271 Worn Ou

December 24, 20XX (Tuesday)

Zhao Manor

Mei Lin was tired when she woke up. Her eyelashes fluttered as she blinked her eyes. It was weird for her to wake up before Yang does, so she turned to the side and looked at the sleeping profile of her husband. Even with eyes closed, Yang was very handsome. She gave in to the itch of her hands to touch his statue-like face. Once her hand was in contact with his cheek, Mei Lin's eyes widen.

The painter scrambled to get up and take the thermometer on the cabinet. She hurriedly turned it on and put it on Yang's armpits. He was burning hot, and cheeks flushed with fever. Mei Lin bit her lips in worry as she waited for the thermometer.

Yang had been working so hard for the past month. He had to go between his company, the warehouse, and Zhao Manor. Taking charge of a large conglomerate was hard enough, add two more tasks, and it would be near impossible to accomplish. When Mei Lin took the thermometer out and saw his temperature, she hurried to her phone to call Dr. Zhang Li Xi for help.

"Mei Lin is there something wrong with your stomach? Are you experiencing pain? Are you vomiting?" Dr. Zhang Li Xi's voice was fast that Mei Lin had to strain her ears to make sense of the questions that seemed to be one word.

Mei Li sighed before she replied, "I'm calling for Yang. He has a fever; I don't know what to do."

"Did you take his temperature?"

Mei Lin immediately nodded, "Yes. He is currently 38.3 degree Celsius."

"Okay, I will be there soon. For now, dampen a towel to cool his forehead. If you have cooling gel sheets, you can use that. I will be there around thirty minutes to an hour." Dr. Zhang Li Xi said as he hurriedly prepared his things while calling his assistant in the hospital for his work gear.

After the call, Mei Lin then texted Yue and the rest of the family before she went to the bathroom to take a damp towel for his forehead to cool. While waiting for the doctor, Mei Lin took a small nap beside Yang as her eyelids once again grew heavy.

Everyone in the manor was in mass hysteria because of worry. Mei Lin's text to Yue and Mother Zhao had been read, and when everyone gathered to peek into the room to see Yang's state, they were stopped with a locked door. No matter how long and how hard they shouted, nobody answered the door.

"Continue calling for their attention, I will get the spare key." Mother Zhao said before she ran to the master's bedroom.

Father Zhao was wringing his hands; it was unusual for Yang to have a fever. The last fever, as far as he could remember, happened when Yang was a teenager. Ever since becoming an adult, Yang had taken care of his body well except controlling his alcohol intake. Yue continued to bang her hands on the door, worried about her brother and best friend. Where could Mei Lin be at this hour? She could not have left her husband alone!

"Big Brother! Mei Lin! Open this door!" Yue shouted for the nth time. She did not notice how long she was screaming, but her vocal cords hurt from overuse.

Dr. Zhang Li Xi arrived in Zhao Manor with his assistant, hearing Yue's screams. The Butler led him to where Yang's bedroom was and saw Mother Zhao running fast, carrying keys bundled together with a large circular ring. The doctor watched as the Zhao family members were frantically opening the door with nervousness and panic. They were too out of focus that they have hot noticed his arrival.

Once inside the room, all of them breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the newlyweds sleeping on their bed as if no drama had happened outside the room. Mother Zhao checked their breathing before she put a hand on Yang's forehead and then checked Mei Lin's too just in case she was also infected with the fever.

Yue complained, "Mei Lin is usually a light sleeper! Why couldn't she hear us?! She had been sleeping a lot too! This woman is behaving too strange for my liking."

Hearing Yue's observation, Dr. Zhang Li Xi interrupted the family, "I suspect that she is pregnant, but she insists that she isn't because she had spotting blood for three days last week."

Everyone jumped upon hearing his voice; Mother Zhao looked at the doctor with wide eyes as she asked, "Why didn't Yang let her go to the hospital to be checked?"

Finally, Yue and Father Zhao got over from their surprise, and the doctor's words registered into their minds. Yue looked as if all her weird observations about Mei Lin finally made sense. Father Zhao looked as if he had received the best Christmas gift.

"Mei Lin wants to be sure before she gets herself checked. She didn't want to be disappointed when nothing will be found." Dr. Zhang told as he began to check Yang's heartbeat, measured his blood pressure, and so on. His assistant was beside him trying to act cool but was, in fact, nervous because of the subtle wavering of his hand when he passes the doctor the tools. The doctor pitied his assistant; it was not easy to bear the weight of being observed by people who could end your life.

"Yang is probably just stressed from all his work. Mei Lin had been complaining about his workload for a while. Yang had only been sleeping for four hours every night for the past month." Dr. Zhang Li Xi added, "She told me that Yang would let her sleep first then continue his work after he thinks she has fallen asleep. She tried to dissuade this behavior, but he would not listen."

Mother Zhao clicked her tongue in annoyance.