Night had fallen, and a few lamps lit up Chu Yunxi's bedchamber.The old imperial physician summoned from the palace had just finished carefully taking Chu Yunxi's pulse.The old man's brow was deeply furrowed. His fingertips lingered on Chu Yunxi's wrist for a long while before he murmured, "The young master was born with a deficient constitution. Judging by this pulse, like a candle guttering in the wind, it is indeed a sign of oil spent and lamp dried."Madam Liu's face went pale at these words, and she suddenly clutched her handkerchief tight.But then the old man changed his tone. "Yet strangely enough, deep within this failing pulse, there hides a wisp of extremely faint vitality. This wisp of life appeared in a peculiar manner. If carefully nurtured, it may be possible to defy fate and change destiny." As he spoke, he wrote out a prescription and handed it to Madam Liu."Follow this prescription twice a day to nurse him. I shall return in a month to examine him again."Madam Liu respectfully accepted the prescription, thanking him profusely with tears of gratitude. She quietly slipped him a money pouch, personally saw him out the door, then ordered the servants to fill the prescription.The medicinal decoction was quickly brewed and brought over.Chu Yunxi leaned against the headboard, drinking it down mouthful by mouthful.If the imperial physician said his body could recover, wouldn't that little madman be disappointed?At this thought, he felt an inexplicable delight, and his gaze drifted over the rim of the bowl toward Shi Wuxie, who sat quietly nearby.At that moment, Shi Wuxie had his head slightly lowered, focused on writing in that notebook by candlelight.Chu Yunxi craned his neck and vaguely made out the latest line of notes: [Five: An abnormal vitality has manifested within the body, highly consistent with the previously described enhancements in strength, speed, reflexes, and the five senses. It is speculated that this may be a core sign of rebirth…]Not seeing the disappointment he had expected on Shi Wuxie's face, Chu Yunxi felt somewhat let down. The smile at the corner of his lips fell away, and he tilted his head back and drained the medicine in the bowl.Just then, Madam Liu came in carrying freshly washed bedding, a warm smile on her face as she personally made up the bed for the two of them."It's so late, and it's dark outside. Xi'er just took his medicine—he mustn't be exposed to the wind." She made up the bedding briskly while gently urging, "Stay here tonight."Chu Yunxi opened his mouth, about to say that the Shi residence wasn't far. But watching Madam Liu bend over, carefully smoothing out the corners of the quilt—her silhouette in the candlelight looked warm and attentive, her eyes full of maternal affection—The words on the tip of his tongue were ultimately swallowed back.Having finished making the bed, Madam Liu picked up the empty medicine bowl from the table and smiled at the two of them.Her gaze moved between Chu Yunxi and Shi Wuxie. "All right, you two should rest early. Xi'er, if you feel feverish after taking your medicine, there's warm water on the small table by the bed." She gave Shi Wuxie a slight nod. "Lord Shi, I must trouble you to look after Xi'er a bit more tonight."Shi Wuxie looked up from his notebook and nodded obediently at Madam Liu. "I will."Madam Liu then smiled and called the attendants to withdraw with her.After finishing his medicine, Chu Yunxi went behind the screen to the washroom for a quick bath.When he came out, he wore only a plain white sleeping robe, the ends of his hair still dripping wet. He was casually toweling his hair as he rounded the screen back into the inner chamber.His gaze happened to fall on the bed, and his toweling motion paused.Shi Wuxie was already lying on the outer side of the bed, his hair crown removed.Ink-black hair spread across the pillow, making that face look all the paler. He wore only a thin moon-white inner garment, the soft fabric faintly outlining his lean figure.He lay straight and proper, hands folded flat over his abdomen, eyes closed, breathing even.Chu Yunxi tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Where am I supposed to sleep?"Hearing his voice, Shi Wuxie opened his eyes, turned his head to look at him, then pointed at the spacious canopy bed beneath him. "The bed is wide. It can sleep two."Seeing Shi Wuxie's utterly matter-of-fact