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Became a National Couple with My Ex Side Story · Ye Cheng CP (Part 5): What Evil Intentions Could a Sick Person Possibly Have?

That weak, hoarse "Jiejie" made Cheng Nuo’s heart skip a beat—it even tugged at her liver.

But a sick Duan Ye wasn’t just like a little brother. He was practically like a son.

Cheng Nuo sat by his side, patiently lecturing him for ages—telling him if he kept this up, he’d burn out his brain; telling him she had money and would cover the medical bills. But Duan Ye just refused to get up.

And not only that—he held onto her hand in a daze and wouldn’t let her leave.

Cheng Nuo was starting to suspect his brain might already be cooked.

This shabby auto repair shop and beat-up car couldn’t block out any wind. Cheng Nuo had only been standing there a few minutes, and she was already shivering. If she really left Duan Ye to sleep here, the next time anyone heard from him might be in a headline like "Rich Second-Gen Freezes to Death After Running Away From Home."

It was one thing if she hadn’t known before she came, but now that she was here, she couldn’t just walk away and let him die.

No matter what, the first priority was getting Duan Ye out of this wreck of a car that couldn’t even properly fit his long legs.

She changed tactics and said, "Okay, fine, let’s not go to a hospital. How about you come sleep at my apartment?"

Duan Ye frowned, exhaled heavily, and mumbled, "Don’t wanna move… can your apartment come here by itself…"

Cheng Nuo was so angry she nearly choked. She summoned the strength of eighteen bulls and four tigers (not just nine bulls and two tigers!) and pulled at him again. "The car’s already here! Just switching to another vehicle—how could that possibly kill you?"

*

After much struggle, she finally managed to drag him out of the junk car. Duan Ye was clearly so feverish he could barely move—just standing upright made him wobble like a bamboo stalk ready to collapse. Cheng Nuo supported him with one arm, carrying half his weight, while using the other to close the shop’s roll-up door. Then, stumbling and staggering, she helped him into the taxi.

It was the dead of winter, and by the time she got him into the car, she was drenched in sweat from all the effort. Gasping for breath, she gave the driver her address and had just started to relax—when suddenly, the man beside her flopped sideways and laid his head in her lap.

Cheng Nuo’s leg sank under the sudden weight. The breath she’d just let out caught in her throat again. Duan Ye’s bristly short hair poked right into her knit dress, prickling and itching all at once.

She stiffened, trying to adjust to the unfamiliar sensation. Uncomfortable, she shifted her leg a little and tapped his shoulder. "...Do you have to lie down like this?"

Duan Ye clutched the hem of her dress, half-lidded eyes frowning. "Didn’t you say I could lie down in another car…"

"This is in the car? You’re on my lap!"

"Mm…" Duan Ye’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. "Softer than the car…"

"……"

What evil intentions could a sick guy possibly have?

Cheng Nuo told herself she shouldn’t judge Duan Ye’s actions with a normal person’s logic.

Otherwise, she would’ve kicked this flirty, feverish guy straight out of the car.

Her leg stayed numb the entire ride.

By the time she finally dragged, lugged, and half-carried the sick man into her apartment, Cheng Nuo’s limbs felt like jelly.

The moment she got him onto the bed in the bedroom, she completely collapsed—dropping onto the carpet at the bedside, panting like she’d run a marathon, staring at the unmoving corpse-like guy on the bed and cursing him three thousand words in her heart.

Once she caught her breath, she pulled herself up, turned on the room heater, peeled off his jacket, tucked him under the blanket, grabbed an ear thermometer from the bedside drawer, and took his temperature.

It read 38.8°C (101.8°F).

Cheng Nuo shook her head, opened the bedside medicine box, and started searching for fever medicine.

Back in the car, while Duan Ye was still somewhat lucid, Cheng Nuo had already asked him how he ended up like this—

After leaving the villa, he had nowhere to stay. He had just paid back a large sum of money to a friend and couldn’t afford a hotel. For the first two days, he temporarily stayed at the repair shop.

His so-called "bed" was just the backseat of that broken-down car.

He made do like that for two days. Then he got a chance to do a livestream and received a payment from the show team. With that money, he managed to live in a budget hotel for a little over half a month—a brief taste of "good days."

Unfortunately, good times didn’t last. Between daily expenses and paying the repair shop’s utility bills earlier that month, the money ran out quickly.

The advertising income from his Weibo posts hadn’t come through yet, and once again he couldn’t afford a hotel. So two days ago, Duan Ye went back to the repair shop.

But it was already mid-December, freezing cold. That place had no heater and no insulation—how could anyone live there?

After sleeping there for just two nights, he caught a cold and got seriously sick.

