After the painless gastroscopy was completed, the anesthesia effect was still in effect, and Yumo did not wake up. He was pushed back to the digestive department ward while still asleep.
Lin Meng accompanied all the way.
The single room was very quiet, quiet enough to almost hear the ticking of the infusion.
Lin Meng put down what she had in her hand, closed the door, pulled a chair over, and sat down by the bed.
She gazed at Yumo's face.
Due to the anesthesia, the man's breathing was shallow and gentle, his lips were pale, and his face was as white as jade.
Lin Meng didn't dare to think too much about what happened during the day. Just thinking about the sharp object walking around in Yumo's body made her feel a sharp pain in her heart.
She tilted her head and vaguely remembered some things from before.
It was an early autumn two years ago.
The weather forecast reported that cold air was attacking the inland, and Z City, as a typical southern city, saw a sudden drop in temperature overnight, and the flu raged.
Due to the large temperature difference between day and night, the air conditioning in the Kars training room had not been fully used. Lin Meng, being vigorous, wore a hoodie all day, and wore ankle-exposing socks, squatting in the training room all day.
She easily got absorbed in the ranked games, not caring about the cold, not even eating or drinking all day. Yumo passed by the training room door several times and saw the girl wearing a pair of rogue bunny slippers, exposing her slender ankles and calves to the air, and couldn't help but nag a bit.
"You should wear trousers, and pull up your shoes. Do you know the cold starts from the soles of the feet?" He went over and pinched Lin Meng's hoodie collar: "Wearing such thin clothes, aren't you afraid of catching a cold?"
Lin Meng: "Um, um."
Yumo was speechless for a while.
"Do you just 'um' for everything?" He went over and covered the screen with his hand: "Did I give you a yes-or-no question that you just 'um' at."
Lin Meng exclaimed: "Hey, hey, my quadra kill!"
Then she heard the sound of being killed.
Lin Meng's face turned dark.
She angrily looked up, met Yumo's scrutinizing gaze, and instantly deflated like a balloon.
"What's wrong..." She whined pitifully: "I was about to win!"
"Go put on some more clothes before coming back to play." Yumo said: "Whose fault is it if you catch a cold?"
"I'm not cold!"
"When you feel cold, it's too late!" Yumo pressed the power switch on the computer screen: "Go quickly."
Lin Meng: "……"
The captain is the dark force in life, and Lin Meng is weak and helpless, so she had to stand up and get her coat.
Yumo watched her put on her coat before turning away. Little did he know that Lin Meng soon felt the coat was in the way, so she threw it onto the back of the chair, and continued to be carefree.
In the middle of the night, Lin Meng began to inexplicably lose, and then she realized her fingers were ice-cold, and she had been frozen to some extent. She had to roll back to her dorm to sleep.
When she woke up, Lin Meng started coughing.
At first, it was just intermittent dry coughing, which she could endure. She thought she could get through it with good food and sleep, but after two or three days, the symptoms worsened instead of improving. Her cough became more frequent, more intense, and even caused her hands to shake, affecting her gaming.
That night, Lin Meng couldn't sleep because of the cough. She got up like a consumptive, wandering around to find some medicine.
She found that she had no medicine by her side.
Lin Meng was the only girl in the Kars player lineup, and she was not very sociable in terms of socializing with people, and sometimes she could be quite harsh when criticizing, which made the younger male trainees not interact with her much, leaving her somewhat isolated.
Lin Meng didn't mind whether she interacted with these boring males or not, but at the moment, she didn't know where to seek help.
At that moment, her phone vibrated.
Lin Meng pounced on the bed and saw that Yumo had sent her a message.
[Your cough can be heard all the way down the corridor. Put on a coat and come to the training room on the third floor to find me.]
Lin Meng blinked.
The formal player's training room was on the third floor, more sealed and upscale than the training room for the younger trainees.
At this point, there was only Yumo in the training room, and it seemed that the others had all gone to sleep. Lin Meng tiptoed into the room and suddenly felt a little guilty: "Captain..."
Yumo was practicing his gunplay, clicking the mouse frequently. He stared at the screen expressionlessly and said, "Did I tell you to wear more clothes?"
Lin Meng lowered her head and pitifully fiddled with the zipper of her clothes. "I was wrong, I didn't listen to the elderly and suffered."
The "elderly" was taken aback, then turned his face and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you calling old?"
Lin Meng coughed twice, making a rattling sound in her chest. She tapped her thin ribs with her hand, looking pitiful. Yumo couldn't bear it and fetched some medicine for her.
"Amoxicillin, cough-relieving capsules, and Chaihu granules." Yumo pushed the cup towards her. "Here's some hot water."
"So much?!" Lin Meng widened her eyes and exclaimed, "I'm not a medicine jar!"
"If you're capable, don't fall sick, okay?" Yumo mocked.
Lin Meng wilted and glared at the pile of medicine with hostility. Yumo tapped the table with his finger urging her, so she reluctantly tore open the foil and washed them down with water, choking as she swallowed.
This was not the worst part, as the Chaihu granules had a taste that was simply inhumane. Yumo found a instant noodle bowl from somewhere, and brewed a large bowl of it for her.
Lin Meng drank until her stomach was round, then struggled to finish the bottom. Tears filled her eyes: "Captain!"
"Sorry," Yumo felt a bit embarrassed. "I thought diluting it would make it easier to swallow..."
Not only did it not make it easier to swallow, but it also prolonged the suffering by several times.
