That bank card lay just within Yu Zi’s reach, less than two inches away. He lowered his eyelids and remained silent for a long time.

“You don’t have to do this. It’s not your fault,” Yu Zi didn’t reach out for the card, his fingers pressing against the table without moving.

“Consider it as me lending it to you,” Xie Dongcheng pushed the card towards his fingertips with his left hand.

Between the two, there was silence for half a minute, and it seemed as if it was not just a card in front of them, but a chessboard.

After taking a deep breath, Yu Zi raised his head. “What’s the interest rate on your mortgage? I’ll calculate double for you, and within three months, I’ll make sure to repay you both the principal and interest.”

Xie Dongcheng couldn’t argue with him further and just nodded. “Do as you wish.”

Yu Zi didn’t like borrowing money from others; he wouldn’t even touch Sheng Chuan’s money. He was even less inclined to take Xie Dongcheng’s money. But given the circumstances, this was the fastest solution.

The glass window of the convenience store was wiped very clean. Yu Zi saw their reflections in the glass.

One with a broken right hand, the other deaf in the right ear. They were truly unlucky to end up together.

Yu Zi took the card and looked up at Xie Dongcheng.

He said softly, “Thank you.”

“You’re my boss, it’s only natural,” Xie Dongcheng replied, feeling a bit embarrassed as he lowered his head.

“Would you work this hard for other bosses?” Yu Zi couldn’t resist teasing him.

“No,” Xie Dongcheng answered firmly.

This surprised Yu Zi, who had been jesting just moments ago, leaving him momentarily speechless.

As the night fell, the two walked back to the hospital room. Yu Zi was somewhat exhausted, having spent the afternoon in the hospital. After a while in the room, he left. Before leaving, he turned off the light and closed the curtains tightly, leaving no gaps for light to leak through.

Xie Dongcheng had a fracture in his right arm, which, although not severe, caused significant inconvenience. Eating and washing up were both extremely troublesome.

Yang Ke was busy with midterm exams, and Xiao Liu could only stay in the shop and couldn’t come to the hospital to help. Chef Zhao was also unable to break free.

Yu Zi took on the responsibility of taking care of him.

The next morning, just after seven o’clock, Yu Zi arrived at the hospital by car and brought a pile of toiletries and two changes of clothes for Xie Dongcheng.

However, Yu Zi had never taken care of others before, so he could only ensure that Xie Dongcheng stayed alive; quality of life was out of the question.

He handed Xie Dongcheng a towel to wipe his face, but the scalding towel nearly suffocated him. Xie Dongcheng had to ask him to wring out the towel and then wipe his face himself.

But he couldn’t reach his back no matter what he tried.

“Cough, cough…” Xie Dongcheng sent a pleading look to Yu Zi.

Tilting his head, Yu Zi asked, “What’s wrong?”

“My back…”

Yu Zi walked over and took the hot towel. “Turn around.”

Obediently, Xie Dongcheng turned his body. Yu Zi lifted his T-shirt, revealing his narrow waist. Perhaps because it had recently become hotter with the sun shining brighter, Yu Zi felt that his skin had darkened a bit.

“Hold onto your shirt,” Yu Zi commanded.

Xie Dongcheng immediately grabbed the hem of his shirt, exposing his entire back.

Yu Zi wiped his back muscles from top to bottom with the towel, the soft fabric passing over his waist, reaching his shoulder blades, and finally stopping at his broadest back muscles.

Despite having seen each other candidly more than once, the atmosphere in the hospital room still felt somewhat unusual.

Yu Zi’s breath was close, sweeping between his muscles and bones. They rarely faced each other in this way, and Xie Dongcheng’s muscles remained tense and unable to relax.

“Did you wipe the front?” Yu Zi asked after finishing.

“Yes, I did,” Xie Dongcheng hurriedly lowered his shirt.

At eight-thirty, a nurse came in for rounds.

Seeing Yu Zi sitting on the chair at the end of the bed, she asked from behind, “Are you Xie Dongcheng’s family?”

With his back to the door and his right ear still not fully recovered, Yu Zi didn’t hear clearly at first. It wasn’t until the nurse called him two or three times that he snapped back to attention.

“Oh, yes, what’s the matter?”

The nurse handed him a bill. “Yesterday’s expenses; please go downstairs and pay it when you have time.”

“Got it.” After taking the bill, he casually placed it on the bedside cabinet.

But when he turned around, he noticed Xie Dongcheng had been staring at him all along.

“Are you… feeling unwell somewhere?” Xie Dongcheng asked.

Yu Zi almost blurted out something, but he quickly caught himself and swallowed his words. “No, just haven’t been sleeping enough.”

Xie Dongcheng looked at the faint dark circles under his eyes and nodded. “Go get some rest; I’ll manage here.”

“No need. I’ll go to the bank this afternoon to deposit the money.” Yu Zi shook his head.

Xie Dongcheng didn’t insist, opening up the foldable bed underneath the hospital bed. “You can rest here for a while.”

Yu Zi nodded and soon laid down on the foldable bed, turning his back to Xie Dongcheng.

