125. Taken Ill

Bai Jinyan woke up in the morning feeling a wave of intense heat.

To be precise, he was scorched awake.

The person in his arms felt like a burning furnace; he could feel the intense heat even through two layers of clothing. Bai Jinyan was instantly wide awake.

"Wenwen? Wenwen! Wake up!"

Bai Jinyan gently patted Chen Ruowen’s cheeks. Upon touching that scalding temperature, he could no longer remain calm. He scooped her up and sprinted for half an hour along the mountain path to the neighboring Xinghua Village, bursting directly into Wei Kun’s room.

"Old Wei, save her!"

Wei Kun was sprawled out on his floor bedding, fast asleep. He was startled out of a pleasant dream by the commotion. The thin, pale morning light streaming in from the doorway hit him directly in the face, making it impossible to open his eyes. With his first breath, he inhaled the mountain breeze and the scent of dry earth.

Wei Kun rubbed his eyes, stretched his limbs, and then rolled over, presenting his backside to the door.

"Old Wei!"

With his hands full holding her, Bai Jinyan was so desperate that he actually kicked Wei Kun in the rear.

Seeing the usually composed Bai Jinyan resort to such an act showed just how anxious he truly was.

"What the hell, Bai Jinyan, why are you kicking me!" Wei Kun flipped over and sat up, rubbing his backside while glaring at Bai Jinyan with resentment. "I was busy healing the world yesterday, I didn't get to sleep until one in the morning..."

"Save her!"

"..." Wei Kun cast a helpless glance at the person in Bai Jinyan’s arms and teased, "Oh, isn't this your little girlfriend? How did you chase her all the way out here? No wonder you're in such a state."

"Are you going to look at her or not?"

"I'm looking, I'm looking! Why are you so impatient? You ran all the way from Rainbow Village? You carried a hundred-pound weight for half an hour and your arms are still fine?"

Bai Jinyan tightened his grip, as if only then noticing that he had injuries of his own.

Wei Kun chuckled again, "I see you really treasure this little girlfriend more than your own life. Was that pulmonary edema you had this time last year also because of her? You put so much heart into this, does she even kn—"

"Wei Kun!"

"Alright, alright, what are you so nervous about? She's not going to die." Wei Kun stretched his stiff limbs and sluggishly crawled off his bedding, muttering, "Put this little ancestor down, how am I supposed to examine her while you're holding her? Are you here to show off your affection or to see a doctor?"

Bai Jinyan frowned, looking at the bedding of this middle-aged, single man.

Chen Ruowen was incredibly picky about her living conditions. When the first batch of supplies from the Chen family arrived yesterday, the first thing they moved off the helicopter was a two-and-a-half-meter-wide bed—they had to dismantle the door frame just to get it inside.

The farmhouse they were currently staying in had even been covered with three layers of wool rugs on the floor so Chen Ruowen could walk barefoot.

Seeing Bai Jinyan’s troubled expression, Wei Kun angrily pushed him toward the door.

"I've never seen such a difficult patient. You think my place is too dirty and messy, right? Go on then, get out, I'm not looking."

"I didn't mean to look down on your place..." Bai Jinyan sighed, placing her onto the messy floor bedding and doing his best to smooth out the blankets around Chen Ruowen.

Wei Kun rolled his eyes a hundred times before reluctantly reaching out two fingers to touch Chen Ruowen’s forehead.

"A bit of a fever, probably 39 degrees... Hey, hey, don't panic, it's not serious. This is just a moderate fever." Wei Kun then took her pulse and checked her eyes and tongue. "Just as I thought, acute gastroenteritis combined with a reaction to the local environment. Nothing major."

"Acute gastroenteritis... can it cause a coma?" Bai Jinyan was skeptical.

Wei Kun rolled his eyes again and pointed to the brightening sky outside. "Coma, my foot! Look at what time it is—it's only six in the morning! She's just not awake yet!"