expression, Chu Yunxi's mind instantly and uncontrollably conjured up what his mother had said at dinner—and Shi Wuxie's answer.Truly… practically the words of a beast in heat!He instinctively backed away two steps, staring at Shi Wuxie warily. "I'm warning you—don't even think about consummating the marriage with me."Shi Wuxie looked at him in puzzled silence.Shi Wuxie gave him a puzzled look and answered honestly, "I wasn't thinking about it."Chu Yunxi's brow furrowed, and he eyed him suspiciously. "Never?"He paused, then hesitantly added, "On our wedding night… also… absolutely not?""Naturally not."Shi Wuxie answered crisply, his gaze clear. With that, he turned his head back and closed his eyes again.Chu Yunxi choked, and for no discernible reason his chest felt tight.But that answer genuinely relieved him.He looked around the room, his gaze landing on the floor, and decided to sleep there.He walked to the narrow daybed by the window, pulled off a few brocade cushions, and spread them on the floor a short distance from the bed. Then he went to the bed and reached for the quilt—but the moment he lifted a corner, he discovered his mother had only prepared one quilt.Chu Yunxi stood there holding the quilt, hesitating.Shi Wuxie opened his eyes again, turned his head, saw the "floor bed" laid out, then looked at Chu Yunxi standing rooted by the bed clutching the corner of the quilt. After a moment's thought, he sat up and said, "Forget it. You take the bed."He was sitting on the edge of the bed now, his loose black hair cascading like a waterfall against his coolly pale skin. His loosened collar hung slightly open, revealing a section of slender collarbone and a small expanse of chest.His eyes were dark and deep in the night, like a still pool. His face was as expressionless as ever, yet there was something quiet and strangely… docile about it.Chu Yunxi's gaze jerked away as if scalded.But a moment later, he came back to his senses.They were both men—what was wrong with a look? What was he being so awkward about?He really might have been infected by this green-and-shameless world.Chu Yunxi rubbed his brow, speechless, then put down the quilt. "Forget it, no need to give up your bed. I'll sleep on the floor."Shi Wuxie tilted his head. "But your body is weak. Without proper bedding you'll catch a cold."Chu Yunxi was about to say he didn't care, when Shi Wuxie added, "What if you fall ill and lose more of your yang lifespan?"Chu Yunxi: ..He promptly kicked off his shoes, climbed onto the bed, blew out the candle on the small nightstand, pushed Shi Wuxie to the far inner side of the bed, and said, "Sleep."The room was instantly swallowed by thick darkness.Chu Yunxi lay down with his back to Shi Wuxie, closed his eyes, and tried to sleep.But the scene from moments ago kept flashing uncontrollably through his mind—Shi Wuxie with his long hair loose, tilting up that unfairly handsome, clean face, quietly looking at him.He forced the image out of his mind, only for Shi Wuxie's emphatic words to resurface: "I never thought about it."Chu Yunxi closed his eyes, but his brow furrowed bit by bit in the darkness.She'd never once thought about consummating the marriage with him?Sleepiness vanished in an instant. He lay there feeling thoroughly uncomfortable, and couldn't help rolling over.Faint moonlight spilled through the window lattice, dimly outlining the figure beside him.Shi Wuxie lay on her side facing him, her breathing light and even. In the darkness, her features seemed all the softer, like a jade statue—exquisite, yet carrying an almost divine solemnity.Chu Yunxi stared blankly for a while, and that inexplicable irritation in his chest only thickened.Never… not even once?!He huffily turned away again. The bed gave a faint creak.Before long, he couldn't stay put and quietly turned back around.Shi Wuxie's long lashes trembled, then slowly lifted. "Aren't you sleeping?" Her voice carried a trace of drowsiness.Caught off guard by her open eyes, Chu Yunxi choked, then replied stiffly, "I'll sleep after you do."Shi Wuxie didn't understand. "Why?"Chu Yunxi's eyes darted around, and he seized a ready-made excuse, his tone wary. "I'm afraid that if I fall asleep, you'll secretly drug me again."Shi Wuxie blinked slowly, then said with understanding, "I promise it won't happen tonight."Chu Yunxi keenly caught that qualifier and raised a