Teacher Wu quickly walked toward the last row of the classroom. She helped Lin Zhixia up, placing her palm on Lin Zhixia’s forehead, and sighed: “She does have a fever.”

“I feel so dizzy…” Lin Zhixia described.

Teacher Wu inhaled sharply and said loudly: “Dong Sunqi, Tang Leqin, you two maintain class discipline. I’m taking Lin Zhixia to the school infirmary. Is anyone else in class running a fever? Is anyone else feeling unwell?”

The entire class was silent, with no one responding.

As it turned out, Lin Zhixia was the only one with a fever.

Teacher Wu didn’t dare waste even a minute. She quickly took Lin Zhixia to the school infirmary and called Lin Zhixia’s mother.

Near noon, Lin Zhixia’s mother rushed to the school.

The nurse at the infirmary had already taken Lin Zhixia’s temperature twice, and both times it was 38.1 degrees. After taking the fever-reducing medicine, Lin Zhixia felt limp all over, unable to summon any energy, only wanting to go home and sleep. Seeing her mother, she felt filled with a sense of security and held her mother’s hand, saying: “Mom, I want to go home.”

Her mother was particularly gentle with her.

Lin Zhixia remained silent, obediently leaning against her mother’s sleeve, like a young animal lost in a downpour, seeking shelter from its mother. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her eyes watery, making her mother feel extremely distressed.

Her mother hurriedly said, “Xiaxia, let’s go, Mom will take you home right now.”

Her mother had come by bicycle. She had Lin Zhixia sit on the back seat, arms wrapped around her waist. She pedaled the bicycle, carrying her daughter, weaving through the howling cold winds of late December. Winter in this city was not warm. The leaves of the street trees had fallen clean, leaving only bare branches, as the cold wind rushed down Lin Zhixia’s collar, making her shiver.

Her nose and ears were frozen stiff. She drew in a breath, and the chill spread through her windpipe.

“Xiaxia?” her mother called out to her.

“Are we almost home?” Lin Zhixia asked in return.

Mother stopped the bicycle by the roadside. She took off her down jacket and draped it over Lin Zhixia’s head. The jacket was warm, like the spring sunshine, still retaining body heat.

Lin Zhixia’s breath condensed into white mist, dispersing with the wind. She handed the jacket back to her mother: “It’s very cold today. If mom gives me her jacket, mom will catch a cold.”

“It’s alright, we’re almost home. I’ll make you chicken noodle soup for lunch, okay? The weather’s cold, you should drink more hot soup.” Mother continued cycling, wearing only a sweater.

“Okay.” Lin Zhixia answered softly. She vaguely remembered that the sweater her mother wore was knitted by her grandmother. Grandmother certainly wouldn’t want Mother to be cold in winter either.

Lin Zhixia lifted the down jacket with both hands and hung it over her mother’s shoulders. The jacket covered Lin Zhixia’s head, forming a semi-enclosed space.

She dozed off, the bicycle slowed down, and her mother brought her back to Ancheng Residential Area.

Her mother said to her, “Xiaxia, have some food at noon, then take a nap. If you’re still feverish in the afternoon, we’ll make a trip to the hospital.”

Lin Zhixia hated going to the hospital more than anything. She was even afraid of injections, let alone IV drips. She pretended to nod obediently, but in her heart, she thought, she didn’t want to go to the hospital.

*

At a little past noon, Lin Zeqiu returned from school.

Stepping into the house, Lin Zeqiu sensed the somber atmosphere. An ominous feeling welled up in his heart as he ran to his mother and asked: “Did something happen to our family?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” his mother told Lin Zeqiu, “it’s just your sister. She developed a fever after getting her hepatitis B vaccine today, up to thirty-eight degrees. She’s taken fever medicine and is sleeping in her bedroom now.”

Today’s outdoor temperature was minus one degree Celsius, frost settling on fallen leaves, the winter wind cutting so sharply it hurt one’s face. Lin Zeqiu’s home had only one electric heater, which had naturally been placed in Lin Zhixia’s room.

