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She immediately sat up from the bed and asked with concern, “Mr. Cen, are you sick? Do you need me to call 120 for you?”
“No need, there’s medicine at home…”
The man’s weak voice came intermittently through the phone. “Cough, cough… I feel terrible right now, my throat hurts too, I want to drink something… but I don’t have the strength.”
Hearing this, Xin Ling instantly crawled out of bed, didn’t even have time to change out of her pajamas, slipped on her shoes, and ran out.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Cen, I’ll help you.”
Xin Ling entered the door by pressing the electronic lock code Cen Yuyan had sent her, and followed the sound into the man’s bedroom.
The room was decorated in a minimalist style. This was her second time entering his bedroom.
The first should have been that time she had dinner at Cen Yuyan’s home. After eating, Xin Ling had been too tired and accidentally fallen asleep, so out of courtesy, he lent her his bed.
Thinking of this, Xin Ling still felt a bit embarrassed.
Cen Yuyan was dressed in burgundy pajamas, half leaning against the large bed with black bedding. The dark tones made his whole person look ghastly pale, as if terribly ill.
“You’re here…”
Xin Ling nodded and quickly walked over, her eyes filled with worry. “You really look very sick. Are you sure you don’t need me to call 120?”
The corners of Cen Yuyan’s lips tugged into a faint smile. He shook his head slightly. “No need, it’s an old ailment. Could you pour me a glass of hot water?”
“Alright, wait a moment, I’ll get it right away.”
Xin Ling nodded, immediately turned, and went to the living room to pour hot water for him.
The transparent glass cup was held carefully in the girl’s hands as she handed it over. Misty steam swirled in the air. Cen Yuyan’s gaze fell on her wrist, which was red from being gripped.
Instead of taking the cup, his finger dropped, landing precisely on the red mark on her wrist.
“Miss Xin Ling, how did you get hurt? Who grabbed your wrist so hard to leave it this red?” His fingers gently kneaded the spot. Tingling spread from her pulse, making Xin Ling’s fingers go numb. She almost dropped the cup of hot water.
She lifted her eyes in shock, meeting the man’s dark, dense gaze. His pupils churned with ink-like depth, full of aggression and possessiveness.
Directed at her.
Xin Ling’s heart skipped a beat.
Why did he suddenly become so strange…
Without much effort, Xin Ling pulled her hand back, her expression a little unnatural as she stammered, “N-no, I just accidentally bumped it myself.”
“Mm… here, this is the hot water you wanted.”
Like tossing away a burning hot potato, Xin Ling hurriedly shoved the cup into Cen Yuyan’s hand.
“Alright, thank you.”
The man’s brows and eyes curved with a smile, softly thanking her. His demeanor seemed completely natural, as if what had just happened was merely her imagination.
“If not for you, I really wouldn’t have known what to do.”
Cen Yuyan tilted his head back to sip the hot water. His throat moved as he swallowed, and a hazy bead of moisture slid down. The hot water tinged his already pale skin with a faint flush.
A bit alluring, a bit beautiful…
Xin Ling was unconsciously drawn in. By the time she realized what she was doing, she guiltily abandoned all her earlier doubts.
Xin Ling laughed sheepishly. “It’s nothing. I just brought you a cup of hot water.”
“Yet just by drinking a sip of hot water you gave me, I already feel much better.”
Cen Yuyan lifted his gaze, letting it fall on that pretty little face, and slowly asked, “In this world, is there anyone who would refuse something Miss Xin Ling gives?
“Whether it’s hot water or coffee, anyone who refuses surely has terrible taste.”
“…Mm.”
Although she didn’t know why Cen Yuyan’s words sounded so strange, Xin Ling, thinking she should take care of a patient’s emotions, hesitated but nodded twice.
Echoing him, she said, “You’re right, those people really are terrible.”
Seeing the girl’s reluctant expression, as if she was only humoring him, Cen Yuyan’s heart soured with jealousy.
Why did he have to feign illness just to get a cup of hot water from her, while that other man had his coffee personally delivered by his little angel?
She even brought it to him, yet he was still so ungrateful. Truly excessive!
So, he didn’t deserve it.
“Do you feel any better now?”
Xin Ling blinked her eyes at him expectantly. She hoped he would nod so she could go back to sleep with peace of mind.
“My head still feels uncomfortable. Could you touch it and see if I have a fever?”
The man’s voice carried hesitation as he looked up into Xin Ling’s eyes. “I know this request is a bit presumptuous. If you don’t want to, then…”
Before he finished speaking, the girl’s soft little hand pressed against his forehead.
Compared to the man’s burning, almost scorching skin, the girl’s cool hand was like smooth jade in the summer, refreshing and soft.
Skin against skin, Cen Yuyan could clearly sense the warmth of every pore on her palm.
An itch rose in his throat. Flames burned in his heart, impossible to suppress, eager to surge out—searing lava threatening to set his entire body ablaze.
And most of all, eager to engulf her with him, to…
Fill every part of her.
“It does feel a bit hot…” Xin Ling furrowed her brows and spoke tactfully. This wasn’t just hot—was Cen Yuyan burned silly by the fever?
“You…”
Just as she was about to withdraw her hand, she was suddenly pulled forward by her wrist.
Her body stumbled and fell, only to be caught and firmly wrapped in the man’s embrace. His arm locked tightly around her waist, refusing to let her rise.
Her palms pressed against his solid chest muscles. Xin Ling’s eyes widened, her expression briefly horrified.
N-no…
She hadn’t meant to.
o_o …
“Cen Yuyan, are you alright?” Xin Ling struggled to get up, but it was useless. Wasn’t this man just saying he had no strength?
“Let me go first, let me get up…”
Xin Ling faintly sensed something was wrong.
Held tightly in his arms, her hands pushed away, her soft body pressed firmly against the man’s toned chest. His heat radiated even through his pajamas, searing against her.
His chin rested in the hollow of her shoulder. His cheek brushed lightly against her neck and ear, the damp, warm touch like an accidental graze, sending shivers of tingling numbness down her body.
What was he doing…
“Cen Yuyan…”
Xin Ling’s heart raced in panic from his embrace.
“So hot, don’t go…”
The low, hoarse voice murmured by her ear sounded almost like unconscious delirium. “Let me hold you, just let me hold you, alright?”
Was he really fever-delirious…?
?
Xin Ling tried to reason with this “unclear-minded patient.” “Then, how about you let go first, I’ll fetch a basin of cool water for you, use a wet towel to bring down the heat, alright?”
“Don’t go. Hold me. Just hold me, alright?”