A guide to feelings

Lin Yu took his temperature with a thermometer: [37.8], a low-grade fever. After calling the manager to ask for sick leave, he prepared to go to the hospital alone.

"Cough, cough, cough-! I feel awful..."

With his mask on and clothes in place, Lin Yu dragged his somewhat heavy body toward the door, only to hear a voice behind him just as he was about to leave.

"Lin Yu, what are you going out for?" The speaker was Firefly, who had just woken up.

"I'm sick, so I need to go to the hospital. Cough, cough, cough-!"

Still groggy a moment earlier, Firefly snapped fully awake upon hearing that he was sick and seeing his haggard face. She rushed over and began feeling all over him.

"What's wrong? Where do you feel unwell? Does anything hurt?"

"Wait!" Lin Yu caught Firefly's small hands, trying to make her stop. "It's just a fever. Don't be so nervous."

Seeing Firefly settle down, Lin Yu let go of her hands. "All right, I'm off to the hospital. Be good and stay home. Don't go running around."

Having given her those instructions, Lin Yu was about to leave when Firefly grabbed him.

"No!"

He looked at Firefly's face, which bore an unmistakably angry expression. "Why should you go all by yourself? I'm coming too!"

Without giving Lin Yu a chance to speak, Firefly pulled him back and sat him down, then went into her room to change quickly. She walked up to him, turned around, and crouched down.

"Come on, I'll carry you!"

Lin Yu felt she was being a little overprotective. "It's just a fever. I'm not so sick I can't walk yet."

At that, Firefly stood up and said, "Then... all right. If I'm not carrying you, let me help you walk."

Lin Yu thought, Isn't that still the same thing? It's just helping me walk instead of carrying me.

Despite that thought, Lin Yu did not refuse. After all, she meant well, and refusing again would be a little rude. Besides, he could tell that Firefly was genuinely angry this time.

He took a brand-new, unopened mask out of the cabinet and put it on Firefly to keep her from catching it, then left the house with her supporting him.

They took a taxi to the nearest hospital, registered, and went in to see a doctor.

After asking some questions and examining him, the doctor reached a conclusion. "A prolonged irregular sleep schedule weakened your immune system, and getting caught in the rain on top of that led to a fever and a respiratory tract infection. But it isn't serious. Just take some medicine and get plenty of rest. Also, stay up late less often and adjust your sleep schedule."

Hearing that it was nothing serious, Firefly, who had been rather tense, relaxed a little.

Lin Yu said, "Cough, cough. All right, thank you, doctor."

Beside him, Firefly bowed, then helped Lin Yu out of the consultation room.

After paying and collecting the medicine, the two returned home. Firefly helped Lin Yu into his bedroom, settled him into bed, and covered him with the quilt.

Lin Yu said, "Cough, cough. Firefly, sorry for the trouble..."

Firefly shook her head to indicate that it was no trouble, then said seriously, "From now on, you have to tell me whenever you're sick. You're not allowed to hide it from me, understood?!"

"All right, all right. I understand."

Only after Lin Yu agreed did Firefly's usual smile return. "Okay, get some rest. I'll make you something to eat."

With that, Firefly left the room and gently closed the door.

Seeing that Firefly had gone out, Lin Yu closed his eyes for a nap. Recalling how angry she had looked that morning, he still felt a little scared.

He could tell that her previous displays of anger had all been in jest, rather than genuine anger. After all, they had spent some time together, and he knew her temperament.

But this time, he could tell that Firefly was truly, genuinely angry, and very angry at that.

Still... the corners of Lin Yu's mouth curved up slightly, and he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Outside the room, Firefly held her phone, fretting over what someone should eat when sick.

After searching online for ages, she now had the following options: mung bean congee, lily bulb and snow pear soup, and steamed egg custard.

She thought all of them sounded good, but she did not know which to choose. She wanted to ask Lin Yu if there was anything he wanted to eat, but when she peeked through the gap in the door, she saw that he was already asleep.

Just as she was scratching her head over this, a solution suddenly occurred to her.

Why am I agonizing over which one to make? Can't I just make them all?

But since they did not have some of the ingredients at home, she still had to go out and buy them.

No sooner decided than done! She put on her hat and shoes and headed straight out!

Arriving at the market she often visited, she saw at a glance that far fewer stalls were open than before. Perhaps because it was noon, most people had gone to eat lunch, leaving only a small number still there.

Even so, she still had to look, because Lin Yu's meals were in her hands!

Effort paid off, and after some searching, she managed to gather all the ingredients.

Okay, time to go home and make Lin Yu something to eat!

"Oh, young lady, long time no see! Do you still remember me?"

"Yes, Auntie Liu, of course I remember."

On her way home, Firefly happened to run into Auntie Liu from the parcel station. Since they were heading the same way, they walked back together.

As they chatted along the way, Firefly learned that Auntie Liu had come to buy lunch. Auntie Liu also learned that Firefly had come to buy groceries to make something nourishing for Lin Yu because he was sick.

At the mention of this, Firefly recalled what had happened that morning, and an angry expression appeared on her face again.

Puzzled by this, Auntie Liu asked, "Young lady, who upset you? Why such a sour face?"

Perhaps because she had not had an opportunity to vent before, the moment Auntie Liu asked, Firefly told her everything that had happened.

After hearing Firefly's account, Auntie Liu simply kept laughing behind her hand.

This dispelled the anger Firefly had felt just a moment ago. "Auntie Liu, why are you laughing?"

Once she had laughed enough, Auntie Liu said, "I'm laughing because you're acting this way without understanding your own feelings."

"Not understanding my own feelings?"

"That's right. Tell me, do you like him?"

"Like him? I don't know." Firefly herself had no real concept of liking someone. She had often seen it in the various films and shows she had watched, but even after watching so many, she still did not know what liking someone actually meant.

"Then think about what was going through your mind at the time."

Firefly thought about it. "Hmm... at the time, I just felt really angry that he actually wanted to go alone without telling me. And I was worried, afraid something might happen to him."

"Exactly! Isn't that liking him?" Auntie Liu's sudden exclamation made Firefly start. "Auntie Liu, you startled me!"

"Sorry, sorry. I got carried away for a moment."

Once she had recovered, Firefly returned to their previous topic. "Auntie Liu, you're saying this means I like him?"

"Yes. Listen, young lady, your Auntie Liu may be a little old, but I still keep up with the times!"

"These days, if you don't like someone and you're not even related, how could you possibly be so considerate toward them and treat them so well?"

Auntie Liu patted Firefly on the shoulder and said earnestly, "People are emotional creatures. A lot of the time, it's your feelings that guide your actions."

"So when you care about someone as much as you do, you either have an ulterior motive or you genuinely like them."

Auntie Liu's words, worthy of a guide to feelings, made an enormous contribution to the development of Firefly's emotional understanding.

Firefly thought, So I like Lin Yu?