Mother had turned the electric heater to its highest setting, and Lin Zhixia’s room quickly warmed up, becoming the most comfortable place in the whole house.

An iron stove was set up in the living room, burning honeycomb briquettes. Lin Zeqiu brought over a stool and sat beside the stove to warm himself.

The flames were scorching, burning red and bright. Lin Zeqiu used an iron rod to poke at the honeycomb holes in the coal, and the glowing red sparks shot up, nearly burning his clothes.

He sat on the chair, using his waist to scoot backward, his shoe soles scraping against the floor tiles, making a jarring noise.

“Lin Zeqiu!” His mother scolded him sharply, “Sit still and don’t make trouble for me.”

Lin Zeqiu sat up awkwardly: “I didn’t do anything.”

Mother bustled about in the kitchen. While cooking, she instructed: “Lin Zeqiu, if you’re not busy, go check on your sister.”

Lin Zeqiu went to Lin Zhixia’s bedroom door without complaint.

He stood still for ten seconds, hearing no sound. He gently pushed open Lin Zhixia’s door and immediately felt the cozy warmth generated by the electric heater.

He saw Lin Zhixia lying on her side in bed, covered with a soft cotton quilt, hugging a small penguin plush toy. The small penguin’s head was half-exposed. Lin Zhixia had her eyes closed, her eyelashes thick, her cheeks delicate and fair, her breathing even and steady, seemingly already asleep.

Lin Zeqiu felt reassured.

A while later, lunch was ready. The aroma of food wafted through the house. Mother woke Lin Zhixia and brought a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup into her room, coaxing her to eat one small bite at a time.

Lin Zhixia was dizzy and spoke nonsense: “Mom, do you think I’m smart?”

To get her to eat more, mother answered without thinking: “Of course, our Xiaxia is the smartest child in the whole world.”

“Yeah right.” Lin Zeqiu responded coolly from behind.

Mother turned and glared at him: “Say less, your sister is sick today.”

Lin Zeqiu walked to the bedside, raised one hand, and covered his sister’s forehead. His calm expression gradually crumbled. He frowned, lowered his head, and looked at Lin Zhixia: “She’s burning up badly.”

Lin Zhixia also looked up at him: “I want to sleep.”

Mother negotiated with her: “Xiaxia, have one more bite, okay?”

Lin Zhixia shook her head like a rattling drum. She lay in bed, tucking the blanket tight: “I have no appetite. I just had a dream.”

“What dream?” Mother and brother asked her in unison.

Lin Zhixia narrated in a daze: “I dreamed that my brain was burnt out… I forgot all the knowledge I had learned, just like ordinary people. I suddenly understood my brother. All these years, brother, has it been very hard for you? You have to spend time memorizing books, exams make you nervous. Brother, you and your brain have it tough…”

Normally, such dangerous remarks from Lin Zhixia would have made Lin Zeqiu fly into a rage on the spot.

But today, Lin Zeqiu tolerated Lin Zhixia contrary to his usual behavior. He calmly and frankly said: “Being your brother is quite difficult.”

Lin Zhixia asked him: “Brother, are you sad inside? Does brother feel sad because he has a relative like me?”

Lin Zeqiu said softly: “Not at all.”

Lin Zhixia turned her head, meeting his gaze: “Not at all?”

Lin Zeqiu smiled. His birthday was in January. In less than half a month, he would turn thirteen. He was in the thriving period of adolescence. His Adam’s apple had become noticeable, his voice had changed, sounding slightly deeper: “When you were little… I’m not talking about now, before you started school at six, you often drove me crazy. No matter what, you are still my… my…”

He had rarely spoken sentimental words. He always addressed Lin Zhixia directly by her name. And now, he stammered: “You’re my sister.”

“Really?” Lin Zhixia clutched the corner of her blanket, “Brother, your temper today is much better than usual.”

Lin Zeqiu took the bowl from his mother’s hand. He gripped the spoon handle, scooped up a spoonful of soup, and awkwardly and slowly extended the spoon forward.

