Dislike is one thing, but one still needs to eat.
Since the injury on her neck had not fully healed, Sheng Yunshu could currently only consume easy-to-swallow liquid food. She lay on the bed, hugging a stuffed rabbit, refusing the straw offered by the nurse, and demanded that Sheng Qingshan feed her instead.
Sheng Qingshan said nothing, took the bowl, and sat on the edge of the bed.
When the spoon reached her lips, Sheng Yunshu bit down on it, swallowed after only a few chews, and frowned. “It is too hot.”
Sheng Qingshan blew on it gently and offered it again.
“It is too much, I cannot eat it all.”
Sheng Qingshan scooped up half a spoonful, cooled it down, and fed it to her.
“It is all vegetables! I want meat! You are abusing me!”
Sheng Qingshan glanced at her. Sheng Yunshu held the rabbit up to cover the lower half of her face, staring at her with red, watery eyes.
“What is it? Are you going to be fierce with me? I am a patient! What is wrong with making a few requests? I am in so much pain, can you not coax me? I dislike you!”
Sheng Qingshan, who had not said a word, replied, “Open your mouth. You can complain after you finish eating.”
“Oh.”
After finishing the bowl of porridge, Sheng Yunshu still cried that she was hungry, but Sheng Qingshan would not let her eat any more.
“Given your current physical condition, eating too much will only make you vomit. Vomiting will pull at your stitches. Do you want to hurt again?”
“But I am hungry!” Sheng Yunshu protested indignantly.
“Wait half an hour, then eat.”
“I will starve to death!” Sheng Yunshu threw the rabbit aside and used her one functional hand to tug at Sheng Qingshan’s sleeve. “Give me half a bowl, just half a bowl.”
Sheng Qingshan did not move.
Sheng Yunshu stared at her for two seconds, and her eyes began to redden again. “I lost so much blood, I almost died, and I cannot even eat a little food. Do you want to starve me to death? If I starve to death, you will have peace of mind; you will not have to take care of me, and you will not have to worry about me being a burden to you anymore.”
“Sheng Yunshu.”
“What!” She sniffled, her voice thick with tears. “I am already like this, and you are still being fierce with me!”
Sheng Qingshan took a deep breath, stood up, placed the bowl on the table, and turned to look at her.
“I am not being fierce with you.”
“You are! You used my full name just now! Every time you use my full name, it means you are angry!”
Sheng Qingshan was silent for a moment, as if trying to recall whether she truly had such a habit.
“I am not angry.”
“Then why will you not let me eat? Do you not love me anymore?”
Both of them were stunned for a moment after this sentence was spoken.
Sheng Yunshu was the first to react; she retracted her hand and raised her voice to cover her tracks. “You used to go along with everything I said! Now that she is here, I am no longer important! She is your biological sister, and she is so capable, so you love her more now, do you not?”
Sheng Qingshan did not answer immediately. Instead, she scanned her up and down, a trace of confusion appearing in her eyes.
“You, does your throat not hurt?”
How did she have the energy to say so much?
Sheng Yunshu’s face burned under her gaze, though her complexion did look better. “It hurts! It hurts to death! Leave me be!”
Accustomed to her mood swings, Sheng Qingshan picked up the rabbit from her arms and tickled her face with its ears. “You are important. I love you, you know that.”
The ticklish sensation made Sheng Yunshu’s heart race even faster, but upon meeting Sheng Qingshan’s calm gaze, that joy turned into an unventable, suffocating tightness.
“Why did you go buy a rabbit?” Sheng Yunshu lowered her eyes, taking the initiative to change the subject.
Sheng Qingshan checked the time and pressed the button by the bed to call the nurse to change her dressings. “Did you not like it?”
When they were younger, every time Sheng Yunshu was sick, Sheng Qingshan would buy her a plush toy to hold. Over time, it had become a habit.
“It is silly-looking. I do not like it,” Sheng Yunshu muttered, bowing her head to smell the fragrance on the little rabbit.
The nurse pushed her cart to the bedside. After waiting a moment and seeing that Sheng Qingshan had no intention of leaving, she did not ask any questions. She lifted the thin quilt, but when she reached to undo the patient gown, Sheng Yunshu stopped her.
“Wait,” Sheng Yunshu looked up at the woman standing by the bed. “What are you doing here? Get out!”
Because the wound was near a private area, Sheng Yunshu could feel that she was not wearing any undergarments. The patient gown was very similar to a robe; once the ties were undone, it would be no different from being naked.
She did not want Sheng Qingshan standing there watching her change dressings.
Sheng Qingshan signaled for the nurse to continue while simultaneously covering Sheng Yunshu’s eyes.
“Bear with it.”
“Why are you covering my eyes? It is not like I would be shy looking at my own body! Also, ‘bear with it’? It is just changing a bandage, what is there to bear?”
“Ah!”
Sharp pain erupted from her inner thigh. Sheng Yunshu instinctively tried to curl up, but Sheng Qingshan’s hand held her leg firmly in place.
“Do not move, the wound will tear.”
Sheng Yunshu felt her vision blur from the pain, and tears streamed out instantly, flowing between Sheng Qingshan’s fingers. “It hurts so much. I do not want to change it, let us do it tomorrow.”
Any lingering romantic thoughts in her head vanished; Sheng Yunshu just wanted to jump off the bed and hide somewhere the nurse could never find her.
