Someone to Stay

Xu Shuche always got a fever whenever he caught a cold.

And once the fever hit, it would shoot past forty degrees.

Without resting four or five days, it would never get better, often leaving behind a lingering low-grade fever.

He had long grown used to being sick.

Whenever he fell ill, he would just put on extra clothes, shut himself in the dorm, and wait for his body to recover on its own.

He rarely took medicine or got IV drips.

But this time, perhaps because Jian Yixun forcefully dragged him to the hospital for an IV, he woke up from a nap to find that his fever was already gone.

At six in the morning, the emergency room, noisy all night, finally quieted down.

Half of the people sitting there were patients.

The other half were family members accompanying them.

Xu Shuche rarely came to the hospital before, but when he did, he was almost always alone.

Among patients with family by their side, he looked like an outlier.

Pitiful, somehow.

But this time, someone was with him too.

Xu Shuche opened his eyes and once again saw Jian Yixun’s chin, shadowed with bluish stubble.

Jian Yixun had stayed by his side until after four in the morning.

He played several rounds of games to stay awake.

Only after Xu Shuche’s temperature finally went down did he feel safe enough to doze off for two hours.

The air at six a.m. was a little cold.

Xu Shuche subconsciously shrank toward the heat source.

He did not expect that to wake the other person.

Jian Yixun had two huge dark circles under his eyes.

He opened them groggily and instinctively wrapped an arm around the waist of the person in his arms.

“Senior?

Are you still burning?”

Xu Shuche was caught off guard by the sudden embrace.

He tugged at Jian Yixun’s sleeve.

“No fever anymore.”

Jian Yixun did not believe him.

He reached out and touched Xu Shuche’s forehead himself, only then relaxing completely.

“As long as it’s gone.

Last night it went over forty.

You scared me to death.”

He draped his own trench coat over Xu Shuche.

“Sit properly, senior.

I’ll go buy you something to eat.”

Xu Shuche grabbed his sleeve again and looked up slightly.

“Do you want to rest a bit longer?”

“No need.”

Jian Yixun looked at Xu Shuche’s pale, sickly face.

His instinct to protect the weak surged again.

“I used to pull all-nighters writing papers and gaming.

Don’t worry about me.”

Xu Shuche softly said “oh” and took off the coat to return it to him.

“You wear it.

I’m not cold.”

“Ancestor, I’ll burn incense in gratitude if you just take good care of yourself.”

Jian Yixun frowned deeply.

He pulled a piece of candy from his pocket and popped it into his mouth.

At the same time, he tugged Xu Shuche’s rolled-up sleeve back down.

“It’s bruised again.

You’re like the Princess and the Pea.

How can your skin be this delicate?”

Xu Shuche’s face flushed red.

He stopped insisting on returning the coat.

Jian Yixun walked around outside the hospital twice and came back with four lunch boxes.

The restaurants around the hospital did not look very appealing.

Picking the best among the bad, he set four dishes and a bowl of porridge in front of Xu Shuche.

Xu Shuche, listlessly wrapped in Jian Yixun’s coat, picked up his chopsticks and hid the green peppers under other dishes.

Jian Yixun gave the food to the patient and gnawed on bread himself.

When he looked up, he saw the patient being sneaky.

The green peppers were hidden under the onions.

Then the onions were hidden under the small greens.

Xu Shuche pressed his lips together, focused on picking up a piece of small greens and eating it.

Then, without a sound, he picked up a piece of green pepper and put it back.

Jian Yixun coughed heavily.

The chopsticks in the culprit’s hand trembled.

The green pepper fell back into the lunch box.

“So, senior, you’re a picky eater.

Why didn’t you tell me?”

Jian Yixun found it funny.

“What are you doing?

You hate green peppers that much?”

Xu Shuche poked at the green pepper.

“They taste bad.

I don’t like them.”

“Then don’t eat them.

I will,” Jian Yixun said.

“What about the fish?

It’s steamed, not too oily.

You can eat a little.”

Xu Shuche poked at the small yellow croaker.

“This fish has so many bones.

It’s hard to pick them out.

I don’t want it.”

Maybe because he felt unwell, he subconsciously wanted to act spoiled.

Jian Yixun did not find him troublesome.

He broke open another pair of chopsticks.

“I’ll pick the bones for you.

It should taste okay.”

Xu Shuche secretly glanced at him.

Seeing that he was not angry, he softly added,

“That cabbage is too oily.

I don’t want it either.”

“Okay.”

Jian Yixun placed the deboned fish in front of him.

“It’s ready.

Eat.

You need to eat to get better.”

The food from this small restaurant was indeed not great.

Xu Shuche ate everything except the green peppers and cabbage.

Then he drank the sweet porridge he had been craving.

“These are the medicines the doctor prescribed.”

Jian Yixun stuffed a plastic bag into his hands.

“When you get back, take fever reducers every four hours.

Don’t forget.

Eat more.

Sleep more.

Let’s get you fully better within three days.”

Xu Shuche hummed softly and lowered his head, a little embarrassed.

“I caused you trouble again.

When we get back, I’ll treat you to a meal.”

“What are you saying?

Taking care of a brother is what I should do.”

Jian Yixun patted his shoulder.

“I’m going home to catch up on sleep.

Take care of yourself.”

Xu Shuche agreed and walked with him to the hospital entrance.

Jian Yixun’s home was in the opposite direction from the school.

