Thinking about how often she had left the child with Zhou Jinbei when they went out.
Jiang Nanfang sighed, knowing that being an aunt wasn't easy, having to earn her living under Zhan Beijue and being scolded all the time.
"I'll make you a lunch too. How about winter melon and pork rib soup?"
"It's nourishing and won't make you gain weight, perfect for winter."
"That would be wonderful, thank you, dear sister."
Jiang Nanfang busied herself in the kitchen for over an hour, then took a taxi to the supermarket. By the time she arrived at the hospital, it was past eleven in the morning.
The ward had heating, which was just the right temperature for someone who couldn't move.
She, however, felt so warm upon entering that she took off her coat.
She casually tied her hair up with a clip, a familiar, capable, at-home look that Zhan Beijue knew well.
Having waited for so long, Zhan Beijue was a little sleepy and dozed off. Hearing her arrival, he quietly opened a slit of his eyes.
He saw the slender Jiang Nanfang handing a thermos box of food to Zhou Jinbei, and then she quietly took off her clothes.
Then she walked to Lu Mingzhe's bedside and gently touched his forehead.
A surge of warmth instantly filled his heart.
"Lu Mingzhe is really something else, to have hurt himself so badly. Has he not woken up at all since?"
Zhou Jinbei spoke to her in a low voice, "He woke up, but he didn't speak. He was groggy and fell asleep again soon after. The nurse said he still has a fever, and they'll give him an IV drip later."
"His mouth is so dry, his lips are almost cracked. Do you have any cotton swabs? We can dampen his mouth a little to moisten them."
Zhou Jinbei went out to borrow cotton swabs from the nurse. After a few minutes of them fussing over Lu Mingzhe, they remembered him.
Zhan Beijue closed his eyes, feeling her gaze on his face, but he didn't feel her hand checking his temperature.
After looking at him for a moment, she spoke to Zhou Jinbei in a hushed whisper.
"I just bought this thermos box, it keeps things very warm. Since he's asleep, let's just leave it for now. You eat yours first."
"I've been busy all morning and I'm sweating. I need to go back and take a shower and rest. I'm leaving now."
Zhou Jinbei watched Zhan Beijue, who was pretending to be asleep, and thought: You useless man. You finally waited for her to come, and you don't even dare to open your eyes?
Just as she was thinking of a way to make Jiang Nanfang stay, accompanied by a cough, Zhan Beijue opened his eyes.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
His lungs ached terribly, and every cough sent pain throughout his chest.
Jiang Nanfang instinctively looked over. He frowned, clutching his chest.
"..."
Despite his discomfort, Zhan Beijue dared not put on airs.
Catching Jiang Nanfang's eye, he spoke first.
"You're here. Zhou Jinbei said you brought me lunch, thank you for your trouble."
Finally, he said something human.
Seeing him looking so pitiable in his illness, and having helped her a few days ago, Jiang Nanfang couldn't be too harsh.
"It's no trouble. Don't push yourself so hard at work in the future. You're an adult, how can you end up like this? If the child finds out, wouldn't it be a bad example?"
"I know. You've worked hard all morning, thank you for your trouble. Zhou Jinbei, why didn't you get her a stool?"
Zhou Jinbei: "..."
Jiang Nanfang refused his good intentions: "Since you're awake, you should eat quickly. There's nothing for me to do here, so I'll be going back now."
Zhou Jinbei quickly stopped her, "How can there be nothing to do? You can't leave, there are many things to do."
"What do you mean?"
Zhou Jinbei asked her to sit down and explain slowly: "Yesterday, we came directly to the hospital from the bidding site. We didn't prepare any change of clothes or toiletries in advance."
"You don't know, I haven't showered, washed my face, changed clothes, brushed my teeth, or taken off my makeup since yesterday. I'm still dirty like this. Don't you think I'm miserable?"
Jiang Nanfang: "..."
"I'm not forcing you to take my shift here, I'm just saying, can we delay it a little?"
"Can you feed my second brother first? I'll take the opportunity to go back, take a shower, change clothes, and bring him some things? Otherwise, if you leave, I really can't manage alone."
Her reasoning was sound, and Jiang Nanfang, feeling sympathetic, sat down.
"Anyway, I'm not working today. You eat your fill and go back to sleep. Come back before nine tonight."
Zhou Jinbei was overjoyed.
"Really? But won't nine o'clock inconvenience the children..."
"I'll call Acheng and let him know. The children are used to it. Alright, people need to sleep. Stop chatting and eat quickly, then go back."
"You're the one who's good to me. You're truly my sister, Sister Nanfang."
Zhou Jinbei hugged her and planted a kiss on her cheek.
"Then I won't be polite!"
Thinking that she had said she hadn't washed her face or brushed her teeth for so long, and then kissed her, Jiang Nanfang wiped her face with a look of disgust.
"You're not afraid of being disgusting."
Zhan Beijue felt quite embarrassed by this.
He hadn't washed his face or brushed his teeth either. Did he look messy and disgusting in Jiang Nanfang's eyes at this moment?
Jiang Nanfang was just joking. She raised the head of Zhan Beijue's bed a little and asked him.
"Is this okay?"
Zhan Beijue nodded, propped himself up with his arm, and tried to sit up, but felt a wave of pain in his chest again.
Seeing him frown, Jiang Nanfang stepped forward, adjusted his neck, and propped up the pillows.
"Didn't you say the fever has gone down? It should just be inflammation left. You have your hands and feet, it won't affect your eating, so you don't need me to feed you, right?"
It was a rare moment to act spoiled. If you could feed him, that would be best.
However, Zhan Beijue didn't dare to say: "I'll do it myself."
Jiang Nanfang brought a bowl and served him a bowl of soup. It smelled faintly of Chinese medicine.
Zhan Beijue frowned, which she saw clearly.
"I spent more than an hour painstakingly simmering this. Don't tell me you don't want to drink it."
"You're a grown man, if you can't even endure this little bit of hardship, you're worse than a child."
Who said I can't endure hardship?
Zhan Beijue took the bowl, blew on it, and without using the spoon, gulped it down in a few big swallows.
He even pretended to be tough: "Another bowl."
Zhou Jinbei watched his pitiable state from the side and let out a snicker, almost spitting out the ribs.
The North-South couple simultaneously cast amused glances at her, and Zhou Jinbei quickly explained.
"I just feel that my second brother is too pitiful, he's starved to this extent. Ah, Sister Nanfang, thank goodness for you."
After drinking three bowls of soup, his mouth was bitter, and his breath smelled of medicine.
Jiang Nanfang took out his rock sugar stewed pear.
"Drink some of this to neutralize it."
After a few mouthfuls of the sweet soup, he felt much better.
Zhan Beijue, being fed by her, ate a few bites slowly, reluctant to eat more.
"I can't eat any more, let's save it for later. We'll eat the rest tonight."
"If you like it, eat it all at once. What's there to save? There will be dinner tonight."
Zhou Jinbei was confused: "Didn't you promise to watch over me at the hospital? I can't go back to cook. For dinner..."
"It's simmering in the pot. We can have Acheng run an errand for it."
"Sister Nanfang, I knew it, it has to be you!"