For example, a wet towel shouldn’t be left on someone while they’re asleep—if it is put on, it’s best to take it off after a while.
Yet this woman always leaves the wet towel on Chen Yan and goes to sleep herself, like some drooling fool.
Every time Chen Yan wakes up, the towel has slipped aside, soaking the blanket and pillows.
Chen Yan sighed softly.
Except for the old lady.
Gu Qingyi is the only person in this world who has taken care of me when I was sick.
Though clumsy, though inexperienced, she tried hard to care for me, to look after me.
The door was pushed open, and Gu Qingyi walked in, carrying a plastic bag in one hand and a disposable cup with a straw in the other.
As soon as Chen Yan saw her, he smiled.
A cup of red date-flavored soy milk.
"Awake?" Gu Qingyi looked at Chen Yan sitting on the bed, smiled, and raised the plastic bag in her hand: "I went to the supermarket to buy some drinks. Drinking plain water every day makes my mouth bitter. I wanted a Coke."
Chen Yan noticed that Gu Qingyi seemed much better, her voice not as dry—her original nasal tone had recovered about seventy to eighty percent.
"You don’t have a fever?"
"Yes, no more fever, just a bit of cough, and my nose keeps running." Gu Qingyi sighed.
Indeed, if you listened carefully, her speech had a nasal tone.
However, this nasal tone added more flavor to her speech.
Looking at Gu Qingyi, Chen Yan felt no remnants of last night’s fluttering emotions, only a faint warmth. He got up from the bed and said with a smile: "Great, I’m not having fever either."
"The Heavenly Dao has cleared the accounts. If we’re sick, we’re sick together; if we’re well, we’re well together." Gu Qingyi let out a breath.
"Where did you buy this red date soy milk?"
"The place you went the other day. I searched for it on my phone’s map, a bun shop nearby. It wasn’t far, and it was easy to find." Gu Qingyi’s smile carried a bit of pride.
Saying this, she walked up to Chen Yan boldly, reached out to touch his forehead, and nodded with satisfaction: "Yes, the fever is gone."
Chen Yan glanced at the time and said: "Let’s go out for lunch, to that restaurant we ordered from. It’s just right to get some fresh air.
We’ve been cooped up in the room these days, it’s cold and we can’t open the window. The smell in our house is suffocating.
It’s been three days since we had the hotel clean the room, it’s filthy like a pigsty. Let’s let the hotel staff clean it while we go out to eat."
Gu Qingyi’s eyes lit up: "How about we go for roast duck for lunch?"
"In a couple of days, I guess, since we’re not fully recovered, let’s not eat anything too greasy. We haven’t regained our strength yet, so let’s not go too far."
Upon hearing this, Gu Qingyi pouted and said gloomily: "I just want to eat roast duck, and I’ve checked the map. There’s a roast duck shop just two blocks away."
Seeing his Consort Mother showing a girlish side, Chen Yan chuckled inwardly.
He examined Gu Qingyi’s complexion and weighed his options: "Alright, I’ll tell the restaurant owner not to send food for lunch. Let me wash up, you call a car, and we’ll go eat roast duck."
"And eat sticky rice rolls!" Gu Qingyi added.
"...Let’s see along the way, if there’s any, we’ll buy."
"Good, indeed filial." Gu Qingyi was delighted.
On the fourth day of the Heavenly Dao’s clearing, their symptoms gradually faded, leaving only a few lingering traces.
For cultivators with inherently powerful bodies, these minor traces barely affected their normal life state.
After eating the roast duck, Gu Qingyi refused to take the car back, instead dragging Chen Yan along the road to stroll towards the hotel.
But Chen Yan clearly felt that Gu Qingyi’s mood seemed to have dipped after finishing the roast duck.
Back at the hotel, Chen Yan hesitated for a moment and then asked softly: "Are...you uncomfortable?"
"No." Gu Qingyi shook her head and sighed: "I feel a bit upset."
"Being well means... it’s time to leave, isn’t it?"
Gu Qingyi voiced it without reserve, leaving Chen Yan momentarily stunned.
"I have some reluctance towards this world, well...also to you, Chen Yan." Gu Qingyi sighed: "I actually haven’t had many friends growing up. The siblings at home either fear me, or worship me, but among peers, there’s no one genuinely close to me."
Saying this, Gu Qingyi sat on the bed, looking at Chen Yan with a somewhat complex expression: "Actually, these days, since I couldn’t go anywhere, lying in bed, I thought about many things, it’s like I figured things out."
"What did you think about?" Chen Yan asked.
"I was quite ridiculous before." Gu Qingyi shook her head: "I kept thinking, since I’m your Consort Mother by name, I couldn’t resist playing the role of a mother like a child playing house, caring about your feelings, Lu Sisi, the Chen Family’s flourishing... Thinking back now, I feel embarrassed."
"Um...it’s not that embarrassing, just a little funny."
"Now I understand, as you said, the whole Consort Mother thing is just to fool the Heavenly Dao." Gu Qingyi looked at Chen Yan: "Actually, we are friends, aren’t we?"
"Of course, Consort Mother, we are indeed friends!"
"..." Gu Qingyi shot Chen Yan a glance and then laughed.
This time her laughter carried a bit of seriousness: "Chen Yan, I don’t know if we were friends before, but from now on, I’ll consider you a friend."