My Idol Turns Out To Be My Ex-Girlfriend - Chapter 34

This Sichuan restaurant had private restrooms on the second floor, but Lin Sanyuan didn’t go straight there.

She headed down to the first floor and stepped out of the restaurant to buy a few things at a nearby stall before using the restroom on the ground floor.

By the time she returned to the table, the group was finishing up. Sanyuan then took Qiao Lian back to the hotel to rest.

Yang Jiayan had a third round of plans for the night. People like her, who spent their lives socializing, always seemed to have boundless energy. The wild freedom of the night was their true home turf.

Sanyuan, on the other hand, felt like she was aging prematurely; her weary bones simply couldn’t handle that kind of hustle.

Since Qiao Lian was still a student, joining them was out of the question anyway.

Sanyuan took a shower and asked Qiao Lian for another milk candy, settling into bed to catch up on some anime.

She had just finished an episode when her phone rang with an unfamiliar number.

It was He Wenyu.

Qiao Lian was in the bathroom brushing her teeth. Hearing the commotion outside, she poked her head out to see Sanyuan frantically preparing to leave, still in her pajamas.

“What happened?”

Sanyuan was pale and her voice was urgent. “Professor Tang is having an allergic reaction, and Wenyu-jie has food poisoning. It sounds pretty serious. I’m going to go buy some medicine and check on them.”

Logically, since He Wenyu and Tang Hengzhi were staying together, an adult like Wenyu should have been able to handle an allergic reaction calmly without needing to call Sanyuan in a panic.

But things had gone from bad to worse. When Tang Hengzhi returned to the hotel, her symptoms hadn’t flared up yet. Wenyu, in the meantime, had ordered a bottle of red wine and seafood takeout, dragging Tang Hengzhi into a late-night snack.

Tang Hengzhi hadn’t touched the seafood, but Wenyu had. It likely wasn’t fresh, leading to food poisoning.

Now, Wenyu was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion in the bathroom and desperately needed saving.

Sanyuan didn’t just need to buy allergy medicine; she now had to get intestinal care supplements and anti-diarrheals.

Hearing this, Qiao Lian didn’t hesitate and followed Sanyuan out the door.

Their hotels were just across the street from each other. When they reached the room, Tang Hengzhi was the one who opened the door.

She didn’t look as bad as Wenyu had described on the phone, though a red rash had bloomed across her neck. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot, but her face remained porcelain-pale, and her features were as composed and elegant as ever.

She ushered them in and analyzed the situation calmly. “Wenyu has to go to the hospital for an IV tonight. She’s already starting to vomit and run a fever.”

Sanyuan hurried into the bathroom behind her and saw He Wenyu, who looked half-dead from vomiting.

Sanyuan thought to herself, Good grief, did she eat toxic seafood?

Tang Hengzhi rubbed her temples, clearly dealing with a headache. “Raw marinated seafood.”

In tourist traps like this, transportation is difficult and prices are high, but the food isn’t necessarily fresh. Wenyu had already devoured plenty of Sichuan food earlier that evening, and with the addition of alcohol and raw seafood, the combined “buffs” were enough to strip a layer of skin off her.

Sanyuan pulled out her phone to hail a car. She found two bottles of mineral water in the room and gave the allergy medicine to Tang Hengzhi to take first.

The anti-diarrheals were useless now; Wenyu’s stomach was so wrecked that she vomited everything back up immediately. The sight of her foaming at the mouth was enough to scare anyone.

She needed an injection and an IV drip.

Fatigue was written all over Tang Hengzhi’s face. The medicine wouldn’t kick in immediately, but she looked relieved that someone had arrived. She sat on the sofa, her head tilted back slightly, revealing the skin of her slender neck starting to flush a deep red.

“Could I trouble you two to take Wenyu to the hospital tonight?”

Qiao Lian had already gone into the bathroom to hoist up the limp He Wenyu. She pressed her lips together, glanced at Tang Hengzhi’s complexion, and said to Sanyuan, “I can take her to the hospital alone. You stay here and look after her. Severe allergic reactions can lead to shock; she shouldn’t be left by herself.”

Tang Hengzhi seemed stable for now, and since she’d taken medicine, there was no need to rush her to the hospital blindly. An allergic reaction weakens the immune system, and hospitals are full of bacteria and viruses that a vulnerable person should avoid.

Despite Sanyuan’s usual air of being a bit dazed, she became remarkably steady in a crisis. “Alright, you head to the hospital first. If things don’t look good on my end, I’ll call a car and bring her over to join you.”

Sanyuan remembered that Qiao Lian had some nursing experience, and since Wenyu’s condition looked worse, it was better for Qiao Lian to handle her.

Sanyuan stepped out with them briefly to buy two thermos cups and a stack of clean plastic bags from the convenience store next to the hotel.

She generally avoided using hotel kettles, so she asked the front desk for clean warm water to fill the thermoses.

The car she hailed arrived quickly. She helped Qiao Lian get Wenyu into the vehicle, handing over the warm water and the plastic bags in case Wenyu needed to vomit on the way.

After watching them drive off, Sanyuan hurried back to the room.

Tang Hengzhi was still in the same spot, her posture unchanged, head resting against the sofa with her eyes closed.

But she looked frightening now. Her entire body seemed as though it had been parboiled, her neck was deep red, and the skin of her arms peeking out from her sleeves was flushed crimson.

