Pheromone Deficiency Syndrome chapter 11
Illness
Xie Ke only stayed at Xie Huaizhou’s place for one night and left after breakfast.
He saw Chi Xiaonian for the first time at the dining table. This soft and fluffy little kid was being held by Gu Jinyi with his fair and tender cheeks, chubby lips, and a small Rubik’s cube in his short hands, looking at him curiously.
Xie Ke’s mind went blank for a moment. Frankly speaking, seeing children in his cousin’s house was beyond his imagination. He had come here many times before, and the Xie residence was always cold and orderly, even the potted plants in the corners exuded a solemn atmosphere.
But this time he came, he found toys of all colors everywhere, Gu Jinyi’s paintings hung in the corridor, and there were also several studios with different functions upstairs. There was even a playground in the backyard.
It seemed like there was suddenly more life here.
Chi Xiaonian blinked his eyes and listened as Gu Jinyi introduced Xie Ke as Xie Huaizhou’s cousin. He solemnly greeted, “Good morning, Uncle Xie Ke~”
He didn’t look like Gu Jinyi at all, but his smile was equally soft.
Xie Ke, the steel straight guy, was quickly melted. He was outgoing and knew better than Xie Huaizhou how to interact with children. During the meal, he became acquainted with Chi Xiaonian.
When he wanted to leave, Chi Xiaonian was reluctant, hugging his neck and giving him two kisses on his face.
But after kissing him, Chi Xiaonian felt a bit shy and hid back in the nanny’s arms.
For a moment, Xie Ke suddenly felt that it might not be bad to get married and have children early.
But he rationalized away this thought, and as Gu Jinyi saw him out, he said a few words to him and gave him a few tickets.
“Tickets to Master Mord’s art exhibition, and two VIP tickets to the Baidi Star Mecha Combat Tournament,” Xie Ke thought for a moment and decided to help his cousin, “Remember to go with my cousin.”
Gu Jinyi smiled and thanked him for his kindness.
“Thank you, I’ll go with Xie Huaizhou.”
Even though he didn’t know if Xie Huaizhou had time.
Xie Ke was satisfied. He waved to Gu Jinyi and casually left.
.
Before Xie Huaizhou went out for work, Gu Jinyi gave him those tickets.
“Xie Ke said we should go together,” Gu Jinyi helped Xie Huaizhou adjust his cuffs casually, “but if you’re busy, forget it. I can invite a colleague.”
“I’m free,” Xie Huaizhou glanced at the time, “next Wednesday night and Friday night. I’ll pick you up after work.”
Gu Jinyi didn’t refuse either, smiling, “Okay.”
After Xie Huaizhou left, Gu Jinyi tidied up and was about to go to work too. They had a lot of classes on weekends in the studio.
When he arrived at the studio, not everyone had gathered in the office yet. People were chatting in groups, drinking tea, and discussing where to go for fun in a few days.
Li Xiu turned to ask him, “Assistant Gu, are you coming? We’re going to Qiming Star nearby, just for two days.”
Gu Jinyi shook his head, “I have plans. Where are you guys going?”
Several people cheered together.
“Are you making plans with your husband again?” Li Xiu teased, “Assistant Gu, you’re so homey. You even go straight home after work every day.”
Gu Jinyi blushed slightly and wanted to refute. But since he and Xie Huaizhou were indeed partners, he could only swallow the words and pretend not to have heard.
To avoid being teased, he simply went to water the flowers by the window. These pots of flowers were half dead before he took care of them, but now they were thriving and about to bloom again.
The long-eared cat also jumped onto the windowsill, wrapping its tail around his wrist, acting coquettish again.
Yan Lian stood by the window, smoking, nodded to Gu Jinyi in greeting.
He had also heard the office chatter, but he didn’t participate, just leaning against the window.
He saw Gu Jinyi getting into a black hovercar a couple of days ago. Although he didn’t see who was in the car, he knew it must be Gu Jinyi’s alpha husband.
Because Gu Jinyi carried the scent of that alpha with him every day.
