Chapter 39: Visiting-Sick Memory

The air conditioning silently filled every corner of the spacious villa. Ning Wu accompanied Meng Weiyu and found a photo album placed in the bookcase.

“What’s this?” Meng Weiyu watched Ning Wu’s movements, wondering whether Ning Wu was being too free in his own house.

“A photo album.” Ning Wu was far more familiar with him than ordinary friends would be. “Xiao Zhou and I said so much, but you don’t trust us. Since that’s the case, you should look at some actual evidence.”

“No need.” The current Meng Weiyu had already understood that ever since he woke up, the people around him had not lied to him. It was just that the moment he returned to being seventeen, no matter what, he could not believe that he and Shen Zhoudu would have today’s relationship.

The twenty-year-old him still found this future somewhat unbelievable, but he no longer suspected that he had arrived in a parallel universe.

Working backward from the result, he admitted that he and Shen Zhoudu had indeed occasionally been overly intimate.

“There was a period in university when I was very sad.” Ning Wu held the photo album and thought of how he had felt back then, almost crying. “You and I had been close friends for so many years, and suddenly a Shen Zhoudu inserted himself between us. Fine, that was one thing, but then the two of you played around more and more intimately. I was almost becoming an outsider.”

Meng Weiyu sat down on the sofa, crossed his legs, and sneered at Ning Wu. He saw through him but did not expose him.

They had indeed known each other for many years. Someone like Meng Weiyu was the type who appeared warm and familiar with others on the surface, but in reality did not confide in people easily. So although the area around him looked lively, he did not have many truly close friends.

Ning Wu was the opposite of Meng Weiyu. He was often teased by others. When he stayed with Meng Weiyu, he was never the center of the crowd, as if he were only the role of Friend A in every story. But reality was not a story. In truth, Ning Wu was far more popular than he appeared, because he was cheerful, good-tempered, and tolerant.

That kind of Ning Wu had looked after Meng Weiyu since childhood, like a guardian taking care of a child.

A clear change appeared during university. Ning Wu became busy.

According to the information Meng Weiyu had now, that was because Ning Wu had been pursuing Xiao Jialu at the time and kept visiting her every few days, so naturally, he did not have as much free time as before.

In that empty space where Meng Weiyu had nothing to do, Shen Zhoudu squeezed his way in.

The two of them had talked, argued, and made up.

By the time Meng Weiyu reacted, he could not understand it anymore. They were both friendships, so why did being with Ning Wu not involve so many frustrating things?

Meng Weiyu had even blamed Ning Wu before. If Ning Wu had not inexplicably become busy, he would never have needed to make such an ugly mess because of Shen Zhoudu.

“I almost thought the title of your best friend was going to change hands.” After being sad, Ning Wu said cheerfully, “Good thing you two were just dating. Your best friend is still me.”

“Best friend, my ass…” Meng Weiyu gritted his teeth. “Didn’t you ever think of stopping me from dating Shen Zhoudu?”

“But if you didn’t date him, you would have become best friends with him.” Ning Wu had quite a sense of identity crisis. “What would I do then?”

“Who cares about you?” This was the first time Meng Weiyu had heard of such a complicated relationship.

“This is the photo album.” Ning Wu opened the album and handed it to Meng Weiyu. “Actually, starting from high school, your relationship was already pretty good.”

The one Ning Wu chose was an album placed in Meng Weiyu’s room, with photos taken on the same day as that graduation photo. Since it was Meng Weiyu’s album, the main character was naturally him. After he found Shen Zhoudu on the steps, he pulled Shen Zhoudu into many ambiguous photos. Shen Zhoudu was expressionless, but his actions were cooperative.

In the final group photo, Shen Zhoudu had long been squeezed to the edge by the others. But in the frozen frame, he stood in the corner and leisurely looked at Meng Weiyu in the center of the crowd.

“That day, we originally planned to have a meal together, but when we left school, Shen Zhoudu was picked up by his father.” Thinking of that time, Ning Wu sighed. “Otherwise, it probably would have been even more fun.”

