Chapter 24 Visiting the Sick

Chapter 24: Visiting the Sick

That fish buddy wagged its tail, its eyes rolling back—who knew if it had a concussion.

But that wasn’t too important now. Given the situation, it was clear it wouldn’t make it through the night, so better to die quick and get reincarnated.

With that thought, the fish gave a couple of half-hearted flops and then went limp.

The maid's starry-eyed admiration vanished in a flash. She couldn’t help but step back a few paces, swallowing hard.

“Yuli, let’s have braised fish for dinner tonight,” Cheng Ge said, digging his fingers into the big fish's gills with a totally innocent grin.

Lin Nanshu peeled off his soaking wet robe and motioned to a servant, who quickly stepped forward to take the fish.

“Mm, go get changed first. Don’t catch a cold.”

Cheng Ge acknowledged with a sound and headed to the side courtyard. His clothes were damp and sticky, which felt gross.

Watching Cheng Ge walk away, Lin Nanshu slowly looked away. Just then, a servant from the Lin residence rushed over.

“Sir, someone from the Hanlin Academy is here to see Master Cheng.”

Since they worked together at the academy and passed the exams the same year, it made sense they'd come visit him after he'd been sick so long.

“Mm, show them in. If they need anything, they can find me.”

The servant took his leave, and Lin Nanshu turned back to his study.

Cheng Ge, still smelling a bit fishy, took a bath and felt amazing.

Not used to being waited on, he just wore a white undershirt, bent over, and shook his head a few times to dry the ends of his hair.

No way around it—his hair was way too long and took forever to dry. Cheng Ge wished he could just hack it off, but buzz cuts weren't a thing back then.

While there was still some daylight left, he dragged a lounge chair into the little courtyard. He'd barely lain down before he started getting sleepy.

After popping the last plum in his mouth, he grabbed a thin cloth, covered his face, folded his hands on his stomach, and dozed off.

A bit later, footsteps sounded from outside the courtyard—the Hanlin Academy visitors had arrived.

When they walked into the little courtyard, they saw Cheng Ge lying still on the lounge chair, a white cloth over his face.

They'd heard the rumors and were braced for it, but seeing it for real still left them frozen in shock.

“Brother Cheng, is he really…” one of them said, covering his face and starting to sniffle.

Qiao Fangxu was shaking, his legs like jelly. He plopped down next to Cheng Ge, pressing his forehead against the edge of the chair and wailing, “Muyu, how could you leave us…”

They hadn't known each other long, but they had class together every day and had gotten close.

So the group huddled around Cheng Ge, crying and sighing, the whole scene super gloomy.

Zhang Qinghang stood in the back, stiff as a board. The thugs he'd sent out that night had all come back banged up.

When he questioned them, those big ox-like thugs said Cheng Ge had beat them to a pulp.

Zhang Qinghang obviously didn't buy it—if it were anyone else, he might've been less sure.

But he'd known Cheng Ge long enough to know exactly what he was like.

He was always getting sick, taking three steps and panting twice.

Sure, they'd gotten into a fight a few days ago for no reason, but there was no way he could take on ten guys.

He'd planned to look into it more, but just two days later, he heard rumors Cheng Ge had dropped dead.

He couldn't deny he was shocked. Sure, he was pissed at Cheng Ge for being ungrateful, but it sucked to lose someone he'd had his eye on for so long without ever getting him.

Still, he held onto a tiny bit of hope, since he hadn't seen Cheng Ge's body with his own eyes.

But now, faced with the facts, he had to believe it.

Cheng Ge was sleeping like a baby when a bunch of buzzing like flies filled his ears, making him frown in annoyance.

Annoyed, he ripped the thin cloth off his face and opened his bleary eyes to see a crowd crying around him.

He blinked, still half-asleep, wondering if he was dreaming—were these people at his funeral?

Without thinking, he raised his hand and whacked Qiao Fangxu on the back of the head.

“Ow!” Qiao Fangxu yelped, toppling onto Cheng Ge.

He felt like he'd fallen into a warm, soft, sweet-smelling embrace…

He pushed himself up with his hands, putting up a token struggle, his face turning bright red.

Then, rubbing the back of his head, he looked up to see Cheng Ge's hand still in the air, and his crying stopped dead.

Eyes wide, he stammered, “Brother… Brother Cheng… you're…?”

The others also stopped crying, staring at Cheng Ge in shock.

“He's come back from the dead!” they exclaimed, scattering in terror.

Cheng Ge rubbed his temples, drew up his knees, and shoved Qiao Fangxu aside.

Sitting up, he said in exasperation, “What's this act you're putting on?”

Zhang Qinghang's face twisted with an indescribable expression. He hadn't expected Cheng Ge to be fine.

The atmosphere grew incredibly awkward. Some still had tears on their faces, and they looked at each other before frantically wiping their eyes with their sleeves.

“Why are you all here? Did something happen?”

The crowd: We thought you were dead, so we came to check.

“Ah… well… we heard you were unwell, so we took leave from the lecturer to visit you.”

Cheng Ge scanned them, a little disappointed. These ancients—couldn't they bring a fruit basket or something when visiting the sick?

Still, seeing their worried faces, he felt a warmth in his heart.

“I caught a nine-pound fish today. You should all stay for dinner, yeah?”

They had come to visit and needed to return to the official residence later, so naturally, they couldn't stay for a meal.

After confirming Cheng Ge was fine, they felt relieved. Since this was the Lin residence, they didn't linger long and soon took their leave one by one.

And Zhang Qinghang and Qiao Fangxu, being residents of the capital with no need to rush back, stayed a while longer.

"Brother Muyu, you have no idea—everyone kept saying you were dead. I was so anxious I couldn't eat or sleep..."

Qiao Fangxu, having fetched a chair from somewhere, sat beside Cheng Ge and started babbling away nonstop, his mouth never pausing for a moment.

Cheng Ge felt like his head was about to explode. He reached out and pinched Qiao Fangxu's upper and lower lips together. "Zip it, little mouth."

Qiao Fangxu: ???

"There's morning reading tomorrow. Give your mouth a break," Cheng Ge said with a smile.

Zhang Qinghang watched this scene, a flicker of displeasure in his eyes.

Qiao Fangxu, with his lips pinched, let out muffled sounds, trying to say something but only managing vague noises.

Hearing Cheng Ge's words, his ears turned beet red, and he nodded obediently.

"Then... Muyu, take good care of yourself. I won't bother you anymore. I'll come back to see you in a couple of days." With that, he gave a bow to Zhang Qinghang and Cheng Ge and left the Lin residence.

Now, only Zhang Qinghang and Cheng Ge remained in the courtyard.

"You still here? You waiting for me to sic the dogs on you?"