TYSUF – Chapter 24 Don’t Hesitate When You Came (3)

Tears streamed down her face, running along her chin and soaking into her collar.

She had no idea how she had stumbled and fallen to the bedside, burrowing into his arms.

“Third Brother,” she sobbed, breathless, repeating the same words over and over, “Third Brother…”

She cried for a whole hour. At first, it was loud wailing, then it turned into childlike whimpers. She cried so hard that her body alternated between feeling hot and cold, her throat grew hoarse, and even when the tears finally stopped, she was still hiccupping for breath, lying across his lap.

Clutching his waist tightly, her tears began to fall again.

Fu Tongwen’s feverish arms wrapped around her, trying to lift her up into his embrace. Shen Xi’s eyes were swollen and painful; afraid he would see how puffy they were, she stubbornly clung to his waist.

Left with no choice, he couldn’t lift her, so he gently wiped her tears with his fingers. “The floor is cold.”

Seeing that she wouldn’t listen, he asked softly, “How about getting onto the bed?”

It felt like a fire was roasting her. Shen Xi was jolted awake by his body heat—he had a fever.

She hurriedly struggled free from his arms, pressing her palm to his forehead. “You’re running a fever?”

“It’s nothing,” he said with a faint smile.

How could it be nothing? Her shoulders and arms were damp and cold.

Shen Xi quickly moved away from him, unbuttoned her coat, and threw it to the floor, then kicked off her leather shoes.

The moment her long socks hit the ground, she suddenly realized he was still looking at her. A girl, lifting her skirt and pulling off her socks in front of a man, revealing her bare calves—

She hadn’t thought much of it when she saw him as a patient. But once she remembered he was a man, she became fully aware of what she was doing.

“I took three trains… and a ferry to get here. It was raining and snowing the whole way,” Shen Xi mumbled with a heavy nasal tone. “You’re holding me while I’m all dirty and damp… that’s why I’m taking off my clothes.”

Her bare legs and pale knees were tinged blue from the cold, her feet stepping onto the coat. “The road was filthy. At the very least, I should wipe myself clean.”

After she finished speaking, he called out, “Jin Deng.”

From behind the curtain, a young servant boy seemed to appear out of nowhere. “Third Master?”

“Prepare some hot water. Miss Shen needs a bath.” Fu Tongwen, dazed from days of fever, was so weak that even saying this short sentence left his breath unsteady.

The boy answered immediately and went to make preparations.

“He was here the whole time? Just now too?” Shen Xi asked, astonished she hadn’t noticed.

“He’s been here all along,” Fu Tongwen replied.

In families like the Fus, maids and servants were always nearby to attend to their masters.

In other courtyards, maids even slept by the bedside. Fu Tongwen was already one of the more easygoing ones. He didn’t like such formalities—there were no maids warming his bed or feet—but he was still used to having a servant live in the adjoining room to be available at all times.

“Then just now… didn’t he hear everything?”

She felt awkward but figured this was just how things were, so she didn’t say it outright.

Fu Tongwen caught her embarrassment. “If you’re uncomfortable, I can have him move outside.”

“That’s not necessary,” she quickly said. It was her first day here; how would it look if she immediately drove away his trusted servant? “This is your room… I’m fine with it.”

The words fell into his ears sounding less like stubbornness and more like coyness.

He looked at her, waiting for her to finish explaining herself.

“Anyway, I’m not sleeping in the same bed with you. However you want to arrange things for your own comfort, just leave it as it is.”

“If you’re not sleeping here, then where will you go?” he asked instead.

“In a courtyard this big, there must be somewhere else to sleep,” she said, turning around and pointing east. “When I came in earlier, I saw there’s a room over there.”

There were so many people in the courtyard, all long-time followers of his. For her first day here to be spent sleeping directly in his room under everyone’s eyes—she couldn’t imagine how they would gossip about it. She had to at least maintain appearances for a couple of days.

Fu Tongwen caught the little look on her face and couldn’t help but smile. “You really paid close attention.”

“Mm…” she mumbled. The building was so big, it was impossible not to notice.

