Chapter 354: Fever in the Middle of the Night

Hearing that, Jiang Nian took another look at Song Xiyun, who was wearing a mask.

"We each settle our own debts, what's your rush?"

He thought, usually she dodges me like the plague, so how dare she talk back now.

"How can it be like that?" Song Xiyun muttered softly, then started coughing again, and simply lowered her head to keep playing dead.

The crowd leaving evening self-study flowed like a rushing river; the three were swept downstairs, then split off in different directions the moment they reached the ground floor.

Jiang Nian stuffed his hands in his pockets and wandered all the way to the school gate. He kept some distance from the two girls the whole time, looking a bit absent-minded.

Walking along Zhen'nan Changjie, the three of them cast shadows that crossed back and forth under the streetlights.

After getting home.

Jiang Nian didn't bring up the scores either; with Song Xiyun around it wasn't convenient. With three people it always felt a bit awkward, and it'd be easy for Xu Qianqian to muddle through.

He planned to photocopy the total score sheet tomorrow, then go straight to Xu Qianqian's door in the evening to call the shots.

Isn't that just a total creep?

Yes.

Swoosh—the sound of washing up came from the bathroom.

Jiang Nian looked at himself in the mirror, and the more he looked, the more he felt he had the makings of a rich man. After putting aside thoughts of women, he started thinking about winning the lottery.

He hastily blow-dried his hair, then flopped onto the bed and stuck a foot up in the air. Swinging it back and forth like a little girl, he began searching lottery basics on his phone.

Honestly, he'd never been this serious even when prepping for exams.

In the blink of an eye, over half an hour passed.

Jiang Nian reluctantly rubbed his eyes; this really was more tiring than exams. There were too many kinds of lottery, and the tricks were all over the place.

He didn't read the tricks, just browsed the basic knowledge.

Don't make himself seem too strange, and don't make winning seem too obvious—best to make buying lottery tickets a habit.

Of course, if you don't have a cheat, this habit isn't recommended.

Pay taxes when you work, pay taxes after work—doesn't that mean you're working for nothing? Better to keep the little money you have and spend it where it counts.

Like that Dragon thing.

Right, Jackie Chan.

As for Zhou Yuting's side, once he gave her the card he didn't go ask about it. If it didn't work out, he'd get an accurate reply tomorrow.

Zhou Yuting may be a bit of a schemer, but that doesn't mean she's unreliable as a person.

Secondly, it wasn't really doing her some big favor, mainly just offering a bit of convenience. Besides, the verification was in his hands, so the result wouldn't be wrong.

Most likely it'll work out.

As for the card he gave her, it wasn't his—it was Qing Bao's. He'd definitely have to return it, otherwise next time he wouldn't be able to bring it up.

Qing Bao doesn't take money, but she never said she wouldn't take lottery tickets.

Moreover, Qing Bao's card flowed out from his hands, passed through Zhou Yuting's. Going through that once benefited him greatly.

Without opening this crack, he and Qing Bao would forever be teacher and student, never master and disciple.

As for Zhou Yuting's side, aside from a pile of flaws, everything else about her is value—she actually knows quite a lot of people.

The main idea is to make full use of everything.

This reminded him of the driver's license matter; he still didn't know how to repay the class monitor's favor, and hadn't yet found a suitable "opening."

"Class monitor, she—" Jiang Nian rolled around on the bed, then stared at the ceiling and murmured, "what does she need?"

Before he knew it, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

Buzz buzz!

In the dim room, Jiang Nian was woken by the phone ringing. His eyes squinted open in a daze; he was completely out of it.

The phone glowed faintly, vibrating nonstop.

"Holy crap, in the middle of the night." Jiang Nian reached for his phone, glanced at it, swiped up and put it to his ear. "What?"

Xu Qianqian's voice came through the receiver, carrying a hint of panic.

"Jiang Nian, are you free right now?"

Jiang Nian rubbed his eyes. "Busy jerking off."

On the other end, Xu Qianqian's voice clearly broke for a moment. Then it recovered, though the panic was gone from her tone.

"Xiyun seems to have a fever, her forehead is so hot, you-you-you—"

Jiang Nian flipped out of bed and grabbed a jacket.

"Stop 'you-ing,' go open the door."

Saying that, he hung up.

Passing through the living room, he grabbed his e-bike keys. He threw on the jacket—squeak—and opened the big iron gate that groaned loudly.

After gently pulling the door shut, he knocked on the opposite door in his cotton slippers.

Click.

A second later, the door opened in response.

Jiang Nian deliberately checked the time: 1:30 a. m., the first half of the night.

He thought, when she came back in the evening she was perfectly fine. Just finished talking about a little cough, and now the person is burning up.

"Jiang Nian." Xu Qianqian poked her head out from behind the door, glanced at him. "Come in quick, you brought the e-bike."

Before Xu Qianqian could finish, a set of keys dangled in front of her.

"Phew, that's good then."

After entering.

Jiang Nian didn't head straight for the bedroom, but waited for Xu Qianqian to catch up. The more chaotic the moment, the more the details matter.