He had never fed Lin Zhixia before. He thought Lin Zhixia would do him a favor.

But Lin Zhixia turned to face the wall: “I won’t eat.”

“You’ve only had two bites, aren’t you uncomfortable with an empty stomach?” Lin Zeqiu criticized her seriously and reproachfully.

“My head is so dizzy,” Lin Zhixia shrank into the blanket pitifully, “I don’t want to eat anything, and I also have some latent symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux. Just let me rest… I’m so sleepy, Mom, I want to sleep now.”

Mother dampened a towel with water, wrung it out, and placed it on Lin Zhixia’s forehead. She and Lin Zeqiu both left Lin Zhixia’s bedroom, and the room suddenly became much quieter.

The curtains were drawn tight, and the electric heater emitted a soft humming sound.

Lin Zhixia was in a state between sleep and wakefulness, foggy and confused. She didn’t know how long she had slept, only hearing her mother say in her ear: “Xiaxia still hasn’t broken her fever, we need to go to the hospital.”

The sky had already turned to night, the moonlight like a ribbon.

In the depths of December winter, the cold wind blew in gusts one after another, the myriad lights of households blurring in the distance.

Father carried Lin Zhixia out the door, mother closed the shop. Lin Zeqiu locked the security door, put on his coat, and ran out, stating: “Take me along, I want to go to the hospital too.”

“What would you do at the hospital?” But mother told him, “You stay at home, don’t add to the trouble.”

Lin Zhixia was still making a last resistance: “Dad, I don’t want to go to the hospital, I want to stay at home…”

Father’s tone became stern: “Xiaxia, you have a fever of 39 degrees. We just took your temperature. You took fever medicine at noon, but your temperature hasn’t gone down; it’s getting worse. This won’t do, Xiaxia, we must go to the hospital.”

Father was the most easy-going person in the family.

Lin Zhixia couldn’t persuade her father. She knew that some troubles couldn’t be avoided.

Mother hailed a taxi at the entrance of Ancheng Residential Area. Father carried Lin Zhixia in the back seat, and her brother followed along too. Mother didn’t drive her brother away, she told the driver, “Driver, to the Provincial People’s Hospital.”

How far was the Provincial People’s Hospital from here?

Lin Zhixia looked out the window, street lights flowing past, the entire city colorful and bright, bustling sections with roads leading in all directions. She saw skyscrapers rising from the ground, distant buildings connecting to form a continuous skyline.

“Architecture,” she suddenly said, “I haven’t studied architecture yet.”

Lin Zeqiu, sitting next to her, replied: “Can’t you just sit still? Don’t think so much.”

Lin Zhixia yawned: “Brother?”

Lin Zeqiu answered: “What?”

Lin Zhixia placed one hand on his shoulder: “I now have a fever of 39.4 degrees. My brain is blank, my thinking blocked, I’m restless and anxious…”

Pausing mid-sentence, Lin Zhixia leaned on her brother’s shoulder and said groggily: “I used to often doubt that we’re real siblings. You never want to discuss problems with me, and you’re always so fierce with me. Now, I don’t doubt anymore. Fevered at 39.4 degrees, I’m so similar to you.”

“Lin Zhixia.” Lin Zeqiu gently patted her head.

He even had a hint of a smile, though his words were crude and full of irritation: “Can’t you shut up? Are you the only one who can talk in this car?”

“Lin Zeqiu, don’t argue with your sister.” Father’s tone was weary and exhausted.

Lin Zeqiu shrank back to his original position. He crossed his arms, adopting a defensive posture.

Before long, they arrived at the Provincial People’s Hospital.

This taxi ride cost a full 14 yuan. Lin Zhixia felt a bit reluctant to spend it, but neither her father nor mother said anything. She was taken by her parents to the emergency building of the Provincial People’s Hospital, and went through a series of procedures, including registration, queuing, seeing the doctor, and the doctor even asked her to go for a blood test.

Lin Zhixia froze on the spot. She asked: “Blood test?”

