Chapter 71: Original Version

The whole night was filled with the sound of Qu Xizhi’s coughing.

From the moment they finished shooting, to when they returned to their rooms and Gu Xizhi took a bath before resting in her bedroom, the constant and suppressed coughing sounds from the adjacent room made it impossible for Gu Xizhi to sleep and relax. According to Liang Ying, Ling Xian had brought some medication for Qu Xizhi, and she had already taken it. However, the situation was still a cause for concern.

In the early hours, Gu Xizhi and Liang Ying decided to use a game of rock-paper-scissors to determine who would go and check on Qu Xizhi. Gu Xizhi lost all three rounds and went to knock on Qu Xizhi's door while carrying her puppy.

Even though it was quite late, Gu Xizhi wasn't worried about disturbing her actions, as she had heard the commotion in the adjacent room just a few minutes ago.

She knocked on the door several times but no one opened the door. Gu Xizhi thought the person inside had already gone to rest. However, as she was about to turn away, the door lock clicked open with a snap.

The room was dark, and it was only the light from the living room that allowed Gu Xizhi to barely see the person in front of her.

Qu Xizhi was wearing a nightgown, her long hair somewhat disheveled. Probably due to the lighting, she didn't appear as lively as usual.

"You're still not resting at this hour?" She spoke while leaning against the door, and her voice sounded a little hoarser than usual.

"I came to check on you."

She stared at her for a long time and said, "You have been coughing. Should I call a doctor? "

"It's not that serious, it's just a little cold. I've already taken the medicine."

The angle of the light changed as she spoke. Gu Xizhi saw her cheeks were unusually red through the light in the living room. She subconsciously stretched out her hand to touch her forehead. Qu Xizhi shrank when he touched her forehead. But she was stunned, "With such a hot temperature, do you have a fever?"

Qu Xizhi shook her head, "It's nothing, go and have a rest." She closed the door as she spoke.

Gu Xizhi entered her room one step ahead before the door closed, put down the dog in her arms, and then said, "Sit down first and I'll go get a thermometer for you."

Qu Xizhi looked at the puppy stumbling around in her room, then looked at Gu Xizhi's back, She probably felt a little uncomfortable, so she quickly leaned on the bed and closed her eyes.

Gu Xizhi got really nervous after taking the thermometer to measure Qu Xizhi's temperature. It was hard to imagine that she acted so calmly under a high fever of 39 degrees. It would be very likely that she would continue to have such a fever. Gu Xizhi couldn't afford to delay any longer. She immediately left the thermometer and was about to retrieve her phone to call a doctor.

Just as she left the bed, a pair of hands grabbed her wrist feebly. Gu Xizhi looked back and saw that Qu Xizhi was still leaning on the bed. Her eyes were slightly closed. She obviously looked weak, but her posture clearly meant that she didn't want her to leave.

Whether it was more than two years ago or more than two years later, Gu Xizhi had never seen her sick and fragile. Her palms were scorching that Gu Xizhi looked at her and thought for a moment before saying, 

"There are antipyretics in the medicine box. I'll help you take the medicine. If you don't feel better after taking it, should we go see a doctor?"

Qu Xizhi probably didn't have much strength to answer, but she just relaxed her hand, which made it barely possible to understand that her meaning was affirmative.

After being let go, Gu Xizhi immediately went to get the medicine.

Even indoors at night, it's still filled with coldness. Gu Xizhi took medicine and hot water back to Qu Xizhi's room. She saw her bed had only one quilt, so she took out another one from the cabinet to cover her.

She probably didn't like the feeling of heavy things pressing on her body, so after covering her for a few seconds, she pushed the quilt away. Gu Xizhi helped cover her again, but she pushed it away once more. Gu Xizhi felt helpless and could do nothing but feed her medicine first.

The water temperature was just right, but the medicine pills looked a bit big. Gu Xizhi sat at the bedside, helped her up, and patted her shoulder to signal her to take the medicine.

Qu Xizhi opened her eyes. Under the lamplight, her eyelashes were long and thick, making her look unrealistically beautiful from the side.

She seemed to know what Gu Xizhi meant, but she just looked at the pills and turned her face away to express her rejection. Seeing that she was unwilling to take medicine, Gu Xizhi checked the temperature on her forehead again, and then whispered in her ear, "Taking the medicine is the only way to reduce the fever. So don't be willful at a time like this, okay?"

Qu Xizhi curled up in her arms, probably because her body became cold and started to shiver. Gu Xizhi watched her trying to get closer to her to find a source of heat. She couldn't do anything but break the pill in half, lifted her chin slightly forcefully, and stuffed half of the pill into her mouth.

The outer shell of the pill was bitter, and Qu Xizhi quickly frowned. Upon seeing this, Gu Xizhi immediately put water into her mouth, but she only got a little water and wanted to spit out the medicine. Gu Xizhi was stunned, and in desperation, she immediately lowered her head and blocked her lips with her own.

The external coercion seemed to be effective after all. Qu Xizhi did not open her eyes, but just put her hand under the quilt and gently grabbed the corner of her clothes, and finally swallowed the medicine.

Gu Xizhi once again brought hot water to her lips. This time, she didn't even have the strength to drink the water, as her body continued to tremble from the cold in her arms.

She could feel her trembling involuntarily as her body came closer. Gu Xizhi put down the hot water and pulled another quilt over to cover her. This time, she didn't push it away. Instead, she held onto her arm tightly, snuggling up in her arms.

