The living room was empty. There were no figures, no open flames, no smoke, and no smell of a gas leak. Silver charged straight up the stairs with a clear objective. Shen Zhengning followed it through the corridor, strode into the study, past the messy drawings and paints on the desk and the uncleaned wine glass, and saw a miserable figure half-slumped on the sofa, curled up as if wanting to become a shrimp.

"Zhuang Mingqi? Zhuang Mingqi!"

Shen Zhengning glanced around but couldn't find anything handy. He simply took off his overcoat and wrapped it around him, gently shaking his shoulders through the thick woolen layer. "Wake up. Can you hear me? I'll take you to the hospital right away. Can you hold on a little longer?"

Zhuang Mingqi's already unhealthy complexion was now frighteningly pale. Cold sweat trickled from his temples down to his neck, where blue veins bulged. His black hair stuck to his damp cheeks like little snakes. Even the act of opening his eyes was a struggle; one could only see his eyelashes trembling constantly. He pressed one hand tightly against a point on his upper abdomen, weakly refusing through the intense pain, "No, I'm not going to the hospital..."

"Tell me where it hurts. Is it your stomach?"

Zhuang Mingqi let out a low "Mm," and after panting for a moment to gather some strength, he said intermittently, "It's fine, an old problem... Stomach cramps, maybe a bit of... low blood sugar..."

"Where do you keep your usual medicines?" This was no time to worry about his own stress reaction. Shen Zhengning forcefully helped him up, half-supporting and half-carrying him onto the sofa, and kicked a trash can over. "Wait a moment."

On such a cold day, Zhuang Mingqi had scared him so much that his back was slightly sweating. He rushed downstairs to rummage through the medicine box, went to the kitchen to mix a glass of sugar and salt water, and brought it back for him to drink slowly. He also filled two hot water bottles, wrapped them in a towel, and placed them on his stomach as a warm compress.

Zhuang Mingqi clearly lived in a spacious and exquisite four-story villa, but for some reason, he gave off the feeling of living in utter poverty. A few bottles of imported medicine were just tossed in a box, and there wasn't even a hot water bottle in the house.

After half a glass of sugar and salt water, Zhuang Mingqi's dizziness gradually subsided. The medicine and the warm compress slightly relieved the severe pain from the cramps. He was covered with a thick quilt that Shen Zhengning had brought from the bedroom and looked at him through eyelashes damp with cold sweat, asking softly, "How did you get here?"

Shen Zhengning quickly pulled out a pile of tissues and dabbed them all over his face with "pat, pat" sounds. "You've asked the right question. Silver ran out of the house to get help. I happened to run into it on my way back and was dragged here by it."

Zhuang Mingqi squinted from being wiped. "Huh?"

"You should contact Cambridge right away. Don't delay the kid's professorship," Shen Zhengning said calmly. "Also, when you're better, remember to order a silk banner for Silver. The inscription should read, 'Calm in the face of danger, a dog saved my life.'"

Zhuang Mingqi struggled to extend a hand from under the quilt and vigorously rubbed the big furball squatting loyally beside him like a knight, deeply moved. "Good boy, Silver, you're so smart, good doggie."

Silver moved closer to nuzzle him, its muzzle poking Zhuang Mingqi's face to one side, covering it with thick dog fur. Seeing that the man and dog were about to embrace and weep, Shen Zhengning quickly stopped them: "Alright, alright, take it easy. You can kowtow to it a couple of times after you've recovered. For now, just rest."

Zhuang Mingqi shrank resentfully into the quilt. "...Don't make me laugh."

"If you can't go to the hospital, how did you handle this when you were abroad?" Shen Zhengning asked sincerely. "It can't be that every time you have an attack, your ancestors are desperately kowtowing to King Yama in the underworld, right?"

"Pfft... stop telling jokes," Zhuang Mingqi curled up, hissing in pain. "Before, I would contact a private doctor for a house call. If any necessary check-ups were needed, I'd make an appointment and go to his hospital. I haven't had many attacks since returning to the country, so I forgot about it."

Shen Zhengning thought for a moment. "If you hate the hospital environment, can you accept an online consultation?"

Zhuang Mingqi stammered, "I guess... I can?"

Shen Zhengning took out his phone, tapped on an app, and a moment later, the video call connected. He said to the doctor on the other side, "Hello, my friend suddenly had a severe stomach ache just now. The attack was intense, to the point of collapse. For personal reasons, it's not convenient for him to go to the hospital. Could you please take a look at his situation and advise on how to handle it?"

Compared to the baffled Zhuang Mingqi, the doctor was clearly accustomed to this type of consultation. He expertly asked about his medical history, diet, and symptoms, confirming that it was a simultaneous attack of low blood sugar and stomach cramps. Hearing that he had already taken medicine, the doctor didn't prescribe any other stomach medication, only instructing him to pay attention to his diet, stay warm, maintain good living habits, and keep a positive mood, while also reminding him to find time to come to the hospital for an endoscopy.

"Okay, I understand. I'll urge him to get a check-up. Thank you, doctor." As the consultation neared its end, Shen Zhengning concluded the conversation for him. The video call ended, revealing the app's original interface. Zhuang Mingqi glanced at it inadvertently, his tone inexplicably wistful. "So this is the app your company... that Ye Tongsheng was working on."

"Yes. You can have online consultations, buy medicine, and book many medical services," Shen Zhengning gave a faint, sardonic smile. "It's very useful. Such a pity."

