To Covet (GL) - Chapter 33

When I woke up again, it was already broad daylight. The TV had long been turned off by the nurse on duty. I groggily grabbed my phone and headed to the restroom. As soon as the data network connected, it was instantly followed by no less than ten voice calls from Shi Yunya. My hand vibrated non-stop, causing a dull ache where the indwelling needle was in my arm.

The last call was ten minutes ago. I washed my face and, out of politeness, called her back, but the ringtone came from outside the ward door.

“Keyi, feeling better?” Shi Yunya pushed the door open, quickly scanned me from head to toe, and then touched my forehead. “What did the doctor say? Why do you still feel a little warm?”

“I’m alright,” I took a small step back, withdrawing from her concerned gesture. “The check-up said it’s an infection. I need to stay for a few days for observation.”

“Then what about your hospital stay? I have a flight to Nangang for a business trip this afternoon, and your dad has been busy lately, too. I only found out you were here when he came back late last night,” she pointed to a small, full bag on the bedside table. “I brought you breakfast. There’s congee, fried dough sticks, and soy milk.”

“Thank you, Auntie.”

I took the small bowl from her. It was slightly warm in my hands, which was incredibly comforting on a winter morning.

“I’m fine. The doctor said I only need two bottles of IV drip daily, and I can have a follow-up check in three days and observe at home, too,” I said casually.

Staying in the hospital meant no freedom. Although it was a private room, there was still a slight, unpleasant odor. If this were me a few days ago, I would have packed up and fled home in the morning. But the thought of facing Yu Zhouwan at home made me prefer to lie here.

“To Nangang, is that a two-hour flight?” It was awkward sitting face-to-face with her, and since she was actively showing concern, I tried to make small talk.

“Yes, about two hours.”

Shi Yunya seemed very patient with me today. I took another sip of the sweet congee.

“What are you going to do there?”

“Sigh, it’s about the same issue as before. You heard it. The client isn’t satisfied with the capital chain and the supply of goods, so we have to go in person to negotiate and apologize.”

I didn’t understand why Shi Yunya felt the need to tell me this. I didn’t even know her exact job title or work details.

I couldn’t exactly help her curse Yu Hanyang for being an idiot, could I?

Though I definitely thought he was.

“Does it taste good?” she asked me.

I nodded. I had felt too sick to eat all day yesterday, and waking up this morning, my mouth was bitter and dry from hunger. Even plain congee and simple side dishes tasted delicious.

“Wanwan recommended it to me. She said this place makes great food,” Shi Yunya checked her phone. “Oh, right, it’s Saturday. I’ll call Wanwan to ask if she’s gone to her art class yet. I’ll ask her to come keep you company.”

I was chewing on a tea-flavored egg and accidentally bit my tongue, the sharp pain making me flinch. I nearly choked on the crumbled yolk.

“You don’t need to bother. I can manage by myself.”

Shi Yunya glanced at the IV needle in my arm, which had a small amount of blood flowing back into the tube.

“Really?” she asked doubtfully. “The hospital is quite boring. It’s good to have someone to talk to.”

The nurse on duty knocked and entered to administer the morning IV drip. Seeing the swelling on my arm, she strictly ordered me not to move arbitrarily again and insisted I keep my arm flat.

“Can I be discharged?” I asked the nurse.

She shook the thermometer. “Thirty-seven point six degrees. Your fever hasn’t broken yet,” she said, before inserting a new needle into the back of my left hand. “Let’s wait until the anti-inflammatory drip is finished. The earliest you can leave is tomorrow.”

I obediently lay still.

“Besides, it’s inconvenient to walk around, carry things, or use the restroom with the IV pole.” My phone screen flashed with an incoming call. “My taxi has arrived. I have to go now. I’ll have your sister Wanwan come over later.”

The remote control was placed on top of the TV cabinet. I got out of bed with the IV pole, struggled for a long time to find a suitable channel, and then slowly shuffled downstairs in my slippers to find a portable charger to revive my phone.

The inpatient department was lifeless, filled with tired-looking family members and patients reeking of medicine. Going downstairs, I realized how noisy the hospital was. It was barely nine in the morning, and the benches in the hallway were packed with people.

I saw several children entering the elevator, clutching identical snack bags. So, I walked out of the elevator car, carefully navigating around the waiting crowd with my IV pole, and walked to a clinic around the corner. I stood in line behind a group of parents and wailing children and successfully bought a few fruit lollipops and a bag of corn chips from the vending machine.

I put the portable charger in my pocket and headed upstairs. At the corner, I bumped squarely into a reckless middle-aged man. The corn chips smacked onto the floor, and a sharp pain shot through the back of my hand. Thin, crimson red immediately backed up into the IV tube.

The man didn’t even glance back and strode away.

Fuming silently, I painfully crouched down to pick up the snack bag, clutching it under my arm, and struggled to make my way to the nurse’s station for a re-insertion.

The back of my left hand was badly swollen. The nurse helped hold the IV pole and led me back to the ward.

After all that hassle, the once-tasty corn chips fell again at the door of the ward, and they felt like powder when I touched them.

