BIAS Chapter 14: A Cold (3)

Yan Xu wrapped himself in the soft and warm blanket before lying back down.

Nobody spoke, but because the TV was on, and the characters in the drama spoke tender dialogues, the atmosphere wasn’t awkward at all.

To make sure Chi Ye understood what was going on, Yan Xu played the drama from the first episode. He had already watched it before, so he wasn’t paying close attention.

After a while, Chi Ye said, “I’ll go downstairs for a bit.”

Yan Xu didn’t know why he needed to go downstairs, but he didn’t question it and just nodded.

Not long after, Yan Xu heard footsteps and turned around. He saw Chi Ye coming over with a white porcelain bowl on a tray. He realized it was a stew pot when the tray was placed on the coffee table. It was filled with a crystal clear snow pear soup¹ with a few red goji berries floating on top. Even if his nose was blocked due to the cold, he could still smell the sweetness and fragrance of pears from the steaming hot air.

The stew pot didn’t belong to him. He usually was too busy, so he usually didn’t have time to make dishes that needed to be stewed for several hours. Naturally the pears used also weren’t his; it had been a long time since he bought pears.

It was obvious that these were brought by Chi Ye. He had just seen cold medicine and antipyretic medicine among the things Chi Ye collected.

Porridge, medicine, thermometer, pears, rock sugar, goji berries, a stew pot—for someone who looked like a rough guy, how could he be so thoughtful? Enough to make his nose sting with emotion, impossible to resist.

Chi Ye picked up the wooden spoon on the tray and handed it to Yan Xu. “It hadn’t been stewed long enough, but it still could be eaten. It moisturizes the throat.”

Yan Xu stared at Chi Ye in a daze. He sniffed before taking the spoon and whispering, “Thank you.” Just saying thank you was too inadequate, but dragging along this sick body, he truly didn’t know what else he could do for Chi Ye besides saying these words.

“You’re welcome.” Chi Ye used his hand to fan the soup’s rising steam. “Be careful, it’s hot.”

Yan Xu scooped a mouthful of pear soup with the spoon and slowly drank it. It was obviously sweet and tasted good, but his throat felt sore and his eyes were hot and blurry from the steam.

Then, with a plop, the tears he tried so hard to suppress while drinking the porridge rolled down from his eyes and dripped onto the back of his hand.

Yan Xu hurriedly lowered his head, scooped a piece of pear and ate it. He couldn’t care less if he got scalded, he used the sound of his chewing and his movements to cover up the twitching of the corners of his mouth.

Chi Ye furrowed his brows, reminding him, “It’s hot.”

Yan Xu shook his head vigorously, eating two more pieces of pear to suppress his surging emotions. As he calmed down, he realized how awkward it must have been for Chi Ye to just watch him eat and drink. With a slight frown, he reached into his down jacket pocket, pulled out a handful of hawthorn fruit rolls and gave them to Chi Ye. “Do you want to eat them?”

The hawthorn rolls were both sweet and sour, each one individually wrapped like candy, which was convenient and tasty. Irregular diet caused him to suffer from low blood sugar occasionally, so he grabbed a few hawthorn rolls or candy in his pocket every day and chewed one when he was busy and had no time to eat.

Chi Ye lowered his head and looked at the pale and slender hand. He was stunned for a moment before saying, “Thank you.” He reached out his hand, being careful as to not scratch the other person’s hand with his own rough sandpaper-like one. He gently took a few pieces, ate one, and put the rest in his pocket.

Chi Ye took small sips of the pear soup, then asked Chi Ye just to make a conversation, “The New Year’s is approaching. You’ll be on break soon, right?” In fact, there was still a month left before it was New Year’s, but he knew that construction sites usually closed early and started late, often having a month-long holiday.

Chi Ye nodded. “We’ll be on break after two more weeks. Some people whose hometown is far away have already returned home.”

“How about you?” Yan Xu asked, “Will you be returning home?”

Chi Ye shook his head. “I won’t.”

Yan Xu blurted out, “Are you busy? Or is your hometown too far?”

Chi Ye was silent for two seconds before awkwardly and honestly answering, “My mom remarried; I don’t have a home.”

“…Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” Yan Xu pursed his lips nervously. Chi Ye had mentioned it on his birthday and he hadn’t forgotten. It was just that his cold and stuffy nose made him a little out of it, and he was also distracted by the TV, so his mouth moved faster than his brain.