They said goodbye at the intersection.

Xu Shuche clenched the plastic bag in his hand.

Watching Jian Yixun’s retreating back, the warm place in his chest seemed to leave along with him.

His parents had divorced when he was young.

He lived with his father, who was an alcoholic and had no idea how to care for a child.

Xu Shuche could not cook.

What he made was only barely edible.

When he got sick, he did not know to take medicine.

He could only force his way through it by drinking hot water.

This was the first time someone had accompanied him to the hospital.

In just two short days, Jian Yixun’s position in Xu Shuche’s heart had skyrocketed.

From “an annoying straight guy” to “a kind-hearted good straight guy.”

He hailed a taxi back to school, planning to return to the dorm and sleep properly.

But downstairs, he ran into a junior from his research group.

The junior was from the Physics Department.

His name was Guan Jingshan.

When he saw Xu Shuche, his eyes lit up.

“Senior!”

“You’re… Guan Jingshan?”

Xu Shuche asked.

“What’s wrong?

Did something happen?”

“Senior, it’s great that you’re back.”

Guan Jingshan walked up to him.

“Do you remember when everyone went to look for literature based on the selected topics?

Most of what we found was in foreign languages.

You know how engineering students’ English is.

Some translations we’re not confident about.

We wanted to ask you to take a look.”

Hearing it was an academic matter, Xu Shuche immediately took it seriously.

“Okay.

I’ll go with you now.”

Guan Jingshan glanced at the plastic bag in Xu Shuche’s hand.

“Senior, did you just come back from the hospital?”

“Yes,” Xu Shuche said.

“I was sick.

Went to get some medicine.”

Guan Jingshan frowned slightly.

“Senior, you’re sick?”

Xu Shuche nodded.

He did not want to say more.

But Guan Jingshan grabbed his arm.

“Senior, forget it.

Since you’re sick, rest properly.

We can translate the papers in a couple of days.”

“No.”

Xu Shuche shook his head.

“Other groups have probably already started.

We can’t delay anymore.”

The two of them went to the research room in the teaching building.

Guan Jingshan turned on the computer.

“Senior, I’ll be counting on you.”

Xu Shuche wiped his glasses and put them on.

He adjusted the webpage to a comfortable size and began translating line by line.

“Here, if you translate it directly, the meaning changes.

At times like this, you need to understand how foreigners think…”

Guan Jingshan suddenly interrupted him.

“Senior, you’re really amazing.”

Xu Shuche looked at him in confusion.

Guan Jingshan leaned slightly closer.

“These long, complex sentences.

You can translate them just by looking.”

“This is a skill students in our field need to master,” Xu Shuche said.

“Every major learns different things.

It’s nothing special.”

Guan Jingshan smiled.

“Senior, actually, I’ve heard of you for a long time.

I’ve known your name since freshman year.

It’s a pity I only get to meet you now.”

“I…”

For some reason, Xu Shuche always felt uncomfortable under Guan Jingshan’s gaze.

He avoided his eyes.

“Junior, here we only discuss literature.

Let’s talk about other things later.”

“Alright.”

Guan Jingshan’s lips still curved upward.

He gave Xu Shuche a deep look.

“Let’s continue talking about academics.”

Jian Yixun went home, took a shower, changed clothes, and collapsed into bed.

When he woke up, it was already four in the afternoon.

With sleepy eyes, he sent Xu Shuche a WeChat message.

“Senior?

Are you awake?

Have you eaten?

Did you take your medicine?”

After sending it, Jian Yixun lingered in bed for a while.

He played with the stray cats he had taken in.

Then he lazily got up.

Xu Shuche still had not replied.

Jian Yixun thought Xu Shuche was still asleep.

After changing into sportswear, he jogged two laps around the neighborhood.

When he came back, there was still no reply.

It was almost five already.

No one could sleep that long.

Thinking of Xu Shuche’s fragile constitution, Jian Yixun worried that something might have happened.

He quickly changed clothes, grabbed his bag, and rushed toward the school.

Xu Shuche spent the whole day in the research room.

He took medicine midway and filled his stomach with some bread.

Then he continued translating papers for Guan Jingshan.

When he finally looked up at the clock, it was already past five in the evening.

Xu Shuche stretched and felt a bit thirsty.

Just as he was about to pour himself some water, a thermos was handed to him.

“Senior, I knew you’d be thirsty.”

Guan Jingshan winked.

“Premium mineral water from ’82.

Strictly temperature-controlled by me.

Just right to drink now.

Not hot, not cold.”

Xu Shuche was amused by “mineral water from ’82.”

He took it and drank a sip.

Indeed, it was neither hot nor cold.

Just right.

When he smiled, his phoenix eyes curved slightly.

They were bright, like a pond full of shattered stars.

Guan Jingshan watched him.

After a while, he coughed lightly and awkwardly looked away.

“It’s late, senior.

Are you hungry?

I’ll treat you to dinner.

Dragging a patient to work was really too much.”

“No need,” Xu Shuche said.

“I’ll just eat something when I get back.

I…”

He had just stood up when his head went light.

He staggered and fell toward Guan Jingshan, who caught him steadily.

Guan Jingshan was about to speak when the research room door was suddenly pushed open with a bang.

Jian Yixun stood at the doorway with a dark expression.

The resentment in his eyes was almost overflowing.

He spoke.

His voice was cold.

“What are you doing?”