Lu Ze couldn’t remember much about what happened after Liang Xiao brought back the hot water; he vaguely recalled Liang Xiao saying something like “you have a fever,” and after that, everything was a blur.
The next day, he was awakened by Jiang Yijie. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Jiang Yijie’s face up close.
“Lu Ze, wake up. You have a fever!”
Frowning, Lu Ze moved back a bit and took a while before saying, “I know.”
His voice was similar to the night before, and his throat was even more sore than the previous night.
Lu Ze raised his hand to shield his eyes, feeling his arms all soft and lacking strength.
Jiang Yijie paced by the bedside, “How did you get so seriously ill? I shouldn’t have taken you drinking yesterday, and now you can’t even take medicine…”
Lu Ze responded with a faint “Hmm,” saying, “It’s okay, just need a good sleep…”
“It’s almost eleven; you should eat something first.”
“I don’t want to eat,” Lu Ze remained in the same position without moving, and his words seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, “My stomach feels uncomfortable.”
Jiang Yijie clicked his tongue, “If your stomach feels uncomfortable, you should eat something to cushion it.”
“No,” Lu Ze was extremely stubborn.
Jiang Yijie was so frustrated that he plopped down by his bed, causing Lu Ze to bounce a little, “Look at you, at least… what’s that term, experienced in matters of the heart, right? Just for a Han Jing, do you have to be so depressed?”
Lu Ze’s Adam’s apple moved, “It’s not because of her, it’s because of the frustration… I’m annoyed…”
Jiang Yijie sighed, “So what are you going to do now? I have two professional classes in the afternoon, and no one will take care of you. Should I call your roommate? Or should I drag you back?”
Lu Ze remained silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, “Did you see someone when you woke up?”
“Your throat is really… it makes me uncomfortable all over,” Jiang Yijie stood up, intending to pour him some water, “There’s no one else, just the two of us. Can I use this water kettle?”
“Don’t use it…” Lu Ze said, “You go back to class, don’t worry about me.”
“Can that work?” Jiang Yijie paused, “Are you looking for that person from yesterday? Who is it? Someone new?”
It seemed Jiang Yijie had already forgotten what he said last night. Although Lu Ze and Jiang Yijie were close, he couldn’t bring himself to talk about Liang Xiao. How could he explain it? Should he say he impulsively spent money to rent a handsome boyfriend?
So he could only vaguely say, “I knew him before.”
“Is he reliable? You can call him first. I’ll leave when he comes.”
Lu Ze sighed inwardly; Jiang Yijie was here, making it impossible for him to send a voice message to Liang Xiao. He could only struggle to climb out of bed.
He hadn’t paid much attention after adding Liang Xiao as a friend yesterday. Lu Ze found Liang Xiao’s WeChat; the WeChat name was simply two letters, XL.
He clicked into Liang Xiao’s Moments, and surprisingly, the background picture was various business-related things. The latest post was just five minutes ago, saying he had some free time in the afternoon.
It seemed like a WeChat account mainly used for adding clients.
Returning to the chat box, Lu Ze directly sent a message to Liang Xiao: “[Can you come over for a bit? Hotel]”
After sending it, he realized this message might have some ambiguity, but he felt dizzy and didn’t bother to change it. He believed Liang Xiao should understand.
Liang Xiao quickly responded: “[Sure, how many hours?]”
Lu Ze: “[Don’t know.]”
Lu Ze: “[Probably the whole afternoon; don’t schedule anything else.]”
Liang Xiao: “[I’ll be there in ten minutes.]”
Lu Ze: “[Okay.]”
He put down his phone and looked at Jiang Yijie, “He’ll be here soon. You can head back to school; you can still grab lunch.”
“Do I really not need to wait for him to arrive before leaving?”
Lu Ze waved his hand, “No need.”
Jiang Yijie nodded, “Alright, I’ll head out. If you need anything, just send me a message on WeChat.”
“Okay.”
