Ji Hanchuan opened the door.
He frowned. "What are you doing here?"
"I brought my husband a late-night snack." Shi Wei held the food up beside his cheek. The container was bigger than his head, demonstrating his immense sincerity.
Ji Hanchuan took it disdainfully. "You've delivered it. You can leave now."
Shi Wei rubbed his stomach. "But I haven't eaten yet."
Ji Hanchuan fell silent for two seconds. "Delivering yourself along with the food?"
Shi Wei suddenly remembered what Ma Xianbei had said: the people looking to "rehearse scenes" with Ji Hanchuan could fill an entire train.
Holy shit, was he getting the wrong idea about me?
Even if my prank on Mo Xingyu ended up getting Ji Hanchuan instead, surely I didn't have to atone with my body?
"Shi Wei?" Ji Hanchuan saw him spacing out.
Shi Wei raised his head dazedly, his eyes frightened. "Huh?"
-"You actually dared to meet another man behind my back? Is my whip not long enough, or is my rod not big enough? Looks like I'll have to teach you a lesson today!"
Ji Hanchuan: ...
What kind of nonsense was this idiot thinking about now?
He simply dragged Shi Wei inside. "Eat it yourself."
Shi Wei sat on the sofa and took out all the food. "Honey, eat with me."
"No, thanks."
Shi Wei leaned closer. "Were you feeling unwell? Is that why you came straight back without swimming?"
"I'm not..." Ji Hanchuan's gaze shifted, his attention moving from his tablet to Shi Wei. "You brought food up because you thought I wasn't feeling well?"
"Yep."
Ji Hanchuan couldn't tell how much sincerity there was in his motives, but he heard something else amiss. "What's wrong with your voice?"
Shi Wei couldn't hear it at all. "Does my voice sound especially lovely?"
"Especially clogged."
Shi Wei: ...
Ji Hanchuan walked over and touched his forehead. It wasn't very hot.
He found his phone and called Li Xiaochen, asking him to bring some medicine up.
"I'm not sick." Shi Wei touched his own forehead too, but he couldn't feel any difference at all.
"No, you're sick. It just happens to be a cold today."
"How could I possibly have a cold? I'll eat some barbecue right now to prove it!" Shi Wei also took the opportunity to recommend some food to Ji Hanchuan. "Honey, have a late-night snack too. Look, these pastries are really good... Achoo!"
A heavenly maiden scattering flowers.
Shi Wei froze, then looked up at Ji Hanchuan. "I think I really do have a cold."
Ji Hanchuan sighed silently and tossed a quilt over him.
Shi Wei obediently curled up inside it.
Li Xiaochen soon arrived with the medicine and found Shi Wei lying on the sofa.
"Good evening, colleague." Shi Wei weakly lifted his eyelids.
"Hello, colleague."
In just a few days, Shi Wei had already trained Li Xiaochen to develop formidable mental resilience. Nothing Shi Wei did could surprise him anymore.
"Brother Hanchuan, should I find him a doctor?"
"No doctor." Shi Wei rummaged through the medicine boxes. "I'll just take some medicine."
Ji Hanchuan told Li Xiaochen to go back and rest.
Li Xiaochen's mental resilience faced its first test. He asked in astonishment, "Brother Hanchuan, you're going to take care of him?"
"It's fine. Just take this food away while you're at it."
"Did Shi Wei bring all this?"
"Yes."
As Li Xiaochen tidied up, he was inwardly exploding: Aaaaaah!
Holy shit, holy shit!
Didn't Brother Hanchuan never, ever eat food from other people? Had he broken his own rule!?
After a shell-shocked Li Xiaochen left, Ji Hanchuan was left to face the sickly patient alone.
Shi Wei sat up wrapped in the quilt, pouring out granules and breaking pills free. "How did I catch a cold just from swimming?"
"Maybe this is the price of your prank."
Shi Wei gave him a feeble glare.
