Chapter 26 – Melting the Ice

Xiao Fang opened his mouth, about to say something, but was cut off by Fei Xiangnan.

“Don’t say it, I know. I’m not angry, so don’t worry about our agreement. Nothing will go wrong; I keep my word. Just don’t stay outside in a place like that for so long next time. If you get sick, taking medicine will affect the baby,” Fei Xiangnan said, his mind as clear as a mirror.

He walked to the table. The flickering candlelight made his heart ache. He sometimes thought that having money was truly a good thing. What warmth couldn’t be bought? There were even people who would wait outside for six hours just to cheer you up for a moment.

How long had it been since he’d seen something like a birthday cake? He remembered buying one for himself out of boredom when he was nine. He hadn’t even lit the candles before deciding it was childish and throwing it away.

Xiao Fang looked at him, feeling helpless. After warming up inside the room, his head felt heavy. He was a little angry. Why did people never want to let him finish what he was saying? He had come to apologize, but it was more than just that.

“I came for more than just that. Today… is your birthday,” Xiao Fang said, his body barely able to support the heaviness in his head, yet he stubbornly expressed his point.

Fei Xiangnan remained unmoved, even analyzing rationally, “Coming on my birthday increases the chance of success. At least, I’m quite touched right now.”

Xiao Fang’s lips trembled, not from the cold, but purely from anger. A little voice in his head kept trying to calm him down. He wasn’t angry, not at all. He had only taken a day off, excitedly prepared a meal for him, been turned away at the company, and then waited at his door for six hours. It was nothing.

There were only four minutes left of his birthday. He couldn’t be difficult. He couldn’t let the conflict deepen.

Xiao Fang forced a smile. “As long as you’re happy. Happy birthday, President Fei.”

Fei Xiangnan looked at Xiao Fang, who wasn’t arguing with him, and felt a thorn lodge itself deep in his heart. It hurt, but he couldn’t pull it out. All he could do was endure the throbbing pain, letting it feast on his heart. He knew Xiao Fang was putting on an act for him; he was clearly struggling.

All he stood to gain was that Fei Xiangnan would spare his brother. There were no other benefits. He had absolutely no reason to force himself to do this for such trivial matters.

No one had ever gone to such lengths for him. Since childhood, everyone had calculated his usefulness, never thinking about what they could give him. His relatives were like that, and so were his parents.

“Blow out the candles, is it?” Seeing the birthday candle had already burned down by a fifth, Fei Xiangnan sat down. His mind was in such turmoil he didn’t know what to say, but he didn’t want to see him suffer any longer.

“Yes, do you have a wish, President Fei? You have to make it before you blow out the candles,” Xiao Fang reminded him. His mind was a muddle, and even his vision was becoming blurry.

Fei Xiangnan looked at the flickering flame. Even the faintest light could illuminate a part of the darkness in his heart.

“What do you hope for me? I already have everything I could want.” What he possessed was far more than what ordinary people had.

Xiao Fang’s mind was now a bit hazy. He simply heard the question. What did Fei Xiangnan lack? Spending his birthday alone in the office, without a single person genuinely wishing him well.

Xiao Fang thought for a moment and said what was on his mind. “I hope… President Fei won’t have to be so lonely in the future.”

Fei Xiangnan felt as if he’d been struck by a club. All the rationality in his brain turned to mush. A numbing sensation spread from his head throughout his body, so intense he could feel it in his fingertips. It was followed by a stinging in his nose. If it were the usual him, he would have retorted with “I don’t need your pity,” but now, he couldn’t utter a single word.

He looked up at the young man. If he had said this a few months ago, he would have ended up getting beaten up. But now…

Fei Xiangnan lowered his head, looking at the flickering candles as if reborn. Everything in his heart was overturned and rebuilt. Restraint had become a ridiculous joke. He finally recognized a fact and wanted to accept it.

Xiao Fang, I admit it. I’ve fallen for you.

A foolish, flimsy thought.

But it didn’t stop him from craving this warmth.

With a single breath, all the candles on the cake were extinguished.

“Hurry and eat the noodles, or they’ll get cold,” Xiao Fang said, moving the cake aside and pushing the bowl of noodles in front of him.

Fei Xiangnan looked at the noodles, which glistened invitingly, and suddenly thought of Xiao Fang. “Where’s your portion?”

Xiao Fang silently propped one hand on the sofa. “I… I’ll just have some cake.”

Fei Xiangnan didn’t say much more and started eating quietly. The noodles tasted delicious, but eating them made his heart feel a little sour.

As Xiao Fang watched, his head grew dizzier. He thought his sleepiness hadn’t passed, so he naturally sat down on the nearby sofa. The living room wasn’t fully lit, and the dim environment made him even drowsier. He forced himself to stay awake and watch Fei Xiangnan eat. If… if someone had come to celebrate his birthday when he was alone, he probably would have burst into tears.

He had never told anyone his birthday. He felt it was a very important day. Rather than spending it laughing and joking with a group of superficial friends, he preferred to be alone with a cake. Fei Xiangnan was very similar to him in this regard. He wasn’t the tyrannical, paranoid, and overbearing person described in the book, but more like a machine that had been lonely for a long time.

That’s why Xiao Fang sometimes softened.

As he watched, Xiao Fang’s eyes gradually closed, and his body slowly warmed up.

After a few bites, Fei Xiangnan saw that Xiao Fang had fallen asleep on the sofa. Even though the weather was getting warmer, sleeping like this could still lead to a cold. Fei Xiangnan called his name a few times, but he didn’t respond. Fei Xiangnan’s expression gradually turned serious, and he immediately stood up to check on him.

