MTMIO Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Nerves Like a Plucked String

Chapter 4: Nerves Like a Plucked String

Receiving a call from her agent reminding her of the time, Tao Xin reluctantly said, “I have to go.”

Yue Shao pulled Yue Yunxi along to see Tao Xin off.

Standing in front of the car, Tao Xin glanced at the Lu family’s gate, hesitating whether to deliver the tickets. She worried that if Lu You knew she had contacted her grandmother again, it would not only ruin any chance of reconciliation but might also worsen the situation.

Yue Yunxi subtly asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t see Yoyo when I went to Jingjiang before. I’m wondering if I should give the tickets to her grandmother and have her pick them up when she gets back.”

“Grandmother is napping,” Yue Yunxi said, extending her hand. “I’ll help you deliver them after three o’clock.”

Tao Xin took out the envelope containing the tickets. Just as she was about to hand it to Yue Yunxi, she seemed to think of something, retracted her hand, and looked at the mailbox hanging on the Lu family’s wall, saying, “I’ll just put it in there.”

Yue Yunxi silently lowered her hand.

After placing the envelope in the mailbox, Tao Xin asked a friend from her former band to send Lu You a text message.

“That mailbox at her house doesn’t have a small lock. Someone might take it out of there,” Yue Shao suggested. “Why don’t you have your sister deliver it for you?”

Tao Xin opened the car door and got in, saying, “I’ve already told Yoyo. Her grandmother will come and pick it up when she wakes up.”

Yue Shao wanted to say something, but Tao Xin interrupted her.

“You must come to my concert on Sunday!” Tao Xin leaned against the car window, looking at Yue Yunxi with hopeful eyes.

“I’ll go if I have time.”

“Can’t you make time if you don’t have it? It’s my first tour. I originally wanted you to come to every stop, but knowing you’re busy, I specifically chose the Shui City stop, which is nearby, and even made time to come back and deliver the tickets.”

The more Tao Xin spoke, the more she felt she had sacrificed a lot. Her pleading tone gradually became aggrieved.

Yue Yunxi didn’t argue to spoil her mood, nor did she commit to her request: “I’ll try my best. Hurry back, don’t delay the rehearsal.”

Seeing that she wouldn’t budge, Tao Xin became a little anxious: “Don’t try your best, give me a straight answer!”

This time, without waiting for Yue Yunxi to reply, she immediately turned her head and tearfully complained to Yue Shao: “Auntie Yue, look at my sister, she doesn’t support her little sister’s career at all!”

Afraid that Tao Xin would be late, Yue Shao took it upon herself to promise, “We’ll go, we’ll all go.”

With Yue Shao’s guarantee, Tao Xin finally revealed a satisfied smile.

She knew that Yue Yunxi listened to Yue Shao the most.

Watching the car drive out of sight, Yue Shao said with concern, “Why don’t you take out those tickets and deliver them to Xiao Lu’s house later? I saw some kids rummaging through the mailbox a few days ago.”

Yue Yunxi: “Since we said her grandmother would pick them up when she wakes up, let’s not move them.”

Yue Shao thought for a moment. Delivering them too early would disturb the old woman’s rest, delivering them too late would make her come all this way for nothing, and the kids didn’t come to rummage every day. So she agreed, “Alright then.”

After walking a few steps, Yue Yunxi asked, “Why did you promise her I would go? I have a public rehearsal on Sunday; I can’t go.”

“It’s just a rehearsal, not a formal performance. Discuss it with the orchestra, it shouldn’t matter if you miss one. Tao Tao is starting her first tour, and she values it so much. If you don’t go, she’ll definitely be disappointed.”

Yue Shao opened the door and stepped aside, seeing that Yue Yunxi was unmoved, she called out her childhood name, “Jiaojiao…”

Yue Shao rarely called her by her childhood name.

Because no matter how beautiful the meaning, it could not outweigh the painful memories linked to it.

Yue Yunxi understood this.

And Yue Shao was also clear about her understanding.

So only in such confrontational, deadlocked moments would Yue Shao call her that, as a form of pressure.

Yue Yunxi glanced at Yue Shao as she entered the door.

Her gentle and soft appearance revealed a non-aggressive weakness, like water.

Water that occasionally submerged the nose and mouth, making one feel suffocated.

Water that painstakingly nurtured her to grow up.

She pursed her lips, responding with a sigh.

Like a silent resistance.

Or like a silent compromise.

