Chapter 84: Subpar
“I’ll go check on him.” Shang Wan wanted to go out, but Xiao Huan quickly pulled her back and handed her a set of clean clothes. “Sister, change out of your wet clothes first. I’ll go.”
She grabbed the pot lid and held it over her head as she ran out.
Shang Wan: Hmm… The house is short one umbrella.
“Mother!” Yuan Yuan crawled over quickly, charging at Shang Wan like a little cannonball.
“Wait.” Shang Wan reached out and picked up the little one, keeping her at a distance. “I’m all wet. I’ll hold you in a bit.”
“Daddy!” Yuan Yuan flailed her short arms and legs, her little milky voice full of urgency. “Red!”
Shang Wan frowned. “Red?”
“Hot!” Yuan Yuan anxiously blurted out another word.
Red? Hot?
Could it be that he’s sick?
“Okay, Mother knows.” Shang Wan hadn’t heard any unusual movement. She gently rocked the anxious child to comfort her. “Don’t worry. We’ll go check on Daddy together.”
She hurried to the partition where she and Lu Chengjing lived. The door panel was pushed open, and Shang Wan craned her neck to look inside.
She saw Lu Chengjing wrapped in bedding, facing outward, eyes tightly closed, brows deeply furrowed, black hair by his temples soaked and clinging to his flushed cheeks.
He really did have a fever.
Yuan Yuan kept calling for Daddy in her mouth, flailing her little short legs to get down.
Shang Wan set her down and turned to close the door. She quickly changed into a set of clean clothes by the door before walking over.
She reached out and placed her hand on Lu Chengjing’s forehead to check his temperature. Shang Wan frowned, figuring he must have caught a chill from the cold wind last night while waiting for her to return, and it had only flared up now.
She pried open Lu Chengjing’s mouth and fed him two drops of spiritual spring water.
“Mother.” Yuan Yuan crawled over and hugged her mother, rubbing her little face dependently on her mother’s shoulder.
Shang Wan gently patted the little one’s back and softly said once she stopped rubbing, “Daddy will be fine soon. Don’t worry.”
Yuan Yuan nodded her little head. Shang Wan carried her out and put her on the soft cushion.
Xiao Huan helped Shi Tou inside. Not only had Shi Tou become a drowned rat, but she wasn’t much better off either.
The two changed into dry clothes before learning that Lu Chengjing had a high fever. Xiao Huan immediately blamed herself for being too careless and not noticing anything wrong with her brother-in-law.
Shang Wan comforted her. “It’s not your fault. Who doesn’t get sick sometimes? Besides, you have plenty to do, and you still have to look after Yuan Yuan. How could you watch him every moment?”
“I gave him medicine. He’ll be fine after some sleep.”
Xiao Huan felt a bit better. Thinking that all three of them had gotten caught in the rain, she quickly set the earthenware pot over the fire to boil ginger soup, lest they catch cold and get sick.
While Xiao Huan wasn’t looking, Shang Wan dripped a drop of spiritual spring water into it.
Shi Tou ran to the partition to check on Lu Chengjing and came back to help Shang Wan sort the things in the bamboo basket.
The little turtle shrank into its shell to sleep. With no playmate, Yuan Yuan crawled over to join in.
Shi Tou worried the dead snake would scare her and deliberately blocked it, but Yuan Yuan’s attention was entirely on the fruit wrapped in leaves.
The little one picked up a fruit, tilted her head to look at her mother, and held the fruit up high. “Eat!”
Shang Wan glanced at it. “Too hard. You can’t bite it.”
Little Friend Yuan Yuan wasn’t afraid of difficulty. She held the fruit in both small hands and chomped down with her millet teeth. The sour and astringent taste quickly filled her taste buds.
“Ptoo!” The little one decisively spat out the bit of green skin she’d gnawed off, her little face instantly scrunching up like a bitter gourd.
Shang Wan laughed. She picked up a slightly larger fruit to tease her. “Want to eat more?”
“No!” Yuan Yuan pouted, thoroughly disgusted as she threw the fruit aside and crawled off to ask Xiao Huan for the milk bottle.
Moments later, Shang Wan and Shi Tou had sorted out all the herbs. Shi Tou brought over the medical book, cross-checked them again to confirm he hadn’t picked the wrong ones, and let out a long sigh of relief.