The doctor asked her: “Haven’t you had a blood test before?”

Lin Zhixia opened her eyes wide, staring blankly at the doctor. Her eyes were moist, as if covered by a layer of mist, permeated with tears, ready to burst forth.

This young doctor, out of kindness, gently described: “The nurse will put a tourniquet on you, pierce the blood vessel, and the blood will be drawn immediately…”

When Lin Zhixia heard “pierce the blood vessel,” her eyes immediately filled with tears. Teardrops fell on her clothes, and she couldn’t help sobbing softly: “Mom, mom, I don’t want a blood test, I’m so scared…”

Mother quickly comforted her: “Xiaxia, don’t be afraid, tomorrow mom will make you shrimp dumplings, braised ribs, tomato and egg soup, okay? And buy you half a jin of strawberries.”

Shrimp dumplings and strawberries were Lin Zhixia’s lifelong loves.

Even though she had a high fever, was muddled, and was full of resistance and rejection towards “blood tests,” she still couldn’t help but be attracted to shrimp dumplings and strawberries.

She looked up at her mother, tears clinging to her eyelashes, and nodded in agreement: “Okay.”

She suppressed her emotions, appearing very obedient and quiet.

Mother hugged her, murmuring: “No matter how much Xiaxia understands, she’s still a nine-year-old child.”

Lin Zhixia very obediently followed the nurse for the blood test. For the sake of shrimp dumplings, braised ribs, and half a jin of strawberries, Lin Zhixia demonstrated extremely strong willpower and excellent endurance.

Even when she heard that she would need an IV drip, she merely frowned: “I’ve been expecting this.”

*

At nine-thirty at night, Lin Zhixia lay on the hospital bed, calmly accepting the arrangement of fate.

The IV bottle hung on the stand beside the bed, the liquid dripping down one drop at a time, entering Lin Zhixia’s vein.

Lin Zhixia’s left hand had been inserted with a needle. She dared not look at her hand, remained silent for a few minutes, too awake to sleep, too bored to stay awake. She called out: “Brother.”

“The two aunties in the opposite beds are reading,” Lin Zeqiu reminded her, “speak softer if you want to say something.”

Lin Zhixia suggested: “Brother, I’m so bored. Let’s play the poetry game.”

The so-called “poetry game” refers to an ancient Chinese drinking game that tests one’s knowledge of poetry. The participating players recite a line of poetry in turn, and the line must include a specified character.

The hardest part is that the character must move one position back each time.

Lin Zeqiu deeply disliked this game. Since childhood, he had played it as many times as he had lost. His memory couldn’t compare to Lin Zhixia’s at all.

“Brother! I’ll start, I choose the character ‘flower’!” Lin Zhixia said enthusiastically, “A Tang dynasty poet wrote in ‘Master Encouragement’ — ‘Flowers bloom again in their season, water flows east never to return’, brother, it’s your turn.”

Lin Zeqiu pondered for a moment, then continued: “Peach blossoms still smile in the spring breeze.”

Lin Zhixia quickly answered: “Silk flowers fly in the white jade hall.”

Lin Zeqiu spread his legs, placing both hands on his knees: “I can’t go on, can’t remember anymore. I give up.”

“Brother, let’s continue playing,” Lin Zhixia pleaded with him, “any poem with the character ‘flower’ is acceptable.”

Lin Zeqiu then willingly spoke: “Spring flowers, autumn moon, when will they end, how much of the past do I know?”

Lin Zhixia recited a famous line from Tang dynasty poet Sun Guangxian’s “Bodhisattva Barbarian”: “Small courtyard flowers fall with no one to sweep, sparse fragrance fills the ground as the east wind ages.”

Lin Zeqiu propped his chin with one hand: “The face is gone, who knows where, but peach blossoms still smile in the spring breeze.”

“You already said that line,” Lin Zhixia mercilessly pointed out, “you can’t repeat it.”

Lin Zeqiu sat up straight in his seat: “Where do all these troublesome rules come from? Can’t you play normal people’s games with me?”

