Chapter 66
Although the days after returning to Hangzhou are dull, I can truly feel a sense of steadiness in my heart that I had never felt before.
Every day is filled with trivial matters, never feeling empty. As winter turns to spring, the transition between days always carries a sticky, damp chill, especially in southern cities. The daytime temperature might suddenly soar, but at night, a chilly wind from nowhere can send the temperature plummeting back down to below freezing. This cycle repeats itself until late February or mid-March, when the wind finally begins to bring a tangible, warm feeling of spring.
When the first southerly wind blew through the willow branches of West Lake, ripples rose on the surface. That day, Zhou Yiheng was squatting in the yard tying his shoelaces. The moment he looked away, he suddenly noticed a few wild daisies sprouting from the cracks in the bricks in the corner of the wall. Their tender yellow petals greeted the sun, and even the damp moss rooted nearby was shimmering with light.
In fact, Yang Ye had been feeling unwell the day she returned to Hangzhou, but she hadn't said anything. On the third night, she suddenly developed a high fever, becoming delirious and delirious. Xiao Xiao was alone at home that night. She wanted to take Yang Ye to the hospital and even called 120. But just as the call was about to go through, Yang Ye regained consciousness. She hung up the phone, fell back into bed, and shook her head at Xiao Xiao until she was completely exhausted and fell back asleep.
Zhou Yiheng rushed over as soon as he hung up the phone. The two of them sat by Yang Ye's bedside, trembling with fear, and when Xiao Xiao touched her forehead at dawn, her temperature had finally dropped a bit. They both breathed a sigh of relief, but that relief didn't last long. At noon, her fever returned, even worse than the night before.
Zhou Yiheng lifted Yang Ye's quilt and wanted to send him to the hospital.
Xiao Xiao stopped him. "I told her last night that I would take her to the hospital, but she refused. She was delirious with fever and kept shaking her head while lying in bed. She has a special body. If the hospital tests show anything wrong, what should we say and what should she do?"
"What should we do now? Will her fever continue to rise?" Zhou Yiheng was worried, and his voice suddenly rose several degrees. But when he saw Yang Ye lying on the bed, he could only lower his voice and say, "I just touched her wrist, it was burning hot there. A fever of 40 degrees Celsius can be fatal."
"Okay." Zhou Yiheng took a deep breath, stepped back, and offered another solution. "Instead of sending him to the hospital, let's take him to the clinic. There won't be much to check there. Just give him two bottles of saline solution to bring down the fever first, okay?"
"I'll go get her some thick clothes," Xiao Xiao said.
After returning from the clinic, Yang Ye stayed in bed for two days straight. His fever hadn't subsided, but had actually gotten worse. Liu Guoxing and Li Cheng had both visited, and both had mentioned that sending Yang Ye to the hospital, where they'd only been given an IV drip, and that medication had been ineffective. But this time, the person who stopped them was Zhou Yiheng, not Xiao Xiao.
When they took her to the clinic, the doctor asked them a lot about Yang Ye's condition. She asked about any previous illnesses, any allergies, any hidden diseases. Finally, the doctor said they needed a blood test to determine the cause. Fortunately, the clinic wasn't fully equipped, so they only ordered a standard blood test. But during the half-hour wait for the results, Zhou Yiheng and Xiao Xiao'e were completely paralyzed. Their minds went blank, not knowing what to do. They simply stood by her side until the doctor reviewed the list and declared it was nothing serious. The nurse then inserted the needle into the back of Yang Ye's hand, allowing them to breathe normally.
She was asked so many questions just in the clinic. What if she really went to the hospital and those instruments examined her whole body and feet? What would the results be? Could Yang Ye still keep her secret?
Everyone was nervous, each day filled with fear. Zhou Yiheng and Xiao Xiao took shifts, one looking after the children during the day, the other at night. Xiao Xiao simply slept on the floor in her room, and when someone suddenly woke up in the middle of the night, they would touch her forehead. When Liu Guoxing didn't have classes in the afternoons at university, he'd bring over the soup he'd had his auntie cook. Even though Li Cheng had been called away on an urgent project, he never stopped calling to check on her.
No one spoke aloud, but everyone was afraid in their hearts, afraid that she would not wake up after falling asleep, afraid that she would die while sleeping. Although Yang Ye's life was doomed decades ago, seeing her drowsy sleep, everyone stubbornly believed that she would not be killed by this unprovoked fever, and always felt that she could hold on, and hold on a little longer.
When Yang Ye recovered from his illness, spring had arrived in Hangzhou.
As spring arrives and flowers bloom, the early cherry blossoms in Taizi Bay cover the ground in pink and white, and the willow branches on Su Causeway sprout new green leaves, and it seems that even the air is filled with the moist fragrance of flowers.
When Xiao Xiao came back from outside, Yang Ye was drying the sheets in the yard.
She'd been lying in bed for almost a month, her body feeling worn out. In recent days, she'd been feeling much better and feeling lighter. So, taking advantage of today's sunny weather, she washed all the sheets and quilt covers she'd used during her previous illness, along with the quilt inside, and dried them in the sun to help the tormenting condition fade.
The sun shone on her back, casting her shadow on the ground in the courtyard.
"Boss, do you want to go for an outing?" Xiao Xiao was scrolling through the videos on his phone as he walked from the living room to the yard.
