Chapter 76: Fever
Speaking so seriously, he didn’t like it.
Wen Ling: [No.]
Cheng Ge: [Really?]
Wen Ling: [Mm.]
In Cheng Ge’s view, Wen Ling was someone who wouldn’t lie. So whatever Wen Ling said, he believed. It was just that there was a stone in his heart that wouldn’t settle.
As for Wen Ling, being questioned like this by Cheng Ge made his heart feel blocked. He was very annoyed and wanted to be angry, but he didn’t know where this emotion was coming from.
Cheng Ge finished breakfast and went to the library. He ate lunch outside the library and went to the teaching building for two classes in the afternoon. After class, he went to the gym to play basketball, with no trace of Wen Ling’s involvement.
With his heart unsettled, he was currently a bit afraid to see Wen Ling. He didn’t even know what kind of expression to look at Wen Ling with to be correct, to not look strange.
This situation only lasted until the next day. The next afternoon, Cheng Ge was playing a friendly match. At the moment he turned after a shot, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure.
He could now always find Wen Ling in a crowd at a glance.
This time, he was even more afraid to make eye contact with Wen Ling, not daring to steal a glance. Cheng Ge’s mind was a mess, and his basketball play was also becoming disorganized, nearly making a mistake—truly shouldn’t have happened.
After the first half, the captain spoke to Cheng Ge about his performance, then patted his shoulder to encourage him. Cheng Ge nodded and walked toward Wen Ling.
Cheng Ge smiled at Wen Ling. “Why are you here?”
Wen Ling bit his lip and handed the mineral water in his hand to Cheng Ge. “Drink water.”
“Thank you.”
“You’ve hardly talked to me for a whole day.”
Cheng Ge’s movement to drink water stiffened, and he continued to gulp down two large mouthfuls. “Didn’t I send messages?”
Wen Ling: “We didn’t meet.”
Cheng Ge lowered his head to screw on the bottle cap. “Been busy these two days.”
Wen Ling was silent for a moment. “…Okay then.”
Cheng Ge brought Wen Ling to a place with fewer people and asked, as if casually, “Do you know about Lin Yucheng’s matter?”
“I know.”
“What happened to him?”
“Got into a car accident.”
Cheng Ge locked eyes with Wen Ling. “How did you know?”
“Jiji told me.”
Cheng Ge nodded and asked again, “What did you go do after the movie that day? Didn’t let me follow.”
Wen Ling’s eyes were round. “Can’t say. I’m not telling you.”
Cheng Ge complained a bit, “How can you not even tell me? Tell me.”
Wen Ling strictly refused: “No.”
“Okay then.” Wen Ling was unwilling to tell him, making him even more unsettled, his palms breaking into sweat.
The two were quiet for another moment. Cheng Ge was too uneasy; he decided to just let it all out. “Does Lin Yucheng’s matter have anything to do with you?”
Wen Ling stared at Cheng Ge, nearly not understanding what Cheng Ge meant.
Cheng Ge’s eyelids were lowered. “The matter of his car accident.”
Wen Ling seemed to suddenly understand a word—foreshadowing. Everything Cheng Ge asked just now seemed to be only for the sake of asking this in the end.
Wen Ling’s mood suddenly turned very poor, and his tone also became cold. “It has nothing to do with me.”
“Really?” Cheng Ge pressed.
However, Cheng Ge’s self-perceived caution was seen as distrust in Wen Ling’s eyes.
Cheng Ge didn’t believe him, and even looked at him with such a gaze.
That kind of gaze without emotion or warmth, separated by a layer of distance, made Wen Ling’s heart very astringent, a stinging pain.
“I said it has nothing to do with me.” Wen Ling said it one more time. He couldn’t stand Cheng Ge looking at him like that, so he left. This was the first time Wen Ling had proactively left Cheng Ge.
Cheng Ge didn’t chase after him either.
Actually, he did chase, but was pulled back by others to play the match.
There were many things Wen Ling didn’t understand, such as in the sweltering afternoon, on the playground, what that gaze of Cheng Ge’s represented.
He only felt bad in his heart, but didn’t quite understand.
He had several nightmares in a row in one day. In the dreams, Cheng Ge always frowned and questioned him, asking him “Really?”
Leaving him speechless.
He slowly understood. It was distrust, it was suspicion. Cheng Ge had taught him something again, but he hated and feared Cheng Ge’s distrust.
The relationship between the two thus fell into a stalemate. Neither wanted it to become like this, but the fact was just so.
The disappointed gaze of Wen Ling when he left kept surfacing in Cheng Ge’s mind. He had reflected for a long time these two days. If Wen Ling said it had nothing to do with him, then it absolutely had nothing to do with him. He had asked repeatedly out of unease, repeatedly tested—that was indeed very hurtful.
