39 – Son & Daughter (A Complete Set)
Be careful with the needle in my neck!

There wasn’t much sunlight in the wintertime, so Gu Mingxi’s clothes still weren’t dry. He also didn’t fit Pang Shuisheng’s clothes, so he just decided to stay in Pang Qian’s house and not go out.

From the morning, Gu Mingxi felt a bit dizzy, and his throat was dry and itchy. When they ate lunch, he didn’t have much of an appet.i.te. His whole person looked sickly, as if his spirit were gone.

Pang Shuisheng sat at the table, opposite him, and asked, “Mingxi, are you feeling unwell?”

Gu Mingxi lifted his head, his eyes a bit hazy, “Ah?”

Pang Qian already lifted her hand to his forehead. Surprised, she said, “Gu Mingxi, you have a fever!”

A day ago, Gu Mingxi had walked a very long way in the rain, and he’d worn his cold, soaked clothes for a long time. After the night, he finally caught a cold and got a fever. He was even coughing.

After they ate, Pang Shuisheng had Gu Mingxi take a nap. Sleep more, drink more water, take a bit of fever medicine. If his fever didn’t disappear by evening, they’d have to go to the hospital.

The bedding on Pang Qian’s floor was already cleaned up. Gu Mingxi was a bit apologetic about sleeping in Pang Qian’s bed, but she didn’t care at all. She just pushed him onto the bed.

She brought over a cup of warm water and a tablet of medicine. “Open your mouth.”

Gu Mingxi obediently opened his mouth and took the medicine. Then he drank some water from Pang Qian’s hands. Pang Qian pulled the covers up over his body and then took his temperature with a thermometer.

While Gu Mingxi waited with the thermometer in his mouth, Pang Qian sat with elbows on her legs, resting her chin in her hands, staring at him. Gu Mingxi felt rather uncomfortable being watched by her, so he asked vaguely, “What are you looking at?”

“Your complexion is really bad.” Pang Qian frowned, and said unhappily, “It’ll be bad if you get sick. Every time you’re sick, it lasts forever. Tonight, you sleep on the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

Since they were young, Gu Mingxi actually rarely got sick. Even after his amputation, his immune system was still pretty good. But rarely getting sick doesn’t mean never getting getting sick. Whenever he did get sick, his fever would last for a long time. As his deskmate of many years, Pang Qian understood him very well. That’s why she was very afraid that he’d gotten sick.

Hearing Pang Qian’s words, Gu Mingxi shook his head. “No, that won’t do. This has nothing to do with where I sleep. It’s because I got drenched in rain yesterday.”

“If where you sleep doesn’t matter, then there’s no problem with me sleeping on the floor either.”

He coughed a few times, and said, “No, you’re a girl.”

“You’re sick.” Pang Qian reached out her hand to feel his forehead again. “You can’t feel it yourself, but do you know how high your temperature is right now?”

Supposing it was time, Pang Qian pulled the thermometer from Gu Mingxi’s mouth. She looked at it and then placed it in front of his face, “38.8. See?”

“It’s not that high.” Gu Mingxi smiled at her. “It didn’t even break 39. You’re making a big deal about nothing.”

“Your brain’s been fried.” Pang Qian pouted. She wet a towel with cold water, then wrung it out before putting it onto Gu Mingxi’s forehead. He frowned and said, “It’s cold!”

“Whenever I have a fever, this is what my mom does to help cool me down.” Pang Qian sat down next to him and said, “I’m the one who brought to to my house. When your mom comes back and finds out that you’re sick, I would feel really bad about it.”

Gu Mingxi glanced at her, “I’m the one who asked for your help.”

Pang Qian looked at him, “Oh, that’s right.” She smiled and then said, “I lied to my mom and now even I’m believing those words.”

Gu Mingxi took some medicine and then went to sleep. Pang Qian sat at her desk, reading comics. Then she noticed Gu Mingxi’s practice exam book.

Pang Qian put down her comic and picked up the exam book, flipping through the pages. A thought suddenly popped into Pang Qian’s mind. Gu Mingxi said that these questions would be very hard for her. This set off Pang Qian’s compet.i.tiveness. She wanted to try it out.

It was a long afternoon, and she wasn’t doing anything else. She picked a blank test page and started working quietly.

