The early morning breeze blew in through the second-floor window, lifting a curtain. The sunlight streaming in was somewhat dazzling, and Zhou Ran pulled one side of the curtain with a "clatter."
Xia Mian called out to him, "Leave half of it; I want to bask in the sun."
Zhou Ran looked back at her and let go of the curtain.
"In a little while, the sun will be high and it will be dazzling; it will be too bright to sleep."
Xia Mian curled up on the edge of the bed. She lay on her side, occupying only a small space, with half her face buried in the quilt.
Zhou Ran watched her curled-up form, the corners of his mouth curling into an imperceptible arc.
"Aren't you hot?"
Xia Mian shook her head, a fever-reducing patch still stuck to her forehead.
"Aren't you going to sleep?" Xia Mian asked, looking at Zhou Ran.
He had sat in the hospital corridor all night; he probably hadn't slept well either.
Zhou Ran looked at Xia Mian and paused, then his gaze swept across the bed. The meaning was very obvious, and it even felt a bit like he was scolding her with his expression.
Xia Mian understood his meaning immediately.
That look was clearly asking her—where was he supposed to sleep?
"Isn't there a sofa?" Xia Mian thought for a moment, then realized that sounded wrong. "I can sleep on the sofa, too."
Zhou Ran opened the sliding door to the drawing room and sat down on a chair.
The table was still cluttered with the drawing drafts he had made earlier and hadn't put away. He didn't even look at them, just piled them up randomly and tossed them to the side.
"Talk to me about that after you take that thing off your forehead." Zhou Ran's tone was languid.
Xia Mian touched her forehead; it was ice-cold.
"Oh."
Xia Mian lay on the bed, but now she had lost her sleepiness. Her gaze wandered around the room.
It was much the same as when she had come last time. The room had a good orientation, and outside the small second floor stood a locust tree. It was the flowering season, and clusters of small white flowers were crowded together, gently tapping against the glass outside the window along with the leaves in the wind.
The quilt carried a pleasant, light fragrance, and the breeze blowing in also brought the light and elegant scent of flowers. Xia Mian took a few breaths, and feeling the scent fading, she buried the tip of her nose into the quilt again.
It was her first time sleeping in a male's bed, and it felt a bit strange.
After a pause, Xia Mian muttered to herself.
"Am I being a bit presumptuous?"
Zhou Ran was wearing earphones. After hearing the sound, he took the earphones off his head, turned his head, and asked Xia Mian, "What did you say?"
Xia Mian shook her head, suddenly remembering something, and turned her head to look at the window.
It was empty; everything was gone.
"Where is the coconut shell?"
The air was silent for a few seconds, and Zhou Ran leaned back in his chair.
"Threw it away."
"Don't you like collecting things?" Xia Mian asked.
Zhou Ran was speechless for a moment, stunned for several seconds before he spoke: "If you get cheeky one more time, I'll smack you."
She wasn't being cheeky at all.
Xia Mian puffed out her cheeks, and fearing that Zhou Ran would do what he said, she obediently shut her mouth.
She couldn't keep it shut for more than a few seconds before Xia Mian saw a wooden guitar in the corner against the wall; it was very small, a mini model.
She seemed to have seen this instrument on the internet; it was called a ukulele.
"Zhou Ran," Xia Mian called out, then thought for a moment and added a word, "brother."
Zhou Ran was amused: "Are you panting or stuttering?"
"My reaction is slow," Xia Mian asked, "can you play the ukulele?"
"No," Zhou Ran answered decisively.
"You're lying, there's sheet music there, I saw it."
Zhou Ran said "ah": "I was afraid that if you got in the mood, you'd make me play a piece for you."
Xia Mian looked at his back: "Then will you play?"
From her angle, she couldn't really see much. Zhou Ran's back was blocked by the chair, and she could only see the back of his head.
It was quite round.
Zhou Ran turned his chair slowly: "I can even play the suona; do you want me to play a piece for you too?"
"You're lying to me again."
Xia Mian turned over to lie flat and muttered softly.
"I'm not lying to you."
Zhou Ran got up from the chair and walked to the foot of the bed, taking a suona tied with a red string from the shelf. It had been wiped until it was shiny and bright.
When Xia Mian saw it was real, her eyes lit up.
"Then play a piece."
Zhou Ran held up the suona and looked at Xia Mian, his eyes wide open.
"Me, play?" Zhou Ran pointed at himself with the suona.
Xia Mian nodded: "Yes."
"You, sleep?" Zhou Ran pointed the suona at Xia Mian again.
Xia Mian blinked.
The room was quiet for a long while. The two stared at each other for a long time, and then Xia Mian closed her eyes.
She was still lying flat, and the atmosphere was peaceful to the point of being eerie.
If there were any movement at this moment, it would really look like...
Xia Mian pursed her lips and said nothing.
After lying there for a while, she suddenly spoke to Zhou Ran: "Zhou Ran, can you play 'Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix'? The kind that sounds festive yet peaceful."
Xia Mian said, "I want you to play a piece for me."
Zhou Ran put the suona in his hand away: "It's already quite an achievement that I can make this thing make a sound; don't give me such a difficult task."
"Oh."
Xia Mian closed her eyes, not knowing what she was thinking.
"Can't sleep?"
Zhou Ran's voice suddenly sounded in her ear.
Xia Mian opened her eyes abruptly. Zhou Ran had already sat on the edge of the bed at some point. He only sat on the very edge, not even touching the quilt. Although the distance between them was close, Zhou Ran deliberately kept his distance.
Xia Mian opened her eyes wide and looked at him.
Zhou Ran's hand passed by his own cheek, his fingertips lifting a corner of the fever-reducing patch on her forehead, gently brushing away the hair stuck to her forehead.
"It's not cold anymore," Zhou Ran's voice was low and clear, "do you want to change to a new one?"
He lowered his head slightly, his jawline clear and firm, his nose bridge prominent. When the sunlight shone in, it hit his face, reflecting his pupils into a clear, light brown.
Xia Mian stared blankly at his lips moving up and down; as for what he said, she didn't hear a single word.
She swallowed, and nodded in a daze.
Zhou Ran took off the fever-reducing patch on her forehead. The movement looked light, but it was very quick and decisive.
The main thing was that Zhou Ran's strength was as great as an ox.
The pain instantly pulled Xia Mian's thoughts back, and the atmosphere from just a moment ago vanished in an instant.
She held her forehead and touched it, her voice a bit muffled: "Couldn't you have been gentler?"
Zhou Ran folded the fever-reducing patch in his hand and turned back to look at Xia Mian upon hearing this.
"Wasn't that gentle enough?"
Xia Mian remembered the first time she followed Zhou Ran to the small second floor; he was clearly trying to put a cushion under her neck, but it ended up with him pulling at her head to wake her up.
Yet she was too embarrassed to say it out loud, after all, she and Zhou Ran weren't close back then.
He had an endless amount of brute strength every single day.
Xia Mian rubbed her forehead, muttering to herself.
Zhou Ran sat sideways on the edge of the bed, twisting the fever-reducing patch in his hand back and forth to play with it.
"Do you want me to coax you to sleep?" Zhou Ran asked.
Xia Mian looked up as Zhou Ran turned his head, his eyes catching the beam of light unexpectedly as he met her gaze.
He said, "I'll play the ukulele for you."
✦✦✦