FIO CH8

Chapter 8: Fingerprint Registration

Zhou Zheng’s emotions were like a roller coaster, unpredictable and fluctuating wildly—suddenly soaring, then plummeting, rapidly climbing again, and then sharply dropping. The extreme ups and downs within a short period exhausted his energy, and now he had settled back into a listless state.

Fortunately, his number was about to be called. Lu Fangchi helped Zhou Zheng into the examination room and explained the symptoms to the doctor: “He had a fever of 38.7 degrees in the middle of the night yesterday, which subsided this morning, but it has spiked again to around 40 degrees, so we came to the hospital immediately.”

The doctor nodded and asked the usual questions: “Dizziness, weakness in the limbs, sore throat?”

“No pain,” Zhou Zheng shook his head.

The doctor shone a small light to check, confirmed there was no sign of inflammation, and then turned to type on the computer, “What medications have been used?”

“Two fever-reducing pills, and the rest were physical cooling methods,” Lu Fangchi paused for a moment, then added, “We also used a barrier patch; his pheromones were overflowing severely.”

“This is not a problem. It’s normal for pheromones to overflow when one has a fever,” the doctor waved his hand and continued recording.

The entire consultation was quick, lasting only about five or six minutes. Next came the blood test and waiting for the report.

An hour later, the blood test results were out. The doctor reviewed them and said there was no serious issue. It was not a common fever but a viral infection causing the elevated temperature. He prescribed a special medicine, and there was no need for an IV; they could go home.

The medicine needed to be taken after a meal, so Lu Fangchi ordered a healthful porridge delivery for Zhou Zheng. After finishing it, he urged him to take the medicine.

Zhou Zheng, delirious from the fever, obediently followed instructions like a puppet on strings.

The special medicine acted like a sedative. Shortly after taking it, Zhou Zheng’s eyes began to droop, and his head nodded forward slightly.

Lu Fangchi, working from home, glanced up from his keyboard and seeing Zhou Zheng’s state, said, “Sleep if you’re tired.”

The sudden voice startled Zhou Zheng. He opened his eyes wide, cautiously scanned the surroundings, and upon realizing the voice came from Lu Fangchi, he relaxed and mumbled, “Okay.” With that, he lay down on the sofa, kicked off the blanket, and covered himself with it.

Zhou Zheng was tall with long legs, and most of his body hung off the edge of the sofa, as if he could fall at any moment. Not to mention he was sick now, his handsome face flushed, eyebrows slightly furrowed, and lips downturned, looking quite wronged.

“Go sleep on the bed,” Lu Fangchi tapped the desk with his finger.

Zhou Zheng instinctively humphed through his nose, but didn’t move.

Lu Fangchi had to get up, walk over to the sofa, and push his shoulder, “Zhou Zheng, go sleep on the bed.”

Zhou Zheng struggled to lift his eyelids, his eyes unfocused and misty, gazing through Lu Fangchi without landing on anything.

“Go sleep on the bed. Do you hear me?” Lu Fangchi waved his hand in front of Zhou Zheng’s eyes and repeated for the third time, patiently.

“I hear you,” Zhou Zheng came back to his senses, nodded dully, slowly got up, walked a few steps with the blanket wrapped around him, then stopped, “The doctor said this illness is contagious.”

Lu Fangchi lifted his chin to indicate he knew.

“So, I’ll sleep on the bed, what about you?” Zhou Zheng asked.

Lu Fangchi walked back to the computer without lifting his head, “Leave it to fate. If it’s contagious, it can’t be stopped.”

“Can I sleep on the bed from now on?” Zhou Zheng suddenly asked an out-of-context question.

Lu Fangchi’s fingers paused on the keyboard for a moment, then continued typing, eyes fixed on the screen, without sparing Zhou Zheng a glance, and after a while, he lightly “Mm”ed in response.

Lu Fangchi was awakened by a waft of fragrance. He lazily lifted his eyelids to meet the moonlight outside the window. It was already dark, and he had no idea when he had fallen asleep.

The young man slowly sat up from the sofa, still groggy, when a voice came from behind: “You’re awake? Dinner’s ready.”

Lu Fangchi turned around to see Zhou Zheng, now wearing an apron, serving dishes at the dining table.

He looked refreshed, no longer flushed with illness, his eyes bright and full of energy, a complete contrast to his listless state at noon.

“Are you better?” Lu Fangchi marveled at Zhou Zheng’s recovery speed; it had only been a few hours.

