106: My heart is beating a little fast

Brother Lu used to work all day without looking tired, but today, moving the cat villa, he was drenched in sweat.

Ling Zhaorui told everyone what happened in 301.

Su Liuyuan, who knew Lu Yu best, boldly guessed, "Could he have been bitten by Blood-red Poison Ants?"

"Afraid we'd worry, so he didn't say anything?"

Xiao Chuxia said, "The Safety Shelter hasn't seen any poison ants for the past two days, but during this time, the Rescue Team and Patrol Team have been outside daily, disinfecting and cleaning. They often get bitten and are sent to the Hospital for treatment."

"At 34 degrees Celsius, they would get heatstroke if they wore protective suits all the time, so they have to take them off periodically to breathe. That's usually when they get bitten."

Xiao Chuxia thought carefully: "I haven't seen Brother Lu at the Hospital, but I don't know if other nurses have."

"You guys eat first, I'll go check on him." Jiang Fei put down her chopsticks and went to 301.

Knock, knock, knock—

No one responded.

Did he fall asleep so quickly?

As Jiang Fei hesitated whether to kick the door open and enter, the door opened.

Lu Yu's thin pajamas were soaked with sweat, clinging to his body.

His face was pale, like a water ghost who had just come ashore.

"Why are you here..."

Before he could finish, Lu Yu couldn't hold on and fainted. Jiang Fei quickly reached out and grabbed him, letting him lean against her so he wouldn't fall to the ground.

His skin was burning hot, clearly indicating a fever.

"Su Liuyuan! Ling Zhaorui! Come help!" Jiang Fei shouted towards 302.

The two quickly came out, with Xiao Chuxia close behind.

"Brother Lu!" Ling Zhaorui rushed over in a panic and, with Su Liuyuan, helped him into the room.

The bedroom bed was already soaked in a large area with sweat and could no longer be slept on.

Ling Zhaorui and Su Liuyuan helped the unconscious Lu Yu to the sofa.

After some struggle, Lu Yu's shirt collar also came undone, revealing a small, square sterile dressing on his collarbone.

The edges were curled up, and a red, swollen rice-grain-sized wound was vaguely visible.

The surrounding skin also showed an abnormal redness.

Xiao Chuxia instantly understood the reason for Lu Yu's unconsciousness: "Miss, Brother Lu's wound is inflamed and needs to be re-dressed. He also needs anti-inflammatory and fever-reducing medicine."

Jiang Fei immediately returned to 302 to get the first-aid kit. Xiao Chuxia was responsible for dressing the wound, and she gave Lu Yu the medicine.

Ling Zhaorui and Su Liuyuan went to change the bedroom's bedding set.

After asking the two men to help Lu Yu change into dry clothes, Xiao Chuxia and Jiang Fei went to the hallway to wait.

"His wound was caused by a poison ant bite. Does he need to be sent to the Hospital?"

Xiao Chuxia shook her head: "Sterile dressings are only available at the Hospital and are specifically for patients bitten by poison ants."

"The fact that Brother Lu has a dressing means he has already received treatment."

"His high fever symptoms are, firstly, due to the side effects of the poison ant medication, and secondly, because the wound was wet for a long time and he didn't go to the Hospital in time to change the dressing and disinfect it, leading to inflammation."

"Brother Lu probably didn't rest well after being bitten by the poison ant and went back to work with the Patrol Team."

Confirming that Lu Yu was not in life-threatening danger, Jiang Fei felt relieved.

At this moment, Su Liuyuan and Ling Zhaorui had also finished helping Lu Yu change clothes and opened the door.

The bedroom was tidied up, and they helped Lu Yu back to bed.

Jiang Fei: "You two still have to work tomorrow morning, so go back to eat and get some rest. Su Liuyuan and I will take turns looking after him."

"Brother Lu's fever should subside in about two or three days. If his temperature doesn't come down, Miss, you can directly send him to the Hospital to find me, no need to queue."

After she finished speaking, Xiao Chuxia and Ling Zhaorui returned to 302 to eat, and also brought Jiang Fei and Su Liuyuan's portions.

After the four of them finished eating, Su Liuyuan took on the dishwashing chore and went back to catch up on sleep.

He was responsible for the night, and Jiang Fei for the day, measuring Lu Yu's temperature every three hours.

If Lu Yu sweated too much and his clothes were soaked, Jiang Fei would change his upper body, then call Su Liuyuan to change his lower body.

There's a difference between genders; one shouldn't take advantage of a sick teammate to peek at what shouldn't be seen.

After three consecutive days of care, Lu Yu's fever subsided, and he woke up.

When he saw Jiang Fei sitting on the chair by the bed, Lu Yu was startled.

The sunlight streaming in from the window cast a shallow golden halo over the young woman, melting the coldness in her brows and eyes, making her appear like a snow lotus blooming alone on a mountain peak, elegant and beautiful.

Lu Yu was momentarily lost in thought, unable to distinguish between dream and reality.

