Chapter 33: Architectural History

  Later, the nurse on duty finally arrived, but Qiao Yu still didn't let go of her hand.

  Starting from the nurse disinfecting Qiao Yu's hand, Ji Siyuan began to feel nervous, staring at the nurse's movements, and the hand held by Qiao Yu unconsciously clenched into a fist, with such great force that even Qiao Yu felt pain.

  Qiao Yu turned his head and smiled helplessly, opening his mouth weakly, "If you're afraid, then don't look anymore, are you going to get pierced or am I?"

  Ji Siyuan's attention was focused on the needle, she was clearly terrified but still had to watch as the fine tip of the needle slowly slid into her vein, suddenly closing her eyes, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly.

  The nurse finished applying the last band-aid and removed the tourniquet, looked up at the two people with completely opposite reactions, and saw that the one who got injected was actually comforting the onlooker, how interesting.

  Ji Siyuan just fainted for a short while and was fine, it was a bit late, there were not many people in the infusion room, he was sick and quiet, not speaking, just hanging his eyes, gently pinching her hand, don't know what to look at, don't know what to think.

  For some reason, Ji Si Xuan's heart suddenly softened.

  She gazed at his long and curly eyelashes fluttering up and down, and asked, "Does it hurt?"

  He seemed to be in a daze too, but quickly looked at her and forced a smile, "I'm fine."

  Ji Siyun pursed her lips, "I told you not to talk nonsense!"

  Qiao Yu knew she was referring to the words he had casually mentioned that afternoon, and he slightly furrowed his brow, seemingly unaware of the coquettish tone in his voice. His heart warmed up, "How could it be so accurate? It's just a coincidence, if it really works..."

  He trailed off after a few words, saying something lightly, then suddenly stopped halfway through and looked into her eyes again, "I want to drink water."

  Ji Siyuan didn't pay attention to what he said before, reached into her bag to 'feel' for her wallet, "I'll go buy it, you wait here for me."

  Waiting for her to come out of the infusion room, Qiao Yu looked at the 'door' and spoke softly, "If it's really that accurate, in the past few years, I'm afraid I've said it a few thousand times already. It seems like I haven't seen Ji Siyu for a long time."

  When Ji Siyuan came back, Qiao Yu was already asleep, but he seemed to be sleeping restlessly, with dense sweat on his forehead.

  She sat down quietly and lowered her head to see Qiao Yu's hand.

  His hands are very good-looking, with slender fingers and distinct joints. When he was in school, holding a pen to draw pictures was very pleasing to the eye. Later, lightly grasping the mouse also looked good. Even now, being "inserted" with a needle tube and gently placed on the armrest of the chair is still incredibly good-looking.

  She didn't know how long she had been looking at him, but when she raised her eyes, he was already awake and quietly staring back at her.

  The moment their eyes met, Ji Siyu heard the sound of her own heartbeat, just like when she first saw him through the glass. Although they had known each other for a long time and had been apart for a long time, although she hadn't really forgiven this man, her heart still skipped a beat uncontrollably.

  Qiao Yu found that since she came back, he seemed to have not taken a good look at her. Her eyebrows and eyes, her face, seemed to be unaffected by the years, still as bright and beautiful as before, and that stubbornness that made her insist on making eye contact with him despite being obviously embarrassed.

  He was also helpless against her. She didn't need to do or say anything, just sitting there looking at him made him surrender unconditionally.

  He closed his eyes, and his head was still dizzy.

  "Si Xuan?"

  "Huh?"

  "If you don't go call a nurse to remove the needle, I'll have to return the blood."

  Ji Siyuan immediately came back to her senses, looked up at the empty IV bottle and ran out.

  Qiao Yu was exhausted all over, but couldn't help laughing.

  Qiao Yu's IV drip didn't seem to have any effect, Ji Siyuan glanced at him while driving, "Is there anyone taking care of you when you get back? Do you want me to call Yin Hechang to take care of you, or should I send you back to your parents' place?"

  Qiao Yu raised his head and rubbed his temples, "No need, just go back to sleep and it'll be fine."

  Ji Siyuan sent Qiao Yu back, supported him to enter the 'door', and then boiled water and poured a cup in front of Qiao Yu, "So I'll leave first?"

  Qiao Yu sat on the sofa and nodded, "Alright, I won't see you off. You can drive away now."

  Ji Siyun nodded, walked to the door of the room but still didn't feel at ease, turned back again, couldn't bear to part with him yet still held on, looked around but avoided looking at him, seemed to have a face full of disdain and opened her mouth, "You sleep first, I'll leave after you fall asleep."

  Qiao Yu stood up with the support of the sofa, "I'll go take a bath first, you can look around as you like. The TV remote control is over there, and that's the study room. If you don't want to watch TV, there are books in there. There are drinks in the fridge."

  Ji Siyu urged him to take a bath, and Qiao Yu quickly entered the bedroom. She was alone in the spacious living room, turning around a few times, with classic black and white tones as the keynote, incorporating colorful and elegant elements into simplicity, with a warm atmosphere that was indeed Qiao Yu's style.

  Soon, the sound of rushing water came from the bathroom in the master bedroom. Ji Siyu stood at the door of the master bedroom and listened until the sound of water stopped.

  Ji Siyuan sat on the sofa diagonally opposite the bed, staring at Qiao Yu with an unblinking gaze, as if completing a task, "You sleep."

