The Art of Teasing - Chapter 99

Chapter 99

Wen Zhengyu had anticipated Ye Ling catching a cold, but she hadn't expected Ye Ling to suddenly spike such a high fever.

Ye Ling coming to stay at the Daoist temple, falling ill like this—it was all connected to her. If she just handed Ye Ling over to the bodyguards, it would be too callous, and she wouldn't feel at ease anyway. Besides, the weather was turning cold, and she hadn't brought enough clothes; she wasn't in any position to keep staying at the temple.

Wen Zhengyu called Wen Jing, who had been waiting outside, into the room and told her to notify Ma Jun and Ye Ling's bodyguards to pack up and leave immediately.

Wen Jing glanced at Ye Ling sleeping on the bed, nodded in acknowledgment, and turned to go out.

Wen Zhengyu hurriedly packed up her and Ye Ling's luggage, then saw Ye Ling sit up from the bed. Ye Ling was wearing only a thin knit top that offered no protection against the wind. She draped her own shawl over Ye Ling's shoulders.

That face, flushed bright red from the fever, was full of smiles, even her eyes curved up—she seemed very pleased.

She knew Ye Ling was happy because she was changing her plans for Ye Ling's sake.

Wen Zhengyu couldn't muster a trace of happiness. She had been staying quite comfortably at the temple when Ye Ling had come barging in to disturb her and then gotten sick. She really wanted to simply bundle Ye Ling up, hand her off to the bodyguards, and be done with it, but she couldn't quite bring herself to be so heartless. She had no choice but to take Ye Ling to the hospital first.

Ye Ling's fever had climbed past thirty-nine degrees. She had a touch of pneumonia, but nothing severe, not serious enough to require hospitalization.

The doctor prescribed three days of IV fluids. After they collected the medication, they were to take Ye Ling to the infusion room for the injection; they could leave right after. As for the next two days' IV treatments, they could come back to the hospital, go to a community clinic, or call a family doctor.

Ye Ling sensed that Wen Zhengyu was in a bad mood and didn't dare provoke her further. Combined with feeling dizzy and lethargic from the illness, she simply curled up into a ball in the car, closed her eyes to conserve her energy. Once at the hospital, the bodyguards handled registration and payment. Wen Zhengyu stayed by her side the whole time, and Ye Ling very sensibly cooperated with the doctor's and Wen Zhengyu's arrangements.

She was perpetually busy, often lacking rest and sleep, which weakened her immune system. Every so often she would get sick like this: take some cold medicine or get an IV, sleep deeply, rest for a couple of days, and she'd be fine. When emergencies came up, she'd pushed through illness many times before; this little cold was truly nothing. But the fact that her cold had successfully allowed Wen Zhengyu to leave the Daoist temple ahead of schedule was really an unexpected bonus.

She could see that Wen Zhengyu had genuinely wanted to stay at the temple, had even adapted to such poor food and lodging conditions. That made her feel very uneasy. She could roughly understand why Wen Zhengyu had such thoughts—it was evident from Wen Zhengyu's paintings—but she couldn't bear it. She truly couldn't bear it. The person she liked, she wanted to keep by her side and carefully nurture and protect, not leave to the whims of others.

Ye Ling lay quietly curled up beside Wen Zhengyu, lost in thought. That listless, feverish appearance made her look very frail.

Wen Zhengyu had always paid attention to her health and rarely got sick. The number of times she'd been ill since childhood could be counted on one hand. Whenever she did get sick, she would have unsettling dreams and feel very anxious and uneasy. As a child, she would cling to her grandparents for company. Later, when her grandmother was gone and her grandfather grew old, not wanting to worry him, and being an adult herself, she had no choice but to keep herself company regardless of whether she felt at ease or afraid.

She had been to Ye Ling's home and knew there wasn't even anyone to cook there. That enormous house held nothing but Ye Ling and a houseful of bodyguards. A house full of men, with Ye Ling the only woman; it wasn't really feasible to have bodyguards going in and out of Ye Ling's room to take care of her. Sick like this, if Ye Ling went home, aside from takeout, she probably wouldn't even have a hot meal to eat.

But then again, Ye Ling had brought this entire illness upon herself. Wen Zhengyu was extremely disinclined to sympathize with Ye Ling. She asked Ye Ling, "What plans do you have after the IV is done?"

