Chapter 70 - First contact

Lu Xun didn't think he would actually get sick either.

But the temperature difference between day and night, combined with the fact that he had been studying hard for several days and had accidentally fallen asleep after half a day's study, made him gloriously ill after not having been ill for several years.

Lu Xun found out he was unwell in the middle of the night, the first time he had ever woken up with a headache, a headache that made even the air he breathed hot.

The room was dark at night, so Lu Xun sat up and turned on the light, went to the living room and poured himself a glass of water.

The thirst in my throat was not relieved by the warm glass of water.

Lu Xun rarely gets sick with a fever, and the last time he did was in junior high school. That time was not as bad as this one, and he did not tell anyone that he had recovered from it after taking his own medicine.

In a trance, Lu Xun reminisces about the past.

The last time he had a cold or fever that was so bad was when he was a child living at his grandfather's house.

He wanted to be accompanied by his grandparents, but he was lectured by his grandfather with a sullen face, saying that a real man should not be so petulant. He said that a real man shouldn't be so petulant, not to mention a small illness or a fever, but even if he was bleeding and sweating, he should carry it in silence without changing his face.

He wants to be taken care of and kept company when he has a minor illness, which is simply spoilt and unmanly, and people will laugh at him when they find out.

That time too, he took his own medicine and then lay silently until he recovered.

Lu Xun pinched his brow and went back to his room to pick up his phone.

He had not bought any fever medication before, and had to get a delivery service to buy some fever medication for him.

Lu Xun was stunned when he opened the takeaway app and found the buy medicine function.

He had only ever used takeaway apps to buy food during the day here before, and had no idea that this small city didn't have a pharmacy open twenty-four hours a day!

...... What to do then?

Lu Xun felt his head ache even more as the cool phone was warmed by the hot palm of his hand.

Fingers swiping irritably across the screen of his phone, the takeaway app flips up to reveal programs that are not closed in the background, and Lu Xun sees the address book.

His finger taps in faster than his consciousness and Lu Xun sees the name he has placed at the top.

Two simple words, but the connection to that person can easily give a reliable and reassuring strength.

Lu Xun glances at the time in the top right-hand corner of his phone.

3.12am.

It is the late hours of the night when the vast majority of people are asleep, not to mention the good students who follow the rules.

Lu Xun crossed out the background program, went to get another glass of water and lay down in bed under the covers.

Although he had saved Ye Yao's number as his first contact, he didn't really think he would need to call Ye Yao if he got into trouble. It was just that he didn't have any other important friends' numbers to save here, so he thought it would be convenient to set Ye Yao as his first contact so that he could call Ye Yao to go play basketball or eat with him when he was free.

Who needs to call for care at 3am ...... He's not that pampered.

Lu Xun tries to sleep, but his headache is really keeping him awake, so he picks up his phone again, his feverish head struggling to function, just distracting himself by tapping on various apps.

He clicked on some social networking app. He doesn't chat with people often, so the first person at the top was Ye Yao, a recent addition.

There was nothing in the chat box, just an empty sentence: [I passed your friend request, now we can start chatting].

Lu Xun's head was getting hotter and hotter, and whatever he was thinking was slowing down by a few beats. He looked at Ye Yao's automatic [Now you can start chatting] and subconsciously typed a few 1's in the chat box and sent it as a reply.

After all this Lu Xun reacts and rushes to raise his hand to withdraw the string of numbers.

His digits were withdrawn, but as his message disappeared, another new string of bubbles appeared.

The bubble reads succinctly: [What's wrong?

With this speed of reply, Lu Xun felt he was dreaming. He confirmed the authenticity of the message again and typed incredulously: [You're still up at this hour, are you studying?

Ye Yao sat up from his bed, he had no other business today, he had gone to bed long ago. Only he had set a special attention for Lu Xun before, and when Lu Xun sent a message, he would have a small alarm clock-like alert tone.

The reason for setting up the special concern was simple. He had considered it later and thought that it was unlikely that someone like Lu Xun, who seemed to be a strong person, would call him after encountering trouble that was not fatal. Instead, it was possible that he could pretend that nothing was wrong and send him a few messages to ease his nervousness because he couldn't sleep after the incident.

He had met several of these types of people when he was caring for parents in the hospital.

You don't have to worry about Lu Xun being disturbed during the day, because he's still quite aloof, not much of a talker, and even less inclined to send messages.

Ye Yao replied: [Yes, still studying, sneaking study rolls to kill others, why are you up too?

There was no reply for a while, I wonder if he was shocked by his reply. After a while, Ye Yao finally saw two new messages.

[...... No need to work so hard, it's not the same as getting up in the morning to study.

[I'm too lazy to go to school tomorrow, ask my teacher for leave, just tell him I'm not feeling well, I'm not going.

It seems perfectly normal for a school bully to make excuses because he doesn't want to go to school.

But staying up past three because you don't want to go to school, someone who normally doesn't touch social media much at all. It's weird to be talking to him in the middle of the night.

