Taking advantage of her vulnerable state, Ci Wenjun managed to get quite a few free touches while nestled in Chu Yu’s arms.
By the time she finally pulled away, not only was a large patch of Chu Yu’s chest soaked, but a suspicious mark had also been left at a certain spot.
Noticing it, Chu Yu cast a playful yet scrutinizing gaze at Ci Wenjun.
Overwhelmed with guilt, Ci Wenjun didn’t dare meet her eyes, feeling only a burning heat rush to her head.
A little dog with the audacity of a thief.
Growing bolder by the day.
First the bathroom, then the nighttime ambush, and now going straight for a physical attack with her mouth.
Did she really take her for dead?
Perhaps she truly had been far too indulgent with her.
That was why she kept pushing her luck time and time again.
Bad dog.
She took Ci Wenjun’s hand.
“Don’t move!”
Her fingers brushed against Ci Wenjun’s chin, forcing her to tilt her head up slightly as a digital thermometer pressed against her forehead.
With a beep, the reading flashed:
38.2°C
She was still running a fever.
Chu Yu frowned, sighing inwardly. Naturally, it wasn’t going to come down that easily with this fragile creature.
The calculating thoughts in her mind momentarily faded.
Whatever. She should just show some consideration for the patient.
“Does it still hurt?”
With Ci Wenjun’s head tilted upward, her furrowed brow naturally fell into Chu Yu’s line of sight.
Don’t frown.
She instinctively reached out to grip Chu Yu’s arm.
Chu Yu’s gaze swept over with a hint of confusion, as if perplexed by why Ci Wenjun would suddenly make such a gesture.
“Xiao Yu, it doesn’t hurt. Please don’t frown.”
She leaned in closer to Chu Yu, wanting to smooth away the creases between Chu Yu’s brows with her own hands.
Yet Chu Yu supported her by the shoulders and took a step back.
“Ci Wenjun, we are no longer in the relationship we used to have.”
She spoke with blatant, unadulterated coldness in her eyes.
“So, there is no need for this kind of feigned intimacy.”
Hearing this, Ci Wenjun stiffened for a fraction of a second, a flash of hurt darting through her eyes.
Yet she said nothing more.
She was the one who had broken the promise first, and she was the one who had initiated the breakup. She knew that everything happening now was merely delayed retribution of her own making.
Therefore, she lowered her voice and said:
“Okay.”
“Change your clothes and come out to eat. I’ve cooked rice broth and pork congee for you. Drink a bowl of the rice broth first, and then have a bowl of the pork congee. Can you do that?”
How could she possibly say no?
As Chu Yu spoke, Ci Wenjun nodded like a pecking chick. However, her head throbbed with pain, so she didn’t dare move too vigorously, only managing a slow, exceptionally well-behaved appearance that looked thoroughly adorable.
It was enough to melt anyone’s heart, making them want to reach out and ruthlessly ruffle her hair.
Fearing that Chu Yu might misunderstand her intent, she obediently opened her mouth to explain:
“I’m fine with anything, Xiao Yu.”
She offered Chu Yu a sweet, ingratiating smile, but Chu Yu remained unfazed.
She merely gave Ci Wenjun a nod before turning around to leave.
The clothes were right there by the bedside table. Ci Wenjun walked over briskly, but as she prepared to change, feeling the sticky discomfort clinging to her skin, she pouted.
It’s so dirty. How can I wear Chu Yu’s clothes when I’m this dirty?
So she put the clothes back down, turned around, and pulled open the bedroom door.
“Xiao Yu!”
A pretty head poked out, drawing out her voice in a soft, coquettish whine sweet enough to make someone’s teeth ache.
Yet, despite that, the corners of Chu Yu’s mouth, busy bustling about in the kitchen, uncontrollably curved upward.
“What is it?”
She forced her voice to remain flat, pretending to be utterly absorbed in what she was doing so as not to let anyone inspect her joy.
Hearing Chu Yu’s somewhat indifferent tone, Ci Wenjun felt a twinge of disappointment. She had deliberately called out in her old-fashioned tone, as Xiao Yu used to love this tune of hers the most!
Alas, the road of winning back one’s wife is long and arduous. Ci Wenjun, keep working hard. You brought this disaster upon yourself.
Ci Wenjun internally reprimanded herself, gave her own cheeks a gentle pat to pump herself up, quickly adjusted her mood, and continued in a softened voice:
“I want to take a shower! My body feels so dirty, sticky, and uncomfortable. Xiao Yu, can I take a shower?”
Hearing this, Chu Yu paused her movements and pressed her lips together.
“Don’t wash up yet. Just wipe yourself down, okay?”
Ci Wenjun pulled a long face, wanting to try and negotiate a bit more.
“A-Ci, you haven’t recovered yet. It’s very easy for you to catch a chill. Just give yourself a simple wipe-down for now, and you can take a nice hot bath once you’re fully better, alright?”
Chu Yu softened her voice, her eyes filled with care and a gentle, patient persuasion.
She sounded remarkably like a parent dealing with a stubborn child.
