On the way back, a few fruit stalls that were opened in twos and threes could be seen along the street. Gu Qiange stopped in front of one of the fruit stalls and quietly asked Shen Tong which fruit he wanted to eat.
Shen Tong looked at the pomelo in front of him which seemed to be full of life after being drizzled by rainwater, looking very tender with vibrant yellow l.u.s.ter, that he couldn’t help but glance at it for several more times. Gu Qiange, who noticed his line of sight stop at the pomelo, immediately chose the much sweeter one according to the words of the store owner, and brought it home to eat.
Pomelo
The great top student didn’t even log on to his daily online games, but just sat with his sleeves rolled up and concentrated on peeling the oriental grapefruit for the little guy. Peeling a pomelo also requires skill. He used the paring knife to lightly score the middle of the pomelo, then following the score, he sc.r.a.ped the inside of the pomelo skin with the knife. Later he held both ends with his hands and twisted them lightly, separating the rind bit by bit.
*rind: outer layer of citrus
The slender and beautiful fingers of Gu Qiange, also made the action of peeling a pomelo fruit very pleasing to the eye. The citrus’ inner paper-like covering was soon quickly separated from the pith. Then soon after began to peel away the citrus’ paper-like layer of the pulp’s covering.
*pith: spongy stuff separating the rind and paper-like layer covering the pulp.
This layer of the fruit requires a tremendous patience, since the pulp is very p.r.o.ne to breakage. After having finished peeling a completely intact segment, Gu Qiange immediately placed it in front of Shen Tong. Shen Tong bit a mouthful, then couldn’t help but slightly narrow his eyes after realizing that it was really very sweet.
The night had grown deep, Gu Qiange, on that side, had also just finished peeling the entire pomelo, Shen Tong, on this side, had fallen asleep unwittingly, with a smooth and even breath. The very tiny face was flushed, exuding an especially delicate feeling. The small body laid there motionlessly, and was in a very deep sleep, that he didn’t even wake up when he was carefully transferred to the bed by Gu Qiange.
But the way he sleeps was just like of a child as well, with slightly pursed lips, as if the expectations were not met by the guardians, and still seems to be negotiating in the dream.
Gu Qiange sleeps in a double bed*. He placed the little guy on top a pillow at the side, then quickly covered him with a small flannel to protect him against the cold. After switching the lights off, Gu Qiange continued to fondly gaze at Shen Tong in the darkness for a while. Then went to sleep with confidence after confirming that he would not be pressed by him.
*full size bed
But Shen Tong had blearily woken up in the middle of the night.
He unexpectedly felt a strong intangible force pulling his body. The force grew stronger and stronger, which lasted till his vision had darkened. When he opened his eyes again, he realized that he had returned inside the mobile phone once more.
Shen Tong fell in a slight daze for just a second before accepting this fact. The very uncomfortable feeling of intense grogginess in his mind was the only thing that made him depressed. He seems to be on the verge of catching a cold. Then soon fell into a dark and sweet dream in the next second.
Gu Qiange had naturally been given another jolt after waking up the next morning. His little guy had once again disappeared. There was no one on the pillow next to him.
He anxiously got out of bed without wearing any footwear, calling out Shen Tong’s name as he searched all over the place. The more he searched, the heavier his heart grew. He then experienced that feeling of fear and anxiety once again.
Until his mobile phone suddenly sounded, playing a nursery rhyme he had never downloaded. This raised Gu Qiange’s spirit, as he immediately picked up the mobile phone. After sliding the screen open, he really saw the little person, who had curled up with a frown, at the bottom of the screen at long last.
He anxiously called out: “Tong Tong?”
The little person raised his head upon hearing his voice, then sneezed out loud with his tiny nose, which was followed by the strong vibration of the mobile phone.
The little guy had fallen ill.
