Part 2
She turned, wanting to close the door, but as soon as she moved, Ruan Xinshu lost her balance. Just as she reached out to find something to support herself, she felt the sudden scent of summer flowers from behind.
The fragrance drifted gently into her nose. Ruan Xinshu’s movement faltered, and her whole body froze.
“Ruan Xinshu.”
Chu Yu’s breath, just like before, warmed the side of her neck.
The sensation of Chu Yu’s slightly cool fingers brought a flood of emotions rushing through her body. Ruan Xinshu felt even dizzier.
“Are you okay?” Chu Yu held her shoulders.
Her voice was soft, like a gentle breeze and fine rain.
Ruan Xinshu felt even more unstable.
Inexplicable emotions surged in her heart—one made her angry, while the other made her want to call out this person’s name.
Ruan Xinshu squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m fine.”
“I’ll help you back to bed.” Chu Yu supported her as they walked to the bedroom.
Once Ruan Xinshu was seated on the edge of the bed, Chu Yu finally let go.
For a moment, Ruan Xinshu felt her shoulders turn colder.
“Did you take your medicine?” Chu Yu asked softly.
“Mm.”
Ruan Xinshu gave another grunt of affirmation.
She realized her lips were a bit loose today; she needed to be extra careful.
Her sluggish brain hazily analyzed the current relationship between the two of them.
It wasn’t actually that complicated; there were really only two possibilities.
But regardless of the relationship, she shouldn’t be meeting Chu Yu in her current state.
She felt it might be because she was sick.
After all, when people are sick, they are prone to doing brainless things.
“Still have a fever?”
Chu Yu reached out and touched Ruan Xinshu’s forehead. Her hand was very cool, causing Ruan Xinshu, who had temporarily retrieved her brain, to flinch instinctively.
“…”
Seeing the look in Ruan Xinshu’s eyes, Chu Yu quietly retracted her hand.
She opened her mouth slightly, perhaps wanting to say something, but the words didn’t come out. Only a faint light shimmered in her eyes.
Ruan Xinshu looked at her gaze and thought, She’s already inside the house. As long as she doesn’t get into my bed, what does it matter? So, she stopped looking at Chu Yu.
“Can I use your kitchen?”
After a long while, looking at the medicine on the nightstand, Chu Yu asked.
“What?”
Ruan Xinshu thought she might have misheard.
Chu Yu looked up at her. “To cook for you.”
“Why would you cook?” Ruan Xinshu’s tone was far from polite.
“When you’re sick, if you find it troublesome, you won’t eat.”
Ruan Xinshu frowned.
She thought, It’s not like I can’t take care of myself.
After all, she had even ordered delivery. How could that be called not eating?
So, without thinking, she said, “No need. You… you should go back.”
Chu Yu looked at her, showing no intention of leaving. “Did you eat? What did you eat?”
“Ken—”
Ruan Xinshu caught her breath and clamped her mouth shut immediately.
Close call. “KFC” almost slipped out.
Even though the “Family Bucket” she ordered—just to make up the minimum order amount—contained chicken, vegetables, and bread, in Chu Yu’s perception, KFC still fell squarely into the category of junk food.
So, after thinking for a moment, she stated concisely:
“Rice.”
Just as Ruan Xinshu finished speaking, the doorbell rang again.
Chu Yu looked in the direction of the sound. “Is it a friend?”
Ruan Xinshu felt a thud in her heart. She bit her lip and nodded. “Yes.”
—Probably my old friend, KFC.
Ruan Xinshu took a breath, propping herself up against the headboard.
Watching her movements, Chu Yu said, “I’ll go open the door for you.”
“No need, I can do it myself…” Ruan Xinshu panicked.
She began frantically searching her mind for a way to retrieve the delivery without Chu Yu noticing, but perhaps because she didn’t use her brain much usually, and it wasn’t working well now, plus she had never encountered this situation before… she couldn’t come up with a concrete solution in time.
Chu Yu looked at her. “Is it a friend I can’t see?”
“…” Ruan Xinshu didn’t answer. Indeed, she didn’t really want Chu Yu to meet KFC.
But Chu Yu thoughtfully tucked the quilt around her. “If not, you stay here. I’ll go get it.”
Ruan Xinshu wanted to refuse Chu Yu, but she couldn’t think of a good reason or a way to cover it up.
In short, it happened very fast. Before she could think of an excuse, Chu Yu had already gone out.