Meng Weiyu flipped through the photo album in his hand. The memory of high school graduation was not distant to him, but now, as he looked through the photos, he discovered that Shen Zhoudu really was staring at him from time to time.

Little pervert.

Wait?

Meng Weiyu suddenly had a question. When exactly had Shen Zhoudu started liking him?

“My relationship with Shen Zhoudu’s family probably isn’t very good, right?” Meng Weiyu suddenly asked.

“You startled me. How did you guess that?” Ning Wu felt he was almost supernatural.

“Last time at Grandfather’s house, when they were arguing, they revealed it. But it isn’t strange.” Meng Weiyu’s first impression of Shen Zhoudu’s parents was not good.

Aside from meeting them at large banquets, the first time Meng Weiyu had an impression of Shen Zhoudu’s parents was during their senior year of high school.

Xiao Jialu had always refused to admit defeat. She had had enough of losing to Shen Zhoudu in every exam, so she decided to work hard and temporarily took leave from going to Meng Weiyu’s house to study with him.

It was during this period that Ning Wu volunteered himself to replace Xiao Jialu and study with Meng Weiyu. In the end, after only a few days of studying, Shen Zhoudu caught these two messing around together, doing everything except homework.

Shen Zhoudu originally wanted to convince himself to forget it. In the end, he could not endure it and turned off their television, dragging the two of them over to forcibly do problems.

Shen Zhoudu: I was supposed to.

Meng Weiyu: Supposed to?

Shen Zhoudu: I suddenly got a fever yesterday, so today I didn’t go out with them. Of course, that also means I won’t go to your house. Not chatting anymore. Bye.

After Shen Zhoudu sent the message, he lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

He breathed quietly. Occasionally, because his nose felt uncomfortable, he rubbed his nose red with tissue, turned sideways, and coughed.

He was very good at enduring pain. Over time, turning discomfort into a way of handling problems had become instinct.

If his throat hurt, he would pour water for himself. If his nose ran, he would blow his nose. If he coughed, he would continue drinking water. If his body felt hot, he would take medicine and cover himself with a blanket.

It was fine. As long as he solved the problems one by one, he would soon stop feeling uncomfortable.

“Cough, cough.”

“Ding-dong.”

The doorbell rang.

Shen Zhoudu sighed and pushed the blanket aside, weakly walking out. He guessed that his parents had found a servant to take care of him, even though he had already refused.

He did not like staying in the same house with other people.

The person outside kept pressing the doorbell. They seemed like someone very impolite.

Shen Zhoudu frowned. He did not rashly open the door. Instead, he turned on the monitor at the doorway.

The screen flickered. The image of the person standing outside appeared. A masked person holding things noticed that the monitor had been switched on, closed one eye, and leaned closer to observe it.

“Seriously…” Shen Zhoudu recognized the person and helplessly opened the door.

Meng Weiyu, who had been leaning against the door, was startled by the door suddenly opening.

“What are you doing?” Every time Shen Zhoudu encountered Meng Weiyu, he would put on a helpless, compromising expression.

“I thought it was already noon, and I was afraid you had no food to eat.” Meng Weiyu showed him the things in his hand. “So I asked Uncle Wang to cook porridge, then asked Xiao Lin to help me buy cold medicine.”

Shen Zhoudu moved aside and invited him in.

Meng Weiyu took off his shoes and walked neatly into a place he was visiting for the first time.

Behind him, Shen Zhoudu locked the door. He originally wanted to turn and leave directly, but after thinking about it, he crouched down, picked up Meng Weiyu’s shoes, and hid them behind the shoe cabinet.

“How do you know my house is here?” Shen Zhoudu had never brought him here.

“You sent me the address before when you asked me to send something.” Meng Weiyu calmly said something terrifying, then unceremoniously sat down on his sofa. “How are you?”

Shen Zhoudu silently walked over and sat beside Meng Weiyu.

