Chapter Thirty-Five

  "What should we do?" Looking at the dark river surface, Cheng Zihan asked softly.

  "Let's find a small inn ahead and stay for the night, we can take the boat back tomorrow." Zhou Ziran said after some thought.

  Cheng Zihan had no other choice but to nod slightly.

  Two people went together, but another problem came up. They were too young and the shop owner didn't dare to give them a room. After asking several shops along the way, they all hit a wall.

  "It's all over, I'll have to sleep on the streets tonight." Cheng Zihan wailed.

  "Don't be afraid, come with me."

  The night was getting darker, and there were no streetlights on the road, only the faint light coming from the houses that had not yet gone out. The lights flickered on and off, making Cheng Zihan's face seem somewhat illusory.

  Zhou Ziran didn't tell Cheng Zihan that he would be leaving Shu Tou Primary School soon and going back to the city for junior high school.

  This time the task assigned to him by his family was doomed to fail, who made him meet Cheng Zihan, and his young heart beat again, unable to extract any information from her.

  He didn't want to tell Cheng Zihan because he was afraid of facing separation. In a few days, people from the city would come and take him back.

  Zhou Ziran took Cheng Zihan to an ancient temple in Sanxi Town, where incense was strong during the day and many people came to worship. At night, it was quiet and peaceful.

  There were several people wearing yellow Taoist robes in the temple. They looked quite old and saw two children, so they led them into the temple.

  There was no place to rest in the temple, so they had to temporarily sleep in the woodshed.

  In April, the night was still a bit chilly, and the house was drafty all over, with the sound of the wind whistling in her ears. Cheng Zihan shrank into herself, trying to warm up as much as possible.

  Suddenly, she felt a tightening on her body. Cheng Zihan was stunned and looked up to see Zhou Ziran taking off his own jacket and wrapping it around her.

  "Zhou Ziran, you'll catch a cold like this." Cheng Zihan was about to take off his clothes, but was stopped by Zhou Ziran.

  "I'm fine, look, I still have a sweater here. You're weaker, you'd better wear it, or you'll catch a cold tomorrow morning."

  Cheng Zihan looked at Zhou Ziran, the room was dimly lit, with only a hint of moonlight shining through the transparent tiles on the roof, barely illuminating the contours of his face, but unable to make out his eyebrows and eyes.

  "Then you come a little closer, two people will always be warmer." Cheng Zihan thought for a moment before compromising and saying a sentence.

  The temple people took them in, but didn't have any extra blankets to keep them warm. They couldn't freeze themselves to death just to help others; after all, everyone is selfish. Cheng Zihang also didn't feel much about it.

  Two people slept in the woodshed overnight, and when they got up early the next morning, Zhou Ziran's face was red all over, his lips were white, and Cheng Zihan felt a sudden urgency in her heart, knowing that he must have had a fever.

  She hastily put the clothes on her body on Zhou Ziran, and then rushed out to call for help. With her strength, she really couldn't hold a Zhou Ziran.

  The people in the temple sent him to a small clinic nearby.

  A 40-degree fever, Zhou Ziran was indeed chilled to the bone last night. It wasn't until now that Cheng Zihan saw clearly that there was no sweater on him, he had deliberately deceived her out of fear that she would worry.

  This idiot!

  Cheng Zihan's tears were welling up in her eyes, and this time when she came back, she found that Zhou Ziran was completely different from the one she used to know. At this moment, Zhou Ziran's heart was true, without too many distracting thoughts, or maybe he had some special purpose for getting close to her at first, but now, he was genuinely sincere with her.

  A heart that had already settled down was once again stirred up.

  "Doctor, will he be alright?" Looking at Zhou Ziran's flushed face, Cheng Zihan felt anxious.

  "As long as we can get through today, nothing will happen." The doctor was busy giving Zhou Ziran physical cooling, while answering Cheng Zihan, and constantly wiping his wrists and ankles with alcohol.

  "I'm here to help you." Cheng Zihan also took a bottle of alcohol, dipped a cotton swab in it, and mimicked the doctor's movements, applying it to Zhou Ziran's joints.

  Zhou Ziran's arm still had needle holes on it, and he was unconscious and couldn't take his medication by himself.

  After a busy half day, Zhou Ziran's temperature finally dropped a bit, and Cheng Zihan also fell to the ground in exhaustion, with a cold sweat on his head, not knowing whether it was worry or something else.

  The doctor also let out a sigh of relief, "The fever has gone down, he'll wake up after resting for a while. Little girl, you prepare some plain porridge for him later, and have him eat some when he wakes up."

  Cheng Zihan hastily nodded, looking at Zhou Ziran with some concern, and then asked the doctor, "Then, please help me keep an eye on him, I'll be right back."

  When Zhou Ziran woke up, Cheng Zihan had not returned yet. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a strange face, and he felt a slight sense of loss in his heart.

  "Are you awake?" The doctor went over and gave Zhou Ziran another examination. His body was fine, and only then did he finally feel at ease.

  "That little girl has been taking care of you for most of the day, and just now she went to buy some food for you. She should be back soon." The doctor seemed to understand what Zhou Ziran was looking for and added another sentence.

  "Is she okay?" Zhou Ziran was worried about Cheng Zihan's body.

  I'm afraid she might catch a cold and fall ill, and still have to take care of herself.

  "Don't worry, she's in good spirits." The doctor replied with a sentence before walking out.

  Zhou Ziran continued to lie in bed, feeling a bit dizzy and his head was throbbing with some discomfort.

  A group of people suddenly rushed into the small clinic, knocked down the doctor without saying a word, and then charged into the inner ward.

  The man in front still wore sunglasses and held a rare handheld phone, "Young master, we have been ordered by the old master to take you back."

  With the power of the Zhou family, it's easy to find someone without expending too much manpower.

  The man's eyes dimmed, and he wanted to struggle a bit more. The other person spoke again. "Young master, I know you're with that Cheng Zihan. If you don't want anything to happen to her, then obediently come back with me."

  Zhou Ziran's heart skipped a beat as he finally understood that his father already knew everything.

  He finally nodded and obeyed them.

  "Zhou Ziran, I'm back!" Cheng Zihan shouted loudly as soon as she entered the door, holding a steaming bowl of porridge in her hand.

  But all she saw was a mess on the ground and the doctor lying unconscious.

  "Zhou Ziran." She was startled in her heart and hurriedly ran into that small sickroom, but inside, the figure of that person had already disappeared.

  The porridge in her hand splattered onto the ground, and Cheng Zihan didn't think much before turning around, "Zhou Ziran!"

  The sky was very blue, a white cloud was blown by the wind, and it seemed to have transformed into a person's face. The person smiled at her lightly and faintly, making her heart suddenly ache to the point of being unable to breathe.

  Zhou Ziran, have you left? You didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to me.