He let Xu Qianqian walk in front and asked.

"Did you take her temperature?"

"Taking it now, her forehead is very hot." Xu Qianqian was also nervous, but seeing Jiang Nian so composed, she couldn't help but calm down.

"She's still conscious, not talking nonsense."

Hearing that, Jiang Nian asked one more question.

"Coughing?"

"No cough." Xu Qianqian said.

As she spoke, she had already pushed open the bedroom door. The room was slightly stuffy, tinged with a faint, uniquely girlish sweet fragrance.

Song Xiyun was under the covers, a sickly peach-blush rising on both cheeks. Her eyes were slightly narrowed, looking utterly listless.

Jiang Nian said nothing, just stood in the room waiting.

After a while, he had Xu Qianqian take out the thermometer. She did as told, pulling a mercury thermometer out from under the covers.

After buying it, it had just been left there, barely ever used.

"Can you read it?" Jiang Nian looked for a while, couldn't help but complain, "You're staring at it back and forth—what's the temperature?"

"Almost thirty-nine." Xu Qianqian frowned, handed the thermometer to Jiang Nian, "What do we do?"

"Go to the emergency room, what else can we do." Jiang Nian shook the car keys, "Dress her in more clothes, I'll wait for you in the living room."

As he spoke, he was just about to leave, but Xu Qianqian grabbed him.

She said irritably, "What kind of time is it, and you're still avoiding impropriety? I can't dress her alone, give me a hand."

After a flurry of fumbling between the two, they finally got Song Xiyun's sweater on.

Xu Qianqian stuck a few warming patches on her clothes, draped a down jacket over her, and only then helped her out.

Song Xiyun was embarrassed the whole time; her weakness was real. She hadn't reached the point of losing consciousness, so she could only silently cooperate throughout.

Being manipulated like a puppet by the two of them, then helped out into the living room.

Finally, she couldn't help but speak up.

"Um… can I not get an injection? I'll just take some medicine and I'll be fine. Sleep a bit, and I'll definitely get better."

Xu Qianqian shook her head, "Better go to the emergency room, it's not that far."

"Sleeping can cure illness too?" Jiang Nian rubbed his chin, hesitated, "Here's the problem—with whom to sleep…"

Before he finished speaking, he immediately got punched by Xu Qianqian.

"What kind of time is it, and you're still not serious."

Jiang Nian smiled, and the three of them tiptoed downstairs. They found a small clinic to go to the emergency room; there was only one doctor on duty.

Usually he just handled emergency cases of headaches and fevers; for anything too troublesome, he'd suggest walking a bit further to the County People's Hospital emergency room.

The doctor examined her for a while, prescribed two bottles of IV medicine for Song Xiyun, and in the end, it was Xu Qianqian's medical insurance card that was swiped.

Small community clinics can operate like this—one asks if you're so-and-so's daughter. Oh, like that? Then hand over the medical insurance card.

If Song Xiyun hadn't brought her ID and medical insurance card, going to the county hospital emergency room would have been entirely out-of-pocket, and a few hundred yuan would have vanished.

During the IV drip, Song Xiyun's eyes were so scared they were practically squeezed shut, which made Jiang Nian and Xu Qianqian beside her burst out laughing.

"Open your eyes and look, the needle is already in the vein." Jiang Nian said, "If you don't believe me, ask Xu Qianqian."

"I didn't dare look." Xu Qianqian also shifted her gaze away.

Song Xiyun was so startled she nearly burst into tears, helplessly waving her other hand, while the hand with the injection stayed perfectly still.

"Stop talking! Stop talking!"

Jiang Nian smiled, ran to the bed by the door and lay down to play on his phone. The thick curtain at the entrance was drawn down, and no wind leaked through.

The two girls chatted there, while he played a couple of rounds of games.

After a while, the doctor came out to change the IV bottle.

While waiting for the game to load, Jiang Nian glanced at Song Xiyun, who was tilting her head back to look at the IV bottle, and couldn't help but space out for a moment.

Little Song, someone so afraid of injections—would she know that for the next twenty-plus years of her future, she might have to deal with hospitals?

He shifted his gaze and continued playing his game.

After all the IV drips were done and the three of them left the community clinic, the time had already reached half-past three in the latter half of the night.

Jiang Nian took the two girls on a short bike ride through the cold wind; after going upstairs, he briefly stayed at the opposite door for ten-odd minutes, then went home himself.

This sudden interlude in the middle of the night left him with no heart to think. After washing up again, he fell asleep almost the moment he touched the bed.

The next day.

Jiang Nian got up yawning, washed up in front of the mirror.

At the same time, he unlocked his phone to check messages, and saw a message Xu Qianqian had sent in the morning—Song Xiyun's fever had broken after the injection.

Normally, a message like this, he might glance at and skip over, since catching a cold and fever in winter is perfectly normal.

But… Song Xiyun.

wшw. án. c○

He had reason to suspect that the IV drip only treated the symptoms, not the root cause; if the fever returned. Or if the illness was delayed, hidden dangers might be planted right then and there.