Meng Weiyu had just placed the things in his hands on the table when Shen Zhoudu, sitting beside him, suddenly tilted his body and leaned directly against him.

“Whoa, your body is hot.” Meng Weiyu was startled, his eyes round.

Shen Zhoudu looked at him and gloomily asked, “Why are you wearing a mask?”

“I’m afraid you’ll infect me.” Meng Weiyu did not want to get sick.

Leaning beside him, Shen Zhoudu’s clever brain understood one thing: although Meng Weiyu did not want to get sick, he had still come to see him.

“No, your body really is hot.” Meng Weiyu reached out and decisively pushed Shen Zhoudu away.

Shen Zhoudu: “…”

He had been moved for two seconds.

Meng Weiyu left the sofa and finally saw a thin blanket on another sofa. He took it over, draped it over Shen Zhoudu, and wrapped him up securely.

“Cough, cough.” Shen Zhoudu turned his head to the side and coughed quietly.

“Drink some porridge, then take medicine and sleep.” Meng Weiyu opened the thermal container for him, stirred the porridge with the spoon that came with it, and prepared to shove it in front of him.

“Put it down…” Shen Zhoudu said weakly.

“You can’t eat?” Meng Weiyu had clearly guessed that might happen.

Shen Zhoudu struggled to free his hand from the blanket and said without strength, “Can’t you at least wait for me to adjust the blanket first?”

“Then keep it draped over you. Don’t get cold.” Meng Weiyu tried hard to show his thoughtfulness and pulled the blanket open for him.

“Thank you.” Shen Zhoudu knew that for Meng Weiyu to do this much was already him trying his best.

While Shen Zhoudu slowly and difficultly swallowed the porridge, Meng Weiyu sat beside him, not quiet at all. He directly dumped the large bag of medicine all over the table.

“This is fever medicine. This is for sore throat. This is for stuffy nose. This is anti-inflammatory medicine. This is allergy medicine. This is for diarrhea…” He counted the medicines one by one. The mask covered most of his face, but those black eyes smiled with satisfaction, as if he thought he had done something very correct. “Eat them.”

“Cough, cough.” Shen Zhoudu was frightened. “A cold and fever won’t kill me, but if I take all these medicines once, I might really die.”

“Then that’s your fault. Being sick alone at home instead of being in the hospital is very dangerous.” This was Meng Weiyu’s life experience.

“It’s just a cold,” Shen Zhoudu reminded him.

“Too dangerous.” Meng Weiyu had no intention of changing his mind.

Shen Zhoudu could roughly understand why he would think this way, because since childhood, Meng Weiyu had relied on servants to take care of him. Once he got sick, he would only be sent to a private hospital.

“If taking them all will kill you, then choose the useful ones.” Meng Weiyu stood up and looked around the spacious house. “I’ll go pour you water.”

In the end, from the medicines he had brought, Shen Zhoudu chose a fever patch.

At least if this thing was used blindly, it would not harm his body.

Holding the fever patch, Shen Zhoudu specifically waited for Meng Weiyu to bring him water. Then he gave the thing in his hand to him and said, “Help me open it.”

Meng Weiyu did not hesitate. After taking the fever patch, he tore it open with a rustle. He reached out, lifted Shen Zhoudu’s bangs that had been dampened by sweat, wiped away the sweat with tissue, and stuck it on at once.

His movements were swift and efficient the entire time, without playing even a hint of ambiguity with Shen Zhoudu.

Meng Weiyu really had something.

Shen Zhoudu silently wrapped the blanket back around himself.

“Go lie down.” Meng Weiyu noticed Shen Zhoudu was trembling.

“Then…” Shen Zhoudu stood up. Before leaving, he asked Meng Weiyu to do one thing. “Pack the medicine on the table and put it in my room.”

Meng Weiyu opened the bag and used a rough sweeping motion to sweep the medicine into it. Just as he picked up the bag, he saw Shen Zhoudu’s body swaying as he walked toward a room, so he quickly carried the medicine and followed.

