Chapter 121

Mu Xinyue felt a "green tea" vibe rush straight to her head, and couldn't help but roll her eyes. Angrily, she said, "It had nothing to do with me in the first place, you fell down inexplicably on your own!"

"Ye-yes!" Yu Ruolan looked even more flustered, her hands fidgeting restlessly in front of her as if she had been frightened, stammering her words badly, "It-it was me who f-fell down on my own! Don't be angry! I-I-I didn't s-say it was you!"

Her saying that made Mu Xinyue even angrier. She retorted furiously, "Don't act like I'm intimidating you!"

"Mu Xinyue, don't be angry, I know it wasn't you." Yuan Lan walked to Mu Xinyue's side, his large hand gently ruffling her hair twice in a soothing manner. His gentle voice calmed her anger. "Little Yu definitely didn't mean it that way either. Why don't you give her a chance to explain, okay?"

Mu Xinyue "hmphed" but didn't say anything more, just looked at Yu Ruolan.

Bai Xuechao just stood to the side, watching the show.

He was soaked to the bone. A gentle breeze swept by, carrying away all his body heat, and the chill made him shiver uncontrollably. He picked up the jacket he had thrown aside earlier, draped it over his shoulders, and continued to watch the show.

Then, Yuan Lan was seen taking off his windbreaker and draping it over the equally soaked Yu Ruolan. He asked in a gentle voice, "So, how did you fall?"

Xiao 6 clicked his tongue and exclaimed, "Aiya, Yuan Lan is caught between two pretty older sisters. A tense situation with his childhood friend and a girl who fell from the sky. He's so blessed!"

"It must be so tiring to keep the peace every day," Bai Xuechao retorted.

Xiao 6 said, "But it's a blessing if you can manage it! Ying-ying-ying, I want pretty older sisters too—"

Over there, Yu Ruolan's fingers tugged at the windbreaker draped over her as she explained with her head down, her voice small and weak, "I was sitting by the bridge in a daze, and Mu Xinyue passed behind me..."

Speaking up to this point, she paused. Raising her moist, violet eyes, she timidly glanced at Mu Xinyue, as if observing her expression, before continuing, "I was startled, and when I moved forward, I fell on my own..."

Yu Ruolan didn't do it on purpose, but her way of pausing and that glance at Mu Xinyue made it seem very much like she was covering up the truth based on Mu Xinyue's reaction.

In my mind, I typed out a row of ellipses.

No wonder the two of them didn't seem to get along; their personalities and auras just didn't match.

If it were someone who could understand Yu Ruolan's personality, they would know she was like this because she was too considerate of others' feelings when she spoke and was also very timid, so they wouldn't overthink it. But the person standing in front of her was Mu Xinyue, someone with a straightforward personality and a bit of a "young lady" temper, who would only feel that Yu Ruolan was using manipulative words to frame her, making her so angry she was about to fume.

"What are you looking at me like that for!" Mu Xinyue took a deep breath to suppress her anger, her tone cold and hard. "I didn't deliberately startle you!"

Yu Ruolan was frightened by her imposing manner, flinching her shoulders. Not daring to look at her again, she immediately lowered her head and nodded frantically in panic, "Mhm, it's my fault..."

Her acting this way made Mu Xinyue so angry that she was on the verge of tears. "You always make it seem like I'm bullying you!"

While shivering from the cold, Bai Xuechao tenaciously watched the show. He suddenly found the conversation between Mu Xinyue and Yu Ruolan extremely interesting.

He glanced at Yuan Lan, who was standing beside the two of them. The other's golden eyes glittered like a piece of brilliant glazed glass in the sunlight, holding a hint of a smile. The way he looked at the two of them just made Bai Xuechao think of the four words "observing human beings," like a researcher observing two little white mice inside a glass case.

I thought, Yuan Lan isn't doing this on purpose, is he? Does he find it interesting to put the two of them together?

Xiao 6 suddenly said mysteriously, "Xue-san, the lilies of our hometown have bloomed."

Bai Xuechao: "?"

What was that?

Over there, Yuan Lan had once again begun his operation of keeping the peace on both sides and coaxing them to be happy.

The three of them were a show in themselves, and Bai Xuechao watched with great interest.

However, as time passed, he felt even colder and rubbed his arms.

Having regained her composure, Mu Xinyue was now talking with Yuan Lan.

Yu Ruolan noticed his movement, hesitantly pulled off the windbreaker she was wearing, walked over, and offered it to him, "Do you... need this?"

