Inside the hospital room, Beidou was leaning back against the head of the bed, a white pillow propped behind her.
Her lips were pale as white paper; even the eye patch she never removed on ordinary days lay carelessly on the bedside cabinet, enough to show just how deeply Beidou’s weakness ran.
The room was quite spacious, maybe twenty or thirty square meters, and Yae Miko and Ningguang sat on the sofa to one side, exchanging glances.
It was only when Su Yu pushed open the door that the three’s gazes shifted over.
“So, what did the doctor say?
Uh—”
He’d barely taken two steps toward the sofa when Su Yu caught sight of the lilies and the fruit basket laid out on the sofa table.
Su Yu suddenly remembered: he’d come to visit a patient completely empty-handed.
This was not the sort of thing a qualified boss and friend would do.
And Su Yu’s sudden movement of reaching for his pocket let Ningguang catch his intent, so she spoke up:
“It’s fine, what matters is that you came.
The doctor already said it: there’s nothing wrong with Beidou’s body; she just needs two days of rest and she’ll mostly recover.”
“This is all thanks to Beidou’s daily morning runs, too; that ox-strong constitution of hers is finally showing its advantage.”
Perhaps it was because Su Yu’s just-now pocket-patting, forehead-sweating motions had been a bit comical.
The thought that this comical youth was still the boss of the two of them made Ningguang’s somewhat heavy heart relax a little, and she even began to tease Beidou, the patient.
“Hey, Ningguang, uh, fine, fine, I’m not in the mood to argue with you right now.
Boss Su, thanks for coming to see me first thing.
Ningguang’s right, what matters is that you came.
As a boss, showing up this promptly is already rare enough.”
As she spoke, Beidou’s mood improved somewhat; covering one eye and rubbing her slightly sore eyes, she continued:
“Don’t mind that I’m a bit weak right now.
Once I’ve eaten my fill and slept it off, I’ll be back at full health and ready to keep working for Boss Su!”
Hearing Beidou in this eager, spirited state, Su Yu hurriedly pressed down on her shoulder to make her lean back against the pillow.
Though Su Yu prided himself on being a slacker boss, he was no unscrupulous, black-hearted boss.
He couldn’t do things that exploited his employees.
Someone will step in to help Ningguang with the work these next few days, so just focus on recovering.”
Su Yu briefly explained the matter of Lumine to Ningguang, and after hearing that Su Yu had a backup plan and that her absence wouldn’t affect the company’s normal operations, Beidou finally let go of her worries completely, no longer muttering about being at full health or hurrying to work.
After all, Ei’s cooking really packed lethal force; that Beidou could still sit here and talk was already remarkable.
Having said her piece, she flopped down, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.
Drawing his gaze back from the now-sleeping Beidou, Su Yu called Ei, who was at the door, inside.
To keep Beidou from having a stress reaction upon waking to the sight of Ei, Su Yu and the others deliberately chatted a little farther from Beidou.
After all, the room had a partition, and it was big enough.
From painting Ei a rosy picture of the future to the company’s future expansion, after chatting for a good while, Su Yu seemed to remember something and looked at the other three with some puzzlement, saying:
“Come to think of it, doesn’t the doctor usually come by every so often to check on the patient’s condition?
I’ve been here ages now, so why hasn’t anyone come?
Don’t tell me they’ve all gone off slacking?”
“Cough, cough.”
Before Su Yu’s brow could smooth out or his doubt be resolved, Yae Miko, facing him directly, was holding back a laugh with the corners of her lips slightly raised, while Ningguang gave two soft coughs.
“Hehe, little one, is it possible that the doctor is right here in the ward?”
As if she’d found some amusement, Yae Miko’s way of addressing him and her tone once again became thoroughly in control.
But before Su Yu could counterattack the smug Yae Miko, a somewhat familiar voice came from nearby.
“What time did you go to sleep last night?”
“Not too late, probably around two, uh…
wait, who’s talking?”
Su Yu had just answered on reflex when he looked at the three in surprise, because he noticed none of them had opened their mouths, yet all three were looking at him with innocent faces.
“It’s me!”
That somewhat familiar voice rang out again.
“I said, who the heck is it?
Can any of you do ventriloquism?”
The moment he finished speaking, Su Yu sensed something was wrong, because he felt the atmosphere, already somewhat frozen just now, plunge as if into an ice cave.
When Su Yu looked around once more, he spotted a familiar blue figure at the edge of the tabletop in front of him. New chapters come out on g.com first.
That figure made Su Yu’s eyes freeze, and he immediately retreated.
“Su Yu, you wouldn’t want Beidou to be woken up by the noise you make, would you?”
At the very instant Su Yu lifted his foot, that small blue figure instantly moved to his side and issued a threatening voice.
When Su Yu focused his gaze, the newcomer was none other than Sigewinne, the great luminary of the Academy Hospital’s medical field, whose personality, gentle one moment, two-faced the next, gave countless patients headaches.
But there was no help for it.
Who could complain, given her superb medical skill?
Su Yu had once pulled all-nighters until his body grew weak, until he finally collapsed and came to the hospital for treatment.
Anyway, the Academy’s hospital was free for students, so Su Yu naturally accepted this freebie benefit with a smile.
At first Su Yu had been rather happy to see that his attending physician was Sigewinne, so familiar from his past life.
But then, once Sigewinne learned the reason for his cold.
She came at him with a mysterious smile on her face, holding a syringe the size of a water cup, though Su Yu knew she wouldn’t really stick it into him.
When that thumb-thick needle tip was aimed at him, that long-absent childhood fear resurfaced in his heart.
In the end, Su Yu slipped out before his illness had fully cleared up and never came back, and ever since then he’d had a bit of a psychological shadow regarding the school hospital.
Today, out of worry for Beidou, he’d forgotten about this for the moment, and the instant those soft little hands gripped his wrist, Su Yu declared that he was still just a child.
“Good child, good child, come with me to the office.
I need to check whether you’ve been keeping a regular schedule lately.”
Sigewinne continued to look at Su Yu with a smile, then pulled him by the wrist toward the door, leaving behind only a helpless-looking Ningguang, a baffled Ei, and a smirking Yae Miko.
She had been the first to realize how this slightly delicate situation was unfolding.
She just hadn’t spoken up to warn Su Yu in time.
“It seems we ought to discuss our upcoming cooperation a bit more.”
Ningguang smiled slightly and took the opportunity to say to Yae Miko.
“And all the novels Yae Publishing House sells should come with collectible Sanguosha merch cards as a bonus.”
“Ningguang, you really don’t let a single opportunity slip, do you!
If you really want to build recognition this way, it’s not impossible.
But you’re paying for the cards.”
Give me STONESSSS (╯°□°）╯︵┻━┻ Thanks for reading!
( ⸝⸝´ ᵕ `⸝⸝)