Chapter 38: Sick
There were many cases of the flu in the spring. Mi Yang had managed to get through the entire winter break without going to the hospital, but he finally succumbed to the flu.
Cheng Qing took him to get a shot while she was at work, and then brought him back at noon. She made him a meal and, while feeding him, murmured, “Yangyang, eat a little more. After you’re full, we’ll take a nap. The medicine will take effect, and you’ll be better. Don’t read at home either. It’s too tiring to study so much every day.”
Mi Yang’s mouth tasted bitter, and he didn’t want to eat. His eyes darted to the table. “Mom, I want to eat an apple.”
Cheng Qing said, “Three more spoonfuls of rice. Mom is counting. After you’re done, I’ll get you an apple.”
Mi Yang had no choice but to continue to open his mouth to eat. Cheng Qing counted carefully for him, and after three spoonfuls, she really stopped feeding him. She washed and cut an apple, placed it on a small plate, and brought it to him to eat in bed.
“Mom has already asked for leave for you at school.” Cheng Qing tucked him in and touched his forehead. “It’s not as hot as this morning. You sleep at home for a while and don’t go anywhere, you hear?”
Mi Yang nodded. Cheng Qing then hastily ate a few mouthfuls of rice and hurried back to the hospital to work.
Mi Yang slept at home for a while and suddenly felt someone touching his hair. His eyelids were very heavy. After a long while, he said, “Mom?”
The person who was wiping his forehead with a wet towel didn’t stop and whispered, “Auntie Cheng is cooking in the kitchen. She’ll be here in a bit. Do you want some water?”
Mi Yang recognized Bai Luochuan’s voice and nodded. He drank more than half a glass in one go. Bai Luochuan was about to give him more water, but Mi Yang shook his head. “No more.”
Bai Luochuan took the water glass away and then brought a thermometer to take his temperature. The thermometer, which had been left outside, was cold, and Mi Yang couldn’t help but shiver the moment it touched his skin. Bai Luochuan felt a little sorry for him and touched his forehead. “It’ll be over in a bit.”
Mi Yang had no energy and didn’t talk to him as he usually did, just shrinking under the quilt.
It took a few minutes to take his temperature. Bai Luochuan asked him again what he wanted to eat. Mi Yang had no appetite and, shrinking under the thick quilt, said with a flushed face, “Um, an apple, I guess.”
Bai Luochuan then went out and brought back a big, red apple. The apple had been stored for a winter and had slightly less moisture, but it was sweeter. Bai Luochuan took out a hand-cranked peeler from his schoolbag and showed it to Mi Yang. “Look, Auntie Wu used this to peel an apple at noon today. It’s very fast. I thought it was fun, so I brought it for you.”
These little machines were very popular recently. You would stick a whole apple on it, turn the handle a few times, and the apple peel would be evenly peeled off in a long strip, revealing the white, fragrant flesh inside.
Bai Luochuan had brought it more as a toy. He knew that Mi Yang usually liked to eat apples, so he had brought it over to amuse the sick child.
When Mi Yang saw it, it indeed brought back some memories, and he looked at it a couple more times.
After giving him the apple, Bai Lu-ochuan also pushed the little toy to him. “You can keep this to play with.” Without waiting for Mi Yang to speak, he continued to take out today’s notes and homework from his schoolbag. He said to him, “I’ve already taken all the notes, and I understood everything the teacher taught. I’ll teach you. Don’t worry, you won’t fall behind on any of your schoolwork.”
Mi Yang, while gnawing on the apple, said, “Just leave the notes. I’ll read them myself. You can go back.”
Bai Luochuan was taken aback. “You’re telling me to leave?”
Mi Yang was afraid of infecting him and nodded. “Yes, I can just read them myself. If there’s anything I don’t understand, I’ll call and ask you.”
Bai Luochuan said, “I can teach you right now…”
Mi Yang said, “No, I’m so sleepy right now. I don’t want to have a lesson.”
Bai Luochuan didn’t want to leave and was hesitant. But the Bai family’s people obviously knew his habits better. The orderly came directly to the door, saying he was here to pick him up for dinner. Bai Luochuan’s face was not good. He thought they all felt that Little Good Boy was sick and not “good” enough, so they didn’t want him to have much contact with him. He pursed his lips, unhappy, but the orderly’s words dispelled his worries.
The orderly said, “I didn’t plan to come and get Luochuan back so early. Mr. Wei is back and is eager to see his students.”
The expression on Bai Luochuan’s face softened a lot. Although he was still a little reluctant to part, he held Mi Yang’s hand and said a few words before reluctantly going back.
After dinner that night, Cheng Qing also saw the notes Bai Luochuan had left. She stroked Mi Yang’s head and asked him in a low voice, “Yangyang, Mom knows you’re anxious because you can’t go back to school, but your health comes first. Mom doesn’t need you to get good grades. Being healthy is enough.”
Mi Zehai also comforted him from the side. “You’re already amazing right now, really. Your dad, except for that time I got into military academy, I’ve never gotten first place in my life!”
Mi Yang said, “No, there was one other time.”
Mi Zehai himself couldn’t remember. “When else did I get first place?”
Mi Yang blinked his eyes and said seriously, “Basketball, of course. The schoolbag I’m carrying is a prize!”
Mi Zehai went forward and ruffled his son’s head, laughing heartily. Even Cheng Qing, beside him, couldn’t help but laugh.
His family didn’t put any pressure on him, and Mi Yang was not a particularly competitive person to begin with. He had skipped a grade only because he wanted to do what he liked a few years earlier. But now, looking at it, it was also quite nice to live this life slowly. He was very fond of the children in the first class of the third grade and had gradually integrated into this small group.