The people in the office knew that Gu Jinyi was sensitive, so they didn’t joke about it in front of him, but they all said behind his back that his alpha must love him very much, possessing such a strong possessiveness.
Yan Lian extinguished his cigarette, washed his hands, and started preparing his painting tools. He looked at the newly blooming cherry blossom tree in the garden and felt that the bird chirping outside the window was a bit noisy for no reason.
.
Gu Jinyi really wanted to see these two shows that Xie Ke had given him tickets for.
He had Wednesday afternoon off, so he went back to Xie’s mansion early, ready to take a nap and then go out with Xie Huaizhou.
But when Xie Huaizhou came back, he found that Gu Jinyi didn’t seem right.
He returned a little after 5pm, planning to have dinner with Gu Jinyi before going to the exhibition, but he heard from the butler that Gu Jinyi was taking a nap and felt something was wrong.
He walked into the room. There was no light on, but there was a scent of red tea pheromones in the air, denser than usual.
Xie Huaizhou almost thought Gu Jinyi was going into heat.
But he quickly realized it wasn’t the case because Gu Jinyi was too quiet, curled up under the covers.
He turned on the bedside lamp, lifted a corner of the blanket, and saw the abnormal redness on Gu Jinyi’s face. He reached out and felt his forehead, which was burning hot.
Gu Jinyi had a fever, 39 degrees, a high fever.
After measuring his temperature, Xie Huaizhou had the butler call the family doctor.
He had already applied a cooling patch to Gu Jinyi and was now holding him in his arms, giving him some water.
After the doctor took over, he briefly examined Gu Jinyi and prescribed some milder medication.
“He’ll recover from the fever slower than normal people. Others would be fine after taking a pill, but not him,” the doctor sighed, a little concerned about Gu Jinyi’s physical condition, “and his fever isn’t just because of his body; it’s also because he’s been under a lot of mental strain lately, too much stress.”
“Now that he’s finally relaxed, he’s relapsed.”
The doctor glanced at Xie Huaizhou, seeing him holding Gu Jinyi in his arms the whole time, which gave him a better understanding of Mr. Gu’s status.
“But this is not a big deal, just a fever,” the doctor reassured, “he’ll be fine after he recovers. Although Mr. Gu’s body is weak, with some care, he can gradually recover.”
Xie Huaizhou uttered a sound of acknowledgment, but his tightly furrowed brows didn’t relax.
He wasn’t ignorant enough to ask Gu Jinyi what stress he was under.
Since Chu Miyun’s death, Gu Jinyi had been living in a tense environment, mourning the loss of his partner, being besieged by the Chu and Gu families, and then following him to the unfamiliar Baidi Star.
All the bitterness in between, Gu Jinyi never talked about.
“Is there anything else to pay attention to?” Xie Huaizhou asked the doctor, “Should I feed him anything specific?”
The doctor shook his head, “Just hydrate him, stick to a light diet, and if he doesn’t feel like eating, supplement with nutritional drinks.”
He felt that Xie Huaizhou was a little too nervous. In this era of advanced medical care, having a fever was almost like sneezing. And the head of the Xie family himself was a typical representative of self-healing.
“If there’s nothing else, then I’ll take my leave.” The doctor picked up his medical kit and tactfully exited the room.
Now there were only Gu Jinyi and Xie Huaizhou left in the room.
Gu Jinyi regained a bit of consciousness when the doctor came, but soon fell into a drowsy sleep again.
He wasn’t one to fuss at all when he got sick, he was currently curled up against Xie Huaizhou’s chest like a kitten. His breath was warm, but he made no sound.
Xie Huaizhou gave him medicine, and he obediently swallowed it, showing no signs of being clingy or resistant as Xie Huaizhou had imagined.
Only children who knew that fussing was useless would endure pain because asking for help would yield no response.
Thinking of this, Xie Huaizhou’s expression wasn’t particularly pleasant.
He himself had grown up in an environment that didn’t allow weakness. He was the highly anticipated heir of the Xie family, the top alpha of the empire.
So he always had to outshine others, and he could never cry out in pain or show any weakness.
He had gotten used to this survival rule, but he didn’t want Gu Jinyi to become like this.