Every so often, Gu Mingxi would cough a bit. He didn’t sleep very peacefully and kept tossing and turning. When he started coughing very badly, Pang Qian sat beside him, lightly patting at his back. When his furrowed brows loosened up, Pang Qian went back to her desk to work on the test.

After using who knows how many sheets of scratch paper, Pang Qian finally admitted that the questions were indeed difficult. She finished the questions and let out a deep breath, but couldn’t gather the courage to check the answers.

When she checked the time, she realized three hours had already pa.s.sed. Pang Qian sat next to Gu Mingxi and looked at him. His complexion was very poor. It wasn’t really red or white, but should be considered blue. His lips were pursed, his brows furrowed. Pang Qian took the towel from his forehead and touched her palm to his face. It was still very hot.

She ran out to find Pang Shuisheng, “Dad, Gu Mingxi still has a fever. What do we do?”

Pang Shuisheng thought for a moment, then said, “We’ll take his temperature again when he wakes up. If it hasn’t gone down, then we’ll take him to the hospital.”

Gu Mingxi woke up, he felt horrible. He hazily opened his eyes and found that Pang Qian was sitting next to him. When she saw that he’d woken up, she asked, “Gu Mingxi, how do you feel?”

Gu Mingxi licked his lips, his throat felt like it was burning. His voice sounded very hoa.r.s.e when he spoke, “Pang Pang, I’m thirsty.”

Pang Qian rushed to get him a gla.s.s of water. She held his back to help him up, and then held the cup to his lips for him to drink. He finished the gla.s.s in one gulp. He lifted his eyes to look at Pang Qian, black and s.h.i.+ning, just like a poor little puppy.

Pang Qian pulled out the thermometer. “Gu Mingxi, open up.”

After three minutes, Pang Qian read the temperature, “39.2!”

Gu Mingxi said weakly, “Finally broke 39.”

“You’re pleased with yourself, aren’t you!” Pang Qian stood up, her face very serious. “Gu Mingxi, change your clothes. My dad said he’d take you to the hospital.”

Gu Mingxi really didn’t want to bring trouble to Pang Qian’s parents. It was New Year’s, and he ran over to their house. Then he stayed there, eating, drinking, sleeping. He already felt very apologetic about it. And now, he’d even gotten sick and had to be taken to the hospital. He told Pang Shuisheng several times that he was fine, that he’d be better after he slept. But Pang Shuisheng didn’t agree to that.

Jin Ai’hua stayed at home to make dinner. Pang Shuisheng called a taxi and took Gu Mingxi and Pang Qian to the hospital. Gu Mingxi had a blood test and he had inflammation. The doctor gave him an IV to prevent him from catching pneumonia.

The young nurse went to insert the IV, and was dumbfounded after seeing Gu Mingxi. The middle-aged nurse at the side said, “Insert it at the neck or the leg. Ask the patient which they prefer.”

Gu Mingxi said, “Neck.”

When the nurse was inserting the needle, Pang Qian didn’t dare watch. She stood next to Gu Mingxi, and his head was turned toward her. He said quietly, “Don’t be afraid. It doesn’t hurt.”

He had several bags of medicine, and it was probably going to take three hours. Pang Shuisheng stayed in the infusion room with Gu Mingxi. He found a seat and sat for awhile. Then he said to Pang Qian, “Qian Qian, you stay with Mingxi. I’ll go home to make Mingxi some congee, and I’ll bring dinner over soon. The IV won’t finish until about 8 o’clock. You guys have to eat.”

Gu Mingxi really felt very apologetic. He couldn’t stop himself from saying, “Uncle…”

Pang Shuisheng stopped him and continued, “Just make sure to rest. If you need anything, just call Pang Qian over to help. I’ll be back in an hour.”

After Pang Shuisheng left the hospital, he lit a cigarette. Then he made a call to Gu Guoxiang. “Guoxiang, where are you? Hurry back. Mingxi’s sick.”

Gu Guoxiang asked, “What happened?”

“Yesterday, it was raining. The kid walked outside for a long time, so he was drenched. Today, he got a fever and keeps coughing.”

Gu Guoxiang was silent on the other end of the phone. Then he said, “I’m out of town. My ticket back is for the day after tomorrow.”

“Then exchange it. Can’t you change it for tomorrow?”

“Probably not.” Gu Guoxiang’s voice was low. “Shuisheng, I’m not alone.”