Mi Yang had a small regret in his previous life. When he was in school, he hadn’t been able to choose the major he liked and had followed the advice of his parents and teachers, choosing a major that was relatively easy to find a job in. Although he had found a job smoothly after graduation, he always felt that something was missing. This time, having a chance to start over, he decided to follow his heart and do what he wanted to do for once.
Anyway, the housing prices were still low now. In a few years, whether he persuaded his parents or thought of a way to scrape together some money himself, he could always buy a small apartment in advance. This would be equivalent to completing the survival task of his past life. With food and shelter taken care of, he could find any job to support himself. The thought of it was quite beautiful.
The next day, Mrs. Bai had someone send over some nutritional supplements. At that time, the health product market was just beginning to take shape. There were a few advertisements on TV and in the newspapers, and there were quite a few nutritional products for children and the elderly. What Mrs. Bai had sent were things like “Apollo” and “Wahaha,” saying that they would help the child strengthen his resistance.
Bai Luochuan came to report on time every night, sometimes with some fruit from the south, and sometimes with two bottles of rock sugar bird’s nest. Mi Yang flipped through the ingredient list. The market probably hadn’t been strictly regulated yet. The ingredient list dared to write anything, with ginseng and deer antler all listed.
When Bai Luochuan was with Mi Yang’s parents, his little face was quite serious. But if it was just him and Mi Yang in the room, his young master’s true colors would be revealed, especially when Mi Yang urged him to go home, he would look very unhappy.
Bai Luochuan looked at him with an accusatory expression, dissatisfied. “You’ve been chasing me away a lot lately.”
Mi Yang thought to himself, Nonsense, isn’t that because I’m afraid of infecting you!
But he couldn’t say this directly. If he did, the young master Bai would definitely say “I’m not afraid” and want to take off his clothes and climb into his bed to sleep with him.
Mi Yang, half-lying in bed, said in a gentle voice, “I’m sick. I’m not feeling well.”
When he said that, Bai Luochuan’s little temper also dissipated. He leaned over and touched his forehead. It was still a little hot. He couldn’t help but say, “It’s all Teacher Wang’s fault. It was she who made you stand outside as punishment and you caught a cold.”
Mi Yang was at a loss for whether to laugh or cry. “Don’t blame everything on her. It’s been so long. I caught a cold on my own.”
Bai Luochuan wouldn’t listen. He sat on the edge of Mi Yang’s bed, getting closer and closer, his feet rubbing against the side, wanting to take off his shoes. Mi Yang saw right through him and pushed his shoulder. “No.”
Bai Luochuan’s little eyebrows shot up again. “Just for a little while.”
Mi Yang shook his head and pushed him again. “No, you go home and sleep.”
The young master Bai whined for a long time. Seeing that Mi Yang was not softening at all, he angrily put his shoes back on and went back.
Perhaps because of this little scene with the young master Bai, Mi Yang had a rare, long dream that night. He dreamed of Bai Luochuan.
In the dream, he was initially a child, sitting on the carpet in the bedroom on the second floor of the Bai’s house, packing up the box of toys.
The young master Bai’s favorite game console was thrown to the side, looking as if it had been abandoned.
When he saw it, he couldn’t help but ask, “Isn’t this your favorite? You don’t want it anymore?”
Little Bai Luochuan pouted. “I’m tired of it. It’s boring.”
Hearing this in his dream, his heart skipped a beat. He looked down, feeling a little flustered, as if he had become that game console.
The dream was fragmented, like some events from his previous life that he found familiar but couldn’t remember clearly.
In a blur, he was back in the hospital, but this time he was a teenager.
He pushed open the door of the hospital room and slowly walked out, seeing the sixteen or seventeen-year-old Bai Luochuan. Bai Luochuan was sitting on a chair in the hospital corridor, his legs crossed, playing a game console. After he had taken two steps, the other person looked up at him, revealing those beautiful, slightly upturned eyes. He looked at him and snorted. “Idiot, why did you sign up for a long-distance run with a cold?”
Mi Yang heard the himself in the dream say with a hint of fatigue, “I had no choice. It’s for the class’s honor.”
Bai Luochuan put the game console aside and said with disdain, “If you had just said something, I would have gone for you.”
Mi Yang subconsciously wanted to go along with his words and praise him a little. At this time, the young master Bai was hard on the outside but soft on the inside. It was best to stroke his fur in the right direction. But the himself in the dream just smiled and didn’t say anything.
The eyes Bai Luochuan was looking at him with lifted a little, sharp and beautiful, the charm of a young man fully revealed. But he curled his lips into a sneer, and the words he spoke were like thorns. “You’re always like this. What’s wrong with owing me a little? Do you have to be so careful?”
Mi Yang’s heart suddenly jumped. His thoughts had been exposed. He was deliberately being so careful.
—Because he was afraid.
Mi Yang was in a daze in the dream, frowning and trying hard to think. What was he afraid of… He suddenly couldn’t seem to remember…
He was cornered by this question in his dream, so troubled that he wanted to struggle to wake up, but it was as if he were entangled in vines and couldn’t move an inch. After being pushed a couple of times, he immediately woke up, gasping for breath, a layer of fine sweat on his forehead.
“What’s wrong with you? Did you have a nightmare again?”
The child who had woken him up was looking at him with concern. Mi Yang’s gaze met his, as if to confirm, and he asked carefully, “Bai Luochuan?”
The little young master Bai nodded, curious. “It’s me.”