Xiao 6 excitedly spammed code, "Yoyoyo—"

Bai Xuechao clutched the collar of the jacket draped over his shoulders with one hand, while his other arm hugged his body. He seemed extremely cold, his body trembling slightly. His clear and pleasant voice sounded, "I do. Can you help me put it on?"

"Eh?" Yu Ruolan blinked her eyes. "O-okay."

Xiao 6 continued to spam code, "Aiyo~ Dear Host, this is what you call the 'fishing' type! The crew next door should have cast you; the role of the scheming younger brother is none other than yours!"

Yu Ruolan unfolded the windbreaker. Seemingly embarrassed about her next move, her actions were rather slow as she was about to drape it over Bai Xuechao.

A hand reached out and took the windbreaker from her.

Yuan Lan shoved the thrombopoietin that Mu Xinyue had brought into Bai Xuechao's hand.

With a stretch of his arm, he wrapped the windbreaker around Bai Xuechao, even deftly tying the sleeves in a knot in front of him to secure it. With two layers of clothes on, Bai Xuechao finally felt a little warmer, but it was still cold.

Bai Xuechao looked at Yu Ruolan with his gem-like, translucent red eyes and smiled softly, "Thank you."

"Shouldn't you be thanking me?" Yuan Lan, feigning dissatisfaction, patted Bai Xuechao's head. As his palm touched the soaked hair, he seemed to have discovered something and added, "Little Xuechao, you're trembling so badly. Are you that cold? Let me take you back first."

Bai Xuechao: "..."

Actually, he didn't need to include me in his peace-keeping efforts, really.

But it really was cold. The wet clothes and pants clung to his body, continuously emitting a damp chill.

Bai Xuechao also wanted to hurry back and change his clothes, so he said, "Okay."

Just like before, Yuan Lan wrapped Bai Xuechao with his puppet threads, only this time he stood in front of Bai Xuechao and held him in his arms.

"Let's go together!" Before his words had even faded, the puppet threads pulled the two of them into the sky.

Bai Xuechao felt a large, warm hand cup the back of his head, shielding him from the wind from behind. The body in front of him was also warm, holding him tightly, making him feel less cold.

Yuan Lan said, as if asking for credit, "How about it? Aren't I considerate? You won't be so cold this way."

Then he added, "Take a hot bath later. I'll have someone make you some ginger soup. Drink it while it's hot to ward off the cold so you don't get sick."

"I definitely will," Bai Xuechao said coolly. "If nothing unexpected happens, I'll have a fever tonight. You should have Mu Xinyue prepare some fever medicine."

But he did it on purpose.

He knew that jumping into the lake would 100% give him a fever.

Yuan Lan sighed and said, "The red bar is going to drop a chunk."

"Hmm?" Bai Xuechao didn't understand what he meant for a moment.

Yuan Lan said faintly, "Little Xuechao is like a limited-time character in a game, available for three and a half months, and he has a debuff that causes him to continuously lose health. Once the red bar is gone, he goes offline."

"Oh, it's not a big problem," Bai Xuechao said expressionlessly. "I'll watch a 30-second ad to revive."

Yuan Lan was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing, not even afraid of choking on the wind.

The two landed in front of the castle.

But Yuan Lan didn't stop moving. A few puppet threads tensed up in the air, and he stepped on them, leaping upwards until he reached a window.

Yuan Lan used a puppet thread to hook open the window and pushed Bai Xuechao inside.

"We're here."

It was Yuan Lan's bedroom.

Yuan Lan took out his phone and pressed it a few times. Bai Xuechao heard the faint sound of an appliance in the bathroom, followed by the sound of running water.

There were many smart home appliances in the bedroom that could be controlled by a phone.

"It's all set up. The bathtub will be filled with hot water in ten minutes, so you go take a soak first. I've had someone make the ginger soup, and I've also told Mu Xinyue about the fever medicine." Yuan Lan sighed again. "Looking at you, I don't think I can take you shopping for clothes today... How about I buy them for you?"

"Whatever, I'm not interested in shopping anyway." Bai Xuechao started to shoo him away.

"I'm going to take a bath."

Yuan Lan said, "Okay."

He closed the window, and his figure disappeared.

Bai Xuechao drew the curtains, casually placed the medicine box in his hand on the bedside table, went to the cloakroom to get the clothes the male servant had delivered today, and entered the bathroom to take off his cold, wet clothes.

