Pei Rong was taken aback. He had already used a great deal of effort today to clean up the little one; why would there be another one lining up for a bath at night?
Lu Qin asked, “Do you have any plastic wrap? Help me wrap my wrist.”
Pei Rong replied, “I’ll go ask at the cafeteria.”
Lu Qin grabbed his wrist. “You’re going in your pajamas?”
Pei Rong: “Otherwise, are you going in that sleeveless shirt?”
Lu Qin: “Forget it. I won’t use cling film anymore; raising my arms will do the same.”
He first proposed a solution, then negated it himself, taking a step back to move forward, so Pei Rong would suggest just wiping down instead of showering.
Pei Rong: “Then be careful.”
Lu Qin: “...”
President Lu retreated into the bathroom. For a moment, he considered wetting the bandages, triggering inflammation, and milking sympathy — the whole package.
Acting too foolishly would lower his score in his wife’s mind.
Lu Qin regretfully gave up on the idea.
“Knock, knock, knock.” Pei Rong knocked on the door.
Lu Qin paused with his fingers, took off his shirt, and eagerly opened the door, only to see Pei Rong holding a new black garbage bag and a roll of medical tape. “There’s moisture in the bathroom; it’s better to wrap it.”
Pei Rong carefully tore both ends of the garbage bag, threaded it through Lu Qin’s arm, and tied it tightly around his upper arm and wrist with the tape.
“All done.”
President Lu, now encased in a garbage bag: “...”
Don’t ask — if you ask, it’s love.
Moments later, Lu Qin came out wrapped in a towel, asking Pei Rong to help remove the garbage bag while casually showing off his abs and Adonis belt.
Pei Rong helped dry his hair; the hot air from the hairdryer made his lips dry. “I’ll go call Dundun.”
Lu Qin’s eyes rippled with emotion. It seemed Pei Rong wasn’t completely unaffected either?
He pushed the two beds together, lay down on the right side, and slightly took up space on the left to prove he needed two beds to sleep.
Wouldn’t Pei Rong come back and end up sleeping in his arms?
Pei Rong called Dundun back and placed him next to Lu Qin’s uninjured arm.
Lu Qin: ?
Pei Rong spoke softly and gently, teaching by example. “Dundun, why should Daddy take care of Grandma?”
Dundun: “Because... Grandma is sick, and Grandma is Daddy’s elder. We should take care of our elders.”
Pei Rong guided patiently, “That’s right. So, if Daddy Lu is sick, who should take care of him?”
“I will!” Pei Dundun responded, drawing an inference, sensibly saying, “Dundun will take care of you.”
He patted the bed sheet and vowed, “I will take good care of Daddy Lu.”
Lu Qin: That is really unnecessary!
He would feel more touched if this was said sixty years later.
Pei Dundun tried hard to help Lu Qin pull the blanket up to his chin. “Daddy, cover up with the blanket.”
Pei Rong said, “Great job! Daddy is going to stay with Grandma.”
Lu Qin: “...”
So, he doesn’t even have his wife to keep him company at the bedside, and now he has to take care of the kid at night?
He looked at his own injury. Well, it’s not a fracture, after all. He was overthinking it.
Pei Rong went to help Aunt Zhao with her bedtime routine, then lay down on the bed for a brief nap. He quietly walked next door, gently moved Pei Dundun’s little feet off Lu Qin’s stomach, and then checked Lu Qin’s forehead.
It seemed that Lu Qin, who had previously been to the goose pen, had gotten his shirt covered with bacteria, which entered his wound and caused an infection, leading to a slight fever.
Lu Qin needed to rest quietly now, and of course, he shouldn’t share a bed. Keeping a pure and simple mind would be beneficial for his wound to heal.
Pei Rong looked at the two of them—one big, one small—sleeping soundly, and the corner of his mouth curled into a faint smile.
Dundun still seemed to like Lu Qin quite a lot; he slept with him without crying or fussing.
***
The next day, when Lu Qin woke up, he still had a low fever. He was put on an anti-inflammatory drip and given two boxes of medicine.
Lu Qin, well-versed in the art of playing the sympathy card, furrowed his brows tightly while taking the medicine, as if it were deadly poison.
On one hand, he was waiting for Pei Rong to comfort him; on the other hand, he truly didn’t like taking Western medicine.
Pei Dundun opened up a capsule and coaxed, “Daddy, if you take this, I’ll give you candy.”