Their conversation was interrupted by the young servant. The hot water was ready, and he came to invite Shen Xi to bathe.

Grateful for the excuse, Shen Xi left in a hurry.

When she returned to the main room, Fu Tongwen had already taken his medicine and fallen asleep.

Outside, the snow was falling thick and fast. It wasn’t even four o’clock yet, but it already looked like night was falling.

The curtains had been drawn early, leaving only a lamp burning softly for her.

“Third Master gave orders. Miss, please don’t be too formal. If you want to sleep, there’s a bed; if you want to read, feel free to look around,” the servant said, still a little uneasy. “I’ll be right outside the door. Just call if you need anything. Also, if Third Master’s sleepwear gets soaked with sweat, it’ll need to be changed. His clothes are at the foot of the bed. I’ll trouble you with that.”

“Thank you,” she replied politely.

The servant smiled, lowered the heavy curtain for her, and quietly withdrew.

Shen Xi had a lot she wanted to say, but it wasn’t urgent tonight. Under the soft lamplight, she looked around the adjoining rooms. When she had first arrived, her heart was filled with the anxious desire to see him; everything had seemed dim and shadowy. Now, it looked completely different.

It wasn’t long before drowsiness overtook her.

Unable to fight it, she carefully slipped off her shoes and climbed onto the bed.

So much for “if you want to sleep, there’s a bed”—there was only one bed and one quilt. Wasn’t this just another trick to have her sleep beside him? She muttered silently to herself as she crept under the covers. The bed was searingly hot, matching his feverish body temperature. Shen Xi touched his sleepwear—it wasn’t damp yet; it was still dry.

She glanced at the cloisonné clock on the cabinet.

She would let him sleep for two hours, check if he had broken into a sweat, and then help him change clothes.

Thinking this, she pressed her palm lightly against his back and soon drifted into sleep.

At six o’clock, her palm was wet with his sweat.

Without opening her eyes, half-asleep, she fumbled to the foot of the bed and retrieved clean sleepwear.

She didn’t dare lift the quilt for fear of letting in cold air. Instead, she let down the bed canopy and snuggled back under the heavy blanket, holding the clean clothes.

One button after another, she began to undo them.

First, she slid his sleeve down his arm, then tried to tug the shirt out from under his back. Inevitably, her body brushed against his, and awkwardly, she managed to dress him in the fresh top. When she was fumbling to button it up, Fu Tongwen’s fingers slid into her long hair—

“You’re awake?” she asked softly in the dark.

He played with her hair, not answering.

“Your clothes are soaked through. I’m changing them for you.”

He chuckled but still didn’t say anything.

After she finished buttoning his top, she murmured, “Come closer—I need to change your pants too.”

Shen Xi steeled herself, suppressing any inappropriate thoughts, and reached for the waistband of his trousers.

…

“Enough,” he said in a low voice. “I’ll do it myself.”

As the drawstring at his waist loosened, he teased, “Why are you staring at me?”

Flustered and blushing furiously, Shen Xi immediately turned her back to him, feeling him pull off his wet trousers and change into the clean ones.

Fu Tongwen tied the silk drawstring securely. From where he sat, even though the room was dark, he could still vaguely make out the shape of her bare calves, ankles, and bare feet peeking out from under her skirt.

“Why didn’t you wait for me in Shanghai?” he asked, resting his chin on her shoulder from behind.

They had been reunited for several hours already, yet only now did they begin speaking seriously.

Shen Xi recounted everything to Fu Tongwen. When he heard about the telegram and Duan Menghe’s background, he wasn’t surprised—he had long suspected that man wasn’t from an ordinary family. Originally, he had planned to have someone investigate once they disembarked, but due to family obligations, he hadn’t had the chance.

As Shen Xi continued, Fu Tongwen grew increasingly silent.

Embarrassed, she deliberately omitted the absurd lie she had told about “having a child.”

When she finished, Fu Tongwen didn’t comment much. Instead, he silently sorted through what she had told him, feeling that something was off.

The two of them sat quietly for a long moment, each lost in thought.

