Morning Longing for Warmth – Chapter 48
by Little PandaHeart Ailment
I want to spend your birthday with you.
On the eighth day of the new year, Shiyi accompanied Wei Hui for a check-up. They were wearing matching couple outfits, and Su Ziyan had to look several times at the hospital entrance before he dared to confirm: “Shiyi?”
Shiyi looked up with a smile, holding Wei Hui’s hand: “Dr. Su.”
Su Ziyan shifted his gaze from her face to Wei Hui’s. Her expression remained cold and indifferent, her eyebrows distant, unchanged from before. But because of their matching couple outfits, something felt off, discordant – too discordant. Was this really Wei Hui?
Behind them, the driver Pei Tian sympathized with Su Ziyan’s incredulous expression – he had been wearing the same expression for the past two days.
Finally found a kindred spirit!
He never expected Third Miss to be just like ordinary people when in love. Pei Tian frowned at this thought – wasn’t Third Miss just an ordinary person?
He shook his head and said: “Third Miss, I’ll step out first. Call me if you need anything.”
Wei Hui nodded, and followed Su Ziyan into the examination room with Shiyi.
Before the new year, her legs were often weak, but after the new year these symptoms disappeared. Shiyi took such meticulous care of her that she hadn’t even caught a cold this year, let alone a fever. Su Ziyan completed the examination and felt relieved: “Fortunately there’s no deterioration, but we still can’t be careless. I’ve already explained the precautions to Shiyi – you just need to follow instructions obediently.”
On the other side, Shiyi looked at Wei Hui, smiled and nodded. Wei Hui had no choice but to say: “I understand.”
“Don’t worry too much about the abandoned building project, the plans are all set. Don’t dwell on it so much. Taking care of your health is what really matters. The same goes for other projects – if you can delegate to others, then do so. You only have one life.” Su Ziyan repeated naggingly. Wei Hui pressed her slightly aching head: “I know.”
“Good that you know.”
Wei Hui now listened to Shiyi’s nagging at home and Su Ziyan’s muttering when out. In the past, she hated it most when people would prattle on, finding it noisy, but now she found it heartwarming. She got up from the hospital bed and said: “I’m going to the bathroom.”
Shiyi supported her: “I’ll go with you.”
Wei Hui smiled: “I’m not a three-year-old child.”
Su Ziyan nodded: “That’s right, she knows this hospital better than any of us.”
Wei Hui glared at him in annoyance – bringing up exactly what shouldn’t be mentioned. He knew Shiyi was particularly worried about her health, yet he deliberately said such things. Did he think he could speak so freely just because she wasn’t getting angry now?
Su Ziyan noticed her stern gaze and stood up straight: “Alright, I misspoke. Go ahead.”
As Wei Hui’s figure disappeared down the hallway, Shiyi lowered her head, bit her lip, and called out: “Dr. Su.”
“I know what you want to ask,” Su Ziyan tidied up the medical records and closed his pen. “I can’t tell you too much about her situation. If you want to know anything, it’s best to ask her directly.”
Su Ziyan wasn’t unwilling to tell Shiyi about the surgery, but some things weren’t his place to say. He knew Wei Hui’s temperament better than anyone – if she wanted to tell Shiyi, she would. Since she wasn’t saying anything now, he had no right to speak on her behalf.
Shiyi pouted and lowered her head, waiting for Wei Hui to return from the bathroom. With Su Ziyan’s medical instructions, Shiyi became even stricter in taking care of Wei Hui – ensuring she went to bed on time, exercised at fixed times, and received proper nutrition at specific times. Even the water in Wei Hui’s cup was always kept at room temperature [traditionally considered healthier in Chinese culture]. Whether big or small matters, as long as it concerned Wei Hui, Shiyi handled everything personally. If it weren’t for her own intense studies, she probably would have followed Wei Hui to the company to look after her.
Wei Hui didn’t mind bringing Shiyi to work, but the timing wasn’t right – it was too early to bring her into the company now.
At the end of February, news came from Weiss that they were willing to accept Shiyi and Du Yueming. It was said that Du Yueming had caused a huge scene at home, absolutely refusing to study abroad, and even ran away once, only to be personally brought back by Old Master Du, who then gave her a long private lecture.
Shiyi showed no unusual reaction; after hearing Wei Hui’s words, she just nodded: “I understand.”
She didn’t ask when to go or for how long. When they were together, time seemed like a taboo topic that neither would easily mention. During their evening rest, Wei Hui held Shiyi and asked: “Don’t you want to know when you’re going?”
“July,” Shiyi raised her head while in Wei Hui’s embrace, her gaze calm. Wei Hui was surprised: “How did you know?”
Yuan Shu’s course schedule ended in early July, so she could easily guess. Wei Hui looked at Shiyi’s increasingly clear eyes and pressed her lips together. The once-transparent Shiyi she had first brought home had gradually changed – now she couldn’t quite read her anymore.
Shiyi hugged her waist, pressing against her chest to listen to her heartbeat, and softly asked: “Can we delay it?”
Wei Hui stroked the top of her head, feeling the soft hair against her chin, both soft and ticklish, and asked: “Delay until when?”
Shiyi held her waist tightly, her voice muffled: “I want to spend your birthday with you.”
Her birthday? That would be at the end of the year. Wei Hui remained silent, and Shiyi’s slightly hopeful gaze dimmed as she said quietly: “I understand. I’ll go.”
Wei Hui rested her chin on top of Shiyi’s head and said softly: “It’s alright, you can still come back for my birthday.”
Shiyi gave a low sound of acknowledgment, somewhat choked up.
She could come back for the birthday, but what if she couldn’t see Wei Hui?
