Wen Ning and Lu Ming only returned to their lodgings as dawn approached. Their souls slipped back into their bodies, and both collapsed headfirst.
Wen Ning fared better. Lu Ming flopped straight onto his bed without even changing, apparently too drained to bother.
He kept muttering one thing.
"If I keep floating around like this, I'll turn into a kite sooner or later."
Then he fell asleep.
They slept until noon.
Hunger woke Lu Ming, and he headed to the kitchen with his hair sticking up like a bird's nest.
Wen Ning was already sitting at the table, two steaming bowls of noodles in front of him.
"You're up? Dig in. Siyu just made these."
Wen Ning spoke to Lu Ming between bites.
Lu Ming sat down, ate a couple of mouthfuls, then suddenly looked up.
"Wen Ning, what do you think Lin Dagang should do about all that money he owes?"
Wen Ning's chopsticks paused.
"That's something he has to handle himself."
Lu Ming murmured an acknowledgment and asked nothing more, lowering his head to keep eating.
Over at the hospital,
after Lin Dagang woke, the doctor examined him and said he was out of danger. His body was still weak, though, and he would need time to recover.
Xiao Rou spent the whole morning running around taking care of things. Her eyes were still red, but she never stopped smiling.
Around noon, Xiao Rou's younger sister brought Lin Dagang's daughter, Duoduo, over.
The moment Duoduo entered the ward, she rushed to the bed and called out in her sweet little voice.
"Daddy! Daddy, you're awake!"
Lin Dagang still couldn't move much. He only reached out to rub her hair, his voice slightly hoarse after so long without speaking.
"I'm awake. Daddy slept for too long."
Duoduo climbed up