A cold wind swept through as slanting raindrops fell upon the trees, washing the layered leaves into a glistening emerald green. Branches occasionally struck the glass window, producing sharp, crisp sounds.
Cheng Fangqiu was groggily awakened by the noise. The first thing that entered her vision was the hospital ceiling. Her eyelashes trembled slightly as she shifted her gaze to the side, where she saw Zhou Yinghuai organizing things by the bedside.
She instinctively tried to call his name but found her throat unbearably dry. When she first opened her mouth, no sound came out. Adding to that, her head felt dizzy and uncomfortable, and a thick sense of grievance welled up inside her. Her eyes reddened involuntarily, and a faint mist of tears gathered at the corners.
“Hubby…”
A weak and hoarse murmur escaped her lips, as light as a mosquito’s buzz, yet he still heard it.
Zhou Yinghuai instantly turned toward her. Their gazes met in midair. He put down what he was holding and quickly strode over, reaching out his warm, large palm to touch her forehead. It was still a bit hot, but thankfully not as burning as before.
He let out a sigh of relief and softened his voice to ask, “Is there anywhere that feels particularly uncomfortable? I’ll call the doctor to take a look.”
Hearing his gentle concern, Cheng Fangqiu’s fragile emotional defense, already on the verge of collapse due to her illness, instantly crumbled. Her lips quivered, and teardrops rolled down one by one from her reddened eyes, wetting her long eyelashes before sliding down her cheeks and splashing onto the pink blanket, leaving behind dark, damp stains.
“Be good, don’t cry, hubby’s here.”
Seeing her cry, Zhou Yinghuai hurriedly reached out to wipe her tears, but when he saw how delicate and frail she looked, like thin jade, he was afraid of using too much force and making her feel even worse.
A man who was always swift and decisive in the outside world, feared by many, was now at a rare loss. He didn’t even know where to put his hands.
After some thought, he decided to mimic the actions of the mothers he had seen earlier in the hospital corridor soothing their babies—gently patting her chest in comfort.
Cheng Fangqiu cried for a while before slowly raising her tear-streaked face. Her fair skin was tinged with an abnormal flush. She stretched out a hand from beneath the blanket, her eyes misty with tears, and reached toward him. “Hug me.”
Zhou Yinghuai felt his heart melt completely. He half-sat on the bed, carefully avoiding the hand she had an IV in, and gathered her into his arms.
He was warm, and Cheng Fangqiu couldn’t help but nuzzle against him. Then, in a muffled voice, she complained, “My head hurts, my chest feels tight, my whole body aches, and I have no strength.”
Her soft, delicate voice made Zhou Yinghuai’s heart ache unbearably. Lowering his eyes, he adjusted the blanket to make sure she was completely covered before coaxing her in a hoarse voice, “Be good, after the IV drip and medicine, you won’t feel so bad anymore.”
Cheng Fangqiu drowsily nodded and nestled in his embrace for a while before finally stopping her tears.
Zhou Yinghuai seized the opportunity to ask, “Do you want to eat something? I bought the pumpkin porridge you said was really good last time, along with rice noodles in soup and chicken stew with mushrooms…”
“What do you feel like eating?”
He listed a few dishes, but Cheng Fangqiu had no appetite at all. Her mouth tasted bitter and dry. However, she also knew that eating something would help her recover faster, so after thinking for a moment, she said, “Pumpkin porridge.”
“Alright.” Zhou Yinghuai gently released her, took one of the insulated containers from the bedside table, and then returned to her side. Wrapping an arm around her, he carefully cooled each spoonful of porridge before feeding it to her, ensuring the temperature was just right.
The pumpkin porridge had been cooked until it was soft and mushy, carrying a light sweetness. Its aroma stirred her appetite slightly, and after finishing most of the bowl, she found that her body no longer felt as uncomfortable. With a bit more energy, she started thinking about other things.
“What time is it now? Have you eaten yet?”
Hearing her question, Zhou Yinghuai glanced at his watch. “Almost twelve.”