Ci Wenjun pouted, wanting to use the moment to act a bit more spoiled while Chu Yu felt sorry for her, but she simply couldn’t control the corners of her mouth.
She couldn’t stop them from curving up no matter what she did. What should I do? Even though she turned down my request, she called me A-Ci!
Truly a sweet agony.
With no other choice, she could only pout and happily agree.
Fine, fine, since Xiao Yu says so.
Besides, she was only looking out for her anyway.
Thinking this, she couldn’t help but lower her head and giggle foolishly to herself, revealing a row of sparkling white teeth.
Watching Ci Wenjun get so delightfully lost in her own thoughts over a few simple words, Chu Yu felt a subtle sweetness welling up in her own chest, prompting her to lower her head with a quiet smile.
Dizzy with happiness, Ci Wenjun scurried into the bathroom to draw a tub of water for herself.
Poor Miss Chu, you couldn’t even find a simple plastic basin anywhere in her home.
Back in the kitchen, Chu Yu had already plated the food early and sat gracefully at the dining table, spinning her phone in one hand while rhythmically tapping her other fingers against the marble surface of the table.
Her dark pupils were cast into shadow, and with her back to the light, the majority of her face was concealed in darkness, making her expression unreadable.
When Ci Wenjun emerged from the bedroom and saw this scene, her heart skipped a beat. She thought Chu Yu looked utterly lonely at that moment, resembling a solitary sentinel left behind in an empty place, with nothing but desolation stretching across her field of view.
The person raised her head, slowly looking toward her, as if faint starlight was gradually igniting within her eyes.
“Done? Come eat.”
She was sitting right there, yet for some inexplicable reason, Ci Wenjun felt in that fleeting instant as though Chu Yu was drifting miles away from her.
A wave of ungrounded panic surged in her chest, and she hurried forward.
Noticing the other woman’s unsteady gait, a flash of worry crossed Chu Yu’s eyes, and her body instinctively stepped forward.
“Slow down. You’re not well yet, does your head still hurt?”
Hearing Chu Yu’s words of concern, her chaotic composure steadied just a fraction, dragging back a few threads of rationality.
She wanted to shake her head, but after a moment of hesitation, she nodded instead.
It hurts.
She had never possessed a particularly robust constitution; back in university, being sick for a week straight had been a regular occurrence for her. Later on, when she got together with Chu Yu, Chu Yu always consciously took care of her health, saying:
“Ci Wenjun, we’re going to be together for a very long time. You are my only family, so you need to live a long life and stay with me for a very, very long time.”
Back then, Chu Yu had also carried that same lingering aura of solitude about her, but at those times, Ci Wenjun would hold her tightly, looking into her eyes with a gaze full of utter trust and reliance.
Only then would she feel that she and Chu Yu weren’t all that far apart.
Chu Yu, the Chu Yu who would cry, laugh, and feel lonely.
“It smells so good! What did you make?”
She put on a smiling face and skipped over to Chu Yu’s side with nimble steps.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to embrace her.
However, she knew that the current Chu Yu did not need an embrace from the current her.
In that brief movement, Chu Yu seemed to step down from her ethereal, moon-palace immortal pedestal right back into the mortal world.
“Rice broth, pork congee, stir-fried bitter melon, and lettuce with oyster sauce. I’m sorry, because your body hasn’t recovered yet, it’s not suitable to eat anything too heavy on meat. I’ll make it up to you once you’re better, alright?”
How could anyone find fault with this?
Chu Yu was always like this, gentle, and constantly feeling as though she owed her something.
Yet she hadn’t done anything wrong, had she?
She was the one who had failed to take care of her own body, only to end up troubling Chu Yu to look after her in the end.
Although she had no memory of what happened while she was sick, she didn’t even need to guess to know she must have given Chu Yu no end of trouble.
Right now, she was dragging Chu Yu down to eating plain, watery fare just because of her illness, and yet, Chu Yu watched as Ci Wenjun shook her head in disapproval.
Does she really dislike it that much?
But the next second:
“Xiao Yu, you’re willing to take care of me, and I’m already so grateful. No matter what you make, I love it. So please don’t apologize; you don’t owe me anything.”
She delivered that final sentence very slowly and hesitatingly, yet it was an indisputable fact.
She had never intended to deny anything, but she was somewhat terrified that these words might push Chu Yu, whom she had managed to pull a little closer with such difficulty, even further away.
Even so, compared to making Chu Yu feel guilty, pushing her away a little bit was a sacrifice she was willing to make.
Because no matter what, she never wanted to see that kind of expression on Chu Yu’s face again.
Clearly, she was the one who had always been in the wrong.
Immersed in her thoughts, Chu Yu started slightly at those words, staring at Ci Wenjun with a momentary look of blank astonishment.
It seemed she hadn’t expected Ci Wenjun to say something like that.
For some reason, she suddenly felt a flush of heat rise to her cheeks, forcing her to awkwardly change the subject.
Let’s eat first.
Ci Wenjun could naturally tell that Chu Yu was trying her best to hide her shyness.
While her heart swelled with joy, a wave of unbearable heartache accompanied it.
