Peerless Beauty – Chapter 8

Illness

Get up and bite her once

After tooth extraction, avoid spicy and stimulating food, you can only eat liquid or semi-liquid food. Jian Qing touched her stitched left palm and instructed Lu Yinxi, “You need to eat light meals from now on. I will cook. If you feel uncomfortable, tell me.”

Lu Yinxi nodded gratefully. She had been eating from the canteen or takeout these days and had not yet tasted Jian Qing’s cooking.

Who knew, on the first night after the tooth extraction—

Jian Qing cooked a pot of fragrant hot pot, and in front of Lu Yinxi, she leisurely dipped thin beef slices, tripe, and vegetables, eating with relish.

Lu Yinxi, surrounded by the aroma, with a blank face, held a bowl of bland egg custard, swallowing it spoonful by spoonful with difficulty.

The next night, Jian Qing came home late from work and did not cook herself. She brought back spicy crayfish.

Her left palm had not yet been unstitched, making it inconvenient to peel the shells, so she ordered Lu Yinxi to do it for her.

When under the eaves, one must bow.

Lu Yinxi, smelling the spicy and fresh aroma, was almost driven to tears by the bullying. She suppressed the urge to poison her and peeled the crayfish one by one for her.

Deliberately. Definitely out of deliberate revenge. Her left palm was also injured and should avoid certain foods. Yet she would rather harm herself to harm the enemy more.

Such a ruthless and petty woman…

Jian Qing, looking gentle, ate gently too. She picked up a shrimp piece by piece, chewing and swallowing slowly, her eyes fixed on Lu Yinxi’s face, and slowly opened her mouth, “Cursing me in your heart again?”

The icy tone scared Lu Yinxi into shaking her head like a rattle drum, holding up the porridge to slowly swallow.

On the third night, Lu Yinxi couldn’t stand her anymore and planned to run away from home.

Going out alone in the cold wind to eat mush was better than being tortured by Jian Qing.

Unexpectedly, before walking out the door, she felt dizzy, then her whole body heated up, her head muddled with fever.

Fever

Caused by post-extraction infection.

The mouth is a bacterial environment. After tooth extraction, people with low immunity, such as the elderly and children, are prone to infections if not careful.

She had an IV at the hospital before, but still got infected.

This body was much weaker than in the real world.

Lu Yinxi held her head, calmly searched for the medicine box, and took her temperature.

38℃.

Fever caused by tooth extraction, if it doesn’t exceed 38.5℃, taking an anti-inflammatory pill at home is fine.

Lu Yinxi fed herself the medicine, drank a big cup of hot water, took a pillow, and lay on the sofa to rest.

When Jian Qing came home from work, the living room was not as bright as the previous days, it was dim and cold.

She stood at the entrance for a few seconds, then slowly unbuttoned her coat, the gloom and coldness in her eyes gradually accumulating.

Taking off the black coat and hanging it on the coat rack, her eyes swept to the shoe cabinet —

Lu Yinxi’s long boots were still there.

She hadn’t left.

The gloomy look eased a bit.

Jian Qing changed her shoes, walked to the living room, and in the weak light from outside, saw a curled-up figure on the sofa.

She walked over, wanted to touch Lu Yinxi’s forehead, but feared her cold hands might freeze her, so she warmed her hands on her neck first, then touched.

A burning forehead.

Already half-asleep and half-awake, Lu Yinxi heard slight movements and frowned.

The air she breathed in and out was hot, her throat sore and dry. She opened her eyes and saw a beautiful, cold face.

Her nostrils flared, sniffing hard, the original refreshing cold scent of someone was now masked by the smell of hand sanitizer alcohol.

She frowned slightly, muttering in a small voice, “You’ve been marinated by the hospital…”

Only in a feverish daze would she dare be so bold, disdaining the lifesaving white-clothed angel.

Jian Qing flicked Lu Yinxi’s forehead lightly, took a thermometer to measure her temperature, and asked, “Did you take medicine?”

Lying on the sofa, holding a pillow, Lu Yinxi replied softly, “Took anti-inflammatory medicine…”

Her voice was dry and hoarse, not as pleasant as usual.

