Chasing the Fleeting Flower

8: For the Sake of Roasted Chickens..

Spring came; the weather turned quite grey and soggy. The condition was damp and good for mushrooms to grow. Although autumn grows the largest quantity, spring will do.

"Yu Jian-ah, I'm going to pick some mushrooms!" Xin Rui did not wait for him to reply before she skipped out of their newly found shelter and entered the forest with her handy-dandy old basket and a regular oiled-paper umbrella.

After an hour, she had managed to fill the entire basket with edible mushrooms and some herbs that she found along the way. Feeling satisfied, she quickly covered the top with some large leaves. Thunder roared from a distance, catching her attention. Something tells her that a bad omen is coming.

She gazed at the gloomy sky, seemingly ready to let out its cry. Rui looked at her surroundings and realized that she had entered quite deep into the forest. Frowning, she picked up her pace to look for cover. At the very least, she could avoid the incoming storm and return home later.

Spotting a nearby cave, she quickly ran inside before the rain could catch her. Rui set down the basket and her umbrella aside to gather some dried leaves. However, the forest with rainy weather heightens humidity, so most of her findings were damp.

Taking out her flint and stone from her pocket, she began to make a small fire. It was a good thing that she brought these along today. Yu Jian's survival tips are truly useful.

Meanwhile, when Yu Jian heard the thunder, his eyes grew wary as his eyebrows knitted. Rui ran out before he could even tell her that a storm would be coming soon. Thinking that she would return in less than an hour, he did not chase after her.

He sighed tiredly. She was always on the move, never staying still. If he turns around for a second, she disappears into thin air. If he were to hold her, she would slip out of his hand like sand. Taking out his own umbrella, he threw on a thick cape over his shoulders and set out to find her.

The rain poured heavily for the next hour. Yu Jian's pace sped up as he ran through the forest, hoping to pick up a hint of her somewhere.

He would repeatedly call out her name, but no one answered.

Xin Rui dozed off for a bit until she started to dream that Yu Jian's familiar voice was desperately calling out for her. When it became a little too realistic, she shook herself awake and looked around in surprise.

"Rui!" he called out with urgency, echoing outside of the cave.

Ah, it's real? She stood up from her spot and rushed out of the cave. When she saw the young man scanning the area frantically, her heart stopped.

Drenched from head to toe from the rain, he disregarded his own health. She quickly ran out to pull him into the cave for shelter, catching him by surprise.

"Yu Jian, how long have you been out there?" she asked worriedly, taking off his wet coat and immediately used her sleeves to dry his handsome face. His black hair clung onto his skin like seaweed, while droplets of water hung on his long lashes.

However, his face was too pale. His eyes were gazing off into the distance as he began to slur a little. Alerted, she touched her forehead with his and compared their temperature. Her eyes widened so she quickly pulled him near the small fire she built.

No, no, it wasn't enough! He was visibly shaking and while his forehead was burning up like fire, his body was freezing cold like ice.

"What do I do, what do I do..." she chanted with panic, looking left and right of her surroundings. Leaves, wooden branches she picked up, vines growing on the side of the rocks, mushrooms and herbs she collected—she must do something.

"My apologies, Yu Jian-ah, but consider this as setting our debt equal..." she guiltily whispered to him as she peeled his wet clothes off his skin, revealing his pale smooth skin. Looking away from his bare body, she took off her dry outer robe and covered him before piling some leaves on top of him.

Afterwards, she wrung his clothes and placed them near the fire to dry afore adding more flammable items to the fire, hoping to feed the hungry flames. When she turned around, Yu Jian was still shaking and turning blue from the cold. She sat down besides him with knitted eyebrows, forming wrinkles of worry.

Rui touched his burning forehead and cheeks before grabbing onto his hand, "You're so cold..."

She edged him towards the fire more but it doesn't seem to help at all. Rui turned out to look at the storm outside before gazing at Yu Jian again. It doesn't seem like the storm will stop for the next few hours.

"I can't leave him like this...I can't let him die..." she spoke to herself quietly, contemplating on her next move, "Screw it. I'll just ask him for some delicious roasted chicken later as compensation."

Rui took off the second layer of her robe before draping it over his figure, leaving her in her final, thin undergarment robe. She lifted her makeshift blanket and crawled on top of him, wrapping her warm body against his, "Oh my god, you are like an ice block."

She cried out loud and shivered when her skin touched his freezing surface, "These roasted chickens better be worth it..."

Adjusting her position into a more comfortable one, she made sure that she wasted no body warmth. Surprisingly, it was very comfortable and easy to lie on top of him. Was it because of him or because their frames fit well?

Soon enough, Yu Jian stopped shaking but he still remains unconscious.

Rui lifted her head up and slipped her cold hand out to touch his face. Still hot.

She frowned before taking both of her hands out to cup his warm smooth cheeks. Yu Jian subconsciously leaned towards her cool hands, seeking for comfort.

"I swear, I'm not taking advantage of you while you're sick. Don't hold me responsible for this, Yu Jian-ah."

Finding the situation a bit funny, she let out a small awkward laugh before her face grew warm. She was holding him in such an intimate way. Yu Jian looked like a sleeping angel in her small hands. His eyebrows were no longer knitted together and his muscles were more relaxed. The small blush on his face from the cold makes him more...endearing. Rui pursed her lips and turned her head to look elsewhere.

Ah, she must never let Zhi-gege know. Her heart felt a small pang of betrayal towards him. He will definitely misunderstand. Nonetheless, she had no control over her loud, drumming heart. It was beating so fast that she swore Yu Jian could even feel it.

"I'm just trying to keep him alive, nothing more." Rui lied, "Yes, nothing more."

Rui slowly removed herself from Yu Jian, making him frown slightly. She picked up the mushrooms she gathered and washed them with the water from falling rain. Finding some thin sticks, she stabbed them through a few mushrooms before hovering them over the fire. After some time, she poked it before taking a bite out of it.

Her nose scrunched up while she continued to chew, "Need some salt..."

Rui turned her body towards Yu Jian and cried out, "Yu Jian-ah, Yu Jian-ah, hurry and wake up. Your Rui-er is cooking you some very scrumptious mushrooms that are far superior than those five-star chefs."

Silence followed with only the rain pitter-pattering outside. The girl groaned to herself before finishing the remaining bland mushrooms. Stretching while yawning, she soon crawled back on top of Yu Jian before falling asleep peacefully. Their hearts quietly sung together in rhythm, beating as one.