CHAPTER 4

Heavy Rain

10 o'clock.

The Information Office held a press symposium on the deployment of precautions against severe convective weather expected this week.

Cameras from numerous media outlets flashed with clicking sounds.

Chi Yang wore a simple white V-neck blouse paired with black high-waisted wide-leg trousers, her work badge neatly hanging on her chest, and her slightly curled long hair cascading over her shoulders.

Chi Yang spoke with poise and composure, at a measured pace, "Good morning, everyone. I am the press spokesperson, Chi Yang.

According to the latest monitoring and forecasts, our city is currently in a critical period where cold and warm air masses converge, and there is a high probability of localized, scattered severe convective weather. However, please do not panic blindly, the severe convective weather this week will not be as widespread or intense as in midsummer.

Although the affected areas may not be extensive, their destructive potential should not be underestimated. In the coming days, please follow official media updates through online platforms for the latest information, take precautionary measures, reduce outdoor activities, and ensure your personal safety.

Thank you all. That concludes my remarks."

On Monday, the Information Office held countless symposiums throughout the day. Briefings from the Meteorological Observatory, the Meteorological Service Center, the Emergency Warning Center, and other departments piled up into a small mountain on the desk.

Chi Yang worked nonstop until nearly the end of the day before she finally had a moment to pour herself a glass of water and lazily stretch in her seat. Gu Weiwei, sitting across from her, teased, "Yangyang, you're so focused today, why don't you just stay and keep me company for the night shift?"

Chi Yang was momentarily stunned, then pretended to shut down her computer and pack up at lightning speed to leave.

Gu Weiwei chuckled, "Hey, hey, hey, I'm just joking."

Chi Yang naturally knew she was joking and played along with delight.

After wrapping up the last bit of work, Chi Yang packed a dinner from the cafeteria. When she got home, she first called her mother, Jiang Mingjuan. Since retiring, Teacher Jiang had enjoyed making plans with her girlfriends to visit resorts around the city.

Chi Yang: "Mom, have you checked the weather forecast? Don't go out this week."

Her mother rambled on the other end, "The phone says it won't rain until Wednesday. I was planning to steam some soup dumplings tomorrow and bring them over to you."

Chi Yang quickly stopped her, correcting, "Mom, it's not starting Wednesday, it's Tuesday night. And the wind might pick up as early as the afternoon. It's not safe, so please don't come."

Her mother reluctantly agreed, then asked, "Are you free this weekend then? You haven't come home for dinner in weeks."

Chi Yang was about to agree readily when she remembered her plan to go house-hunting with Lu Yunqi. She hedged, "I've been a bit busy lately. This weekend I need to help a friend look for a place."

Her mother keenly caught the word "friend" and asked, "What friend? Why are they suddenly looking for a place?"

Chi Yang's stomach growled, and she grew a bit impatient with the questioning. "A college classmate. She just returned from abroad."

"Mom, stop asking. I'll come home for dinner on Sunday night, make sure you cook something good."

Her mother stopped pressing and huffed, "Fine, fine, fine. I won't ask. Just remember to come back on Sunday and don't get too busy and forget."

Chi Yang smiled softly, "I promise!"

After hanging up, Chi Yang plopped down on the carpet in front of the living room sofa, leaning her back against the couch. She propped her tablet on the coffee table and ate dinner while binge-watching a show.

Night fell.

Perhaps because she was exhausted from the day, Chi Yang felt drained all over after her shower and went to bed early.

She wasn't sure if it was the glaring light that woke her, but when she opened her eyes again, only an hour had passed. It turned out she had fallen asleep so quickly that she'd forgotten to turn off the bedroom light.

Chi Yang cleared her throat, it was dry and scratchy. She got up, poured herself a glass of water, took a few sips, set the cup on the nightstand, and crawled back under the covers.

......

The next day.

The sky was overcast, hanging low and heavy. The air was stuffy and humid, as if heralding the arrival of a violent storm.

The moment she woke up, Chi Yang felt something was off. Her whole body was chilled, goosebumps breaking out in waves. Her head throbbed painfully, her heavy eyelids felt weighted down like lead, long lashes casting faint, tired shadows beneath her eyes, and her dry lips were tinged with a pale white.

