Fever

A dream? Chen Mengchuan's entire body froze.

But how could the infinitely gentle touch in his hands be so real?

"Mmm..." Zhao Wanyu moaned. Chen Mengchuan felt his heart pounding rapidly, a drop of cold sweat trickled down his forehead. This wasn't a dream...

Swallowing, Zhao Wanyu's face, illuminated by the scattered light through a wall, was like being under a dim spotlight, incredibly beautiful in its haziness.

Swallowing, Chen Mengchuan's breathing grew heavy, bit by bit. What was going on...

The next day.

Waking up, Chen Mengchuan felt around him; it was empty. He looked up at the half-height partition wall, unable to help but recall the tenderness in the darkness. Shaking his head, he got up and put on his clothes.

After walking out of the house, Zhao Wanyu's door was tightly shut. He stretched in the yard, warming up his body. Sister-in-law Xu called him, made breakfast for both of them, and asked him to wake Zhao Wanyu up.

Walking to her door somewhat awkwardly, he knocked. There was no movement inside. He called out, but Zhao Wanyu didn't respond. Chen Mengchuan frowned, returned to his room, lifted the covers, stepped onto a plastic stool, and peered over the wall.

Zhao Wanyu was frowning slightly, covered by a thick quilt, motionless. Her face looked flushed.

He quickly climbed over the wall and landed in her room. Reaching out, he touched Zhao Wanyu's forehead; it was burning hot. She had a fever!

After opening the door, he immediately ran to the school. Balagetu Village had no village doctor, and taking her to the hospital meant going to the city, at least 130 kilometers away. The only person with a medical kit and some medical knowledge was Ayase Sonoko. Many children in the village were treated by Ayase Sonoko when they were sick.

Running into the elementary school, he found Ayase Sonoko teaching a class. After explaining the situation, Ayase Sonoko settled her students and then came to the Xu family with her medical kit, accompanied by Chen Mengchuan.

Ayase Sonoko felt Zhao Wanyu's neck and instructed Chen Mengchuan to fetch hot water. She took out an electronic thermometer and measured Zhao Wanyu's temperature: 40.2℃. Her expression changed. She quickly pulled back some of Zhao Wanyu's quilt. Chen Mengchuan entered the room with the hot water, and Sister-in-law Xu also came after hearing the news.

With the help of Sister-in-law Xu, Ayase Sonoko gave Zhao Wanyu fever-reducing medicine.

Seeing Ayase Sonoko's serious expression, Chen Mengchuan knew that Zhao Wanyu's high fever was clearly not low.

"Mengchuan-kun, please help me wipe Miss Wanyu's body," Ayase Sonoko said. She then removed Zhao Wanyu's outer clothes and pajama pants, and the three of them began to continuously wipe her underarms, neck, and inner thighs with warm water.

After nearly an hour of work, Ayase Sonoko took Zhao Wanyu's temperature again.

"39℃, phew..." Ayase Sonoko sighed with relief after speaking.

She then gave Zhao Wanyu more warm water, placed a cold compress on her forehead, and by noon, the fever had finally subsided.

"Mengchuan-kun, Miss Wanyu's fever has just subsided. She still needs to drink more warm water. Don't let her get cold again. Once she sweats, she'll recover..." Ayase Sonoko gave Chen Mengchuan some more instructions before returning to school.

"Thank you, Miss Sonoko..." Chen Mengchuan looked at her earnestly. In his memories from the dream, Ayase Sonoko was mostly independent and strong, always able to calmly analyze and deal with any situation. But because of this, the two of them often clashed, and their relationship before their divorce was never truly harmonious.

Every time they argued, they would immediately enter a cold war. Once, unable to bear the silent treatment, he had angrily overturned a tea tray, cutting his little finger joint and requiring several stitches. After that argument, he found himself frequently losing control during arguments and smashing things, becoming the very person he used to hate.

Chen Mengchuan suppressed his emotions and memories, nodded, and said, "Okay, I'll take good care of her."

After eating some food brought by Sister-in-law Xu, Chen Mengchuan brought his computer and stayed in Zhao Wanyu's room, working while keeping an eye on her condition. Zhao Wanyu woke up once in the meantime. After feeding her some congee and steamed buns, she fell into a weak sleep again.

In the evening, Zhao Wanyu's fever returned. Sister-in-law Xu called Ayase Sonoko, and after another dose of fever-reducing medicine, they all busied themselves again trying to bring down her fever. Looking at the weak Zhao Wanyu and Ayase Sonoko beside her, Chen Mengchuan felt a mix of emotions.