“No.” Sheng Qingshan’s hand slid down her leg, pressing into a pressure point that eased the pain. “The dressing must be changed daily. If it gets infected, it will hurt even more.”
“Then I will die of pain before the infection even starts.”
After Sheng Yunshu squeezed out these words, she bit down on the rabbit’s ears and sobbed.
The nurse worked quickly. Cleaning, disinfecting, applying medicine, and bandaging were all done in one go.
The wound at the groin was the deepest and took the longest to process. When the iodine touched the edges of the wound, Sheng Yunshu’s body still trembled uncontrollably, but it was better than before.
Next were the wounds on her hand and under her arm.
The wound on her hand was the lightest, but when the cotton swab touched the edge, Sheng Yunshu still shied away, trying to pull her hand back. Sheng Qingshan secured her arm before she could, making it easier for the nurse.
The wound under her arm was much deeper than the one on her wrist, requiring seven stitches. Every time she moved her arm, it would pull at the skin. It was not a sharp, stinging pain, but a continuous, tearing sensation, as if the muscles and tendons inside were being pulled constantly.
By the time all the dressings were changed, the rabbit’s ears were crinkled and covered in drool.
The nurse finished up and left. Sheng Yunshu sniffled, looked down at the dirty little rabbit, and tossed it aside in disgust before immediately reaching out to pull it back into her arms.
“I will go buy another one.” Sheng Qingshan tried to throw the drool-covered rabbit away, but Sheng Yunshu bit her hand.
“I want this one!”
With only the two of them in the room now, Sheng Yunshu, having finished dealing with the pain, remembered what just happened and blushed. “Why did you not leave just now? I was not wearing any clothes.”
Sheng Qingshan had not expected her to be most concerned about that.
“I have more experience dealing with these kinds of wounds than the doctor does.” Sheng Qingshan brushed the hair from her face. “There are some non-standard procedures that can help you recover faster, but you would not be able to handle them. I need to know the extent of your recovery, so I will be present for every dressing change from now on. There is no need to be shy about these things.”
Besides, Sheng Qingshan did not understand why she would be shy.
Before, when she was drunk, Sheng Qingshan had carried her away in a similar state. She had not been shy then, so why was she acting like this now, lying in a hospital bed?
Sheng Qingshan glanced at her and looked away. A child’s mind is truly hard to guess.
Sheng Yunshu did not want to bother with her and held the rabbit up to cover her entire face.
However, the wound on her neck still needed medication.
When her fingers touched the side of Sheng Yunshu’s neck, Sheng Yunshu clearly shuddered.
“Cold,” Sheng Yunshu said quietly.
Sheng Qingshan pulled her hand back and rubbed it between her palms. Once the ointment was warmed by her body temperature, she applied it again.
Sheng Yunshu closed her eyes, her eyelashes fluttering slightly.
Because the skin on the neck was thinner and more sensitive, even the slightest pressure would hurt. Sheng Qingshan’s movements were very slow, keeping every touch within Sheng Yunshu’s tolerance.
She could feel Sheng Qingshan’s fingertips grazing her neck. Because of her long-term dangerous work, Sheng Qingshan’s hands were rough, and every friction of her calluses sent a wave of tingling tremors through her.
Sheng Yunshu’s breathing became ragged.
“Does it hurt?” Sheng Qingshan asked.
“It does not hurt.”
“Then why are you shivering?”
Sheng Yunshu opened her eyes and glared at her. “Am I not allowed to shiver now? You are so overbearing!”
Sheng Qingshan decided to speak less in her presence from now on.
“It is done.” Sheng Qingshan withdrew her hand.
Sheng Yunshu opened her eyes and found her vision was slightly blurry. She blinked rapidly a few times to clear the moisture from her eyes.
“You did not massage the other side,” she said, her voice a bit hoarse.
“I massaged both sides.”
“Oh.” Sheng Yunshu touched her neck. The ointment had been mostly absorbed by her skin, leaving only a thin, oily texture.
She lowered her eyes and said softly, “Sister, are you angry?”
Sheng Qingshan looked at her, put the ointment back on the nightstand, and pulled out a tissue to wipe her hands.
“Why do you ask?”
“You have not really spoken, and you have not smiled. Anger is bad for your health. You should not bottle everything up inside.”
Sheng Qingshan tucked the quilt around her and spoke coolly. “Do not think so much. You need to rest now.”
There it is again.
Sheng Yunshu pursed her lips and was just about to lecture her when she caught a glimpse of two bruises on her wrist.
Connecting that to the scent of blood she had smelled on her last night, it was not hard to guess what she had been doing.
Sheng Yunshu could not put into words what she was feeling. Happiness? That was definitely there, but the moment she thought of her being caught between her family members, Sheng Yunshu felt a wave of heartache.
“Sister.”
Before she could stand up, Sheng Yunshu suddenly called out to her.
“What is it?”
“You have not kissed me yet. When I was little, you would kiss me before bed every night.”
Thinking she was just acting spoiled, Sheng Qingshan did not think much of it and leaned down to kiss her forehead.
As she was about to pull away, her cheek touched something soft. Sheng Qingshan’s body froze.
“Sister.” Sheng Yunshu’s face was red enough to bleed, and her voice trembled, but the gaze she fixed upon Sheng Qingshan was tender.
“Do not be angry, it is okay. If you are still unhappy, you can hug me. I, I will coax you.”