Chapter 140: The Daughter-in-Law

Xu An'an ultimately decided to head over to Xue Shengnan’s place. After working until past eight in the evening, she planned to order takeout once she arrived there and, at the same time, give Jiang Li a call.

Ring, ring, ring… The phone went unanswered.

Once the call ended, Xu An'an received a message from Jiang Li: [What is it?]

Xu An'an: [I’m heading to Shengnan’s tonight. She seems to be in a really bad mood, so I just wanted to let you know.]

Jiang Li: [36…]

What was that supposed to mean? Xu An'an didn't understand.

Xu An'an: [What do you mean by that? I don't understand your code.]

There was no follow-up reply from Jiang Li. This felt very wrong to Xu An'an, so she had the taxi driver turn around so she could go back and check on him. She paused to think, then called Assistant Wang, only to discover that Jiang Li hadn’t been to the company all day and had stayed in his standalone villa the entire time.

Why was it so strange?

Xu An'an hurried inside, struggling through a sea of cats to reach the second floor. "Jiang Li, are you home?"

The master bedroom door was shut; Jiang Li was clearly inside. Xu An'an turned the handle and pushed the door open. The room was pitch black, but she could hear the man coughing occasionally, and she suddenly understood. Jiang Li must have caught a fever!

Click.

Xu An'an turned on a wall lamp and hurried toward him. Jiang Li, clearly very ill, was curled up under the covers, his handsome face flushed an unnatural shade of crimson. She reached out to touch his forehead and was startled. He was burning up!

"My god, what is wrong with you! Have you seen a doctor?"

Xu An'an quickly called Assistant Wang, instructing him to arrange for a doctor to come over to examine Jiang Li and administer an injection. She went into the bathroom to soak a towel and came back out to wipe Jiang Li’s face and body, using physical methods to help lower his temperature. Once she had wiped him down, she tucked him back in.

Jiang Li, who hadn't been sleeping well, opened his eyes. He stared fixedly at Xu An'an, his voice raspy. "Why did you come back? I’ll pass the cold on to you."

Xu An'an’s heart softened. "If I hadn’t come back, you would have been in serious trouble!"

"You silly man, you’re sick and you don’t even know to go to the hospital? You didn’t think you’d be fine just by sweating it out, did you? Let me tell you..."

"Yeah... when I was a kid, if I got sick, my mom would say the same thing." Jiang Li, feeling miserable, shifted closer to Xu An'an, pressing against her thigh.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Xu An'an sighed softly, her small hand gently stroking his hair.

Delirious with fever, Jiang Li began to mumble, "When I was little... we didn't have money at home. When I caught a fever... my mom would just make me cover up with extra blankets..."

"As for the hospital..."

Not knowing what pleasant memory he was recalling, Jiang Li suddenly smiled. "You idiot, didn't I tell you to follow me? How did you manage to get lost?"

Xu An'an turned her head. "What? What are you saying?"

Jiang Li struggled to open his eyes, looking at the Xu An'an before him. She looked almost exactly as she had when he was a child; just as beautiful. The curve of his lips deepened.

Xu An'an assumed that Jiang Li was so delirious that he had mistaken her for his mother. She waved her hand in front of his face. "Sonny, call me Mommy."

Instead, she saw Jiang Li staring at her unblinkingly, his eyes curving into a smile, which made her own heartbeat skip a rhythm. She looked away, but a low, raspy voice reached her ears: "Wife."

Xu An'an’s pupils trembled violently. Her mind went blank. She must have misheard, right?

At that moment, Assistant Wang arrived with the doctor. Xu An'an didn't have time to overthink it; she watched with concern. "He was caught in the rain yesterday. He must not have had a bowl of hot ginger soup when he got back."

Upon learning that Jiang Li had been rained on, the doctor nodded and prescribed medication.

"Let’s start with an IV drip."

"Okay, I’ll stay here and keep an eye on him." Xu An'an asked Assistant Wang to let the doctor stay in the guest room next door, just in case there were any developments in the middle of the night that required his attention. Assistant Wang wanted to say that the Second Master wasn't made of tofu and that perhaps she was being overly anxious, but of course, how could he ignore the words of the future madam?

Xu An'an used her phone to send a message to Xue Shengnan to ask for time off; she planned to stay home tomorrow to take care of Jiang Li. If she had only sent a message last night to remind him to drink a bowl of ginger tea, none of this would have happened.

She leaned against the headboard, watching the sleeping Jiang Li in silence. Perhaps because he was ill, Jiang Li looked exceptionally fragile and endearing right now, and Xu An'an couldn't help but lean in closer.

"See if you dare to walk in the rain without drinking ginger tea next time," she chided gently. "No more of this in the future, you hear?"

Thinking of how Jiang Li usually loved to pinch her cheeks, Xu An'an took the opportunity to pinch his and tap his high-bridged nose.

She picked up her phone and took a few photos of him first. But as she kept snapping away, a sudden impulse seized her; she lay down beside Jiang Li and cautiously took a photo with him. However, after just one glance at the picture, she quickly hid it away, feeling like a thief.

The night passed.

It had been raining for several days, and the morning air was a bit chilly. Xu An'an yawned as she watched the doctor remove the second IV bag.

Assistant Wang asked with concern, "Ms. Xu, are you alright? Did you stay up all night?"

Xu An'an, sporting two large dark circles under her eyes, replied, "I'm fine, don't worry. Have someone send over some ginger and chicken congee. Once the Second Master wakes up, I’ll make sure he eats the porridge before taking his medicine."

Assistant Wang acknowledged the order and went out to see to it.

"An'an."

Hearing someone call her name, Xu An'an turned around to find that Jiang Li had woken up at some point. He frowned. "You watched over me all night?"

Xu An'an was exhausted and didn't have the energy to respond. She burrowed under the covers. "Yeah, now it’s my turn to sleep."

But Jiang Li reached out and touched her forehead. His pupils constricted slightly, and he immediately called for the doctor, because he had successfully passed his cold on to Xu An'an.

And so, the two of them ate porridge together, took their medicine together, and slept together. When Assistant Wang and the doctor came back in, they both had to wear masks.

Xu An'an was woken up by hunger. She felt a bit dizzy, and hearing the sound of typing nearby, she looked toward the source. It was Jiang Li, working.

"Are you feeling any better?"

As she spoke, she realized her own voice was raspy. "See, you gave me your cold, it’s so uncomfortable..."

Jiang Li immediately stopped working, moved over to her side, and pulled her into his arms. "I’m sorry. I didn't think to make ginger soup to ward off the cold this time. I promise it won't happen again."

Seeing that Jiang Li’s attitude in admitting his mistake was good, Xu An'an hummed, rubbing her small face against his chest. "Are you all better? If you are, don't get too close to me. If you catch another cold, see what you're going to do."

Jiang Li patted her back soothingly. "I won't."

Xu An'an made a bitter face, gasping for breath as she spoke. "I have no strength at all, and I feel all sticky with sweat. I really want a bath. Can you carry me to wash up?"