Cheng Nuo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Feeling both amused and sorry for him, she dug out some fever medicine and poured a cup of warm water in the kitchen. Coming back, she patted him on the blanket and said, "Get up and take your meds."

Duan Ye half-opened his eyes and looked at the medicine in her hand.

Before he could say anything, Cheng Nuo quickly added, "It’s free—I’m treating. My treat, okay?"

"Oh…" Duan Ye struggled to sit up, took the pills, drank the whole cup of warm water from her hand, then licked his dry lips and sleepily lifted his head while hugging the blanket. "Can I have another cup?"

"Like I could say no?" Cheng Nuo gave him a look and took the cup back to the kitchen. She found that the thermos was nearly empty and boiled a fresh pot of water.

Even though it only took a short while, by the time she returned to the bedroom, Duan Ye was already slumped sideways, fast asleep again.

Cheng Nuo sighed, tucked him in carefully, filled a thermos with the hot water, placed it on the bedside table, and quietly left the room.

Now that she’d finally settled him in, she tapped her stiff neck and aching shoulders, collapsed onto the living room couch, and pulled out her phone.

She had already explained the situation to the brand rep while they were still in the car.

The brand had issued a statement on their official account, explaining that Duan Ye wouldn’t be able to appear in the scheduled livestream due to a sudden illness and that they’d found a substitute host.

Over the past hour, both the brand’s account and Duan Ye’s own Weibo had been flooded with concerned fans asking about his health—worried that life’s hardships had crushed him. And honestly, they weren’t wrong.

Seeing so many netizens calling him "son" and "baby," all anxious, and even receiving private messages asking how Duan Ye was doing, Cheng Nuo figured she might as well go all the way and give them some peace of mind. She logged into her own Weibo and posted a new update:

「Don’t worry, moms. Your son just has a cold and a fever—nothing serious. He’s already asleep now.」

*

At seven the next morning, Duan Ye woke up under the covers. The bedroom was so warm that he didn’t realize where he was at first. He glanced at the soft pink-and-white ceiling light, then down at the pink floral-patterned blanket on him, and finally, the memories of last night slowly came back.

He sat up and stretched a bit. It felt like his fever had gone down. He lifted the blanket and got out of bed. As soon as he stood up, he noticed the nightstand and paused for a moment.

His eyes lingered for a while on the pastel-pink, very girly-looking thermos. Duan Ye blinked slowly, then shuffled over to the bedroom door in his slippers.

When he pulled the door open, a messy scene greeted him in the living room—

There was a thin blanket spread out over the couch. Cheng Nuo was curled up there, sleeping with the blanket wrapped around her. Because the couch was too narrow, one of her legs was hanging off the side, and her whole body had shifted close to the edge.

Duan Ye scratched his head and let out a low grunt, unclear if it was out of irritation or regret. Just as he was considering whether to carry her back to the bedroom, he suddenly heard a loud curse: "You just gonna lie there like a dead body?!"

"…?" Duan Ye squinted at the person on the couch. Her eyes were firmly shut—it seemed like she was talking in her sleep. He could guess who she was dreaming about.

He let out a quiet laugh and turned his head, but when he looked back, he saw that Cheng Nuo wasn’t just talking in her sleep—she was also kicking. That dangling leg of hers was about to hit the coffee table.

His body moved faster than his brain. Before he even had time to think, he’d already rushed forward.

At the same time, Cheng Nuo kicked out, lost her balance, and rolled right off the couch.

Thud! There was a dull sound as Duan Ye dropped to his knees in a sliding catch, just managing to catch her in time.

A second later, Cheng Nuo’s eyes flew open. She looked up at Duan Ye’s tightly furrowed brows, blinking in confusion.

She didn’t quite understand—just a moment ago, she was kicking Duan Ye in her dream while standing, so how did she suddenly end up lying in his arms?

And Duan Ye was kneeling on both knees… with a pained look on his face.

Was her kick really that powerful?

A sharp ache in his knees made Duan Ye suck in a breath. He couldn’t speak right away.

Cheng Nuo looked around, slowly waking up from the dream. Once she figured out what had happened, she scrambled out of his arms and jumped to the side.

Thinking back to the heavy "thud" she heard just as she woke up, she glanced down at Duan Ye’s knees and awkwardly wiggled her toes on the floor.

"Are you okay...?"

"I’ll live," Duan Ye muttered, rubbing his brow. He noticed her bare feet and picked up her slippers from nearby. Taking hold of her ankle, he handed them to her.

Cheng Nuo flinched like she’d been burned, quickly pulling her foot back and slipping on the slippers. Looking down, she swallowed softly and said, "Then... then rise, Sir."