Chapter 21: Enough, is this joke ever going to pass?

47.

Although Dr. Wei has always been denying astrology in front of me, I still feel like I’ve encountered Mercury retrograde. This whole month has been nothing but unfortunate events.

First, I stayed in the hospital for two weeks due to a head injury. While lying in bed and playing games, I accidentally fell asleep and my phone fell to the ground, shattering the screen. Right after being discharged, I started running a fever again.

Loss of appetite, weakness all over, and a heavy-headed feeling.

At noon, Dr. Wei made some congee for me when he had a moment to spare. But I had no appetite at all. Even my usual favorite puffed snacks looked nauseating. Under Dr. Wei’s insistence, I reluctantly managed to drink half a bowl of plain congee with a stack of dried radish.

In the afternoon, Dr. Wei went back to work, and I lay on the bed playing with my phone. As I was playing, I dozed off and only woke up around four o’clock. I noticed that the more I slept, the less energy I had, and my body still felt weak.

Dizziness hit me, and I almost stumbled when getting up to go to the bathroom.

Being sick is really uncomfortable.

I’m completely drained.

I want to dance along with energetic music! (Not really.)

I want to have a healthy body, even if it means I have to work overtime!

Approaching the end of the year, the temperature keeps dropping day by day, and there’s even sleet in the evening.

I thought about going to Dr. Wei’s study to find a book to read and pass the time. But it was too cold, so I shivered my way to the kitchen to pour a cup of hot water. Just then, Dr. Wei arrived home and opened the door.

“Why aren’t you wearing socks? And your buttons aren’t fastened properly.” Dr. Wei didn’t even have time to take off his hat; the first thing he did was to undress me and wrap me up, carrying me back to the bedroom.

He really carried me…

Bending down, he held my waist and knees like he was carrying a sack of flour, effortlessly hoisting me onto his shoulders.

I hung on his shoulder, wiggling my feet a bit – every time I stayed up past eleven and refused to go to bed, he’d use this trick to carry me from my computer to the bedroom.

At first, I resisted. After all, I’m a grown man. Getting carried around like this, what kind of manly image did I have?

But after a few times, I found it quite fun.

Dr. Wei can even squat with me in his arms; his strength is unimaginable.

I’m thinking about what he’ll do to get me back to the room if I gain weight in the future.

Well, men tend to gain weight as they age.

Hmm, it’s hard to imagine what Dr. Wei would look like if he gains weight in the future.

What about when Dr. Wei is full of white hair? 

I imagined an elderly man with a bald head doing Tai Chi in the park.

Damn, that’s scary!

I don’t want my Dr. Wei to grow old!

But when I told him about this concern, he just smiled calmly. “You’re with me every day, so it’s hard to notice those tiny changes. Perhaps one day in the future, you’ll suddenly realize that I’ve grown a white hair or noticed a slightly deeper wrinkle at the corner of my eyes. You’ll see my palm lines becoming more distinct and my glasses prescription going up… Every one of us changes every day, our brains slowly adapting to these small changes. Over time, everything changes, and when we think so far ahead, of course, it seems scary.”

“However, whenever I think about getting old in the future and suffering from various illnesses, to the point where even walking becomes difficult, I feel a bit helpless. Just looking at those frail elderly people on the road evokes a sense of pity.”

“Then you must take good care of yourself, eat well, exercise more, and become a vibrant and healthy older person.”

I think I might be sick, that’s why I’m so easily sentimental. 

This isn’t who I usually am at all.

Dr. Wei smiled and kissed my forehead, tucked me in, and turned off the air conditioning.

“Let some fresh air in for a while; the room will get stuffy if it’s closed all day.”

I closed my eyes and dozed off.

Not long after, Dr. Wei, with a radiant expression, came in with a bowl of clear porridge.

“Get up, eat something, and then sleep. Without eating, you won’t have energy.”

I reluctantly sat up, saying, “Isn’t it stated in the agreement that eating in bed is not allowed?”

“Occasionally, there can be exceptions,” Dr. Wei propped a cushion behind my back.

I smirked, “You’re spoiling me.”

“Indulging you a bit.”

Rarely did these words come out from his mouth. Even though his tone was somewhat teasing, I felt delighted.

Dr. Wei never used the computer on the bed, so there wasn’t a computer desk. After searching for a while, I found an old magazine and spread it on the blanket.