“Then let’s play… a game listing the names of Water Margin heroes. My classmates all like to play this game. I’ve never participated because I know no one can beat me,” Lin Zhixia honestly confessed to her brother.

Brother kept a cold face, starting: “Flower Monk, Lu Zhishen.”

Lin Zhixia continued: “Black Whirlwind, Li Kui.”

Brother casually said: “Mother Night Demon, Sun Erniang.”

Lin Zhixia’s eyes brightened: “Brother, do you know the origin of the term ‘Mother Night Demon’? Night Demon is the name of a monster. In the Qing dynasty novel ‘Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio,’ there’s an article called ‘Night Demon Country.’ It’s said that in the country of Night Demons, the more beautiful a person is, the lower their social status, and the uglier a person is, the better life they have! Hahaha, isn’t that interesting…”

Suddenly overcome by drowsiness, Lin Zhixia yawned repeatedly: “Brother, with looks like yours, in Night Demon Country, you’d be beaten by everyone.”

Lin Zeqiu couldn’t tell if Lin Zhixia was complimenting him for being good-looking or cursing that he would be beaten up in Night Demon Country—he was inclined to choose the latter interpretation.

Father went downstairs to pay for the medicine and hospitalization fees, while mother stayed in the ward to keep watch.

While Lin Zeqiu chatted with his sister, his mother sat aside peeling an apple. Mother used a small knife to peel a continuous apple skin, but Lin Zhixia said, “Mom, I don’t eat apples.”

“This is for your brother,” Mother said.

Lin Zhixia loved strawberries, while Lin Zeqiu loved apples. Perhaps because Lin Zeqiu’s name contained the character “qiu” (autumn), and apples typically come to market in autumn.

After peeling the skin, mother handed the apple to Lin Zeqiu.

Lin Zeqiu took a bite of the apple. Lin Zhixia had already fallen asleep.

Mother stretched out a hand, gently tucking in Lin Zhixia’s blanket. Looking at her daughter, she said to her son: “Lin Zeqiu, later you go home with your father, I’ll stay here overnight with Xiaxia. She needs to stay in the hospital for observation for another day. You still have school tomorrow. At four o’clock in the morning, your father will come to the hospital to take over, and I’ll ride the tricycle to the wholesale market to purchase goods… Your father is too soft-hearted; he never negotiates prices with people. This purchasing matter still needs me to handle.”

The cold wind of late December swept over the hospital windowsill, and outside a fine drizzle had started again. Vehicles passing through puddles on the road produced splashing sounds as their rolling wheels threw up water droplets.

Lin Zeqiu glanced out the window and, without reason, asked: “Mom, don’t you feel… that life is hard?”

Mother hesitated for two seconds before saying: “Not hard.” She lowered her head slightly, still looking after her daughter, her somewhat disheveled hair strands covering her line of sight.

Lin Zeqiu didn’t know what to say. He straightened his back awkwardly: “In a few years, Lin Zhixia and I will both grow up.”

“Yes,” Mother answered him. Perhaps due to the dim light in the ward, he seemed to see tears glistening in his mother’s eyes too.

Throughout the night, the rain outside continued. The sound of rain was chaotic, splashing water everywhere.

*

The next evening, the rain finally stopped.

Lin Zhixia felt refreshed, and her body had recovered. She left the hospital with her mother, and her mother had her strictly follow the doctor’s orders, so she rested at home for another day.

Mother was indeed a promise-keeping mother. While Lin Zhixia was recovering at home, her mother went to the market early to buy live shrimp, removed the shells, blanched and minced the filling, and made a plate of shrimp dumplings.

At the lunch table, both father and mother said they didn’t like eating shrimp. Mother picked up the plate of shrimp dumplings and distributed portions into both Lin Zhixia’s and Lin Zeqiu’s bowls.

“You really won’t eat any?” Lin Zhixia asked.

“These are sea shrimp,” mother told her, “your father and I don’t eat seafood. We both grew up in the mountains and prefer mountain delicacies. There’s nothing to deceive you about, your maternal grandparents know, I’ve been used to eating mountain foods since childhood.”