After answering the first question, he paused slightly, preparing to answer the second. But before he could, her dissatisfied voice rang out.
“Why haven’t you eaten properly?”
Seeing through him in an instant, his hand gripping the spoon tightened slightly. After hesitating for two seconds, he still chose to answer truthfully, like a child caught doing something wrong. “I couldn’t eat.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a soft touch landed on his chin.
“No matter what, you still have to eat properly.”
Cheng Fangqiu pursed her lips. She knew he must have lost his appetite because he was too worried about her. For a moment, she didn’t know whether to be angry or to laugh, but in the end, she was more moved than anything else. Lifting her head, she planted a light kiss on his chin.
“Being sick really feels terrible. Our family already has one patient; we can’t have a second one.”
Zhou Yinghuai’s heart was instantly filled with warmth, and at last, a smile appeared on his face.
“Alright, I’ll eat after you finish.”
Knowing that her appetite wouldn’t be great due to her illness, he had bought a variety of foods she usually liked. There was more than enough for both of them.
After Cheng Fangqiu finished a small bowl of pumpkin porridge and drank half a bowl of chicken soup, Zhou Yinghuai finally started eating. Once he was done, the boiled water that had been set aside earlier had cooled down slightly. He took the medicine prescribed by the doctor and fed it to her.
“By the way, did you help me take leave?”
Zhou Yinghuai nodded. “I asked for a few extra days. Master Li said you can go back to work next week.”
Hearing this, Cheng Fangqiu felt relieved. This cold had hit her hard, and she wasn’t sure how many more days it would take to recover completely. Taking a couple more days off to rest was a good thing—it would prevent her from spreading it to her colleagues. The photo studio only had a few staff members. If everyone got sick, who would run the shop?
Besides, in just three days, Cheng Xuejun would be starting school. The plan they had discussed earlier was for Ding Ximei and Cheng Baokuan to bring him to the provincial city, and the whole family would spend the Mid-Autumn Festival together.
With this timing, everything lined up perfectly.
The two of them chatted for a while about their plans for the next couple of days. Whether it was due to the medicine or the fatigue from her illness, Cheng Fangqiu felt incredibly drowsy.
“I want to sleep a little more.”
“Go ahead, I’m right here.”
With his reassurance, Cheng Fangqiu slept soundly. She didn’t even notice when the nurse came to remove the IV needle.
She only woke up again because she seemed to hear a familiar voice in her sleep.
“Is Qiuqiu still asleep?”
“Yes, she’s been sleeping for a long time.”
“What did the doctor say? Has her fever gone down?”
“It’s gone now. The doctor said as long as the fever has subsided, there’s nothing to worry about.”
Even though they kept their voices low and didn’t say much before heading outside to talk, Cheng Fangqiu still woke up. This time, she felt much more refreshed than before.
When she saw who was standing beside her hospital bed, she was slightly surprised and called out, “Qiqi?”
“Qiuqiu, you’re awake?” Xu Qiqi immediately turned back from her attempt to leave the room and walked toward the hospital bed, looking at her with concern. “How are you feeling now?”
“Much better.”
Noticing that the IV drip was no longer attached to her hand, Cheng Fangqiu instinctively tried to sit up. Xu Qiqi quickly reached out to support her, while Zhou Yinghuai reacted just as swiftly, taking a coat and draping it over her shoulders.
“Thank you.” Cheng Fangqiu smiled gently before asking, “How did you know I was in the hospital?”
Xu Qiqi sat down on a nearby chair and, upon hearing the question, responded, “It’s a long story.”
Last night, Chang Yan’an had gone crazy and tormented her for quite some time. She had slept until noon, only waking up just in time for lunch.
As soon as she finished eating, she received a call from the security office, saying that someone was looking for her at the entrance.
To her surprise, it was Du Fangping.
Fearing that something had gone wrong with the plan from the previous night, Xu Qiqi endured the soreness between her legs and rushed to the factory entrance to meet her. After a brief conversation, she learned that Du Fangping had come specifically to visit Cheng Fangqiu after hearing that she was sick.