With most of his face buried in the quilt and soft pillows, Zhuang Mingqi secretly peeked at his expression—he also knew how to read faces when feeling guilty—wanting to say something to disperse the thin cloud that had suddenly gathered over the other's brow. "Useful things never lack a market. Do you plan to continue in this field?"

"I'll take it one step at a time. Unlike some people, I don't have any particular obsession with the medical industry." Shen Zhengning shot him a light glance and put away his phone. "Has the stomach medicine taken effect? Does it still hurt a lot?"

Zhuang Mingqi was like a small bok choy hit by frost, saying weakly in a low voice, "It's taken effect. A little better than before. It's fine, don't worry too much."

But from his expression, it was clear he was still in pain. Shen Zhengning had never realized he could endure pain so well before. Zhuang Mingqi had a kind of fragmented sense about him, like "life is a process, the focus is enjoyment; life is a gift, just make do with it." He was willing to pay several times the price to pursue some not-so-necessary comforts, yet for pain as severe as stomach cramps, he swallowed it all without any complaint or resentment, one could even say with meek acceptance.

"After the scare you just gave me, there's nothing left for me to be afraid of," Shen Zhengning looked at him expressionlessly. "I almost thought you had committed suicide, you know that?"

Zhuang Mingqi: ?

"Don't worry, I'll do my best to avoid that sort of thing," he gave a weak smile and said in a low voice, "'The example of patient suffering is in itself the most precious of all lessons to an impatient world,' someone told me to remember that sentence."

Shen Zhengning's expression changed slightly.

"Ye Tongsheng?"

He saw the answer in Zhuang Mingqi's eyes.

"I don't deny that sentence has its own logic," he said patiently and gently after a moment of silence. "But even a pressure cooker will explode if it's heated for too long, let alone a person. As long as you don't do something drastic without a word like he did, on other matters... being a little more willful, no one will blame you."

Zhuang Mingqi blinked slowly. His eyes were a little red, as if he had just been crying, giving him a pitiful look. "I wasn't trying to act tough..."

Shen Zhengning: "If you feel unwell, just say so. There's nothing to hide. Besides, you stayed up all night, skipped meals, and drank on an empty stomach, nearly sending yourself to the grave, and I didn't say anything, did I?"

Zhuang Mingqi: '...So you knew everything!'

Shen Zhengning shot him a very forceful, warning glance from across the room. He stood up from the chair by the sofa, about to go make him something to eat, when his gaze unintentionally swept over a small stain on the floor and suddenly froze.

"You vomited blood?!"

It was the first time Zhuang Mingqi had seen that kind of expression on Shen Zhengning's face. It looked as if a crack had suddenly appeared on the world's hardest, most translucent diamond. Both the onlooker and the diamond itself would be bewildered.

"Huh?"

Zhuang Mingqi touched the corner of his mouth and blinked, innocent and dazed. "I don't think so?"

"Then did you hit yourself somewhere when you fell?" Shen Zhengning pulled out a tissue and wiped at it. Realizing it wasn't vomited blood, his expression eased slightly but remained very grave. "There's blood on the floor."

Zhuang Mingqi tried to feel his limbs. "...Can't. My whole body hurts, I can't tell."

The great detective, as if facing a formidable enemy, even pulled his glasses out of his bag and began to search for the source of the bloodstains. He found a few fainter blood prints not far from the initial mark and followed the trail, finally finding the true victim who had been silently enduring the pain, the victim-dog—

"You'd better repent."

Shen Zhengning held up Silver's injured paw pad. A cold glint, like a dagger, flashed across his lenses. A three-foot-high black aura rose behind him, as if a demon from hell had descended upon the world. The pleasant expression he had maintained for an hour finally broke, and he gave the king of courting death, Zhuang Mingqi, a thorough scolding.

Zhuang Mingqi, on the verge of death, said, "The child is still young, he can't be without a father, give me one more chance..."

The clever and brave Samoyed received a sumptuous dinner and snacks. Its useless father also received a light, stomach-soothing meal set: a soft steamed bun the size of half a palm, a bowl of incredibly tender steamed egg custard, a small plate of stir-fried greens that Silver didn't like, and half a steamed apple.

After dinner, Shen Zhengning took Silver out for a walk. Considering its injured paw and the mood of the empty-nest old man, they only stayed out for less than half an hour. By the time they returned, Zhuang Mingqi's stomach pain was mostly under control. However, such a severe attack of low blood sugar had taken half his life, and it would take at least a week to recover. He was half-leaning against the large bed in the bedroom, looking at Shen Zhengning as if he wanted to say something but couldn't. "..."

"I know what you want to say." Shen Zhengning sighed, unable to bear it. "If you have nothing to do, play with your smartphone. Stop staring at me. I'll be borrowing the guest room next door tonight. Who knows if you'll pass out again the moment I'm not looking."

Zhuang Mingqi contentedly pulled the quilt up to his chin and whispered to salvage his dignity, "Actually, my health is okay... not that bad. It's just that the low blood sugar attacks are quite scary."

""You're not wrong," Shen Zhengning set the water glass down on the bedside table, sized him up and down, and gave a smile of ambiguous meaning. "Just like a bamboo basket, while it can't hold water, it's great at posturing."

Zhuang Mingqi silently lay down and wrapped his little quilt tightly around himself. "...Good night."