CH 49

49 – Xu Xiran Takes it Off

Translator: tamago

Editors: Yin

Proofreader: Aaru

It was very likely that Xu Xiran’s fever had cooked his brain dumb.

Fang Mo scolded him, but he still smiled, and at the same time hugged him even tighter. He buried his face on the side of Fang Mo’s cheek, and rubbed back and forth a little, acting like a spoiled child, with his warm breath all over Fang Mo’s skin.

Fang Mo felt as if he was really being treated as a body pillow.

Not just a body pillow, but more like a hot water bag. He was convinced that in this half minute, he had heated up more than Xu Xiran where even his brain was boiling. In a daze, he wondered whether he should take this opportunity to enjoy the moment.

Under the frenzied beating of his heart, Fang Mo carefully folded his arms and also tried to hug Xu Xiran. Xu Xiran was nice and warm, and the air was also nice and warm. This was not bad at all, and he was willing to be his pillow.

Fang Mo knew that his ex-body pillow was double-layered and could be taken off, and when the outer layer was removed, Xiaoyao would only be in her undergarments. But his clothes could also be taken off, and they could be taken off more neatly. He wanted Xu Xiran to strip him naked, and then burrow into Xu Xiran’s blanket.

Then after getting in, he would also strip Xu Xiran naked.

He kept thinking about these things last night, which prevented him from falling asleep. When Xu Xiran ignored his hint and said that he was going to sleep, he felt a little disappointed and also a little flustered. He was afraid that if he was too impatient, Xu Xiran would find out that something was up.

It turned out that this was not the case. Xu Xiran was really not feeling well.

So wasn’t it a good opportunity now? This man was delirious and was suitable to be taken advantage of. He could do something quickly, and when Xu Xiran came back to his senses, he could pretend that he was forced.

Fang Mo couldn’t control his thoughts anymore.

He lay quietly on Xu Xiran’s body, sneaking closer inch by inch, and carefully pressed his lips against the skin of Xu Xiran’s neck.

His skin was very hot. Fang Mo only tightly pressed onto him, and did not dare to move.

“Fang Mo.” Xu Xiran suddenly spoke.

Fang Mo immediately widened his eyes and held his breath. He felt like a primary school student who had just gotten called on by the teacher right after unfolding a small note in an exam. He was so frightened that his whole body turned stiff, and only his hands were shaking.

Xu Xiran coughed twice, then said weakly: “Do you feel that the bed is swaying…”

Fang Mo let out a sigh of relief.

He took a deep breath, tried to calm his heartbeat and emotions, then struggled free from Xu Xiran’s arms, and abruptly sat up.

Although the silly and clingy Xu Xiran right now was very cute, if this dragged on, he would become fevered to the point of becoming irreversibly stupid. The most urgent thing to do was to take this patient to the hospital as soon as possible.

When he got out of bed and ran to open Xu Xiran’s closet, the sick and muddled man kept muttering and complaining about how heartless Fang Mo was to leave him.

“You definitely wouldn’t do this to Zou Shun,” Xu Xiran groaned.

Fang Mo took out some clothes and pants for him, walked to the bed, and mercilessly lifted his blanket.

“Get up and go see a doctor!”

~

Xu Xiran was top-heavy and seemed dazed as he sat on the edge of the bed to change his clothes.

His pajamas were a wrinkled T-shirt and faded sweatpants with drawstrings. Fang Mo swallowed as he watched him take off all his clothes until he was only in his underwear, and the hands that were holding his clothes couldn’t stop shaking.

“You, hurry up,” Fang Mo’s eyes involuntarily drifted to a bad place as he said, “Careful, don’t get too cold.”

Xu Xiran’s underwear was black and triangular, and it was tightly packed.

Fang Mo raised his hand to cover his eyes, but couldn’t help but open his fingers. He wondered if this counted as Xu Xiran subconsciously sexually harassing him.

He wanted to harass him back. He wanted to tear off that last layer of clothing and make that dormant and ever-present thing underneath hard.

It was a pity that his impulsive thoughts had lost their chance before they were put into practice.

Xu Xiran was very obedient. Fang Mo had told him to hurry up, and so he really sped up putting on his clothes and pants.