She was quiet, but her chest was heaving with rapid, shallow breaths.

Why does some people’s suffering have to look so restrained and repressed?

Sanyuan’s heart tightened painfully.

She hadn’t even felt this way moments ago when looking at the wrecked state of He Wenyu in the bathroom.

She lightened her steps but moved quickly toward her, gently touching the back of Tang Hengzhi’s hand. “Professor Tang, are you okay?”

Tang Hengzhi’s lips moved, and her throat worked slowly as she spoke in a raspy voice. “I’m… alright.”

In truth, she wasn’t. The allergy had triggered an agonizing itch that felt like a fire spreading through her entire body, twisting her very insides.

Her hand resting on the sofa trembled slightly as she fought the desperate urge to scratch, using every ounce of willpower to resist the encroaching reaction. It was torturous.

Specifically, when Sanyuan touched her so gently, the unspeakable tingling on the back of her hand nearly took her breath away.

Sanyuan saw cold sweat breaking out on her forehead. Damp black hair clung to her pale cheeks, the stark contrast of colors creating a haunting, cold beauty in her vulnerability.

“Is it… very itchy?” Sanyuan whispered.

She didn’t wait for an answer, knowing this stubborn woman wouldn’t tell the truth.

Gathering a sudden burst of courage, Sanyuan reached out and used the soft pads of her fingers to firmly rub the skin of Tang Hengzhi’s neck.

The pressure was heavy enough to soothe the itch, but the softness of her fingertips ensured she wouldn’t break the skin.

Tang Hengzhi’s body shuddered, but she quickly steadied herself.

She opened her eyes and stared intently at Sanyuan, who was very close. The corners of her eyes were flushed red, framing dark, misted pupils that held a cold, fragile look.

Sanyuan suddenly had an illusion.

Perhaps it wasn’t just the itching; it felt as though the woman was also a little bit sad.

Tonight, Tang Hengzhi seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

Sanyuan didn’t know why she would be sad, nor did she have any reason to know.

Yet, her brain was moving faster than her conscious thoughts, flashing images like a “prophetic dream.”

She didn’t know Tang Hengzhi well at all, but for some reason, her subconscious seemed to have a deep-seated, instinctive understanding of her.

It was as if there were a textbook hidden inside her body, a primal ability to analyze every detail of the other woman’s body language.

Sanyuan took a deep breath and simply placed her entire palm over Tang Hengzhi’s neck. Her soft fingertips and thin palms rubbed inch by inch over the reddened skin.

She was being very bold tonight, even rude.

Tang Hengzhi’s body trembled again as a strange sensation rippled across her skin. Her eyes, which rarely betrayed any emotion, finally showed a flicker of change.

This change stemmed entirely from Sanyuan’s proactive touch.

Sanyuan could clearly feel the slender throat beneath her palm working as the woman swallowed again and again in silence, yet she did nothing to stop her.

Using her pinky finger, Sanyuan lightly scraped the skin at the nape of her neck. She asked softly, “Was it the okra? Are you allergic to okra?”

Tang Hengzhi had eaten many things today and even had some alcohol. Sanyuan didn’t know why she was so certain it was the okra.

Even though Tang Hengzhi remained silent, her expression calm, Sanyuan found her answer when their eyes met.

I always seem to be causing trouble.

She didn’t feel guilty exactly; she didn’t even have time for guilt before a mysterious, frightening emotion flooded her.

She wasn’t particularly brilliant, didn’t have a superior intellect, and had never studied psychology.

But why?

By what right?

How could she understand someone so precisely just through small details of body language?

The wave of unfamiliar emotion made Sanyuan desperate to uncover some truth. Her heart, once as hard as a stone, felt as if it were being chipped away by tiny hammers from all sides.

She feared that beneath the cracking stone lay something that should never see the light of day.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Sanyuan’s wrist suddenly felt warm as a flushed hand reached up to gently hold it.

Tang Hengzhi’s fingers were no longer pale; her fingertips and the back of her hand were covered in a glaring red rash that disappeared into her sleeve. It was a distressing sight.

The itch from an acute allergic reaction wouldn’t be confined to one spot; this method of relief was ultimately futile.

It wasn’t just her neck that needed attention.

Sanyuan’s fingers were too soft, and they only provoked a more intense reaction.

It was an ordeal.

Tang Hengzhi let out a soft sigh, her expression showing little emotion. “I’ve taken the medicine. It’ll be fine once it starts working.”

Sanyuan looked at the sofa and hesitated before saying in a somewhat indulgent tone, “Why don’t you lie down? I’ll scratch the itchy spots for you.”

She held up her hands to show her. “I don’t have long nails. If I’m careful, I won’t hurt you.”

Tang Hengzhi thought the gesture looked a bit like a kitten showing its paws and couldn’t help but smile. “No need.”

“Oh,” Sanyuan replied. “Then… do you want to talk? To take your mind off it?”

Tang Hengzhi’s gaze lingered on her face. She asked softly, “You want to talk to me?”

Sanyuan began picking at a loose thread on her sleeve, pulling it longer and longer.

She lowered her gaze and stood up from the sofa. Under Tang Hengzhi’s watchful eye, she didn’t go far. Instead, she slid down the side of the sofa and sat on the carpet by the woman’s feet.

“It’s dirty,” Tang Hengzhi said, moving to stop her.

Sanyuan reached out and gave her calf a light pat to stop her, signaling for her to stay still.

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