The hospital beds were very small, only long enough for an average-height adult male. For Zhou Zeqi, who was 192 cm tall, lying on one was pure torture.
"It's fine, you sleep," Zhou Zeqi said, pulling Xi Shui to the middle of the bed.
Looking at the slowly dripping IV, Xi Shui whispered, "Zhou Zeqi, are you feeling shy?"
?
Zhou Zeqi gradually tightened his grip on Xi Shui's hand. He lifted his eyelids, his jet-black eyes as sharp as a honed blade. "Who's shy?"
Under Zhou Zeqi's gaze, Xi Shui found himself unable to speak.
One of his hands had an IV needle in it. The nurse had said it was difficult to insert and shouldn't be moved carelessly.
His other hand was held by Zhou Zeqi.
Xi Shui struggled a bit and managed to free his pinky finger from Zhou Zeqi's grasp.
He pointed his pinky at Zhou Zeqi.
"......"
-
When Xi Shui woke up again, it was already bright outside. Lin Xiaojin was still sound asleep next to him, his blanket having fallen to the floor.
Both of their IVs were finished, with white patches taped to the backs of their hands. The others who had been in the infusion room with them last night had all left, replaced by a new batch of faces who stared at Xi Shui as he woke up.
Xi Shui instinctively looked to the side of his bed—Zhou Zeqi was gone. He had a basketball game today.
A nurse pushed in a treatment cart and, seeing Xi Shui awake, said softly, "Your friend has already paid all the fees for you. You can leave anytime."
"Okay," Xi Shui nodded.
He looked at Lin Xiaojin, thinking they probably couldn't leave just yet.
Xi Shui lay in bed, feeling his stomach growling with hunger.
The basketball game was still going on in the gymnasium.
The squeaking of sneakers against the court floor filled the air as the ball traced a near-perfect arc through the air when thrown.
The college tournament brought together the best players from each school. It wasn't as easy as Wu Fengyi had imagined or claimed it would be, but they couldn't afford to lose. CUSC, formerly known as Beijing Sports University, was a long-established sports school—they couldn't lose face like that.
Zhou Zeqi had barely slept all night. He gulped down an entire bottle of ice-cold water, then crushed the empty bottle and tossed it into a nearby trash can.
Wu Fengyi, grinning like a Cheshire cat, came up behind him. "The coach says he's going to discipline you."
Zhou Zeqi watched the basketball being passed between multiple players, his eyes slightly narrowed. Sweat trickled down his temples and along his sharp jawline, dripping onto the rubber floor.
"Say something," Wu Fengyi pressed.
"Leaving the team without permission is grounds for discipline. What's there to say?" Zhou Zeqi glanced at Wu Fengyi, his tone neutral.
Wu Fengyi straddled the bench next to Zhou Zeqi. "Ten credit points! Not percentage points, but ten whole credits!"
Zhou Zeqi picked up another water bottle and unscrewed the cap. "I'll still have the most credits. It's not like I can't afford to lose them."
Wu Fengyi: "......"
The final match didn't end until after 6 PM that day. CUSC deservedly took first place. Zhou Zeqi played relentlessly, pressing hard at every turn. He charged forward fiercely and quickly, and his teammates kept up with his pace, putting so much pressure on their opponents that they could barely catch their breath, let alone fight back.
Zhou Zeqi walked down from the podium, took off the medal around his neck, and shoved it into the coach's arms. "I'm not joining the team dinner."
The coach, who was also a teacher at their sports college, noticed it was the first time Zhou Zeqi had been so uncooperative with team activities. "Having a bad mood these past couple of days?"
"No," Zhou Zeqi caught the water bottle Wu Fengyi tossed to him. "I'm in a relationship."
"Then why don't you bring your partner to have dinner with everyone?" The teacher strained to stand on tiptoes and put his arm around Zhou Zeqi's shoulder, hanging off him like a large monkey. "You snuck out to see them last night too, right? You know you're not supposed to leave during training camp without permission. I'll have to discipline you as an example, so no one else dares to sneak off in the future."
