Just the thought of everything that had transpired on the bus made Shen Haoxuan shiver. If not for him and the few other passengers holding back the auntie from hijacking the bus, they would all be in a car accident. When the driver regained control of the steering wheel and stopped the bus, everyone hurried to get out. The driver called the ambulance for the uncle and the police to come detain the auntie. Due to his date with his friends, Shen Haoxuan left in a hurry. He called a cab to hurry towards the manga con.

“You have no idea, I almost died!” He told his friends. He couldn’t believe that such incidents which only appeared in the news would one day apply to him.

“Sure, sure.””Right, of course that happened.” His friends chided him sarcastically, “Ha ha, everyone knows that an auntie can probably take you down with a swipe of her hand. There’s no need for heroic pretense around us.”

“It’s true.” Shen Haoxuan did not feel that heroic but he did feel quite energetic because he had done something good. The decorated stadium was filled with people, most of them locals or tourists from nearby towns who had heard of the event. Shen Haoxuan and his friends walked around the con, taking pictures as they went. Several famous youtubers were present, they even got a picture with a pretty young lady. That alone made their pilgrimage worth it already. Unlike his friends, Shen Haoxuan had not been in a relationship before. ‘Maybe my luck will come during university,’ He thought. He made a goal to get a girlfriend before he graduated from university… hopefully it was with the girl that he had been crushing on.

“Quick, log into at wechat!” When they were dining at the eatery next to the stadium that noon, his friend Liu Hui suddenly exclaimed, “Deng Nuotong really did apply for Shen Shi University.”

“For real?!” Shen Haoxuan quickly took out his phone. He scrolled down the messages and saw that Liu Hui was not lying. Deng Nuotong was really applying to the same school as he was!

Only Liu Hui knew about Shen Haoxuan’s crush on Deng Nuotong. Shen Haoxuan was not a ladies’ man by any means, in fact the only reason he had the girl’s social media contact was because they worked on a group project together this one time. Deng Nuotong did not come from a rich background or was she breath-takingly beautiful, but she had a place in Shen Haoxuan’s heart. He did consider confessing his feelings during the summer vacation but he failed to summon the courage every time…

Later he heard through the grapevines that she scored about the same points as he did in the exam, so he wondered if she would apply for the same university, and now his dream had come true! The thought of reuniting with Deng Nuotong at university, and even possibly sharing the same public transport every day, warmed his heart. When they travelled to and from school in the future, there would be plenty of chances for him to make his move. Due to the excitement, Shen Huoxuan’s heart raced so much that he started to cough, “Cough, cough… ha, ha, cough…”

“What’s wrong?””Looks like there’s a story here!” His other friends jumped on him. “Haoxuan and Deng Nuotong? Tsk, tsk, there should be punishment for keeping this secret hidden from us.”

Shen Haoxuan was so happy that he only smiled dumbly at his friend. His news made the rest of the con pale in comparison, his heart was not there anymore, his mind was on other things; Things like getting close to Deng Nuotong, confessing successfully, going to university together… his young heart had faith that his feelings would be reciprocated. After all, he had been picking up bits and pieces of evidence, like how Deng Nuotong looked at him, how the tone when she talked to him was different from when she conversed with the others, and how sometimes he would catch her smiling at him. It was like the sight of him made her smile, or at least… that was what he hoped…

“Cough, cough…” As happy as he was, he also felt a bit anxious. Ever since that coughing fit at the eatery, Shen Haoxuan’s condition only intensified. Initially, he did not mind it that much but on the bus home, he coughed so loudly and incessantly that other passengers glared at him. His heart skipped a beat. ‘Damn it, I wouldn’t have caught something from that uncle, would I?’

With a heavy heart, Shen Haoxuan returned home, which was a unit settled within a small apartment building. By then he was already feeling quite uncomfortable. He touched his forehead with his palm and he felt it heating up. He was reminded of the uncle’s strange shivering and profuse sweating inside the air-conditioned bus…

Shen Haoxuan grabbed the thermometer from the first aid kit to check his temperature. Fuck, he had burned up to 38 degree.

“What’s wrong?” Mother Shen, who was cooking in the kitchen, walked out to ask. She grabbed the thermometer to take a look and gasped in shock. “38 degree? Must be a sunburn, told you not to go out in such hot weather, didn’t I? Go and take the fever medicine!”

Father Shen, who was watching television, turned over, “After taking the medicine, go and sleep, don’t stay up to playing on your phone anymore.”

“Mom, dad…” Shen Haoxuan hesitated. He coughed heavily before continuing, “I might need to go to the hospital… I fear this is something more serious.”

“Shush! What are you talking about?” Mother Shen interrupted, “I’m sure you’ll be fine after taking the medicine.”

“I was on the bus with an uncle who was coughing his lungs out this morning.” Shen Haoxuan admitted. “Then I started to cough at noon and it has been getting progressively worse ever since.” Mother Shen and Father Shen’s expressions dropped immediately, this could be something serious.

“Please don’t let it be TB.””We’ll go to the hospital now.” It was already quite late and they had not had dinner but they were more worried about their son. They grabbed some crackers and headed out to the hospital. Perhaps Shen Haoxuan would be required to take a blood test so they only had him drink some water. Along the way, Shen Haoxuan’s coughing got more violent. His body slumped weakly on the seat. Seeing his son in this state, Mother Shen’s worry was indescribable. She tested his temperature again, he was burning up to 40 degrees!

Father Shen was told to drive faster. They reached the hospital as fast as the car could carry them and hurried to the emergency building. It was not often that the Shen family came to the hospital at night. The last time they did so was years ago but that night they arrived to find the emergency building quite crowded. The waiting chairs were filled with patients and their families. Some were already attached to drips and others lined up for their turn. Majority of the patients were children and seniors but there were some youths as well.

Noticeably, there were others suffering from serial coughing as well, they looked pale and sickly.

“When will it be our turn?” After waiting for a while, Shen Mother accosted the passing nurse, “My son is burning up to 40 degree already.”

“Soon, soon.” The nurse handed them an ice-pack before hurrying away, “Here. Use this for now.”

“Mom, dad, don’t trouble them.” Shen Haoxuan said between coughs. He was still quite conscious. “They’ll call when it’s our turn.” Mother Shen and Father Shen sighed anxiously, grumbling about things like why hadn’t it been their turn yet? Why were there only 1 or 2 doctors on duty?

“The doctors must be busy… having to see so many patients in one night.” Shen Haoxuan tried to say. Noting his words landing on deaf ears, he turned to play on his phone. ‘Damn it, I still haven’t sent a message to Deng Nuotong to congratulate her. Tomorrow, I’ll do it tomorrow… after the fever is over…’

Suddenly Shen Haoxuan coughed heavily and he could taste copper in his mouth.

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