Bai Youxi’s fingers were long, evenly proportioned, fair, and strong.
At this moment, because she was running a severe fever, an obvious flush was hidden beneath her fair skin as she tightly gripped Shen Jiangxu’s wrist.
Shen Jiangxu tried to break free with a subtle tug, but couldn’t, so she could only call for Auntie Tong to fetch the medicine first.
Auntie Tong understood the gravity of the situation and had already swiftly sprayed the neutralizing agent throughout the entire room.
The sweet aroma of the pheromones rapidly faded amidst the neutralizing agent, yet Auntie Tong didn’t quite dare to leave the room just like that.
The effect of the neutralizing agent could last for a period, but when it came to pheromones she couldn’t smell herself, Auntie Tong didn’t dare to take any chances.
Avoiding Bai Youxi’s exposed skin, Shen Jiangxu sprayed the neutralizing agent once more. “It’s alright, this concentration isn’t a problem.”
Auntie Tong still left, her pace very quick.
Perhaps a stray mist of the cool medicine had landed on Bai Youxi’s face, as her eyebrows knitted together, and she slowly opened her eyes.
Her entire body felt limp and weak, accompanied by a subtle, creeping coldness. Bai Youxi understood almost instantly what was happening.
However, when she saw the slender fingers right before her eyes, her mind blanked out on the spot.
“Do you like holding onto me this much?”
A clear, gentle voice came from above. Bai Youxi was stunned for a moment, then struggled to raise her eyes to look upward.
The high fever made her eyeballs feel throbbing and painful; moving them felt as stiff as an ungreased, old piece of machinery.
A gorgeous face soon fell into her line of sight. Looking higher still, she bumped into those cold grey eyes.
Her memories instantly crystallized. Only then did Bai Youxi sense the anomaly in her hand, and she hurriedly let go. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
Even her voice was weak and devoid of strength, it was truly a mystery where that bizarre force to grab someone’s wrist had come from.
Shen Jiangxu pulled her wrist back. The lingering warmth conspicuously proclaimed its presence. Unconsciously, she touched it with her other hand, only to see that a red mark had already formed on her wrist.
The diffused faint redness was set off against her cool, white skin, looking exceptionally striking.
Shen Jiangxu lowered her wrist. “I know.”
She then asked, “Are you feeling unwell?”
Bai Youxi was currently scooping her head out from under the blanket, her hair falling somewhat messily over her forehead. She parted her lips into a smile and shook her head lightly.
Though the motion was faint, the sensation of dizziness was very pronounced, so she didn’t dare move any further.
“It doesn’t hurt. You don’t need to stay here. Hurry back to sleep. I’ll just take an injection of the suppressor.”
While speaking, Auntie Tong had already returned to the room carrying a small medicine box.
Shen Jiangxu didn’t say whether that was fine or not. She stepped back to the side, clearing a space for Auntie Tong.
Bai Youxi didn’t have much energy to talk either. Assisted by Auntie Tong, she barely managed to sit up a little, taking medicine, drinking water, applying a fever patch, replacing the blocking patch, and receiving an injection of the suppressor, before lying back down on the bed.
Her head was heavy and dazed, she wished she could close her eyes on the spot, yet her gaze remained fixed straight on Shen Jiangxu, who was still standing off to the side.
Shen Jiangxu glanced at her thermometer, then looked over at Auntie Tong. “Come back to check in half an hour. If the temperature doesn’t drop, contact the hospital.”
Bai Youxi’s gaze seemed to be burning as well, falling scorching hot onto Shen Jiangxu as if trying to bore a hole through her.
Only then did Shen Jiangxu turn her head. “Bai Youxi, am I to assume that looking at me like this means you want me to stay with you?”
Bai Youxi’s brain was working slowly, but her eyes quickly widened.
Shen Jiangxu chose that moment to continue, “Just a joke. Close your eyes, and I’ll leave.”
Bai Youxi hadn’t expected Shen Jiangxu to joke with her. Thinking about it, she managed to pull her lips into a faint smile.
Whether it was her imagination or not, Shen Jiangxu’s brow seemed to furrow slightly.
She hastily flattened her lips and closed her eyes.
Two sets of footsteps left the room. Before leaving, they turned off the lights, and the room sank back into utter darkness.
Whenever Bai Youxi tried to think of anything, her head throbbed, so she stopped thinking altogether. She didn’t even know when she managed to fall asleep.
In a daze, Auntie Tong came in again to take her temperature, and she vaguely heard a clear, gentle voice ask softly, “Has it broken?”
There was no verbal response, only a hand tucking in the corners of her blanket a moment later.
When she opened her eyes next, voices were echoing faintly from the direction of the living room.
“…Pay a bit more attention, don’t let her go outside…”
It was Shen Jiangxu’s voice.
Bai Youxi sat up. Her head still felt a bit heavy and aching, and her throat was very dry, but her body temperature had returned to normal. Even the pheromones that had surged overnight had stabilized, cleanly sealed inside the blocking patch by the regulator ring.
Shen Jiangxu’s nightgown was a bit too small for her. After a night’s sleep, it had almost completely come undone, taking her some time to re-adjust and tie it back up.