But it was all to be blamed on his crow’s mouth saying he was busy these two days. As a result, he really suddenly became so busy his feet didn’t touch the ground—group class presentations, the homeroom teacher holding a theme meeting, and a mid-term test. A large pile of matters squeezed out all his time, and he kept not finding a suitable time to have a good talk with Wen Ling.
Friday noon, Cheng Ge finally got the room card for the new dormitory. There was another training session in the afternoon, so Cheng Ge planned to have dinner with Wen Ling in the evening, apologize, and then give him a surprise.
When Wen Ling woke up in the morning, his head ached incredibly, his lips were very dry, and his whole body was like a furnace.
He had a fever again.
He ate normally, covered himself well with the quilt, yet still had a fever inexplicably.
Wen Ling looked at the phone messages.
Cheng Ge: [Up?]
Cheng Ge: [Ordered breakfast for you. It’s already arrived. Remember to eat a good breakfast.]
Wen Ling’s gaze stayed on the screen. Because of the fever, his eyes were also a bit hot. He rubbed his eyes, feeling a bit sad, his heart bitter.
Although Cheng Ge had been sending him messages, he and Cheng Ge hadn’t met for two days. This feeling was just like when Cheng Ge had intentionally distanced himself before.
Probably people who are sick are fragile, sensitive, and pitiful. Wen Ling missed Cheng Ge too much, and also didn’t want to be angry or compete with Cheng Ge anymore.
Wen Ling: [Shall we have lunch together?]
Cheng Ge replied very quickly over there: [I don’t have time at noon. There’s another training session in the afternoon. Let’s do evening. Let’s eat together in the evening, okay?]
Wen Ling: [I want to eat your cooking.]
Cheng Ge: [Okay. What do you want to eat?]
Wen Ling: [Anything is fine, but it needs to be a bit light.]
Cheng Ge: [Okay.]
Wen Ling waited for a while. Cheng Ge didn’t have any further follow-up. He turned off his phone, leaned on the big bear, rested for a bit, then got out of bed to wash up.
After breakfast, Wen Ling flipped through the medicine box. The fever medicine had been finished, so he just casually mixed a pack of cold medicine to drink. He sat on the chair for a bit, then climbed back into bed to continue sleeping.
Actually, he couldn’t sleep. It was just that he didn’t have the energy to do anything else. Sleeping also easily led to nightmares. He could only close his eyes and lie on the bed holding the big bear.
Lunch was nauseating. Wen Ling was afraid of vomiting, so he only ate two bites. He sat for a while in a daze, then carried his schoolbag to go to class.
In class, he accidentally slept for a bit and had a nightmare again. But Wen Ling couldn’t remember what dream it was, only knowing that when he was startled awake, the rims of his eyes were a bit moist.
Those awkward and sad emotions surged several-fold under the torture of nightmares and fever.
After class, Wen Ling went to the basketball court. He was afraid Cheng Ge would suddenly not have time again, get busy. He always had to personally go and wait for the person to be more at ease.
The cold medicine had no effect. The body temperature seemed to have gone up a bit more. However, Wen Ling didn’t care much. He cared more about what Cheng Ge would do in the evening.
If Cheng Ge found out he had a fever, he might cook porridge or light noodles for him.
There were even more people watching on the basketball court than before. It was noisy as always, making Wen Ling’s head ache.
Actually, Wen Ling still couldn’t stand so many people’s gazes falling on Cheng Ge. That feeling of property being coveted, of being stolen away, made him extremely hate it. But besides silence, or throwing a small tantrum, there seemed to be no other way.
Liking can also become an Achilles’ heel.
Wen Ling’s gaze immediately located Cheng Ge. He found a place far from the basketball court with few people and stood there.
Because his head was dizzy and he really had no strength, he later just sat on the ground to wait for the person.
Although Cheng Ge had taught him basketball, Wen Ling still didn’t quite understand basketball. After watching Cheng Ge play so many times, the deepest impression was that Cheng Ge’s posture when shooting was very good-looking—the posture was good, and the muscle lines were also good-looking.
Wen Ling took out his phone to film a video of Cheng Ge. Not long after filming, a pair of legs suddenly appeared in front of the lens. Almost the entire screen was filled with just a pair of legs.
Wen Ling scowled and looked up, finding it was a girl standing in front of him. After a moment of hesitation, Wen Ling moved a bit, deleted the video, and filmed again.
But after a while, that girl again came in front of him, blocking his lens.
Translator’s Note: “Achilles’ heel” (软肋) is used here to show how Wen Ling’s love for Cheng Ge makes him vulnerable. The “crow’s mouth” (乌鸦嘴) is a common expression for someone whose negative predictions unfortunately come true.
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