101 | Three Days and Two Nights
With hearts entwined, we will grow old together.

Gu Mingxi recalled some things of the past.

Several years ago, while his mother was still alive, he stayed with her in S City for her treatment. Before any of their relatives came to help, Li Han usually just stayed in the rental house, and Gu Mingxi was in charge of dealing with their daily needs. But because he often went in and out into the cold, he happened to catch a cold.

That cold lasted for more than half a year. He would constantly have a fever or cough. Li Han tried to get him to see the doctor, but Gu Mingxi didn’t want to bother others about it. He just bought some medicine for fevers, colds, and coughing.

Half a year later, when Li Han was undergoing a round of chemotherapy, Huang Lingli came to help take care of her. They decided that he would stay with his mother during the day and Huang Lingli would stay at night.

Those were the few days that Gu Mingxi’s symptoms were the most intense. When he stayed with his mother during the day, the nurse that came to check on her would also tell that he wasn’t well. She pleaded with him to get treatment, but Gu Mingxi was worried that he wouldn’t be able to watch over his mother while he was getting an infusion. So he pushed through a few more days, until his mother’s chemotherapy was completed.

When he got back to the rental house in the evening, he was exhausted and dizzy. When he sat down on the edge of his bed to take off his pants, his mind suddenly went blank. His chest hurt, he swayed, and then his body fell onto the floor.

It was the middle of the night when Gu Mingxi woke up. The moonlight s.h.i.+ned in through the windows and he’d maintained the posture he’d fallen over in.

Thankfully his room was heated. Even though he was lying on the floor, he didn’t feel very cold. Only, his head and his chest did hurt. With great difficulty, he climbed up and then he realized he was still in the midst of taking is pants off. He used his efforts to pull of his pants and then went into the bathroom. The reflection of his face in the mirror was dark and gloomy. His eyes were dull, there was a b.u.mp on his forehead, and head was in pain.

He still had a fever. He was still coughing. His chest still hurt and it was hard to breathe. After he washed, he moved himself to his bed, and then he felt a pang of regret.

If a few hours ago, he’d fainted and then fallen to his death, what would have happened to his mother?

He slept for two hours and then got up to cook congee for his mom. He put it into an insulated container and then put that into his backpack.

He put on his backpack and braved the early morning cold to get to the hospital. After he found Huang Lingli, he asked her to stay with his mother for a few more hours so that he could see the doctor and get an IV. From the sofa bed, Huang Lingli yawned and said impatiently, “I spent the whole night here, you should let me sleep a bit. I’ll come back a bit earlier in the evening and then you can go see a doctor.”

Gu Mingxi could only let her leave and stay with his mom.

But in the afternoon, he couldn’t hold on anymore. His coughing had gotten very severe and he was afraid he’d disturb his mother. He walked into the corridor, but before he could walk very far, he collapsed onto the ground.

Thankfully he was in the hospital. The doctors and nurses quickly moved him, and they found out he had pneumonia.

 

Gu Mingxi slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He was at his house in Sanya. The sky was already bright and he was sleeping alone in his soft bed. The window was open, a gentle breeze blowing in past the curtains. The sky outside was sunny and clear.

Gu Mingxi knew that his fever was very serious. He wanted to go to the bathroom, but he didn’t have the strength. He closed his eyes for awhile, and then he struggled to sit up.

When he walked out of his room, Gu Mingxi immediately saw a travel bag outside of the living room and also a pair of female shoes. He stared for a moment and then someone walked out from the kitchen. When she saw him, she laughed. “You’re awake? Do you feel any better?”

Gu Mingxi looked at her in a daze. Shocked at finding that last night’s events weren’t a dream, his lips slowly curved up. The warmth and joy he felt inside slowly flowed to his eyes.

Pang Qian was wearing an ap.r.o.n and carrying a soup ladle. She said, “I’m cooking congee, but I’m not sure if it will be any good. There are some frozen dumplings in the freezer. Do you want to eat dumplings?”

