Morning Longing for Warmth – Chapter 29
by Little PandaContact
She looks so beautiful when she’s asleep.
The two embraced for several minutes. Upon hearing Aunt Liu close the door, Shiyi whispered softly, “Third Miss, she’s gone.”
Wei Hui gave a gentle “mm” in response. Because her head was buried in Shiyi’s embrace, Shiyi felt the vibration in her chest. Her already flushed face turned even redder, and her hands, resting on Wei Hui’s shoulders, hung awkwardly in the air.
With the lingering fragrance beneath her nose, Shiyi didn’t dare lower her head. She sat stiffly on Wei Hui’s lap until Wei Hui spoke: “Shiyi, get down.”
Shiyi scrambled down clumsily, not daring to look at Wei Hui, her gaze wandering as she said with a red face, “Then, then I’ll go downstairs first.”
“Wait.” Just as she reached the door, she was called back: “Come here.”
The voice remained clear but mixed with obvious weakness, lacking its usual sharpness and edge. Shiyi gathered her courage to look at Wei Hui, seeing her pale face covered in fine sweat, and asked with concern, “Third Miss, are you alright?”
Wei Hui shook her head: “Not really.”
“I…” Before she could suggest finding Doctor Su, Wei Hui said: “Don’t tell Ziyan.”
She knew her own body best. If she told Su Ziyan now, she would certainly be dragged to the hospital for an IV drip, and likely wouldn’t be free tomorrow. She had a board meeting tomorrow and absolutely couldn’t drop the ball at this moment, so she couldn’t possibly contact Su Ziyan.
Shiyi didn’t understand her reasoning and frowned: “Third Miss, if you’re unwell, why not go to Doctor Su?”
Wei Hui took a deep breath, looked up at her with deep pupils: “Shiyi, do you know what responsibility is?”
Born into the Wei family, enjoying such treatment meant bearing such responsibility. Wei Tian was established by her grandfather, belonged to the Wei family, and must not be handed over to Luo Zhouping under her watch – this was her responsibility.
Shiyi half-understood her words. At this moment, she suddenly hated her own clumsiness – if she were a bit smarter, would she understand Third Miss’s meaning?
She stared with wide eyes, asking bewilderedly, “Is there anything I can do?”
A faint smile appeared on Wei Hui’s pale face as she softly said, “Come organize these documents.”
There were many documents scattered on the desk, and Shiyi couldn’t tell which was which. Wei Hui closed her eyes slightly and asked her to carry all the documents, then led the way to her room.
This wasn’t Shiyi’s first time in Wei Hui’s room, but unlike last time, she didn’t look around much and instead asked directly, “Should I put them on the desk?”
“Put them on the bed,” Wei Hui replied. “I probably won’t be able to get out of bed this afternoon.”
Shiyi felt inexplicably distressed hearing these words. Such a serious condition, yet spoken of so lightly, made her heart even heavier. With her throat feeling like it was stuffed with cotton, she mumbled unclearly, “Then I’ll put them on the bed.”
She placed all the documents on the bed, then turned to help Wei Hui sit on the bed’s edge, but saw that she had already made her way there and sat down.
Shiyi stared at her, meeting Wei Hui’s gaze, and murmured, “Is there anything else you need me to do?”
Wei Hui waved her hand: “Go down and eat.”
“Tell Aunt Liu that I need to work, and ask her not to come up and disturb me.”
Shiyi lowered her eyes: “What about you?”
“Aren’t you going to eat?”
Wei Hui gently shook her head. Not surprisingly, she would likely develop a low fever in the afternoon, and too much food intake would cause stomach discomfort. She said, “No.”
Shiyi remained worried: “Then may I come up later and bring you a glass of milk?”
Wei Hui had no desire for sweet foods now, but seeing the child’s bright eyes and pretty face full of concern, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse harshly. From the first time she brought her home until now, she had been making more and more exceptions. Wei Hui couldn’t understand what she was thinking, and she lifted her head: “As you wish.”
It wasn’t a “no,” but rather “as you wish.” Shiyi breathed a sigh of relief and said softly, “Then I’ll go downstairs first.”
“Rest for a while, and I’ll come wake you up for work, okay?”
Wei Hui responded: “Okay.”
After saying this, she was stunned – when had she become so compliant?
Before she could think further, Shiyi had already opened the door and left. As the footsteps grew distant, Wei Hui looked down at the documents, which Shiyi had messily arranged earlier. She pulled out a few sheets and looked at them briefly. Her eyelids felt sore, and thinking of Shiyi’s words, she put down the documents, lay back, rested her face against the pillow, and closed her eyes to rest.
Well, what harm could there be in listening to that child once?
When Shiyi went downstairs, Aunt Liu saw her alone and couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Where is Third Miss?”
“Third Miss said she’s not hungry and won’t eat lunch.”
Unlike Zhang Ma, who would have muttered endlessly about how this wouldn’t do, Aunt Liu simply nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll serve you some rice.”
Without asking too many questions, Shiyi made a sound of agreement. As she sat at the dining table eating, she kept looking up at Wei Hui’s room, where the door remained tightly closed and quiet.
“Young Miss.” Aunt Liu noticed Shiyi had almost finished eating and walked to her side, smiling: “I’m sorry about earlier.”
Shiyi came back to her senses, also thinking of what had happened earlier, and her pretty face flushed as she hurriedly shook her head: “It’s nothing.”
