Ning Xi’s quiet, obedient demeanor as she let him treat her wound made He Kezhou unable to suppress the itch in his throat any longer.
He turned his head and coughed several times.
Seeing how badly he was coughing, Ning Xi wanted to take the cotton swab from his hand and handle it herself.
The moment she reached over, He Kezhou abruptly pulled away.
Ning Xi felt a bit awkward. “I can do it myself.”
He Kezhou tossed the used cotton swab into the trash can and placed the opened pack of cotton swabs and the iodine on the edge of the sofa beside her.
Ning Xi applied the medicine to her palm, hissing in pain with each dab.
After applying the medicine, she sat on the sofa and watched He Kezhou, who had gone into the kitchen.
After a while, she heard the sound of water boiling in a pot.
Ning Xi touched her stomach.
Today, the original owner had only eaten a few pan-fried dumplings at noon, and because of stomach pain, she hadn’t eaten dinner either.
Ning Xi got up from the sofa and walked into the kitchen.
The water was boiling, and He Kezhou dropped a large pack of noodles into the pot.
Knowing he resisted her proximity, Ning Xi stood at the kitchen doorframe and swallowed. “I haven’t had dinner either. Can you make some for me too?”
He Kezhou didn’t look up and dumped the rest of the noodles into the pot.
He was so sleepy now that he didn’t want to think about why Ning Xi had come into the kitchen, or why she was telling him she wanted to eat noodles.
Two bowls of plain white noodles—no oil, only salt—were brought to the dining table.
Ning Xi held her chopsticks and saw that He Kezhou didn’t intend to sit down and eat with her. She cradled her bowl, lowered her head, and picked up a strand of noodles with her chopsticks.
The noodles were terrible, bland and tasteless. Ning Xi ate slowly, but she finished the entire bowl He Kezhou had filled for her, and she drank the soup too.
This bowl of noodles wasn’t good, but it eased her hunger.
He Kezhou had been eating plain white noodles like this for almost every meal this past month.
Ning Xi washed her own bowl and chopsticks, then looked at the noodles on the table that had already cooled and started to clump.
On the balcony of the room, He Kezhou was vigorously scrubbing at the stains on the bedsheet.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ning Xi saw him cold-faced as he scrubbed the dirty bedsheet she had changed off.
She found the cold medicine in the medical kit and poured a glass of warm water before going into the room.
Ning Xi walked up to He Kezhou and handed him the cold medicine and the warm water.
He Kezhou gave her a strange look.
Ning Xi spoke up. “Your voice is hoarse, and you’re coughing. This is the cold medicine I found in the medical kit.”
He Kezhou took the white pill, swallowed it dry without water.
He didn’t touch the glass of water.
Ning Xi didn’t insist. She held the warm water herself, sat on the bed, and sipped it slowly.
He Kezhou tossed the scrubbed bedsheet and duvet cover into the washing machine.
It was too late now; running the washing machine would disturb the neighbors. If he washed it tomorrow morning, Ning Xi would blame him for waking her up. Let Ning Xi run the washing machine herself—
That thought and idea were suppressed by He Kezhou.
Ning Xi never washed the clothes she changed out of herself. She’d toss them somewhere at random, and when she found them again, she’d wear them again. If no one washed them for her, she’d forever wear clothes that looked clean but smelled.
The silence and stillness in the air made Ning Xi feel dazed, as if she were the only one in this room.
He Kezhou stood by the washing machine for quite a while. Ning Xi guessed he didn’t want to wash at night for fear of disturbing the neighbors. “I’ll wash them tomorrow morning when I’m home, and hang them out after spinning. Your noodles have gone cold.”
He Kezhou came out from the balcony. “I’ll hang them when I get back.”
Would she wash them?
He Kezhou didn’t actually hold out any hope.
And he certainly didn’t hope she’d hang the bedsheet and duvet cover.
The noodles on the table had already dried up and shriveled together.
Just as He Kezhou was about to put the noodles into his mouth with a blank expression—
The next second, he rushed into the bathroom.
Digging his fingers into his throat, he forced out the noodles he’d swallowed along with the cold medicine Ning Xi had given him.
He Kezhou turned on the faucet, cupped water to rinse his mouth, then splashed another handful of water on his face before returning to the dining table.
The plain white noodles on the table and the rest left in the pot were all eaten clean by He Kezhou.
As he washed the dishes and the pot, he noticed the pink piggy bowl Ning Xi had used and the matching chopsticks, washed clean and placed on the drying rack. Surprise flickered in his eyes.
Back in the room, Ning Xi pressed her left hand against her stomach, unable to lie down or sit still.
Her lower abdomen was starting to ache and swell again, her waist and back sore.
Her hands and knees hurt too.
At that moment, she felt deeply wronged by the world.
Ning Xi, you have to be strong.
She cheered herself on internally.
Unable to sit or lie still, Ning Xi went to the living room.
The secondary bedroom she and He Kezhou shared had no bathroom, so she could only wash up in the living room bathroom.
She waited for He Kezhou to come out so she could brush her teeth and change her sanitary pad.
Ning Xi stared at the milk tea on the coffee table for a while.
She touched the side of the cup—it was still warm.
Ning Xi didn’t really feel like drinking it, but since it was already bought, it would be a waste not to.
She was drinking the last of the brown sugar pearl milk tea when He Kezhou walked out of the bathroom completely naked.
The pearls settled at the bottom slid through the straw and down her throat, and Ning Xi coughed so violently it was earth-shattering.
He Kezhou seemed long accustomed to wearing nothing.
Ning Xi covered her eyes, her face burning red. “Why aren’t you wearing any clothes?!”
He Kezhou looked at her, puzzled.
Not allowing him to sleep in clothes was Ning Xi’s rule.
“Since you don’t want to touch me, then take them off and let me look.”
“You’ve seen me, and I’ve seen you—that’s fair, isn’t it?”
Those two lines the original owner had said to He Kezhou surfaced in Ning Xi’s mind with startling clarity.
Ning Xi’s lashes trembled violently.
He Kezhou was long accustomed to this, but tonight, Ning Xi’s repeated oddities baffled him. What was this woman up to now?
Ning Xi’s words came out stammering. “You—you—you can sleep in clothes from now on.”
He Kezhou’s footsteps halted.
The woman had her back to him, her ears as red as the bouquet of red roses he’d delivered for takeout tonight.
To sleep in clothes, with dignity.
He’d forgotten what that even felt like.
Ning Xi waited outside for a long time before shuffling into the room.
He Kezhou was wearing long pants and a black T-shirt, which made her sigh with relief.
The man had already curled up on his side on the black yoga mat, his back to her.
The mat was too small; half of his legs rested on the cold floor.
“He Kezhou, you can sleep on the bed. The sheets and blanket on the bed are ones I just changed tonight. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
He Kezhou didn’t open his eyes.
Receiving no response, Ning Xi grabbed a thick blanket and headed to the living room.
The door clicked shut, and He Kezhou opened his eyes.
He stared at the closed door for a long, long time—so long that he couldn’t hold back the overwhelming drowsiness and sank into a deep sleep.
Ning Xi lay on the sofa, wrapped in the blanket, when it suddenly hit her—the bath towel in the bathroom, she’d used it and hadn’t put it back.
Even if she washed it clean and returned it, He Kezhou probably wouldn’t use it again anyway.
The man’s body after a shower, still beaded with water droplets…
Ning Xi covered her face.
Stop. Don’t think about it!