However, since she didn’t know which hospital Cheng Fangqiu was in, she had come to find Xu Qiqi first.
The moment Xu Qiqi heard that Cheng Fangqiu was sick, she immediately took Du Fangping to the family apartment to check on her. When they found no one at home, they tracked her down to the hospital.
“Where’s Fangping and the others?”
Cheng Fangqiu was a little surprised. She hadn’t expected that just catching a cold would alarm so many people.
“We split up. I’ll go get them now.”
Xu Qiqi smacked her forehead—if Cheng Fangqiu hadn’t reminded her, she would have completely forgotten about that. Without further delay, she rushed out of the hospital room to bring them over.
Once Xu Qiqi left, only Cheng Fangqiu and Zhou Yinghuai remained in the ward.
“I want some water.”
Zhou Yinghuai handed her the cup. Cheng Fangqiu reached out to take it and gulped down more than half in one go. Some water accidentally spilled, but before she could wipe it herself, he had already taken a handkerchief and carefully wiped it clean for her—gentle and meticulous.
“You’re so good to me.” Having someone so attentive by her side, Cheng Fangqiu couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smile.
He neither confirmed nor denied it, simply smiling in return. But then, as if something had just occurred to him, he asked, “Who is Yuan Zheng?”
She had never mentioned him before.
“Just a guy who often comes to our photo studio to take pictures. After a while, we got to know each other, but we’re not that close, so I never mentioned him.”
After finishing her water, Cheng Fangqiu handed the cup back to Zhou Yinghuai and continued, “It was quite a coincidence, actually. Yesterday, when I went to the movies with Fangping and the others, we ran into him. Turns out, he and Fangping live in the same residential compound, and his older brother is even Fangping’s blind date.”
After hearing this, Zhou Yinghuai’s gaze darkened slightly.
What kind of job, what kind of situation, would require a young man to frequently visit a photo studio to take pictures?
Moreover, judging from Fangqiu’s tone, their relationship wasn’t close enough for him to specifically come to visit her in the hospital. Yet, despite the trouble and hassle, he still made the effort to find her…
“What’s wrong?” Seeing Zhou Yinghuai standing there absentmindedly holding the water cup, Cheng Fangqiu asked in confusion.
Zhou Yinghuai concealed the flicker of gloom in his eyes, turned around, placed the cup on the bedside table, and shook his head. “Nothing.”
Whether he was a man or a ghost, he would know soon enough.
Cheng Fangqiu glanced him up and down suspiciously, about to ask more, when suddenly, a knock came from outside the hospital room.
Zhou Yinghuai called out, “Come in.”
The door was pushed open impatiently, and a young man rushed inside.
His face was filled with anxiety, and he was breathing heavily. Although the rain had brought a drop in temperature, his forehead was covered in sweat.
“Qiuqiu…”
The person he had been thinking about all along was now sitting on the hospital bed, her face pale. Her dark hair was tied into a loose low ponytail, with a few strands falling over her chest. Those clear, autumn-water-like eyes met his gaze, and she curved them slightly.
Seeing that she didn’t appear to be in any serious danger, Yuan Zheng let out a breath of relief. However, just as he instinctively blurted out her name, his words came to an abrupt stop.
That was because, at this moment, he finally noticed the presence of another person in the room.
In reality, the man’s presence was overwhelmingly strong. But Yuan Zheng, overwhelmed by worry, had been too focused on Cheng Fangqiu to pay attention to anything else. Only now did he realize that someone else was there.
The man stood just half a step away from her, his tall and imposing figure radiating an undeniable sense of strength. From Yuan Zheng’s angle, he could only see the side of his face—a sharp, well-defined profile, a prominent Adam’s apple…
Everything about him indicated that he was a mature and strikingly handsome man.
For some reason, Yuan Zheng couldn’t help but compare himself to him.
Although he didn’t want to admit it, he had no choice but to acknowledge that there was no real comparison between them. After all, no one would ever compare a freshly sprouted sapling to a fully grown tree bearing fruit.