Chapter 6, Sickness
The voice wasn't loud, but it attracted everyone's attention.
Liu Qingyang was surprised and guilty, rubbing his hands ingratiatingly, "Young Master Gu, why are you here?"
Gu Hengzhi leaned against a wall, an unlit cigarette between his fingers, his expression unreadable.
Deyin had strict security measures. The personal bodyguards arranged by families couldn't follow these young masters and ladies into the school, but outside the school, it was a different story.
Liu Qingyang had deliberately chosen when Ji Linxue left school precisely for this reason. Who would have thought he'd be seen by Gu Hengzhi?
He could only explain with a bitter face, "I was doing it for his own good. He's new and ignorant, offending people everywhere. If he doesn't get taught a lesson, he won't learn. Young Master Gu, don't you dislike him too?"
"When did I ever say that?" Gu Hengzhi was smiling, but his eyes were incredibly cold, "He's my person. I can bully him however I want, but you can't."
Young Master Liu gave two awkward laughs, "Young Master Gu is right."
"A whole bunch of you couldn't even beat him alone," Gu Hengzhi sneered, looking at the disheveled group of people not far away, "And you still dare to provoke him."
Yellow-haired boy and his brothers blushed, lowering their heads like quails.
The air was filled with a suffocating low pressure. After an unknown amount of time, Gu Hengzhi finally spoke mercifully, "Get lost."
Liu Qingyang scurried away with his tail between his legs.
The others who had fallen in the alley also awkwardly helped each other up, staggering out. The lively alley quickly became empty.
Gu Hengzhi straightened up, "Are you injured?"
"No." Ji Linxue walked closer, looking at the cigarette in his hand.
Gu Hengzhi raised an eyebrow, "You said it yourself, no smoking in school. Now we're outside school."
Ji Linxue's face was taut, "Not outside school either."
Gu Hengzhi curved his lips, a handsome arc forming. When Ji Linxue reached out, he actively opened his hand.
The cigarette was taken from his palm, and a beautifully wrapped fruit candy was gently placed there.
Light gray eyes looked at him, his voice clear, "Eat candy when you feel like smoking."
Gu Hengzhi hummed. Actually, he didn't have a smoking addiction, but teasing Ji Linxue was very interesting, so he didn't deny it.
Peeling off the wrapper, the fresh, sweet orange flavor spread on his tongue. Gu Hengzhi extended two fingers and wiggled them in front of Ji Linxue.
"This is the second time." Gu Hengzhi's dazzling smile was blindingly handsome, "How are you going to repay me?"
Ji Linxue pursed his lower lip, "Thank you."
"That's it?" Gu Hengzhi pressed the candy against his tongue, "No sincerity at all."
"Then what do you want to do?"
Gu Hengzhi thought for a few seconds, "Isn't there a saying, 'a life-saving grace should be repaid with one's person'?"
Ji Linxue turned and walked away.
He was fast, walking over ten meters in a blink of an eye. Gu Hengzhi quickly followed, "Getting angry already? I was joking."
He touched Ji Linxue's arm, "This candy is your thanks."
Ji Linxue looked at him with complicated feelings. Gu Hengzhi was still smiling, his smile devoid of any shadow.
[The man's large hand tightly squeezed the slender neck in front of him. His eyes were bloodshot, his voice like a malevolent spirit, "Your grandmother is still in the hospital, and everyone inside is my person. If you dare to sneak out again, you know the consequences."
The force in his palm continuously tightened. When the woman's breathing became weaker and weaker, Gu Hengzhi finally loosened his grip. Bai Chutang fell to the ground, clutching her neck, gasping violently.
"You're joking, right?" She cried, her voice hoarse, "This is our business! Don't involve anyone else!"
Gu Hengzhi sneered, looking down from above, "I never joke."]
The Gu Hengzhi in the original novel was arrogant, conceited, and regarded human lives as dirt, completely disregardful of other people's feelings.