It was well past 1 AM, and with her in this condition, Gu Xizhi couldn't bear to leave her alone. Besides, she kept holding onto her hand. Gu Xizhi thought for a while and ultimately decided that she wasn't sure was right or wrong.

After the last light was turned off, Gu Xizhi hugged her and fell asleep on the bed, tucking the corners of the quilt in and placing her body tightly against Qu Xizhi's hot body.

The bedroom without light was so dark that no one could see anything, but the familiar smell beside her made her feel very at ease. Gu Xizhi hugged her quietly, letting herself be infected by her hot body temperature, and tightened her arms around her every time she shivered.

Regardless of everything, she just hoped that everything would be fine.

After a while, Gu Xizhi was finally able to relax a little as Qu Xizhi's body gradually calmed down. Although she still had a slight fever, the signs of improvement made Gu Xizhi hold her closer, as if trying to help her recover faster in this way.

Drowsiness became the most tempting thing in the night. Gu Xizhi resisted the urge to sleep several times but couldn't wait for her to completely recover and leave. She fell asleep quietly by her side.

As dawn approached, Qu Xizhi had been awake for quite some time. She didn't move or even open her eyes, just quietly leaning against Gu Xizhi, appearing to still be in a dream.

The thick curtains covered up the only glimmer of light and the bedroom was very quiet. Even the puppy was sleeping soundly under the bed.

It seemed that there was some restless factor that made Gu Xizhi particularly uneasy throughout the night. When she first opened her eyes, the thick darkness in the room deceived her, making her think she had only slept for ten minutes.

The body temperature of the person beside her had dropped, but it was still enough to indicate that she was running a low fever. Thinking that she might need to take medicine and drink water upon waking up, Gu Xizhi gently separated the hand that was around her arm, as if she intended to get out of bed.

In the first moment she attempted to push her, Qu Xizhi increased the strength of her grip even more. Her chin gently rubbed against her shoulder, looking dependent and nostalgic.

The fact that she seemed to be awake shocked Gu Xizhi, but her silence made Gu Xizhi unsure whether she was indeed conscious.

Talking may wake her up and expose her. Not talking will eventually be discovered sooner or later if this stalemate continues.

While she was thinking, a warm breath approached. Gu Xizhi subconsciously avoided it. When she was caught, she realized that her lips were stained with a touch of scorching heat.

Qu Xizhi found her lips and gently covered them. Her hands that had regained some strength and became quite suppressive. Gu Xizhi was hugged by her leaning body. She tried her best to move back but failed to avoid her, gradually becoming somewhat anxious.

Her lips were blocked by her and she could not speak at all. Only resisting movements could express her intentions, but because her body was still very hot, Gu Xizhi didn't dare to make excessive movements.

Qu Xizhi traced the shape of her lips with the tip of her tongue over and over again, as if facing an extremely beautiful thing, so her emotions became exceptionally soothing and gentle.

Being kissed by her like this, it's actually very difficult to find reasons to keep one's emotions rational. Gu Xizhi's hands stayed by her side but it was hard to firmly push her away.

Putting everything aside, she actually missed the goodness she was given so much.

Perhaps she was carried away by the lack of resistance. Qu Xizhi delicately teased her lips, and her hands eagerly groped to the hem of her clothes. The purpose was already obvious.

The skin on her chest was burned by the scorching temperature. Gu Xizhi was so frightened by this chaotic behavior that her body froze, and she could no longer resist exerting force on her shoulders.

No matter if she has a fever, is confused or is very sick and fragile, or maybe she even made another mistake, a kiss is not too excessive, but if it goes beyond just a kiss, things will become impossible to fix.

Gu Xizhi's action of pushing her shoulders became especially firm.

"Do you have someone you particularly want to protect?"

Qu Xizhi let her go without much rejection at all and said the words in a hazy tone that seemed to have no clear meaning to Gu Xizhi.

Gu Xizhi looked at her quietly in the darkness.

Silence filled the air for a while, except for a few occasional low coughs. Qu Xizhi moved her hands down and hugged her waist tightly. She didn't invade her again or say anything that she couldn't understand. She just put her head on her shoulder and became quiet again.

Darkness still enveloped the entire bedroom, and the fragrance of plants seemed to seep into the air. Gu Xizhi waited quietly for a long time amidst the unusual temperature, until the heavy curtains could no longer block the first beautiful beam of light. She finally tried to push Qu Xizhi away again.

This time, she seemed to have entered a chaotic sleep again. Gu Xizhi didn't spend too much effort and pushed her away.

It was already six o'clock in the morning. After Gu Xizhi returned to the room, she called Ling Xian to ask her to bring a doctor. After hanging up the phone, as if not entirely reassured, she went back to Qu Xizhi's bedroom to carefully check if she had pushed the quilt away.

She slept peacefully, with just a slight frown on her forehead, but this didn't affect her beauty. Even when she was asleep, her eyelashes appeared thicker and longer, making her look like an exquisite porcelain doll from a distance.

For some reason, in the past, even if she liked someone very much, she never had the desire to take on anything for them. But right now, seeing her like this, she suddenly wished it was her who was sick.

The sun was rising higher, and its light slowly penetrated through the curtains, gradually making the dark bedroom bright.

Gu Xizhi continued to sit by the bedside, watching over her. After being momentarily dazed by the sunlight a few times, it felt like this entire situation, including last night, was nothing but a dream.

When one's spirits are low, their consciousness tends to feel a bit blurry.

She hoped this was truly a dream, yet pitied that it might just be a dream.