Chapter 23: The Allure of Color in Sickness

  The dream was disappearing inch by inch, and the surroundings began to be swallowed up by darkness. I stood blankly in place, looking around, and in the empty black space, only I was left alone.

  Who is so blind as to call me at this time?

  "A Yao, wake up, hurry and wake up!"

  This voice... sounds so familiar, among the people I know, there's only one person who calls me A Yao, that person is...

  "A Yao, if you don't open your eyes now, I'll have to forcefully pick you up like I did at the movie theater before."

  What a joke, don't just hug me without my consent, no matter how good our relationship is, you can't treat me like a pet.

  "After all, there's no one at home now, and even if I hold you, no one will know." The familiar voice continued to echo throughout the space.

  A warm, humid gust of wind suddenly blew onto my head, I raised my hand to shield my face, and my body uncontrollably disappeared from top to bottom into the swirling vortex.

  "A Yao, what did you dream of," the voice suddenly lowered its volume, "since that time, I haven't seen this expression on your face again, but being affected by a dream to the point of sobbing out loud like this, it's the first time I've seen tears in your eyes, why is that..."

  I struggled to open a narrow slit of eyes, slightly turned my head, and looked at the blurry face beside me, hoarsely opening my mouth: "Xiao Qiao?"

  Cheng Qiao's body paused for a moment as she sat on the edge of the bed, then leaned in, her tone extremely gentle: "A Yao, you're finally awake."

  "You......cough cough..." I suddenly turned my head and started coughing, and my nasal passages were instantly filled with a sharp pain.

  What's going on, why are my eyes so dry and itchy? The temples to the ears feel extremely dry, just like they've been glued together. My nose is completely congested, my throat is hoarse and sore, even making sounds has become a struggle.

  Was it just because of that inexplicable dream? But it shouldn't be like this. I was just having a dream, after all, not attempting to jump off a building and failing, did I need to have such severe aftereffects?

  "A Yao, don't speak first, come, get up and drink this cup of water." Cheng Qiao carefully supported my arm.

  My body felt like it had just been run over by a huge wheel, my joints and muscles aching badly. I let out a loud gasp as I slowly got up and leaned against the soft cushion at the head of the bed, following Cheng Qiao's movements.

  I took the cup of hot water he handed over, sipped a few small mouthfuls to moisten my dry and cracked lips, then gulped down the rest. After finishing, I handed the empty cup back to him. My eyes turned towards the thermos on the bedside table.

  Qiao blinked and quickly poured me another glass of water.

  It wasn't until I finished the third cup of warm water that my throat, which had been burning like a dry fire, finally felt less uncomfortable. Although the legendary bird in my mouth had already faded away.

  After the warm mist, I finally managed to thoroughly open my dry eyes. Rubbing my dizzy head with my hands, I spoke in an extremely slow tone: "Xiao Qiao, how did you end up at my place at this hour? Weren't you told to go back and rest well?"

  "It's really good." Qiao Chu smiled brightly with curved eyes, "A Yao, you still recognize me as Little Qiao."

  "I'm just catching a cold, not suffering from amnesia." I narrowed my eyes uncomfortably and tried to put on a serious expression. "Answer my question first."

  Who would wake up one morning and find a big live man sitting beside them without feeling a little unbelievable?

  "Because you're sick. And no one is taking care of you, so I had to come and be your temporary nanny for a day." He said with a straight face.

  I noticed the emphasis and shifted my gaze to the door with a complicated mood: "You mean... there's no one in my house now?"

  He pursed his lips and nodded.

  "I fell silent for a moment: 'Do you know what they all went to do?'"

  He looked at me and said carefully: "Uncle Bai and your uncle, Eldest Uncle went to the suburban tea house to see this year's new tea production. Auntie Bai and your Eldest Aunt went to the newly opened commercial center to buy clothes. Yueyue and Wen Auntie went to the dessert shop." He paused for a moment and then said: "It was Yueyue who asked me to come take care of you."

  I stretched out one palm to cover my face, and remained silent for a while.

  Bai Yue knows that I have a cold. So when my parents see me sleeping in bed, they will also know through her that their daughter is sick. Although I usually do have a bit too much energy, now I'm clearly so weak that I can't take care of myself, but they didn't leave anyone at home to take care of the frail me, instead they went out for a stroll with a carefree attitude.

  As a young unmarried girl with parents still alive, shouldn't I be feeling sentimental at this moment?

  "A Yao, are you okay?" Cheng Qiao waved her hand in front of my eyes, "Don't think too much about it, they only feel at ease leaving because they think you just have a cold and no fever."

  I struggled to move away from his always icy and dry hand, hoarsely saying: "Xiao Qiao, what time is it now?"

