Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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“Ding—The villain’s trust value is 60. Congratulations, host, you have gained 1000 points. Keep up the good work.”
“Task Three: Raise the villain’s trust value to 80. Reward: 2000 points.”
—You Xu huddled under the covers, wrapping herself up tightly in the blankets. The lower abdominal pain felt like a knife twisting inside her. Her hands and feet were icy cold. She silently endured the menstrual cramps of this body.
The notification sound of a text message rang, and the screen lit up. She continued to lie still, not moving. No matter what the message was, she didn’t want to look at it now.
But the system couldn’t stand her like this and immediately prompted: “Attention, host, the key figure You Qi is about to appear!”
The female lead was finally about to make her appearance? You Xu thought for a moment and realized she couldn’t continue to lie still. After a mental struggle, she laboriously reached out from under the covers to the bedside table, picked up her phone, and saw that it was indeed a text message from You Qi: [Cousin, I’ve also come to Yihua City. I haven’t found a place to stay yet. Can I stay at your place for a few days?]
According to the original plot, You Qi arrives in Yihua City and goes to find You Xu at the address she previously used. However, You Xu has already been dismembered. After waiting for a long time without You Xu opening the door, You Qi thinks she has remembered the wrong address and rings Duan Min’s doorbell. She happens to encounter him, weak after his illness, and offers him comfort.
Duan Min thus develops feelings for her, like someone huddled in a dark corner who, after pulling back a corner of the curtains, sees a ray of warm sunshine and feels a longing.
Learning of her difficulties, Duan Min lets her stay, placing her next door. You Qi, new to Yihua City and without a place to stay, decides to stay for convenience, unaware that the apartment she’s in is the one You Xu previously occupied. Duan Min, of course, won’t let You Qi know that he harmed You Xu.
You Qi came to Yihua City to find Xu Shaosi, and after staying in that apartment for a while, she leaves. During this brief time together, Duan Min falls deeply in love with You Qi, foreshadowing his later descent into madness and darkness.
Actually, You Xu had wanted to ask a question for a long time: “Duan Min fell in love with her so easily?”
The system replied, “Of course, the female lead’s halo is invincible.”
Since that was the case, You Xu bit her lip, thought for a moment, and typed a reply to You Qi’s text message on the screen: [Qi Qi, I’m so sorry, it’s not that your cousin is unwilling, but it’s just not convenient.]
Perhaps the other side was waiting for a reply, so the reply came quickly: [Cousin, what’s wrong? Did something happen?]
You Xu replied: [It’s like this, I found a boyfriend and we’re living together. We just started dating, and our feelings are quite intense. It’s hard to say when things will really get heated, so… it’s not convenient.]
You Qi: [Oh, I see. When did you find someone? You didn’t even tell me.]
You Xu: [I just found someone, and I was just about to find an opportunity to tell you.]
[How’s your husband?]
[He’s great.]
You Qi: [Then I hope you’re happy and joyful, cousin.]
You Xu: [Okay, you take care of yourself too. Call me if you need anything.]
Putting down her phone, You Xu looked up and saw Duan Min walk in with a cup of hot milk. His eyes were still red when he used the same key to open her door, like a wronged little wife who had spent most of the day by her side.
Duan Min handed her the warm milk: “Feeling better?”
It was better not to ask; one might feel they could silently endure it alone. But when someone asks, and with such concern, it makes one inexplicably sentimental. So You Xu weakly replied, “I might die from the pain.”
Duan Min’s expression changed. Seeing her listless appearance, he took it even more seriously and anxiously asked, “Call a doctor?”
You Xu: It can’t be that serious. Looking at his grave expression, she almost wondered if she was terminally ill.
Duan Min’s body structure was different from ordinary people; he didn’t know much about common human diseases, let alone the normal monthly menstruation that women experienced. He smelled the persistent blood on You Xu and knew she was bleeding heavily and her condition was not good.
His brow furrowed, his face tense, making him appear even more sinister.