Then, she heard the front door open. First, Chu Yu confirming with the delivery driver.
Her voice sounded a bit puzzled.
Then came the delivery driver’s anxious confirmation, “That’s correct.”
Ruan Xinshu felt annoyed listening to it and buried her head under the pillow.
A moment later, Chu Yu walked in carrying the KFC delivery.
She glanced at Ruan Xinshu, who had her head buried under the pillow like an ostrich. “Your delivery.”
Chu Yu seemed to want to say something, but in the end, she only asked one question. “This is your dinner?”
Ruan Xinshu turned her head slightly, poking out to look at Chu Yu holding the Family Bucket.
The bucket of fried chicken and Chu Yu—the two felt completely mismatched.
Ruan Xinshu kept a straight face, feigning seriousness as she gave an “Mm.”
Chu Yu looked at the Family Bucket in the bag. “…”
Ruan Xinshu pursed her lips.
Chu Yu quietly moved the KFC to the side.
“I’ll make you something else.”
Ruan Xinshu felt that her cool voice expressed her consistent disdain for fast food.
“…” Ruan Xinshu felt wronged again. In her heart, she felt that since she was in her own home, what she wanted to eat or do shouldn’t be dictated by Chu Yu.
But somehow, the words wouldn’t come out. In the end, she shrank back and buried her head under the quilt again.
After a while, just as Ruan Xinshu thought she might fall asleep, she heard quiet footsteps again.
Chu Yu’s footsteps.
—I can’t believe I still remember the sound of her steps.
Ruan Xinshu thought with her eyes closed.
“I’m taking the Family Bucket you bought,” Chu Yu said indifferently.
Hearing the words “Family Bucket,” Ruan Xinshu’s ears felt scorching hot.
She felt like her sore spot had been poked. She almost sat up in anger to demand what right Chu Yu had to dispose of her Family Bucket.
But as soon as she sat up, she saw Chu Yu place a dining tray on her nightstand.
On the tray was a ceramic bowl filled with preserved egg and lean meat porridge with vegetables, and a small bowl covered with a lid.
“What is this?” Ruan Xinshu pointed to the small bowl.
—The small bowl actually looks quite exquisite.
It was the kind of bowl she liked: nice to look at, but not very practical.
Chu Yu glanced at Ruan Xinshu and stated the fact, “A tea bowl.”
Ruan Xinshu knew it was a tea bowl too. What she wanted to ask was: “…What’s inside?”
“Cream pudding,” Chu Yu said, her tone faint.
Ruan Xinshu’s eyelashes trembled slightly. The mouth she had intended to open snapped shut.
Seeing Ruan Xinshu stay silent, Chu Yu quietly ladled the porridge into a smaller bowl and handed it to her.
Ruan Xinshu took the bowl, glancing at Chu Yu casually before looking down at the porridge.
There were chopped green onions sprinkled on top, making it look healthier and very appetizing.
She slowly spooned a mouthful of porridge into her mouth.
It was the vegetable, preserved egg, and lean meat porridge she had wanted to eat, along with the cream pudding.
If her phone didn’t require a fingerprint to unlock, she would have suspected Chu Yu had peeked at her search history.
Because the porridge tasted so good, Ruan Xinshu didn’t speak for a long time.
She really didn’t know what to say; she just regretted letting Chu Yu in.
Simply because she was someone who was easily soft-hearted, and now she was sick.
These two conditions intertwining were really dangerous. She thought this as she spooned another mouthful of porridge.
Specifically, she might not be able to stop herself from showing a weak side to Chu Yu.
She was someone who remembered who had bullied her.
She remembered Qin Tingsen snatching the strawberry from her cake in kindergarten, she remembered Song Min drawing a pig head on her finished painting in elementary school, and she remembered the view of Chu Yu’s back that day as she walked away without turning around.
Ruan Xinshu thought this and let out a ‘hmph’.
She was afraid that if she softened up now, she would forgive everything, so she could only drink the porridge mouthful by mouthful.
As she drank, she felt her eyes getting hot.
—I’m so weak.
“Eat slowly, Ruan Xinshu.”
Chu Yu reached out and wiped the corner of her mouth with a tissue, then slowly refilled the bowl with more porridge.
Her voice was very gentle.
Ruan Xinshu sniffled.
—Don’t overthink it. This person has always been good at this sort of thing.
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