CSGM - Chapter 120
Chapter 120: A Dazed Roe Deer
Just as the morning light shone into the hallway, the elevator suddenly dinged, stopping on the fourth floor.
In her peripheral vision, the elevator doors began to slowly open. Ren Zhi's pupils dilated. Caught off guard, she was suddenly spurred into action. She pushed past Chu Xi, grabbed her hand, and quickly pulled her toward her apartment.
Ren Zhi dragged Chu Xi inside as if fleeing for her life, and Chu Xi had no time to react. Her heel caught on the threshold.
Her entire body pitched forward, and she would have fallen flat on her face if she hadn't managed to grab the shoe cabinet in the entryway.
From the sudden jolt, Chu Xi's vision swam, and her head felt heavy.
She shook her head, but the dizziness remained. Footsteps approached from down the hall, accompanied by the sound of her assistant, Xiao He, muttering to herself.
"Huh... it looks like the door is open. You guys wait a second."
As Xiao He got closer, Ren Zhi turned to see Chu Xi bent over, leaning on the shoe cabinet, her face an unnatural shade of red. It was only then that she suddenly realized-
Not only had her wrist felt scorching hot when Chu Xi held it, but now, as she held Chu Xi, she realized the temperature of her skin didn't seem right either.
Realizing something was wrong, Ren Zhi quickly turned back to help Chu Xi up, her voice urgent. "What's wrong? Are you sick?"
Chu Xi shook her head. She lifted her reddened, watery eyes to look at Ren Zhi, her voice suddenly weak.
"I don't know... my head feels a little..."
Before she could get the word "dizzy" out, her vision suddenly went black, and all her strength seemed to vanish.
In the last second before she lost consciousness, she tried to struggle-
She hadn't even heard Ren Zhi's answer yet, she...
She fainted.
As Chu Xi's body slumped toward the floor, Ren Zhi instinctively caught her, preventing a loud thud.
The moment she touched Chu Xi's forehead, Ren Zhi was speechless.
-She was burning up like this and didn't even realize it?
When Xiao He reached the doorway, she saw Ren Zhi holding up Chu Xi, who was hanging limply on her like a giant new teddy bear Sister Zhi had just brought home.
Ren Zhi had no time to explain. She said to Xiao He, "Have them wait a minute before coming in."
With that, she lifted Chu Xi and carried her to the bed.
Xiao He stared at the roses by the entryway door and the sparkling diamond ring inside, blinking her eyes.
She remembered, today was Valentine's Day...
Roses, a ring.
Eh...?!
However, Valentine's Day didn't interrupt Ren Zhi's work schedule. She had a photoshoot for an endorsement in the morning, and she was scheduled to return to the set in the afternoon to continue filming.
The makeup and styling team had come to her home this morning to do her makeup.
Now, the makeup artists were waiting at the door, unsure of what to do.
Thinking on her feet, Xiao He's mind raced. She ran into the apartment, grabbed the bouquet of roses, and scurried to hide it in the bedroom before coming back out to invite the styling team inside.
During the makeup trial, Ren Zhi was restless and distracted.
She said, "A friend of mine is sick and resting in my home. Xiao He, go to the bedroom and check on her for me. See if she's feeling any better?"
Just a moment ago, Chu Xi had looked flushed and her eyes were so bright, you really couldn't tell she had a fever.
But in reality, Ren Zhi realized her eyes had been red from the fever. She almost had to laugh at how clueless they both were.
She hadn't noticed Chu Xi was sick, which meant her own brain was blocked. But she never expected Chu Xi's brain to be even more blocked-how could she not feel that she was unwell?
Ren Zhi couldn't help but worry, repeatedly checking her phone to see how long Xiao He had been in the bedroom.
Seven minutes later, Xiao He returned, having already taken Chu Xi's temperature.
Xiao He looked a little worried. "Her temperature is a bit high, 39 degrees."
Ren Zhi frowned. "There's medicine in the first-aid kit. Mix a packet for her."
"Oh, okay!" Xiao He hurried off again.
It was no use. Ren Zhi couldn't put her mind at ease. She asked the makeup artist to pause for a few minutes so she could go check.
Ren Zhi quickly returned to the bedroom. She had taken off Chu Xi's coat earlier and draped it over the back of a chair. Now, Chu Xi was lying in bed under the covers, her face completely flushed.
She touched Chu Xi's hand; it was covered in a cold sweat, as if she'd caught a chill during the night.
Thinking about Xiao He saying her fever was 39 degrees, Ren Zhi was exasperated. She couldn't fathom where all that energy from earlier had come from.
She reached out and touched her lips. Though they looked glossy from the lip glaze, they already felt dry and dehydrated after just a short time lying down.
Just then, Xiao He returned, stirring the fever medicine. She stood by the bed with the cup and looked at Ren Zhi.
Then she looked at Chu Xi.
She asked hesitantly, "Sister Zhi, are you going to give it to her?"
"Give it to me."
Ren Zhi took the medicine and tasted it to check the temperature.
Seeing her sip the medicine, Xiao He blinked, and a sudden realization dawned on her.
"I'll head out then. I won't watch."
As she left the bedroom, she thoughtfully closed the door behind her, silently imagining a scene from a TV drama where someone feeds medicine mouth-to-mouth.
Ren Zhi stared at the door: "..."
Xiao He was overthinking things.