Chi Ye smiled as he shook his head. “It’s fine, it happened a long time ago.”

Yan Xu still felt bad, so out of a sense of guilt, he confessed his own situation. “Actually, my situation is similar to yours.”

Thus, the two of them talked about their own family situation.

Yan Xu learned that Chi Ye’s hometown was in a small mountain village in another province. His parents were simple farmers. When he was fifteen, his father fell ill, so he dropped out of school and followed his elders to work on the construction site to earn money for his father’s medical treatment. After two years, his father couldn’t hold on any longer and passed away.

The next year, his mom remarried, and the year after, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

After dropping out, Chi Ye never went back to school. His exact words were, “I’m dumb and couldn’t study well, so I always lag behind. There’s no point in continuing.” Thus, he had been working on the construction site since then. In the first two years, he would go home to visit his mom during the Chinese New Year, but his stepfather’s family didn’t like him, so he didn’t go back anymore.

Chi Ye finished speaking in a few words, but Yan Xu knew—besides his stepfather not liking him, his own mother must not have liked him coming back, otherwise who could stop a physically capable man from walking into his own home.

Yan Xu also talked about his own family situation. They talked to the point, without revealing too much emotion, as if they were discussing what to eat tonight.

The similar family situation made Yan Xu feel a lot closer to Chi Ye. It even made him feel a sense of sympathy and mutual understanding.

But he was more fortunate compared to Chi Ye.

His biological dad wasn’t dead. Although Fang Jianguo didn’t like him, he at least still maintained courtesy on the surface. His mom also didn’t stop him from returning home. She raised him until he was eighteen and paid for his education through high school. Moreover, at least that home had Fang Jincheng who made him feel the warmth of home.

However, it seemed that Chi Ye didn’t have anything.

Yan Xu felt upset inside, thinking that he shouldn’t have brought up this topic. He guiltily raised his gaze, but realized that the other party was also looking at him.

The two of them hastily withdrew their gaze. After a moment, Chi Ye spoke up, “Your step brother treats you really well.”

Fang Jincheng’s face suddenly popped into his mind, and Yan Xu couldn’t help but break into a smile. “Mhm, he has always taken good care of me.”

Chi Ye nodded. “That’s good.”

Afterward, the two of them didn’t speak again, watching the TV in silence.

It was almost midnight and Yan Xu felt drowsy again. Chi Ye took the bowls and stew pot downstairs to wash them, then went back upstairs to have Yan Xu take his temperature again—his temperature had dropped to 37.2.

Chi Ye was relieved. He told Yan Xu that it was getting late and should go back.

Yan Xu wanted to get up to see him off, but Chi Ye stopped him, saying, “It’s cold downstairs, so you shouldn’t go. I’ll go through the back door of the kitchen and close the door for you.”

“Let me walk you out,” Yan Xu said. “The kitchen door needs to have the latch bolted from the inside.

Chi Ye nodded, then glanced at the scarf on the sofa. He picked it up and handed it to Yan Xu. “Then wear your scarf. Make sure to cover your mouth and nose well.”

“Thank you.” Yan Xu had already lost count just how many times he thanked him tonight.

The two of them went downstairs together. Chi Ye walked in front and opened the kitchen’s back door. He stood in front of the entrance to block the wind coming from outside. “Rest well. If you’re still feeling unwell tomorrow, just give me a call.”

“Mn, okay.” Yan Xu nodded. “Once I’m better, let me treat you to dinner.” In fact, he thought about it for a long time on how he should express his gratitude to the other party. However, after much thinking, he felt that treating him to dinner was the most practical.

“Sure.” Chi Ye took two steps back from the door and was about to help Yan Xu close the door when he caught a glimpse of the paper stuck to the door. He asked in confusion, “You’re hiring?”

Yan Xu was stunned for a moment, then remembered the recruitment notice at the door, so he nodded and said he was.

In fact, he posted this a month ago. He wanted to hire a temporary worker to help wash dishes in the shop. The hours could be flexible, as long as they stayed two hours to help wash some dishes. There were many people passing the front and back doors, so he put up a notice on both. However, the wind was strong at the front door, so the notice was blown away the day it was put up.

It was winter and too cold, so no one was willing to have their hands turn thoroughly red just for a few dozen bucks, so he never put up another recruitment paper on the front door again.

Chi Ye nodded and didn’t ask any further questions. He said goodbye, closed the door, and left.

Yan Xu stood behind the door, standing there in a daze for a while before finally going back upstairs.