Shen Zhoudu found his bed and carefully lay back down. He painstakingly pulled away the blanket covering him and was about to look for the quilt when Meng Weiyu, who had entered the room, placed the medicine on the table, ran over, and helped cover him with the quilt.

Under Meng Weiyu’s sympathetic gaze, Shen Zhoudu almost thought he was going to die today.

“I think I’ll be better after sleeping.” Shen Zhoudu was not that weak. “Thank you for taking care of me. You can go back.”

Meng Weiyu sat on the floor. Without saying anything, he reached out and patted Shen Zhoudu’s chest, coaxing him to sleep.

“Mm-hm.” Shen Zhoudu’s breath was smoothed by his hand, and his body relaxed comfortably. Then he looked at the serious-faced Meng Weiyu and did not know whether to laugh or cry.

This was probably the limit of what Meng Weiyu could understand as taking care of someone.

Shen Zhoudu had taken medicine, and sleepiness came over him. In order to let Meng Weiyu leave as soon as possible, he closed his eyes and slept.

When Shen Zhoudu slept, he went directly from noon until dusk. When he woke up, the window was pitch-black outside. Light from the living room shone in through the doorway, and footsteps sounded outside.

Had his parents come back early?

Shen Zhoudu touched his forehead, frowned, and tore off the fever patch on it. He had sweated all over and was weak, but the fever had indeed gone down.

“I want water,” Shen Zhoudu called to the person outside.

Hearing his voice, the footsteps outside immediately became urgent. The sound of water being poured and footsteps constantly approaching made Shen Zhoudu feel strange. This flustered feeling did not seem like either of his parents.

That person turned on the light in the room. Meng Weiyu stood there with the face that made Shen Zhoudu lose his soul, then handed him a cup of warm water.

“Why haven’t you gone home yet?” Shen Zhoudu took the cup and looked up at him in surprise.

“I searched on my phone. Online, it said people can die from colds too.” Meng Weiyu shared this knowledge with him. “So I decided to leave after you woke up.”

“Heh, nonsense.” Shen Zhoudu drank half a cup of water in one breath. After regaining some energy, he could already joke with him.

A warm hand directly passed through Shen Zhoudu’s hair and touched his forehead.

Shen Zhoudu froze.

“Looks like you don’t have a fever anymore. Then I’ll call Xiao Lin to pick me up and have him send dinner over too.” Meng Weiyu smiled and asked, “What do you want to eat?”

“Mm… Let me think.” After waking up, Shen Zhoudu actually did not want him to leave so early. He pushed aside the quilt on his legs and stood up.

“What do you want? I’ll get it.” Meng Weiyu felt he could just lie down.

“I need to use the bathroom.” Shen Zhoudu believed this was something Meng Weiyu could not help with.

Meng Weiyu made an annoyingly casual shrug.

“Look at some comics first.” Shen Zhoudu found a comic book from his bookcase and handed it to Meng Weiyu. “Later, we’ll eat dinner together, then you can go home.”

“Fine.” Meng Weiyu accepted the comic book without much concern, waiting for Shen Zhoudu to come back so they could discuss dinner.

After Shen Zhoudu used the bathroom, he stood in front of the fridge, preparing to find a drink for Meng Weiyu. Just as he held a chilled can and was walking sickly toward the room, the sound of the door opening came from the entrance.

He froze.

Inside the room, Meng Weiyu was sitting on the floor. A comic book lay open on his thigh, but his hand was pressing buttons on his phone, replying to messages. Xie Wenxuan had messaged him, asking why he had missed the banquet today.

“What an annoying person.” Meng Weiyu did not know why that person was so enthusiastic about messaging him. Was he lacking friends?

Before Meng Weiyu could strongly fire back, he heard messy footsteps. Shen Zhoudu hurriedly ran back into the room. He quickly but carefully closed the door without making noise, then turned around breathlessly to look at the other person in the room.