“Seems so,” Zhou Zheng said as he walked up to Lu Fangchi, lowering his head for him to touch, “The right medicine works fast.”

Lu Fangchi placed the back of his hand on Zhou Zheng’s forehead; it was no longer hot.

Alright, youth really does have its advantages, with a good metabolism.

“Eat, I made the pork rib soup you love. You didn’t eat much at noon, are you hungry?” Zhou Zheng asked.

Now that it was mentioned, Lu Fangchi’s stomach rumbled; he was indeed hungry. He nodded in agreement: “A bit.”

The tender and flavorful pork ribs, with the fresh scent of corn lingering on the teeth, made the young man squint his eyes in satisfaction. Compared to the bland porridge at noon, this was truly a delicacy. It seemed people could indeed be spoiled by good food.

Feeling a bit embarrassed to have someone who had just recovered from an illness do the chores, Lu Fangchi prepared to clear the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher. However, as soon as he put down his chopsticks, Zhou Zheng naturally gathered the bowls and plates and carried them to the kitchen. While the dishwasher was working, he wiped the quartz countertop repeatedly, and finally, after tidying up the kitchen and living room trash, he prepared to go out.

“I’ll take out the trash,” Zhou Zheng said, holding two bags of garbage and heading towards the door.

Lu Fangchi followed: “Together.”

Half a minute later, as they were about to leave, Lu Fangchi called out to Zhou Zheng: “Wait a moment.”

Zhou Zheng turned back, puzzled, and saw the young man enter the password and bring up the fingerprint registration page: “It was my oversight before. Today, I’ll register your fingerprint so you can come and go more conveniently in the future. You can go out for some fresh air and exercise; it’s not good to stay cooped up at home all the time.”

Zhou Zheng’s gaze fell on the slender white skin exposed at the back of Lu Fangchi’s neck. He rubbed his left hand on his trouser leg, feeling inexplicably itchy. The alpha’s hand had already risen, grabbed at the air, and then quickly retracted, hiding behind his back as the young man turned his head.

Lu Fangchi didn’t notice Zhou Zheng’s small action and just urged, “Register the fingerprint.”

Zhou Zheng: “Okay.”

With the electronic sound of “Registration successful,” a matter of concern was finally settled.

Unlike summer evenings when people go for walks, the neighborhood was sparsely populated at eight o’clock in winter. The wind howled, and everyone went home early to snuggle under the covers.

On the way back from taking out the trash, they passed by the playground, which was empty at the moment.

Seeing that they were about to pass by and the person beside him showed no reaction, Lu Fangchi couldn’t help but ask, “No one’s around now, do you want to go on the swing?”

The sudden question caught Zhou Zheng off guard. Following the other’s gaze, his eyes fell on the swing area, and as soon as they did, memories came flooding back as if a dam had burst. Images of “experiencing the feeling of flying” and “puppy” rushed into his mind, and he was mortified by the embarrassing and silly behavior he had displayed. The alpha was almost splitting with embarrassment, cursing himself for blurting out anything while delirious with fever.

“I won’t swing now, it’s cold,” Zhou Zheng made an excuse.

Lu Fangchi, unaware of Zhou Zheng’s internal turmoil, didn’t find anything wrong with the statement. It was indeed a bit cold at the moment.

The young man nodded, “Let’s head back.”

The rest of the way back was very quiet. Lu Fangchi felt that Zhou Zheng was unusually silent, but he didn’t think much of it.

Zhou Zheng, on the other hand, was internally struggling in the quiet atmosphere. Ahhhh, so embarrassing!

What would Lu Fangchi think of him?!

How could he regain his dignity and restore his image?!

After much hesitation, Zhou Zheng decided to face the awkwardness head-on and bring it up jokingly to defuse the situation: “You said we’d go to the amusement park once I got better, right?”

Naturally, it couldn’t be taken seriously. The promise Lu Fangchi made in that situation was just to comfort and coax the patient.

Zhou Zheng understood; he knew it couldn’t be real.

However, Lu Fangchi’s reaction was unexpected. He looked very serious and asked, “When do you want to go?”

Huh? Zhou Zheng blinked, feeling overwhelmed by the sudden happiness.

Then his mind raced and he tentatively suggested, “Tomorrow?”

Lu Fangchi nodded, took out his phone, checked his backlog for work arrangements, and after half a minute, concluded, “It’s possible.”