Chapter 712: Swallow It All
“Today is Qixi, so why didn’t you come over? Have you still not finished your summer homework?”
As the day was about to end, I lay in bed and sent a text message to Xiao Qin.
I received a reply almost instantly without a delay. As I was deeply moved by Xiao Qin’s typing speed, I came to a realization: if I received a reply so soon, it meant that Xiao Qin hadn’t fallen asleep either and was probably clutching her phone in her hand, waiting anxiously for me to contact her first.
Her reply said the following:
“It’s exactly because today is Qixi, so I didn’t come looking for you. I’m currently only your childhood friend, so I would cause trouble for you if I came on a special day.”
Seeing her reply made my heart tremble.
Xiao Qin obviously wanted to come over, but ever since I fell into the pit, she thought it was because she took away my Swiss Army knife and her other actions that almost got me killed. So now, she just wants to not be hated by me and does her best to not overstep the boundaries of a childhood friend.
Is it okay for me to spend Qixi with other girls?
Did you not come looking for me so that I could spend Qixi with other girls?
I thought back to today’s events. I guess I could consider that I spent the day with the cla.s.s leader, Gong CaiCai, and Winnie. Although nothing special happened (except when Gong CaiCai confessed to the cla.s.s leader), but I still spent Qixi with other girls.
The phrase “childhood friends are made to be abandoned” suddenly flashed through my mind.
That’s what Xiao Qin realized after joining a manga discussion group. The latest trend of shoujo manga no longer made the “childhood friend” as the heroine, instead many childhood friend characters have become the secondary or tertiary female protagonist who are often abandoned.
“Only a male protagonist who has not seen the world would like their childhood friend. Once they find someone better, the childhood friend will complete their mission and can stand aside.”
Apparently there were people in the discussion group who said those lines, so it made Xiao Qin unusually worried about it. Even when she became my girlfriend, she was cautious like she was walking on thin ice.
I thought about it for a long time and Xiao Qin didn’t send any more text messages, but it was as if I saw Xiao Qin typing a full screen of words several times, but then silently erasing them, not wanting to cause me more trouble on Qixi.
It feels like my heart was struck by something. I checked the time and it was 23:59, so there was only one minute left until Qixi was over.
Without thinking too much about it, I immediately gave Xiao Qin a call.
“h.e.l.lo, Ye Lin cla.s.smate.”
I can hear that although Xiao Qin tried to control her emotions, her voice could not completely stop trembling.
“Xiao Qin, Happy Qixi.”
Finally, I said to Xiao Qin before the watch hand pointed to zero.
“Yeah.”
Xiao Qin’s reply contained a hint of surprise, but she didn’t say anything else.
Don’t tell me she was moved to tears. Was she trying her best to hold back her tears, so she couldn’t talk to me?
I told her to rest early and if she had time tomorrow, she could come to me for guidance on her summer homework.
After ending the call, I finally let go of the burden in my heart and fell asleep.
“Cough, cough,”
The next morning at about 10:00 a.m., Xiao Qin, who had entered through the window just like last time, coughed in front of me like she had a cold.
At this time, Ai Mi had gone on set to shoot a scene, and Winnie hadn’t come over. Dr. Yu had just given me an ECG, and the VIP building seemed rather quiet.
“What’s wrong.” I asked, frowning as I took Xiao Qin’s bag.
“I probably got infected in the hospital.” Xiao Qin’s reply was interspersed with a few slight coughs.
“Did you get infected by the other patients when you went to look after Auntie Ren?”
“Yeah, maybe.” Xiao Qin nodded, “So today, Uncle Ye is taking my place and keeping my mom company. Uncle Ye is so kind, he’s been taking care of mom from Cui Song Mountain.”
How dim-witted. Of course my dad would take care of Auntie Ren. You almost turned from a childhood friend into a sister, but you haven’t realized it yet.
Xiao Qin sat on the only chair in the bedroom and coughed non-stop. It was rare to see Xiao Qin so weak.
It might not only be because she was infected by other patients. It could be because yesterday was Qixi, but she couldn’t take the initiative to contact me, so she was in a depressed mood as she waited for me to contact her. She may have been tossing and turning in bed until very late and then caught a cold.
Luckily, I called Xiao Qin at the last minute and didn’t let her wait for nothing, otherwise it wouldn’t have been worth it if she had fallen very ill.
Since Xiao Qin had stayed holed up at home for three years, her immunity and stamina were no match for Winnie, who did physical exercise every day.
Despite her fighting power being abnormally high.
But every time she gets sick, for example her monthly menstrual cramps, she would be unusually weak and her fighting strength will decline rapidly to the point where she might even be easily defeated by Winnie.
After all, when Xiao Qin is on her period, if she also eats something cold beforehand, it will hurt like h.e.l.l. As for Winnie, even if she’s on her period and eats ice cream, she doesn’t feel any pain at all.