ˉ

When she received the text message, Lu You had just finished packing those two boxes of luggage. She glanced at it, didn’t reply, and didn’t go to get the tickets.

Her body was extremely tired, and she was covered in sweat. She took a shower, feeling weak even walking. She was very sleepy and lay on the bed, gradually losing consciousness.

She slept deeply, as if falling into a rotating kaleidoscope. She vaguely heard her grandmother calling her to eat dinner from outside the kaleidoscope. She seemed to respond, but she wasn’t sure.

Seeing that she was sleeping soundly, her grandmother assumed she was just tired and asked Auntie Liu to save her some food, letting her continue to sleep.

In the middle of the night, her grandmother got up to go to the bathroom and stopped by the kitchen to check. She found that Lu You hadn’t touched the food that Auntie Liu had left for her.

Her heart suddenly thumped, giving her an uneasy feeling. So she went into Lu You’s bedroom, turned on the light, but didn’t see Lu You move.

Normally, she would have grumbled in dissatisfaction long ago.

Her grandmother went to the bedside and saw that Lu You’s face was not right. She reached out and felt her forehead, and was startled by the excessively high temperature.

She quickly rushed to the nanny’s room to wake Auntie Liu: “Xiao Liu, where’s the thermometer? I, I feel like Yoyo has a fever.”

Auntie Liu immediately got up, took out the medicine cabinet, and carried it to Lu You’s room, using an electronic thermometer to take Lu You’s temperature.

With a “beep,” Auntie Liu picked up the thermometer and looked down at the temperature display. The grandmother’s hand, rummaging through the medicine cabinet, stopped, and she anxiously asked, “How high is it?”

“38.7.”

The grandmother anxiously said, “There’s no antipyretic medicine!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll call and ask Teacher Yue if she has any medicine.” Auntie Liu soothed the anxious grandmother while calling Yue Yunxi to explain the situation.

After hanging up, Auntie Liu said, “Teacher Yue said she’ll bring it over later.”

“Okay, I’ll wait at the door. You take that alcohol wipe and try to cool her down first.”

Soon, the doorbell rang, and the grandmother immediately opened the door.

Outside the door, Yue Yunxi hadn’t even changed out of her pajamas. She wore thin-rimmed glasses on her high nose bridge, holding medicine and fever patches in one hand and a newly folded umbrella in the other.

Winding water droplets dripped down the umbrella’s surface and onto the ground.

Behind her, in the dense night, the sound of rain was noisy.

Only then did she realize that it was raining again outside. The grandmother apologetically said, “I’m so sorry, so late, in such heavy rain, and we still called you over.”

“It’s okay, Grandmother.” Yue Yunxi looked inside and said, “Can I go in and see Yoyo?”

The grandmother stepped aside to let her in: “Come in.”

Yue Yunxi leaned the umbrella against the wall outside and entered the house.

Following the grandmother to the door of Lu You’s bedroom, Yue Yunxi couldn’t help but slow down.

It was her first time entering Lu You’s room. She had no time to look around, her attention was completely captured by the figure on the bed.

Lu You lay on the bed, covered with a thin air-conditioning blanket, sleeping peacefully, but fine sweat beaded on her forehead.

Auntie Liu brought a glass of water, steam rising from the rim.

Yue Yunxi touched the glass: “It’s too hot, do you have cold water?”

“No, we don’t.”

Auntie Liu brought another glass and mixed them a few times.

Yue Yunxi tried one of the glasses and, feeling the temperature was right, opened the medicine box and took out a blister pack.

During this time, the grandmother wiped the sweat from Lu You’s head, gently waking her, “Yoyo, wake up and take your medicine.”

Lu You frowned, closed her eyes, and struggled to sit up, her head drooping, reaching out for the medicine and water like a machine that hadn’t been oiled, slowly taking the medicine with water.

After finishing, she put down the glass and, like a deflated balloon, collapsed back onto the bed.

Yue Yunxi opened the fever patch packaging and leaned over, gently brushing aside the stray hairs on her forehead.

Her hand suddenly stiffened.

Lu You’s soft cheek was gently rubbing against her palm.

Yue Yunxi’s nerves felt like a plucked string.

Lu You mumbled in a daze, “Grandma, go to sleep, don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine in a while.”

Yue Yunxi curled her fingertips, hoarsely responding, “Okay.”

The grandmother heard the sound, but not the content, and asked, “What did she say?”

As soon as the fever patch was applied, Lu You’s head turned to the other side.

