CH 24

Translator: Abo Dammen

Editor: Ainden 

Proofreader: Agneya

Heitang abruptly stood up, as if aware that his owner, who was on the bed, was afraid. He trotted back and forth around the bed.

Jiang Yunshu stood on the spot and calmly reassured, “Don’t be scared. I’ll keep standing here. Rest assured.” 

Heitang was too small to jump onto the bed. It whined a few times with its two front legs propped on the edge of the bed.

Bai Tang was hugging his knees and shrank himself into a small ball. His attention was drawn by Heitang.

…A dog? It’s a dog! But…Why is there a puppy… Ah yes, Heitang. This was the puppy Jiang Yunsu bought for him after he lost his memory…

So he wasn’t in the past. This current alpha wouldn’t hurt him for the time being. 

Reason slowly returned to Bai Tang. He inhaled with his blocked nose and turned his body sideways, looking like he wanted to get out of bed.

“Don’t move,” Jiang Yunshu immediately said. “Just sit on the bed. I haven’t recovered my memory, I won’t hurt you. The reason why I came in is because you have a fever.” 

Bai Tang’s head hurt a lot. He blinked his dry eyes. He was not angry, and even sluggishly expressed his gratitude. “Thank you, sir…”

When Jiang Yunshu saw that he was sober-headed, he then approached. “I’ll put the cooling patch on your forehead now, don’t be afraid.” 

Bai Tang exhaled a breath of hot air. He submissively raised his face, his drooping eyelashes trembling. He was so obedient that it was almost distressing.

Jiang Yunshu lifted his slightly sweaty forehead, and put the fever cooling patch on it flatly. “Your body temperature is about 39 degrees now. This is an antipyretic medicine, swallow it with warm water.” 

Bai Tang’s face was pale, except for a morbid flush at the rim of his eyes. He swallowed the pill with difficulty, and after drinking a large cup of warm water, his temples were even more damp.

Jiang Yunshu gently touched Bai Tang’s cheek with the back of his hand. It was very hot. He asked, “How do you feel right now? Cold, warm?” 

Bai Tang trembled faintly, feeling the alpha’s cold touch. Trying to hide, his eyes were covered with a layer of mist. “Hot…”

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“Gbfr sbeg tfjv tega?” Aljcu Tecrte jrxfv. 

Feeling unwell, Bai Tang nodded in response. 

His temperature shouldn’t rise anymore. Jiang Yunshu picked up his loose coat and put it on Bai Tang. “Go to the bathroom and then go back to sleep.”

Bai Tang, who was suffering from the sickness, wasn’t in sound condition to think deeply, so he did whatever he was asked to do. He raised his arm in a well-behaved manner, his sleeve slipping to his elbow which exposed a furry wrist guard resting on his left wrist. 

This was from his first general physical check-up. After the doctor said that Bai Tang’s left wrist would ache in cold weather, Jiang Yunshu asked Bai Tang to wear one with him.

Once Bai Tang left for the bathroom, Jiang Yunshu took the opportunity to walk downstairs to boil some sweet ginger water and get another quilt. When he returned to the room, he saw Bai Tang had his back leaned against the bed with his brows furling, breathing heavily with his mouth half-open. A pair of mist-filled eyes gazed into one place absentmindedly. Heitang, contrary to his owner, was hyperactive beside him as he nudged his owner.   

He knocked on the door and signalled that he would enter. He then pinched the back of the puppy’s neck accurately and tossed it back into its doghouse, then spoke to Bai Tang, “Drink two sips of ginger water and then go to sleep.”

After taking the empty glass, he tucked the second quilt under Bai Tang’s chin. When everything was settled, Jiang Yunshu turned off the light and went out. 

▪︎•°°•▪︎

Before dawn, at 3:30 am, the phone tucked under the pillow vibrated. Jiang Yunshu opened his eyes, fumbled to turn off the alarm clock, put on his coat nimbly, and then walked into Bai Tang’s room.

He must’ve felt hot. He saw that the restless child had lifted the quilt and pushed it aside. Jiang Yunshu frowned worriedly, and tentatively checked his temperature with the back of his hand.

…Why did he feel even hotter? 

But he didn’t expect that with only a light touch, Bai Tang would shudder and slowly open his eyes.

It’s been over an hour and he still hasn’t fallen asleep? Jiang Yunshu was afraid of scaring him again. Just as he was about to explain, he saw Baitang feebly closing it. He felt so queasy, so uncomfortable that he couldn’t sleep. His brain was burned into a groggy state, and the pain was like a sharp drill repeatedly pounding his nerves, his consciousness almost slipping out. He no longer knew where he was or who was touching his forehead.

