Chapter 8: An Abnormal Daily Life

Zhou Ming was called back to reality by Gadelia. He rolled out of bed and quickly walked into the bathroom. After finishing his business and pulling up his pants, he hesitantly made his way back to the hospital bed.

“Gadelia, you…”

“What’s wrong?”

The terrifying images from his mind earlier still lingered, making Zhou Ming break out in goosebumps. He had replayed them in his head again in the bathroom. Now, seeing Gadelia’s amber eyes, he suddenly superimposed that horrifying character onto her.

“Nothing, it’s just… I’m having a bit of trouble seeing. Could you please turn on the light?”

Gadelia… she probably wouldn’t be carrying such a heavy axe, right?

Click.

Gadelia pressed the light switch, and the room instantly brightened.

Zhou Ming cautiously shuffled back to the bed, not daring to look directly at Gadelia.

The mental image he’d conjured earlier was just too absurd—her wielding a ten-plus-pound axe with one hand, chasing him for kilometers in high heels?

“No way! Absolutely not! How could I even think that? Gadelia, you’re kind-hearted, gentle, and considerate. You’d never do something like that, right?”

Zhou Ming awkwardly lowered his head, his eyes fixed intently on the pristine white bed sheet.

“The hospital sheets are so white! Right, Gadelia? Ahahaha… ha…”

“Go to sleep. Rest early.”

Gadelia didn’t respond to his chatter. She simply turned off the light again, returned to her chair, and let her gaze drift.

“Do you have a change of clothes? Do you need to bathe tomorrow?”

“I do.”

“You do? Well, after daybreak, I’ll have someone buy you a few outfits.”

“Thank you, Gadelia.”

Zhou Ming felt a touch of gratitude. She actually remembered to ask if he had clothes. Otherwise, he’d probably be wandering around in a hospital gown, looking like a mental patient.

“I’ll take your measurements myself later, and help you wash up while I’m at it.”

“Can I refuse?”

He took back everything he just thought! Gadelia was a downright menace!

Gadelia twisted her stiff neck and said with a smile,

“I’m kidding. I’m not a pervert. I have no interest in little brats like you.”

Zhou Ming’s mind involuntarily flashed to the girls in his village, seventeen or eighteen but claiming to be ‘eighteen’. They’d say they didn’t like kids while chasing after celebrities in their twenties.

“What do you kids know? Ugly and don’t even realize it, not even daring to look in a mirror, yet you dare to talk about me?”

They’d always say things like that while fiddling with their knock-off magazines.

“I’m very old. I’m not interested in you.”

Gadelia seemed to sense Zhou Ming’s inner thoughts, and refuted it directly.

Zhou Ming poked his head out. It was too dark to see clearly, but his face was full of question marks.

“How old? In your twenties? Or fifties?”

A normal person wouldn’t be vague about their age, right? She looked like she had fair, smooth skin without a single wrinkle.

“About four hundred and fifty years old.”

“Do foreigners consider being old beautiful?!”

Are you kidding? Four hundred and fifty years old?! Are you a tree? An elf? Even a tree wouldn’t live that long!

Zhou Ming silently admired her ability to spout such nonsense with a perfectly serious tone.

“I can’t give you a definitive answer.” Gadelia shook her head. “At the very least, in my former country, Usanka, age was not considered beautiful.”

Zhou Ming sighed. This conversation topic was thoroughly dead-ended.

“Is something wrong?”

Once a sleep schedule is disrupted, it’s hard to get back on track. Gadelia was clearly exhausted, yet completely unable to sleep. Her mind was abnormally alert, and she was speaking and acting almost without thinking.

“No, it’s nothing. You should rest early too.”

Zhou Ming turned over, closed his eyes, forced his mind to go blank, and soon drifted off into a hazy sleep.

Gadelia, however, couldn’t sleep at all. The absence of noise in her ears was a good thing, but Zhou Ming’s voice had now become another kind of “noise”.

When my body can’t hold out anymore, I’ll naturally fall asleep.

***

The next day.

Sunlight streamed through the window into the ward. Gadelia walked to the window, basked in the sun for a while, stretched her stiff body, and glanced back at Zhou Ming, who was still fast asleep.

She bought a simple breakfast: a bowl of plain congee and a few side dishes, costing twenty yuan. Although she wasn’t short on money, she still had frugal habits.

She gently nudged Zhou Ming awake and handed him the congee.

“Breakfast.”

By the time his consciousness fully cleared, Zhou Ming had already finished the congee. He looked at the remaining side dishes, then at Gadelia sitting in the chair.

“Gadelia, have you eaten?”

“I’m not hungry.”

There were no bloodshot veins in her eyes, but her awareness seemed somewhat unfocused, as if she might collapse at any moment.

“Is that so?”

Zhou Ming initially wanted to ask her to eat some too, but she had only bought one serving. He himself hadn’t even eaten his fill.

“Gadelia.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“I… I’m still hungry.”

“Ah! My apologies. I wasn’t considerate enough, letting you go hungry. I’ll go buy more right away.”

Zhou Ming lowered his head with a sigh. He was starting to figure out Gadelia’s personality—whether it was her fault or not, she’d take the blame onto herself.

He didn’t know if this was a habit or because he had saved her.

Truthfully, even without him, she wouldn’t have been in danger. The Lantern Bearers would have arrived soon. If anything, he was the one who startled her.

But he couldn’t bring himself to say that.

Even if he did, she’d probably just keep apologizing.

A short while later, Gadelia returned with another bowl of congee.

Zhou Ming took a few bites, then shook his head and waved his hand.

“I can’t eat anymore. You have it.”

Looking at the bowl still more than half full, Gadelia tilted her head.

“Alright.”

She directly used the plastic spoon Zhou Ming had used and, under his stunned gaze, elegantly finished the remaining congee.

Wiping her mouth, she tossed the bowl and spoon into the trash bin and turned to look at Zhou Ming.

“Please stand up. I need to take your measurements.”

“I thought you said you were joking?”

“Not anymore.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she sat back in the chair. Her eyelids slowly closed, her body tilted to the side, and she fell asleep right there on the hospital bed.