The faucet by the bathtub was still automatically running water. He didn't wait for it to fill up and just lay down in it directly.

The warm water dispelled the chill. He soaked comfortably for ten minutes, and the phone he had placed aside received a message—the phone had been in his jacket pocket, which he had taken off before jumping into the lake, so it hadn't gotten wet. But even if it had, with current technology, it would still be usable.

The message was from the male servant, telling him that the ginger soup was ready and asking if he wanted it sent up now.

Bai Xuechao chose to have the male servant bring it in fifteen minutes and just leave it at the door.

By the time he finished his bath, exactly fifteen minutes had passed. He unhurriedly dried his hair with a hairdryer, changed into new clothes, and went to open the door.

By the door was a trolley. On the top layer, a ceramic bowl held the ginger soup. Perhaps it had been freshly boiled before being brought over; Bai Xuechao touched the bowl, and it was still warm.

Bai Xuechao didn't like ginger soup, but he still stood at the door and forced down a few sips. Without finishing it, he put it back and sent a message to the male servant saying he was done drinking.

Back in the bedroom, Bai Xuechao slipped into his quilt.

Perhaps he was a bit tired after the ordeal in the lake. He had originally just planned to close his eyes and rest for a bit, but he ended up falling asleep.

He was startled awake by the sound of someone opening the door.

Yuan Lan had gotten lake water on himself from Bai Xuechao and Yu Ruolan in the afternoon, so he had changed his clothes. He walked into the bedroom, followed by three servants carrying shopping bags. It looked like he was back from buying clothes, and he hadn't bought just a little.

"Do you have a fever?" Yuan Lan saw that Bai Xuechao's usually pale face was flushed red and reached out to touch his forehead.

Bai Xuechao felt a coolness on his forehead.

Yuan Lan felt like his palm was touching a hand warmer that had been working diligently for a long time; it was scorching hot.

"Mhm, you have a fever." Yuan Lan took a blister pack of pills out of his jacket pocket, waved it in front of Bai Xuechao, and smiled, "Good thing I had the foresight to bring you the fever medicine on my way back."

Next, Yuan Lan boiled a kettle of hot water, poured it into a cup, mixed it with purified water to make it warm, and handed it to Bai Xuechao to take the medicine.

Bai Xuechao took the fever medicine and, under its effect, fell asleep again.

He woke up once in the middle of the night and saw Yuan Lan sitting by the bed, reading a book.

Noticing that Bai Xuechao was awake, Yuan Lan placed a finger on his forehead to check his temperature and said, "Still have a fever. Go back to sleep."

Bai Xuechao didn't say anything to him, just turned over and went back to sleep.

At seven in the morning, Yuan Lan got up as usual.

After freshening up, he touched Bai Xuechao's forehead and found that he still had a fever, a high one at that; his temperature was very hot.

He checked the time. It had been 12 hours since he last took the fever medicine, so before leaving, he pulled Bai Xuechao up to take another dose.

"I'm going to the laboratory. Message me if you need anything." Yuan Lan placed the fully charged phone by Bai Xuechao's pillow.

Bai Xuechao responded groggily and curled up in his quilt to continue sleeping.

After Yuan Lan left, Bai Xuechao slowly opened his eyes.

He picked up the phone placed by his pillow, opened it, and went into the Apocalypse Society's internal software. Through a small group chat, he sent a friend request to Yu Ruolan.

Yu Ruolan's profile picture was a small purple fish, and her ID was a bubble emoji—one big bubble next to two small ones. Looking at it together with her profile picture, it looked like the little fish was blowing a few bubbles.

Bai Xuechao had thought that at such an early hour, Yu Ruolan would probably still be asleep. Unexpectedly, just a dozen seconds after he sent the friend request, before he could fall back asleep, it was accepted.

He picked up his phone and waited for a while. Guessing that Yu Ruolan wouldn't take the initiative to message him, he edited and sent a message.

[How are you feeling?]

The software created by Mortar basically replicated the common functions of chat applications. Bai Xuechao could see "The other party is typing" displayed at the top of the chat box, but no message came for a long time.

He waited patiently for two minutes, and the other side finally replied.

Yu Ruolan: [I'm fine...? What's wrong?]

Bai Xuechao's lips curled into a smile as his fingertips tapped out a message on the screen and sent it.

[I was just taking some fever medicine and remembered that you were soaked in the lake longer than I was, so I wanted to ask how you were doing. I'm glad you're okay.]