Chapter 143

Xiao Zimo pulled his hand out in a somewhat flustered manner.

Older Xiao awoke feeling rather dissatisfied as the big pig's trotter in his dream was snatched away. He mumbled: "Who's that?! I haven't had meat for days, do you know how hungry I am?"

As Xiao Han opened his eyes and got up from the table, the white figure of Xiao Zimo came into view.

"Xiao Zimo, what are you doing here?" Xiao Han asked in surprise.

"Cough cough..." Xiao Zimo deliberately coughed, his complexion looking rather odd. Fortunately he was wearing a mask, so Xiao Han did not notice.

The soft touch of Xiao Han's lips seemed to still linger on his hand...

"What's wrong with you?? Don't tell me you got infected?!" Seeing him coughing, Xiao Han immediately covered her mouth and retreated two steps.

Xiao Zimo: "..."

From the corner of her eye, Xiao Han spotted Liu Yan at the door. She immediately called out: "Yan, hurry up and get me a mask!"

Only then did Liu Yan react and hurried into the room. "Big brother Xiao, here's one for you."

Xiao Han put on the mask Liu Yan handed her.

Just now, she and Liu Yan were organizing medical records together when the strap on her mask suddenly broke. So she asked Liu Yan to get her a new one, but she accidentally dozed off leaning over the desk.

"Xiao Zimo, do you have any other symptoms besides the cough?" Xiao Han asked hastily.

"......"

Looking at Xiao Han's skeptical eyes, Xiao Zimo felt a little helpless. "I'm fine..."

"Are you sure you're alright? Don't think that just because you're a doctor, you can hide your condition!"

"......"

Seeing her, did she not remember biting his hand earlier?

"I really am fine. You guys chat, I'll head out first." With that said, Xiao Zimo pushed his wheelchair out the door. Once outside, Xiao Zimo looked down at the faint bite marks on his hand, a flicker in his eyes.

He unbelievingly lifted his hand, frowned, put away his handkerchief, and wheeled away.

Xiao Han still felt a little puzzled. Why did she feel Xiao Zimo was looking at her strangely?

She tidied up the medical records on the table and found some damp pages. She hurriedly picked them up, "Oh dear, how did these get wet? Yan, take them to the side to dry!"

As Xiao Han lifted her head, she saw Liu Yan standing to the side, seemingly wanting to say something but hesitating, with the look of someone with a fishbone stuck in their throat.

"What's the matter, Yan?" Xiao Han looked puzzled.

"Big brother Xiao, you and Young Master Xiao..." Liu Yan had trouble getting the words out.

"Me and Xiao Zimo? What about us?"

"You two..." Liu Yan hemmed and hawed for a long time before finally squeezing out a sentence. "What...what is your relationship?"

"My relationship with Xiao Zimo? Of course we're friends! You could say we're good comrades-in-arms in the fight against this epidemic! Xiao Zimo is not bad, he's a worthwhile friend to get to know better!" said Xiao Han eloquently.

"Then just now..." Liu Yan wanted to ask but was afraid it would be offensive.

"Oh come on, just say clearly what you want to say! I know you girls talk like this, but I'm really impatient!"

Seeing her state, Liu Yan threw caution to the wind and just blurted it all out. "Big brother Xiao, just now I saw...you kissed Young Master Xiao's hand, and...held on tight..."

"What?!" Xiao Han stood up. "You said I kissed Xiao Zimo's hand?? How did I kiss it?"

Liu Yan lowered her head, her cheeks flushing slightly. "Just...that kind of kiss..."

It dawned on Xiao Han that she was dreaming just now, dreaming of a big table full of delicious food. As she hadn't rested much these days and hadn't eaten properly either, she hadn't had any meat for days.

So in the dream, she just grabbed that tempting, juicy pig's trotter and started licking and gnawing without any image whatsoever.

She thought it was just a dream. Who'd have thought she actually bit Xiao Zimo's hand?

So when Liu Yan said she kissed Xiao Zimo's hand, she was already putting it rather politely.

What she did was not kissing, but licking, biting, gnawing.

"How embarrassing!" Xiao Han exclaimed as she grabbed Liu Yan's shoulders. "Tell me, I only bit Xiao Zimo's hand right? I didn't bite anywhere else?"

Liu Yan was stunned for a moment. Looking at Xiao Han's face, her heart thumped rapidly. "No...no...nowhere else."

"That's good then!" Xiao Han patted her chest in relief.

She suddenly remembered Xiao Zimo's rather odd look just now, as if realizing something.

"Oh no, don't tell me with that look of his just now...he thought that I was..." Xiao Han looked at Liu Yan, also suddenly understanding why Liu Yan asked her that question earlier.

Xiao Han immediately explained, "Don't get the wrong idea, between me and Xiao Zimo we're completely innocent! Just now I had a dream where I was eating a giant pig's trotter! How would I know that was Xiao Zimo's hand!"

Liu Yan was clearly still doubting. "Really?"

"Of course it's true!"

Liu Yan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as she said softly, "That's good then..."

"What'd you say?" Xiao Han didn't catch it clearly and leaned closer.

"Nothing...nothing, big brother Xiao, I gotta get back to work!" said Liu Yan, her face red as she immediately turned and ran off.

As Xiao Han watched Liu Yan leaving, she looked puzzled. "Why is everyone being so strange!"

Thinking of what happened earlier, Xiao Han decided to still find Xiao Zimo and explain things, lest he misunderstand and think she bit his hand intentionally!

But Xiao Zimo was busy treating patients at the moment, and Xiao Han ended up helping along. For the time being, she forgot about the matter.

It wasn't until a few days later that Xiao Han noticed Xiao Zimo had been behaving rather oddly recently, seemingly deliberately keeping his distance from her.

For instance, whenever Xiao Zimo spoke to her, he would maintain a certain distance. Apart from discussing the patients' condition, whenever Xiao Han wanted to chat casually with him, Xiao Zimo would intentionally avoid her.

And that day, Older Xiao had also been put into the isolation shed, saying he too showed symptoms.

Xiao Zimo had just finished checking up on Older Xiao and came out when Liu Yan rushed over in a panic, crying that her grandfather was on the verge of dying!

Xiao Zimo's heart lurched, and he immediately went to Older Liu's side.

At this time, Xiao Han was wholly focused acupuncturing Older Liu, her forehead beaded with fine sweat and her expression deeply concentrated—the total opposite of her usual chatty self.

Seeing her focused state, Xiao Zimo did not disturb her.

"Pff..."

Older Liu coughed up a mouthful of blood, slowly regaining consciousness but seeming very frail.

Xiao Han let out a breath in relief, pulled out the needle, and looked toward Xiao Zimo. "Acupuncture alone does no good without medicine. Older Liu had other underlying conditions to begin with and can't take acupuncture anymore. He's lucky to have survived until now!"

"Yuan Zhan should be back tomorrow." Xiao Zimo said.

The gold silks flew out of his hand, coiling around Older Liu's wrist.

His expression darkened. He feared...Older Liu might not last until tomorrow.

Liu Yan burst into tears. She knew her grandfather wasn't in the best of health to begin with. Coming down with this epidemic had made things much worse.