Chapter 4 Fever
Ji Tong took a deep breath.
"Fine, I'll keep this from you, but you're not allowed to mention him in the dorm anymore."
One second passed.
"And you're not allowed to mention me to him."
Another second passed.
"And you are not allowed to contact them either."
The three of them immediately stood up straight.
"Received, Tong sir."
Ji Tong told them not to mention it, so Li Yuan and the others didn't even utter the word "Gu," but the situation became increasingly complicated.
"Tongtong has been staying out for two nights already, and tomorrow is the 10th, and the two of them haven't exchanged a single word."
Li Yuan and his friends originally thought that as long as they were at school, they would see each other all the time and the two of them would always be able to talk to each other.
But the truth is, Ji Tong hasn't been seen at all these past two days. He doesn't stay at the hotel, doesn't eat with them, and leaves right after class. Lin Ge waits at the front door, but he leaves through the back door. He doesn't accept friend requests, doesn't check text messages, and doesn't answer phone calls. If he hadn't shown up for every class, Li Yuan and the others would have almost thought that Ji Tong had disappeared.
But actually, Ji Tong wasn't thinking about anything.
He simply didn't want to talk; he just wanted to prove that, look, in such a small place as An Da, you can avoid meeting if you don't want to, let alone the entire Anjing City, let alone the whole world.
—It's not just Gu Lin who's hard to find.
The weather in Ankyo was sunny for two days, but it started raining again on the 10th.
Even darker than the sky were the faces of Li Yuan and his companions.
Not just the three roommates, but everyone in the latest graduating class from Anhui University who came from No. 1 High School knew about Ji Tong and Gu Lin. If they were just casual acquaintances, it would be fine, but coincidentally, they were inseparable and got along well, regardless of gender.
At six o'clock in the evening, a group of people sat with long faces in a Sichuan restaurant near the school gate.
"It's Lin Ge's birthday today, and Tong Tong still hasn't spoken to him?"
"No, just like before, I left as soon as get out of class ended," Cui Mingying said.
"I remember around this time last year, we were all eating cake together in the teachers' cafeteria."
Someone said that, and the entire private room fell silent.
The school has always placed great emphasis on a sense of ceremony, even celebrating Arbor Day with a variety of creative activities. Not to mention Teachers' Day, in addition to various flowers and cakes, cannons and banners are standard, making it just as lively as a sports meet.
And Gu Lin's birthday happens to fall on this day.
Using this as an excuse, everyone basically put in a lot of effort to make a fuss, and since Gu Lin was a "golden nugget," the teachers and leaders turned a blind eye.
During my senior year of high school, which was the most stressful, I did almost everything I could, except for not being able to leave the school.
Now you can freely enter and exit the school gates, but...
No one could eat anymore, so the group ate hastily and tastelessly before heading off separately.
As Li Yuan walked to the dormitory door, he said as he opened it, "I'll send Lin a birthday greeting later..."
"Wait." Cui Mingying pressed his hand down.
Li Yuan: "What's wrong?"
Zhou Tian raised his hand and pointed upwards: "The lights are on."
"I remember closing it when I left." Li Yuan pushed open the door in confusion, and froze on the spot the moment he saw the scene inside the dormitory.
There's someone in bed.
“…Tongtong?” Li Yuan exclaimed in disbelief.
Why is Tongtong in the dorm at this time today?
As Cui Mingying was about to walk forward, he suddenly kicked something. He looked down and saw it was a cat carrier with a wet strap. Ji Tong also had a thin white jacket hanging on the back of his chair, which was also wet.
Is he going to find Xiao Yi?
"Tongtong?" Cui Mingying called out as well.
Several seconds passed before any movement came from the bed.
"Um."
Cui Mingying and Zhou Tian exchanged a glance, then turned their heads to look at the wet coat.
The sound is wrong.
Cui Mingying immediately stepped forward and, without saying a word, reached over the bed railing to check Ji Tong's temperature.
really.
"She has a fever."
Zhou Tian took an ear thermometer out of the drawer.
Cui Mingying took it and held it close to Ji Tong's ear.