  "It must be past five o'clock. Come to think of it, A Yao hasn't eaten all day, is his stomach hungry? When I came, Auntie had already cooked the white porridge, I'll go get a bowl for you to drink right away." He said and stood up.

  I grabbed his shirt hem: "No need, just thinking about drinking white porridge makes me lose my appetite, and I'm not hungry either."

  Not to mention having just drunk so much water.

  "Don't you like congee? Then I'll cook some other porridge for you to drink, okay?"

  "Xiao Qiao," I said softly, releasing my grip. "I'm really not hungry, even if you force-feed me, I'll spit it out like those few months old kids do." I paused for a moment, looked him straight in the eye, and curled up the corners of my mouth, "Believe me, I can do something disgusting like that."

  He fell silent and sat quietly back on the edge of the bed.

  "How long have you been here?"

  He thought for a moment and said seriously: "Not long ago, from 12 o'clock to now, I went to the dessert shop to find Wen's aunt to get the key before coming over."

  "Uh..." I stared at him in a daze, "So, you're not going to tell me that for the entire five hours, you were sitting next to me... watching me sleep?"

  He leaned over and tucked the quilt in for me with a calm expression: "If I said so," he paused, his mouth slightly curved upwards, "would Yao be shy?"

  A familiar face is just a foot away, the skin reflects a jade-like glow under the wall lamp, and his features are delicate and beautiful from any angle. The warm breath sweeps across my face with the opening and closing of his lips, the black gemstone-like eyes hold a smiling intention, and the voice is as clear and soft as ever.

  I was stunned and said vaguely: "It won't be shy, but it will think you're psychologically abnormal."

  He chuckled softly: "Alright, I'll be honest with you. Actually, I didn't fulfill my temporary babysitting duties because I was also sleepy today, so before you woke up, I took a nap on the sofa in the living room."

  I let out a sigh of relief, only to feel disappointed again: "Then you really didn't do your job well. You came over and woke me up when I was having a great dream, so I couldn't see how it ended. I'm really curious about what happened to them in the end."

  Cheng Qiao was taken aback: "A Yao had a very happy dream?"

  "Yes, and it's a very pure dream." I closed my eyes, recalling the already somewhat unclear dream scene. "I dreamed of myself as a child, in a large orange grove, those white orange blossoms were so fragrant that they could suffocate with their intoxicating scent. In the dream, there was also a handsome young man I had never seen before, one look and you knew he was very introverted, and it seemed that this little handsome guy was even won over by me..." I suddenly opened my eyes, "This can't be a spring dream, can it?"

  Cheng Qiao frowned: "But, since it was such a happy dream, why were you crying nonstop at that time? I thought you had a bad dream and showed such a sad expression, so I had to wake you up."

  "Am I sad? Sad enough to cry? So the wet spots on both sides of my pillow when I woke up weren't from my drool, but from tears left by me, a person with underdeveloped tear glands?" I pressed my hands against my face in shock. "But why was I crying? I had such a beautiful dream, so why am I still sad? I don't even know the boy in my dream, and I've never been to that place... why, why is it like this..."

  Qiao suddenly stretched out her hands and grasped mine, along with my face. Her movements were gentle but firm: "Alright, alright, Yao, don't think about that dream anymore. It was just a random dream you had, it doesn't represent anything. You're still not fully recovered from your illness, so rest well for now. Once you sleep again, you'll forget about the dream."

  Looking at Cheng Qiao's eyes, which were deeper than ever before, I took a few deep breaths, calmed down, and muttered: "Yes, you're right, it was just a dream, it can't represent anything. I've also had dreams of being stabbed by people and bitten by zombies, going bankrupt, but I'm still living a peaceful and healthy life, aren't I?"

  "It's okay to think that way, everyone has some unbelievable dreams, you do, I do, others do too." Cheng Qiao raised the corner of her lips and handed me a few colored pills from several medicine bottles on the cabinet, "A Yao, take these and you can continue sleeping, after waking up everything will be the same, illusions will never affect reality."

  His words were very comforting, and I couldn't help but nod my head. Then, with his assistance, I took the medicine one by one from the water in his hand, and then lay down under his thoughtful care.

  Qiao Cheng gently furrowed her brow, helped me tuck in the quilt, and whispered: "Sleep, I'll stay with Yao before they come back. Anyway, Yao won't be shy, at worst, he'll just think of me as a pervert later."

  Heartbeat gradually returned to normal frequency, head was originally dazed, after the intense movement just now, it's even more sleepy and eyelids are fighting.

  "Okay... Xiao Qiao... you have to stay by my side forever... until I..."

  The moment before consciousness faded away and darkness swept back in, I felt something soft and cool being stuck to my forehead.

  "I'll be with you until the end of the road."

  PS：

  Thank you Ali Zhi Ma for your persistent updates!