Jiang Yunshu touched Baitang’s hand, then reached into the quilt and clasped Baitang’s feet, which were as cold as ice.

His body was radiating heat, but his hands and feet weren’t warm.

How uncomfortable must he be feeling right now.

Jiang Yunshu put the quilt back on Bai Tang and walked downstairs. He found two empty mineral water bottles filled with warm water.

Just like taking care of a child, he first rolled up the bottom of the inner quilt to wrap Bai Tang’s feet, then placed the mineral water bottle next to the soles of his feet, and waited until the inner quilt was warm before taking it out and placing it between the first and second quilts.

During this period, Baitang was at Jiang Yunshu’s mercy like a puppet. He had no strength to even move a finger.

Jiang Yunshu replaced his cooling patch, tucked in the corners of the quilt, squatted beside the bed, and asked, “Is it warm enough?”

Bai Tang felt that his ears were covered with a layer of film, and he couldn’t hear the sounds coming from the outside world. He seemed as if he was struggling to fight with something.

Jiang Yunshu asked again. This time, Bai Tang heard clearly.

Sickness could make strong people vulnerable, just as the night could give one an  earnest melancholy musing. 

In Bai Tang’s dark and boundless consciousness, he, who had always been quietly curled up in the deepest corner, suddenly felt like crying.

It’s a simple sentence that couldn’t be any more simple, but if no one brought it up for a long time, it’d be something he wouldn’t dare hope to hear again.

You can’t cry, Bai Tang cheered to himself, so he pursed his lips and held back.

Jiang Yunshu watched in silence as Bai Tang’s tears flowed from the corners of his closed eyes, drop by drop, wetting his eyelashes and the pillow.

After a while, he wiped away his tears with a tissue, closed the door and went out.

▪︎•°°•▪︎

At 7:00 the next morning, Jiang Yunshu was neatly dressed as he stood beside Bai Tang’s bed. The thermometer showed 36.5 degrees. His fever had subsided. He reached into the quilt and touched Bai Tang’s heel. It was warm. He replaced the hot water with a new one, wrote a note under the thermos mug and went out.

Near 10:00, Bai Tang woke up sweating all over due to the heat. He opened his eyes in a trance. His mind momentarily went blank and it wasn’t until the door was scratched with perseverance for a long while that he regained his senses and propped himself up.

His throat was dry. Seeing that there was a thermos mug on top of the nightstand, he strained to pry it open but he couldn’t unscrew it. It only made his arm a little sore. He placed the thermos back a bit aggrieved. He turned over, his feet touching the slippers. He then stood up, immediately feeling his sweat-soaked pyjamas cling to his body.

He still had a clogged nose. Bai Tang glanced at the wall clock and saw that it was already 10:24. Jiang Yunsu should have long since left the door. He wanted to go downstairs to drink a glass of water and take a bath in passing, but when he looked down, he saw a post-it note on the nightstand.

Bai Tang picked it up and saw a few lines of beautiful cursive script that leaped off the page: 

1. Don’t take a bath. Wipe off your sweat with a towel, then put on a sweater and coat after changing into a new set of pyjamas. The new clothes are placed on the bed.

2. The water in the thermos cup is hot. Blow it before drinking. Don’t burn your tongue. 

3. There’s pumpkin millet in the rice cooker and corn in the induction cooker. Don’t forget to eat.

4. After you finish breakfast, there are cold medications on the table. Take two. 

5. I called the housekeeper to cook at noon. Don’t go out so as to not catch a chill.

6. I was afraid of waking you up, so I locked Heitang out the door. It’s already been fed dog food. 

Bai Tang was dazed. Jiang Yunsu’s handwriting didn’t seem to look like this. Was it originally so good-looking? After a while, he placed down the post-it-note and looked around. Sure enough, he saw the stacks of clothes on the bed. There were new pyjamas, two sweaters, a coat, a pair of cotton socks and a towel. They had all been neatly arranged.

Before he even had time to ponder, the sound of paws scratching the door dominated the quiet room. Bai Tang hurriedly opened the door, and Heitang wormed its way through, its ears drooping. It tugged at his trousers aggrievedly and awoo-ed several times, as if it was accusing its owner of his bad behaviour and acting as if it was the one calling the shots. 

For some reason, what appeared in Bai Tang’s mind was the image of the alpha expressionlessly picking up Heitang on the back of its neck and tossing it outside the door. Heitang flew in confusion in the air, and the picture of Heitang landing on the ground with its four limbs made him want to laugh.