“In the end, it was my fault. I forgot how frail you are,” Chu Xun said with a smile.
Qin Yue’er hugged him even tighter, her face red as blood.
This intimate gesture brought back memories of the kiss she had shared with Chu Xun earlier.
It was early autumn, and the night breeze was cool.
Chu Xun carried Qin Yue’er on his back, step by step, to a dilapidated thatched cottage at the east end of the village.
Not only was it in a low-lying area, but the courtyard wall was also in ruins.
Even the thatch on the roof was unevenly patched.
As they neared the cottage, a burst of rapid coughing reached both their ears.
Harsh and violent, as if it wanted to cough out all her internal organs.
Hearing this, Qin Yue’er quickly slid down from Chu Xun’s back and ran into the house. “Little sister, how are you?”
Seeing this, Chu Xun followed her in and looked over the room’s layout.
Old, shabby, dim, and gloomy.
Only in the corner was a simple floor bed made from a tattered mattress.
Under a yellowed thin quilt lay a petite girl with gaunt cheeks. She was Qin Yue’er’s twin sister… Qin Xing’er.
She looked exactly like Qin Yue’er, with delicate features, but appeared even weaker and more sickly.
“Little sister, how are you? Sister has brought grain. I’ll cook for you right away. You must not have anything happen to you.”
Qin Yue’er anxiously touched Qin Xing’er’s forehead, speaking through tears.
The moment she touched it, it felt like she had touched a red-hot iron.
“How could she be running such a fever?”
Qin Xing’er, lying on the ground, had a pale face and cracked lips.
Her eyes were tightly shut, and she kept coughing without being able to say a word.
Qin Yue’er grew even more frantic and hurriedly brought out a small basin of water from the kitchen.
After soaking a strip of torn cloth, she laid it on Qin Xing’er’s forehead.
Chu Xun also stepped forward to check Qin Xing’er’s condition.
This was a high fever, and the temperature was probably over thirty-eight degrees Celsius.
Qin Yue’er looked at Chu Xun with pitiful eyes and pleaded,
“Brother Chu, can Yue’er beg you to look after Xing’er for a while? I’ll go to the kitchen and make some porridge for her.”
Chu Xun nodded. “Go ahead. I’ll watch over her.”
Then Qin Yue’er hurriedly grabbed the rice bag and went to the kitchen to cook porridge.
Meanwhile, Qin Xing’er, lying on the ground, seemed to be dreaming of something.
Sweat beaded on her forehead and kept rolling onto the mattress.
She murmured, “No, no…”
At that moment, the system dings again in his mind.
Chu Xun’s face darkened as he looked at Qin Xing’er on the ground, his mouth twitching.
After clearing his thoughts, he lifted the wet cloth from Qin Xing’er’s forehead and found it was actually a little warm.
She was running such a high fever?
This was not something that could be cured by simply eating rice porridge and applying a wet cloth.
If this went on, Qin Xing’er’s brain might really burn out, and her life could even be in danger!
Tsk. If anything happened to Qin Xing’er, Qin Yue’er would probably collapse too.
Right now, he still needed her to defy fate and change his destiny.
He could not let anything go wrong.
Then Chu Xun had a thought and opened the shop panel, looking at the medicine section.
He only had four Shop Coins and could not afford almost any medicine.
The icons above were almost all gray-white.
Even the pricier medicines lower down were just a stretch of black.
Clearly, his Shop Coins were still not enough to make the medicines at the very bottom appear.
Chu Xun looked at the third gray-white icon: Ibuprofen Capsules!!
It could reduce fever and relieve pain! Extremely effective.
In other words, as long as he could buy the ibuprofen, Qin Xing’er’s illness would basically be nothing serious.
But a box of ibuprofen capsules actually cost fifteen Shop Coins!
Why not just rob him?!
Chu Xun looked at his remaining four Shop Coins and felt a toothache coming on.
That was not even half.
Then after changing the wet cloth, he walked into the shabby kitchen.
Inside, Qin Yue’er was stirring a battered hanging pot in which rice porridge was simmering.
She let out occasional sobs, her body trembling slightly.
Clearly, she was extremely worried about Qin Xing’er’s current condition.
Only after hearing Chu Xun’s footsteps did she hurry to wipe away her tears.
Turning around, she forced a smile. “Brother Chu, y-you… why did you come in? It’s too choking in here. You won’t be able to stand it.”
Her delicate face was covered in tear tracks, revealing uncontainable sorrow and grief.
Chu Xun walked up to Qin Yue’er, reached out, and gently wiped away her tears.
“Bro… brother?”
Qin Yue’er’s cheeks instantly turned red, all the way to the roots of her ears, but before she could steady herself, she heard Chu Xun sigh and say, “Xing’er’s condition is very serious right now. It won’t get better just from applying a wet cloth and eating some porridge.”
Qin Yue’er froze on the spot. The wooden spoon in her hand fell, and her whole body slumped weakly to the ground.
Her eyes were vacant. “How could this be? If little sister can’t make it through this, what am I supposed to do… wuwuwu…”
Her gaze was bitter and sorrowful, as if she could already see the scene of her little sister dying from illness, unbearably tragic.
Seeing Qin Yue’er like this, Chu Xun grabbed her shoulders.
Then he said seriously, “Actually, when I was seriously ill some time ago, I also had a fever that would not go away.”
“After the doctor at home prescribed medicine, I recovered in a few days. There was actually quite a bit of that medicine left. Do you… want it?”
Brother Chu has medicine!
Hope instantly burst into Qin Yue’er’s eyes, and she hurriedly grabbed Chu Xun’s hand.
She pleaded, “Yes, I want it! Please, brother, have mercy and save my little sister! From now on, I’ll be your workhorse. I’ll do whatever Yue’er is told to do.”
“Cough, cough…” Chu Xun coughed.
He showed a somewhat hesitant expression. “That medicine is very precious, but if Yue’er wants it, you don’t need to be a workhorse or anything. You only need to… cough cough, you know what I mean…”
Qin Yue’er was first stunned, then reacted instantly.
Her beautiful face flushed red, and her eyes were full of gratitude.
Brother Chu is truly an exceptionally good person!
Such a precious life-saving medicine, and he was actually willing to trade it so easily.
This must be because brother does not want her to feel she owes him too much.
So he came up with this method to ease her psychological burden.
Brother Chu’s kindness is something Yue’er can never repay!
Qin Yue’er bit her red lip lightly and slowly moved from the ground to in front of Chu Xun.
“Does Yue’er agree?” Chu Xun asked with a smile.
Qin Yue’er nodded gratefully, then kissed Chu Xun.
…
In the main room, Qin Xing’er struggled to open her eyes. Seeing the faint firelight in the kitchen, she painfully crawled toward it.
Then her scream instantly echoed through the entire house!!