Seeing how frightened he was, You Xu was trying to figure out how to comfort him when a sudden inspiration struck her. She remembered a romantic scene from a melodramatic TV series and decided to conduct a “melodramatic romance” review to distract herself from the pain.
She said earnestly, “Actually, there’s something that can make me feel much better.”
“What is it?” Duan Min’s eyes lit up, and he asked quickly.
“Come on, extend your right hand,” You Xu said, looking at him extending his hand, then in a textbook-like, methodical tone, “Place it on this part of your abdomen, massage ten times clockwise, then ten times counterclockwise, and repeat this cycle.”
Duan Min raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“The principle is…” You Xu paused, then said in a non-professional tone, “Hmm, to accelerate blood circulation?”
Duan Min, unsuspecting, did as she was told, but as soon as he placed his hand on You Xu’s stomach, she shuddered, rolled into the blanket to the other side of the bed, and created a direct distance between them.
You Xu clutched her stomach with both hands, shivering slightly. Duan Min’s hands were so cold, like snakes; his sudden touch made the pain worse.
She thought with a touch of despair, “A melodramatic romantic scene isn’t necessarily romantic, but it can certainly be incredibly melodramatic.”
Duan Min kept his hands in the same position, staring at the rolled-up blanket a meter away, his face filled with worry and confusion. Finally, he said, bewildered, “I don’t think I used any force…”
You Xu’s reaction gave him the illusion that he had just punched her in the stomach.
“Your hands are too cold,” You Xu’s voice was muffled, huddled under the blanket.
Afraid he wouldn’t understand, You Xu explained again, “Women are more sensitive to cold and prefer warmth at this time.”
After waiting a while without hearing Duan Min’s voice, You Xu was about to peek out when she heard him say, “Okay, I understand,” and then he ran off.
You Xu poked her head out but didn’t see him. He’d been loitering there all day, refusing to leave, and now he’d run off. It was nap time, so she ignored him, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
Outside the window, the evening glow was a deep crimson, the last rays of the setting sun falling on a corner of the windowsill.
In her dream, You Xu felt as if she were in a fiery mountain, her whole body burning hot, unable to escape. She felt like she was carrying a furnace on her back, unable to shake it off, and something hot was pressed against her stomach. She couldn’t get rid of it, kicking behind her a few times, but she was like a fish caught in a net, unable to move.
Fine sweat broke out on her body, feeling sticky. You Xu finally woke up from the heat.
A large hand encircled the blanket around her, while another large hand massaged her stomach. Her back was against a strong, broad chest.
Her waist was restrained, unable to turn around, so she turned her head. What she saw almost startled her.
Duan Min’s originally pale skin turned completely red, like a freshly boiled shrimp.
“You, you have a fever?” You Xu was at a loss for words; a fever this high would be fatal.
Duan Min’s eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes. His vision was still a little blurry from just waking up, and his eyes were wet, making his amber eyes appear even more translucent, giving him a dazed and innocent look.
You Xu’s heart stirred at the sight, and she wanted to reach out and touch his eyes, but her hand was still held captive. She struggled for a moment but couldn’t break free.
Duan Min became more awake, loosened his grip slightly, and let her turn around.
You Xu slapped him on the forehead, the warmth from her palm startling her again: “How high is your fever?” He was perfectly fine just a few hours ago, how did it get to this level?
Duan Min didn’t stop her, his head obediently resting under her hand. “I don’t have a fever.”
He looked unwell, but his eyes were bright. “I made a medicine that can make you feel 50 degrees Celsius all over for ten hours.”
“…” You Xu thought, this familiar feeling was a bit like the heat packs she bought online, except heat packs were square, and Duan Min was human-shaped.
Duan Min added, “Every ten hours, I take the medicine again, and the fever will continue.”
You Xu: Well, heat packs are disposable, he’s rechargeable.
He looked sickly, but his tone carried a hint of pride, like a child proudly showing off his little red flower.
You Xu suddenly understood. Duan Min had been worried about her, thinking that only rubbing her stomach would make her feel better. However, his body temperature was more than ten degrees lower than normal, so he ran back to make medicine to raise his body temperature so he could rub her stomach.