The sunlight streamed in through the window. With the temperature rising rapidly in spring, it was already over twenty degrees Celsius in the morning.

Yu Zi was wearing a white T-shirt that day. Xie Dongcheng hadn’t seen this shirt before and guessed it might be something he bought after moving out.

Different from his previous clothes, this was just a plain cotton shirt. There were no patterns, let alone any designs.

Yu Zi used to have very high requirements for clothes. Even if Xie Dongcheng gave him two or three pieces, he would only wear them at home. When going out, he had to wear his own clothes. Xie Dongcheng didn’t know when Yu Zi had changed, seeming like a toddler learning to walk, trying to adapt to this impoverished world.

Xie Dongcheng sat behind him, watching him sleep in the sunlight, his eyelids gradually drooping, his eyelashes casting a halo under the light.

Xie Dongcheng stood there for a long time without moving. The quiet and gentle Yu Zi was irresistible.

Yu Zi was indeed very sleep-deprived, and he didn’t wake up until evening. Except for the evening glow, there was nothing in the room.

He subconsciously checked his phone for the time, realizing that it was already past the bank’s working hours. He must have slept through it. He could only go the next morning.

However, when he turned his head again, he realized that Xie Dongcheng was also not in the hospital room.

Yu Zi hadn’t even had a chance to get up from the folding bed when the nurse came in.

“Family members don’t sleep on the folding bed during the day. We need to inspect the room!” The nurse scolded him sternly.

Yu Zi quickly sat up straight: “Got it, got it.”

He had only intended to take a short nap, but ended up sleeping for so long.

“Where’s the patient?” The nurse looked around and couldn’t find him. “He still has a bottle of water to finish. How could he just leave?!”

“It’s just that he went to the restroom.” Yu Zi fabricated an excuse on the spot.

“We have a restroom here, why go outside? Tell him to come back immediately.”

“Okay.” Yu Zi nodded quickly and then sent a text message to Xie Dongcheng.

If the nurse hadn’t mentioned it, he wouldn’t have remembered that he also had a bottle of water to finish. The doctor had instructed him yesterday not to miss any of the IV fluids for seven days. He was startled and hurried to the infusion hall.

Luckily, there were nurses on duty here who helped him hang the water bag.

As he hung the IV, he kept glancing outside. He didn’t know why he was afraid of being noticed for having a minor illness.

He still sat in that narrow corner, watching the sky gradually darken outside the glass window.

An hour later, with a cotton ball pressed against the back of his hand, Yu Zi walked out of the infusion hall. As he hurried back to the ward, he tossed the cotton ball into the medical waste bin.

Taking the elevator to the 15th floor of the inpatient department, he ran into Xie Dongcheng as soon as he stepped out of the elevator.

“Why did you go out?”

“Why did you go out?”

Both of them almost simultaneously asked the same question.

“I just went for a walk.” Yu Zi instinctively hid his right hand behind his back.

Xie Dongcheng nodded and waved the plastic bag in his hand.

But Yu Zi only noticed the sweat on his forehead: “The doctor just said not to exercise during the morning dressing change. Sweating can cause reinfection!”

“I…” Seeing that he was getting agitated again, Xie Dongcheng didn’t say anything. He just placed the bag on the small table.

It was only then that Yu Zi noticed that Xie Dongcheng had brought back a bag of fruit.

“Where did you buy the fruit?” Yu Zi remembered that there was no fruit shop in the hospital.

“Just at the intersection over there. It’s a ten-minute walk.” Xie Dongcheng casually pointed in a direction.

“Aren’t you afraid of being scolded by the nurses?” Yu Zi gave him a glare.

Though he said that, as a caregiver, he also had to make some effort. Yu Zi rummaged through the bag and took out an apple.

But he had never peeled an apple before, and holding the small fruit knife, he had no idea where to start.

“It’s okay, I’ll just eat it directly.” Xie Dongcheng took the apple from him and took a bite.

“Alright, you should lie down on the bed quickly. There will be another bottle of water later.” Yu Zi pushed him from behind.

Xie Dongcheng could only obediently sit on the bed and wait for the nurse to come in.

His left hand was taped with an indwelling needle, and the nurse pushed the medication into his vein before leaving.

The door of the ward was left slightly open, and the small room returned to tranquility.

The wait for the infusion was extremely long. Yu Zi also didn’t want to rush home at night since he had to go to the bank the next morning. He reopened the folding bed and prepared to spend the night here.

Enduring the uncomfortable feeling, he used the hospital bathroom to freshen up quickly.

When he pushed open the door of the bathroom and returned to the bedside, he found Xie Dongcheng already leaning against the head of the bed, asleep.

Moonlight streamed through the window, casting a pale light in the dim ward.

As Yu Zi turned around to sit down, he noticed a neatly peeled apple on the bedside table. Next to it was the fruit knife inserted into its sheath.

The apple was crooked and incomplete, as if it had been laboriously peeled with the left hand.

Yu Zi gently picked up the apple and took a bite.

Looking at Xie Dongcheng’s sleeping face, he whispered softly, “You’re so clumsy.”