Hearing Wen Zhengyu ask this, Ye Ling knew she was worried. She offered Wen Zhengyu a gentle smile and said, "Don't worry. After I go back, I'll get a good sleep, and I'll be better in a couple of days."

Wen Zhengyu asked, "Will you have food?"

Ye Ling said, "I'll have a restaurant prepare something and deliver it."

Wen Zhengyu hesitated, then reached out to touch Ye Ling's forehead. It was still burning hot.

She thought about Ye Ling being alone, without a single family member by her side, without any friends close enough to come take care of her. Well, she counted as one. But her relationship with Ye Ling was somewhat... ambiguous.

Seeing Wen Zhengyu's reaction, Ye Ling could almost guess what she was thinking. She smiled and asked, "Worried about me?"

Wen Zhengyu shook her head. "It's just a cold and fever. Nothing to worry about."

Ye Ling smiled again but said nothing more. She covered her mouth, coughed twice, and called a bodyguard over to buy her some water.

The bodyguard asked, "CEO Ye, cold or room temperature?"

Upon hearing this, Wen Zhengyu lifted her gaze and glanced at the bodyguard.

Ye Ling said, "Room temperature."

The bodyguard ran off and bought a bottle of room-temperature mineral water.

Ye Ling took the bottle, twisted open the cap, and took the medicine the doctor had prescribed. After swallowing the pills, she saw Wen Zhengyu staring at her, mouth half-open in astonishment. Puzzled, she asked, "What's wrong?"

Wen Zhengyu shook her head and said nothing.

Ye Ling looked at the mineral water in her hand and understood. The mineral water stocked in Wen Zhengyu's office and car was all imported, in glass bottles. She had probably never drunk this kind of two-yuan plastic-bottled mineral water you could buy anywhere.

After finishing the IV, Wen Zhengyu accompanied Ye Ling out of the infusion room. She said to Ye Ling, "If you don't mind, come stay at my place for a few days."

A smile Ye Ling couldn't suppress spread across her face. "Worried I won't have anyone to take care of me?"

Wen Zhengyu thought to herself: I'm worried your bodyguards will buy you boxed lunches. Never mind what oil and ingredients takeout food used or whether it was healthy—the takeout containers were either plastic or styrofoam. Eating from them too often was very bad for one's health.

She was utterly speechless at Ye Ling's quality of life. Even when she'd been dead broke, she hadn't lived the way Ye Ling did.

Wen Zhengyu brought Ye Ling back to her own home and told Sun Yuan to make some soup suitable for someone who was ill and prepare some meat congee.

She had originally thought to put Ye Ling in the guest courtyard, but it was entirely empty—not even a bed. Her second aunt's and eldest aunt's courtyards had been tidied up, and Wen Shiyi's courtyard had been tidied up too, but none of those three courtyards were appropriate for arranging Ye Ling's stay. Her own courtyard did have a room for Ye Ling, but it was a rest lounge, not a proper guest room. After considering, she settled Ye Ling in her own room. Besides the Babu Canopy Bed she slept in, the room also had an Arhat bed. She used to often read and do homework on the Arhat bed. If she removed the small table and spread bedding over it, it could be slept on.

After spending so much time with Ye Ling, Wen Zhengyu had long since dispensed with excessive courtesy. If she were truly being polite, she wouldn't have brought Ye Ling to stay in her own room. Since she had brought her here, she really didn't stand on ceremony. Coupled with her lingering displeasure, she decisively assigned Ye Ling to sleep on the Arhat bed.

Ye Ling truly hadn't expected she would get to sleep in the same room as Wen Zhengyu again. She was more than satisfied with Wen Zhengyu's arrangement. On top of that, after taking the cold medicine, she was groggy. Her whole body heavy with exhaustion and drowsiness, she lay down on the Arhat bed, hugged the soft silk quilt, and fell into a deep sleep.

Old Master Wen had gone out to attend a banquet and wouldn't be back until later. Ye Ling didn't look well either; she was coughing even in her sleep, and when spoken to, she seemed too dazed and bleary-eyed to respond. Wen Zhengyu ate lunch by herself first, then carried the meal back to her room. A bowl of millet congee, a cup of Adenophora and Solomon's Seal soup, plus a plate of stir-fried greens and a cold cucumber salad—all light, mild food.

Ye Ling sat at the round table with a blanket draped over her shoulders, head lowered, drinking the soup one spoonful at a time.

