Liu Chen vaguely heard voices around him. He instinctively wanted to open his eyes, but found his eyelids as heavy as a thousand pounds, unable to lift.
"High fever. How long has it been?"
"It should be about half a day."
"Should be? Don't your family members pay attention? Are there any allergy medications?"
"Allergic to amoxicillin."
Liu Chen couldn't hear the voice behind him clearly, only feeling his mind hazy and drowsy as he drifted back to sleep.
It felt like a long time passed before a cold needle pricked his hand, followed by a female voice that seemed to come from a distant sky:
"After the IV drip is finished, be sure to turn off this clamp that controls the drip rate promptly."
"Okay, thank you."
IV drip...?
At this moment, Liu Chen felt as if his brain had been put on slow motion, thinking very slowly. When he realized that "IV drip" meant an infusion, Liu Chen suddenly snapped his eyes open.
Upon opening his eyes, Liu Chen saw the familiar ceiling of his room and a standing coat rack by his bed. A bag of fluid hung on it, now flowing through the IV tube and the needle in his hand, entering his body drop by drop.
In that moment, Liu Chen was panicked.
Ren Yu was just coming out of the bathroom, holding a folded towel. Seeing Liu Chen lying on the bed with his eyes open, staring blankly at the IV drip, he asked with a smile.
"Awake?"
Liu Chen looked at Ren Yu, wanting to speak, but his lips felt stuck together. With a slight effort, Liu Chen felt as if he heard the sound of his dry lip skin tearing.
"I..."
Ren Yu walked to the bedside, reaching towards Liu Chen's face. Then, Liu Chen felt a cool piece of skin press against his forehead.
"Hmm, the fever has subsided. I won't give you any more fever reducers."
Ren Yu stood up and walked towards the bathroom. When he returned, the folded towel in his hand was gone.
His gaze swept over Liu Chen's dry lips. Ren Yu opened the lid of the thermos beside him and a built-in straw popped out. Perhaps because the hot water poured into the cup had not been drunk, as soon as the straw popped out, a droplet of water splattered onto Ren Yu's face.
Two water droplets clung to the surface of Ren Yu's glasses, which were always so clean they could reflect. They happened to block his view of Liu Chen.
"Pfft!"
Seeing Ren Yu like this, Liu Chen couldn't help but laugh. Seeing Ren Yu take off his glasses and raise an eyebrow at him:
"Little rascal."
As soon as these three words were spoken, Liu Chen's expression froze, and then his entire face turned red.
Ren Yu leisurely reached for a tissue from the nightstand, then quietly looked at Liu Chen while wiping the water droplets from his glasses.
Their eyes met, and their pupils contained only each other. The room suddenly fell silent. Liu Chen could even hear the sound of the IV drip falling beside him and smelled something like strawberries.
Ren Yu suddenly broke the silence in the bedroom:
"Chenchen."
"Hmm?" Liu Chen felt the heat on his cheeks and deeply suspected he was having a fever again. He shrunk further into the covers, revealing only a fluffy head and a pair of bright eyes.
"You're already doing great. You don't need to push yourself so hard anymore." After saying this, Ren Yu saw Liu Chen's slightly furrowed brow and added, "The doctor said you have a fever due to overexertion."
Taking a deep breath, Liu Chen closed his eyes and slowly exhaled through his nostrils.
Liu Chen opened his eyes and looked at Ren Yu, who was sitting by the bedside. At this moment, Liu Chen's inner turmoil was far from as calm as his outward appearance suggested.
She even wanted to chase Ren Yu away.
He had looked through her study and tutoring notes! Otherwise, he wouldn't have said those words!
But...
Liu Chen opened her mouth slightly and took a breath, calming herself down and forcefully suppressing the fear of her secret being exposed.
"I will pay attention to regulating it."
Liu Chen could only say these words dryly.
After all, in a sense, Ren Yu was almost her savior.
Thinking of this, Liu Chen still felt a lingering fear and a sense of relief after narrowly escaping death.
If she had to die from a fever after being reborn, wouldn't that be a complete joke? Although the only comfort was that, this time, her mother had lived a fortunate life.
Ren Yu heard Chenchen's words and keenly sensed her reluctance. However, Ren Yu only assumed that Chenchen was unwilling to give up her studies, so he continued:
"The doctor instructed you to rest well in this condition, otherwise you will continue to have a fever. If you have a fever many times, it can cause irreversible brain damage."
Liu Chen's eyelashes drooped slightly, her gaze fixed on the pattern on the quilt. Her hands, hidden beneath the quilt, slowly clenched into fists. She mumbled, "I know, I'm a little tired and want some water."
Hearing this, Ren Yu helped Liu Chen sit up and propped two pillows behind her. Then he opened the thermos cup again, leaned his upper body forward, propping himself up with his left hand on the bedside, and held the thermos cup, guiding the straw towards Liu Chen's lips.
"I can do it myself."
Liu Chen reached out from under the quilt, wanting to hold Ren Yu's thermos cup herself, but felt her fingers were weak, like freshly made noodles.
Seeing Liu Chen's limp yet stubborn hand trying to hold the cup, Ren Yu couldn't help but frown and said with a slightly stern tone, "Your body hasn't recovered yet. Drink some water first, then sleep for a while."
Liu Chen pursed her lips, and finally said nothing. She silently drank several mouthfuls of water, then lay down directly, pulling the quilt over her head, pretending to be asleep.
After a long while, Liu Chen heard Ren Yu get up, presumably to turn off the IV drip. A while later, someone entered from outside the door.
"That's enough for today. Rest well. You'll need to continue the IV drip around this time tomorrow. Five consecutive days should be sufficient. Also, you must not overexert yourself these few days."
Listening to the unfamiliar female voice, Liu Chen hesitated, but finally summoned the system:
Enter Tutoring
When Liu Chen woke up again, her mind instinctively began to recall the knowledge points from her tutoring sessions. However, this time, as Liu Chen started to recall, she felt a pain in her head.
"Hiss..."
Liu Chen cried out in pain unexpectedly.
Then a warm light turned on. The right side of the bed mattress dipped slightly, and someone placed a hand on it. Then a gentle hand quietly lifted a corner of the quilt covering her head, followed by a cool hand that lightly landed on her forehead.
The hand stayed on her forehead for a moment, then moved away. The depression on the mattress subsided, and the sound of slippers walking into the bathroom, followed by the gushing sound of the faucet. Then, slippers returned to the bedroom, and a neatly folded, damp washcloth appeared over Liu Chen's head.
In a daze, Liu Chen felt as if she had returned to the time when her mother took care of her when she was sick in her previous life.