Lan Mu frowned, when suddenly another woman's voice sounded through the phone speaker, "Amu, is there someone with you?"
His train of thought interrupted, Lan Mu responded softly, "Yeah, I'll talk about it when I get there."
This time, he didn't lower his voice deliberately, waking up the woman on the passenger seat.
"Are we there?"
Yan Zao opened her eyes, saw Lan Mu, remembered the dream she just had, and felt a bit guilty; she raised her hand and stretched exaggeratedly, then looked ahead to realize they had arrived home. She turned to Lan Mu with a smile, "We're here already? That was fast."
With that, she immediately opened the car door and got out.
Her clothes had pretty much dried, and she hopped up the steps with light footsteps.
Lan Mu returned from abroad today, and the housekeeper at home, Amu, had been waiting at the door eagerly. Seeing Lan Mu and Yan Zao return together made the old lady delighted, "Zaozao, did you go to pick Amu up? I was wondering why you vanished early in the morning."
Aunt Lan had essentially raised Lan Mu, and when Lan Mu moved out, she came with him to take care of his daily needs.
Just like Lan Mu's own mother.
Yan Zao's eyes darted guiltily, and she shook her head in denial. "No, I was on my way to pick up a friend at the airport when something unexpected happened, and I just happened to run into Lan Mu."
While they talked, Lan Mu walked past them.
And entered the house first.
But he wasn't inside long before he came out again, car keys in hand, clearly intending to leave. Aunt Lan called out to him, "Amu, you've just gotten back and you're leaving again?"
Lan Mu nodded, "Yeah."
His steps didn't falter as he walked toward the garage.
Aunt Lan knew Lan Mu's personality well, that she, an old woman, couldn't stop whatever he intended to do; she could only nag him with concern, "Come back for dinner tonight, I've bought lots of dishes you like."
Lan Mu didn't respond to her.
The old lady sighed helplessly, "Oh."
Turning back to Yan Zao, she said, "Zaozao, Amu must be tied up with all sorts of meetings after finishing his match and coming back. Sorry you're caught up in this."
Yan Zao shook her head, "It's alright, I'm a bit dizzy. I'll go upstairs to lie down for a while."
She raised her hand to her forehead and rubbed her temples.
She really did feel dizzy, even her speech was a bit nasal.
Aunt Lan picked up on this, expressing concern, "Then you better go rest, I'll make you some ginger tea and bring it up soon."
Yan Zao nodded.
After drinking the ginger tea that Aunt Lan brought up, she fell into a drowsy sleep again, not knowing how long she slept until her throat, burning and unbearably dry, woke her up. She reached for her phone to check the time, and noticed a news alert on the screen.
'Absence makes the heart grow fonder, Lan Mu heads straight to Yu Ye Sang's apartment at the Jingchen Community immediately upon returning to the country.'
There was an arrow to click for more details.
Yan Zao's heart tightened, and in an instant, even her breathing felt painfully sharp. She didn't click the link; instead, she put down her phone and lay back down.
Little did she know, that lying down would lead to her being admitted into the hospital. Awaking to the smell of disinfectant, she found only a nurse beside her, who told her she had been running a fever for three days, coming and going, rising and falling.
To her, it seemed like she had been living a dream, a long one, where doctors and nurses came to measure her temperature, administer IV drips, and help her to the bathroom.
Yan Zao leaned against the headboard, her lips uncomfortably dry. The nurse poured her some water. She drank a little, and her muzzy head gradually cleared.
Picking up her phone, the screen showed twelve missed calls. Just as she was about to swipe to see who had called, the phone rang, displaying the caller ID 'Dumbass Jing'.