However, after thinking for a while, Yu Wanlai couldn’t figure it out. His memory only went back to when he warned Jiang Cheng to stay away from him yesterday, with a final wave of his hand. He sighed and decided not to think about it anymore.

After leaving the bathroom, Yu Wanlai glanced around the hospital room, making sure he hadn’t left anything important behind. Then, as his gaze drifted past the caregiver’s bed, he saw Yu Qingyue half-hanging off the side of the bed, about to fall onto the floor. He clicked his tongue, walked over to the bed, bent down to lift the blanket, and casually picked him up, carrying him back to the bed he had just been lying on. The hospital bed was definitely wider and more comfortable than the caregiver’s.

He wasn’t sure how Yu Qingyue had slept last night, but when he looked down and saw Yu Qingyue’s furrowed brow, his heart softened, and he instinctively slowed his breathing. Yu Wanlai gently placed him back on the bed, tucked him in, and lightly patted his arm. Seeing his breathing return to normal, he straightened up and left the room.

As he was about to exit the hospital, he saw Jiang Cheng coming in. Upon seeing Yu Wanlai, Jiang Cheng quickly walked over. Her scarf had some ice crystals on it, which gradually melted into droplets of water.

“Boss, you’re going out? Waking up this early?” Jiang Cheng asked.

Yu Wanlai nodded and glanced at her, feeling relieved inside. It seemed that last night, he hadn’t completely lost control to the point of not recognizing anyone. His mood relaxed, and he didn’t hold it against Jiang Cheng for abandoning him yesterday.

“I’m going out for breakfast. Are you coming?” he asked.

Jiang Cheng immediately turned around and walked alongside him, laughing, “Of course, you’re treating, right?”

Yu Wanlai smiled and reached out to give her a playful tap on the head. “I’m treating!”

As they exited the hospital, a cold wind hit him, and it suddenly dawned on Yu Wanlai what he had overlooked. He exhaled a puff of white air and cursed inwardly, realizing why he felt so light and agile: he wasn’t wearing his down jacket! But there wasn’t one in the hospital room either. Yu Wanlai was a bit panicked. He couldn’t have lost it—after all, it was worth over two thousand yuan!

In the busy breakfast shop, the small steamed buns were steaming. After sitting for a while, Yu Wanlai finally started to feel warmer. The shop wasn’t empty, and most of the seats were taken. Yu Wanlai and Jiang Cheng sat near the back. The shopkeeper had just served them two baskets of xiao long bao (soup dumplings) and two bowls of soy milk before going to attend to other customers.

As Yu Wanlai looked at the steaming soy milk, he silently regretted that the shop didn’t have youtiao (fried dough sticks). Youtiao and soy milk made the perfect pair! He took a sip of the soy milk, and the warmth flowed through his body.

“By the way, I haven’t asked you yet. Did anything else happen yesterday? When did my brother arrive?” Jiang Cheng asked while dipping a bun in the chili sauce. She swallowed a small bun, cheeks puffed, chewing for a while before swallowing. She was clearly very hungry.

Upon hearing Yu Wanlai’s question, Jiang Cheng glanced at him, a sly smile playing on her lips, her expression strange.

“Boss, don’t tell me you really don’t remember anything from yesterday?” she teased. “Where exactly did your memory stop?”

Yu Wanlai felt a sudden chill down his back. He grabbed a dumpling and threatened, “Speak! If you don’t, I won’t let you eat! Just start from when my brother arrived.”

At that moment, Jiang Cheng really felt that Yu Wanlai had the potential to be a scumbag. She sighed dramatically and began speaking, “Not much happened. The male lead—uh, your ‘brother’—thought you had a fever, so he called Bai Yi. After we took you and the female lead to the hospital, we left.”

She paused, deliberately emphasizing, “Oh, by the way, after the female lead was checked, it turned out there were traces of a mild sleeping pill in her system. But other than that, she was just drunk. As for you—” She couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing. “Ha—hahaha!”

Yu Wanlai awkwardly cleared his throat, suddenly not wanting to hear any more details. He raised a finger and tapped the table. “Alright, no need to say more. Hurry up and eat, we still have things to do.”

He didn’t even need to think to know that he had unknowingly been drugged the night before. After finishing the meal, Yu Wanlai asked the shopkeeper for another basket of xiao long bao and a bowl of soy milk. When it was time to pay, Jiang Cheng suddenly ran over and told the shopkeeper, “Wait, add one more order, and pack it to go.”

Yu Wanlai paid for an extra portion and glanced at Jiang Cheng. “Still not full?”

Jiang Cheng blushed at the tips of her ears and lowered her voice, “…I’m bringing a portion for the female lead too. She stayed at the hospital yesterday and didn’t go back.”

Yu Wanlai understood and let his gaze linger on Jiang Cheng’s face for a moment. He only pulled his gaze away when he saw her face turning slightly red. He teasingly remarked, “Oh~ no wonder you were in such a hurry yesterday.”

He couldn’t understand why Jiang Cheng had such strong feelings for the characters in the book, considering they had barely met a few times. When they returned, it was still before 7 a.m. Jiang Cheng went directly to the downstairs ward, while Yu Wanlai took the elevator upstairs alone, carrying the takeout boxes.

As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, he ran into Yu Cheng and Qin Shuang, who had arrived early in the morning. Yu Cheng’s anger flared when he saw Yu Wanlai. “Are you okay? You managed to cause a whole side issue just by attending a banquet for the first time! As expected, you always manage to stir up trouble,” he said.