Shang Wan patted the young man’s shoulder. “Not bad. Keep it up.”
“Hehe.” Shi Tou grinned, showing a mouth of big white teeth. Just as he was about to say something, his nose itched, and he let out a loud sneeze.
“Ginger soup’s ready.” Xiao Huan ladled two bowls of ginger soup from the earthenware pot and called the two over to drink.
The ginger soup was moderately spicy, carrying the unique fragrance of ginger. Because red dates had been added, it had a hint of sweetness.
After downing a bowl of ginger soup, warmth spread from inside the body outward.
Shang Wan ladled a bowl and carried it to the partition. She saw that the flush on Lu Chengjing’s cheeks had subsided, leaving only a faint pink. He actually looked better than when he wasn’t sick.
Lu Chengjing’s lips moved as he murmured in his sleep.
Shang Wan leaned in to listen carefully: grandfather, mother, no, father… All fragmented words that weren’t full sentences.
Her eyes darkened slightly. She reached out and gently patted Lu Chengjing’s cheek. “Wake up. Wake up.”
Lu Chengjing’s eyelashes trembled. The familiar voice pulled him from the dark nightmare. He slowly opened his eyes, his misty black eyes staring blankly at Shang Wan.
“Drink the ginger soup and then sleep.” Shang Wan helped him sit up and lean against her, holding the soup bowl nearby to his lips.
Lu Chengjing lowered his gaze and took small sips.
Shang Wan watched his trembling long lashes and said softly, “Your body needs proper care. Don’t wait for me outside in the cold anymore. If you get sick, you suffer.”
“You’re my wife.” Lu Chengjing released the edge of the bowl. His pale lips flushed pink from the warmth of the ginger soup, his voice a bit hoarse. “How can I rest easy if you haven’t returned?”
Shang Wan: “I can take on a hundred at once. What do you have to worry about?”
Lu Chengjing pursed his lips and said nothing, not even drinking more ginger soup.
Being sick made him a bit childish.
“Drink it while it’s hot.” Shang Wan brought the soup bowl closer, deliberately teasing her own fox. “You can wait if you want, but wait in the bedding and warm it up while you’re at it.”
Lu Chengjing sipped from the edge of the bowl, lifted his eyelids to glance at her, and mumbled a dull “Mm.” His breath rippled the soup in the bowl.
“Good boy.” Shang Wan leaned in and stole a kiss on his face. Once he finished the ginger soup, she tucked him back into the bedding.
Shang Wan wanted to take the soup bowl out, but her skirt hem was grabbed.
Lu Chengjing’s black hair scattered behind his head, his chin buried in the bedding, looking listless. His left hand stretched out from the bedding, gripping a corner of her skirt hem tightly.
Shang Wan raised an eyebrow, finding the move somewhat familiar.
She said, “Let go first. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.” Lu Chengjing’s eyelids drooped, but his hand didn’t loosen despite agreeing.
Shang Wan: “…”
Fine. Her own fox—she’d indulge him.
“Scoot over. I’ll lie with you for a bit.”
Shang Wan removed her outer garment and lay down in the spot Lu Chengjing made for her. No sooner had she settled than a large ribs spirit actively snuggled over.
Shang Wan was quite surprised and casually pulled him into her arms, patting his back. “Sleep. We’ll get up for dinner later.”
A muffled response came from beside her ear. Soon, his breathing became even.
Shang Wan hadn’t felt sleepy at first, but now lying in the warm bedding and listening to the pattering rain, sleepiness gradually came over her, and she closed her eyes to sleep.
When she woke, the rain had stopped.
Lu Chengjing was still sleeping. Shang Wan reached out to touch his forehead—it was slightly sweaty, and his temperature had completely returned to normal.
The aroma of meal wafted through the door panel, and Shang Wan’s stomach rumbled.
As if woken by the sound, Lu Chengjing opened his eyes. Seeing Shang Wan, he was stunned for a moment, not understanding why she was here.
Shang Wan blinked. “You grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go, made me stay to sleep with you. Stickier than Yuan Yuan. Don’t you remember?”
Lu Chengjing’s lips parted slightly, his pupils trembling. He… he… clingy?!
