"Tick-tock, tick-tock."
When Liǔ Cháoquè woke up, the first thing that met her eyes was a pristine white ceiling. Wearing a hospital gown and lying in a bed with an IV drip in her hand, she for a moment had no idea whether she had returned to reality or was still trapped inside the game.
Upon spotting Biān Chéng, Liǔ Cháoquè thought with a twinge of regret: "I'm still in the game."
"You're a real piece of work—the second nobody's looking, you pull a stunt like that and get my heart racing. Have you really got a death wish? Just charging in there with zero protection like that—weren't you scared you wouldn't come back out?" Biān Chéng said, handing her a peeled apple.
"Fortunately, it wasn't anything serious, just some dehydration. Of all the bad luck, that's the best possible outcome," Biān Chéng added.
"What about that person I dragged out? Was it the landlady? Is she still alive?" Liǔ Cháoquè asked with some anxiety.
"Oh, she's still alive. Just some fairly extensive burns and a heavy inhalation of carbon monoxide. They rushed her into the ER, but she's been stabilized now," Biān Chéng reported truthfully. "The doctor said your timely rescue is the only reason she made it."
"So it looks like I rushed in there and saved a life?" Liǔ Cháoquè blinked, the corners of her mouth curling up as her mood brightened considerably.
"That's right." Biān Chéng rubbed his fingers together, feeling a sudden urge to pinch the soft flesh of her cheek. "The landlady's husband said that once you wake up, he's sending you a ceremonial banner. Oh, and you can head down to the station to collect a civic courage bonus."
Liǔ Cháoquè thought that sounded pretty good. She still needed to test whether she was destined to turn misfortune into good fortune in this world, and emerge safely from every crisis—that as long as she wanted to save someone, that person would be rescued, and what awaited her wouldn't be a cold corpse, but a warm, living body.
She turned her face to the side and asked Biān Chéng, "What time is it?"
"It's already six in the evening." Biān Chéng glanced at his watch. "Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something?"
"Can I?" Liǔ Cháoquè blinked.
"Why would you ask that? You think I wouldn't let you eat? That would be patient abuse," Biān Chéng said with a helpless sigh, after which he left the room.
The moment the door closed, Liǔ Cháoquè grew restless. She paced around the room; aside from a large display screen, the only other thing she spotted was a bag in the corner. It seemed to contain some clothes—apparently the ones they had bought earlier today. Speaking of clothes... the ones she had been wearing probably couldn't be worn anymore, so once she took off this hospital gown, what on earth was she supposed to put on?
For some reason, a wave of desolation washed over Liǔ Cháoquè.
"What are you thinking about?"
Pushing the door open, Biān Chéng found the young girl sitting at the head of the bed, her body curled up, head lowered, radiating a heavy, gloomy dampness. In that fleeting moment, he could practically envision a tiny, shadowy mushroom sprouting beside her.
"I wasn't thinking about anything." Liǔ Cháoquè snapped out of it quickly and looked at the item Biān Chéng was holding—a bowl of plain rice congee.
"Ah—is there no pickled mustard tuber?" she asked, looking somewhat disappointed.
"Sorry about that. Should I run over to the nearby convenience store and grab you some?" Biān Chéng set the congee down and made a move to head back out the door.
"Never mind, it's too much trouble." With the IV line still taped to the back of her hand, Liǔ Cháoquè asked him to peel off the lid of the congee bowl so she could just drink it like this; it wasn't as if she strictly needed the mustard tuber.
"No mustard tuber, but this stuff is a bit spicy. Even though you aren't sick, you shouldn't eat anything too harsh right after waking up. However... ta-da! I bought some pickled radishes, want some?" He pulled out a small packet of pickled radishes.
Liǔ Cháoquè didn't know what kind of expression to make. Where on earth did he pull this packet out from? Good grief, does a gentleman's shirt pocket contain not only cigarettes, but pickled radishes as well?