Maybe it was because of being drenched in the rain last night, or having taken a cold bath, that he now caught a very serious cold, in addition to the cough, fever and stomach ache. Causing him to shrink in the corner of the screen while frowning uncomfortably. This delicately frail appearance causes people too feel an incessant distress. The mobile phone had also heated up immediately afterwards, and was especially hot to touch. Making Gu Qiange feel as if he was holding a s.p.a.ce heater in his hand.
Gu Qiange opened the information panel, then selected quite a few pieces of small quilts to cover the little guy, and also selected a warm cup of cow’s milk for the little guy to drink. He had initially coaxed the other side to eat breakfast. But the little guy regrettably didn’t have any appet.i.te, and refused to eat no matter how he was coaxed, that Gu Qiange could only worry helplessly.
The school has set up a forty minutes of early reading before cla.s.s. Gu Qiange came in late this time for no less than 10 minutes, but had fortunately not been noticed by the teacher. Just as he had taken his seat, the two boys in the front row hurriedly spoke to him: “Great top student, it’s said that the math cla.s.s today will be checking on the homework. It’s precisely that five sheets of questionnaires sent out the day before yesterday. This is an emergency! Quick, let me borrow and copy yours, otherwise I’ll be toast!!”
There was more than one person waiting to copy the homework. Several people were eagerly looking towards Gu Qiange’s direction at this moment. Gu Qiange, whose mind was fully occupied with the sick Shen Tong, took out the questionnaires from his schoolbag without a care, and swiftly tossed it over without saying a word.
“Oh oh oh!!” The other party excitedly caught it at once. The five sheets of questionnaires were quickly divided by different people. There was still another person at the side who clamored: “Hurry up old Yuan! Let me copy the right answer too after your done, ah!”
As a result, Gu Qiange’s homework had ultimately been pa.s.sed around the hands of a lot of students in just a short period of time. But this sort of situation wasn’t the first or second. Gu Qiange would hand over his homework so long as someone requests for it. There was even a person who couldn’t help but quietly mutter to his desk-mate while copying: “The great top student is still generous. Unlike some stingy person, who aren’t willing even willing to give answers when asked.”
A portion of the students in this cla.s.s were really very ‘stingy’ people, and would never allow others to copy their homework, let alone help them cheat during exams. In fact, their line of action was correct. Although Gu Qiange’s actions were very well liked, but it will make those students develop dependency, and would indirectly cause them harm.
But Gu Qiange certainly doesn’t care about this part at all. The reason he acceded to every request to toss out his homework was only due to laziness, –Too lazy to trouble himself with others.
The temperature of the mobile phone grew hotter and hotter, making Gu Qiange feel as if it can cook an egg. He opened the treatment under the information panel once again, then selected a medicine for colds for the other party to take.
But the little guy who took the medicine still hasn’t gotten any better, and continued to curl up at the corner without making a sound. The symptoms of cough became more and more worse as well. In unison with the severe coughs, was also the autonomous weak vibrations of the mobile phone. The vibrations made Gu Qiange’s heart become more and more anxious.
But it was useless no matter how anxious Gu Qiange felt, as he could never take his mobile phone to a hospital, and ask a doctor to examine the Desktop Pet. Perhaps, even before the little guy’s illness can be treated, he would have already been sent into a hospital as a mental case.
The great top student could only gently touch the little person’s forehead across the screen, and help him rub his belly, just like the gentle touch when caressing a baby. Even some unscientifically unorthodox method were applied. A cool handkerchief was placed on the little guy’s forehead across the screen, in order to physically cool off the mobile phone.
Because the midterm exams is going to take place in another week, so even the teachers of two consecutive cla.s.s insisted on extending their cla.s.ses after the bell, seizing the cla.s.s time one after another. The morning unwittingly pa.s.sed by like this. But the little guy still hadn’t shown any sign of improvements. The fever had became even more severe instead, causing both cheeks to flush abnormally. So much so that when the consciousness sank to hazy sleep, only the vague quiet murmurs of the word ‘Han Ying’ was repeated in his sleep.
Gu Qiange not only felt so distressed till his heart was in shambles, but also felt incredibly jealous because of a strange man’s name.