Chapter 17: Except for you.

Xu You flips out the key to the guest room and says as he opens the door, "I'm opening the door and coming in."

Two layers of curtains blocked out the light from the windows, the room was somewhat dim, the bed was disorganized, tables and chairs and stools overturned to, and the floor was full of objects, large and small, interspersed with shards of glass and vases.

Xu You scanned the room and didn't see Min Duan, but only heard the sound of heavy, suppressed gasps echoing in the quiet room. The only thing that could be heard in the quiet room was the echo of suppressed and heavy gasps.

Carefully skirting around the floor, she saw Min Duan in the corner on the other side of the bed, in a terrible state, with bloodshot eyes, veins protruding from the corners of his forehead and neck, and his whole body extremely tense.

Xu You called out softly, "Min Duan?"

Min Duan stiffened at that, burying his head between his arms and curling his whole body up, his knuckles clenching and rattling.

"Are you okay?" Xu You takes a step closer.

"Don't come any closer," Min Duan said in a muffled voice, suddenly heaving violently in his chest and gasping for air for a long time, "don't look at me."

He knew that he was like a monster crawling on all fours at the moment, a monster on the verge of losing his mind and going berserk, something that would never happen to a normal person, even if he could not restrain himself no matter how much he tried.

Xu You immediately averted her eyes and didn't approach him again, she just went along with the movement and opened the window, her tone remained the same as usual, "Your room is always unventilated, it's too stuffy at this moment." She covered it with curtains the entire time, not letting the light in.

Min Duan also followed her example and planted a few pots of jasmine flowers on the windowsill, when the cool and soft evening breeze blew in, carrying the light fragrance of jasmine flowers around the house.

Xu You continued to carry him, standing still and not leaving.

In fact, she knew that Min Duan was perfectly capable of maneuvering her away, but he didn't.

After a moment, Xu You hears the sound of a drawer being pulled open and pills being shaken out of a bottle.

Xu You hadn't made a sound and waited quietly. After about half an hour or so more, Min Duan's breathing gradually stabilized, and his voice was still a bit hoarse: "It's okay."

Xu You turned around and saw him sitting on the floor, his back against the bed, one leg bent, his left hand resting feebly on his knee, and a few scattered white pills on the floor, as well as an injection.

Xu You sat down next to him, expecting her to ask, "What's wrong with you?" "What are these drugs?" "Will you have another attack?" But she didn't, she didn't ask anything that he might find embarrassing.

"You haven't eaten since morning noon," Xu You said softly as she eyed him calmly, "Are you hungry now, would you like some cookies first."

Min Duan froze before slowly hmming.

Xu You was about to get up to make him milk and get him cookies when he realized he was about to say something, so he didn't move, giving him a chance to talk.

After a moment of silence, Min Duan slowly spoke, "I hate the scent of the living, and would have a physical and psychological aversion to it." He didn't want to hide it from Xu You, and fearing that she would misunderstand, he hastened to grip her wrist tightly and said, "Other than you."

In fact, Min Duan had been sick a few times before, but they were all under control, and he covered them up every time, and Xu You didn't say anything even when he found out.

I'm afraid that this time, the onset of the disease is so strong because Qi You, although Qi You is the main female character, but at first also in the category of strangers that Min Duan delineated, and directly living in, and within the scope of activities of Min Duan, Min Duan does not want to leave, and because Qi You is her cousin can not be evicted, and had to force to tolerate.

Min Duan knew that she was thinking of Qi You, and fearing that she would mind, he carefully explained, "Actually, I'm taking medication, so I'll be fine once I get used to it." Saying so, he gradually loosened her wrist.

"Would you ......" He hung his head, lowered the emotion in his eyes, and said in a low, hard voice, "Hate it when I'm like this."

Not being able to go out shopping with her, not being able to hold hands with her on walks, not even being able to be around her was hard to accept. Before Qi You came, he hadn't thought about Xu You out there, or the fact that there were so many things he couldn't do with her.

"I can't even go out every day." Min Duan lowered his eyelids, his hand squeezing noiselessly.

His sickly white face turned and ghastly white, as if he had sentenced himself to death.

"What's wrong with that," Xu You held his wrist, his tone was gentle, "Everyone has their own way of life, you're just a bit of a homebody, I'm quite a homebody as well, nowadays technology is so advanced, isn't there still online shopping and takeout, so it's not like anything will happen if you don't go out. "

Min Duan's long eyelashes trembled as he slowly raised his head to meet her calm and bright eyes.

Once again, she was putting him on equal footing with normal people.

At this moment, Xu You's head rang with the system's beep.

"Ding--Congratulations to the host, the trust value has reached 80, rewarding 2000 points."

"Please ask the host to use the designated props for the decapitation task."

--

Qi You has been depressed for almost a week, doing everything in a lack of interest, often pinching the phone, do not know what to think.

In fact, Xu You, as her cousin, could have told her, "You have to look at people clearly", "Who hasn't met a few scumbags in his life, that guy is not good enough for you", "Everyone will fall down sometimes! "and so on.

But Xu You finds all this preaching and soothing meaningless, and as long as Qi You is willing to talk, she can be the best listener, guide Qi You to let out her emotions, and also provide her with companionship and care in her actions.

The only thing you can't do is stand on the high ground but say to Qi You at the bottom of the valley, why are you still stuck down there and can't get out.

One morning, a few days later, Qi You suddenly went out of the door, with something in his eyes and a hint of urgency in his demeanor.

Xu You looked in the direction she left for a long while, Min Duan tapped the desktop with his knuckles, "Should I send a puppet to follow her?"

Xu You recovered his thoughts, "No need."

Qi You didn't come back until the evening of the next day, and when she saw Xu You, she bowed her head a bit shyly, "Cousin."

Xu You's expression remained unchanged, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she hadn't returned all night, and only asked her, "What do you want to eat tonight?"

Qi You secretly sighed in relief and said absentmindedly, "Ribs, pig's feet are fine." After saying that, he went back to his room.

Xu You opened the refrigerator and looked at the ingredients, and went out to buy many more ingredients back before starting to cook.

Min Duan was in the living room fiddling with the thousand paper cranes Xu You had folded for him, and after waiting for a long time without seeing the food on the table, he followed him to the kitchen and raised an eyebrow, "What kind of day is it today? You should have asked me to help with all the cooking."

Xu You put the lid on the pot and smothered the last dish, "It's almost done already, you can serve the pork ribs and pickled fish first."

When the last course is served, Xu You goes to ask Qi You to come out to eat.

The three of them sat down and Xu You put a piece of braised pork chop into Qi You's bowl.

Min Duan looked away and pinched his chopsticks to poke at the bowl of rice twice, but Xu You paid no attention to him and kept on serving Qi You the food.

Qi You, in contrast to her usual chattering and nagging, smothered her meal, and from Xu You's perspective, you could see her eyes reddening.

In the evening, after washing up, Xu You and Qi You lay down on the bed together and went to sleep. Today, both of them had very little to say, so they quickly turned out the light.

In the thick of the moonlit night, with silence all around her, hearing the even breathing of the person on her side, Qi You gently lifted the covers, tiptoed out of the bed and walked to the door, opening it, she looked back at the person on the bed, and then wordlessly said, "Cousin, thank you, I'll be going now."

After the door closes, Xu You opens his eyes and stares motionlessly at the dappled moonlight falling in at the window.