DA chapter 54

The information card had been filled in, meaning the nurses had already come. The card clearly stated that today’s medication feeding time had already ended.

But he had not been here…

Now that he could stand safely and securely, there was only one possibility: Lin Jia had helped cover for him. Given the doctor’s orders, it was easy to imagine how difficult it was to conceal one person’s absence from the ward. Yan Xu could not imagine how Lin Jia had covered for him, especially given the medication record on the patient information card. He could not fathom how Lin Jia had dealt with the nurses.

The only possibility he could think of was that Lin Jia had eaten his portion, too, which explained why Lin Jia’s face looked so bad.

Yan Xu stood there, looking at Lin Jia. Although he guessed that Lin Jia had most likely swallowed his pill, too, his heart was blank.

He did not know why Lin Jia had done this. It was also the first time someone had ignored their own safety to help him. But this person was Lin Jia. If it were anyone else, Yan Xu would have repaid them with his life. But this person was Lin Jia — someone who had approached him with a purpose.

For Yan Xu, this problem far exceeded his understanding. For a moment he did not know what attitude he should use to face Lin Jia.

While he stood there, distracted, he heard Lin Jia cough twice.

“You want water? I’ll get some for you.” As Yan Xu turned to get water for Lin Jia, he heard Lin Jia’s hoarse voice.

“Captain Yan.” Lin Jia stopped him.

When Yan Xu turned back around, he saw Lin Jia frowning slightly and using a tone that was difficult to judge immediately. “Can Captain Yan discuss things with me before acting?”

Slipping away from the nurses and returning after so long, no one knew how many questions about the Fishman had been asked. Lin Jia hated it when others created trouble for him. He did not want complications.

Yan Xu stood there and looked at Lin Jia’s expression.

He still could not read Lin Jia’s expression or understand the meaning of Lin Jia’s words. He could only detect a hint of restraint anger in Lin Jia’s tone.

But Yan Xu did not know whether Lin Jia’s anger came from swallowing two pills, or from him leaving without warning.

Moments like this were rare for Yan Xu, who usually felt confident and relaxed. Seeing Lin Jia’s ugly complexion, he was certain that Lin Jia had taken two pills.

After waiting a while for Yan Xu to answer, Lin Jia took a deep breath, lifted the blanket, got down from the bed, and went to get water.

When passing Yan Xu, Lin Jia did not even raise his head.

Yan Xu could feel Lin Jia’s anger more clearly and followed him. “I’ll do it.”

He took the paper cup beside the water dispenser to get Lin Jia a cup of water. However, Lin Jia brushed his hand away.

The water flowed noisily.

Yan Xu frowned slightly as he watched Lin Jia take another disposable paper cup and fill it with water himself.

The two stood very close, and Yan Xu could hear Lin Jia’s breathing again.

It was a little hurried, but suppressed.

Yan Xu lifted his gaze from the cup to Lin Jia’s face. He saw a layer of fine sweat on Lin Jia’s forehead, dampening a few strands of hair.

The clothes that were usually meticulously arranged were disordered as well.

The extra pill made his body uncomfortable. Yan Xu noticed that Lin Jia’s face was pale, and so were his lips. While filling the cup with water, his hand trembled slightly and he nearly spilled the hot liquid.

Yet, this person was angry and refused help. Whenever Yan Xu reached out to help, Lin Jia moved back.

Yan Xu: “…”

Lin Jia didn’t glance at him, but he watched Lin Jia the whole time. He watched Lin Jia fill the cup with hot water, tilt his head back to drink, and expose his slender neck.

Probably because the water was too hot, Lin Jia hissed softly.

Then he added some cold water to the cup. With the addition of the cold water to the hot water, the liquid in the cup became fuller.

Lin Jia, physically uncomfortable, seemed unable to support that weight. When he tilted his head to drink, water leaked down and soaked a large section of his collar.

The soaked collar revealed the color of his skin underneath, causing Yan Xu to press his forehead for a moment before putting his hands on his waist.

For a moment he turned his back, out of sight out of mind.

Then, without another word, he pressed both hands over Lin Jia’s hands and said in a low voice, “Outdoor time is limited. Those people had too many questions, and I was too lazy to explain. Next time, I’ll discuss it with you beforehand. Also, I spoke without thinking before and offended you. As compensation, I’ll do one thing for you.”

Finally, Lin Jia raised his head, willing to give Yan Xu some attention.

The two looked at each other. Lin Jia easily saw the sincerity in Yan Xu’s eyes. Only then did he slowly part his lips. “Do one thing for me? What thing?”

Yan Xu said: “You decide.”

After a pause, Lin Jia glanced at him. “Does Captain Yan mean anything?”

Yan Xu: “What else?”

Lin Jia did not speak. After a while, he asked, “Can Captain Yan help me get a cup of water?”

Yan Xu took the paper cup from Lin Jia and filled it with warm water from the dispenser.

