[Picking Boat and Accompanying the Moon] We Will Meet Again Later - Chapter 27

Jiang Feng almost thought he had misheard.

Ning Xu stood at the doorway of her room; stepping inside meant entering the space for sleep and rest.

Here, in this context, her words carried no tone of seeking opinion—it sounded partly like an invitation, but more like a statement.

Ning Xu leaned against the doorframe and looked up at him, “Do you need me to repeat it?”

She watched as Jiang Feng lowered his head slightly, his cold-reddened hand rubbing the back of his neck before brushing lightly over the thin skin beneath his eyes, as if feeling somewhat embarrassed.

The tips of his ears were red, but his expression remained fairly composed. He cleared his throat softly, “Okay.”

What did “okay” mean? So, Ning Xu repeated herself, “Oh, I said I want to sleep with you.”

“…”

Jiang Feng turned his head away slightly, an indescribable faint blush spreading further. “That ‘okay’ didn’t mean for you to repeat it.”

So, it meant he was okay with sleeping together. Ning Xu almost laughed. She had no experience with this and, feeling momentarily nervous, her mind went blank.

“Now?” Jiang Feng asked.

Whether the room temperature was set too high or not, Ning Xu suddenly felt a bit hot, but she maintained her composure, “Otherwise?”

Jiang Feng, “Then—”

Just then, a voice abruptly cut in, “What are you two doing?”

Gao Jinfei walked upstairs, hands on his hips, “You said you were just coming up to deliver something, so why are you still chatting? Are we eating or not?”

In the dead of winter, Gao Jinfei seemed to have just descended from the Fiery Mountains, radiating fury from head to toe, his tone sharp.

He really thought Jiang Feng had a tendency to act out whenever he encountered Ning Xu. After the evening shoot, instead of eating, Jiang Feng had tried to find a local to drive him out.

Gao Jinfei had grabbed hold of Jiang Feng, unwilling to let him wander around half-blind in an unfamiliar place. If anything happened, Gao Jinfei would be skinned alive by Old Master Jiang and his grandfather together.

Resigned, he drove Jiang Feng out himself. When he asked what he needed to buy, it turned out to be ice cream—and not just any ice cream; the cheap kind wouldn’t do. It had to be an ice cream cone.

Where would you find that around here? In the middle of winter, not every convenience store even kept their freezers running.

They drove all the way to the town before finding a supermarket that had it. And after finally buying it, the bastard didn’t even eat it himself. He held it carefully, afraid it would melt, and even asked for some ice cubes to go with it.

By the time they got back, the ice had melted, but the ice cream was still intact.

And who would have thought it was for that female streamer?

How absurd. It was almost like the story of Imperial Consort Yang and her lychees.

Hungry and full of resentment, Gao Jinfei waited downstairs in the car for what felt like ages. When no one showed up, he came up to hurry them along like a man possessed.

The ambiguous atmosphere was shattered by the oblivious and tactless interruption. Jiang Feng wasn’t sure if Ning Xu still wanted to proceed now. He asked again, “Then, now…?”

Ning Xu didn’t know he hadn’t eaten yet, so she said, “You should go eat.”

Seeing Jiang Feng hesitate, probably worried she might be upset, Ning Xu added playfully, “How can you work without energy? Go on, eat up.”

Jiang Feng, “…”

After they left, Ning Xu closed the door and let out a slow breath.

The room was warm, and worried the ice cream would melt, she unwrapped it and started eating, trying to cool down both her body and her thoughts with something cold.

Jiang Feng’s dinner that night was eaten in a state of utter distraction.

He finished hastily and returned to the guesthouse. Ning Xu had already gone back to her room. By the time Jiang Feng finished washing up and getting ready, it was almost 2 a.m.—too late. Ning Xu hadn’t rested well the night before either.

He hesitated for a moment, then sent Ning Xu a WeChat message: [Are you asleep?]

After waiting half an hour with no reply, Jiang Feng assumed she was resting and finally lay down to sleep.

Ning Xu had an exceptionally uncomfortable night. Whether it was because of the ice cream or not, she felt chilled all over, with a heavy, aching pain in her lower abdomen.

