Fang Lele woke to the aroma of food.
He opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling and froze for a moment before remembering that he had come to Capital City.
"You're up?"
The bedroom door wasn't shut all the way, so Cheng Yue, who had been keeping an ear out for him, easily heard the movement inside.
"Still feeling unwell?"
Looking at Cheng Yue, who was back to his usual self, Fang Lele pressed his lips together and shook his head.
Cheng Yue opened the curtains, then turned back to the bed and felt his forehead. "Your fever's gone. Go wash up, then come eat."
Everything had been too rushed last night, so he had only had him take a quick shower.
While he slept, Cheng Yue had ordered new toiletries and put them in the bathroom.
With the hot, soft towel pressed against his face, Fang Lele took a deep breath and stood still for a long time.
When he came out again and saw the simple egg dumpling soup on the dining table, his nose suddenly stung.
He remembered how, whenever he had been sick growing up, his mother would make a pot of piping-hot dumpling soup and tell him it would help him get better faster.
But now, he had no idea how long it would take to recover from the kind of sickness that made his chest ache.
Fang Lele kept his head down and silently drank half a bowl. Warmth immediately spread through his stomach, making yesterday's chill outside the military compound feel all the colder.
"Cheng Yue, I want to go home."
Cheng Yue had been watching him in silence. At those words, he had been about to make a couple of barbed remarks, but the moment Fang Lele looked up, he swallowed them