Gao Chuan finished the last of the seminar work and then hurriedly headed for the back gate of the school, where he had arranged to et Jiang An.
As it was evening, fewer people were around. When the man arrived, he saw Jiang An, wrapped in a thick coat, already sitting on a bench waiting. By this ti, the sun was about to set, casting a golden glow over the campus. The warm remnants of sunlight tenderly touched the girl on the bench, casting a delicate shadow on her profile.
Gao Chuan slowed his sowhat anxious steps and approached Jiang An. Almost as he neared the bench, the girl stood up and turned towards him, smiling as she handed him a hot coffee, "Dr. Gao, is the seminar all wrapped up?"
"Yeah, it’s over." Gao Chuan took the paper cup from her, and before he could speak, Jiang An turned away slightly and sneezed. The man lowered his head and noticed Jiang An’s flushed cheeks, his face shadowed with concern, almost instinctively reaching out his right hand to touch her forehead.
The gentle touch felt as cool as a mountain stream.
Indeed, it was quite hot to the touch, and he tested his own forehead.
"You have a fever." The man concluded in front of Jiang An. She, not so concerned initially, felt the significant temperature difference under his touch and smiled, "It’s okay, I’ll just take so dicine later."
Gao Chuan frowned at her casual attitude towards her health, quickly stuffed his coffee back into her hand, and before Jiang An could speak again, he took off his black trench coat.
When Jiang An looked up again, the heavy coat had already been draped over her by Dr. Gao. The distance between them had closed significantly, and before Jiang An could react, she heard Dr. Gao’s deep voice overhead, "Go to the hospital or go ho, you choose?"
The girl suddenly looked up with wide eyes as she realized he was asking where she wanted to go for treatnt.
The evening clouds swirled around, the man stood in front of her under the barely visible light, gazing down at her with an unmistakable scrutinizing look.
"Ho," the girl replied.
The two drove back ho where Gao Chuan imdiately fetched the dical kit from the bedroom, took out a thermoter, and handed it to Jiang An, who obediently clamped it under her arm and sat quietly on the sofa waiting.
Gao Chuan sat next to her, rifling through the dical kit for fever dicine, while Jiang An quietly watched his movents, her gaze settling on the ring on Gao Chuan’s ring finger. She recalled the scene at the school that afternoon where he proclaid he had a wife, her ears burning red.
It seed Dr. Gao knew she was sitting in the audience then.
"Dr. Gao..." Jiang An murmured softly, Gao Chuan turned his head to her increasingly flushed face, worried she was burning up with fever.
"What is it?" Gao Chuan asked, seeing her call him but saying nothing more.
"Do you like this ring?" Jiang An asked timidly, as it seed that ever since they bought it at the mall, Gao Chuan had always worn it on his hand, only taking it out when she occasionally visited the Gao Family’s ho.
Gao Chuan’s eyes flickered, avoiding her expectant gaze, and said indifferently, "It’s alright."
Jiang An felt a surge of joy hearing the affirmative response, "That’s good, I was afraid Dr. Gao wouldn’t like such a plain style."
Gao Chuan’s gaze fell on the ring on his finger, gently touching it with his other hand.
It was indeed a very plain design, but he was not one to be picky.
After a while, Gao Chuan glanced at his watch, thinking it was about ti, and instructed her to remove the thermoter, which Jiang An hurriedly did and handed to him.
Gao Chuan checked it, 38.5 degrees – indeed, a fever.
"Take a day off from school tomorrow and rest," the man turned to Jiang An on the sofa, his voice cold, almost commanding.
Jiang An protested, "No, I have my thesis defense in a couple of days and I’m not ready yet."
Gao Chuan listened to her determined opposition without comnt before standing up to get a glass of hot water from the kitchen and fetched the dicine he had found earlier, watching her drink it down before he felt reassured.
"Are you encountering any problems with your defenses?"
Jiang An hadn’t expected Gao Chuan to ask about her thesis defense, shook her head, "No."
"Then stay ho and rest properly." The man threw down his words authoritatively, then picked up a cup from the table and left the living room. Watching Gao Chuan’s retreating back, Jiang An found herself at a loss for words.
Back in her room, Jiang An intended to call Xia Zi to ask her to help request a day off, but when she opened their chat, she found dozens of ssages from Xia Zi. Scrolling to the very first ssage, she saw a photo sent by her.
The photo showed her with Dr. Gao, possibly due to the distance of the photographer, it was a bit blurry, but it perfectly captured the mont Dr. Gao draped his coat over her. Others might not recognize it was Jiang An, but Xia Zi, who had always been by her side, could probably guess from the clothes she wore today.
Jiang An scrolled further to see the angry text ssages from Xia Zi, causing her a headache.
They were exposed, this ti for real...
Removing her shoes, Jiang An lay on the bed and thought for a while, finally deciding to confide in Xia Zi about her relationship with Dr. Gao, as Xia Zi was her best friend.
She sent an emoji and was considering how to phrase her words when Xia Zi’s call ca through, Jiang An flustered, then heard Xia Zi yelling, "Jiang An, what exactly is going on with you and the deity, tell everything now!"
Jiang An helplessly moved the phone away from her near bursting eardrums, waiting until the other side had cald down before holding it back to her ear, "Calm down, I’ll tell you after I go to school the day after tomorrow."
By then Xia Zi was already irate like a thunderstorm: "Fuck, your husband really is amazing, no, I want to know now."
Jiang An pinched the bridge of her nose, her head throbbing due to the fever, muddled a response, and ended the call.
Turning her head to touch her feverishly red cheeks, she could almost imagine Xia Zi’s fuming figure, and began to ponder how she would explain everything when the ti ca.
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