Beep beep beep beep, beep beep beep beep.
‘Damn, this phone alarm is really loud.’
After getting up, Lin Yi swiped her phone and then wiped her still-sleepy face, her hand coming away greasy.
She shook her head, brushing her teeth and washing her face with her eyes closed, trying to grab a little more sleep.
The morning subway was packed. Office workers, students, and energetic old folks hogged the seats from start to finish. People like Lin Yi, who got off midway, were the ones who really lost out.
Her vision kept blurring in and out. Lin Yi felt like she could barely stand.
Luckily, at the next stop, a huge crowd squeezed on. With people pressing in from all sides, they practically lifted her off her feet. At least she didn’t fall over.
‘Maybe if I close my eyes right now, I can still catch a little nap. Who gets it, folks? So blissful.’
In her daze, she felt the back of a girl in front of her looked very familiar.
Chestnut-brown hair, with natural curls at the ends. A slender figure huddled in the corner by the closed door, holding a school bag with both hands.
The Zhuming Girls’ High School uniform. A classmate.
She was probably scared by the crowd.
So, Lin Yi squeezed over and stretched out her arms, creating a small bit of space for this girl.
The girl looked up. Lin Yi was delighted. An acquaintance. Wasn’t this Su Kui?
“Su Kui, you’re heading to school really early.”
Su Kui frowned, clutching her bag with a wary look. “Who are you?”
Huh?
“Me, it’s me! Lin Yi!”
“Don’t know you.” Su Kui glanced left and right. “How do you know my name?”
“No, Su Kui, are you still asleep? I’m Lin Yi, I…”
Lin Yi stopped talking. She pinched her own neck. There was an Adam’s apple.
She was instantly wide awake.
“Don’t come near me.” Su Kui took a step to the side. “Disgusting.”
A feeling of suffocation washed over Lin Yi. Before she could explain, she immediately squeezed out at the very next stop.
Running. She kept running. As the surroundings changed, she arrived at a bathroom sink and saw her own face.
Then the world turned upside down and dissolved into mist.
……
……
“Cough, cough, cough!”
“How is she? What’s the temperature?” Yan Jianxing’s voice came through, fuzzy.
“Mmm, thirty-eight… point… eight.”
Feng Chuyue’s soft voice was closer. Her cool little hand touched Lin Yi’s forehead. “So hot.”
“Sigh, I knew it. She didn’t have a fever last night, but it hit this morning.”
As she spoke, Yan Jianxing was holding a small medicine box from the bookshelf, rummaging through it. “I remember there was some cold medicine… Ugh, why is it all for treating external injuries?”
“Lin Yi, wake up.” Feng Chuyue, still in her pajamas, knelt beside Lin Yi and leaned down.
Yan Jianxing held up a packet of granules. “Found it, found it! Let me see… As long as it has acetaminophen in the ingredients, it should be fine, right?”
“Lin Yi, does it hurt?” Feng Chuyue’s hair draped over both sides of Lin Yi’s cheeks. “Do you want some water?”
“Alright, alright, Moon God, get off the bed first, or you might catch her cold.”
Yan Jianxing couldn’t take it anymore. If she didn’t intervene, it looked like the two were about to kiss.
“It’s not a viral cold. It won’t be contagious.”
“Thinking like that is an easy way to fall sick yourself. I can’t take care of two people by myself.”
As she said this, she picked up the thermos. Luckily, she had stocked up on two bottles of hot water before the blackout last night, enough to dissolve the granules.
It was now eight in the morning. The rain still hadn’t stopped, but it had lightened up considerably.
The power was still out, but a notification had been sent in the group chat saying it would definitely be fixed before noon.
Also, the school announced that although the typhoon had already passed through Suzhou, travel restrictions were still not lifted. Everyone should continue staying at home or in the dorms for self-study.
Saying ‘self-study’ was basically just giving them a holiday. But on this rare holiday granted by the weather, Lin Yi had fallen ill.
‘Serves her right,’ Yan Jianxing thought.
Last night, without a word—well, with one word—she ran out into the rain, then carried someone back on her shoulders, and even took a hot shower. It’d be weird if she didn’t catch a cold.
