When the nurse came in to remove the needle, the entire infusion room was deathly quiet.
Xia Mian kept her head low, wishing she could bury her head in her chest.
Zhou Ran looked calm on the surface, but when he turned his head away, the tips of his ears were red.
The nurse scanned the room: "Is Xia Mian here?"
Zhou Ran stood up to clear some space, revealing Xia Mian who had been blocked by his side.
"Right here."
"Let's take your temperature again." The nurse held the thermometer gun, but as she aimed it at Xia Mian, she suddenly paused. "Your face is so red, the fever hasn't broken yet, has it?"
Xia Mian choked and coughed a few times.
Zhou Ran's expression was somewhat unnatural; he raised an eyebrow and gave a dry cough. "Better check it just in case."
The nurse aimed the thermometer gun at Xia Mian and glanced at the screen: "It's alright, thirty-eight degrees."
She reached out to remove the needle from Xia Mian's hand and advised, "Next time you have an allergy, it's best not to take medication on your own. For someone like you who is allergic to chlorpheniramine, you must have a doctor prescribe the medication before you can use it."
Xia Mian nodded: "I understand."
"Considering you've had a fever and difficulty with your breath, let's move you to a hospital room to observe for the night. You can leave once there are no issues."
After the nurse left the infusion room, the old man's voice sounded from behind again.
"Hey, I knew this young man looked familiar. Isn't this Old Mrs. Li's grandson?"
Zhou Ran turned to look at the old man. As their eyes met, the old man clapped his hands together.
"It's him! I was too far away earlier, so I didn't dare to be sure!"
The old woman squinted her eyes to appraise Zhou Ran, muttering, "Which Old Mrs. Li?"
"The one who used to live by the factory, wore reading glasses, and always liked to nag."
After the old man finished speaking, he didn't forget to confirm with Zhou Ran: "Is Old Mrs. Li your grandmother?"
"My maternal grandmother," he said, looking back at Xia Mian. "Let's go."
The two of them walked out of the infusion room one after the other, with the old man behind them still gossiping.
"He's such a big guy, yet he doesn't even dare to admit he's dating someone."
Xia Mian walked out quickly with a flushed face. She was in front, but when she realized what happened, she turned back and looked at Zhou Ran with embarrassment.
Zhou Ran coughed twice involuntarily: "In a small place like this, there are acquaintances everywhere. They're just gossiping, don't mind them."
"Mind what?" Xia Mian asked, keeping her head down and feigning ignorance. "Mind that he said you touched my face?"
Zhou Ran coughed violently a few times.
"What?"
Xia Mian looked up at him: "So, did you?"
Zhou Ran turned his head away with red earlobes and raised his hand to rub his hair.
"I was just following the nurse's orders to see if your rash had faded."
Xia Mian gave a soft "oh."
There weren't many people in the small hospital, and the hospital room was empty except for one person sleeping in the corner by the window, covered by a quilt so they couldn't be seen clearly.
Zhou Ran shook out the quilt on the hospital bed: "Sleep. You can leave first thing tomorrow morning."
Xia Mian looked at him and asked: "What about you?"
"I'll wait for you outside."
"Aren't you going back?" Xia Mian asked.
Zhou Ran spread the quilt out: "Xia Cheng is such a small place. I can run into an old man who knows me just by getting an injection. If word gets out, who knows how they'll badmouth me behind my back, saying I left a girl alone at the hospital in the middle of the night."
He looked back at Xia Mian, his eyebrows slightly raised.
"Your brother still cares about his reputation."
Xia Cheng's nightlife wasn't very rich; the neon lights on the commercial street had long since gone out, leaving only the dim yellow streetlights on the asphalt road outside.
Xia Mian looked out through the glass on the room door. Zhou Ran was sitting on a chair, head down, playing with his mobile phone. She watched for a while and saw Zhou Ran answer a call, leaning against the wall with the mobile phone pressed to his ear.
The hallway was silent, and Zhou Ran deliberately lowered his voice. Xia Mian secretly opened the door crack and happened to hear his voice.
"...You're calling me in the middle of the night just to ask about this?"
Zhou Ran's tone was somewhat helpless.
"She's really not my girlfriend, don't listen to rumors." Zhou Ran chuckled. "I've only been out for less than an hour, and you've already heard the news. How come I never knew your information network was so extensive before?"
Xia Mian blinked, guessing that the person on the other end of the phone was likely Zhou Ran's maternal grandmother.
"...I'm really not dating anyone. If I am, I'll tell you," Zhou Ran rubbed his temples. "Alright, go to sleep early."
Zhou Ran hung up the phone and turned back, just in time to meet eyes with Xia Mian through the door crack.
Xia Mian was startled, and her hand holding the room door shook.
There was still someone sleeping in the hospital room, so she scrambled to hold the door, not daring to let it make a sound.
Zhou Ran watched her scramble and the corners of his mouth curled up.
He whistled softly at Xia Mian.
Xia Mian steadied the door and looked at Zhou Ran through the door crack.
He leaned against the wall, tilting his head, and mouthed the words slowly and clearly to Xia Mian—
"Go. To. Sleep."
His expression was indifferent, his brow line low, carrying a hint of hostility within that indifference.
It was just that this indifference usually looked like impatience, but seeing it more often, it felt like it had added a touch of playfulness.
Born with a grumpy face.
Xia Mian thought.
She stared at his lips and understood what he meant.
She carefully pushed the door crack shut again and tiptoed back to the bed.
She lay flat on the bed with her hands folded, her gaze wandering around the ceiling for a while before looking toward the direction of the hospital room door.
She had originally thought that the grumpy face outside would be hard to get along with.
Yet, he was the one who took the best care of her.
It was already six in the morning when the two left the hospital. The nurse had come twice during the night, and Xia Mian hadn't slept soundly, so she was yawning as she walked down the road.
The breakfast stall by the road was already emitting white steam, and the smell of rice noodle rolls could be caught from far away.
Zhou Ran bought two portions of rice noodle rolls, turned back to look at Xia Mian, and handed them to her: "Go back, eat your breakfast, and then take your fever medicine."
She had spiked a fever again during the night, her face flushed deeply, though it had subsided a bit now that she was in the breeze.
Xia Mian looked at the rice noodle rolls in Zhou Ran's hand, her mind flashing back to the group of people from the middle of the night.
"Zhou Ran, can I sleep at your shop for a while?"
Zhou Ran's hand holding the rice noodle rolls paused, a small movement captured by Xia Mian.
She thought for a moment: "Never mind."
Zhou Ran pulled the rice noodle rolls back, held them in his hand, and turned to walk forward: "The bedsheets on the second floor were freshly changed. If you don't mind, I'll let you have the bed."
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