Dinner was still the same, watery porridge with dried radishes, plus two egg whites. Dr. Wei knew I didn’t like egg yolks, so he would usually remove them before giving them to me.

Many small details accumulate into significant strength. Sometimes I feel anxious; if one day he’s not by my side, I’ll surely have a hard time adjusting.

I’m someone who can’t hide things; I say whatever I think. Chewing on the dried radishes, I inexplicably blurted out my thoughts.

“Will you always be with me?”

“Of course,” Dr. Wei’s expression was slightly surprised, “Why ask this all of a sudden?”

“You’re too good to me, to the point where I might not be able to imagine a life without you.”

Dr. Wei smiled, “Are you thinking of breaking up with me or something?”

The emotions I had just released instantly retracted, “Of course not! I’m afraid that someday you’ll find me annoying…”

He suddenly held my cheeks tenderly, “Xiao Chu…”

Here it comes, here it comes!

He’s finally going to confess!

Dr. Wei: “A father wouldn’t find fault with their own child.”

“…” Enough, is this joke ever going to pass!

Dr. Wei continued to talk incessantly, “Look at the neighbor’s Xiao Sun, he always ranks last in exams. Did his father kick him out of the house? Since you’ve already moved into my home, you’re family to me. How could I ever find fault with my family?”

The words were kind, but it would be even better if the first half were removed.

“Why aren’t you eating? There’s still half a bowl left.”

“I can’t eat anymore, I really have no appetite!”

“That won’t do. You only had a few bites for lunch. If you continue like this, you’ll become weak. Finish eating, then sleep a bit, sweat a little, and you’ll feel better tomorrow,” Wei Nanlin said.

Stubbornly, I curled up in the blankets, “I won’t eat! I want to sleep!”

“Be obedient.” Wei Nanlin scooped up some watery porridge into a bowl, “I’ll feed you, open your mouth.”

“Ah—”

Originally a sweet and romantic scene that everyone envies, someone had to ruin it with a remark like, “Why are you acting like a child with cerebral palsy?”

“…”

48.

Perhaps because I had slept too long during the day, I still wasn’t feeling sleepy even past nine o’clock.

Dr. Wei had just finished showering and entered the room carrying a large basin.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I’m going to help you clean up. You’ve been sweating all day, right?” He grabbed a clean set of clothes from the closet and threw them on the bed, “Change your clothes.”

“But even if I change now, I’ll still sweat later.”

“Still, you should change. Sleeping all sticky with sweat won’t be comfortable,” Wei Nanlin said.

In the South, we don’t have heating; we rely on air conditioning and electric blankets for warmth.

Wei Nanlin stuffed the clothes into the blankets.

“Keep them warm for a bit. Take off your clothes, and I’ll help you clean your back.”

Undressing, undressing, undressing and cleaning my back!…

Instantly, my back pain, leg discomfort, and dizziness vanished.

Though I had been living with Dr. Wei for over two months, our nighttime activities were still pure. We showered separately, and neither of us had a habit of sleeping naked. Apart from glimpsing each other’s bodies at the gym, we always dressed appropriately.

I’m still a virgin, and undressing in front of him…

Still makes me blush.

“Why are you hesitating?” Wei Nanlin wrung the towel, “Or should I step out for a moment?”

“No, no, no need…”

So awkward!

Why did I blurt out that sentence?

The implicit message was like, “Come on, come and see!”

But I really didn’t mean it that way.

I just felt like this was something that would inevitably happen sooner or later, and I had to get used to it… If it was Dr. Wei, then everything was OK!

Facing away from him, I hesitatingly unbuttoned and removed my clothes. I figured, from his perspective, it must be quite a sight, given that I have a pair of graceful butterfly bones, after all.

Novels describe it this way, right? When he sees the butterfly bones on my back, it’s like a pair of delicate wings.

The towel’s temperature was just right. He wiped from my neck down to the butterfly bones, then followed along my spine, all the way down. Dr. Wei’s technique was skillful and gentle.

“Xiao Chu…”

“Um?” I shyly responded. I knew it, he must not be able to hold back!

“Your vertebra seems a bit curved.”

“What??” I turned around abruptly, “Are you serious??”

“Yes.” Wei Nanlin looked at me as if observing an ordinary wax figure, his face stern as he commented, “Your sitting posture is really poor, it needs correction.”

“…”