“If the patient goes out, why doesn’t the family member help hold the IV pole?” The nurse saw the person standing by the bedside, immediately scolded them without a word, efficiently hung the IV bag, and repeatedly warned me not to move around anymore to avoid unnecessary physical pain.

I fished the portable charger out of my pocket, painstakingly plugged it in, and continuously swiped the screen with my left index finger, pretending to ignore Yu Zhouwan, who was standing less than a meter away from me.

“Didn’t you go to the art studio?”

I struggled to bite open the corn chip bag. Crumbs sprayed out, scattering everywhere on the blanket. I had to endure the embarrassment of being watched, get up, and brush off the blanket.

“I need to prepare for the exam, so I decided not to go anymore.”

Yu Zhouwan stood by, watching me fumble with the mess, with no intention of helping.

I wiped the gritty crumbs off the sheet and lay back down. She slowly sat back down on the spare bed beside me and leaned over to pick up the lollipops on the floor.

The swelling in my left hand wasn’t too noticeable, but the pain had doubled, affecting the entire musculature of my hand, making it hard to even tear off the plastic wrapper of the candy.

I stared at Yu Zhouwan. She took the lollipop, stripped the wrapper in three quick motions, and then held the candy block to my mouth.

She just held it there. I wasn’t sure whether I should open my mouth to bite it.

“Did you bring the charger?” I finally decided to take it with my hand.

“Yes,” she took the data cable out of her bag and handed it to me, followed by another long stretch of mutual silence.

I turned on the mobile data. Xu Lanlan had messaged an hour ago saying she skipped self-study to visit me and asked what I wanted to eat, offering to buy it on the way.

“Where’s Gao Rui?” I asked her.

“The class president never comes for weekend tutoring, did you forget?” Xu Lanlan typed quickly. “Oh no, Sister Yu, don’t tell me you don’t even recognize everyone in our class.”

“I don’t,” I sent her a goofy face emoji. “Isn’t it enough that I recognize you?”

Xu Lanlan replied with a long string of ugly kiss GIFs, which made me cringe.

“Is your period pain better?”

Gao Rui wasn’t at school, so I messaged her directly.

“I took painkillers, so I’m much better now. Thanks for your concern.”

The “is typing” status and her contact name flickered back and forth for nearly two minutes before a reply finally popped up.

“Are you still staying in the hospital?” she asked again.

I was busy typing and didn’t notice Yu Zhouwan open the door and leave. She returned a moment later with two cans of Coke.

Yu Zhouwan always hated fizzy drinks. I didn’t know why she bought them, let alone two cans.

She asked if I wanted one. I had eaten a hearty breakfast, so of course, I refused without a second thought.

Yu Zhouwan opened a can of Coke, calmly wiping away the foam that sprayed onto her hand. She took a small sip, her delicate eyebrows furrowing for a while before relaxing again.

“You should head back first,” I stretched out in an awkward way after lying in bed for so long. “I’m getting a blood test this afternoon. If it’s clear, I can be discharged.”

“Then I’ll wait and we can leave together this afternoon.”

“I’m not going home,” I wanted another spoonful of the leftover congee from breakfast, but it was already cold, and the shredded fish had a faint fishy smell. I threw it in the trash can. “I’m waiting for my classmate to come, and then we’re going out to hang out.”

“Is it the one who just messaged you?”

I was focused on the bag of chips I hadn’t properly eaten, so I asked Xu Lanlan to buy me a bag of corn chips from the pediatrics section before she came.

“They’re sold out.”

Xu Lanlan sent a photo of the vending machine. The entire shelf was empty. But when she appeared in the ward, she smugly shoved a swollen snack bag in front of me.

“Didn’t you say they were sold out?”

“I mugged it from a kid. I waited until his mom wasn’t looking, a left kick and a right hook, pinned him to the floor and rubbed him with the bag,” Xu Lanlan tore the bag open and threw it to me, sitting on the bed and spouting nonsense with a straight face. “Then the kid started wailing, and I snatched the snack from his hand in the chaos.”

I ate the chips and ignored her chatter. Without an audience, Xu Lanlan sat down next to the silently scrolling Yu Zhouwan and enthusiastically greeted her.

“I don’t know which unlucky soul bought the corn chips and it got stuck inside. I had to buy a can of Coke to knock it down. The person who bought the chips must be furious.”

Xu Lanlan laughed unrestrainedly and showed me the photo of the corn chips stuck in the vending machine, even turning it into a captioned meme.

“Sister Lan, when you’re old, you’ll definitely be the most popular old lady in the plaza dance team.”

I wondered if Xu Lanlan had been so badly hit by her recent tests that she had reached her limit, as I hadn’t seen her this chatty before.

Yu Zhouwan watched with a poker face, not saying a word. I felt completely uneasy under her gaze, so I focused my attention back on Xu Lanlan, who was eloquently narrating the sensational events of the previous day at school.

Author’s Note:

Sister (Yu Zhouwan’s inner monologue): I’m so annoyed. Why does the vending machine have to target me when I buy corn chips… And who is this person? Does Yu Keyi like someone who talks so much?

Lanlan (Xu Lanlan): Achoo!