“You had cold symptoms a few days ago, and you’ve been running around these past two days, getting caught in the rain,” Li Yuanzhu asked anxiously, “What temperature?”
Cui Mingying didn't say anything, but turned the ear thermometer screen around.
"Depend on."
Li Yuan looked at the 39.3°C reading above and his head was spinning.
They didn't even notice it was burning so high.
"I'm going to the infirmary to buy medicine." Zhou Tian grabbed his coat and was about to leave.
Li Yuan quickly grabbed him: "It's already 39 degrees Celsius, why go to the clinic? Let's go straight to the hospital!"
Ji Tong felt a chill run through her body.
He could hear Cui Mingying and the others talking, but each word seemed to be shrouded in a layer of mist, making it indistinct.
It feels like the dull pain after water gets in your ear; it's really uncomfortable.
Cui Mingying and Zhou Tian hurriedly helped the person up from the bed.
"Ah Yuan, look for the First Affiliated Hospital's medical card."
Where is it?
"I remember it was in the second drawer."
"Should we call Tongtong's family first?"
"Let's wait a bit. I saw a report about Auntie in the Times a couple of days ago. It seems she's in Rome and can't make a decision right now, plus there's the time difference."
"I couldn't find my medical card. Oh well, I'll just get a temporary one later."
“…to see a doctor…to make a phone call…Gu…Lin…”
Ji Tong's consciousness was already becoming somewhat heavy. The sound of Li Yuan and the others talking reached his ears in a fragmented way, and he could only vaguely hear a few words.
Gu…
Approaching…
Call up…
"Make a phone call?" Ji Tong sniffed.
Cui Mingying was helping him put on his coat when she heard Ji Tong's voice. She thought he was worried about home. Knowing Ji Tong's personality, she immediately said, "Don't worry, don't worry."
Ji Tong seemed to have heard something unbelievable, and he opened his eyes abruptly: "Why don't you fight?"
Why is he the only one suffering?
Why is he the only one suffering?
"Okay, okay, I'll call," Li Yuan said, startled by his sudden open eyes. "Then stand still, I'll find Auntie's phone..."
Ji Tong: "Let's fight now."
Li Yuan: "Fight, fight, fight, let's start now..."
"Does Gu Lin even know how to use passive-aggressive tactics?" Ji Tong didn't know where the strength came from, but she suddenly slammed her fist on the bed. "He even dares to call me brainless?!"
"...?"
The three of them were stunned and stood frozen in place.
Who should I call?
Looking at Ji Tong, who was clearly delirious from the fever, Cui Mingying asked with extreme uncertainty, "Did you call... Brother Lin?"
Ji Tong grabbed Cui Mingying's hand, his tone becoming increasingly vicious: "Yes, hit him, hit him now, I'm going to yell back at him!"
The three of them: "…………"
Cui Mingying never expected that their first words to each other would be like this.
After saying this, Ji Tong seemed to lose all her strength and leaned against Cui Mingying.
Supporting the person, Cui Mingying gritted her teeth and dialed the phone call that was six months late.
"Brother Lin."
-
Ji Tong doesn't remember how she got out of the dormitory; all the sounds and lights seemed to be coming from afar and then disappearing.
His eyelids were burning hot, his head felt heavy, and the blood pumping into every capillary seemed to be hot, yet when Zhou Tian squatted down to carry him on his back, he shook his head.
"Your shoulder was just getting better, and now you're going to pull it again."
Ji Tong spoke with great difficulty, and the others also struggled to understand, but they managed to hear clearly.
Zhou Tian was both amused and exasperated: "It's all better now, nothing's wrong."
Even though he was so dizzy, he still remembered that Zhou Tian had pulled a muscle in his shoulder. Zhou Tian didn't know what to say for a moment.
Cui Mingying: "Then I'll carry it."
Ji Tong shook his head again. The shaking intensified the discomfort in his throat. He waved his hand and said, "It's okay, I'm fine."
Cui Mingying: "..."
They can't even stand up straight, yet they say they're still okay.
Zhou Tian wanted to say a few more words, but Li Yuan tugged at his sleeve and shook his head.
"Have you forgotten about Tongtong spraining her ankle in her second year of high school?"