Lin Meng rinsed her mouth frantically with mouthwash for a while, and finally her speech did not seem as slurred. She also stopped coughing as much. She didn't know which medicine had the effect, but she returned to the training room and saw Yumo practicing his gunplay again.
"Go back and rest. Sleep early," Yumo said, still staring at the screen without looking at her.
"When will you sleep?" Lin Meng didn't move.
"I will practice for another ten minutes," Yumo said. "The group stage is coming up, and my grip hasn't been steady recently."
Lin Meng looked at the man's thin wrist. She couldn't tell if it was her imagination, but there seemed to be a redness on the back of Yumo's wrist.
"Captain, why don't you take a break?" she couldn't help but say. "Didn't they say we need to balance work and rest?"
Yumo paused and looked over at her.
"Got it, just ten minutes," he smiled and reached out to pat Lin Meng's head. "Feel free to call to keep me in check after ten minutes."
Lin Meng blushed a little, lowered her eyes, and obediently said, "Okay."
As she turned to leave the training room, she suddenly heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Silence?"
A teammate in pajamas hurried down the stairs. He seemed to have woken up thirsty and, passing the training room, leaned against the door and looked inside, "Still not sleeping?"
Yumo's lips unconsciously curled upwards as he looked at him, "Yeah, I’m working hard."
"You're really not giving people a chance," the other person laughed. "I’m going to bed. Good night."
Yumo waved to him.
After a while, the footsteps in the corridor finally disappeared.
Yumo turned his head and smiled behind the computer desk. "Well, he's gone. You can come out now, right?"
Lin Meng squatted down, with both hands grabbing the edge of the table. She listened as he spoke, cautiously peeking around and looking in all directions, "He's really gone."
"He's gone," Yu Mo said as he opened a game and chuckled, "Why are you so guilty, just because you took some cold medicine from me?"
Lin Meng: "I..."
Yu Mo continued to chuckle, "Don't tell me you were thinking we were up to something unspeakable here."
...
The speaker is unaware, the listener is attentive.
This big pig's hoof...
"What are you thinking..." the big pig's hoof spoke softly.
Lin Meng was taken aback and turned to see that the man had woken up at some point, half-opening his eyes and gently gazing at her.
Just as the anesthetic was wearing off, Yu Mo appeared very weak, his voice was hoarse and faint. Lin Meng didn't expect that the first thing he said after waking up was directed at her.
"I..."
She found herself feeling a bit choked up.
Yu Mo took a deep breath, as if gathering a bit of strength, and raised the corners of his colorless lips.
"I'm pretty fine..." he said with his eyes closed.
"You think you're fine?!" Lin Meng suddenly got angry, jumped off the bed, "Can you really be fine after swallowing so many razor blades? Who are you trying to fool!"
Her questioning echoed in the quiet hospital room.
"...But I... am just a little not okay," Yu Mo's eyelids trembled slightly, somewhat helplessly.
"Just a little not okay," Lin Meng sniffed forcefully, "Not okay is right."
Yu Mo: "You..."
Lin Meng couldn't hold back and pounced on the bed, rubbing her eyes with force, "I'm really annoyed with you, I feel so guilty and angry—"
Her angry shout came to a sudden stop.
Yu Mo moved a finger from underneath the thick blanket and gently scratched her hand.
"Don't be like this," the man said softly.
It seemed that this was the only action he could currently make, with a strong comforting tone.
Lin Meng was stunned.
"What do you want? Shall I get it for you?" she said coldly after opening her red and swollen eyes.
Yu Mo gave a slight shake of the head, and at that moment, his phone on the small sofa started to ring.
Lin Meng jumped up to get the phone, and the caller ID showed "Ji Yan."
"This..." Lin Meng looked a bit bewildered as she glanced at him.
"Please pick it up for me..." Yu Mo said.
"But if I pick up, what should I say?" Lin Meng was flustered, "The way you are right now—"
Yu Mo shook his head, seeming extremely tired, and remained silent.
Lin Meng felt extremely distressed. Knowing that Yu Mo didn't want to worry Ji Yan, she hesitated for two seconds and took a deep breath, then pressed the answer button.
"Hello?" she said cautiously.
"Yu Mo, eh?" Ji Yan's reaction was swift, "Who are you?"
"Lin Meng! No, I mean... I'm the former substitute for the team captain!" Lin Meng stuttered, "No, it's not exactly... well, it doesn't matter... Good evening, Mrs. Ji!"
What a messy introduction! Lin Meng felt like her brain was about to explode.
I can't even introduce myself properly! What a fool I am!
There was a pause on the other end before Ji Yan laughed, "Are you the little girl who got lost in front of our house that day?"
"Huh?" Lin Meng said, "Yes, that's me."
"You're with Yu Mo?" Ji Yan said with a smile, "Is he available to take the call now?"
Lin Meng glanced at the patient ID on the bed, "Um..."
"Oh, I see," Ji Yan quickly said, "If he's not available, it's okay. When you two have some free time later, let him know. I am going out with Mrs. Shen for a while."
Lin Meng felt that something was off about this, "Oh, okay."
"Ah, Xiaoningle, the card number for my card in Norton is xxxx, and the password is four sixes. As a premium member, you can enjoy full room service." Ji Yan said, "Remember that. I'm hanging up."
"Uh, Mrs. Ji!"
Mrs. Ji hung up without mercy.
"..."
Yu Mo: Feels like she's my real mom, but also not really my mom.