But the young man in front of him, though somewhat proud, bore no resemblance to that.
Such a huge change in a person in just six short years.
Ji Linxue couldn't describe what he felt inside, but he was even more determined that he must help Gu Hengzhi safely get through that event.
The two walked to the dorm entrance. As Gu Hengzhi pressed his fingerprint to unlock the door, it was suddenly pulled open. Shen Shaoyan looked at them, his face full of surprise, "You two went out without me?"
"Just happened to run into each other," Gu Hengzhi said without changing his expression. "It's Saturday today, why are you at school?"
"You have the nerve to say that? I went to your house today for nothing. If I hadn't asked the butler, I wouldn't have known you haven't been back recently. You lied to me yesterday!" Shen Shaoyan angrily accused Gu Hengzhi.
"What's so important about that?"
He seemed to lose all emotion in an instant, his face cold and distant, putting up a high emotional barrier, warding off all concern from the outside world.
Shen Shaoyan was silenced instantly, looking at him with worry and conflict.
After dinner, Ji Linxue actively sought out Shen Shaoyan. The two went to the woods behind the dorm building.
Ji Linxue went straight to the point, "I want to know about Gu Hengzhi."
Shen Shaoyan scratched his face, "This is Heng Ge's family matter, I can't really say. You should ask him yourself."
"I won't ask about anything else. I just want to know if he has a younger brother?"
He had also tried to search for information about the Gu family online but found nothing. The only thing he could find was the life story of Gu Hengzhi's father, Gu Fengyan.
As a business tycoon, he carried many glittering titles and had a considerable influence in society.
Shen Shaoyan hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"Regarding his brother, Heng Ge doesn't let us talk about it."
Ji Linxue nodded, "I know."
Someone as proud as Gu Hengzhi would only keep things to himself, not letting others know, even Shen Shaoyan, who grew up with him, was unaware of many things.
Gu Hengzhi never intended to tell anyone, for example, about that slap.
And the reason Gu Hengzhi allowed him to gradually get closer was because he was one of the few people who had seen his embarrassed state. He knew his secret, they would either become friends or enemies.
---
In December, the temperature dropped sharply. One day it was sunny, and the next day cold winds began to blow. The biting cold desperately seeped into their bones, making many people's faces turn pale.
All the classmates in the class had changed into their winter school uniforms. The uniform was a pure black down jacket, with no other decorations except the school emblem sewn on the chest. The material was thick and warm.
Shen Shaoyan bought a large box of hand warmers, piling them next to his seat.
Lu Yu initially teased him, "Are you planning to open a shop with so many?"
Later, he found out that Shen Shaoyan wasn't using them himself but intended to give them to his female friends.
Ex-girlfriends, current girlfriends, ambiguous interests, etc., totaling about dozens. Lu Yu sometimes admired him, how he could remember all their faces and names clearly, never calling them by the wrong name.
The weather was unpredictable. Many in the class started sneezing and coughing. After Shen Shaoyan distributed his hand warmers, he still had over ten left. He stuck them all on himself at once, and soon he got so hot that he took off his school uniform jacket, being cursed as a lunatic by Lu Yu.
Yet, Shen Shaoyan, who had been causing trouble, was fine, but Gu Hengzhi fell ill first.
The first to notice something was off was Ji Linxue. Usually, they would go for morning exercise, but Gu Hengzhi didn't get up that day. Ji Linxue tried to wake him but couldn't. When he touched his forehead, he realized it was astonishingly hot.
Shen Shaoyan and Lu Yu groggily got out of bed, and the few of them took him to the hospital together.
Gu Hengzhi's body temperature was very high. Ji Linxue, next to him, felt like he was next to a fireball, continuously radiating heat, even the air he exhaled was scorching.
Upon measuring his temperature, it turned out he had a high fever. After the examination, he had to stay for an IV drip. Shen Shaoyan wanted to say, "Maybe I should stay," when he heard Ji Linxue say, "You two go back to class. I'm enough here."