He didn’t answer her, his eyes just circling around her. Pang Qian had put down the ladle and dried her hands. She walked over to him and complained, “You’re sick with a fever and you’re walking around without any clothes on. Aren’t you afraid your cold will get worse?” She walked over to his dressed and pulled out a clean t-s.h.i.+rt and helped him put it on. Then she asked, “Do you need to go to the bathroom?”

He didn’t answer her, but then he foolishly nodded his head.

“I’ll help you.” She pushed him over to the bathroom and quickly and familiarly helped him pull his pants down. She pulled open his boxers and was about to help him pee.

In the past few weeks in E City, Gu Mingxi had spent a lot of time with Pang Qian. Hanging around outside, eating, drinking coffee, watching movies, shopping… Occasionally he would have to use the bathroom, so Pang Qian helped him.

At many of the places they went to, aside from male and female restrooms, there were also ones with disability access. Although it was designed for those with wheelchairs, for Gu Mingxi and Pang Qian, a single restroom was still better.

She seemed to already have become accustomed to this intimate act, and she didn’t get embarra.s.sed because of the differences between men and women. But Gu Mingxi would still get a bit embarra.s.sed. After all, he was a man, and there were some things that couldn’t be controlled just because of his will.

For example, the question from that ‘Warm Harbor’ radio show that once troubled Pang Qian greatly– What was morning wood? Pang Qian pretty much knew the answer to that now.

Even up until Gu Mingxi washed his face, it was still a bit red. Pang Qian smiled as she watched him eating. Gu Mingxi felt her eyes on him and looked up. He asked extremely quietly, “When did you get here?”

“2 in the morning.”

“You don’t have to work today?”

“It’s Friday today, so I took the day off and got a return ticket for Sunday night.” Pang Qian smiled again. “I get three days with you.”

Gu Mingxi felt very happy, but instead he said, “It’s not that serious. You didn’t have to come.”

“Not serious? When I got here, you were talking nonsense! When you’re done eating, I’ll go with you to the hospital.”

Gu Mingxi asked hesitantly, “I was talking nonsense? What did I say?”

“Not telling.” Pang Qian crossed her arms and laid down on the table, giggling as she look at him.

Pang Qian accompanied Gu Mingxi to the hospital, and unsurprisingly, his body was inflamed. The doctor gave him an IV drip.

When the nurse came to insert the needle to his neck, he frowned. Pang Qian quickly pressed down on his shoulders.

After his infusion was done, Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi went home. With regards to lunch, it was a bit difficult for both of them. Gu Mingxi’s house didn’t have any cooked food and Pang Qian couldn’t bear to see him bustling about while he was sick. So in the end, Gu Mingxi finished the congee from the morning and Pang Qian boiled a few frozen dumplings.

After lunch, Pang Qian fed Gu Mingxi his medicine and had him go to sleep. Then she pulled out her laptop and was about to get to work in the living room. But in just half an hour of looking at her report, Gu Mingxi had come out three times. The first time was to use the bathroom. The second time was to drink water. And the third time, he walked over to Pang Qian and looked at her laptop. “Pang Pang, you got here in the middle of the night and you woke up really early. Aren’t you sleepy?”

Pang Qian quickly shut her laptop and stood up. “Okay, I’ll sleep with you. Happy?”

Gu Mingxi silently smiled.

 

This was the first time that the two of them slept in the same bed.

Gu Mingxi didn’t let Pang Qian sleep in Dou Dou’s bed, because ‘It had been a long time since the sheets were changed so it was too dirty.’

They slept on Gu Mingxi’s bed, and Pang Qian really was a bit sleepy. She closed her eyes, half awake and half asleep. Then she felt a hot body moving closer to her.

He had a fever so his whole body was hot. Pang Qian unconsciously moved away a bit and turned her back to him. Still, he moved closer to her, his wide chest resting against her back.

His light breathing landed on her shoulders. His legs entangled with hers, his toe nail stroking her calf. Afraid that he would hurt her, he was extremely gentle.