As she fumbled around the side of the bed looking for her slippers, the bedroom door was quietly pushed open. She looked over just in time to see a tiny head squeezing through the door crack to peer inside, sneaking about stealthily.
Bai Youxi was amused by Niannian. At the same time their eyes met, Niannian put on a broad, bright smile, pushing the door fully open as she walked in.
“Is the little cat feeling better?”
Bai Youxi nodded. “You should call me Auntie.”
Niannian blinked her big eyes. “There are lots of Aunties, but there’s only one little cat.”
Bai Youxi couldn’t help but laugh again. “There’s also only one Auntie Bai Youxi.”
Niannian lowered her head, seemingly falling into serious thought, but soon looked back at her. “Grandma Tong prepared breakfast.”
It was as if she had given up thinking halfway through.
Bai Youxi wasn’t in a rush either. She agreed with a soft smile, getting up to wash her face and rinse her mouth.
Yet, a little tail followed right behind her.
Right up until they sat down at the dining table, Niannian insisted on pulling her chair very close, clinging to her side while eating.
Bai Youxi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Being this close, how are you going to eat, Niannian?”
Niannian’s hand couldn’t reach her mouth, so she stretched her neck to meet the spoon in her hand. Only after swallowing did she turn her head to look at her, her face full of pride. “Like this.”
“Isn’t that exhausting?”
Niannian shook her head. “It’s not exhausting. I promised Mommy that I would keep a close eye on Little… uh, Bai, cough.”
By the end of her sentence, she seemed to get flustered over what to call her, tumbling over her words until “Little Cat” accidentally turned into “Little Bai.”
She seemed a bit annoyed with herself, secretly lifting her eyes to observe Bai Youxi’s reaction with a face full of guilt, looking as though she would immediately change it back the moment Bai Youxi showed any displeasure.
Bai Youxi found it even funnier. Still, compared to “Little Cat,” “Little Bai” didn’t seem too bad either.
However, she finally understood the reason behind Niannian following her every step, and a warm feeling washed over her heart.
Even so, she tried her best to pull a stern face, dragging her chair slightly to the side to clear enough space between them for normal movement.
“It’s alright. I can still keep an eye on you like this.”
Looking at the widened gap between them, Niannian suddenly panicked a little. “Is it because I called you ‘Little Bai’ that you’re angry?”
Bai Youxi stroked her chin, playing along intentionally. “How should I put it…”
Niannian swallowed hard.
In an instant, Bai Youxi broke into a smile. “No, if it’s Niannian, you can call me that.”
Niannian visibly cheered up. Realizing that despite the gap being wider, she could still reach Bai Youxi easily, she settled down to eat obediently.
After breakfast, Bai Youxi played with Niannian for a short while before breaking out in a low fever once again. The scent of pheromones soon leaked out from the blocking patch, drifting into the air.
After letting Auntie Tong know, Bai Youxi planned to go back to her room to lie down. Niannian carried a small stool over, wanting to sit by her bedside to guard her.
Bai Youxi declined Niannian’s offer. After all, she was still young and shouldn’t stay around a sick person for too long, especially at such close proximity.
From last night until now, her body hadn’t shown the slightest sign of being in a buffer period; her physical state was completely that of out of control pheromones.
The fever caused by this state shouldn’t be contagious, but it certainly wasn’t normal either.
Besides, she didn’t know when this fever might turn into a rut/heat period. The disorder was also clouding her senses, making it dangerous.
Niannian wasn’t an unreasonable child. After proposing that Niannian could come in with Auntie Tong every once in a while to spray neutralizing agent and check on her, Niannian agreed.
Once Auntie Tong led Niannian away, Bai Youxi recalled that she had injected a vial of suppressor before going to sleep last night, yet she had still lost control in the middle of the night.
Right now, she was already losing control; one vial might not be enough.
With that thought, Bai Youxi administered another injection to herself.
For the entire morning, Bai Youxi drifted in and out of sleep. Her body, leaking an excessive amount of pheromones, felt as though it had contracted a severe cold, heavy, with an unclear mind. Her dreams were filled with chaotic fragments, none of which she could remember upon waking.
At noon, after being woken up by Auntie Tong to eat a little food, Bai Youxi continued to lie in bed, only to realize that a whole box of suppressors was empty again.
Perhaps because her body hadn’t yet adapted to this new regulator ring, the ring could hardly take effect without the assistance of suppressors.
Because of this, her fever came in waves, yet her body temperature kept climbing higher and higher.
She felt so miserably unwell. At first, she could still hear Niannian opening the door, coming over to touch her forehead, and Auntie Tong standing nearby to measure her temperature before spraying a round of neutralizing agent.
Later on, she couldn’t hear anything at all, until a hand grabbed her collar and tried to shake her awake. That voice sounded as if separated by a thick membrane, cold and stern.
“Do you want to lose your life? How dare you use this much!”
Groggy, she opened her eyes. Very close to her was a face so beautiful it seemed surreal.
Pine smoke grey eyes, a high yet delicate nose, alluring crimson lips, every feature was so stunning it was infuriating.
Perhaps it really was surreal, after all, she couldn’t see anything clearly right now.
Even so, she couldn’t help curling her lips, offering a compliment to that gorgeous face. “You are so beautiful…”