Under the guise of being unable to stand how he looked, Fang Mo tidied up his collar, straightened his sleeves, and carefully touched his whole upper body. Xu Xiran was like a well-behaved elementary school student, standing still with his eyes squinted, letting himself be manipulated.

~

In the taxi on the way to the hospital, Xu Xiran’s fever rose again. He was very quiet the whole way, and he leaned on Fang Mo’s shoulder with his eyes closed and his cheeks unnaturally red, coughing occasionally.

Fang Mo couldn’t stand seeing him like this, and wanted to keep asking him how he was feeling, but was afraid that it would disturb his rest.

When they arrived at the hospital, his body temperature had already reached 39.8° during the pre-examination. Seeing Xu Xiran’s pale face, Fang Mo panicked and held his hand, and quickly walked him around the hospital.

The lab results showed no virus, only inflammation. The doctor asked Xu Xiran if there was any other discomfort, but his head was muddled and couldn’t answer, and could only say that his throat was sore. Fortunately, after receiving fever-reducing injections, his unnatural high fever finally subsided gradually.

Fang Mo accompanied him to hang the IV bag in the infusion room. After half the bag had been infused, he touched his forehead, and it was no longer as hot.

“Are you still feeling unwell?” He asked Xu Xiran in a low voice.

Xu Xiran looked at him pitifully: “I’m a little hungry. I haven’t eaten since I woke up.”

It was good to have an appetite. Fang Mo was very relieved, and patted his hand: “Then I’ll buy you something to eat, will there be any problem if I leave you here alone?”

Xu Xiran looked at him with amusement: “I’m a grown adult, what problem would there be?”

Fang Mo thought to himself, ahya, how did you return to normal?

It made a person breathe a sigh of relief, but also inevitably feel a little regretful.

~

On the way there, he received a call from Zou Shun.

Zou Shun had just woken up not too long ago. He was badly hungover, was in a terrible state, and was sluggish when he spoke.

“I drank too much yesterday, and now I’m all mixed up. There were so many things that I can’t remember whether they really happened or whether I was dreaming,” he said to Fang Mo.

Fang Mo didn’t wait for him to ask, and answered for him: “You were crying a lot yesterday and said that you still miss him and want to see him.”

Zou Shun was silent.

“You also said that you regret deleting his contact information, and you were so mad that you hit your head on the table, and it took me a lot of effort to stop you,” Fang Mo described the process in detail for him.

Zou Shun lost face and coughed twice: “No, that’s not what I want to ask.”

“Then what is it?”

“On the way back yesterday, I vaguely heard someone say something… ‘You have charisma, you are more handsome than all of them, you look just right, you are the most perfect…’”

“…”

Fang Mo’s face turned red all of a sudden. If he had known that Zou Shun was conscious then, he would never have said those words. 

Zou Shun was clearly holding back a smile: “I was dreaming, right?”

“Right, you were dreaming.” Fang Mo said decisively.

“Ahya, what a pity,” Zou Shun said, clearing his throat again, and then his tone suddenly changed, “Also, I remember that you told me…”

“…What?” Fang Mo was alert, trying to recall how many whispers he had said to Xu Xiran last night that was inconvenient for a third person to hear.

Zou Shun’s tone was clearly perturbed: “…he came to look for me?”

Fang Mo blinked.

“Yes,” he said, “he came to look for you.”

It was quiet on the other end of the line.

“He said he couldn’t get in touch with you, so he came to check on your situation. Knowing that you were fine, he went back.” Fang Mo repeated what he said yesterday.

“…He came to look for me.” Zou Shun repeated.

His voice was very soft, not in an asking manner, only confirming with himself in his heart.

Fang Mo couldn’t help but laugh: “Yes, he said he couldn’t feel at ease.”

Zou Shun was quiet for a moment, and when he spoke again, his voice was much louder, with unconcealable joy: “I, I suddenly remembered something, so I’ll first hang up!”

Before Fang Mo could respond, he cut off the call.

Fang Mo looked at the phone screen for a while with a smile and typed a message.

[“Be careful on the road.”]

