> “Dear player, congratulations on unlocking the protagonist’s first severe illness!”
> “Your protagonist’s condition is extremely dire! Health bar at 30%, stamina bar at 0%! Can’t even get out of bed! Cause: catching a chill and not resting for three days, resulting in coma-like weakness!”
> “Warning—several servants in Prince Ning’s manor have recently contracted the plague and were dismissed to return to their villages! If you handle this poorly, your protagonist might catch the plague while in this weakened state!”
> “Your protagonist is currently in a safe condition! But once the health bar drops to 5%, he will automatically enter the beyond saving state! At that point, there will be no turning back!”
> “By the way, would you like to view information on mortality rates from colds and plagues in ancient times?”
> “Yes / No”
The words “beyond saving” flashed in huge, blinding letters, almost burning Su Xi’s eyes.
She had already been worried, but with this stupid game scaring her like that, her nerves shot through the roof—her heart thumping wildly as if her precious little Zai Zai she had raised for so many days might suddenly die any second!
Who didn’t know ancient medicine was primitive? People could die from a simple chill!
She hurriedly tapped the “Yes/No” prompt away and, like a headless fly, scrambled around the room on screen—but of course, there wasn’t a single medicine in sight.
She zoomed in on the room and reached out to poke at the small lump on the bed.
The unconscious little Zai Zai’s face was pale, completely unresponsive, limp and motionless.
Su Xi’s fingertip pressed lightly against his blanket—she didn’t even know where she’d touched, maybe his waist—he gave a soft groan of discomfort, eyes still tightly shut, brows knitting together.
Zoomed in closer, his dark lashes trembled faintly, a trace of pitiful moisture clinging to them. He was burning with fever.
The health bar in the top-left corner dropped steadily like sand in an hourglass. In just that short moment—it had already fallen to 28%!
Su Xi glanced up, startled, and forced herself to calm down, thinking fast.
First, she picked up the blanket from the floor and swiped it across the screen to cover the little Zai Zai on the bed.
But Lu Huan’s whole body was burning as if he were lying in a furnace. The sudden blanket only made the heat worse. He frowned deeply, still unconscious, and turned over restlessly—
A white speech bubble appeared above his head: “Hot.”
Just as Su Xi was about to switch the screen to the kitchen, she saw the Zai Zai kick the blanket right off again.
Helpless, she switched back, pinched the little virtual blanket between her fingers, and tucked it over him once more—this time, pressing down all four corners firmly.
Lu Huan, lost in his feverish dreams, only felt something heavy pressing down on him. His breathing grew hotter, more rapid; his brows furrowed tight, and he struggled to kick the blanket away again.
What Su Xi saw was just her little Zai Zai flailing desperately against the quilt.
Another weak bubble floated up: “Don’t want.”
“……”
Why was this frail little prince so dramatic?!
Seeing the health bar drop to 25%, Su Xi’s heart leapt to her throat. She no longer had time to argue with the game character—she grabbed two chairs and a couple of bricks from the room, dragging them across the screen to press down each corner of the blanket.
Now the weakened little Zai Zai could lift his arms and legs all he wanted, but there was no way to throw it off.
Su Xi had never taken care of a sick person before. In a panic, she quickly opened Baidu and searched: “What to do if a child has a fever of 39.9°C.”
The results came back. Without wasting a second, she grabbed two cloth towels and switched the screen to the courtyard.
She scooped up some accumulated snow, wrapped it in the cloths, then switched back inside and placed her handmade cold compress on the Zai Zai’s small forehead.
The icy snow finally did its job. The little game character’s lashes trembled slightly—as though the burning fever had eased a little and the tight crease between his brows slowly loosened.
Su Xi scooped a few more handfuls of soft snow from outside and tucked them into the little game character’s palms.
It worked—the health bar in the upper-left corner rose by one percent.
Still nowhere near enough.
In this condition, he obviously needed a doctor.
Instinctively, Su Xi opened the map, trying to switch the interface to the market outside Prince Ning’s manor. But it wouldn’t move at all. Then she remembered—she only had 11 points; she hadn’t unlocked the market yet. So how was she supposed to call a doctor?!
The system said, “The market cannot be unlocked at present. Doctor option unavailable. To unlock the next section, point total must reach 15.”
Damn it, that’s way too strict!
Su Xi took a deep breath and opened the shop interface, quickly pulling up the “Medicine” tab—
Fortunately, the shop had everything.
All the ancient remedies for colds were sold in little packets of herbs, with complimentary earthenware pots for decocting them. But—
Su Xi couldn’t bear to look. “It’ll take at least half an hour to boil one batch of this medicine! Can he even last that long?! Don’t they have Bai Jia Hei [paracetamol-based cold medicine] or Wei C Yinqiaopian [vitamin-C herbal tablets]?”
System: “How could such things exist in ancient times?!”
Su Xi didn’t have time to argue. She bought the medicine, paid at lightning speed, dashed to the kitchen, paid more game-coins to light the fire, and poured the herbs into the pot—her fingers moving fast and clean, all in one breath!
During this, she kept switching back to the room to replace the cloth strips and continue helping the little Zai Zai cool his fever.
Surprisingly, the medicine finished boiling sooner than she expected. She rummaged through the kitchen cabinets, found a bowl and spoon, and filled a whole bowl of thick, black decoction.
Even through the screen, the bitter smell seemed to seep out.
Su Xi hated taking medicine herself and couldn’t help frowning.