Lin Zhixia was half-believing, half-doubting.

There were six dumplings in her bowl. She thought carefully, picked up two dumplings and placed them in her father’s bowl, then picked up another two and placed them in her mother’s bowl.

Lin Zhixia lifted her porcelain bowl and said softly: “I still want to eat together with mom and dad.”

Mother didn’t answer. Father sighed. He picked up his lunch box and turned to go back to the shop to look after business.

Lin Zhixia watched her father’s tall figure disappear at the living room door. She held her chopsticks, took a bite of the shrimp dumpling, it was truly delicious. Why would there be something as delicious as shrimp dumplings in this world?

She was reluctant to gobble them down. She decided to savor them slowly.

Lin Zeqiu and Lin Zhixia had opposite eating habits. Lin Zeqiu swept through the food in his bowl like a whirlwind, his appetite twice that of Lin Zhixia’s. He took the opportunity to check on his sister: “Are you still feeling unwell today?”

“I’m fine now,” Lin Zhixia said, dipping her dumpling in vinegar, “my fever has completely gone down, I’m healthy and refreshed.”

Lin Zeqiu reminded her: “You have to go to school tomorrow.”

“That’s fine,” Lin Zhixia answered.

After the meal, Lin Zhixia arranged her things in her bedroom.

A pile of plush toys lay on her bed, all mixed up without any order. She kept only the little cat and the little penguin. The other stuffed animals were stuffed into her cabinet or placed on her desk.

On her desk, there was also a business card.

That was Professor Shen Zhaohua’s business card.

More than two months ago, Lin Zhixia had met Professor Shen Zhaohua and her doctoral student team at the Ocean Aquarium.

At that time, the doctoral student had told Lin Zhixia that she was welcome to call Professor Shen and visit the university campus anytime.

Logically, Lin Zhixia had obtained Professor Shen’s contact information in October this year and should have immediately called Professor Shen. But she was busy reading the 2004 new physics research paper on “Special Properties of Neutron-Rich Nuclei,” so she… temporarily set aside Professor Shen’s business card.

Today at noon, Lin Zhixia inexplicably picked up the landline receiver and dialed a string of phone numbers she knew by heart.

Lin Zhixia felt she had grown a little. The brief hospitalization experience had made her more courageous.

She waited by the telephone, and after two seconds, she heard the voice of a young woman: “Hello, may I ask who you’re looking for?”

“Hello, I’m looking for Teacher Shen Zhaohua,” Lin Zhixia briefly described, “in mid-October, I met Teacher Shen and her students at the Ocean Aquarium.”

The woman was surprised and said: “Ah? It’s you! Hello, little sister.” She immediately introduced herself: “I remember you, I’m Teacher Shen’s student. I was there that day.”

Lin Zhixia thought for a moment and asked her: “Sister, is your name Zhu Chan? Teacher Shen currently has only one female doctoral student, named Zhu Chan. I found relevant information on the university’s official website.”

Hearing her say “sister,” Zhu Chan felt that the word “sister” sounded so sweet when she said it.

Zhu Chan told her without holding anything back: “Are you looking for Teacher Shen? Teacher Shen went to Beijing for a meeting and will only return home this Saturday.”

Lin Zhixia asked again: “Then can I visit your laboratory?”

“Of course you can,” Zhu Chan said, “Teacher Shen has already mentioned you to us. It’s best to come with your parents, you’re too young, and still need a guardian to accompany you.”

Lin Zhixia hesitated slightly: “May I ask, apart from a guardian, can I… also bring my classmate?”

Zhu Chan wavered: “Your classmate? Also a nine-year-old child?”

“Yes,” Lin Zhixia told her, “you saw him at the aquarium that day too. He helped me receive Teacher Shen’s business card.”

Zhu Chan heartily agreed: “That’s fine then, you two come to our school this Sunday. Teacher Shen will be at school on Sunday to organize materials. Teacher Shen would like to meet with you and chat about the academic issues you’re interested in.”