door suddenly opened and fell into a heap with cries of "Ouch!"
Seeing this sudden combination of humans, cats, birds, and dogs, a vein popped out on Yun Jin's forehead. She was both ashamed and angry, and gritted her teeth, saying, "You...don't you know anything about privacy?! Get out of here!"
After speaking, Yun Jin became emotional and couldn't stop coughing. Shen Yi'an patted her back to help her catch her breath.
"I'm sorry, we just..." Yun Chen started to explain, but she clearly hadn't thought of what to say.
Qiqi quickly chimed in, "We were just really worried about you! There's been no sound from the room, that's why we did this."
“Ah, yes, we’re all so tired, yet we still have the energy to care about you. You should thank us,” the crow chimed in.
Shen Yi'an was clearly taken aback by this amazing scene, and subconsciously said, "Uh... thank you... thank you."
"What kind of privacy is this?" The black cat jumped onto the bedside table, her golden eyes filled with incomprehension. She dropped a bombshell in her calm tone, "You two were just hugging and crying, what's wrong with seeing that?"
“Uh…” Upon hearing this, Shen Yi’an’s face turned red to the roots of his ears, and he froze, his eyes darting back and forth between Yun Jin and her mother.
"You're not allowed to eavesdrop! You're not allowed to peek!" Yun Jin was so ashamed she wanted to disappear into the ground. She covered her head with the blanket and shouted loudly.
The black cat shook its head in confusion, looking like it couldn't understand kids these days, and said, "Don't be so loud. You've only been awake for a short time. Save your energy and get some rest."
The atmosphere was extremely awkward, with a palpable sense of social stagnation in the air.
Finally, Yun Chen couldn't stand it anymore. She held her head, feeling exhausted, and quickly changed the subject: "Um, aren't we still looking for that herb, what's it called again? Don't disturb your sister's rest here."
Qiqi immediately responded: "It's... that plant with big green leaves."
They exchanged glances.
“I don’t know its name,” the crow said, looking left and right. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Yun Chen sighed. Without another word, she dragged and tossed everyone out of the room. Finally, she gave the two awkwardly standing on the bed a look that said, "You two continue," and silently closed the door once again.
With a click, the world finally fell silent.
Hearing the footsteps outside gradually fade away, Yun Jin breathed a sigh of relief and peeked her head out from under the covers.
"You rest first, I'll go make something to eat." Shen Yi'an said this and left.
Seeing his still-reddened ears, Yun Jin couldn't help but smile.
Would Shen Yi'an also feel embarrassed? Yun Jin wondered.
The trees outside the window rustled. "Let me rest for a while," Yun Jin said to herself. A wave of intense fatigue washed over her, and she yawned, her eyelids drooping heavily.
But sleep brought no peace. In his dream, there were all sorts of bizarre and grotesque shadows that kept changing shape. One moment they would turn into Qin Yi's appearance, a face without a smile, her red lips opening and closing, silently uttering threatening words.
A moment later, she twisted into Liu Li's shape, her bright red fingernails forcefully tapping the bloody breach of contract clauses on the contract.
The next second, it collapsed into a series of cold cameras, flashing an ominous red light and constantly beeping, appearing from all directions and pointing at her.
Finally, the shadow spread out and turned into countless blurry faces, surrounding her and accusing Yun Jin in chaotic voices.
Yun Jin tossed and turned in these nightmares, unable to sleep peacefully.
"Wake up, Yun Jin, it's time to get up and take your medicine."
A familiar voice pierced through the layers of nightmares and woke Yun Jin. She struggled to open her eyes and saw the completely dark night outside the window, and Shen Yi'an standing by the bed.
"Did I sleep for that long?" Yun Jin sat up, rubbed her eyes, and subconsciously looked around. "Where are Yun Chen and the others? Have they left?"
“Yes,” Shen Yi’an nodded, “They went back to their rented room. Some of them didn’t really want to leave, but Yun Chen decisively took them away.”
He imitated Yun Chen's mannerisms, making a gesture of hugging from the front and dragging from the back.
Yun Jin chuckled and rubbed her forehead.
"It's alright, don't worry. I promised them I would take good care of you." Shen Yi'an walked over and patted Yun Jin's head.
After saying that, he placed a bowl of plain white porridge on the bedside table. "Eat something first to warm your stomach, then take your medicine."
Yun Jin's gaze swept over the bowl of porridge and then she saw a strip of small blue pills placed next to it.
A familiar unease washed over her, and she asked, "Where did these medicines come from? Were they prescribed by the hospital?"
“Yes and no,” Shen Yi’an poured a cup of hot water and placed it beside him, explaining, “This is medicine prescribed by the veterinary hospital. Uh… this kind of medicine is more effective and safer for your mother.”
"Okay..." Yun Jin replied listlessly.
However, something even more terrifying was yet to come.
"Also," Shen Yi'an added, looking at Yun Jin, "your mother specifically instructed that you can only eat light food now, and you can't eat canned meat or snacks for the time being."
"What? No way—" Yun Jin instantly felt that her entire cat life had lost its color and turned gray. Those fragrant canned meats and the spicy dried fish she longed for were about to leave her for the time being.
Yun Jin let out a wail and looked up at Shen Yi'an pitifully.
Seeing Yun Jin's crestfallen face, Shen Yi'an felt both heartache and amusement. He scooped up a spoonful of white porridge, blew on it carefully, and brought it to her lips.
"It's alright, Yun Jin. Listen to me, as long as you rest well and recover, it will only take a few days. Once you're fully recovered, you can eat as much as you want."
"I have my own hands." Yun Jin took the bowl of white porridge from Shen Yi'an with a lifeless expression and drank it in small sips.
Regardless, with him patiently accompanying and coaxing her, Yun Jin suddenly felt that the plain porridge wasn't so hard to swallow after all.
Shen Yi'an watched Yun Jin finish her porridge. After a while, he handed her the medicine and hot water.
Yun Jin held two carefully placed pills in one hand and a water glass in the other, her face bearing an expression of resignation to her fate.
She first took a few sips of water to moisten her throat, and then, as if she had made up her mind, quickly threw the pill into her mouth and tilted her head back sharply.
The movements were executed in one smooth, fluid motion.
"Did you swallow it?" Shen Yi'an asked, holding a tissue and preparing to hand it to her.
Yun Jin didn't answer. She just lowered her head, covered her mouth with her hand, and coughed a few times. When she opened her palm, the two pills lay unharmed on it, the blue sugar coating slightly melted.
"Yun Jin," Shen Yi'an looked at the pill and then at Yun Jin, "You can't possibly not even swallow such a small pill, can you?"
“Yes,” Yun Jin said with a bitter face as she began to recount her painful past. “Once, when I was taking medicine, I choked so badly that I almost suffocated. Ever since then, I’ve had a psychological trauma and I can’t swallow anything anymore.”
"So how did you take medicine when you were sick before?" Shen Yi'an asked thoughtfully.
“…Dry…chew it dry,” Yun Jin replied shyly.
It was Shen Yi'an's turn to facepalm. He looked at Yun Jin and said, "This won't do. The sugar coating on many pills is to protect the gastric mucosa or to control the absorption of the medicine by the stomach. Chewing them dry will not only damage the stomach, but also affect the efficacy of the medicine."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
