In the evening, the sky looked as if someone had spilled an ink bottle. Dark, heavy clouds rolled in from the horizon.
“Boom!”
A loud thunderclap exploded, and tiny raindrops fell without warning.
Within minutes, it turned into a torrential downpour. Water flowed into streams along the uneven ground, running everywhere.
Lin Nian had just brought in the clothes she had hung to dry when she heard Ningning’s crying voice from inside the house.
“Mom! Mom! Come quickly! Brother’s face is so red and hot!”
Her heart skipped a beat. She dropped the clothes and ran inside.
Lu An lay on the bed, his face flushed crimson, lips chapped, brows tightly furrowed, breathing rapid.
She reached out and touched his forehead—the heat burned her hand, and her heart nearly jumped out of her chest.
He had a high fever!
“An An, An An?” she gently patted her son’s face.
Lu An blinked weakly, his eyes unfocused. He murmured in a frail voice, “Mom… I feel sick…”
Lin Nian’s heart twisted in pain.
It was all her fault. She had spent the past few days sulking with Lu Tingchuan, ignoring the children. Yesterday, he got wet in the rain, and last night he was in the wind—he must have caught a cold.
She searched frantically but couldn’t find any fever medicine in the house.
No, she had to go to the hospital immediately!
“Ningning, quickly, put on your raincoat!” Lin Nian decided instantly, dressing her daughter as fast as she could.
Then, she grabbed a small blanket and wrapped the feverish, drowsy Lu An tightly, holding him across her arms.
“Ningning, stay close to Mom and don’t let go!”
“Yes!” Four-year-old Lu Ning, though scared of the thunder and lightning outside, nodded obediently and held tightly onto her mother’s clothes.
Lin Nian carried one child, held the other’s hand, took a deep breath, and decisively stepped into the raging storm.
The rain was heavy, pummeling her painfully.
The cold wind mixed with rain, trying to seep into her embrace.
She held her son tighter, using her body to shield him from the wind and rain.
She stood by the road, hoping to flag down a passing car.
But in this terrible weather, there was not a single shadow on the road.
Occasionally, a truck rushed past, splashing water high enough to soak the mother and children completely.
Time ticked by.
Lu An in her arms seemed to be burning hotter and began speaking nonsense.
Lin Nian’s heart felt like it was being gripped by a giant hand, her chest tight with pain.
Despair seeped into her bones, as cold as the rain.
No, she couldn’t wait any longer!
If she delayed, her child might suffer serious damage from the fever.
She gritted her teeth, ready to carry her son through the storm all the way to the military hospital a kilometer away.
Just as she stepped forward, ready to run into the rain—
“Screeech—”
A sharp braking sound rang beside her.
A green military jeep stopped steadily in front of her, like a silent beast.
The headlights cut through the dark, rainy night, blinding her.
Lin Nian instinctively raised her hand to shield her eyes.
The car window slowly rolled down.
A completely expressionless, icy face appeared in her view.
It was Lu Tingchuan.
How was he here?
For a moment, Lin Nian’s mind went blank.
Lu Tingchuan’s gaze cut through the curtain of rain, landing on her soaked and disheveled self.
Her hair was drenched, clinging in wet strands to her pale face. Rain dripped from her chin.
She held tightly a child wrapped in a blanket, with a small girl in a raincoat standing beside her, trembling.
His eyes swept over the sick child’s red, fevered face.
When he saw that the child’s features still resembled his own, his pupils constricted sharply.
He didn’t speak unnecessarily, nor offer any greeting.
With his usual commanding, unquestionable tone, he said simply:
“Get in.”
Lin Nian froze, tightening her arms around the children.
Was she hallucinating?
This man—wasn’t he wishing she would disappear from the world?
Why… would he stop kindly to take her?
Seeing her hesitate, Lu Tingchuan frowned, his gaze sharpening.
“Do you want him to burn until he’s a fool?”
The words struck Lin Nian like a hammer to the heart.
She looked at her son, almost losing consciousness in her arms, and then at the man in front of her.
All her stubbornness, grudges, and defenses melted away in the face of her child’s safety.
She gritted her teeth, and without further hesitation, opened the back door of the jeep. First, she placed Ningning inside, then carefully carried Lu An and got in.
The door slammed, shutting out the raging wind and rain.
Inside the cramped car, only the monotone swish of the wipers and the faint breathing of the children could be heard.
And…
The man’s familiar scent, faintly of tobacco, suffocatingly close, filled the air.