brow. "What do you mean, 'tonight'? So no promises after tonight?"Shi Wuxie nodded. "We're in the Marquis Manor tonight. It would be rather inconvenient."Chu Yunxi: …His temple throbbed hard.So he was letting him off only because the conditions weren't right?!Shi Wuxie closed his eyes again and ended the discussion in an even tone. "Sleep."Chu Yunxi glared at his peacefully closed face, the resentment in his gaze all but solidifying into something tangible.After a while, as if sensing that palpable stare, Shi Wuxie's lashes stirred once more and lifted. In the darkness, he found herself blinking eye-to-eye with Chu Yunxi.Shi Wuxie: ?He hesitated a moment, then his eyes suddenly lit up. "Can't you sleep? Could it be… that after your rebirth, your energy has become unusually abundant?"Without waiting for an answer, he sat up, found the fire striker, and relit the candle.The warm, dancing glow instantly dispelled a small patch of darkness. He then fetched paper and brush from the cabinet at the foot of the bed, turned to look at Chu Yunxi, eyes gleaming. "In the past, could you stay up late?"Chu Yunxi: …Here we go again—that same familiar look.His lips twitched, and he answered flatly, "I don't know."The moment the words left his mouth, he saw the light in Shi Wuxie's eyes abruptly dim. His heart inexplicably tightened, and an utterly unaccountable sense of guilt welled up. His Adam's apple bobbed, his voice softening without his intending it, and he amended, "Probably… couldn't."With the original owner's frail constitution, he probably couldn't have…Shi Wuxie's eyes brightened, and he picked up the brush to jot down: [Six: Abundant energy; prone to insomnia…]As he wrote, he murmured, "If you feel no drowsiness at all, why not test how long you can stay awake?" He glanced at the sky outside and muttered to herself, "The night watch was just called—should be approaching the third watch by now."Chu Yunxi sat up and watched as Shi Wuxie once again entered research mode. With a resigned sigh, he raised a hand to rub his temples. "You're not planning to sleep either?""Mm." Shi Wuxie didn't even lift his head. "I'll keep you company."Chu Yunxi's heart suddenly skipped a beat, as if some soft place inside him had been gently bumped by those three words.But the next second, Shi Wuxie looked up at him again and added with clear-eyed sincerity, "Since this is observation, I naturally need to monitor the sample subject's condition at all times and keep detailed records."Chu Yunxi: …The corner of his heart that had just been touched now felt a cool, numbing dullness.What had he been expecting?He vaguely recalled a senior labmate from his past life.She'd also spent every day holed up in the lab, watching over those lab mice, recording every bite of food they ate, every run, even every little flinch. Behind her glasses were the dark circles of chronic sleep deprivation, yet her eyes were frighteningly bright.Chu Yunxi now realized he was that lab mouse.And the way Shi Wuxie was looking at him was exactly like that senior.His voice came out a bit stifled, tinged with disbelief. "So we're just going to sit here staring at each other?"Shi Wuxie thought about it seriously for a moment, then asked, "What do you want to do?"Chu Yunxi felt a lump lodge in his chest. In the end, he flopped straight back into the bedding, then rolled over fiercely, presenting his back to Shi Wuxie once more, and forced his eyes shut.Shi Wuxie watched him, puzzled. He tilted his head in thought, then suddenly—as if something had occurred to him—turned back around and picked up his brush: [Seven: Contradictory, erratic behavior. Multiple changes within a very short time, lacking clear behavioral logic… Whether this stems from impaired mental stability caused by rebirth remains to be verified…]Deep in the quiet night, the candle flame flickered. In the room, there was only the faint rustle of charcoal pencil across paper, and the occasional soft sound of a page turning.The sound continued without pause, so regularly that it was maddening. Like a feather constantly tickling Chu Yunxi's nerves, it annoyed him so much that no matter how he lay, he couldn't get comfortable, and he kept shifting positions.Yet every time he moved, the pencil tip on Shi Wuxie's side paused almost imperceptibly—and then an even denser, fainter scribbling began.Apparently not even the number and