After the fever subsided again, Ayase Sonoko instructed Chen Mengchuan that if she developed a fever again in the middle of the night, he should give her fever-reducing medicine and wipe her body. If the fever didn't break, he should come find her. Chen Mengchuan nodded, his gaze towards her filled with complexity.

Although she didn't understand the meaning behind Chen Mengchuan's gaze, Ayase Sonoko smiled and bid him farewell, returning to school.

Around 9 PM, Sun Zhongyong called.

"Brother Sun."

"Mengchuan, regarding Xia Science Academy, I offered 6.1 million, but unfortunately, Guo Siming is only willing to offer 3 million. We've negotiated a few times, but he hasn't budged. What do you think?" Sun Zhongyong asked.

Chen Mengchuan took a deep breath, glanced at Zhao Wanyu on the bed, and said to Sun Zhongyong, "Brother Sun, I'll call Guo Siming. Wait for my news."

"Okay." Sun Zhongyong hung up.

He unblocked Guo Siming's last call number and dialed it.

In Xi'an City, Guo Siming's assistant's Nokia suddenly rang.

Seeing the number, he immediately handed it to Guo Siming, "Brother Guo, it's Chen Mengchuan calling."

Guo Siming answered the phone with a grim expression.

"Guo Siming, 6.1 million Chinese yuan. Not a penny less, or don't expect me to help you repair the core structure of Xuanyuan. Think carefully before you call me back," Chen Mengchuan's cold voice came through the phone.

Guo Siming was stunned for a moment, and then only the busy tone remained on the phone...

"Chen Mengchuan, you're pushing it too far! Argh!!!" Guo Siming was so enraged that his mind exploded. He roared and smashed his phone fiercely onto the ground. The Nokia shattered into pieces again.

Beside him, the assistant flashed a slight smile and adjusted his glasses.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Mengchuan heard Zhao Wanyu's weak voice from the bed.

"You're quite fierce."

Chen Mengchuan looked at her, a hint of awkwardness flashing across his face.

"It's too foolish to be polite to an enemy." In that dream, he had a huge argument with his father because he went to Xia Science Academy to fix this bug. After fixing the bug, that old man Guo Zhidong had specifically called his father. Whatever he said, it angered Chen's father so much that he developed high blood pressure and was hospitalized.

"Is the rumor about Xia Science Academy true then?" Zhao Wanyu asked, struggling to sit up.

Chen Mengchuan put down the phone and walked over to help her up.

"What rumor?" Chen Mengchuan poured a cup of warm water and offered it to Zhao Wanyu's mouth.

"I'll do it myself..." Zhao Wanyu weakly extended her hands to hold the cup.

Chen Mengchuan tucked her hands back under the covers. "You'd better not. If you catch a cold again, I'll have to serve you in the middle of the night."

"I'm sorry for troubling you," Zhao Wanyu nodded hazily, obediently taking small sips of water.

After finishing the water, Zhao Wanyu continued, "Don't you know? Everyone in the industry is saying the Guo family stole your credit, that you caused a huge scene at Xia Science Academy, and then you slapped your resignation letter onto the face of the Deputy Director of Xia Science Academy."

"Stealing credit is true, but I didn't cause a scene at Xia Science Academy, nor did I slap the director's face. I'm a cultured person," Chen Mengchuan said dismissively, shaking his head. In 20 years, when the aliens arrive and humanity is on the brink of extinction, what reason would he have to care about such trivial matters?

"Haha." Zhao Wanyu was amused by his "cultured person" remark, and she started coughing.

"You should lie down."

Zhao Wanyu hummed and obediently lay down on the bed, wrapping herself tightly in the quilt.

Chen Mengchuan stepped forward and touched her forehead. She was still a little warm, so he replaced the towel with a fresh, cool one.

"Brother Chuan."

"Hm?" Chen Mengchuan glanced at her.

"Do I have a girlfriend?" Zhao Wanyu looked at him seriously.

"Cough, cough, no," Chen Mengchuan shook his head. In this timeline, he was a 28-year-old single dog.

Zhao Wanyu said softly, "You like Miss Sonoko, right? The first day you met her, your eyes gave you away."

Chen Mengchuan looked at her with some surprise. Was it a woman's uncanny sixth sense?

"It's not what you think," Chen Mengchuan said, shaking his head. The immense pain he experienced in that dream made him clearly realize that he and Ayase Sonoko were not suited for each other. There were too many complex factors intertwined within their relationship.

Seeing Chen Mengchuan shake his head, Zhao Wanyu felt an inexplicable joy.

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