Yu Wanlai was confused, “Huh? I’m fine. Why are you both here?”

Yu Cheng shot him a cold look. “Isn’t that obvious? I don’t know what’s wrong with you…”

Qin Shuang gently tugged at Yu Cheng’s sleeve, signaling him to calm down. Yu Cheng snorted and fell silent.

Qin Shuang spoke up, “Your father noticed you hadn’t shown up and couldn’t reach you. We only found out you were at the hospital. Yueyue said it wasn’t serious, just a fever, so we didn’t make a fuss. We came this morning to check on you.”

Yu Wanlai nodded, “Oh, thank you, Auntie. Sorry for the trouble.”

Since Yu Cheng and Qin Shuang didn’t know the full details of what had happened, and seeing that Yu Wanlai was fine, they were relieved. However, since even Yu Qingyue hadn’t explained everything in detail, it was clear there were things that were inconvenient to discuss, so they didn’t press further.

Qin Shuang handed the thermos to Yu Wanlai, “Now that you’re fine, we’re relieved. We have a high-level meeting later, so we’ll leave now. This is the chicken soup your Aunt Wang made last night. Take it back and drink it with Yueyue.”

Yu Wanlai took the thermos, hesitated for a moment, and asked, “Auntie, are you going to check on my brother? He’s just…”

Qin Shuang waved her hand with a gentle smile, “No need. He’s fine, no need to check on him.”

Yu Cheng snorted again, “Your brother is much easier to handle than you. No need to check, we know he’s fine.”

Before he could finish his sentence, Qin Shuang immediately grabbed him and walked away. She thought to herself that it was a little unkind to speak so coldly, especially after the kid had just gotten sick.

When Yu Wanlai returned to the ward holding the food and the thermos, he noticed the blanket on the bed had been partially lifted, and there was no one there. It wasn’t until he heard the sound of water running in the bathroom that he realized someone was still inside. He quietly sighed with relief, feeling a little excited.

He placed the breakfast and soup on the bedside table and sat down quietly to wait for the person to come out. Not long after Yu Wanlai left, Yu Qingyue was awakened by the sunlight shining on his back. Looking at the empty room, he blinked in confusion. After a while, he noticed the caregiver’s bed was empty, and he, who should have been there, had ended up in the hospital bed.

It didn’t take much to figure out who was behind it. Yu Qingyue’s breath stopped for a moment, feeling oddly warm under the blanket. Unable to sleep anymore, he got up to wash his face in the bathroom.

When Yu Wanlai heard the door open, he turned his head towards the sound. At that moment, Yu Qingyue’s forehead was slightly damp, with a few rebellious strands of hair hanging down. His face, still a little flushed from just waking up, had droplets of water clinging to his cheeks, not yet wiped away.

Yu Wanlai’s throat tightened, and he suddenly felt thirsty. He cleared his throat and looked away, busying himself. “All finished? Come have some breakfast. Your mom—Auntie sent some chicken soup…”

He felt his heart beating faster than usual and thought to himself that it seemed strangely loud. Suddenly, he had an unsettling thought—could there still be side effects from the thing he had drunk yesterday? He wouldn’t… die, would he?

Seeing Yu Wanlai sitting on the chair, Yu Qingyue sat back down on the hospital bed. He felt something was off, but he didn’t want to think about it. Just as he was about to speak, Yu Wanlai handed him a box of xiao long bao. The lid was already open, so he could eat right away.

Yu Qingyue: “……”

It seemed like he wasn’t the one who had been hospitalized, yet now he was being taken care of. He glanced at Yu Wanlai and couldn’t help but think he seemed even more foolish. Can fools even get more foolish these days?

Yu Wanlai didn’t realize that Yu Qingyue was silently criticizing him in his mind. He twisted open the thermos lid, and instantly, the delicious aroma of chicken soup wafted out with the steam. Water droplets formed on the lid from the trapped heat, moistening his fingers.

He handed the inner bowl to Yu Qingyue. “Here, drink some soup. I had soy milk too, but who would drink soy milk with chicken soup around?”

Yu Qingyue didn’t take it. “I’ll stick to soy milk. The chicken soup is probably for you.”

Although he thought fish soup would be better for the brain, it wasn’t an option at the moment.

Yu Wanlai raised his eyebrows. “Why not drink the chicken soup? It’s full of nutrients… Are you afraid you can’t finish it or something?” He waved his hand grandly, feeling like he had figured it out. “Oh, never mind, don’t worry about it. If you can’t finish it, I’ll help you out. No problem! I can handle it.”

Yu Qingyue paused for a moment, sighed softly, and gave in.

While Yu Qingyue ate, Yu Wanlai sat idly with nothing to do, so he went to check on his own condition in the department. After confirming there were no issues, he felt completely at ease. But this left him more confused. Why had his heart suddenly started racing? This had never happened before.

When Yu Wanlai returned, Yu Qingyue had already finished eating and was preparing to pack up. He walked over to him, took the items from his hands, and said, “Give me the trash, you go wash your hands first.”

When Yu Qingyue came out after washing his hands, he saw Yu Wanlai holding the bowl of chicken soup he had just drunk, sipping from it. His ears turned red, and he hurried over to grab the bowl from him. “What are you doing? Don’t you know that’s the bowl I drank from? I told you not to drink it earlier, and now you want some?”

It made it seem like he was bullying someone.