On his end of the phone, there was the faint sound of a TV. Then a female voice said, “Who’s calling? You’re out to play over New Year’s, and you’re still so busy…”

Gu Guoxiang covered the receiver and said, “Be quiet.”

Pang Shuisheng heard everything, and really had some curses he wanted to shout out. But he held back his temper. “What about Ah Han? Call her! Tell her that Mingxi’s sick, and she’ll surely come back.”

“I’ve tried calling her, but her cellphone is off.”

“Call her home phone then. You must have the number to her parent’s home.”

“…” Gu Guoxiang sighed. “I really don’t have it. All these years, and we’ve probably only been back two or three times.”

Pang Shuisheng really had no words to say. Before he hung up, he shouted, “f.u.c.ker, d.a.m.n it! If you don’t want your kid, I’ll raise him!”

It was New Year’s, so there weren’t many people in the infusion room at the hospital. Gu Mingxi and Pang Qian sat together in the corner. When they looked up, they could see the TV hanging on the wall.

Gu Mingxi was still wearing the pajamas, his body covered with a blanket they’d brought from home. Pang Qian pulled the blanket up a bit, so that others wouldn’t notice his missing arms.

Truth be told, since it was the first time Pang Qian had gone to the hospital with Gu Mingxi for an IV drip. She didn’t really know what she needed to watch out for. When Gu Mingxi looked up and saw that the medicine solution was nearly done, he reminded Pang Qian to find a nurse to change it out.

Gu Mingxi was feeling week so he didn’t speak much. Every time he looked over at Pang Qian, he could see her with her chin resting on her palms, staring at him.

“I know that I’m handsome.” His mouth turned up and he smiled, “But you don’t have to look at me like that.”

“Narcissist!” Pang Qian flew into a rage. She was about to hit him, when Gu Mingxi pleaded, “Please be careful with the needle in my neck!”

Pang Qian immediately dropped her hand. She pursed he lips and said, “You’re sick and still asking for a beating.”

Gu Mingxi laughed as he looked at her. “You’re the only one that would hit me. In all of the Golden Compound, who doesn’t know that I grew up being bullied by you.”

“Nonsense!” Pang Qian suddenly wanted to hit him again, but so sickly, she put her hand down. “When did I bully you?! How can that be considered bullying?! My dad even told me yesterday not to bully you. What the heck!”

Seeing that Pang Qian had really gotten a bit angry, Gu Mingxi smiled and said, “I’m just kidding with you.”

Qian Qian didn’t say anything, and then she felt something on her leg. She looked down and there was Gu Mingxi’s foot. He wasn’t wearing any socks, and his toes pulled at her pants. “Hey, I really was just kidding. Don’t be mad.”

Pang Qian turned to look at him. Gu Mingxi kept smiling, “Then, if you hit me, it’ll be fine, won’t it?”

“You’re crazy.” Pang Qian kicked his leg, and the two of them both snickered.

Pang Shuisheng brought in a thermos of food. There was congee and also some rousong (“dried meat floss”) and pickled mustard greens.

Since it wasn’t convenient for Gu Mingxi to eat, Pang Shuisheng was going to feed him, but Pang Qian said, “Dad, let me.”

She sat beside him with a bowl of congee, feeding him spoon after spoon. Occasionally, she would also help him wipe his mouth with a napkin.

After another few spoonfuls, Pang Qian couldn’t help say, “When we were in first grade, I fed you. I really didn’t think that I’d still be feeding you in high school.”

Gu Mingxi looked at her gloomily, then he lowered his eyes.

The old auntie sitting beside them was also getting an IV drip. Her two daughters were with her. They’d seen Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi (playfully) quarreling earlier, and now the girl was feeding the boy. Although they weren’t sure why this grown boy couldn’t feed himself, but he was a sick patient after all. It wasn’t particularly strange.

One of the auntie’s daughters started chatting with Pang Shuisheng. “Mister, are both of those kids yours?”

Pang Shuisheng laughed, “That’s right, they’re both mine. One son, one daughter.”

“They’re siblings?”

“That’s right.”

“A son and daughter, a complete set. It’s really something to be envied. They’re both very pretty. I’ve been watching the two of them, and they seem to get along very well.”

Hearing this, Pang Qian lifted her eyes to look at Gu Mingxi. She found that his cheeks were flushed and he was secretly watching her.