Shen Shaoyan, "But..."
Gu Hengzhi opened his eyes, his voice low, "You two go back first."
Seeing him so firm, Shen Shaoyan and Lu Yu had no choice but to leave. Outside the hospital, Shen Shaoyan nudged Lu Yu, "Don't you think their relationship is getting better and better now?"
Lu Yu squinted at him, "Isn't that obvious?"
Shen Shaoyan sighed, "Heng Ge is so disloyal. At first, he ignored others, but now he's moving faster than me."
Lu Yu's face turned green, and he distanced himself from him, "It's bad enough you're messing around, now you're into both genders?"
"What are you talking about?" Shen Shaoyan was furious, "I just want to be friends with Ji Linxue, not like the filthy things you're thinking."
This hospital was a private hospital very close to Deyin. It was rumored to have investments from the Gu family, with high medical technology and a serene environment. Gu Hengzhi's procedures were processed quickly, and he had a dedicated single room.
At noon, Ji Linxue went to the cafeteria to eat. When he returned, he bought a bowl of porridge. Just as he reached the door of the ward, he found the doctor talking to Gu Hengzhi.
The voices were indistinct, he only caught the gist, which was that Gu Hengzhi's father was also in this hospital, and he had informed him of Gu Hengzhi's condition.
Seeing Ji Linxue enter, the doctor stopped speaking, smiled at him, and then left.
Ji Linxue placed the porridge on the small table, opened the lid, "Are you hungry?"
Gu Hengzhi leaned against the headboard, looking listless, "Close it. I don't have an appetite."
"Eat something to line your stomach." Ji Linxue placed the spoon into the porridge and scooped a spoonful.
Gu Hengzhi still shook his head. Ji Linxue saw that he truly couldn't eat and gave up. After giving him some warm water, he helped him lie down.
Soon after, Gu Hengzhi fell asleep soundly. He peacefully closed his eyes, his face flushed, his forehead hair slightly damp with sweat, revealing a rare hint of vulnerability.
Ji Linxue sat on the nearby sofa, quietly watching his profile. Whenever there were footsteps outside the ward door, Ji Linxue would peek out. The doctor said Gu Fengyan was also in this hospital, so would he come to see Gu Hengzhi? After all, he was his biological son.
But he waited until the sun was almost setting and didn't see the other person.
Gu Fengyan didn't come.
Gu Hengzhi slept very deeply. He didn't wake up even when the nurse came to remove the IV needle. His body temperature had already dropped. Ji Linxue used a towel to wipe the sweat from his body. Halfway through, he suddenly noticed the young man's face was red.
Had his temperature risen again?
He touched the other person's forehead, the temperature was normal. Looking closer, he realized only his cheeks and ears were red.
Understanding something in an instant, Ji Linxue put the towel aside and went into the restroom. A few minutes later, he came out and met the gaze of a slowly waking Gu Hengzhi.
He pretended not to know anything, asking him, "Are you thirsty?"
The redness on Gu Hengzhi's face had receded, returning to its usual fairness. He nodded, his voice hoarse, "Why didn't you wake me?"
"The doctor said you need more rest." Ji Linxue brought over the cup. Gu Hengzhi drank a few sips, and the dryness in his throat eased, "What time is it now?"
The ward curtains were drawn, making it impossible to tell the time from the sky. Ji Linxue looked at his phone, "Five PM."
Gu Hengzhi said he wanted to go back to school. His body temperature had returned to normal, and the doctor had also prescribed medicine, so there was indeed no point in staying in the hospital. Ji Linxue went to help him with the discharge procedures. As he passed the corridor, he heard a child talking about "snow."
By the time the two walked out of the hospital entrance, they realized it was already a vast expanse of white outside. Heavy snow was falling, and the world was covered in silver.
The first snow of this winter had arrived so unexpectedly.
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