Ye Yao frowned slightly: [What's wrong, did you go to the hospital, do you have any medicine at home?

After a few more moments, Lu Xun replied: [I'm not sick, why should I take any medicine?

Ye Yao was half-believing when he remembered that Lu Xun had been coughing for a few days, and that the cough had not abated over time, but was getting worse.

Ye Yao thought about the events backwards and forwards, and immediately sorted out the causes and consequences.

A person is vulnerable when he is sick, even if he seems invulnerable in normal times.

And it's really dangerous to be sick, so try not to put it off if you can.

Ye Yao modified the wording: [Yes, there is definitely no major illness, but I see that you have been coughing for the past few days, I have cold medicine at home, I will get you some cold medicine?

[You can't necessarily get the right one on the takeaway platform, and taking the wrong medicine will make it worse.

I'll leave ten minutes early for school tomorrow and bring you some medicine, then I'll go to school and give you a leave of absence, how about that?

After a while, Lu Xun's avatar kept showing that he was in the middle of typing, writing and stopping, probably playing some kind of mental game.

Ye Yao didn't rush and watched Lu Xun type for almost ten minutes before sending an address.

Ye Yao got up and put on his clothes.

*

Lu Xun puts the phone down and lets out a rolling breath.

Delaying Ye Yao for ten minutes ...... shouldn't be considered not independent enough for him, and Ye Yao wouldn't laugh at him.

Ye Yao also had to give him medicine, and it was the first time he had been given medicine by a friend.

It was a strange feeling, Lu Xun tapped on Ye Yao's avatar several times, tapping in and out, his eyes finally resting on those few lines of dialogue.

It seemed to make his head hurt less, and Lu Xun let go of the phone, unable to control his thoughts again.

Will Ye Yao come over tomorrow and find out that he doesn't sound right and say how he looks tall but is actually weak and not manly enough?

Ye Yao, who is not a petulant person, must not like this kind of friend.

Otherwise he would have told Ye Yao not to send it.

Lu Xun was lying in bed, tossing and turning, when his mobile phone, which was not muted, suddenly rang.

Lu Xun picked up his phone and saw a new message: [Are you asleep, if you're still up, get up and open the door for me? I remembered that I got three points deducted from my last exam in physics, so I was in a bad mood and couldn't sleep, so I came out to take a break and bring you medicine in advance. If you're asleep, I'll leave the medicine at your door, remember to come get it when you wake up.

Lu Xun jerked up from his bed, reading the small passage two or three times over in disbelief, before looking in the direction of the door.

The door was closed so tightly that he could not see anything, of course. Lu Xun's feverish mind was in a tizzy, with many inexplicable thoughts coming out.

Lu Xun didn't have time to think about it as he hurriedly got out of bed and opened the door to his bedroom.

Outside the door stood the figure he had grown to know over time, Ye Yao's face not annoyed or impatient, but a smile as usual when he saw him.

Lu Xun's throat was already dry and now for some reason it was even drier as he asked in a muffled voice, "You really couldn't sleep most of the night because you didn't do well in your exams?"

"Yes, why else would you still be awake to study, here's the medicine you brought from home." Ye Yao held out a hand and handed a bag to Lu Xun.

Lu Xun subconsciously reached out to pick it up, but his reach was so wide that it touched Ye Yao's hand at once.

With his body temperature much higher than normal, Lu Xun withdrew his hand again, slightly nervous.

Ye Yao would not laugh at his weakness and petulance, would he?

In Lu Xun's line of sight, Ye Yao slowly raised an eyebrow: "You still look very energetic with such a high fever, impressive, as expected of our new school bully."

...... Ye Yao complimented him on his awesomeness.

"Average, I guess." Lu Xun The corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

"Well," Ye Yao said softly, "there is cold medicine and fever medicine in that bag, you can take them all later and see if you feel better tomorrow. You can't put off a fever, it's dangerous."

Lu Xun did not say anything, he pursed his lips and nodded in silence.

He looked at Ye Yao's figure, but instead of turning away immediately, Ye Yao picked up the bag in his other hand.

"Stopped by to get you breakfast for tomorrow, if you're too hard up to go downstairs and get takeaway, just have this." Ye Yao added.

Lu Xun dazedly took his breakfast again, feeling the uncompromising care.

So that's what happens when you get sick with a fever here.

He'll want to keep the fever going next time.

The tall school bully hung his head slightly and gave a rare thank you, "...... hassle you."

Ye Yao smiled, "What's the point, if I bump my head playing football one day, I might have to bother you to carry me to the infirmary ...... Forget it, you don't like contact with men, I won't let you carry me, I can help with something else."

"Who says I can't carry it?" Lu Xun said in a sultry voice.

Considering that Lu Xun had said he would never share a room with anyone, Ye Yao left after a few words of advice. As Lu Xun watched Ye Yao disappear, a thought came to his mind.

He wants to be best friends with Ye Yao.

Even the arrival of the Old Wang could not change their relationship; once a friend, it would be for life.

--------------------