Since Fu Shinian left for a business trip on January 18th, Su Mu and he had not shared a bed for nearly a month. There were tis before when she would feel uncomfortable, but now she found herself well-adjusted and had no desire to go.
So she shook her head in refusal:
"It’s not necessary, it’s not that cold."
"Are you afraid of ?" Fu Shinian asked with a light chuckle, "I’m getting an IV drip, what could I possibly do to you?"
Su Mu looked down at her book without speaking.
"You don’t really hope that once I’m better, I’ll be the one taking care of you, do you?"
Su Mu turned a page of her book, still not looking at him, her reply nonchalant:
"Kissing didn’t even get infected with your cold, now it’s just a bit chilly, I’ll be fine too."
Fu Shinian sighed, conceding:
"Then at least put on a coat. If you don’t want to go back to your room, you can wear one of mine."
This ti Su Mu did not refuse, for it was indeed a bit cold. She took one of Fu Shinian’s coats from the wardrobe, and upon coming out, she couldn’t help but say:
"Should we ask the master to co take a look tomorrow? I think there might be a problem with the underfloor heating in this room."
"Let’s talk about it tomorrow, during the New Year period, it’s not certain any master will co."
Su Mu gave Fu Shinian a glance, with a hint of inquiry and a touch of skepticism, but ultimately said nothing more, silently returning to her seat to continue reading.
She was truly a woman who could find tranquility; apart from occasionally glancing at her IV bottle, she spent all her ti reading, bathed in soft light that seed to envelop her in warmth, sothing Fu Shinian had never noticed before.
It was nearly midnight when Fu Shinian’s IV bag was finally empty. By then, he was almost asleep. It was only when Su Mu ca over to carefully remove the needle that he opened his bleary eyes and smiled faintly at her.
Su Mu’s motion to remove the needle slowed because of his smile. She averted her gaze from him and after a few seconds of silence, she removed the needle cleanly and efficiently.
In the past, she wouldn’t have been able to do this, not even daring to look, but who made her best friend a doctor? She had acted as a live test subject for Jiang Bei when she first started her internship, and over ti, she gradually beca unafraid and even learned how to administer injections.
As she was about to leave, an inadvertent glance revealed Fu Shinian wrapping himself tightly in the bedding, exposing only his head, as if he was very cold. No matter what, she found she could not take another step.
Fu Shinian, already feeling drowsy, had yet to hear the sound of Su Mu leaving, so he opened his eyes and saw her still standing there:
"Why aren’t you going to sleep?"
Su Mu let out a sigh:
"Get up and return to the master bedroom. You can co back to the guest room after the master has taken a look."
Fu Shinian’s eyes brightened, but he still shook his head:
"It’s fine, you go ahead. I’ve gotten used to it these past two days."
If it weren’t for the word ’used to’, Su Mu might have actually left him be, but now she felt compelled to intervene; he really knew how to grab hold of her psychology.
"I’ll wait for you in the master bedroom."
After saying that, Su Mu turned and left, so she didn’t see the triumphant smile on Fu Shinian’s face behind her.
The master bedroom was much warr than the guest room, yet when Fu Shinian saw the cotton blanket on the couch, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed, but then he thought it was not a big deal. At least he was finally back. Having moved from the guest room to the master bedroom, how much farther could the distance from the couch to the bed be?
I’ll always wait.
But perhaps the realization of a wish did seem to co a bit faster than expected. As Fu Shinian walked toward the couch, Su Mu spoke:
"You sleep in the bed."
Fu Shinian stopped in his tracks to look at her:
"You’re sleeping on the couch?"
"Yeah." Su Mu, holding a pillow, walked towards the couch: "You’re sick, you need to rest properly."
Fu Shinian watched Su Mu like that, wanting to say sothing, but Su Mu had already lain down and closed her eyes. She said, "I’m tired, please turn off the light when you go to sleep."
Her attitude clearly left no room for negotiation. Fu Shinian looked at her, curled up in a small ball over there, and suddenly regretted letting himself fall ill. But if he hadn’t fallen ill, he feared that he might have had to wait even longer to return to the master bedroom.
When Su Mu woke up the following day, she was surprised to find herself sleeping in the bed, and it could not have been anyone but Fu Shinian. What surprised Su Mu was that she had absolutely no mory of it.
There was no sign of Fu Shinian in the room. Su Mu lay quietly for a while, whether it was psychological or real, she thought she could sll Fu Shinian’s scent among the bedding.
Putting her wild thoughts aside, she picked up her phone to check. There was still no reply about Jiang Bei. She called back, only to be greeted by a voicemail ssage, which brought a sudden unease to Su Mu’s heart. When Fu Shinian, who had returned from exercising, entered, he found Su Mu in such a worried state:
"What’s wrong?"
Su Mu looked up at him:
"Xiaobei hasn’t been in contact for 3 days."
This remark also surprised Fu Shinian, who then seed to rember sothing: "Since when?"
"Since the first day of the Lunar New Year. The last ssage she sent was New Year’s Eve greetings, and then there was no more news." Seeing that Fu Shinian also looked unusually serious, Su Mu beca even more worried: "Did you think of sothing?"
Fu Shinian smiled to reassure her:
"No, what could I possibly think of? I just feel that if you’re really worried, I can have soone look into it."
"Okay."
Su Mu sent the information about Jiang Bei’s workplace and address in Tokyo to Fu Shinian’s phone. He glanced at it and instantly forwarded it to Song Yi: "I’ll tell you when I have news."
"Okay." She replied, showing no intention of getting up. On the contrary, she lay down again. Fu Shinian saw this and smiled slightly: "Going back to sleep?"
Su Mu turned over:
"I’m going to lie down for a while longer."
Fu Shinian didn’t say anything more and went straight to the bathroom. Su Mu belatedly realized that his cold symptoms seed to have improved quite a bit—at least, during their conversation just now, he hadn’t coughed. Perhaps the heavens sensed her uncertainty, so in the next second, she heard a cough coming from the bathroom.
Su Mu gathered her thoughts and started browsing through her phone. It was only while scrolling through Weibo that she saw the top trending topic was the news of "Qin Nianwan’s death." Her first reaction was to think it might be a joke, but after clicking in and seeing the official announcent from Safe Shen City’s official Weibo, she gradually accepted the fact.
Qin Nianwan was really dead.
There was no feeling of glee, nor any thought of ’serves her right’. The only feelings that lingered in Su Mu’s mind were those of the impermanence of life and a sense of regret.
Even with all the unpleasantness and the resentnt between them, after all...
It was a human life.
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