Not long after Jiang Yijie left, Lu Ze lifted the covers and got out of bed, walking to the bathroom with unsteady steps. While washing his face, he noticed how bad his complexion was when he looked in the mirror. His jacket was also missing, unsure if Liang Xiao had helped him take it off.
Although he still felt awkward, he was grateful that Liang Xiao hadn’t let him sleep in an uncomfortable jacket while running a fever.
As he blankly stared into the mirror, propped against the sink, the door was knocked. He walked out and opened the door, finding Liang Xiao in a similar appearance as the previous night.
Lu Ze stepped aside, gesturing for him to come in.
“My friend went back to school for classes,” Lu Ze explained, “so I still have to trouble you… to take care of me a bit.”
Liang Xiao nodded, “No trouble.”
Lu Ze and Liang Xiao stood together in the hallway, feeling uneasy in every way. Unsure where to place his hands and feet, Lu Ze decided to bring up a topic, “Let me settle the payment for last night.”
“Two and a half hours,” Liang Xiao said, “Three hundred and seventy-five.”
Lu Ze walked to the bedside, picked up his phone, and swiftly transferred the amount.
Then, a moment of awkward silence ensued.
This time, Liang Xiao spoke first. His voice and aura were equally cold, yet there was an oddly reassuring feeling, “No need to be nervous. Your fever hasn’t gone down, so lie down for now.”
Awkward, still awkward, very awkward.
But Lu Ze knew he was quite ill and needed personal care. Since he had already spent the money, he decided not to dwell on it. He proactively told Liang Xiao, “My throat is quite sore; I’d like some water.”
“Sure, I’ll get you a thermometer as well. If your temperature is high, we’ll get some medicine,” Liang Xiao added.
“Is it okay to take medicine after drinking?” Lu Ze asked.
“You threw up quite a bit last night, and it’s been over twelve hours now. I bought fever medicine that’s safe to take with alcohol. No problem,” Liang Xiao replied.
“Thanks…” Lu Ze said out of habit.
“Is there anything you’d like to eat? I can get something on my way back; otherwise, it might be hard to take the medicine.”
“My stomach feels quite uncomfortable,” Lu Ze said.
Liang Xiao walked to the bedside, naturally bending down to help cover Lu Ze with the blanket. “Eat a bit; it’ll be even more uncomfortable if you don’t eat after taking the medicine.”
In that instant, Lu Ze felt his scalp tingling, and goosebumps covered his body. Before he could process what he said to Liang Xiao, Liang Xiao had already left.
After coming back to his senses, Lu Ze looked at the ceiling and sighed. It was truly paying for trouble1 It conveys the idea that one has willingly put themselves in a troublesome or challenging situation by spending money, often with a hint of regret or frustration.. It’s not that Liang Xiao was bad; it’s just that Liang Xiao was too good. Looking at someone so cold and seemingly unapproachable, yet being so dedicated—it felt like he had a boyfriend.
“Damn, what boyfriend! He doesn’t have a boyfriend!”
In order to warn himself that he doesn’t need a boyfriend, Lu Ze, in a rather self-torturing manner, opened the chat with Han Jing. He hadn’t even changed the nickname, which still said ‘Jing Jing’
Lu Ze deleted those two characters and changed it to Han Jing, then clicked into her Moments. It was visible for the past three days, but there was nothing.
After exiting, he found Qiu Ning in the list, clicked into her Moments, and saw a photo she posted this morning, capturing hands holding a basketball and a volleyball. Among the common friends, Han Jing was the first one to like it.
Lu Ze quickly exited, tossed his phone aside, locked the screen, and, after a few seconds, grabbed his phone again. The battery was down to five percent.
He reluctantly unlocked his phone again and sent Liang Xiao a very weary and husky voice message: [My phone is about to run out of battery, please buy me a power bank, and I’ll reimburse you when you come back.]
Liang Xiao: [Okay, I’ll be back soon.]
Lu Ze stared at this message for a couple of seconds, then once again tossed his phone aside.