  Qiao Yu wanted to say something, opened his mouth and then closed it again, quickly closing his eyes, but he couldn't help opening them again after just ten seconds, looking a bit helpless. "You're staring at me, I won't be able to sleep."

  Ji Siyun seemed to realize that she was staring at him awkwardly and quickly stood up, "Oh, then... I'll go take a look in another room, you sleep quickly, later when I come back and see that you're asleep, I'll leave."

  She wandered from the kitchen to the study, from the study to the guest room, and back to the study again.

  The bookshelf in the study occupied an entire wall, filled with books. Ji Siyu scanned row by row, then moved a ladder next to it and climbed up barefoot, seeing several familiar books on the top shelf.

  She casually pulled out a book, which was a textbook from her school days. She flipped it open and on the first page, the two characters "Qiao Yu" were written neatly. She flipped through a few more pages, apart from Qiao Yu's notes, there were also some messy little cartoons that she had deliberately drawn.

  She was looking at it when she heard Qiao Yu's voice, "Si Xuan, are you leaving?"

  "No!" Ji Siyu responded with a voice, came down from the ladder, holding a book and running over barefoot, "Why haven't you slept yet?"

  "Maybe I slept too much at night, so I'm not sleepy now." Qiao Yu said after glancing at her feet, "It's cold, don't stand barefoot on the ground."

  Ji Siyun looked down and then looked around, raising her head to ask, "Where are my shoes?"

  Qiao Yu thought that Ji Si Xuan was sometimes a bit silly and cute, and quickly smiled, "Sit on the 'bed'!"

  Ji Siyun hesitated for a moment, "I haven't taken a bath or changed clothes, and I was just in the hospital for half a day."

  Qiao Yu leaned against the head of the bed and stared at her for a while, then suddenly threw the pillow to the ground with an air of "it's only natural", saying "Then you sit on the floor."

  Ji Si Xuan sat down at the corner of the 'bed' in the next second, with a fierce and arrogant face. "Why should I sit on the floor? I'll just sit on the 'bed'!"

  Qiao Yu smiled with pursed lips, and Ji Siyu only realized she had been tricked again after finishing speaking. She continued to glare at him fiercely, "Go to sleep quickly! I'm in a hurry to go home!"

  Qiao Yu yawned, "Is that all you're going to say? Otherwise, read a book to me. Maybe I'll get sleepy listening to it. Read this one!"

  "Which one?" Ji Siyu looked down at the cover, "A History of Architecture"?

  Qiao Yu lay down on the pillow, closed his eyes, "Hmm, start reading!"

  Ji Siyuan pouted, holding her textbook and starting to read word by word, "Chapter 1 Section 1, The Characteristics of Chinese Architecture. The origin of architecture..."

  Ji Siyuan thought Qiao Yu was a pervert, others couldn't sleep and listened to music or stories, but he actually wanted to listen to the history of architecture...

  Qiao Yu quickly interrupted, "Don't start reading from page one."

  Ji Siyuan was dissatisfied, "This isn't the first page, the first page is the preface, I'm reading the introduction!"

  Qiao Yu closed his eyes and made a request, "Turn it over backwards, just find any page."

  Ji Siyuan's face was unwilling, and her movements were extremely large as she flipped through the book, almost tearing it in half. She found a page in the middle that started reading without a head or tail, "The Forbidden City is surrounded by high and thick city walls, called the Purple Forbidden City. The east-west length of the city is about 760 meters, and the south-north length is about 990 meters..."

  Qiao Yu suddenly spoke up, "960 meters."

  Ji Siyun looked carefully and said, "About 960 meters from north to south..."

  Qiao Yu slightly opened his eyes and looked at her, whispering, "No wonder the volunteer registration went wrong back then..."

  Ji Siyun threw the book aside and took a deep breath. "I won't read it anymore! You look at it yourself!"

  Qiao Yu raised his hands in surrender, "Alright alright, you say how much rice is how much rice, go ahead and recite."

  Ji Siyuan changed his tone, "The south and north are about 990 meters apart, the southern side extends out for about 600 meters, with a width of about 130 meters in front of the courtyard..."

  Ji Siyun read two pages and then yawned continuously, only to realize how correct Qiao Yu's choice was. Such a boring book is indeed a cure for insomnia.

  When she turned to the next page, it happened to be a panoramic view of the Forbidden City. On the blank space beside the picture, two small figures were simply drawn in black and white lines - a boy and a 'girl'.

  "Qiao Yu, let's go see the snow at the Forbidden City when it snows next time?"

  The boy replied, "Okay."

  That was painted by Ji Siyuan, obviously she was talking to herself.

  She smiled and saw a few very small words in the lower right corner.

  On xxxx year x month x day, today Beijing had a big snowfall, I went to the Forbidden City to see the snow, but you were not there.

  The handwriting is obviously not the same as the person who painted above, and judging from the newness of the lines, it seems to be a few words added later.

  She has never seen the Forbidden City covered in heavy snow and majestic silence, and she had long forgotten about it, perhaps because she simply didn't want to remember.

  Ji Siyuan remained silent for a long time, and when she lifted her head again, Qiao Yu was already asleep.

  Lying on his side with one hand pressed against his head, breathing slowly and evenly. A purplish bruise on the back of his hand, a needle hole faintly visible.

  Ji Siyuan stretched out her hand to touch his face, but in the end she just pulled the thin quilt up for him, put the book on the bedside table and turned around to leave.