Pang Qian helplessly opened her eyes, but she didn’t turn back. She said, “Stop messing around. You have a fever, go to sleep.”

The two of them laid there, side by side, his shoulders more broad than hers. After hearing her words, he nudged her back with his right shoulder. Hoa.r.s.ely, he said, “Pang Pang, I want you to hug me to sleep.”

Without any hesitation, she immediately turned around and embraced him.

His frighteningly hot forehead rested between her shoulders. He wriggled around to find a comfortable position, and then he closed his eyes contentedly.

Ten minutes later, the heat from his body made Pang Qian start sweating. She touched Gu Mingxi’s body and found it was the same for him. She wasn’t sure if he was awake or asleep, but wanted to let go of him. Just as she loosened her arms, he unhappily said, “Don’t let go, keep holding me.”

“Aren’t you hot?” Pang Qian was very helpless. “You’re covered in sweat.”

“I’m not hot.” His eyes were still closed as he answered reluctantly, his body still stuck to hers.

She reached out her hand to touch his back again. Her fingers happened to move across his depressed spine. The skin on his back was taut and smooth, and also sticky– It was greasy and sweaty, but she actually found it rather s.e.xy.

A strange thought suddenly popped into her mind. Pang Qian blinked her eyes, and then her fingers wandered across his body. Strong and lean waist, solid thighs, broad chest…

He kept enduring, even clenching his teeth, until her hands reached his crippled shoulders.

That was the most sensitive area on his body, the most fragile part of him. But she was very curious about them.

Her fingers brushed across the scar on his underarm, the protruding sensation causing Pang Qian’s heart to beat chaotically. Gu Mingxi’s heavy voice suddenly rang in her ear, “Pang Pang, if you don’t pull your hands back, you’ll have to take responsibility for the consequences.”

Of course she understood the meaning behind his words, but not only didn’t she move her hands away, she reached down to that spot. Defiantly, she responded, “You still have this thought when you’re so sick?”

Oh… He suddenly opened his eyes, flames burning in his eyes. He said, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you later.”

And then he stepped onto the bed with his feet and covered his with his body…

After his kisses disoriented her, Pang Qian still had the sense to say, “You have a cold! Don’t give it to me!”

His heart dropped as he realized that this was indeed a problem. As he was about to stop and move away, she pulled him back to her.

She looked into his eyes and gently said, “It’s okay. Worse comes to worse, I’ll just get an infusion together with you.”

He laughed lightly, and then suddenly became capricious.

Under her encouragement, he continued kissing her, an emotional and romantic kiss. His gentleness and affection made her turn to water.

……

On Sunday morning, Dou Dou’s mother dropped him off at Gu Mingxi’s house. Dou Dou’s mother saw two sick people with different symptoms. One had a fever and one had a simple cold.

“Teacher Gu, are you and Auntie Crab sick?” Dou Dou laid down on Gu Mingxi’s legs and asked him with concern. Pang Qian sneezed. After she wiped her nose, she put on a face mask and told Dou Dou, “Dou Dou, don’t get too close to Teacher Gu to talk. Right now, he’s a big walking virus. Be careful or else you’ll catch his cold.”

“I’m not scared,” Dou Dou said. “When Teacher Gu got sick in the past, he didn’t give it to me.”

He looked curiously at Gu Mingxi and then asked, “Teacher Gu, did you give your cold to Auntie Crab so that she’d be sick too?”

Gu Mingxi looked at Pang Qian silently. His cheeks reddened slightly and he smiled.

In the past three days and two nights, his and her relations.h.i.+p had already changed. They’d become more familiar, more intimate, more attached.

He remembered when she snuggled up against his chest and told him, “There’s a poem you must have heard before. ‘Across the expanse of life and of death, I made a promise to her. With fingers entwined, we will grow old together.'”

She put her palm onto his left chest, over his hot skin and his pounding heart. She raised her eyes to him, and said quietly, “Gu Mingxi, I want to change that a little. This is our promise– With hearts entwined, we will grow old together.”