Gu Yue Goes Berserk

Gu Yue was jolted awake by a sharp, stabbing pain.

The pain did not come from her hungover head, but from deep in her lower abdomen, as though a rusty iron hook were twisting inside her. It came with a heavy, dragging sensation, each wave stronger than the last. She curled up on the sofa, her blanket slipping to the floor as a fine layer of cold sweat formed on her forehead.

"Hiss—" She sucked in a sharp breath and instinctively pressed a hand to her lower abdomen.

Tang Wulin, who had been dozing off, immediately became alert and grabbed hold of her. "What's wrong? Is your headache acting up again?"

"No... my stomach. My stomach hurts." Gu Yue's voice trembled, and her face was as pale as paper. The effects of that "poison soup" seemed to have been infinitely magnified. The urge to keep running to the bathroom had turned into pure, unbearable cramping. "It... it seems to hurt even more than before."

Tang Wulin immediately placed a hand on her forehead. It was ice-cold to the touch. "Do you have a fever? Was there really something wrong with that soup?" His voice was filled with panic and overwhelming guilt.

"Obviously! Isn't it because of you—" Gu Yue wanted to curse him out, but another burst of agony hit her, making her hunch over instantly. Her words caught in her throat, leaving only ragged breaths.

Seeing her bite her lips white from the pain, Tang Wulin did not dare delay any longer. He grabbed a coat and wrapped it around Gu Yue, then practically half-carried, half-dragged her into the elevator. The streets were deserted in the middle of the night.

Along the way, Gu Yue was in too much pain to sit steadily, curling up in the passenger seat. Tang Wulin kept one hand firmly on the steering wheel and gripped her hand tightly with the other, both of their palms slick with sweat.

"Hang in there, honey. We're almost there."

The emergency room lights were always glaringly pale.

After registration, triage, blood tests, an ultrasound, and a series of headache-inducing procedures, Gu Yue and Tang Wulin finally sat in the doctor's office at two in the morning. The doctor adjusted his glasses, looked at the test results in his hand, then at Gu Yue, who was bent over in pain, and delivered his diagnosis.

"Acute cystitis, accompanied by urinary tract irritation. Put simply, your... urinary system is infected and inflamed."

The moment the doctor finished speaking, the air in the examination room froze.

Gu Yue: "..."

Tang Wulin: "..."

Gu Yue abruptly looked up, her face burning hot with equal parts embarrassment and fury. "Inflamed? How could it be inflamed?"

The doctor calmly explained, "Women have shorter urethras and are naturally prone to ascending infections. Have you been drinking too little water lately, sitting for too long, staying up late, or drinking alcohol? Especially you, sir." The doctor gave Tang Wulin a meaningful glance. "That 'hangover remedy' you gave her had overly complex ingredients and was highly irritating. It was very likely the trigger."

Tang Wulin shrank his neck and did not dare make a sound.

"Do I need to be hospitalized?" Gu Yue asked shakily, already sensing something ominous.

"I recommend staying in the hospital for observation and treatment for a few days. Your inflammation markers are elevated, and you are in severe pain right now. You need an IV to reduce the inflammation. If necessary, we may need to catheterize you to relieve the symptoms."

"Stay... stay in the hospital?" Gu Yue's voice suddenly shot up. Her expression instantly shifted from embarrassment to despair. "Doctor, can't I just take medicine? Do I really have to be hospitalized?"

"The IV treatment will work better, and you need bed rest. Moving around frequently will not help your recovery," the doctor said matter-of-factly.

Gu Yue felt her vision go dark. What did hospitalization mean? It meant taking leave, losing pay, and handing over the salary she had worked so hard to earn this month before she had even gotten to enjoy it! This was not being sick. This was a countdown to bankruptcy!

"Yes! She absolutely needs to stay!" Tang Wulin declared decisively from the side, afraid the doctor might change his mind. "Doctor, please arrange a private room for her. Somewhere quiet, so she can rest properly."

Gu Yue felt like strangling him.

To Gu Yue, the admission process was a long, drawn-out torture.

Looking at the numbers on the bill, her heart bled. Every zero was like a blade carving away at her flesh. "Tang Wulin, my salary... my Huabei..."

"It's fine, it's fine. I have money. I'll pay." Tang Wulin frantically swiped his card, trying to soothe this money leopard on the verge of exploding.

"That's not the same thing!" Gu Yue gritted her teeth. "That's my hard-earned money for the whole month! It's gone!"

Fortunately, Tang Wulin still had some conscience. He paid directly with his own card and did not make her touch her "pitiful" savings of over fifty thousand yuan for the month. But that did not ease Gu Yue's inner collapse. Instead, it made her feel even more indebted to him. The complicated emotions left her radiating a low-pressure aura that warned strangers to stay away.