She turned up the heat even more, even putting her down jacket under herself beneath the blankets. She broke out in a sweat, kicked the covers off in her sleep, and spent the night tossing and turning between chills and feverish heat.

The next morning, Jiang Feng knocked on Ning Xu’s door but heard no response. Thinking she had slept late and wasn’t up yet, he had no choice but to head to the shoot first.

Time seemed to blur, and Ning Xu drifted in and out of consciousness, faintly aware of some commotion. But her body felt heavy, exhausted, and there was a dull ache everywhere. She wanted to get up but couldn’t muster the strength.

Suddenly, she heard a loud thump. She forced her eyelids half-open and saw Jiang Feng walking toward her. He wasn’t using his cane, his steps were hurried, and his expression was deeply anxious. He had just bumped into a cabinet.

Ning Xu parted her lips, about to speak, but it was too late. Jiang Feng’s knee slammed hard into the wooden bed frame. He didn’t even seem to notice the pain, his hands reaching out, trying to find where she was.

“Jiang Feng…” Ning Xu’s voice was weak, her throat dry and sore.

Hearing her, Jiang Feng’s hands found her. He immediately felt her forehead. “You have a fever. Let’s get you to the hospital.”

Ning Xu was helped into a sitting position, but a sharp pain shot through her lower abdomen, and she felt the dampness in her pants. She collapsed back onto the bed, utterly defeated. “It’s my period. I don’t want to go to the hospital.”

“Where else do you feel unwell?” Jiang Feng asked urgently. “Do you have pads with you?”

“No,” Ning Xu said listlessly, pulling the down jacket out from under her.

“Okay, wait for me.”

Jiang Feng tucked the quilt around her and left the room.

“How is she?” Gao Jinfei asked, waiting outside the door with the guesthouse owner. He hadn’t gone in.

The owner had master keys, but she couldn’t just let anyone open a young woman’s door. It was only because they seemed to know each other that she had given Jiang Feng the key. Now, feeling responsible, she was also waiting by the door to check on the situation.

Jiang Feng had finished the morning shoot but hadn’t seen Ning Xu. When she didn’t reply to his messages, he rushed back immediately. Getting no response after knocking, he had to ask the owner for the key. If she had refused, he would have broken the door down.

Jiang Feng said, “Take me to a convenience store and a pharmacy.”

The owner kindly gave them directions to the nearest small shop and pharmacy.

Jiang Feng thanked her repeatedly and got into the car with Gao Jinfei.

“Hey, don’t…” Gao Jinfei said, driving while glancing at Jiang Feng’s face, his own anxiety growing.

He hadn’t seen Jiang Feng look like this in a long time. The last time was when they had first met.

They reached the small shop first. A wooden sign hung outside said “Convenience Store,” but it looked more like a mahjong parlour. Several older women were playing mahjong inside.

Jiang Feng asked, “Do you have sanitary pads?”

One of the women, probably the owner, looked up from her tiles and asked, “Day use or night use?”

Jiang Feng was stumped. Leaving aside his blindness, this wasn’t exactly a topic he was familiar with.

Gao Jinfei came to his friend’s rescue, adopting the demeanour of a ‘women’s expert.’ “It’s daytime, of course day use.”

The aunties all chuckled.

This shop didn’t sell snacks, only daily necessities. A few rickety wooden shelves lined the walls, stacked haphazardly with toothbrushes, towels, cups, and other items. Some things looked dusty, as if they hadn’t been sold in ages.

The owner dug out a few packs of sanitary pads. “See which one you want?”

Gao Jinfei looked down. Cotton surface, dry-weave surface, 240mm, 280mm… It was like being back in school, struggling with 3D geometry.

Two grown men stood in the doorway, facing a row of pink, blue, and purple packages.

Gao Jinfei scratched his head. “Should I call that other guy?” He had a playboy friend in his circle who supposedly knew everything about women.

Jiang Feng tried calling Ning Xu. No answer. She was probably asleep again.

Not wanting to waste any more time, he said, “We’ll take one of each kind,” and ended up with a large bag.

Next, they went to the pharmacy for fever medicine and then to a restaurant to buy some congee.

Back at the guesthouse, Jiang Feng used the key from the owner to open the door again.

“Ning Xu, Ning Xu.”