Zhou Zeqi peeled the coach off himself. "Who are you calling a chicken?"
The coach persisted, "You really won't bring your partner?"
Zhou Zeqi paused. "They've been sick these past couple days. We'll talk about it another time."
With that, Zhou Zeqi gave Wu Fengyi a look. Wu Fengyi immediately rushed over, put his arm around the coach, and steered him in another direction, chattering as they walked, "That's a nice polo shirt you're wearing, Coach. Is that Toby Southpaw?"
"Get lost, stop flattering me. Don't think I don't know you snuck out last night too. I'm not disciplining you only because you didn't stay out all night..."
-
Xi Shui was making porridge.
Li Wanzhi had said takeout wasn't good, that takeout porridge had thickeners added. She said he should make it himself.
Xi Shui didn't know how to cook. Following Li Wanzhi's instructions, he bought rice, an apron, and even a pot. His phone was on the cutting board, on speakerphone.
"The rice has softened, but I think there's too much water..." Xi Shui stirred the porridge in the pot. It was a watery mess—a handful of rice swimming in a pot full of water, so clear you could see the bottom. Even a beggar would curse at the sight of it.
Li Wanzhi said not to worry on the other end. "Let me check the recipe. Don't rush, Xiao Xi."
Xi Shui stared at the porridge. "I'm not rushing." He had only eaten an apple and an egg today. He had thrown out all the bread in the fridge, afraid of ending up in the hospital again if he ate it.
The doorbell rang.
"Mom, I need to answer the door. I'll hang up now. Just text me when you find the recipe." Xi Shui dried his hands, hung up, and went to open the door.
Zhou Zeqi walked in carrying a large bag of fruits and vegetables. Hearing the sound of the range hood in the kitchen, he asked, "You know how to cook?"
Xi Shui held up his ladle and nodded vigorously. "Mm-hmm, I'm making porridge!"
"Do you want to eat together?" Xi Shui invited enthusiastically.
He then brought Zhou Zeqi to see the porridge he was making.
The pot was just a small saucepan, the kind used for cooking instant noodles, barely larger than a palm.
Zhou Zeqi took the ladle from Xi Shui's hand and tapped it against the pot. Two clear clinks rang out. He scooped up some of the contents—there were only a few grains of rice in the ladle.
"Are you feeding chickens?" Zhou Zeqi turned back to look at Xi Shui, taking in the pink bear-patterned apron he was wearing. "You've got quite the setup here."
Xi Shui was ushered to the living room, with Zhou Zeqi telling him to watch TV.
Xi Shui wasn't sure how he ended up sitting on the couch watching television, while Zhou Zeqi took over the kitchen. The sound of chopping vegetables soon filled the air, sounding very professional.
After a while, Xi Shui wandered back to the kitchen.
The back of Zhou Zeqi's neck was covered in sweat from the heat, despite the air conditioning being set quite low. The kitchen was still like a steamer.
Xi Shui brought a small stool and sat against the wall, trying to be quiet.
"What vegetables did you buy?" Xi Shui couldn't hold back his curiosity.
Hearing his voice, Zhou Zeqi asked, "Why did you come back in here?"
Xi Shui rested his chin in his hands. "I was worried you'd be bored."
"How come you know how to cook? Lin Xiaojin and the others don't know how..." Xi Shui watched the neatly sliced potato strips on the cutting board, curious.
"Because no one in my family knows how to cook."
The Zhou family didn't know how to cook, so they hired a chef. But everyone in the family had different tastes. His parents liked Western food, while Zhou Zeqi and Zhou Zezhi preferred Chinese cuisine. So Zhou Zeqi and Zhou Zezhi played rock-paper-scissors to decide who would learn to cook.
Zhou Zezhi won, so to this day she only knows how to make instant noodles. She used to make instant noodles back home, and now she makes instant noodles abroad.