The room was a private ward at the end of the corridor. The environment was indeed nice—clean, tidy, and equipped with its own bathroom. But to Gu Yue, it felt more like a luxury prison cell.

A nurse came over to explain the admission procedures and inform her of the upcoming treatment plan.

"Miss Gu, based on your condition, we may need to insert an indwelling urinary catheter and perform bladder irrigation to relieve the bladder spasms and pain during urination."

"What?!" Gu Yue was leaning against the headboard and breathing oxygen to calm her nerves. Hearing that, she nearly failed to catch her breath. "A... a urinary catheter?!"

The nurse nodded expressionlessly. "Yes. It will temporarily drain your urine and reduce pressure on your bladder. Otherwise, you will keep hurting."

Gu Yue froze in place, her face turning the color of liver. She was someone who loved beauty and cleanliness, even if her hair was currently a mess. And now she had to have a tube inserted in a hospital? And walk around with it attached? This was simply the darkest moment of her life!

"Do I really have to have it inserted? Couldn't I... try taking medicine first?" Gu Yue clung to her last shred of hope.

The nurse remained professional. "I recommend cooperating with the treatment, or the pain will be difficult to relieve. You also have urinary retention right now. If you cannot urinate, it will be even more uncomfortable."

Gu Yue looked desperately at Tang Wulin, hoping the culprit would say something.

But Tang Wulin was nodding like mad. "Listen to the doctor! Listen to the doctor! Insert it! It absolutely has to be inserted!"

"Tang Wulin!" Gu Yue grabbed a pillow and hurled it at him. "This is all your fault! And you still dare agree?!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! But it's for your own good!" Tang Wulin shouted while dodging. "Honey, endure it for now and everything will be fine. Once it's in, it won't hurt anymore!"

"Get out!" Gu Yue buried her face in the blanket and let out a miserable cry.

After the nurse left, the ward fell into deathly silence.

Gu Yue faced away from Tang Wulin, curled beneath the blanket like a child who had suffered a terrible injustice. Tang Wulin stood by the bed, helplessly wanting to touch her but not daring to.

"Honey..." he called tentatively.

"Don't call me honey. I don't want to see you right now." Her muffled voice came from beneath the blanket, thick with a nasal tone.

"Okay, okay. I won't." Tang Wulin sighed, pulled over a chair, and sat by the bed, gently patting the blanket. "Um... actually, getting a catheter isn't that scary. I heard lots of people have had one..."

"Shut up! Don't you dare say the word 'catheter'!" Gu Yue suddenly poked her head out from under the blanket, her eyes rimmed red. "Tang Wulin, do you know what this means? It means I'll have to live in its shadow for the rest of my life! Every time I think of that bowl of soup in the future, I'll think of today! And I'll remember that my dear husband personally sent me to the hospital!"

"I swear to heaven, I only wanted to sober you up. Who knew it would turn out like this..." Tang Wulin muttered aggrievedly.

"You still dare talk back?" Gu Yue was so angry that she was about to hit him again, but a cramp in her lower abdomen instantly drained her strength. She collapsed onto the bed, tears of pain seeping from the corners of her eyes. "It hurts... it really hurts... I don't want a catheter... it's too embarrassing..."

Seeing her in such pain broke Tang Wulin's heart. He said nothing more, lifted one corner of the blanket, and lay down beside her. He gently wrapped his arms around her from behind, his large hand softly massaging circles over her lower abdomen, just as he had done on the sofa earlier.

"Be good. Don't be afraid, I'm here." His voice was low and gentle, carrying a strange calming power. "I'll stay with you the whole time they insert it. Just close your eyes, and you won't be afraid. And it's only for a few days. Once you're better, we'll go home, okay?"

"Really?"

"Really. When have I ever lied to you?" Though I really did trick her into drinking that soup this time.

Gu Yue's body gradually relaxed. Perhaps she was exhausted from the pain, or perhaps Tang Wulin's embrace was too warm, but her tightly wound nerves slowly loosened.

"Tang Wulin."

"Yeah?"

"If you dare tell anyone about this, I'll castrate you."

"...Don't worry. It'll be absolutely confidential. This stays buried with us."

"And you have to cover all the hospital expenses. You are not allowed to touch a single cent of my salary."

"I'll cover it! All of it! Forget the hospital bills—I'll even cover your spending money from now on!"

Gu Yue said nothing more. She merely found a comfortable position in his arms, her eyelids beginning to droop. After a night of pain, anger, embarrassment, and frustration, she was completely exhausted.

The second before she fell fully asleep, she thought drowsily: This damned hospital, this damned illness, and this damned Huoxiang Zhengqi Liquid...

Forget it. Seeing how sincere he was—and how much it hurt his wallet—she would forgive him this once.