Chapter 17 (1/2)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Weakly, she leaned heavily on his shoulder, her eyes slowly closing to slits as she whispered ever so quietly in his ear, “Are you one of my moronic fans?”

He realized that he had crossed the line by asking her that question. Perspiration dripping from his forehead, Shi Jin hesitated for a few seconds and said quietly, “…Yes.”

Possibly under the influence of a fever, she mumbled in a daze, “Let me touch your hands, and I will sign as many autographs as you want.” Breathing evenly, her voice grew weaker as she let herself go and flopped to the ground, murmuring, “Let me touch them for a little longer, and we could even take a picture together…”

Jiang Jiusheng was burning up at 38 degrees and was in a state of confusion.

Shi Jin carried her to the master bedroom. His room and bed were enveloped by the smell of her, and he desperately wanted to hide her away and keep her all to himself. Here, now, in his arms, was the person that he had obsessed over. Throwing caution to the wind, he pressed down and kissed her hard on the lips, without caring about the consequences.

Woof! Woof!

Jiang Bomei was barking at the doorway, tail wagging furiously.

Shi Jin lifted his head and said angrily, “Get out!”

The dog was terrified!

Scurrying away from its Master Papa’s room, it stole a glance at the person on Master Papa’s bed and realized that she looked a lot like its photo-Mama.

The silence in the room was punctuated only by continuous, heavy breathing.

“Sheng…”

Sighing, Shi Jin tucked the person in his arms tightly under the comforter, planted a light kiss on her forehead, and rose to retrieve his medicine chest. Jiang Jiusheng was burning up so badly that the usual non-medicinal fever-reducing measures would not have been effective. She slept, completely oblivious as Shi Jin wiped away the perspiration from her forehead and neck.

“Sheng… Sheng…”

When she did not respond to his efforts to rouse her, Shi Jin sat her cocooned body up against himself to give her some medicine. Her deathly pale lips were shut tightly, perspiration again forming on her furrowed brows.

Placing a pill to her mouth, Shi Jin coaxed, “Sheng, my good girl, open your mouth.”

Her brows twitched, and she opened her mouth, so he fed her the medicine.

As she tasted the pill, she frowned and complained, “It’s bitter.”

A delicate voice, soothing and lyrical like the tranquillity of a Jiangnan village—quite unlike her usual laid-back, spontaneous persona and definitely nothing like the powerful voice on stage, singing to the accompaniment of the guitar.

Feeling bad for her, Shi Jin tried to feed her a spoonful of water. “Drink some water and flush away the bitterness,” he said.

Mumbling, Jiang Jiusheng shut her eyes, refusing to open her mouth. After a moment’s hesitation, Shi Jin took a mouthful of warm water and placed his lips against hers.

After an hour, the medicine took effect, and her fever subsided a little. It was after ten, and Jiang Jiusheng was in a deep sleep, her body soaked in perspiration. Shi Jin dithered for a long time before he turned off the lights and stripped her of her clothes.

At eleven, Jiang Jiusheng’s phone rang. On the first ring, Shi Jin grabbed the phone and walked out of the room. When he saw the caller ID, his eyes turned cold with rage.

The person at the end of the line said, “Jiang Jiusheng, let’s talk.” It was Su Qing speaking with some urgency in a medium-toned voice.

Su Qing was about to repeat himself after the long silence that followed. Then he heard a deep voice reply, “She’s asleep.”

A man? A man was answering Jiang Jiusheng’s phone in the middle of the night. Su Qing’s brain went into overdrive as scenes of a clandestine affair filled his head. Overcome by curiosity, he asked, “Who are you?”

The phone replied with a low tone: toot, toot…

The guy had hung up on him!

Su Qing said nothing. He swiped to the call log and redialed.

A cold and disinterested voice replied, “Sorry. The number you have dialed is not in use. Please call again later.”

Damn! He had been blocked! Su Qing was both incensed and curious.

The person by his side prodded, “What? What?”

It was Su Qing’s manager, He Xiangbo, a slightly pudgy and official-looking man in his forties and one of Tian Yu’s old-school managers.

Su Qing shrugged. “I’ve been blocked.”

“What’s with Jiang Jiusheng?” Flustered, He Xiangbo began to stand up.

Su Qing simply shook his head, saying thoughtfully, “Not her. It was a man.”