Li Yuan didn't say some things, but the others all understood.
When Ji Tong was in her second year of high school, she sprained her ankle while going down the stairs. It was quite serious, and she couldn't put weight on her feet for a week.
Given Ji Tong's popularity at school, even if she were to sprain her ankle or become paralyzed from the neck down, she wouldn't have trouble finding someone to help her.
For that entire week, Ji Tong was practically always clinging to Gu Lin. When he got uncomfortable being carried, he would switch to being held in a sloth-like, face-to-face embrace.
Gu Lin would often hold Ji Tong, who would cling to him, resting his chin on his arm and keeping his hands busy. In between hugging Gu Lin's neck, Ji Tong would take out a competition paper to look at or flip through an English vocabulary book.
Li Yuan and the others couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Why is it that you're the one causing trouble for Brother Lin because you sprained your ankle?"
Ji Tong was still clinging to Gu Lin at the time, and upon hearing this, she showed no "shame": "When I was sick, I was very troublesome."
Li Yuan and the others originally thought so too.
One afternoon, when Gu Lin was away for a competition, Cui Mingying and the others took over Gu Lin's place and planned to carry Ji Tong downstairs to PE class. However, Ji Tong said the exact same thing as today.
"It's okay, I'm fine."
Then, holding onto Cui Mingying's forearm, he hopped downstairs without any fuss or annoyance.
The classmates thought he had almost fully recovered and were about to report the good news to Gu Lin, who had just returned from the competition, when Gu Lin lifted up his trouser leg to check and found that his foot was swollen a little again.
Ji Tong: "-".
Everyone: "..."
Gu Lin's face was sullen for two days, and Ji Tong clung to Gu Lin for another two days.
"Let's wait for Brother Lin," Li Yuan said, looking at Zhou Tian.
Zhou Tian had no choice but to nod and raise his hand so that Ji Tong could hold it.
Ji Tong felt like a ceramic pot filled with Chinese medicine, with a small fire simmering underneath, her body bubbling with bitter-smelling hot bubbles, yet she also felt cold.
"Why did you stop?" he suddenly asked.
The group: "..."
Ancestors, please don't scare us.
Cui Mingying was afraid that Ji Tong had forgotten that he had called Gu Lin: "Let's go right away, let's go right away, um... Brother Lin will be here soon."
“Lin… Oh, right,” Ji Tong said, staring blankly at the ground, “I have to finish cursing before I leave.”
Li Yuan hurriedly replied, "Yes, yes, yes, finish cursing before you leave."
Ji Tong straightened up, trying to make herself look more imposing.
Time seemed to be sped up, with each second stretching out infinitely long.
The outlines of the things in front of Ji Tong became increasingly unclear.
Just as his consciousness was about to fade, Ji Tong finally heard the voice from his memory.
"Where does it hurt."
The man's voice was suppressed, accompanied by rapid, unsteady breathing.
—It ran over.
Where does it hurt……
He's in pain all over.
My ears hurt, my head hurts, my throat hurts, my eyes hurt, my chest hurts, and I feel pain all over my body.
But he didn't say it.
Ji Tong slowly raised her head, her face and eyes flushed red from the heat.
He stared intently at the person who had suddenly appeared in his life, then vanished just as suddenly, and then, just when he thought he would never see them again, stood once more under the sycamore tree, for a long time.
"Didn't you decide to ignore me?"
Ji Tong's voice was extremely tense.
"Gu Lin, you spoke to me first."
"I won."
After each sentence, Ji Tong would pause for a long time, as if he were taking a long self-breathing process, or as if he was gathering his strength to say the next sentence.
The world was so quiet that it seemed as if only the sound of the wind and each other's heartbeats could be heard.
Gu Lin lowered his eyes, his expression appearing obscure under the lamplight.
The person who said "I won" was actually gripping the hem of his clothes tightly.
Gu Lin looked at the crumpled and mangled hem of his clothes, and at himself hanging precariously on a high cliff.
Finally, he stepped over the high cliff and carefully pulled the person into his arms.
The moment Ji Tong's burning body temperature touched his skin, Gu Lin resigned himself to his fate.
"yes."
"You win."
--come down.
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