In contrast, Feng Chuyue didn’t seem to feel any discomfort. She was probably well-protected the whole way.
‘Sigh, Lin Yi, why did you go to such lengths?’
Clearly, the best thing to do in such a situation would have been to tell the Old Class Teacher.
Yan Jianxing looked at Lin Yi’s loft bed. That bed was already at its limit bearing the weight of two girls. If she climbed up too, it might collapse.
But Lin Yi had to take the medicine. Whether Feng Chuyue could feed her was another question.
She could only stand on a chair she’d pulled over. Her height allowed just half her upper body to lean over the edge of the bed.
“Moon God, come on, help her sit up. I’ll feed her the medicine.”
“Mhm.”
Feng Chuyue originally tried her best to lift Lin Yi, but found Lin Yi’s body was very light.
‘Was it with this body that she carried me back to school yesterday?’
Until now, Feng Chuyue had never really thought about this question, because she had long been overwhelmed by Lin Yi’s bravery.
She was just that amazing, science be damned.
Feng Chuyue’s mood sank a little. She watched as Yan Jianxing fed Lin Yi spoonful by spoonful and wiped the corners of her mouth with a tissue.
“I’ll get a towel.”
After a flurry of activity from both of them, they finally finished the routine. Lin Yi’s condition improved slightly, at least she wasn’t talking nonsense like when she first woke up.
Earlier, Feng Chuyue had been only half-awake, disturbed by the sound of rain outside the window in the morning.
Then, Lin Yi beside her suddenly reached out and hugged her. Feng Chuyue jolted and opened her eyes.
She had thought about moving closer to Lin Yi so she could hug her more comfortably, but then she felt Lin Yi’s body was burning hot, not like a normal body temperature.
And she was muttering, “No, I’m not, I didn’t…”
Only then did Feng Chuyue realize Lin Yi had a fever.
She and Yan Jianxing finally had time to brush their teeth and wash their faces. Then, they opened two packets of chocolate pies as breakfast.
It was then they realized that without Lin Yi, there was almost no conversation between the two of them.
Yan Jianxing was scrolling on her phone. Feng Chuyue, too embarrassed to go back to lying on the bed, could only sit on the chair in a daze.
Occasionally, Yan Jianxing’s laughter would ring out, but after a while, she would wipe tears from the corner of her eyes, probably completely immersed in the world on her phone.
“Damn, that ending was so crappy. I cried for nothing.”
Yan Jianxing took off her headphones and sighed, feeling all the energy drain from her body.
But now, there was no Lin Yi to pick up her comment.
She looked at Feng Chuyue, who was staring at the rain outside the window, and asked, “What was the personal matter?”
“Huh?”
“Yesterday when everyone went out, Huang JinfÄ“i probably told people to go straight home, right?”
Feng Chuyue turned her head, her hands gripping her pajama pants. “I… I wanted to go buy something.”
“Couldn’t you have asked your family to help with that stuff?” Yan Jianxing crossed her legs. “I remember you have a driver who picks you up?”
“Rarely.” Feng Chuyue shook her head. “I wanted… to take the subway, get a taxi back by myself… to build up courage.”
Yan Jianxing blinked. Every family has its own difficulties. Honestly, she didn’t dislike Feng Chuyue’s desire to build up her own courage; she even somewhat admired it.
“Did you buy it?”
“No.”
“Then next time, I’ll go with you.” Yan Jianxing stood up and stretched. “No one knows Suzhou better than me. There’s not a street or alley I haven’t been to. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied.”
Feng Chuyue didn’t say anything, just looked up at Lin Yi again.
Yan Jianxing also looked in that direction and said, “I actually didn’t expect… that she ran out to find you. Really.”
“Mhm…”
“How did you two meet? Did you know each other in middle school?”
“Less than a week.”
“You’re joking?” Yan Jianxing’s eyebrows twitched. “Less than a week, and she went looking for you in a typhoon?”
“I don’t know.”
“Huh? Really?”
Feng Chuyue clenched her hands into fists. “But… if there’s a next time, I promised Lin Yi, I will go save her.”
Yan Jianxing didn’t even know what to say.
‘Lin Yi, you… you really are… a good person.’
That was the honest truth.