But the hardest part was still ahead—how on earth was she supposed to get the medicine into the mouth of an unconscious Zai Zai?
───♡───
Just as Su Xi stepped back into the room holding the bowl, the system beeped: health bar down to 15%!
She clutched her phone nervously, sweating, and quickly pinched the upper half of the little character on the bed, lifting the Zai Zai straight up.
Unconscious Lu Huan: “……”
But his face was so pale, lips bloodless, body limp—Su Xi’s rough handling almost made him topple off the bed.
She hurriedly curved her left hand, pressing it to the screen, letting the little game figure lean against her palm. At last, he sat up.
His long black hair spilled down, his weak head resting lightly against the tip of her finger—so small, so fragile, his waist barely a handful.
Su Xi exhaled in relief and set the bowl on the table beside him.
With her other hand, she held the spoon, scooped up the dark liquid, and carefully brought it to his lips.
Though prying open his mouth was difficult, she managed, feeding him one slow mouthful after another.
By the time the bitter bowl of medicine was finished, the Zai Zai—already pale—looked even more ashen after all the effort.
And Su Xi, outside the screen, was half-dead with exhaustion herself.
Her shoulders ached, her neck was sore. When her hand slackened for a second, the Zai Zai tumbled heavily back onto the bed.
He hit his head against the hard pillow with a soft thud.
Su Xi winced in guilt: …Ahhh, I didn’t mean to!
Still, after all that tossing around, it seemed the medicine had begun to take effect. The health bar that had been falling toward 8% now showed faint signs of climbing back up…
Su Xi switched the cloths again, pressing them gently to the Zai Zai’s forehead and palms.
A new message popped up:
> “Congratulations! Your protagonist has returned to a safe state!”
When the health bar finally rose back to 35%, Su Xi let out a long, heavy sigh—the stone in her heart finally dropped.
She had to admit, this game was exhausting.
But when she saw the tiny figure on the small bed breathing more evenly, his furrowed brows finally relaxing, his face looking a little less strained—there was a surge of accomplishment and relief that made everything worth it.
No matter who it was—if you raised a small, adorable creature yourself, day by day, watching him grow—it was impossible not to develop feelings for him.
Even if the Zai Zai wasn’t real, she still wanted him to be well, to live without sickness or pain, to never be bullied again.
Su Xi bought a few more packets of medicine from the store and placed them by the bedside, waiting for the Zai Zai to wake up so he could brew them himself.
But then, her eyes accidentally caught a glimpse of his arm beneath his long sleeve…
From the very first day she opened the game, she had noticed faint marks on his arm, but she couldn’t zoom in back then and hadn’t looked closely.
Now she cautiously zoomed in, gently lifted the quilt, and drew out the Zai Zai’s arm.
When she rolled up his sleeve—she froze.
There were countless whip marks running across it!
They were old scars now, leaving only shallow traces on his fair skin, but she could still imagine how the wounds must have looked at the time—flesh split open, pain like salt rubbed into raw skin!
Su Xi gasped sharply, hesitating for a moment whether to check the rest of his body—
Anyway, his clothes were soaked through with sweat; they had to be changed.
After a moment of thought, she gingerly lifted the blanket again and carefully undid the buttons of his robe.
With her movement, the little game character frowned faintly in discomfort, his long black hair spilling down his shoulders like a waterfall.
And just as she had feared—his back was covered in whip scars.
Crisscrossing, jagged, shocking to the eye.
How could this be…?
Su Xi felt a surge of anger, and at the same time, an ache in her chest.
She knew it was only a game, knew it was just the preset background of a mistreated illegitimate son—but she still couldn’t help the sharp stab of pain in her heart.
The second time around, she was no longer clumsy. She propped the Zai Zai up with practiced hands, then bought some scar-removing ointment from the store and carefully applied it one by one over every lash mark on his body.
Fortunately, those scars were from his childhood; as he’d grown older, those in Prince Ning’s manor probably hadn’t had the chance to bully him again.
After finishing the medicine, Su Xi changed him into a clean outer robe. As for the pants—she decided that was too troublesome and didn’t bother.
Besides, the game character’s reactions always seemed too real; if she were to strip his pants, who knew what kind of reaction she’d get. The outer robe, though, had to be changed—it was soaked through, and if she didn’t switch to a dry one, his cold would only worsen.
Once all that was done, Su Xi finally relaxed completely.
She rubbed her eyes, drowsiness washing over her, and before she knew it, the phone slipped from her hand and fell onto her face. She was fast asleep.
───♡───
That night, for Lu Huan, was exceptionally long.
His body felt unbearably heavy and weak, as if submerged in scalding water, drifting and sinking.
Only when something cool was pressed against his forehead and palms did the pain finally ease a little.
He struggled desperately to wake, but his body was too weakened by the chill—his eyelids simply refused to open.
It wasn’t until the next morning, when the rooster crowed in the courtyard, that Lu Huan suddenly jolted awake from his dream.
When he opened his eyes, his entire body still felt heavy and drained.
He stared blankly at the canopy above for a moment, instinctively wanting to lift a hand and check whether his forehead was still burning.
But the moment he raised his arm, he realized—the quilt over him was extremely heavy, as if something were pressing it down…
As he moved, the chair that had been weighing it down toppled to the floor with a loud bang.
Lu Huan lifted his head slightly, his heart giving a violent thud, his expression changing in an instant—
Comments for chapter "Chapter 13"