Yue Yunxi clenched her hand into a fist, as if she could tightly grasp the remaining warmth.

After straightening up, she softly said to the grandmother, “She told you to go back to sleep and not worry too much about her.”

The grandmother’s eyes filled with heartache, and she immediately remembered, saying to Yue Yunxi, “Oh, right, it’s so late, you should go back and rest.”

Yue Yunxi glanced at Lu You, considering her words, “Your health is not suitable for exertion, let alone staying up late. Auntie Liu needs to take care of you and also needs to rest. I’ll stay here to take care of her. You both go and rest, and I’ll leave after Yoyo’s fever goes down.”

The grandmother waved her hand: “How can that be? That, that’s too much trouble!”

Yue Yunxi gave Auntie Liu a look.

Auntie Liu quickly took the old lady’s arm and whispered in her ear, “You know your condition. Listen to Teacher Yue.”

After hesitating for a long time, the grandmother reluctantly agreed.

Auntie Liu helped the grandmother out and gently closed the door.

From the increasingly smaller crack in the door, the grandmother caught a glimpse of Yue Yunxi sitting on the edge of the bed, holding her hand, massaging the fish border point below her thumb, and couldn’t help but pause.

Auntie Liu patted her shoulder, comforting her, “Don’t worry.”

The grandmother opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

Inside the room, only the sound of rain could be heard from outside, tapping on the glass, condensing into water trails winding down, torrential, humid, like secrets that couldn’t be hidden leaking from the shadows into the cracks of light and shadow.

Lu You felt like she was being steamed in a hot vinegar pot, her body hot, her muscles and bones sore.

Until she felt someone pressing her fish border point, in a dreamlike state, she opened her eyes a slit, saw the hand holding hers, plain and slender, and vaguely saw the silver frame of glasses.

She tiredly closed her eyes, murmuring aggrievedly, “I feel so bad, Mom…”

Yue Yunxi’s hand paused for a long time before continuing.

After massaging for a while, Yue Yunxi got up, took out an alcohol wipe, and wiped Lu You.

Not knowing how many times she had tested the temperature with the back of her hand, Yue Yunxi felt that she was not as hot and took the thermometer.

After a slight hesitation, she pulled open the collar of Lu You’s nightgown and inserted the thermometer.

Her hand inevitably touched the softness, and the dozens of seconds waiting for the “beep” sounded infinitely long.

The temperature was displayed at 36.2.

The suspended heart finally returned to its place.

Afraid of another fever, Yue Yunxi stayed by the bed and didn’t leave.

The dimmed light flowed with pale silver, like a full moon in the night, illuminating Lu You’s serene sleeping face, the curved eyelashes casting a fan-shaped shadow.

Yue Yunxi’s eyes were filled with the lingering tide of a burning soul, stranded in that small shadow.

Time passed minute by minute in the sound of rain.

After taking her temperature again and confirming that she wasn’t feverish, Yue Yunxi left the bedroom.

The door closed very lightly, but the grandmother was worried about Lu You, slept very lightly, and before she couldn’t keep her eyes open, she told the Bichon to listen for any movement and wake her. The little Bichon was as smart as a person, perked up its ears, listened carefully to the sound of footsteps, and immediately let out a low cry.

The grandmother rubbed her eyes, got up, put on her slippers, and went out. Seeing Yue Yunxi, she suppressed her voice and asked, “Has the fever gone down?”

Yue Yunxi also replied in a breathy voice: “It went down after two o’clock, and it hasn’t risen again. Go back to sleep, I’m going back.”

The grandmother said words of thanks and escorted her to the porch.

It was still raining outside, and Yue Yunxi didn’t let the old woman send her any further. She opened her umbrella and, as before, walked through the courtyard on her own.

Closing the courtyard door, she turned her head to look at the mailbox, stood there for a little while, and walked over.

The umbrella blocked the light from the street lamp, shrouding both the person and the mailbox in shadow.

The mailbox door was pulled open, and an envelope lay in it untouched.

ˉ

The next day at nine o’clock, Lu You woke up, sniffled, a little congested, her throat hurt when she swallowed, but it wasn’t too serious.

After sweating all night, she felt like she was about to ferment, and she got up to take a shower first. When she washed her face, she glanced at the fish border point of her palm.

She was really delirious from the fever, mistaking her grandmother for that person.

She opened her phone and saw that the transfer she had sent to Yue Yunxi yesterday had been returned. Sending it again would seem unappreciative, so Lu You could only give up.