Dragging her weary body to the living room, Chi Yang opened the drawer, took out the thermometer from the medicine kit, tucked it under her arm, and sat on the sofa. After waiting five minutes, she pulled it out.

38.2 degrees...

Leaning against the throw pillows on the sofa, Chi Yang picked up her phone and called Gu Weiwei. Her voice was hoarse as she said, "Sister Weiwei, I have a slight fever. I'd like to take a day off, could you let Director Qin know for me?"

Gu Weiwei could hear the thick nasality in Chi Yang's voice, as if her nose were stuffed with cotton. She asked with concern, "Yangyang, are you okay? Don't worry, I'll tell Director Qin. You rest well at home."

Chi Yang mumbled a few vague responses and hung up the phone. She dug out some fever-reducing medicine, reheated the cold boiled water, and nibbled on a few pieces of dry toast. But her throat felt like it was splitting apart, every swallow intensified the pain. Chi Yang completely lost her appetite and simply washed down a few capsules with water.

Then she threw herself into bed, covering herself tightly, but the chill still seeped through with a "whoosh."

Under the influence of the medicine, Chi Yang drifted off into a hazy sleep, with faint tears glistening at the corners of her eyes.

......

"Knock, knock, knock"

A short, forceful knock woke Chi Yang.

She struggled to lift her eyelids, her mind still immersed in a series of chaotic, muddled dreams.

She was truly delirious from the fever.

Outside the bay window, even though it was afternoon, the sky churned with dark clouds. Raindrops the size of beans pounded against the window, water streaking across the glass in rivulets. Gusts of wind occasionally swept the curtain of rain diagonally, and thunder roared as if a giant were bellowing at the edge of the sky.

Chi Yang grabbed a neatly folded thin blanket from the bay window, draped it over herself, and shuffled to the door in her slippers. She peered through the peephole.

!

It was Lu Yunqi.

Chi Yang glanced down at her outfit, her collar was a mess, and the hem of her pajamas was haphazardly tucked into her pants. She hurriedly straightened her clothes, took a deep breath, and reached for the door. But a fierce gust of wind pressed against it, making her, already weak from illness, stumble.

Seeing this, Lu Yunqi yanked the door outward with one hand while reaching through the gap with the other to firmly grip Chi Yang's forearm. She didn't let go until she was fully inside and the door was shut again.

Lu Yunqi quickly looked Chi Yang up and down, furrowed her brow, and blurted out, "Chi Yang, are you sick?"

Hearing Lu Yunqi say her name so naturally, Chi Yang froze for a moment. Her gaze briefly met Lu Yunqi's in midair before she hastily looked away, stammering, "Just a low fever. It's not serious."

Standing at the door wasn't a solution. Chi Yang took out a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet, inviting Lu Yunqi inside, then went to the bedroom to find a fresh towel.

As soon as she entered, Chi Yang noticed that Lu Yunqi was soaked through, there wasn't a dry spot on her. Water dripped from the ends of her hair along her temples, like trails left by snails on glass. Her eyelashes were laden with droplets, a few falling with every blink. The fabric of her white shirt was soaked through, clinging to her collarbones.

"Dry yourself off first." Chi Yang handed the towel to Lu Yunqi with one hand while gesturing vaguely at her dripping hair and face with the other.

Perhaps afraid of dirtying the sofa with rainwater and mud, Lu Yunqi remained standing in the living room, as straight as a young pine. Her flustered appearance made Chi Yang unable to suppress a laugh.

But the good moment didn't last, before she could finish laughing, she started coughing from the tickle in her throat.

Lu Yunqi hurried over to pat her back, but Chi Yang dodged away.

"Cough, cough, cough, I'm fine." Chi Yang coughed until her head spun, a faint flush spreading across her fair, clean face, her ears tinged pink as well.

It took her a while to recover before she noticed the concerned look on Lu Yunqi's face beside her, almost getting drawn in by those deep eyes. Chi Yang snapped back to her senses and suggested, "It's pretty cold in here. Do you want to change into some dry clothes?"

With that, Chi Yang dashed into the bedroom, dug out a striped pajama set buried at the bottom of her wardrobe, shoved it into Lu Yunqi's hands, and led her toward the bathroom, explaining, "These are pajamas I bought before, washed and clean, but never worn."