All these years, striving alone out in the world, whenever she got sick she would just sleep through it. When she woke, she'd have a bodyguard or assistant buy her a meal. If it was serious and she couldn't get up, a bodyguard or assistant would send her to the hospital to be admitted.

Being sick, having someone take care of you, having a hot meal to eat, a hot soup to drink—it felt wonderful.

She didn't have much appetite, but she finished all the soup, leaving some ginseng, meat, and medicinal ingredients in the cup.

Wen Zhengyu ladled half a bowl of congee for Ye Ling, letting her eat it with the small side dishes.

After finishing the congee, Ye Ling sighed contentedly and said to Wen Zhengyu, "I really want to marry you and bring you home."

Wen Zhengyu cast a flat look at the patient whose cheeks were flushed crimson from fever and handed over a tea cup, saying, "Rinse your mouth."

Ye Ling looked at the tea cup Wen Zhengyu offered and thought, astonished: I'm getting this kind of treatment?

Wen Zhengyu pointed towards the bathroom. "The washroom is over there."

Ye Ling rose and walked unsteadily to the bathroom. She asked Wen Zhengyu to find her a toothbrush and brushed her teeth.

Standing at the bathroom doorway, Wen Zhengyu said, "I won't be home this afternoon. If you need anything, call Aunt Sun, or you can call me."

Ye Ling asked, "Will you be back tonight?"

Wen Zhengyu said, "I'll try my best." She did have a guest here; it wouldn't be right to abandon Ye Ling. However, after staying at the Daoist temple for so long, the old madam was quite displeased. She also didn't much like her spending so much time with Ye Ling and might not let her come back. She added by way of explanation, "I'm going to my maternal grandmother's this afternoon."

Ye Ling understood. She sat back down on the edge of the Arhat bed and said, "Don't worry about me. Go take care of your business."

Wen Zhengyu thought about leaving a sick person like Ye Ling here and felt quite uneasy. But she had to go see the old madam no matter what. She truly could only try to get back as early as possible. She said, "Get some rest." She sat nearby and waited until Ye Ling lay down and fell asleep before leaving.

When the old madam saw Wen Zhengyu, she asked, very surprised, "Didn't you say you were staying another week?"

Wen Zhengyu didn't believe for a second that the old madam didn't know Ye Ling had gone to the temple to find her. She said, "Ye Ling couldn't adjust to staying at the temple and fell ill. I brought her back."

The old madam asked, "Ill? Is it serious?"

Wen Zhengyu said, "Pneumonia. Her fever spiked past thirty-nine degrees." As soon as she finished speaking, she saw the old madam's expression change, and the old madam scrutinized her for a good long while. That look was both bewildering and rather chilling. She asked, "What's wrong?"

The old madam asked, "How did it suddenly turn into pneumonia?"

Wen Zhengyu said, "The bathroom is a communal one, not in the room. There's some distance between it and the guest quarters. After her shower, she only put on a thin summer robe. She caught a cold wind on the way back to the room—the sudden change from hot to cold gave her a cold."

The old madam asked, "So she's hospitalized?"

Wen Zhengyu said, "No. The doctor said hospitalization wasn't necessary. I figured there'd be no one to take care of her at home, so I brought her back with me."

The old madam's mouth opened slightly, then she nodded emphatically and sighed. "Fine. So, you'll be heading back shortly, then?"

Wen Zhengyu said, "Leaving her all alone at my place wouldn't be very nice."

The old madam waved her hand. "Alright, off you go, then."

Wen Zhengyu had barely sat down, hadn't even taken a sip of tea, and the old madam was already shooing her away. She instantly sensed something was off. She remained seated on the sofa, looked at the old madam with great suspicion, and asked, "What are you imagining?"

The old madam countered, "What do you think?"

Wen Zhengyu accepted the tea the housekeeper brought and glanced at the old madam. "You're overthinking things."

The old madam was practically amused beyond words by Wen Zhengyu. Things had already reached this point, and she was still saying she was overthinking. Too weary to engage with Wen Zhengyu further, the old madam got up and went out with her attendants.

Wen Zhengyu realized she had offended the old madam.

The old madam had gone out, and Old Master Lian wasn't home either. Wen Zhengyu had no choice but to go home and tend to her patient.

Wen Zhengyu thought to herself: Do Ye Ling and I really look like a couple?

But in reality, it wasn't like that at all. They were just relatively close, had some mutual fondness. At most, you could call it a bit ambiguous, right?

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