Leaving the room, she walked to the living room, and her grandmother bumped into her with a thermometer: “You’re awake. Come on, take your temperature again.”

Lu You obediently took her temperature and handed it to the old lady to see: “There, no fever, cough cough.”

The grandmother breathed a sigh of relief and turned to instruct Auntie Liu, “Later, take out the throat lozenges and vitamins that Yunxi sent, and go to the pharmacy to get some medicine, buy a bottle of cough syrup.”

“Okay, I’ll remember, let’s have breakfast first.” Auntie Liu brought a casserole to the table.

“We were lucky to have Yunxi yesterday.” The grandmother took Lu You’s arm and walked towards the dining table, “You have to thank her properly later, whether it’s sending a gift or treating her to a meal. In such heavy rain, not only did she bring medicine, but she also took care of you for most of the night.”

Lu You was a little dazed: “Did Sister Yunxi take care of me last night? Not you and Auntie Liu?”

Auntie Liu ladled a bowl of porridge and placed it in front of her, explaining, “There was no antipyretic medicine at home. Teacher Yue told me when she recommended me that if there was something I couldn’t solve, I should call her. So I called her, and she came to deliver the medicine. She was worried that your grandma’s body couldn’t handle it, so she asked me to save my energy, so she didn’t let us take care of you, she stayed and took care of you herself, leaving around three or four in the morning.”

Lu You held the bowl with both hands, lowered her eyelashes, and her gaze fell on her palms.

The warmth of the porridge seemed to vaguely warm her palms.

Yue Yunxi was just too thoughtful and considerate.

She wanted to repay the favor as soon as possible, but she had incurred another one.

The doorbell suddenly rang, Lu You got up and looked at the video intercom, seeing Yue Yunxi outside the courtyard, she pressed the unlock button, and then opened the door.

Outside, the rain and mist were hazy, and everything around seemed to be dim and dull.

Yue Yunxi under the transparent umbrella, dressed in a cotton and linen grayish-white dress, her temperament even more aloof and refined.

Yue Yunxi walked to the porch and stopped, asking, “Are you feeling better?”

“Much better, cough cough.”

Lu You coughed lightly, covering her mouth with her hand. Before she could say thank you, she saw Yue Yunxi reach out and hand her a bag of fruit. She was stunned and took it.

“Thank you.”

Another fit of coughing.

Yue Yunxi reminded, “There’s medicine in the paper bag.”

Lu You looked into the plastic bag and saw that there was indeed a white paper bag. She took it out and opened it.

Inside were cold medicine, ibuprofen, cough syrup, houttuynia cordata oral liquid, licorice tablets, and fever patches.

“If your throat hurts, you can drink the houttuynia cordata oral liquid. It doesn’t taste like houttuynia cordata.”

Lu You nodded, “Okay.”

“There are throat lozenges and multivitamin tablets in yesterday’s souvenir gift set. You can take them out and eat them.”

Lu You nodded again, “Okay.”

“Go back.” Yue Yunxi paused, her tone even more serious, “Take care of yourself, take care of yourself.”

Lu You’s head nodded halfway, stalled and stopped.

The sound of rain mixed with the gentle words of advice rang in her ears, the plastic bag tightened in her palm, deepening the previous sigh.

“Okay, thank you, Sister Yunxi. And, thank you so much for yesterday.” Lu You pursed her lips, “I don’t know how to thank you enough.”

She wondered if she should treat her to a meal after she recovered from her cold or repay the favor by giving a gift.

Yue Yunxi spoke first, “You’re welcome, I also need to trouble you with something.”

Lu You immediately said, “Go ahead.”

“I’m going to treat two seniors to dinner next week, but I can’t choose a suitable restaurant. Can you help me choose one?” Yue Yunxi’s voice was soft and gentle, “It would be even better if you could take me to try it out.”

Lu You slightly raised the corners of her mouth and smiled, “This is not trouble at all, I already owe you a meal. Counting this time, I should treat you to two. You set a time, when do you need it?”

The smile rippling from the corners of her eyes was like a rainbow after the rain, making people couldn’t help but lingered their gaze, but she also feared exposing too much in the blatant gaze.

Yue Yunxi restrained herself and adjusted the way she held the umbrella. The umbrella surface drooped a little, blocking her view and concealing all the expressions in her eyes, both good and bad.

She asked, “Are you free this Sunday?”