Only after closing the bathroom door did Chi Yang have a moment to think about this absurd situation. How did Lu Yunqi know she hadn't gone to work? How did she find out her home address? And why did she rush over in the pouring rain?

Every single detail baffled Chi Yang.

She was sitting on the sofa mulling it over when Lu Yunqi emerged from the bathroom. Chi Yang turned at the sound. Lu Yunqi was tall, 174 centimeters, nearly ten centimeters taller than Chi Yang, so Chi Yang's pajamas fit her a bit snugly, with her ankles exposed bare, looking somewhat comical.

Lu Yunqi had let her hair down, hanging half-dry, half-damp behind her ears. She sat down beside Chi Yang and asked, "Have you taken your temperature? How high is the fever?"

Chi Yang pulled the blanket tighter around her back and answered honestly, "I measured it this morning, 38.2 degrees. I took some fever medicine."

Lu Yunqi raised her left hand and glanced at her wristwatch. It was already two in the afternoon. She suggested Chi Yang take her temperature again, and Chi Yang gave a slight nod.

The rain outside continued in a steady patter, the quiet isolating the inside of the room from the outside world into two separate realms. Chi Yang and Lu Yunqi sat in silence, and Chi Yang felt as though something was flowing soundlessly between them, dividing them, yet also connecting them.

Ten minutes later, under Lu Yunqi's watchful gaze, Chi Yang took out the thermometer.

37.8 degrees.

The fever medicine must have been working.

Lu Yunqi glanced toward the kitchen, as if a thought had occurred to her, and asked softly, "Did you eat breakfast or lunch?"

Chi Yang gave an awkward smile. She almost never cooked, usually eating at work. The fridge at home only held bottled water and ingredients that Teacher Jiang had brought over, which would remain untouched until Teacher Jiang's next visit, when she'd discover the previous delivery still sitting there exactly as she'd left it.

Chi Yang said, "I had a few bites of bread."

The sicker a person was, the more they needed to eat on time, that was how you replenished your energy. Lu Yunqi noticed the web of red bloodshot lines running through Chi Yang's watery eyes, like blood-soaked demons baring their claws at her. She swallowed back the nagging words that threatened to spill out, replacing them with a simple question instead. "Do you have any food at home? Let me make you something to eat."

Chi Yang stirred her muddled thoughts and said uncertainly, "There should be some. My mom brought me groceries last week."

Lu Yunqi relaxed. It was pouring rain outside, if there hadn't been a single ingredient in the house, that would have been a real problem.

A few minutes later, Chi Yang lay back down in bed, wrapping herself up as snugly as a spring roll.

Steam rose in the kitchen, veiling Lu Yunqi's face in a soft haze. She stood silently in the mist, her thoughts inscrutable.

......

Two more hours passed. Chi Yang slowly woke to find the heavy rain had stopped and the sky was brightening. Though the sun still wasn't visible, the sky looked as if it had been scrubbed clean countless times, glowing white.

When she woke this time, her body felt sticky, covered in a thin layer of sweat, but she felt considerably lighter, and her bones no longer ached as if they'd been shattered.

A glass of water sat on the nightstand, though the rim felt cool to the touch. Worried about catching a chill again, Chi Yang waited until the sweat on her body had dried before getting up and walking out of the bedroom.

The living room was silent. Empty.

Only a piece of paper tucked under the tissue box on the dining table caught her eye, bearing a few lines of elegant handwriting: "Sorry, something came up at work, so I had to leave. There's food I made in the kitchen, if it's gone cold, remember to heat it up in the microwave. Let me know how you're feeling once you're awake. - Lu"

Chi Yang went to the kitchen and found several bowls overturned on the counter, covering the dishes Lu Yunqi had cooked. In the rice cooker was a pot of thick congee.

Whether it was the aroma of the food clouding her mind or the person who'd made it, Chi Yang felt her thoughts tangled in a mess.

She sat back down on the sofa, beside the spot where Lu Yunqi had been sitting two hours ago. Everything from midday felt like a dream, as absurd and unreal as the many dreams she'd had while burning with fever last night.

The only thing Chi Yang could truly, tangibly feel was that Lu Yunqi had really come back.

Author's Note:

Loving these slow, drifting moments of time [dog with a rose in its mouth]

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