Leaning over, Fei Xiangnan felt that Xiao Fang’s breath was hot. When he placed a hand on his forehead, his expression changed instantly. He picked up Xiao Fang and carried him to the guest room he had slept in before, then hurriedly called the family doctor.

The family doctor came over late at night. Knowing that Xiao Fang was pregnant, he could only prescribe some children’s cold medicine granules. He couldn’t use strong medication. Looking at Xiao Fang’s flushed face, Fei Xiangnan felt that thorn in his heart dig even deeper.

“Why are you so worried? I already said it won’t affect your interests too much,” Fei Xiangnan sat wearily in a chair. It was already past midnight by the time he saw the doctor off. He hadn’t eaten much, yet he had been taking care of him all this time.

Xiao Fang slept very obediently, not in the side-sleeping position common among young people now, but lying straight on his back, with half of his head exposed. He had woken up groggily to take his medicine, mumbled a few words, and then fallen back asleep.

Fei Xiangnan couldn’t help but reach out and touch his forehead. It was still very hot. The doctor said the fever probably wouldn’t break until tomorrow afternoon.

Thinking about how this fool had waited for him for six hours, he felt the urge to give him a harsh scolding. Just like with eating snacks and barbecue, he was just a child, never considering the consequences.

As Xiao Fang slept, he suddenly frowned, as if he were having a nightmare.

“No, no,” Xiao Fang twisted his body, as if trying to escape something in his dream.

Fei Xiangnan immediately held down the blanket. He couldn’t let him move around. If he kicked off the blanket now, all his efforts would be in vain.

“Shh, go back to sleep,” he said in a low, reassuring voice.

After realizing his attempts to kick the blanket were futile, Xiao Fang obediently stopped moving, though he still muttered defiantly.

“No, no.”

Fei Xiangnan was completely baffled. No what? “No what?”

Fei Xiangnan wanted him to say it, but Xiao Fang suddenly fell silent, sleeping soundly.

Fei Xiangnan didn’t press further. He went to the bathroom, wet a new towel, folded it into a neat little square, and placed it on Xiao Fang’s forehead.

He had originally planned to sleep in the master bedroom, but thinking about Xiao Fang’s bad habit of kicking off the covers, Fei Xiangnan went to his bedroom, brought his own quilt over, and slept next to Xiao Fang so he could prevent him from kicking off the blanket at any time.

After arranging the quilt, Fei Xiangnan turned to take a shower first. As he reached the door, he keenly heard Xiao Fang muttering in his sleep.

Fei Xiangnan’s face immediately darkened. He had a good idea of what was going on.

***

When Xiao Fang woke up, it was already the next afternoon. The dizzy feeling was mostly gone, replaced by a gnawing hunger. Xiao Fang managed to prop himself up.

His surroundings were both strange and familiar. After a moment, he realized he was at Fei Xiangnan’s home.

Yesterday, he had celebrated his birthday, then fallen asleep. Only now did he realize he had a fever.

Xiao Fang clutched his stomach. He could go hungry, but Da Bao couldn’t.

Just as Xiao Fang was about to get out of bed, the door opened. Fei Xiangnan walked in, wearing loungewear. This was the first time Xiao Fang had seen him in such casual clothes. The usual stern aura was gone, replaced by a lazy, peaceful vibe. He wore the same glasses as last time, and his long, elegant eyes held a hidden charm when they looked at you.

He was carrying a bowl of reheated plain congee, which he placed on the bedside table.

“Hungry? Eat,” Fei Xiangnan’s tone was gentler than Xiao Fang had ever heard, which made him feel inexplicably flustered.

“P-P-President Fei, d-d-don’t you need to work?” Xiao Fang couldn’t help but stammer.

Fei Xiangnan looked straight at him. It seemed he only dared to speak to him normally when he was feverish and confused. Now he was back to being Cowardly Xiao 2.0.

Fei Xiangnan wished he could speak to him in a normal tone, but he also knew he couldn’t rush it, or Xiao Fang’s personality would make him hide far away.

Thinking this, Fei Xiangnan put on a stern face. The scolding was necessary. “Don’t you know you have a child in your belly? Waiting for me for six hours? If something serious had happened, do you think a piece of cake is more important than a child?”

Xiao Fang lowered his head in shame and mumbled an apology.

He still looked very haggard. He hadn’t eaten a proper meal since he recovered. Fei Xiangnan was only scolding him on the surface; he didn’t really want to get to the bottom of it. He just said irritably, “Don’t let it happen again. If there’s a next time, you can forget about protecting Yan Yunyang’s and Xiao Qi’s futures. Now, eat.”

Fei Xiangnan gestured at the bowl of congee. Xiao Fang nodded and obediently turned to the side to eat. It had been a long time since he’d thought a bowl of plain congee could taste so good. In less than three minutes, the bowl was empty.

Xiao Fang had missed about three meals in a row. One bowl of congee was nowhere near enough to fill him up, but he was too embarrassed to say so. He could only put down his spoon.

Fei Xiangnan picked up the bowl without changing his expression and left the room. Xiao Fang rubbed his stomach and sighed with regret.

But less than two minutes later, Fei Xiangnan came back in with another bowl, this time with a small plate of pickles.

“Eat slowly. If it’s not enough, I’ll get you more. You haven’t eaten in three meals, it’d be strange if you weren’t hungry,” Fei Xiangnan said, his tone seemingly scolding but filled with concern.

Xiao Fang felt a surge of emotion as he picked up his spoon and ate, one mouthful at a time. The pickles tasted great, and the congee was soft and sticky. Xiao Fang closed his eyes in bliss.

Fei Xiangnan could almost see a happy tail wagging behind Xiao Fang.