Ji Hanchuan helped prepare the granules and pills. Shi Wei pinched his nose and swallowed them, finally feeling a little better.
"Stay here for now. I'm going to shower."
"Mm..." Shi Wei fell back onto the sofa and closed his eyes, then suddenly opened them again. "Sorry. If you don't like it, I can go back to my room."
Ji Hanchuan said, "So you can tell Grandpa I left you to die?"
Shi Wei asked groggily, "Then why are you letting me stay?"
"Consider it my good deed."
Shi Wei laughed with his eyes closed, muttering, "Ji Hanchuan does good deeds too, huh..."
Ji Hanchuan: ...
Before going to bed, Ji Hanchuan touched Shi Wei's forehead again. It felt about the same.
He left a night-light on, but tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.
He wasn't quite used to having another person in the room.
Especially when that person's breathing was so heavy and congested.
Hmm? Heavy and congested?
Ji Hanchuan abruptly threw off his quilt and switched on the light.
Shi Wei was still curled into a ball. Ji Hanchuan went over and shook his shoulder. "Shi Wei, wake up."
Shi Wei lifted his heavy eyelids and said in a muffled, nasal voice, "A little cold."
Ji Hanchuan touched his face. He clearly had a fever, yet he said he was cold, and his whole body was trembling.
"I feel awful..." Shi Wei curled up tighter and tighter, as though he wished he could turn himself into a ball of cotton.
Ji Hanchuan poured a glass of warm water, found the fever reducers and cold medicine, and pulled him upright. "Get up and take your medicine first."
Shi Wei fell straight into his arms.
Having found a comfortable source of warmth, he even nuzzled against it, wrapping both arms around Ji Hanchuan's waist.
Ji Hanchuan very much wanted to throw him out. Only after repeatedly restraining himself did he keep from doing it. He pried Shi Wei's mouth open and stuffed the medicine inside, then lifted his chin to force him to swallow, just as though he were tricking a dog into taking medicine.
The process went smoothly, and Shi Wei successfully swallowed the medicine, but its bitterness made him want to gag.
Ji Zhazha's nightmare struck again. Ji Hanchuan reacted swiftly and gave him water. Shi Wei took a few sips, and droplets spilled from the corner of his mouth, dripping straight onto both of them.
"You really are a handful."
Ji Hanchuan murmured this as he supported Shi Wei and helped him onto his own bed.
However...
He couldn't put Shi Wei down.
Having found a heat source, Shi Wei refused to let go. Unable to control his strength while sick, he clung so tightly that Ji Hanchuan couldn't pry him off.
Shi Wei tightened his arms again and nuzzled his face against Ji Hanchuan's chest. "Mm, pec cuddles."
Ji Hanchuan: ...
This moron had to be doing it on purpose!
"You were angry today, weren't you?"
"What?" Ji Hanchuan looked down and met Shi Wei's eyes. They were dazed and a little unfocused. Ji Hanchuan couldn't hear anything.
Shi Wei repeated in a soft, muddled voice, "Ji Hanchuan was angry today, wasn't he..."
Ji Hanchuan paused, wanting to ask whether Shi Wei was lucid or delirious right now, only to find that he had already fallen straight asleep.
If he said "yes," could Shi Wei still hear him?
The next day, Shi Wei opened his eyes.
An unfamiliar ceiling...
Holy shit!
Shi Wei abruptly sat up, then suddenly felt that something wasn't quite right with his body.
He looked down and froze.
He was hugging a rolled-up quilt, his wrists crossed and bound with an expensive silk tie.
Holy fuck, what kind of premium kink was this!?
"Awake?"
Shi Wei looked toward the voice.
Ji Hanchuan sat elegantly at the desk, a cup of coffee in his hand, his posture languid.
A whole stream of holy shits floated through Shi Wei's mind.
Despite all my resistance, I'd still been forced aboard Ji Hanchuan's train, hadn't I?