These past two months, she had accompanied Wei Hui to every check-up at Su Ziyan’s. She knew Wei Hui didn’t really want her to go, but she couldn’t help herself – she wanted to know everything, both good and bad. Fortunately, there hadn’t been any abnormalities during this time. Even Su Ziyan remarked that once people find their weakness, they become stronger. Wei Hui’s vital signs were actually better than before. He would always smile, saying it must be because of Shiyi’s meticulous care.
If she left, who would take care of Wei Hui?
Shiyi felt distressed but helpless, waking up several times in the middle of the night. Eventually, she simply stopped trying to sleep and just held Wei Hui, listening to her heartbeat, her ear pressed against her chest. Only when listening to that “peng peng” did her anxious emotions ease, and she became calm.
The following months were the busiest Shiyi had ever experienced. Although she was going abroad for further studies with Du Yueming, her unreliable personality meant that far from helping her, it would be a blessing if she didn’t drag her away from studies to play every day. Shiyi tried her best to learn everything Yuan Shu taught, but she wasn’t a genius after all, and the material became increasingly difficult to understand. Worried that Shiyi wouldn’t know anything when going abroad, Wei Hui found her a foreign language teacher. With Shiyi’s personality of pushing herself to the limit, she eventually fell ill, developing a fever of forty degrees [celsius] in the height of summer. Su Ziyan came over in his shirt, his back soaked with sweat.
“What happened?” he took Shiyi’s temperature: “How did you get a fever?”
Shiyi’s face was flushed from the fever, her vision blurry. Wei Hui had gone to a neighboring city for a meeting and couldn’t make it back today. When she first felt unwell, she had planned to take a taxi to Su Ziyan’s hospital, but her body couldn’t hold out and she fell ill, which was why she had Su Ziyan come over instead.
Su Ziyan took her temperature and exclaimed in surprise: “Thirty-nine point five degrees, how did it get this high?”
He placed his hand on Shiyi’s forehead: “I’ll prescribe some fever medication first, and give you an IV drip…”
Shiyi listened to his words and softly replied: “Okay.”
Su Ziyan placed the medicine and water on the bedside table and asked: “She hasn’t returned yet?”
Shiyi tilted her head back to take the medicine and made a sound of acknowledgment: “Third Miss said she’ll be back tomorrow morning.”
Su Ziyan remained silent for a few seconds: “Take the medicine and get some sleep. I’ll give you an IV drip, and you’ll be fine once the fever breaks.”
Shiyi obediently took the medicine and closed her eyes. The medicine contained sleeping medication, and she quickly fell asleep. Su Ziyan sat by the bedside, looking down at Shiyi. In half a year’s time, she had grown taller but also thinner. Perhaps from spending so much time by Wei Hui’s side, she had become more and more like Wei Hui – quiet, with a deep gaze. Unlike before, when she would constantly pester him with questions about Wei Hui’s condition, now she mostly just watched Wei Hui, as if she knew everything.
After the IV drip was finished, Su Ziyan removed the needle. Seeing that she was still asleep, he quietly left her room. As he walked out, he ran into someone hurrying by and was startled: “Why are you back?”
Wei Hui frowned: “What’s going on?”
“What happened to her?”
“She has a fever,” Su Ziyan shook his head: “Who notified you?”
Wei Hui took two steps forward, opened the door, and seeing Shiyi sleeping in bed, she let out a sigh of relief and replied: “Aunt Liu told me.”
When she couldn’t reach Shiyi by phone, she called home, and Aunt Liu told her Shiyi had a fever. She immediately rushed back. Su Ziyan picked up his medical kit and said: “Let’s go, we’ll talk downstairs. Let her rest.”
Wei Hui followed behind him: “How did she get a fever?”
“It’s nothing serious.” Su Ziyan, afraid she would blame herself and knowing their relationship was already difficult enough, didn’t want to add to their troubles. He told her honestly: “I’ve given her fever medication and an IV drip. She’ll be fine when she wakes up.”
Wei Hui nodded, still unable to understand how a perfectly healthy person could suddenly develop a fever. Su Ziyan thought for a moment and replied: “It’s probably heartache.”
“Did she find out about the surgery?”
Wei Hui froze. She hadn’t told Shiyi about the surgery before, worried that she would blame herself. But thinking back, about two months ago, Shiyi, who had constantly asked about the possibility of surgery, suddenly stopped mentioning it. At the time, she thought Shiyi was just busy with her studies and hadn’t paid attention, but had she actually found out?
How did she find out?
All confidential documents in Wei Hui’s room were kept in the safe, including that surgery notice. She felt frustrated, remembering that two months ago, Shiyi had opened a cabinet to get some documents – with the key she had given her.
For a moment, Wei Hui felt both angry and heartbroken – angry at herself and heartbroken for Shiyi. Su Ziyan looked at her several times before saying: “Well, if there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.”
Wei Hui saw him to the front door. When she returned to the room, Shiyi was still asleep. Wei Hui thought about how Shiyi had seemed to want to say something every time she saw her lately. She had always thought Shiyi just didn’t want to leave so soon, so she had hardened her heart and avoided looking at her. But that wasn’t it – she had wanted to talk about the surgery, hadn’t she? As self-reproach welled up, Wei Hui walked to the bedside, one hand holding Shiyi’s, the other touching her forehead. Before she could withdraw her hand, Shiyi gripped it, and with closed eyes called out: “Huihui, wait for me.”
Her voice was soft, like lovers’ whispers. Wei Hui let her hold her hand and lowered her head to kiss her slightly warm cheek, saying quietly: “Okay, I’ll wait for you.”
Wait for you to grow up, wait for you to come home.
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