She set the cup aside and tried to wake Chu Xi.
Chu Xi groggily forced her eyes open and looked at her with difficulty. She struggled to make a sound.
-After a sleepless night, it seemed she had no strength left. She couldn't even keep her eyelids open for a moment before drifting off again, let alone say a single word.
Before passing out again, Chu Xi couldn't understand why her stamina was suddenly so poor.
Ren Zhi helped her sit up, called her name twice, and brought the cup to her lips.
"Chu Xi, drink the medicine before you go back to sleep."
"Wake up... be good."
Chu Xi dazedly drank the medicine, and Ren Zhi wiped the residue from the corner of her mouth with her fingertip.
The world was spinning in Chu Xi's unfocused, weak eyes. She was seeing stars and wanted to say she felt dizzy.
Suddenly, she started to feel chills all over her body.
But before she could speak, Ren Zhi said helplessly, "You have a fever."
Chu Xi stared at her blankly: ".........?"
Like a dazed roe deer that had just run into a tree.
Ren Zhi told her to lie back down, tucked her in, and said:
"Get some rest. I've already asked for a day off from the set for you."
Chu Xi's fingers twitched on the bed. She wanted to touch her, but she couldn't even lift her hand. She watched Ren Zhi's swaying figure walk away, and a moment later, she couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep.
Damn it...!
This time, Chu Xi cursed inwardly before she passed out.
Two hours later, Ren Zhi's makeup and styling for the commercial shoot were complete.
She went back to the bedroom to check on Chu Xi. She had sweated through her shirt, soaking the bedsheets, but she was sleeping soundly and seemed to be recovering on her own.
Ren Zhi instructed Xiao He, "You don't need to come with me. Stay here with her. If she wakes up, make sure she drinks plenty of hot water. I'll be back at noon."
Xiao He nodded firmly, as if she had just been entrusted with a great responsibility. "Okay!"
Another two hours passed. Xiao He diligently stood guard by the bedside, not moving an inch except to use the restroom.
Chu Xi hadn't stirred in her sleep. Xiao He checked her temperature with a thermometer and changed the wet towel on her forehead several times.
The other three of the Four Little Flowers had already heard a detailed account of the morning's events in their group chat.
At eleven-thirty, Ren Zhi hurriedly opened the door, changed her shoes, and ran back to the bedroom. Xiao He stood up the moment she heard her.
Ren Zhi immediately looked toward the bed. Xiao He took the initiative to report, "The fever's gone down a little."
Ren Zhi touched Chu Xi's forehead. Xiao He added, "It's 38.4 degrees now."
Ren Zhi sat down, letting out a sigh of relief.
Xiao He looked at the white dress Ren Zhi was still wearing from her outing and reminded her in a low voice, "Sister, do you want to change your clothes first? I can keep watching here..."
Ren Zhi closed her eyes and let out a long breath. She remained seated. "I'm going to rest for a bit."
God knows how impatient she had been with her work these past two hours.
She couldn't wait to fly back and see if this person was any better.
Thankfully, having the trustworthy Xiao He here had put her mind at ease.
"Sister, um... should I bring the flowers over for you?" Xiao He asked earnestly, glancing at the bouquet she had hidden behind the door.
"No need." Ren Zhi sounded surprisingly unexcited.
Xiao He asked, puzzled, "Is Sister Xi pursuing you?"
Ren Zhi glanced at her. "You saw everything anyway. Yes, Xiao He. Don't tell anyone."
Xiao He nodded 'mhm, mhm.' She knew that, but she was curious. "Sister, will you accept?"
To be honest, the first time she heard rumors about Sister Zhi and Chu Xi was when they were on the reality show Our Restaurant.
Back then, all Four Little Flowers were quite worried, hoping Sister Zhi wouldn't be led astray.
Especially by Chu Xi... hmm? Who was she? Oh, just some illiterate, unknown nobody.
Pfft! Go away!
But things were different now. Xiao He's feelings, which were largely shared by the other three, were a mix of surprise and a sense that it was somehow reasonable.
It was just... they didn't seem to be very resistant to Sister Xi anymore.
Even if Sister Zhi really did say yes, it seemed like it would be okay.
It might even be a happy occasion...
The only thing was, she didn't know Sister Zhi's attitude. All she could see was that Sister Xi really liked her sister and was in the middle of a fierce pursuit!
Xiao Ju had said the same thing the other day.
Xiao He boldly asked, "Sister, do you like Sister Xi?"
Ren Zhi looked at her, her expression unreadable as she asked back, "What do you all think?"
Xiao He touched her nose, then her ear, then scratched her cheek...
"We don't know what kind of 'like' it is..."
Meaning, she definitely liked her; that much was obvious.
But whether it was the kind of 'like' that meant accepting roses was unclear.
Besides... Xiao He knew in her heart that Sister Zhi was someone who loved, loved her work.
Her status as a celebrity was almost always the top priority in her life and work.
She just didn't know where Sister Xi would rank.
Sure enough, Sister Zhi actually asked her:
"Do you think I can be in a relationship?"
Ren Zhi asked this very seriously, her tone cold and realistic. Xiao He was stunned.
Could she? She didn't know. Could she? She didn't know. Could she? She didn't know...
Xiao He lowered her head, secretly thinking about what had happened to the last top-tier celebrity who had boldly announced their relationship.
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