Nestled in his warm embrace, You Xu felt a lump in her throat, and a part of her heart seemed to collapse.
Duan Min gently stroked the corner of her eye with his fingertips, asking, puzzled, “What’s wrong?”
You Xu sniffed, her emotions surfacing, and blurted out, “Why would you take this kind of medicine? You’ll die!”
Duan Min was even more confused: “Why would I die?”
“You…” You Xu choked on his sincere question, “There’s no production date, expiration date, manufacturer, or production address. How could you take this kind of unregistered product?”
Duan Min smiled, a slight curve appearing at the corners of his lips and seriously played along: “The production date is today, the shelf life is about a year, the manufacturer is me, and the production address is in the lab next door.”
“So, it’s okay.” Duan Min gently patted the top of her head.
You Xu didn’t believe him and asked the system again, “Is what he said true?”
The system said, “It’s true. Human medicine doesn’t work on him. He concocts all his own tranquilizers. He knows exactly how to do it, so don’t worry about it.”
“Unhappy?” Duan Min touched her face, looking at her gently. “Why?”
“Don’t take this medicine anymore.” You Xu’s voice was a little muffled.
“Okay.” Duan Min agreed immediately. “Then your stomach hurts…”
You Xu: “This kind of thing only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. I’ll just take some painkillers to relieve the pain.”
“Okay,” Duan Min suddenly let go of her, covered her with the blanket, and got out of bed. “I understand.” Then, he ran off again.
You Xu: Wait, what do you know now? Can you tell me first? Your way of thinking always scares me.
This time, Duan Min encountered a problem and didn’t do anything immediately. During the two days he was in seclusion, You Xu didn’t feel like cooking and ordered takeout for two days.
Just as Duan Min ran over with a bottle of medicine,
You Xu had finished her takeout. “Try this medicine,” Duan Min said, handing her the bottle.
You Xu took it and looked at it. The bottle was pure white, without a single word on it, but the manufacturer was right there, and the production address was next door. The production date was definitely fresh, so she couldn’t say it was a counterfeit product.
Duan Min said, “I spent a day researching the constitution and body structure of ordinary women, half a day mixing the herbs, and the last half day adjusting the proportions.”
In other words, this bottle of medicine only took forty-eight hours to prepare.
You Xu: Why do I suddenly not feel like taking it?
“The medicine is very effective, with no side effects,” Duan Min said, looking at her expectantly.
You Xu raised an eyebrow: “You’ve tried it?”
“I have.” Afraid she wouldn’t believe him, Duan Min rolled up his sleeve, revealing a shocking scar on his clean-cut forearm— a long cut made with a knife, still bleeding.
“I cut myself,” he said, looking quite happy. “The medicine didn’t hurt at all.”
You Xu could almost picture him cutting himself to test the medicine, then looking relaxed and happy.
She glanced at him, sighed, and took his hand to bandage it.
“It’s okay,” Duan Min said cautiously, afraid of upsetting her. “It’ll heal in a couple of days, I promise.”
You Xu ignored him and continued bandaging.
After she finished, Duan Min shook the white medicine bottle. “This medicine will stop the pain.”
“It only hurt for the first two days,” You Xu said. “It doesn’t hurt anymore now.”
He realized he’d missed the optimal time. Duan Min didn’t speak, his slightly drooping eyelashes showing a hint of frustration.
You Xu could only say, “I can use it next month.”
Duan Min raised his eyelashes and smiled.
You Xu sighed, slumped onto the sofa with an expression of resignation, resigned to her fate. Thinking of the two doses of medicine Duan Min had prepared this time, she said wearily, “Don’t make medicine for me anymore.”
She just wanted to quietly and peacefully get through these next two days.
The author has something to say:
Duan Min: A deeply affectionate and touching relationship where loving her means feeding her medicine.
You Xu: Indeed, a pure relationship of capitalist equivalent exchange; I feed him, he gives me medicine.
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