It’s an interesting symmetry that when I unfortunately suffer from heart problems, Xiao Qin also had an unprecedented cold. Two once powerful people, both temporarily have to add the label of “sick and weak” to their names.
Although heart problems are a hundred times more serious than a cold, I still think I should act strong in front of Xiao Qin. After all, I am a man and she is a woman, moreover, it’s possible that I will become her older brother in the future.
“Why don’t you rest at home when you have a cold.” I chided her slightly and asked, “Have you taken your medicine?”
“No, I haven’t.” Xiao Qin mumbled, “But I brought the medicine with me.”
She fished out a box of cold capsules from her school bag.
“The water dispenser is in the living room.” I said and led Xiao Qin to the living room, then got a cup of warm water from the water dispenser, and then held it up to Xiao Qin, asking her to quickly take the medicine.
“Um, do you have a spoon that I can borrow.” Xiao Qin asked.
I was surprised, “Why do you need a spoon to eat medicine.”
She took out two capsules and held it in her hand. Xiao Qin was embarra.s.sed and said, “I, I because of my small throat, I can’t directly swallow the medicine. If it’s a tablet, I have to ground it beforehand, then put it in a spoon and take it with water…”
Huh, you’re quite finicky in an unexpected place. Is it because you didn’t take medicine at all as a child because you were too strong, so you did not develop the habit of swallowing medicine? Then once you had to “start learning to be a girl”, your immune system weakened, so you ground your medicine whenever you have to take it?
I looked at the red capsule in Xiao Qin’s hand, “That’s a capsule not a tablet, so it shouldn’t be difficult to swallow.”
“Yeah.” Xiao Qin nodded, “I can take the capsule apart and pour the small powder inside on the spoon, then I can swallow it…”
“Isn’t that the same as grinding up the medicine?” I gasped, “The starch capsule acts as a slow release. If you throw away the capsule and eat the pills directly, then what if the medicine is destroyed by the stomach acid?”
“But, but if I don’t do it, I can’t swallow it.” Xiao Qin said.
Although the expression on Xiao Qin’s face looked pitiful and it was unbearable to force her to swallow the capsule, I decided that it was for her own good not to spoil her and let her learn the right way to take her medicine.
It was time to act like an older brother.
“No opening the capsule. If you take the medicine that way, it’s troublesome and may also have side effects, so swallow the capsule directly.”
I pretended to give a stern order and pushed the warm water in front of Xiao Qin.
“Do, do I have to?” I could see that Xiao Qin was still quite afraid of me, and no matter, I was satisfied with my act as an older brother.
“You have to.” I said loudly, “If you refuse to take your medicine the right way, I won’t help with your summer homework today.”
“Then, then okay…” Xiao Qin had no choice but to stuff two capsules into her mouth, then took the cup of warm water and drank it.
“Well, nuw we can du humewrk…”
“Do you think you can get away with it?” I said angrily, “You’re even speaking with a lisp. You only drank the water and the capsule is still hidden under your tongue, right?”
“Wuuu…” Xiao Qin, who had been exposed, covered her mouth in a panic, and said, “But, but Ye Lin, I really can’t swallow it, just give me a break.”
“No.” I put on a cold face and said, “You have to swallow it today no matter what. It’s for your own good, give me the empty cup, I’ll pour you another gla.s.s of water.”
I quickly got another cup of warm water and handed it to Xiao Qin. The capsule had already started to melt in her mouth and she looked at me while holding the paper cup.
“Do I have to swallow it…”
“Don’t have any wishful thinking.” In order to make Xiao Qin give in, I scolded, “It’s supposed to be swallowed down the throat without hesitation. Hurry up and do it or don’t blame me for getting angry with you.”
Xiao Qin drank another half cup of water, but she puffed out her cheeks as her eyes drifted to the ceiling, then to the bathroom, but she didn’t look at me.
“You’re moving the capsule with your tongue, right? Don’t try to play tricks to hide it.”
I shouted to Xiao Qin like a boxing coach who was outside the ring.
“No giving up midway, no spitting it out, swallow it all. I’m going to make you open your mouth for me to check later.”
Xiao Qin, who was holding the water and capsule in her mouth, had tears hanging from the corners of her eyes with a pained expression when the door to room 103 suddenly opened.
And the person who opened the door was actually someone who we hasn’t been seen for some time, the pervert female school doctor of 28 Middle, Chen YingRan.
“Oh, you guys have already progressed to this point.”
She saw that I was forcing Xiao Qin to “swallow it all”, so Chen YingRan covered her mouth and she had an impish smile on her face.
“I won’t disturb you, I’ll come back later.”
She thoughtfully and slowly closed the door and said to Winnie, who was also going to enter, “Ye Lin is playing adult games with Xiao Qin, so you should keep away for a while.”