This was the first time Meng Weiyu had seen him like this, so he teased, “Did the high fever burn your brain?”

“My parents suddenly came back.” Cold sweat once again slid down Shen Zhoudu’s forehead.

Hearing this, Meng Weiyu froze, then quickly stood up and adjusted his clothes and hair. Although his personality was like this, he was very particular about etiquette.

“Then I’ll go out and greet them.” That was what Meng Weiyu planned.

Hearing this, Shen Zhoudu shook his head quickly at a speed he had never shown before, while also pressing his index finger to his lips.

Do not speak. Absolutely do not let them find out.

His warning had just ended when a voice came from outside the room door. “Xiao Zhou, is your cold a little better?”

Shen Zhoudu jolted. He slowly moved away from the door, and only after putting some distance between them did he dare answer, “I’m fine. I just want to lie down and rest for a while.”

Meng Weiyu sat on the floor and blinked blankly, not understanding what was going on.

“Rest a little longer, then eat something later.” After that voice instructed him, it left.

“You absolutely cannot let my parents discover that you’re here.” Shen Zhoudu crouched down, grabbed Meng Weiyu’s shoulders, and anxiously asked, “Understand?”

“Although I don’t understand why, all right.” Meng Weiyu nodded and did not ask further.

Shen Zhoudu was covered in cold sweat.

Before finding a chance to leave, Meng Weiyu could only obediently stay in Shen Zhoudu’s room. Shen Zhoudu had no choice but to go out to eat dinner. Meng Weiyu wandered around his room.

Shen Zhoudu’s room was more interesting than he had imagined. Not only did it have hidden game consoles, it also had hidden comics. Meng Weiyu played games, hungry.

Just as he was about to make trouble, Shen Zhoudu returned from outside, and he had brought a large pile of snacks and drinks for him.

“Wu, I don’t want to eat this. I want a steak dinner.” Meng Weiyu tearfully stuffed biscuits into his mouth.

Shen Zhoudu sat opposite him and looked at him with a distressed gaze. For the moment, he had no other way and could only promise, “I’ll treat you tomorrow.”

“Then when can I go home?” He could just go out and eat directly.

“We have to wait a while.” Shen Zhoudu explained, “You can’t be discovered by my parents in my room.”

“Why?” Meng Weiyu’s tears were about to fall. He was not that shameful of an existence, right?

“It’s not because of you. It’s because of me.” Shen Zhoudu pulled out a tissue and placed it under his nose. “Blow.”

“Hoo!” Meng Weiyu blew hard.

As a result, that night, Meng Weiyu waited until very late and still could not find a chance to leave. In the end, he could only shower in Shen Zhoudu’s room and directly sleep on his bed.

“I’ll be infected,” Meng Weiyu worried about this before sleeping.

“Sleep.” Shen Zhoudu, who was covered with a separate blanket, kept distance from him to prevent the cold from infecting him.

Meng Weiyu’s first impression of his parents was not good because he vaguely sensed a problem. His parents must have done something, which was why Shen Zhoudu did not dare reveal something that seemed very ordinary: a friend coming to his house, that was all.

So what exactly was the reason?

Meng Weiyu still did not know the reason even now.

After finishing the photo album in his hands, Meng Weiyu reviewed memory fragments that he had once thought were unimportant.

Ning Wu asked Meng Weiyu excitedly, “Now do you believe I didn’t lie?”

“No, you lied.” Meng Weiyu elegantly placed the photo album on the table beside him and said calmly, “Don’t pretend to be pitiful. Don’t think I don’t know. During university, you ran off to pursue Xiao Jialu, which caused me and Shen Zhoudu to spend more and more time together.”

The fact that he had become this gay-gay version of himself now meant Ning Wu bore five percent of the responsibility, and the remaining ninety-five percent belonged to Shen Zhoudu.

“At that time, it really was… Hm? How do you know?” Ning Wu was dumbfounded.

“Meng Weiyu is now twenty years old.” Meng Weiyu spread his hands and revealed an easy, confident smile.