Jian Qing turned on the light, poured a cup of warm water, “Drink more hot water.”

Lu Yinxi took the cup and smiled.

This phrase is often joked about as a perfunctory response, but from a medical perspective, drinking more hot water is quite beneficial.

Of course, it shouldn’t be too hot (above 65℃). Too hot food can damage the esophageal mucosa, causing epithelial cell burns and shedding. The esophagus then regenerates new cells.

Repeated burns and shedding lead to repeated regeneration, and genetic mutations happen during cell division. The more division, the higher the mutation probability.

Some mutated cells break free from their own shackles, evade the immune system’s hunt, plundering nutrients from normal cells, rampaging in the body — these are cancer cells.

In short, long-term consumption of overly hot water or food increases the risk of esophageal cancer.

Knowledge learned years ago replayed in her mind. Lu Yinxi had deliberately avoided everything related to medicine, but now it often popped up unintentionally.

She sipped the warm water, moistening her throat, silently pondering the reason.

Perhaps, in an unfamiliar world, facing strangers, familiar things bring some tiny sense of security.

Her brain, subconsciously, was seeking security for her.

The human body is a sophisticated instrument. Whether one subjectively accepts the changes in the external environment or not, the organism is constantly, subtly and quietly coordinating and adapting to the changes, in order to integrate into the environment as soon as possible.

The alcohol scent still lingered at her nose. Lu Yinxi suddenly remembered something, threw away the pillow, staggered to the bedroom, then ran back, stuffing a box into Jian Qing’s arms.

Jian Qing opened the package, finding a brand-new hand cream.

A few days ago, while shopping for daily necessities, Lu Yinxi saw the hand cream on the shelf and inexplicably thought of Jian Qing’s hands, so she bought it but hadn’t found a reason to give it to her.

Today was just right, a legitimate reason—

“Your hands smell of alcohol, apply some nice smelling cream.”

Jian Qing looked at Lu Yinxi, silent.

She was always quiet, emotions not showing, her eyes extremely beautiful, dark jade-like pupils, staring directly could make people’s hearts race.

Feeling uncomfortable being stared at, Lu Yinxi gripped the cup, mustered courage, and softly scolded, “What are you looking at? I bought it with your money, sheep’s wool comes from the sheep.”

She had come to this world penniless, even her body was kept by someone, and all expenses were currently covered by Jian Qing.

She kept the accounts on her phone, planning to repay Jian Qing when she left.

Being scolded, Jian Qing merely responded with a faint “oh,” put away the hand cream, and said, “I’ll apply it later, I need to cook now.”

Lu Yinxi reminded, “Apply it before bed too, and regularly, in thick layers.”

In the hospital, hands are washed dozens to hundreds of times a day. Without proper care, how rough would they become?

Jian Qing nodded, asking, “What do you want to eat tonight?”

Lu Yinxi was stunned, then joy spread on her face, “I want meat soup.”

She had been tortured for two days and nights, only smelling the meat scent, unable to eat a morsel, nearly drooling to death. Even if she couldn’t chew meat now, she wanted to drink some meat-flavored soup.

Jian Qing busied herself in the kitchen, Lu Yinxi, like a clingy cat, followed her from the living room to the kitchen with her feverish body.

Burning with dizziness, her willpower weakened, self-control diminished, her mouth unlocked, babbling nonsense.

“Why don’t you have a 500-meter big bed and a bunch of butlers and maids?”

She had read transmigration novels where the protagonist either kicked the male lead or hugged the female lead, or was wealthy, but here she was a canary, and her patron lacked grandeur, doing everything personally.

Even cooking herself, isn’t it supposed to be an aunty doing that?

Jian Qing didn’t mock her nonsense, chopping green onions while answering cooperatively, “Not that much money.”

During a fever, the cerebral cortex is extremely excited, brain metabolism accelerates, causing relative hypoxia, leading to brain cell dysfunction, which may manifest as rambling nonsense.

“Your family is rich.”

This paper person was a real rich second generation, the kind who could inherit the family business if not a doctor.

“Theirs, not mine.”

“Why bring me back if you have no money?”

“You asked me to.”

Lu Yinxi hummed softly, unable to recall that memory.