Aunt Liu continued to reflect: “I’ll be more mindful next time.”
Next time.
Shiyi thought about if she were to sit on Wei Hui’s lap again, being so close to her, with her nose full of Wei Hui’s hair fragrance and feeling her softness. Shiyi’s normal heartbeat suddenly quickened, pounding like a drum, thump-thump-thump!
As if she had done something guilty, she stood up: “I’m full.”
Aunt Liu asked: “Won’t you have some soup?”
These soups were specially prepared for Shiyi on Wei Hui’s instructions. Because she was so thin and weak, Wei Hui had specifically ordered that she must drink a bowl of soup every day at lunch and dinner. Shiyi had gotten up so hastily that she forgot about the soup. She took the bowl Aunt Liu handed her and drank it down. Aunt Liu smiled and said, “Third Miss is really thoughtful towards you.”
Shiyi almost choked again.
Suppressing the urge to speak, she walked into the kitchen, made a glass of milk herself, and carried it upstairs. She told Aunt Liu not to come up in the afternoon. Aunt Liu gave her a knowing look that said ‘I understand, take your time,’ while Shiyi embarrassedly knocked on Third Miss’s door.
“Come in.” A voice still tinged with drowsiness responded. Shiyi entered with the milk. The curtains were half-drawn, with bits of sunlight leaping into the room from the other side, scattering across the bed. Wei Hui was leaning against the headboard, her face seemingly paler than before. Shiyi put the milk on the bedside table and asked Wei Hui, “Would you like to drink some milk?”
Wei Hui nodded: “Bring it here.”
She had just started feeling sleepy, and now after drinking some milk she could rest well, and her spirits should improve later. Shiyi handed over the milk, watching as Wei Hui wiped her lips with tissue paper after drinking, then said: “Help me organize these documents.”
Shiyi was startled: “Me?”
“But I don’t know how.”
Wei Hui lowered her eyes: “Do you see these numbers here?”
The documents were in both Chinese and English. Pointing at the letters, she said: “Group these together, arrange them according to the numbers into one file…”
Shiyi listened to her slightly lowered voice giving methodical instructions, and looked down with a serious expression: “Is that all?”
Wei Hui coughed twice, her face slightly flushed: “Also here, separate out the ones with these characters.”
She pointed to the characters in the top right corner of the document. Shiyi somewhat understood and nodded: “I understand.”
Wei Hui made a sound of acknowledgment and leaned against the headboard: “Wake me when you’re done.”
Just as Shiyi raised her head to agree, she saw Wei Hui had already closed her eyes while leaning against the pillow, clearly exhausted. After watching her for a few moments, Shiyi lowered her head to organize the documents. Following Wei Hui’s explanation, it wasn’t difficult. With four or five documents, she quickly found the pattern, arranged them properly, and secured them with clips. After finishing, she checked the time on her phone, looked at Wei Hui again, and ultimately decided not to wake her.
Let her sleep a bit more, just another half hour before waking Third Miss, Shiyi thought to herself. Her gaze lingered on Wei Hui’s face. When they first met, she had seemed sharp and severe, someone you’d only dare glance at from afar, but after spending time together, Shiyi discovered Wei Hui wasn’t really so frightening – she had her gentle moments, like now.
Perhaps due to illness, Wei Hui’s face remained pale as she leaned against the headboard with eyes tightly closed. Shiyi thought she looked like the sick Xi Zi [legendary beauty] from the stories her grandmother had told her, with an added touch of fragility. Her gaze grew bolder, taking in Wei Hui’s features completely, then moving down to her neck – fair, slender, with collarbones half-hidden by clothing, indescribably delicate and beautiful. Shiyi unconsciously reached out her hand, letting it hover in the air before finally pulling the thin blanket up to cover Wei Hui’s neck.
Wei Hui was sleeping deeply. After tidying up, Shiyi sat on the stool beside the bed. She didn’t dare move around, fearing any noise might disturb Wei Hui’s rest. After sitting quietly for a few minutes, her phone vibrated, startling her. She instinctively looked at Wei Hui and felt relieved to see her still sleeping.
The message was from Du Yueming, who had sent her several photos of her and Shi’er together, along with a short video. Shiyi opened it, and Du Yueming’s voice immediately filled the room. She quickly glanced at Wei Hui and lowered the volume.
“Come, Sisi, say hello to your lifesaver, Auntie Shiyi, tell her you’re home.”
In the video, Shi’er was running around joyfully, suddenly bringing its whole head close to the screen. Shiyi couldn’t help but smile. Wei Hui opened her eyes to see Shiyi smiling at the screen, her eyebrows curved upward, eyes twinkling, a shallow dimple at the corner of her mouth as she smiled. Without makeup, her lips were naturally pink, corners turned up in a smile. They weren’t far apart, and she could still hear the voice coming from Shiyi’s phone: “Sisi, call Auntie Shiyi.”
It was Du Yueming and that dog.
Wei Hui, lost in some thought, stared steadily at Shiyi’s profile, her pupils ink-black and deep. After a long while, she lowered her eyes and gave a muffled cough. Shiyi heard the sound and turned her head, putting down her phone while saying, “Third Miss, you’re awake?”
“Mm.” Seeing her looking so obedient, Wei Hui couldn’t help but add: “Your phone woke me up.”
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