He handed it to Lin Jia, who did not immediately take it, instead asking, “Does getting water count as Captain Yan’s promise?”

“…” Yan Xu said, “I’m not that stingy.”

“Thank you.” Only then did Lin Jia take the cup.

He tilted his head to drink. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yan Xu hesitate but ultimately extend one hand to support the bottom of the cup.

Lin Jia tilted his head to drink water; the raised bottom of the cup hid the determination in his eyes.

After drinking, Yan Xu took out a stack of documents, hesitated, and then handed them to Lin Jia.

Lin Jia glanced at the impatient personnel records from the Yile Maternal and Child Health Hospital.

He knew Yan Xu’s information came from asking Fishman questions, so he knew there would definitely be something materialized.

However, Yile Maternal and Child Health Hospital was different from the Yile Welfare Institute. The Welfare Institute had a fixed number of children, and exclusion methods could be used. However, hospital patients constantly flowed in and out, so requesting inpatient records was meaningless.

Especially risking danger for something meaningless — Lin Jia’s evaluation remained: idiot.

Lin Jia lowered his eyes to the thick stack of records. The pile was disorganized, and each patient’s information was brief. It only recorded the year, month, day, and hour that someone came to the hospital to give birth and left.

Yan Xu lowered his head to look at Lin Jia. He saw that Lin Jia’s brows had unconsciously knitted together, as if he were extremely dissatisfied with what was in his hands.

Yan Xu admitted that these documents indeed were not very useful, but the consequence of getting these documents was that Lin Jia had swallowed one extra pill.

He coughed once and tried to save face. “The patients in the records all have names and surnames. Most likely, they are all human. So, it can be inferred that the one in the VIP ward next door is also most likely human.”

Rustle.

Lin Jia set the documents aside and looked up.

Although Lin Jia was sitting and Yan Xu was standing, Yan Xu still felt pressured. For a moment, he found it novel—no one had ever pressured him before. Lin Jia was the first.

This was only because Yan Xu had entered the Underwater Wold too early. Otherwise, he would have understood that the pressure came from a boss disapproving of a subordinate’s work.

Lin Jia spoke lightly. “Oh, looks like Captain Yan’s harvest is quite a lot.”

Yan Xu: “…”

Sometimes this person’s way of speaking could truly anger others to death. Yan Xu had wanted to say something, but upon seeing Lin Jia’s pale face, he held back.

He said, “Your complexion is too bad.”

“Mm, maybe low blood sugar.” Lin Jia replied indifferently.

He had been called out for an outdoor release early in the morning, and covering for Yan Xu at that critical moment had consumed a lot of his energy. Those two pills made his stomach even more uncomfortable.

Yan Xu looked at Lin Jia again, said nothing, and walked directly to the door and pulled it open.

The nurse outside the ward saw Yan Xu come out and immediately shouted, “Why did you come out? Don’t run around. Obey doctor’s orders, understand?”

Lin Jia looked toward the doorway. From his position, he could only see part of Yan Xu’s figure, but he could clearly hear Yan Xu’s voice coming from outside.

“Give me glucose.”

“…Is there somewhere uncomfortable?”

“Just give it to me. Once I get it, I’ll go back to the ward.”

It was noisy outside. Lin Jia shifted his gaze to the cat.

The cat was lying at the foot of the bed, having fallen asleep at some point.

Lin Jia said lightly: “Idiot.”

He slowly relaxed his furrowed brows and refocused on the stack of documents.

Although the documents were not very useful, there was no reason not to read them since they had been brought back.

As he read, Lin Jia’s brows furrowed again.

Yan Xu worked hard, but apparently, the boss was still not satisfied.

And Yan Xu had made another mistake—when he opened the door to get glucose, he hadn’t discussed it with Lin Jia.

In the end, Lin Jia threw the documents aside and slapped the cat awake.

Startled awake, the cat immediately opened its mouth to cry out, but Lin Jia’s sharp look blocked it.

Outside the door, Yan Xu returned with glucose water already mixed, with two nurses escorting him.

Lin Jia stared at Yan Xu, thinking that turning Yan Xu into something for his own use would be a long and difficult road.

After getting the glucose water, Yan Xu kicked the door shut, shutting the nurses’ noisy threats outside with it.

He walked toward Lin Jia, holding the paper cup of glucose in front of Lin Jia’s eyes. “Drink some.”

Lin Jia did not refuse. He felt uncomfortable, so he picked up the cup to drink.

Just as his lips touched the rim of the cup, Yan Xu pushed the bottom of the cup up, causing the bottom to become higher than the rim and making the water pour out.

Lin Jia was caught off guard and choked on a big mouthful of water.

“Cough cough cough cough cough cough……”

“Cough cough cough cough cough cough……”

“Cough cough cough cough.”

“Cough cough cough cough cough.”

Yan Xu: “……I didn’t do it on purpose.”

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