One was worried about flaws in the story being discovered; the other felt anxious about hiding the truth.

There was a knock at the door.

Shen Xi got out of bed to answer it—it was a maid. She said that hearing voices inside, she thought to ask if Third Master would like something to eat, as he hadn’t eaten anything since lunch. Fu Tongwen had sweated out his fever and now had an appetite.

At first, Shen Xi was confused why a maid was sent this time, but seeing herself dressed in a traditional sleep robe and the sweat-soaked clothes lying by the bed, she guessed it was another arrangement made in advance by Fu Tongwen—worried that, since it was her first time staying here, she might feel awkward if a male servant saw her, so he had the maids take over.

Fu Tongwen washed up and had his meal. By the time he finished, it was already ten o’clock.

Everyone in the courtyard seemed to have reached a tacit understanding, assuming that Shen Xi would be living together with Fu Tongwen in the same room and bed. No one prepared a separate room for her. After serving Fu Tongwen, the maid placed clean clothes at the foot of the bed and quietly withdrew.

Fu Tongwen, who hadn’t been able to walk much the past few days, managed a few more steps around the room, draped in a robe, before settling into a grand armchair.

“Something you said earlier seemed suspicious,” he said, “Did you leave anything out? Think carefully—everything you said to my father matters.”

It was impossible to keep secrets forever. If the truth slipped later when they met again, it would cause even more trouble.

But she was a young woman after all. It wasn’t easy to press her for such things.

After some hesitation, Shen Xi muttered, “I said… I had a child with you. Hearing that, your father might’ve felt pity for me, so he let me in.”

Had a child with him? Fu Tongwen was greatly surprised.

“It was to match what your second brother had said,” she quickly added.

No wonder.

The issue of children had always been a point of contention between him and his father—a sore spot.

Fu Tongwen was silent for a long moment. Then without a word, he reached over, pulled her onto his lap, and held her in his arms, the light casting their shadows together.

“When did I ever leave a child with you?” he asked.

Shen Xi stammered, “It’s not real…”

“If you want to deceive others, you must first deceive yourself. We need to discuss this properly,” he said with a laugh.

Discuss what? Shen Xi was so flustered she tried to get up.

Unfortunately, despite still recovering from illness, he was surprisingly strong and wouldn’t let her escape. Even if he had no strength, she wouldn’t dare struggle too hard, afraid of hurting him.

“What else did you say?” he asked again, treating it like a very serious matter.

“I also said… that I lost the child in New York,” she answered in a small voice. “That’s all. Nothing else.”

“I wasn’t even in New York for half a year. Having a child and losing it in such a short time sounds rushed,” he pointed out.

“Half a year is enough…” she mumbled. Anyone, even without medical training, would know that much.

“And when exactly was this child supposedly conceived?”

“Who’s really going to dig that deeply?” she protested.

He chuckled softly, “Being careful won’t hurt.”

“Christmas,” she said hesitantly, “or maybe New Year’s. The New Year’s atmosphere is lively enough for people to get carried away and make mistakes… Then, one person wanted to return to serve the country, the other tried to use the child to keep him from leaving. Arguments, conflict, bottled-up resentment…” and then, nothing.

The fish had taken the bait. While Shen Xi was still busy calculating dates, she hadn’t realized she was being teased.

“We sailed back in March—your timing matches,” Fu Tongwen said.

He never stopped smiling, his eyes, after the high fever, dark and bright as if soaked in water, locked onto her.

As Shen Xi thought about it, and spoke, her face gradually turned red, and she fell silent. In all their clinging in Guangzhou, she hadn’t felt this way… or maybe she had, but hadn’t paid attention. Now, it was impossible to miss—she could clearly feel the man holding her had a physical reaction.

In the deep of night, the two of them, still in their sleepwear, were curled up together on the grand chair.

Getting down wasn’t an option, staying put was awkward. Talking felt wrong, pretending ignorance felt worse.

He knew she had noticed. Lowering his voice, he murmured at her ear, “I don’t have the strength for anything right now. Let’s just stay like this for a while.”