Han Wenwen, Half-Awake, Half-Asleep

Han Wenwen seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep. Lin Zhengran took the keys downstairs and bought dinner before returning.

Judging by her current condition, Han Fox's fever probably would not go down tonight.

So while buying things, he also called Dad and Mom to tell them he would not be going home tonight.

Lin Xiaoli and Lin Yingjun had always felt that their son was braver than ordinary boys and often did things his peers would never dare to do. "Ranran, what are you doing that you're not coming home tonight?"

"I'm staying at a classmate's house. Her home isn't far from ours, so don't worry."

Lin Xiaoli quietly asked curiously over the phone, "It isn't Jiang Xueli's house, is it? We can't agree to that, Ranran."

Lin Zhengran responded, not exactly lying. "No, Mom, what are you thinking? A little fox at another classmate's house is sick, so I'm taking care of her."

Dad, Lin Yingjun, gave an oh, instinctively assuming that classmate was a boy.

"So that's what it is. You scared us. Making more friends at your age is a good thing. If anything happens, call your dad and mom anytime. Let us know you're safe before you go to sleep tonight, and be careful."

"Okay, don't worry."

When he returned to the rental house with dinner, Han Wenwen was still curled up on the bed like a rice dumpling.

Hearing the door open, she warily looked toward the newcomer. Only after seeing that it was Lin Zhengran did she relax.

"You're back?" She was still very polite.

"You woke up?"

Han Wenwen opened her mouth, but before she could answer, she closed her eyes and fell asleep again.

Lin Zhengran figured the cold medicine had probably taken effect. Combined with the fact that she had not slept for several days, she was now only half-awake.

Lin Zhengran sat beside her and opened the dinner he had bought, eating it himself.

But after only a few bites, he noticed that Han Wenwen's hand had caught the corner of his clothes again. Her brow was furrowed, as though she were searching for something in her dreams.

Her curled-up sleeping posture and the pained expression caused by her illness had stripped away all of the fox's usual disguises.

What remained was the most primal expression of her feelings, like a little creature abandoned by its mother in the forest, helpless, alone, and unable to find its way.

Lin Zhengran slowly took hold of her panicked hand.

The tension on Han Wenwen's face visibly eased into peace and happiness. She clasped Lin Zhengran's hand in return and slept even more sweetly.

The hours after taking medicine were when she was least conscious.

From being half-asleep at first, she gradually began mumbling in her sleep.

As Lin Zhengran ate dinner, he quietly listened beside her. It was all information he normally would never have been able to pry out of her.

Including how her mother had not wanted her back then, and how she had accidentally overheard Aunt and Uncle arguing about her during the last winter break.

And why Han Wenwen had made everyone in class think Lin Zhengran had a girlfriend.

She said, "Actually, I did it on purpose—the part where everyone in class thinks I'm your girlfriend. At first, I really only wanted to keep an eye on you for Little Qing Qing, but later on, I found myself more and more willing to hang around you. When everyone said I was your girlfriend, I didn't hate it at all..."

"I even felt happy when I heard them say it. I could have explained to everyone that we had nothing to do with each other, but I didn't, because I didn't even know what I was thinking. I didn't know when exactly I started... liking you."

Lin Zhengran slowed his chewing and looked disdainfully at the fox.

What was she talking about? Her liking him was way too ridiculous.

Han Wenwen tightened her grip on Lin Zhengran's hand and continued talking to herself.

"Maybe I liked you back when we were at the bus stop. After all, from the first time I saw you, I treated you like my boyfriend. Only you knew what I was really thinking... It was all that damned Lianxin Festival's fault. It made me care more and more about you, made me more and more curious about you... until I realized that I really had started to like you a little."

"Lianxin Festival?" Lin Zhengran asked curiously. "What's the Lianxin Festival?"

Han Wenwen began mumbling other things in her sleep again, talking about her childhood.

So Lin Zhengran simply took out his phone and searched Baidu Lady for what kind of holiday the Lianxin Festival was.

After reading Baidu Baike's explanation, he was surprised. "A festival for praying for marriage fate? How old is this fox?"

He was helpless. This was why kids should not go wandering around every festival when they had nothing better to do. Especially when they were all still underage—why were they copying adults and praying for marriage fate? Just making trouble for themselves.

After some more time passed, Han Wenwen suddenly opened her eyes as though she had woken up. Her first words were, "Student Lin Zhengran? Did you leave?"

