Translator: Sweet Bun
Proofreader: Lady Peridot
Special thanks to Lady Peridot, an earnest angle~ ヾ(=･ω･=)o
“What’s wrong?”
Finally, he spoke first. He had always been cautious, so her heavy breathing alarmed him.
“Nothing…” She just wanted to hear his voice and know that everything about him was OK.
“Nothing?” He was suspicious.
“Well… Are you all right?" Xia Xingchen asked, “Do you have any symptoms of fever, like feeling dizzy?
He finally understood her intention of making this call.
Standing at the top floor of White Feather Palace, overlooking his country, and listening to her voice of tenderness and concern, he felt that everything was perfect. He asked her, “You are worried about me, aren't you?”
“Yes, I am.” Unexpectedly, she admitted immediately. Moreover, she continued in a serious voice, “I’ve been worried about you all the time.”
Suddenly he found that the depressing autumn scenery outside the window looked very beautiful now.
“… Don’t worry, I’m all right.” He answered in a soft voice, “You have to stay healthy as well, you understand?”
Xia Xingchen smiled, while the tears were brimming in her eyes.
“H’m, we’ll both be fine.”
He was so busy as Leng Fei knocked on the door to remind him of his next schedule.
Xia Xingchen heard it and said sensibly, “Well… I won’t keep you any longer, just go to handle your business."
She wanted to sound free and easy, but her hesitant tone betrayed her.
If she was really infected, when would she hear his voice next time? Or maybe… She wouldn't have another chance to hear his voice again…
“Okay.” He said, “You hang up first.”
“… Okay.” Her voice became softer.
She paused for a while, and finally made up her mind to press the hang-up button.
“Wait!” His voice came from the other end. Stunned, she immediately got back on the phone, “What’s wrong?”
“Last time you said you would cook for me. Do you remember?"
“…” Of course! She remembered, but didn’t he explicitly say no?
“Tonight, I’ll try to go home early." Bai Yeqing didn't give her the chance to refuse it, and his voice was as overbearing as ever, “Xia Xingchen, don't stand me up again!”
“But…”
Before she could say something, he hung up the phone abruptly.
She stared at the screen and wondered when she stood him up. Last time, she wasn't going to cook for him at all!
Wait!
This is not the point.
The point is, she really can’t go back tonight…
Xia Xingchen called him again to change the time. However, no one answered the phone again.
She leaned against the wall with the phone in her hand, feeling embarrassed.
She can already imagine the scene when he gets furious.
……………………
“Xingchen.”
Xu Yan came over with bags of medicines in his hand.
She put the phone away.
“The doctor said we could go.” Xu Yan handed her the medicine, “Take them.”
She took the medicine and was just about to say 'thank you', when he lifted her in his arms again.
“Xu Yan!”
“You’re very weak now, so save yourself some energy.” Xu Yan said, “The doctor said that if the fever subsides after you take these medicines, it won't be WIS infection. Don't worry, you will be okay.”
Xia Xingchen knew he was coaxing her, but she didn't want him to worry too much, so she also put on a smile and said, “H'm, I will be okay.”
Maybe she was really too tired. By the time Xu Yan took her to his car, she had fallen asleep.
She was lying quietly in his arms, and her little face blushed because of fever, making her look like a child.
Xu Yan stood there, stared at her in his arms, and remembered their past. It was like a dream now, he didn't expect that one day she would be so close to him…
He hoped that time would freeze forever at this moment… And then she would always be in his arms…
Even if she had a fatal sickness, he was willing to take care of her all his life.
……………………
When Xia Xingchen woke up, she was lying in a strange bed of a strange room.
Where am I?
She was confused and struggled to sit up. And she felt her body sometimes cold and sometimes hot.
She tried hard to recall that she went to the hospital and then she met Xu Yan. After that, everything was blank.
“Awake now?”
Xu Yan pushed the door and came in with a cup of warm water. He sat down beside the bed and said, “Take the medicine and go back to sleep for a while.”
His voice sounded very gentle.
She got sober suddenly, "Why am I here?"
“You fell asleep, and I didn’t know where to send you, so I only could bring you here for the time being.”
When he said that, she remembered that she really had nowhere to go these days.
Before her condition was diagnosed, she couldn't go back to the presidential residence. As for the room she used to live in, she had already terminated the contract.
“I will go the hotel…” It was the only solution she could think of. She threw back the covers and got out of bed.
However, when her feet touched the ground, she instantly collapsed and couldn't get back up.
Xu Yan was distressed to see that, so he picked her up from the ground and placed her in bed.
“You can’t take care of yourself in this state. Stay here for the time being.”
Xia Xingchen firmly refused at once.
Concerning her current relationship with Xu Yan, it’s better for they to stay as far away from each other as possible.
“I don’t want to get you into trouble.” She said weakly. The fever was badly affecting her voice.
“If you really get WIS, I would have already been infected by you in the hospital. If you go out to the hotel, then you will probably affect more people. I don’t think you want this to happen, do you?"
He was right.
Xu Yan handed the medicine to her, “All you have to do now is stay here. If you insist on leaving, after you take the medicine and feel better, I won’t stop you.”
Xia Xingchen looked at him and the medicine in his palm, then took it quietly.
The medicine is very strong. After a short while, she fell asleep again.
This time, she fell into a deep peaceful sleep.
……………………
On the other side at the presidential office, Bai Yeqing was getting into the car when Leng Fei asked him, "Shall we go back to the presidential residence now?"
Bai Yeqing contemplated for a while and said, "… Go to the Foreign Ministry."
Today they had no schedule of the Foreign Ministry, but Leng Fei was clear about his purpose, so he said nothing and simply told the driver the destination.