She read novels jumping through parts, not knowing this plot, and the original memories were fragmented and incomplete.

So, she spoke her mind, “I don’t remember. I asked you, and you did?”

Jian Qing didn’t answer, falling silent.

Lu Yinxi misunderstood her silence.

Over the years, Lu Yinxi had seen many melodramatic scripts, like substitute lovers, seeing things and thinking of people — suddenly the drama queen, furious, “Do you have some unattainable white moonlight who went abroad? I look like your white moonlight, will you kick me out when your white moonlight returns?”

Ferociously, like a kitten with its fur standing on end.

Jian Qing glanced at Lu Yinxi, couldn’t help but chuckled.

The laughter was pleasant, like a feather falling on the heart, making it itch.

Avoiding eye contact, Lu Yinxi faced the door, scratching it with her paw, “You’re laughing at me… How can you be like this… You’re not just a scoundrel… You’re so scummy…”

Her tone grew more aggrieved.

Jian Qing sighed almost inaudibly, explaining, “No, don’t overthink.”

She had no such nonsense white moonlight.

Lu Yinxi got off the door, like a leader inspecting work, with a this-is-better expression, then lowered her voice, softly saying, “Your floor is so soft, stepping on it feels fluffy.”

Jian Qing glanced at the floor.

It was covered with hard polished tiles

— indeed burning with fever.

She went over, pulled Lu Yinxi out of the kitchen, pressed her onto the sofa, took her temperature again, it had exceeded 38.5℃.

“Need to take antipyretics.”

“I’m hungry, on an empty stomach. I won’t take medicine, need to eat.”

Jian Qing wrapped her in a blanket, took an ice pack, wrapped it in a thin towel, and placed it on her forehead for physical cooling, “Don’t run around, rest here, I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

Burning with dizziness, but Lu Yinxi felt inexplicably cheerful, holding Jian Qing’s clothes, reasoning, “My teeth are bad, cook the meat soft, steam the rice soft too, don’t eat good food in front of me. Also, you can’t hold grudges anymore, my illness is likely caused by you angering me. You saw me naked, I slapped you, we’re even… Accidentally hurting your palm, I also got toothache retribution, now we’re truly even, don’t hold grudges, we live under the same roof, must share hardships…”

A lot of unreasonable arguments, Jian Qing gently touched the teardrop mole at the corner of Lu Yinxi’s eye, saying nothing.

She felt she had brought home a little ancestor.

Indeed sharing hardships.

No preferential treatment, tonight both had egg custard, with lean meat clear soup.

Jian Qing’s cooking was excellent. Lu Yinxi drank all the soup contentedly, showing the empty bowl to Jian Qing, “Can you cook more tomorrow if you have time? I still want to drink.”

Jian Qing nodded in agreement.

After the meal, taking medicine, Lu Yinxi lay back on the sofa.

Jian Qing took a shower, holding a computer, sat beside her, writing a research fund application.

Today, Lu Yinxi almost spent the entire day on the sofa, preferring to curl up in the corner rather than lying in the big bed in the room.

The room was large, the bed too, but alone it felt too empty.

She wanted someone to accompany her.

When sick, one always feels more lonely and helpless than usual, especially in this unfamiliar world with no friends or family, she only knew Jian Qing.

Jian Qing was a doctor.

Doctors provide patients with immense security.

Though she wasn’t wearing a white coat at home, Lu Yinxi smelled the familiar cold scent on her again, like inhaling cold air during winter snowfall, that clean scent could evoke memories of snowy days in her hometown.

Lu Yinxi inhaled her scent, listening to the “tap tap tap” of keyboard strokes, drowsily falling asleep.

The keyboard tapping sometimes stopped, plunging the world into silence, then cold hands would come, palm tightly against her forehead, then flip, cold back of the hand touching.

When both hands warmed to match her forehead, the other hand would switch.

In and out of consciousness, Lu Yinxi felt at ease.

When both hands warmed, the faint keyboard tapping resumed, accompanied by a soft sigh, “Better than a hand warmer.”

Lu Yinxi’s fingers twitched, instantly swallowing back her gratitude, only hating her feverish, weak body, unable to get up and bite her once.

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