After hearing Zhou Zeqi's explanation, Xi Shui laughed. "That's so unlucky for you."
"?"
Finally, the soup.
After adding water, Zhou Zeqi waited for it to boil. During this break, he turned around and looked down at the gleeful Xi Shui. "I don't think it's unlucky. If I didn't know how to cook, you'd be eating that watery gruel of yours that even chickens would turn their beaks up at."
"At most, that could be called rice water."
Xi Shui wasn't discouraged at all. "You could teach me."
"Why should I teach you?" Zhou Zeqi wiped the sweat from the side of his face and washed his hands, his tone half-joking. "If I teach you, what use will I be?"
Xi Shui didn't catch the deeper meaning in Zhou Zeqi's words. He shook his head and said seriously, "If you teach me, I can cook for you."
Zhou Zeqi's teeth itched a little.
He didn't understand how Xi Shui could say such things so casually and naturally. Looking at Xi Shui's expression, Zhou Zeqi thought that perhaps he truly didn't realize the implications of what he was saying.
But that was okay.
Xi Shui had said it, so he would have to follow through.
Zhou Zeqi would be waiting.
Before eating, Xi Shui went to weigh himself.
Perhaps due to being sick, or because he hadn't eaten much in the past two days, Xi Shui looked at the 59kg on the scale without much excitement, unlike before when he would jump for joy even at a 0.1kg decrease.
Xi Shui returned to the dining room, where Zhou Zeqi had already set out all the dishes on the table.
It was a simple meal of four dishes and a soup: two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes. There was asparagus with beef, minced meat with egg custard, bok choy, and a vegetable salad. The soup was winter melon with sliced meat. Everything was very light, which made Xi Shui sigh in relief.
Zhou Zeqi noticed Xi Shui's hesitation and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Xi Shui took the chopsticks and bowl Zhou Zeqi handed him and replied, "I'm calculating calories."
"Why are you calculating calories?"
"I'm afraid of getting fat."
"With normal eating and your level of exercise, you won't get fat. Your worry is unnecessary."
Xi Shui ladled a small bowl of soup to let it cool. "But sometimes I'm heavy, and sometimes I'm light."
Zhou Zeqi took a bottle of mineral water from the refrigerator, as if he were in his own home. He playfully tilted Xi Shui's chin up and sat down across from him. "You should focus on your body shape, not the numbers on the scale. Salt and carbohydrates can cause temporary weight increases."
Xi Shui lowered his head, looking dejected. "I know, but I can't help it."
Xi Shui compared his bowl to Zhou Zeqi's. His was a regular small bowl, half-filled with rice, while Zhou Zeqi's was a large bowl with rice piled high.
"You eat so much," Xi Shui said, surprised.
"When you burn more than you consume, you can eat freely."
Xi Shui thought for a moment. "Oh, right."
"Can I have more rice?" Xi Shui asked Zhou Zeqi.
"No, your digestive system is too weak. It's better for you to eat smaller portions more frequently."
Xi Shui wasn't upset; he felt happy just to be eating rice at all.
It had been a long time since he'd had such a normal meal, and happiness radiated from his eyes. He counted the last few grains of rice as he ate them, reluctant to finish.
After the meal, Xi Shui put down his chopsticks and looked at Zhou Zeqi across the table. "You should eat with me every day from now on."
Zhou Zeqi looked up. "Why?"
"I feel so happy eating with you," Xi Shui said frankly. "Don't you feel happy?"
Zhou Zeqi's eyes sparkled captivatingly, and his voice was low and gentle. "I do."
"Great!"
Xi Shui suddenly stood up. "I'm going to brush my teeth."
"Going to bed so early?" It wasn't even 9 o'clock yet.
"No," Xi Shui shook his head, his face slowly turning red and his voice becoming very soft. "We haven't kissed for two days. Wait for me to brush my teeth and come back. I want to kiss you."
*
Little Stream: Be right back