Lin Zhengran looked at her while playing with his phone. "Not yet. You're awake?"

Han Wenwen groggily and slowly climbed up, only to realize that she did not know where her other hand had gone. When she turned her head, she discovered that Lin Zhengran was holding it.

Her face reddened slightly. She quickly pulled her hand back, then clutched the blanket with both hands and retreated to the corner by the wall, staring at him in flustered panic.

"I'm scared~ Why is Student Lin Zhengran holding my hand? What do you want?"

Lin Zhengran was utterly speechless. "Do you think I wanted to? You kept tugging at my clothes after you fell asleep. I couldn't take it anymore, so I had to restrain your hand."

Han Wenwen blinked adorably, her mind not fully recovered yet. "Is that so?"

She argued her case. "Even so, you can't just hold a girl's hand." She looked at Lin Zhengran with contempt. "Student Lin Zhengran really isn't a good person~ You took the first time of someone else's hand."

"What kind of messed-up analogy is that, Han Wenwen? Is something wrong with you?" Lin Zhengran came to his senses. "Oh, right, there really is something wrong with you right now. You're seriously sick."

Han Wenwen blanked out for a while, then got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. "I'm going to the bathroom. I can't hold it anymore. Student Lin Zhengran, don't peek."

Lin Zhengran did not consider the current Han Wenwen a normal person.

After saying that, she suddenly opened the door again and looked at him. "Oh, right. Cover your ears too. I'm going to pee."

Lin Zhengran: "."

Unbelievable.

"Quickly." Han Wenwen stared at him. "I can't hold it anymore."

Lin Zhengran had no choice but to cover his ears for show. After getting sick, Han Wenwen really wasn't much different from an ordinary girl.

Only after seeing him cover his ears did Little Fox feel at ease enough to lock the door and use the bathroom. Afterward, she lay flat on the bed again.

Staring at the ceiling, she said, "I'm so sleepy. My head hurts so much..."

Lin Zhengran handed her dinner. "Since you're awake, eat something and take your medicine. You'll probably be clear-headed by tomorrow morning."

Then she would realize all the ridiculous things she had said.

Han Wenwen's fox eyes fixed on him. Being sick had made her speak and act without thinking. "Classmate Lin Zhengran, why are you so handsome? Those boys always used to say I was pretty and that they liked me. I never understood what they meant, but after seeing you, I finally do... I want to keep you all to myself."

Lin Zhengran sighed. "Are you eating or not?"

Han Wenwen suddenly looked aggrieved. "Why are you being mean to me? I didn't do anything to you~ Call me Wenwen, and I'll eat."

Lin Zhengran wanted to flip the table.

"Eat or don't!"

Biting her lip, Han Wenwen suddenly turned over and faced away from him. "You're so mean. I don't want to talk to you." After a while, she clutched her head again. "My head hurts so much."

With the mindset of not arguing with a patient or a child, Lin Zhengran still held the dinner and medicine in his hands. "Eat up. After you take the medicine, move over a little and leave me some room. Do you think I don't need sleep at night?"

Han Wenwen did not respond.

Lin Zhengran reluctantly said, "Wenwen."

Han Wenwen turned back to look at him in surprise, then suddenly smiled shyly. "I didn't hear that clearly."

His temper flared, and Lin Zhengran gave her a head flick. At last, she behaved herself, obediently eating, taking her medicine, and lying back down.

She had called Lin Zhengran a bad person when she woke up, yet once she fell asleep, she tried to hold his hand again. Lin Zhengran placed a pillow between them to separate their bodies, but she actually tried to reach for him over the pillow.

He could only dodge.

Han Wenwen continued groping around. "Where's your hand?"

"No hand. I don't have hands."

"Nonsense. Classmate Lin Zhengran isn't a fish, so how could you not have hands? Where are they?"

"I just don't." Irritated, he felt Han Wenwen feeling around on his arm. "You stinking fox, take your hand off my arm! I told you, I don't have any!"

"Why are you so mean? You're even calling me names."

"Stinking fox! I'll call you whatever I want!"

Certain Person had no idea how he safely made it through that exhausting night with this fox.

By the next morning, dawn had broken, and Han Wenwen's fever had subsided considerably. But when she woke up, turned her head, and saw Lin Zhengran's sleeping face beyond the pillow, everything that had happened after her fever set in the day before gradually returned to her mind.

Her face instantly flushed red. She stared at him in panic, blushing more fiercely than she ever had in her life.

What did I even do after getting that fever yesterday...?