Pei Rong quietly observed him: Learning by example, thank you.
Lu Qin sensibly gulped it down in one go, with an air of indifference. “A real man doesn’t need candy to take medicine.”
But he did need his wife’s comfort.
Instead, he got coddled by a little kid.
How sad.
Lu Qin had never hoped so much for the saying, “A long illness reveals the true nature of a filial son.”
Meals at the nursing home were always delivered from the cafeteria, with a variety of nutritious options. This was also why Pei Rong had brought Lu Qin here.
He couldn’t cook, let alone prepare nutritious meals for a patient.
After finishing his IV drip, Lu Qin no longer had a mild fever, and this remained the case after being observed for a night. Pei Rong then contemplated having Lu Qin discharged.
The reason was simple: even while bedridden, the ever-busy President Lu insisted on working, crammed on a small bed with a laptop for meetings. If the stockholders saw this, they’d surely sell their shares. Yet, he never once mentioned leaving.
What a joke; as long as his wife didn’t kick him out, President Lu wouldn’t leave until his bandages were removed.
After some thought, Pei Rong said, “Let’s go stay at the villa.”
At least there, he’d have an office desk in the study and a big, two-meter bed. It would be comfortable day and night.
He wouldn’t have to stay at the hospital all the time.
That very morning, Pei Rong drove the father and son home.
Noticing how Lu Qin looked pained every time he swallowed a capsule, he privately sought out a recommendation from Jiang Yan for a traditional Chinese medicine doctor.
The old Chinese doctor prescribed a common remedy for regulating the body and promoting wound healing, which needed to be boiled before drinking.
Pei Rong bought a clay pot specifically for boiling the herbal medicine and started figuring out how to use it.
Pei Dundun, dedicated to taking care of the patient, moved a small stool to sit at the doorway. At his feet was a large baby bottle, and in his hand, he held a white steamed bun bigger than his face, happily gnawing at it with his eyes squinting in joy.
Life wasn’t easy, and no one was cooking. Several times, Lu Qin offered to cook for Dundun, but Pei Rong refused each time.
While Pei Rong was busy figuring out the herbal medicine, he handed Dundun a big steamed bun and then disappeared.
Dundun didn’t feel neglected at all; he just found the steamed bun deliciously milky.
It even had raisins inside!
“Daddy, don’t move your left hand,” the dutiful son reminded.
After Dundun had bitten a big chunk out of his bun, Pei Rong finally reappeared, carrying a bowl of dark, thick herbal medicine on a cutting board. With a calm expression, he said, “Drink this.”
Lu Qin watched Pei Rong approach and could hardly believe his eyes.
He looked so unexpectedly domestic that Lu Qin was stunned.
Even though the last time Pei Rong gave him herbal medicine it was for impotence, President Lu still drank it without hesitation.
He instinctively reached out to pick up the soup bowl, but he forgot he was using his injured hand. Under the watchful eyes of his own son, his left hand hadn’t moved for a long time.
As soon as his fingers touched the scorching hot bowl, pain shot through his wound, and, coupled with his excitement, he accidentally... knocked it over.
Crash—the porcelain bowl shattered.
The dark medicinal soup spread across the white tiles, almost as if it had solidified in the quiet air.
Pei Rong looked speechless. He really shouldn’t have been so eager to pour the medicine into a bowl after finally succeeding in brewing it perfectly on his third attempt.
How could he forget that President Lu was always so impatient?
Lu Qin was taken aback, his eyes widening as he exchanged glances with Pei Dundun.
Pei Dundun froze.
Daddy Lu is doomed.
Someone actually dared to refuse to take their medicine and even knocked it over right in front of Dad!
The consequences of this are extremely serious!
Dad gets really scary when he’s angry!
I have to save him!
Lu Qin saw the “big trouble” signal on the little one’s face, and his scalp tingled.
Just as he was about to think of a way to salvage the situation, Pei Dundun jumped off the stool and rushed over, pushing a big steamed bun across the floor. The fluffy, soft bun quickly absorbed the spilled medicinal soup, turning brown and leaving not a drop behind.
The little kid lifted the bun and urgently said, “Dad, hurry.”
If he didn’t eat it soon, Dad would get mad.
Moved by the little kid’s tone of filial piety, Lu Qin took the bun without a second thought and took a bite.
The coordination of their actions was so seamless and fluid that Pei Rong was left utterly stunned.
He just wanted to punch them both.