Obeying Chu Yu’s words, she sat down directly across from her.
Normally, Chu Yu didn’t like eating at the dining table, as the table at home functioned mostly as a decoration.
She preferred the kitchen island. The marble surface of the island had been meticulously chosen by her, polished from a solid slab of marble, featuring gorgeous patterns that she kept meticulously wiped down.
It was so clean that as Ci Wenjun sat there, the overhead light casting its glow down upon it clearly reflected her features.
In her own home, she also had a marble kitchen island quite similar to Chu Yu’s.
Thinking of Chu Yu inevitably brought a flood of memories rushing back.
“Xiao Yu…”
Suddenly, Ci Wenjun spoke up.
The warmth on her face came and went in a flash, allowing Chu Yu to respond naturally.
“What is it?”
Ci Wenjun deliberated for a moment before asking cautiously:
“Were you not at home previously?”
Although the details of what transpired during her illness remained a blur, she still clearly remembered the situation right before she lost consciousness.
She vividly remembered dialing Chu Yu’s apartment number, yet Chu Yu never answered.
Only the prolonged, echoing sound of the dial tone.
Then her illness suddenly flared up, her consciousness clouded, and the very last instant before she collapsed, she fell into a familiar embrace.
It was Chu Yu, wearing an appearance that suggested she had just rushed back from a dusty journey outside.
In her peripheral vision, she even seemed to catch sight of a burgundy suitcase left abandoned behind her.
Chu Yu set down the bowl in her hand.
“Yes. I was away on a business trip recently.”
Ci Wenjun’s chest tightened. At a loss for what to say, she let out a dry, hollow “Oh.”
As it turned out, she really hadn’t been there?
For some reason, a sudden wave of grievance washed over her, making her momentarily forget the very purpose of bringing this up in the first place.
Perhaps it was truly because she was sick, leaving even her psychological defenses fragile and brittle.
Within a breath, her eye rims rapidly reddened like a little rabbit’s.
Her mood plummeted instantly, and she absentmindedly poked at the grains of rice in her bowl.
She had left. She really left without even saying a single word to her.
For over ten days, not a single message. And there she was, acting like a complete fool, running over to her building every single day hoping for a chance encounter.
The rabbit had already run away! And she hadn’t even known it!
The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt.
Big, bean-sized teardrops rolled directly down into her bowl.
Chu Yu, who had been keeping a watchful eye on Ci Wenjun the entire time, noticed immediately.
Ever since Ci Wenjun lowered her head in silence, she had sensed that something was amiss.
Seeing her shed tears now sent a sharp, stabbing pain through her heart.
“What are you crying for?”
She asked in a muffled voice.
Ci Wenjun kept her head down, feeling even more wronged inside.
How could she just leave without saying anything to her? Didn’t she know that she would come looking for her?
Chu Yu let out a sigh.
“Stop crying. Finish your food first.”
Ci Wenjun didn’t speak; she simply buried her head and ate.
The pork congee in her bowl vanished rapidly.
Chu Yu asked at an opportune moment:
“Are you full? Would you like a little more?”
Ci Wenjun shook her head.
Over the years, her irregular eating habits had long since plagued her with a chronic stomach ailment. Now that she wanted to eat more, her heart was willing, but her body lacked the capacity.
Seeing Ci Wenjun shake her head, Chu Yu didn’t push her further.
She stood up and squatted down right in front of Ci Wenjun.
“So, what are you crying about?”
The head that had remained bowed low ever since the meal began never lifted back up.
Hearing Chu Yu bring it up again, the grievance that had barely managed to subside surged back up in a furious wave, filling her eye rims until she could no longer hold them back.
But Chu Yu, don’t you really know?
She knew that Chu Yu had always been a cruel person.
She burst into loud, uncontrollable tears.
Throwing her arms tightly around Chu Yu.
“Xiao Yu! How could you do this? How could you? You clearly knew I would come looking for you! How could you just leave without saying a word! Do you have any idea how terrified I was?”
She wept uncontrollably, sobbing intermittently as bean-sized tears rolled down from her eyes like a broken string of pearls.
“Wuwuwu, you knew it! You clearly knew I would come find you, but you just left anyway! You’re so heartless, how can you be so mean!”
She wept and poured out her grievances as she cried, her words coming in ragged fragments, as if the next second she would choke on her own sorrow and pass away from grief.
Chu Yu let her hold her, a gentle yet complex smile slowly blooming at the corners of her lips.
She remained silent, allowing Ci Wenjun to vent, absorbing every bitter accusation hurled at her.
If Ci Wenjun could clearly see Chu Yu’s expression at that exact moment, she would have discovered just how bizarre the woman holding her really looked.
The corners of her mouth were curved upward in a slight arc, as if she were supremely satisfied with Ci Wenjun’s current state. Her hands offered cautious, soothing pats, yet her demeanor carried an air of extreme, possessive pampering.
Regardless of what the truth was, she simply stayed silent.
Every ounce of tenderness, self-blame, and heartache was swallowed into silence.
“There, there. There, there.”