Bai Jinyan remained unconvinced. "I ran all the way here from Rainbow Village, that's half an hour... If she weren't in a coma, why wouldn't she have woken up?"

"When people have a fever, their sensitivity to the environment decreases. Add in her reaction to the climate and the fact that she’s physically weak from vomiting, it's perfectly normal."

"She's been vomiting?" Bai Jinyan’s face turned anxious again.

"She probably didn't tell you," Wei Kun said dismissively. "Combined, it resulted in a state of lethargy."

"That still sounds like a coma to me..."

"...All those medical books I gave you went to waste, didn't they?"

Bai Jinyan sighed, staring intently at Chen Ruowen’s pale face with mixed emotions.

No wonder she seemed off when she was charging her phone at the village entrance yesterday; she could fall asleep while sitting on a stool. He had assumed she was just bored and tired, never imagining...

"Oh, oh, oh, so heartbroken over such a small ailment? How are you going to survive when she's giving birth to your children?"

"Wei Kun!"

A flush spread across Bai Jinyan’s cheeks, whether from shame or irritation, it was hard to tell.

Wei Kun burst into laughter, dug a blister pack of glucose out of his gear, and tossed it to Bai Jinyan.

"Feed her this."

"Just glucose?"

"Of course not." Wei Kun tossed two more packets of medicine over. "Glucose for fluids, antidiarrheals to control the symptoms, and fever reducers to bring the temperature down. Done. Take her back."

Bai Jinyan clutched the medicine without moving. "Taking medicine is enough? Doesn't she need an injection? Don't you want to take a closer look?"

Wei Kun rolled his eyes violently. "I didn't bring an intravenous kit with me, how am I supposed to give an injection? I do have a couple of syringes..." Wei Kun looked at him, stroking his chin with a sly grin. "Want a shot in the butt? Reasonable price, fast results. Dare to let me administer it?"

Bai Jinyan silently opened a bottle of oral glucose and carefully supported Chen Ruowen to feed it to her.

"Don't even think about it."

"Don't avoid the doctor because you're afraid of the treatment! You know, a doctor’s heart is like that of a parent..."

"Don't even think about it!"

"Then how about I prepare the medicine and teach you the technique so you can do it?"

Bai Jinyan’s hand shook, and he nearly spilled the oral solution onto Chen Ruowen.

He snapped, "Can you be serious for once?"

After feeding her the medicine, Bai Jinyan knelt by the bedding, staring at Chen Ruowen without blinking, like a statue.

Watching this young couple occupying his space without a care in the world, Wei Kun gave up on the idea of going back to sleep. He resignedly grabbed his kit to wash up, then took a large porcelain bowl and headed to the village chief's house in Xinghua Village to beg for a meal.

Wei Kun didn't charge for medical visits, but the village provided him with food and board, which was a fair trade.

By the time he had finished his meal, made a follow-up visit to yesterday’s patient, and returned to his room while yawning, carrying the bowl the kind-hearted villagers had washed for him, he saw the same two people in the exact same spot. He covered his eyes and cursed, "What the hell."

"Why are you still here?"

"Wenwen hasn't woken up yet."

"Take her back and watch her there!"

"I can't. If something goes wrong here, I can find you easily."

"...I need to take a nap!!"

"You can sleep once she's better."

"...Aren't you going back to teach? It's almost nine o'clock. What about the little brats in your village who are howling, waiting for class?"

Bai Jinyan seemed to have just remembered the teaching assignment and hesitated for a moment.

"Tell the village chief for me; I'll be late today."

"...How about you come back with me, put this little ancestor back in her own bed, and I'll watch her for you? You go to class, and I'll call you when she wakes up."

Bai Jinyan thought about the environment of the two rooms and decided to pick Chen Ruowen up.

"You go back and teach for me; I'll take care of her myself." Bai Jinyan paused and whispered, "If she wakes up and doesn't see me... she'll be angry."

Wei Kun: "...I’d rather starve to death than be force-fed this much dog food!"