~

Fang Mo bought a small jar of yogurt and a box of cake at a convenience store near the hospital. He was then worried that they would not be hot enough for him, so he bought two more tea eggs.

When he returned to the infusion room, Xu Xiran was resting with his eyes closed. Hearing Fang Mo’s movement beside him, he quickly opened his eyes, then slightly frowned.

“What’s going on? I’m suffering here, why do you look so happy?”

“Zou Shun went to look for that person,” Fang Mo smiled at him, “He knew that person had come to look for him, and he was so happy that he infected me. I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that everything will go well.”

Once he heard this, Xu Xiran fell into deep thought.

“Which one do you want to eat?” Fang Mo held up the items in front of him to show, “Cake or tea egg?”

Xu Xiran turned his eyes over to these two things: “I want both.”

“…It seems like you’re almost all better.” Fang Mo said.

He unpacked the cake and handed it to Xu Xiran, then lowered his head and started peeling the eggshell. Xu Xiran was still on the IV, so it was inconvenient for him to use his hands and do these things himself.

Xu Xiran looked at him, took a few bites of the cake, and then suddenly asked, “He likes this person so much, why did he hide from him on purpose?”

“It’s a long story,” Fang Mo finished peeling the first tea egg, handed it over to Xu Xiran, and opened his mouth to gesture, “Ah—”

Xu Xiran froze for a moment, then obediently took a bite.

“This tea egg’s shell was not cracked very well, and it’s all white inside and doesn’t look very tasty at all,” Fang Mo said.

“No.” Xu Xiran’s mouth was full of food, and his speech sounded a little sticky, “It’s quite good.”

After he ate all the things Fang Mo bought, Fang Mo roughly finished telling Zou Shun’s story.

“So, he felt that this person didn’t like him and wanted to give up, so he purposely distanced himself?” Xu Xiran leaned back in his chair and asked in a lazy voice.

“Yeah,” Fang Mo nodded, “Never getting a response must be a hard feeling to bear. That man is straight. There’s no way a person’s sexual orientation can be reversed so easily…”

“Then why is he looking for him again now?” Xu Xiran turned his head slightly and narrowed his eyes.

“Because he sees a bit of hope,” Fang Mo said, “Since he can’t get over him no matter what, he won’t forgive himself if he doesn’t try hard enough.”

Xu Xiran nodded and fell silent again.

“Then…” Fang Mo cleared his throat and pretended, “Although Zou Shun also asked me, I have a good relationship with him, so my view is not objective. What do you say? From the perspective of a straight man, does Zou Shun have any hope?”

Xu Xiran adjusted his posture and closed his eyes: “It’s not so much a straight man’s perspective… why do I feel that there is something else hidden in this story as a whole?”

“What?” Fang Mo was curious.

“Everything you said now is based on the assumption that this person knows that Zou Shun likes him, right?” Xu Xiran said, “What if this person doesn’t know?”

Fang Mo immediately shook his head: “How could he not know…he knows that Zou Shun likes men.”

“I also know that Zou Shun likes men, but I don’t suspect that Zou Shun likes me,” Xu Xiran said, “Has he confessed before?”

“I don’t… think so,” Fang Mo said, “but he was very obvious. When he was in front of him, his state was simply…”

“No.” Xu Xiran moved his head slightly, “If he is always in that state in front of this person, how would he know that it actually meant something special? He’d have nothing to compare to.”

“…That’s true,” Fang Mo suddenly realized.

“He asked Zou Shun to accompany him to choose a gift for his blind date, and Zou Shun also went there happily, didn’t he?” Xu Xiran said, “At least on the surface, he was happy, right?”

Fang Mo hesitated, then nodded blankly.

“In case this person was testing the waters,” Xu Xiran opened his eyes and turned to look at him, “Then what conclusion do you think he would draw?”

Author’s note:

At this time, Da Mengyi1 and xuedi should have just woken up.

Many people have mentioned this in the comment area, so I want to emphasize something to prevent readers from being misled. The notion that you cannot eat eggs when you have a fever or cold, is just like the myth that you cannot eat crabs and persimmons together, which has no scientific basis and has long been proven false. Eggs are rich in nutrients and easy to digest, which make them very suitable for supplementing nutrition when you are sick.

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