He called her name softly, waking her.

Ning Xu saw the huge bag of supplies. She didn’t have the energy to wonder why he’d bought so much. She just grabbed a random pack, went to the bathroom to change, and then slowly, weakly, made her way back to bed.

Bruises were already forming on Jiang Feng’s arm, knee, and shin from his earlier collisions.

He listened to the faint sounds Ning Xu made, and a deep sadness welled up inside him.

If his eyes were normal, he could be carrying her on his back or holding her in his arms right now.

He had bought shepherd’s purse and lean pork congee. Jiang Feng unwrapped it and placed a spoon inside. “You haven’t eaten all day. Have some first, then take your medicine and rest.”

Ning Xu leaned weakly against the headboard, took the congee, and began eating small mouthfuls.

It was a bit too quiet.

Jiang Feng couldn’t help but fall into a discouraged line of thought: if he could see, he could be feeding her right now.

He had wanted to try earlier, but Ning Xu hadn’t even considered the idea.

For someone who still needed help with many aspects of daily life, people often overlooked what he wanted to do, what he could do. They had already categorized him as someone to be protected.

He wanted to buy things for her, but he couldn’t drive himself. He needed someone else to drive him.

He was even dispensable. Even if he didn’t go, Gao Jinfei could have bought everything and brought it back.

Ning Xu really had no appetite. She managed a few bites before pushing it away, leaning against the headboard and drifting into a heavy, feverish sleep.

Jiang Feng wanted to get her some hot water for later, when she would take the medicine. He stood up and began feeling his way around the unfamiliar room. His hand accidentally knocked over a vase, sending it shattering across the floor.

In an unfamiliar place, causing this kind of mess in his frantic state—it was something that should feel normal to him by now.

But today, it was especially hard to bear.

He crouched down, almost self-destructively, and began groping for the fragments. His hands were pricked and cut, but it felt like he was forcibly tearing away the carefully constructed disguises and facing the tattered soul beneath.

By the time he finished gathering the pieces, his hands were a bloody mess.

But he couldn’t see it.

The pain was the only thing that made him feel vividly alive.

He washed his hands, dried them, washed them again, dried them again, until the bleeding slowly stopped.

He finally found the water dispenser. It was a small model with only one spout. Adjusting the temperature required pressing touch-sensitive buttons on the control panel.

Jiang Feng held the cup in his left hand and used his right to feel for the control panel. His finger found a button, and scalding hot water immediately gushed out, splashing from the cup onto his injured hand.

The boiling water filled the fresh wounds. Jiang Feng gritted his teeth and didn’t let go.

Ning Xu couldn’t open her eyes. When water was offered, she drank; when medicine was offered, she swallowed.

Soon, drowsy from the medication, she sank even deeper into oblivion.

The lights had been off in the room the whole time. Ning Xu found light tiring and harsh on her eyes, and Jiang Feng, who had no light perception at all, had no need for it.

He sat in the chair by the bed, his entire form swallowed by the shadows.

Ning Xu hadn’t been sick in almost two years. Catching a chill on the terrace while talking to Xu Qiaohan, eating ice cream late at night, and then getting her period—it all conspired to make this illness hit her hard. Her whole body ached unbearably.

Jiang Feng gently stroked her forehead and hair, soothing her softly, “Ning Xu, Ning Xu.”

In the midst of this torment, swinging between chills and fever, this hellish suffering, Ning Xu suddenly felt a sense of stability and peace. Her heart softened, and she murmured sleepily, “Jiang Feng, you’re mine, right?”

Jiang Feng leaned closer, heard her clearly, and suddenly, his right eye rimmed red.

Her illness had plunged him back into self-torment.

He was a useless existence.

The pent-up emotions pressed down on him, like the prominent veins straining on his neck. Jiang Feng’s voice was low and hoarse. “Someone like me…”

He couldn’t control the tremor in his voice. “Look at my eyes…”

He raised his hand and, ignoring the pain, roughly removed his prosthetic eye, revealing the flesh-colored orbital implant beneath.

“Look at me… my eyes.”

He choked up, his voice bitter and full of anguish, his spine curling forward.

“Someone like me.”

“Why would you still want me?”