Orange Storm chapter 32
Prohibited for Minors
“38.5 degrees, you have a fever,” the nurse glanced at the thermometer and placed it back. “You should get an IV.”
The two went to the nearby community health center; it was early in the morning, and there were few people. In the infusion room, there were only Jiang Zhijin and Fang Xing. The nurse slowly inserted the needle into Jiang Zhijin’s vein, skillfully loosened the tourniquet, then turned to face Fang Xing.
“If there’s any discomfort, ring the bell. Keep an eye on the IV bottle, and if it’s almost empty, call me.”
Fang Xing nodded and said, “Thank you.”
Once they left, Fang Xing stood in place, raising his hand to touch the IV bottle, double-checking the name written on it. He glanced at the speed of the drip, slightly slowing it down, then lowered his head to look at Jiang Zhijin.
Jiang Zhijin was curled up in the chair, leaning his head to earnestly watch Tom and Jerry on the TV in the infusion room. Feeling Fang Xing’s gaze, he lazily spoke up.
“Why are you standing? Sit.”
His voice sounded a bit hoarse.
Fang Xing didn’t sit, nor did he speak. He reached out, placing his hand on Jiang Zhijin’s IV hand, touching it for a few seconds.
Jiang Zhijin was startled, subconsciously wanting to pull his hand back. However, considering the needle in his hand, he reluctantly refrained from doing so. Instead, he used his other hand to playfully slap Fang Xing’s hand.
“What are you doing?”
Even before the slap landed, Fang Xing had already withdrawn his hand.
“It’s too cold,” Fang Xing said, “I’ll go ask if there’s a hot water bottle.”
Some people’s hands would become cold during the infusion, and Jiang Zhijin was more severe. When Fang Xing touched his hand, it felt like touching ice. Fortunately, the health center had electric hot water bottles. Fang Xing asked a nurse for one and patiently waited for it to be charged.
When he brought the hot water bottle back to the infusion room, Jiang Zhijin was nearly asleep. Fang Xing walked over, placed the hot water bottle under Jiang Zhijin’s IV hand, and gently pressed a section of the infusion tube underneath to prevent the cold liquid from entering the blood vessel.
Jiang Zhijin, slightly more awake, opened his eyes, allowing Fang Xing to fiddle around. When they both sat down, he spoke, “Are you a Virgo?”
“No,” Fang Xing replied, “October 30, Scorpio.”
“I thought you were a Virgo with these behaviors.” Jiang Zhijin smiled and continued, “But it’s good, being attentive like this can impress little girls.”
This sentence from Jiang Zhijin was just a casual remark. Fang Xing glanced at him and suddenly asked, “Then how would you impress little boys?”
Jiang Zhijin squinted his eyes a little and took a while before answering, “Are you asking for trouble?”
“Just curious.” Fang Xing turned his head to look at Tom and Jerry on the TV; Tom was chasing the little white cat from next door.
“Just asking.”
“Don’t ask.”
Fang Xing slowly said, “But this question is also like Schrödinger’s cat, between caring and not caring.”
“…Is it not okay for me to impress little boys?”
After a night of being angry, Jiang Zhijin sighed, somewhat believing that Fang Xing was indeed a Scorpio. He pulled down the hat of his down jacket.
“I’m sleepy, don’t bother me.”
Fang Xing didn’t say anything more.
When the episode of Tom and Jerry finished, Fang Xing finally withdrew his gaze from the TV and turned to the person next to him.
Jiang Zhijin was clearly already asleep, breathing evenly and softly. The hat of the down jacket was quite large, covering half of his face, leaving only the tip of his nose, lips, and jaw visible.
Fang Xing stared at him for a long time. In the end, he had to admit that Jiang Zhijin’s face was indeed likable.
It was likable for little girls, little boys, and…
Well, it seemed quite likable in general.
If he didn’t speak, that is. After all, the tone he used when making fun of people was particularly irritating. Thinking of this, Fang Xing couldn’t help but smile.
But he knew that even though Jiang Zhijin sometimes spoke in a messed-up way, he was decisive and reliable when it came to doing things, including but not limited to managing Cloud Seven well, dealing with his own transfer, handling the gold necklace guy, and Fang Chenglin.
He also remembered the night Fang Chenglin came. Jiang Zhijin said to him, “For now, all you need to do is to look at me.”
Look at him…
Fang Xing’s gaze swept across Jiang Zhijin’s nose, lips, jaw, and Adam’s apple…
fuck.
He abruptly withdrew his gaze, exhaled lightly, feeling a bit nervous.
He looked up at the IV bottle; one bottle of the drip was almost finished. He went to call the nurse and replaced the hot water bag again.
After several rounds of this, by the time the medicine was switched to the last bottle, Jiang Zhijin still hadn’t woken up. It was evident that he was genuinely tired and sleepy.
Until the last bottle of drip was about to run out, Fang Xing patted Jiang Zhijin twice.
After a moment, Jiang Zhijin finally moved, slowly opening his eyes. His voice, when he spoke, still carried a husky tone.
“Hmm?”
“It’s time to remove the needle.”
The nurse on the side bent down to prepare for the removal of the needle, smiling, “Your little brother is so obedient, staying by your side all the time.”
Jiang Zhijin glanced at Fang Xing, smiled, and replied, “Indeed, quite obedient.”
There was no rain outside the window, and there was even a faint sunlight. Jiang Zhijin originally thought it would be warmer. However, when they stepped out of the health center’s door, a cold wind hit them directly, almost penetrating into their bones. He couldn’t help but curse, “Fuck.”
Fang Xing glanced at him and walked in front of him.