Liǔ Cháoquè nodded, staring at the packet of pickled radishes as it dropped into the bowl of congee, quickly swallowed up by the white porridge before being scooped back up on a spoon, moving back and forth amidst the rising steam.
He brought the hot, tang-infused congee right to her lips. "Ah, open wide."
She dazedly opened her mouth, dazedly chewed, and then realized what she was doing. Looking at the spoon held out to her once more, she refused: "I still have hands..."
"But you only have one hand, it's inconvenient. Open wide, ah." Biān Chéng said in a tone that allowed for no refusal.
Fine then, I'll eat.
...
"I'm full."
"You only took five bites and you're full? You'll be hungry in the middle of the night, eat a bit more..."
"I really can't eat another bite," Liǔ Cháoquè said helplessly. She didn't have the appetite of a bird, but there is a limit to the amount of Rice she could consume in one sitting. She knew she would probably get hungry later tonight, but eating any more right now would make her overly stuffed. She rubbed her belly, looked at the bowl of congee near her mouth with a conflicted expression, and finally hardened her heart. "Not eating."
"Fine then," Biān Chéng said. "I'll leave it here for you. When you get hungry tonight, I'll heat it up again."
He set down the spoon, replaced the lid, tidied up the table, and then walked over to the adjacent bed and lay down. "Good night."
"?" Well, it wasn't quite sharing the same bed—after all, they were sleeping on separate beds—but having a member of the opposite sex who wasn't related by blood staying in the same room was a truly novel experience.
*I can't reach the light switch, and besides, what time is it? Isn't it way too early to go to sleep...*
Though she was grumbling inwardly, when she thought about everything that had happened today, feeling tired and wanting to sleep was only natural.
But how was she supposed to turn off this light? She stared at the switch by the head of the bed, shifting her position with extreme caution for fear of dislodging the IV needle in her hand.
*Click.*
"Why did you turn off the light?"
"Aren't you going to sleep?"
*Click.* The light flickered back on. "You haven't finished your IV drip yet, how could I possibly sleep? I was just dozing for a second, I'm keeping track of the time." He pulled out an alarm clock, setting it for twenty minutes later. "I didn't calculate how long this half-bottle has left, but it definitely won't be finished in twenty minutes."
"Little ancestor, Xiao Cheng is a bit sleepy, let me catnap for a minute, okay~?"
"Alright, alright." Liǔ Cháoquè felt thoroughly embarrassed.
He checked the fluid level in the IV bag, half-embraced Liǔ Cháoquè, and moved her back to her original position. "You just sit right here and don't do a thing. If you need to use the restroom, give me a shout and I'll walk you there."
"Ah, that really won't be necessary." No matter how thick-skinned Liǔ Cháoquè was, she couldn't accept having a guy escort her into the women's restroom.
"Nature calls, it's only human. Oh, you're embarrassed, right? Then I'll have the nurse accompany you."
That's fine, that's fine.
"Mhm."
Seeing that everything was settled and feeling his sleepiness fade, he decided to wait until Liǔ Cháoquè finished these two bottles of fluids before going to sleep himself.
At that moment, a whimsical thought struck Cháoquè: "How many bottles of IV fluid have I had so far?"
"That makes three. There are five in total—two bottles of glucose, two of saline, and one anti-inflammatory," Biān Chéng said. "You got completely drenched in the rain, and the doctor was worried you'd fall ill, so they prescribed an anti-inflammatory drip."
Fair enough.
Liǔ Cháoquè figured that another hour or so should finish the drip. She wondered if she had also been put into an ambulance back then; oh, and she wondered if ambulances really were equipped like the ones on TV with ventilators and defibrillators.
Two hours later, Liǔ Cháoquè finally had the needle removed and could sleep with peace of mind.
*Click.* After checking with Liǔ Cháoquè for her approval, Biān Chéng turned off the light.
This time, it was truly a real good night.