frequency of his tosses and turns had escaped notice.Chu Yunxi: …He'd truly become a lab rat, damn it!Chu Yunxi took a deep breath and forced himself to lie as straight and still as a corpse. Even his breathing he deliberately kept light and slow, as if that would reduce his "data output."He didn't know how long he endured, but finally the scribbling gradually stopped.Chu Yunxi frowned and carefully opened one eye.He saw that Shi Wuxie had put down his brush at some point. One arm still resting on the cabinet, his head pillowed on it, eyes closed, his breathing even and long.Candlelight danced on his thick lashes, casting a small trembling shadow beneath his eyelids. That face, always so expressionless, showed an unguarded serenity in sleep.Chu Yunxi frowned slightly and sat up extremely slowly. He stared at Shi Wuxie for a moment before reaching out and very lightly touching his shoulder with a fingertip, calling softly, "Hey."No response. Only soft, shallow breathing.Chu Yunxi sighed silently.He moved over and gently took hold of Shi Wuxie's shoulders with both hands, trying to lay him down flat on the bed.Through the thin layer of his inner robe, the shoulder beneath his palm was even more slender than he had imagined—delicate bones, almost weightless. With only the slightest pressure, Shi Wuxie's entire upper body went soft and leaned into him, his head coming to rest naturally on his shoulder.Warm breath brushed gently against the skin of his neck, carrying the faint scent of medicinal herbs that was uniquely Shi Wuxie's.Chu Yunxi's body went rigid, and he lowered his gaze. The person leaning against his shoulder still had his eyes closed, long lashes casting a dense shadow beneath his eyelids, pale thin lips pressed slightly together—he looked rather fragile.Chu Yunxi's breathing unconsciously grew even lighter.Holding his body stiff, he carefully adjusted his posture, slowly and steadily laying the man down on the inner side of the bed. He pulled up the covers and tucked in the corners with care.Only after finishing all this did Chu Yunxi slowly exhale.He sat at the edge of the bed, arms around his knees, watching Shi Wuxie's peaceful sleeping face. After a moment, his gaze shifted to the open ledger on the cabinet at the foot of the bed. By candlelight, he could make out the dense, tiny characters—sure enough, it recorded every last detail of his "data" from tonight.Chu Yunxi raised a hand and rubbed hard at the space between his brows, a trace of helplessness flashing across his face.He blew out the candle and lay down with his back to Shi Wuxie, even warily curling himself up, arms wrapped around his body like a shrimp.This time, exhaustion finally began to surge up, dragging his consciousness into a haze…The next day, the sky had long since brightened, the glaring sun streaming through the lattice window and casting dazzling patches of light across the room.Half asleep, Shi Wuxie vaguely heard the sound of women talking in lowered voices outside the door—"Are the young masters still not awake?""No, Madam.""But it's nearly noon. When did they retire last night?"The maid's voice hesitated. "Last night… this servant vaguely saw that the light in their room stayed lit until almost the fifth watch.""What?! The fifth watch?!"Madam Liu's voice shot up sharply, then abruptly dropped, laced with anxiety. "This… how can this be?! Such lack of restraint—it's so damaging to the body!""Ah, it's all my fault!""I never should have softened yesterday and let them stay in the same room! Truly… I misjudged him! I thought Lord Shi was a man of restraint—who knew he'd be so careless of another's wellbeing. How can Xi'er's frail body withstand such reckless behavior!"Shi Wuxie's consciousness gradually returned amid this increasingly clear conversation, his brow furrowing unconsciously.What restraint? What damage to the body?He slowly opened his eyes, long lashes trembling.Only then did he realize how unusually heavy his body felt. But when his vision came into focus, the sight before him made him freeze.Chu Yunxi's head was buried in the crook of his neck, one arm draped across his chest, the other wrapped tightly around his waist. One leg was brazenly thrown over his own, locking him entirely in his embrace—like an "octopus," clinging to him with all its might.Shi Wuxie blinked slowly: ?
Chapter 7
My Cold-Faced Wife Wants to Kill Me Again