After spending the morning on the IV drip, the two had two bowls of rice with toppings at a noodle shop near the community gate. When they returned, there was still water in front of the building, but someone kindly put together a makeshift path using a few bricks, making it passable. This time, Jiang Zhijin didn’t let Fang Xing carry him; he walked behind him.
In the afternoon, Jiang Zhijin slept again. Gu Xun did come by, helped move Jiang Zhijin’s car, and brought the keys up. Jiang Zhijin was still sleeping, Fang Xing took the keys, briefly explained the situation with Jiang Zhijin’s fever, and Gu Xun seemed concerned, asking if they needed to drive to the municipal hospital.
“It should be fine. The fever subsided at noon. I’ll check again in the evening,” Fang Xing replied. Gu Xun patted his shoulder, saying, “If there’s anything, call me or Zhou Hong.”
Fang Xing didn’t go out the entire afternoon. He spent the time solving several sets of comprehensive science problems, memorizing words for a while, and finally, feeling bored, he even wrote a few essays in classical Chinese that he usually disliked. Xu Hang enthusiastically called during this time, asking if he wanted to go out again, but Fang Xing declined.
He faithfully went to Jiang Zhijin’s room every hour to check on him, cover him with a blanket, and take his temperature. Because Jiang Zhijin seemed to be sleeping soundly all the time, Fang Xing could only use his hand to check the temperature on his forehead and planned to wake him up if it got too hot.
Fortunately, Jiang Zhijin’s temperature was normal throughout the afternoon, until after 6 PM when he finally woke up.
At that moment, Fang Xing was about to go in and check his temperature, and Jiang Zhijin happened to push the door open. Fang Xing was surprised, “You’re awake?”
“Awake. No need to check; I just did it myself. The fever has subsided,” Jiang Zhijin said.
Fang Xing looked at him for a moment, then slowly spoke, “You didn’t actually sleep in the afternoon, did you?”
“I did.” Jiang Zhijin smiled, “But not that soundly. I could still feel it when you touched my head a few times.”
For some reason, Fang Xing suddenly felt a bit awkward. Fortunately, Jiang Zhijin immediately changed the subject, casually saying, “What to eat? I’m hungry.”
“…Takeout?” Fang Xing suggested, “What do you want to eat?”
Sighing at the suggestion, Jiang Zhijin looked at Fang Xing and said, “Let’s have noodles. I’ll make it.”
“You—”
“I haven’t died from fever yet,” Jiang Zhijin rolled up his sleeves and walked toward the kitchen.
Even though it was just noodles, he made them quite seriously. He boiled two eggs, added some greens, and even made a soup base with tomato and scrambled eggs.
After finishing dinner, it was already completely dark outside. Fang Xing cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks, and Jiang Zhijin was fiddling with the TV. He asked when Fang Xing came out:
“Wanna watch a movie?”
…Fang Xing instantly thought of the last time he watched a movie with Jiang Zhijin.
Horror, thriller, suspense.
“No horror movies,” Jiang Zhijin probably thought of it too, couldn’t help but laugh, and added immediately, “i’ll just pick any to watch; I slept too much during the day and can’t sleep now.”
Jiang Zhijin probably did choose a random movie; he didn’t recognize almost any of the actors. It was a romantic film, telling the story of a high school girl and a delinquent falling in love.
The movie was quite pure, with a bit of an artistic feeling. Jiang Zhijin leaned against the sofa, eating potato chips, occasionally leaning on Fang Xing, and occasionally making comments.
“It’s quite childish.”
The movie reached the part where the high school girl confessed her love to the delinquent. Under the dim streetlights in the pouring rain, the two stared at each other, and the girl confessed sentence by sentence.
Fang Xing glanced at Jiang Zhijin, “How?”
“In the future, no matter what happens, I will be with you forever — this line.” Jiang Zhijin smiled, “Maybe it’s a bit childish because I was too young.”
“Okay,” Fang Xing replied after a while.
He originally wanted to say something, but it seemed inappropriate. Even though the plot did seem a bit childish to him, hearing Jiang Zhijin say it made him feel a bit uncomfortable.
But soon, the two didn’t have a chance to discuss whether it was childish or not.
Because right after the confession scene in the movie, unexpectedly, there was a damn sex scene.
The male and female leads went to a hotel right after the confession — it was clear the director was trying to turn it into an arthouse film. The sex scene was shot slowly and lengthily. The sounds of heavy breathing and the zipper of clothing mixed with the rain hitting the glass outside, creating a stifling and humid atmosphere.
Fang Xing stared at the TV with a fixed expression, his mind racing.
Fuck, is there anything more awkward than this?
No, what am I afraid of? It’s not like I’m watching a pornographic film.
But it’s pretty close to one… What is Jiang Zhijin doing? Why is he silent?
… Why is this scene so long?
Jiang Zhijin’s home had a pretty good sound system, with surround sound — Fang Xing had already started to consider whether he should pretend to go to the bathroom to ease the awkward atmosphere. Yet, he felt this move might make him even more embarrassed…
The next second, he heard Jiang Zhijin make a soft “tsk” sound.
Before he could react, Jiang Zhijin, who was originally slouched on the sofa, straightened up. One hand reached over the coffee table, grabbing the remote, while the other extended towards him.
His vision darkened as Jiang Zhijin’s hand blocked all the light and the screen. He could only feel the warmth of Jiang Zhijin’s palm pressed against his eyelids and lashes, a continuous and soothing sensation.
Jiang Zhijin’s voice echoed near his ear, carrying a faintly amused tone.
“Minors are prohibited from watching.”