"Looks like, she still has to go get checked." he muttered to himself.

This matter not only concerned his task reward winning 【sic】, but also determined Song Xiyun's future fate.

A sickly person has no future.

Perhaps, even giving it everything, the best outcome would be living a healthy life.

Jiang Nian sighed, and in the gap of heading out. He lowered his head and sent Xu Qianqian a WeChat message, reminding her.

"Today is the day the scores come out."

Suddenly, the "typing…" indicator at the top of Xu Qianqian's chat vanished instantly.

Three minutes later.

Jiang Nian had already slung his bag over his shoulder and gone downstairs to school, yet he still hadn't received a reply from Xu Qianqian—she seemed determined to play dead.

"Running away won't help, sliiip-sliiip."

Not long after, Xu Qianqian finally replied.

"You're a pervert!"

"Sliiip-sliiip."

No matter what Xu Qianqian said, Jiang Nian only ever replied with the sliiip-sliiip emoji, driving her utterly frantic.

Early in the morning, the southern town's long street was sparsely populated, thick fog drifting everywhere.

Jiang Nian, satisfied after being scolded, slid his phone smoothly into his pocket and bought a braised meat roll on the way, heading for the school gate.

He'd just taken a bite of the braised meat roll when his gaze flicked sideways—and there, right across from him, was the steamed bun shop owner's eyes.

In that instant, Jiang Nian visibly turned red.

A battlefield of shame!

It happened suddenly, in the most awkward way possible.

The owner's gaze was hollow; he even wanted to light a cigarette. But he couldn't smoke—pick up a cigarette, and he'd have to put down the buns.

"Eating a braised meat roll, huh?"

Jiang Nian changed his grip on the braised meat roll five times in one second, his mind automatically playing "Break Up Should Be Elegant."

"Uh, yeah."

Zhennan Jerry fled in a hurry, deciding he'd switch shops tomorrow. If you switch fast enough, there's no sorrow—only love.

Fuck, doesn't even God get to switch shops?

My damn, cursed tenderness.

After entering the Gao San building, Jiang Nian automatically glanced toward the Siban Sect classroom door—and saw something that shocked him.

Zhou Haifei was playing toss-the-arrow at the back of the classroom, and she was taking it with extreme seriousness.

Swish-swish, the arrows landed in the pot.

Jiang Nian felt slightly surprised, watched from afar for a moment, then quietly slipped away.

He entered the Sanban Sect classroom.

As usual, he filled his water bottle and sat down; the moment he pulled out his textbook in the empty classroom, his mood suddenly lifted.

He quietly anticipated the class ranking sheet.

"Morning," Yao Bei Bei said, unusually early, yawning as she entered through the front door. "Guys, lend me your water card."

Jiang Nian handed her the card, face full of disgust.

"Why don't you use your own?"

Yao Bei Bei took the card, turned to leave—then froze.

"Isn't this Li Hua's?"

"Yeah, I never use my own," Jiang Nian said, utterly matter-of-fact. "If Li Hua's is available, why use mine?"

"Fair point," Yao Bei Bei said, walking off with the card.

Half an hour passed; the classroom gradually filled up.

Li Hua went home, took a nap, and came back fully revived. He'd completely forgotten about yesterday's "Three-Day Soaring" incident.

Jiang Nian stared at him for a while, utterly amazed.

"Hua, what's your total score?"

"Red Stone!" Li Hua sneered. "Don't bother trying to rattle me with crap like that—you might as well give up now."

Suddenly, the girl in front, Huang Fang, turned around, blushing.

"Group leader, are you really 608?"

Li Hua's Dao heart shattered.

Morning self-study.

Zhou Yuting stared up at the dim whiteboard at the front, lost in thought, with no desire to recite ancient poetry.

She was annoyed—because someone had asked her for help.

Their relationship had already reached that point, yet Jiang Nian still came to her, leaving her torn between hope and dread.

She turned her head toward Jiang Nian's seat—and casually glanced, seeing the bright, springlike girl.

Zhang Nengzhi embodied every boy's fantasy of a sweet, sour, springtime maiden.

Even as a girl, Zhou Yuting couldn't help being drawn to Zhang Nengzhi's aura of "all things reviving, springtime lingering."

Yet such a girl surrounded Jiang Nian.

Zhou Yuting shifted her gaze, and as it passed the monitor, it unconsciously halted—the cool, clear side of her face lit by golden morning light.

It was a scene straight out of a youth film, unfolding vividly before her eyes.

Zhou Yuting looked away, sighing. No matter how she thought about it, Jiang Nian had no reason to do such a thing.

After two classes of nervousness, she finally seized an opportunity before morning exercise.

In the corridor.

She walked up to Jiang Nian and handed him the remaining card.

"I accept. I'll message you on QQ."

"Fine," Jiang Nian glanced at the card but didn't take it. "Keep it. You'd have to give it to someone else anyway."

The corridor, bright with sunlight.