"Why are you here..."

Having not spoken for several days, Lu Yu's voice was extremely hoarse.

"You had a fever, I'm here to take care of you." Jiang Fei helped Lu Yu sit up and handed him the cup from the bedside table.

After drinking half a glass of water, Lu Yu's throat felt much better, and he also remembered what happened before he fainted.

It was pretty much what Xiao Chuxia and Su Liuyuan had said.

To deal with the Blood-red Poison Ants as soon as possible, Lu Yu endured his discomfort to work, never expecting to develop a fever on the day he returned.

Afraid his teammates would worry, he wanted to take medicine and get through it himself.

"Thank you for your trouble."

"Friends don't need to say such things. I'll go make you some food."

Jiang Fei called Su Liuyuan to come and take care of Lu Yu.

As soon as he entered, Su Liuyuan teased, "You're finally awake. The captain and I have been looking after you day and night these past few days. How are you going to repay us?"

"If there's a chance to return to Changhai later, all the diamonds and jewelry in my house are yours."

Su Liuyuan grinned from ear to ear.

Lu Yu's diamonds and jewelry were much more than his!

"What about the captain?"

"Find more gold to give her." Lu Yu inexplicably recalled the scene from just now.

Perhaps he had been lying down for too long; his heart was beating a little fast.

Soon, Jiang Fei came to 302 with a meal box.

Lu Yu had clear noodle soup with a poached egg, plus a plate of stir-fried greens.

She and Su Liuyuan ate braised pork rib noodles, each with a fried chicken drumstick.

Looking at the noodles in his hand, Lu Yu stared intently at the other two's meals, his eyes full of longing—

He wanted to eat it!

Understanding Lu Yu's meaning, Jiang Fei ruthlessly refused: "Patients can't eat greasy food. You can only have these once you've fully recovered."

Su Liuyuan bit into his fried chicken drumstick: "The captain is right, don't be greedy. I'll eat more for you."

"This big chicken drumstick smells so good."

Lu Yu: "..."

Why didn't the rats in the dark night blast Su Liuyuan to death back then???

—

After nearly a week, Lu Yu's body recovered.

Big Yellow was also taken by Ling Zhaorui to the Planting Base for sterilization.

The Planting Base had animal doctors, and Big Yellow, as an employee's "family member," could be sterilized for free.

The animal doctor also provided teeth cleaning services.

That evening, Ling Zhaorui brought Big Yellow back, wearing a neck cone.

"Brother Lu, I'll take Big Yellow for stitch removal in seven days. For now, keep him in the cat villa and don't let him run or jump around, lest he break open the surgical stitches."

Ling Zhaorui told Lu Yu some precautions.

After noting them all, Lu Yu put Big Yellow into the cat villa.

Big Yellow, who was usually lively and jumping, was now listlessly curled up in a ball. Jiang Fei felt a pang of sympathy and went home to make cat food for the child to supplement its nutrition.

Big Yellow was still in a daze.

It felt like something was missing, but it couldn't pinpoint what.

What exactly was strange?

After making the patient's meal, Jiang Fei then made a nutritious meal. She was busy until Big Yellow's stitches were removed and he regained his spirits, finally having a chance to go out.

However, as soon as she went downstairs, she almost couldn't breathe from the heat and quickly ran back home.

Looking at the thermometer, it was 38℃.

The air conditioning indoors had always been kept at 25 degrees, and the Supermarket also maintained a comfortable temperature. Who would have thought the outside temperature would suddenly be so high?

Taking off her jacket, finding a long sun-protective shirt from the Supermarket warehouse and putting it on, with cooling patches all over the inside, Jiang Fei went out with a parasol.

The humid weather had ended; the scorching sun beat down, baking the earth.

The breeze blowing felt no coolness at all, but instead made it stifling and difficult to breathe.

The residents of the Safety Shelter had all begun their normal lives.

They used to pray for the sun to appear, but now they wished it would disappear.

Two or three passersby gathered, discussing the abnormal weather.

"What's going on with this cursed weather? Minus 70 degrees Celsius in summer, and now plus 38 degrees in winter. Can we still go back home?"

"I heard from the officials that the temperature will continue to rise, maybe even breaking 50 degrees Celsius."

"I think God just wants to kill us!"

"Could it be that the doomsday theories that spread during the extreme cold were true?"

"I hope it's just a rumor."

Jiang Fei found a deserted spot and took out three trucks.

One of them, loaded with supplies, was driven to West Street.

Su Liuyuan had recently gone to Ping An Supermarket to clean up. Once restocked, it could open for business.

Along the way, she occasionally saw shop owners bringing their employees to clean up the residual ant-killing medicine in their stores.

Some lazy shop owners didn't want to clean up and just opened for sale, not caring if customers would be poisoned.

Noting down which shops they were, Jiang Fei used the walkie-talkie to report them to Lu Yu.

She enjoyed being a "helpful citizen" again.