"Outing," Yang Ye replied. She had just thrown the quilt onto the clothesline. "Why did you suddenly think of going outing?"
"The weather is nice today," Xiao Xiao gave a reason Yang Ye would never refuse, "and now that you've recovered from your illness, you should go out for a walk and breathe some fresh air."
Yang Ye spread out the quilt and patted the dirt on it. "Then ask Li Cheng and Liu Guoxing if they are free recently."
"Professor Liu asked me last time when I would be free, and said that we could go out together when everyone was free. We planned to have a picnic last time, but then we ran into the incident with Teacher Fang, which made everyone lose mood. If we can get together again this time, it can make up for the regret from last time," Xiao Xiao said. She had just sent the message, but who would have thought that the other party would reply immediately.
"Professor Li said he is free today," Xiao Xiao said.
"Then let's go today. Liu Guoxing doesn't have classes this afternoon, and the weather is pretty good today." Yang Ye pulled down the clothesline at the other end, ready to hang the washed sheets. "Where should we go?"
"Professor Li just asked me this question," Xiao Xiao said, "How about going to that grassland?"
"The one Zhou Yiheng mentioned last time?" Yang Ye thought about it. It seemed like last month or so, Zhou Yiheng mentioned it while watching videos, saying that there was a grassland about an hour or two's drive away.
"I'll ask him later. Oops, where is he? Is he late again?!" Xiao Xiao took away the phone and looked into the house through the open floor-standing door. The living room was quiet and there was no sound at all.
"He just came and said he didn't have breakfast, so he went to buy breakfast," said Yang Ye.
"That's it." Xiao Xiao nodded.
The pillowcase hanging on the clothesline was blown up by the wind. Yang Ye reached out to flatten the corners and took a few clips from the rope next to it to secure it.
Looking at Xiao Xiao typing quickly with her head down, Yang Ye suddenly thought, "You said we were going there, why don't we stay overnight before coming back? It's really a rush to drive back and forth like this."
"It's okay to stay overnight. We can still play for a while. Let them bring some clothes." After sending the message, she put the phone back in her pocket and looked into the room again. "It's almost nine o'clock. It takes him so long to buy breakfast."
Yang Ye picked up the washbasin from the floor and walked back inside. Just then, she heard the sound of someone entering a password at the door. A figure in a light grey jacket entered, carrying two white plastic bags.
"You're back." Yang Ye didn't actually see him, but just said this subconsciously when walking towards the bathroom.
Zhou Yiheng put the plastic bag on the dining table and said, "I don't know what's going on with the breakfast shop today. You have to queue up just to buy a bun. I waited for two batches before I got my first. Boss, have you had breakfast yet? They just came out and are still hot."
"No, wait for me to put my things down," Yang Ye said before going up the stairs.
"I'm so hungry." Xiao Xiao walked over, picked up the unused chopsticks left on the table from eating takeout, and picked up a small pan-fried bun from the plastic bag. The bun was freshly baked, the surface was still steaming, and the bottom crust was crispy. After taking a bite, there was excess soup that was about to flow from the corner of his mouth. Xiao Xiao quickly pulled a napkin from the side to pad it.
"Let's go to the grassland you saw in your last video later." Xiao Xiao was still chewing the remaining half of a pan-fried bun in his mouth, and his words were unclear.
Monday took a bite of a meat bun and said, "I won't go to work today."
"No, tell the boss we're going outing this afternoon."
"The boss agreed?"
Xiao Xiao raised her eyebrows, "How can I disagree?"
As he was talking, Yang Ye came down from upstairs wearing a coat. "By the way, remember to go home and get some clothes to change into. We're going to stay there for one night before coming back."
"Okay," Zhou Yiheng said while drinking soy milk and made an OK gesture to Yang Ye.
Yang Ye picked up the milk on the table and twisted it open. "Remember to remind Li Cheng and the others not to leave anything behind."
"I know," Xiao Xiao nodded, reassuring her.
The afternoon sun streamed through the car windows, blazing down on them. The five of them sat in Liu Guoxing's newly purchased SUV, which had been parked in the basement for nearly two weeks. When they first got in, the interior still smelled of cool leather. Driving down the road, scorched by the sun, even with the windows closed, they felt a subtle warmth.
Li Cheng was sitting in the passenger seat with a huge camera bag in his arms. He originally wanted to take some photos in the car, but he didn't expect that his phone had been ringing non-stop since he got in the car, with messages constantly coming in.
Xiao Xiao and Yang Ye sat in the back seat, with Liu Guoxing, wearing a pair of reading glasses, watching a video of old songs on his phone and humming along. Zhou Yiheng was the only one sitting quietly in the driver's seat, his hands on the steering wheel. He occasionally glanced at the navigation to see if he needed to turn or change lanes. As the car crossed the bridge, the tall buildings on the roadside gradually dwindled, replaced by rolling green hills, one mountain after another. A few homes were hidden in the valley, and further ahead, the view widened. A gentle slope extended from the foot of the mountain to the edge of what was unclear whether it should be called a river or a lake. The grass was a fresh green, tinged with a hint of withered yellow.
After glancing at the navigation on the central control screen, Zhou Yi tapped the edge of the screen with his finger. "We're almost there. We're about to get off the highway at the next intersection."
"How long will it take?" Xiao Xiao asked.
"About ten more minutes," Zhou Yi replied with a glance.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
