Three days passed in a flash. Xu Huaqian had been tormented in his examination cell to the point of becoming emaciated. Already not a heavy person, by the time he emerged, he was little more than skin and bones.
He looked no different from when he had first transmigrated.
When Duan Youyan and the others found Xu Huaqian in his cell, they saw his eyes sunken deep, his once-glossy skin now dull, thin, and bloodless. He looked like a consumptive ghost, a far cry from the handsome, dignified Xu Huaqian they remembered.
They couldn't help but exclaim in shock: "How did you end up like this?"
"—Cough, cough, cough, cough!" Xu Huaqian, his throat too hoarse from coughing to speak properly, shook his head and rasped, "Don't ask. Let's just get out of here quickly."
He didn't want to spend another moment in this dreadful place.
"Alright." Duan Youyan lifted the desktop board in front of him and helped him out of the cell. But before they had taken two steps, Xu Huaqian's legs gave way, and he stumbled, nearly falling.
Frowning, Duan Youyan felt his pulse: "You've caught a cold?"
Xu Huaqian nodded. So unlucky. He had thought buying the best quilt would surely keep him warm, but when he tore it open, he found it was stuffed mostly with grass and only a little cotton.
In early autumn, the nights weren't extremely cold yet, and others could make do, but his constitution was weak. A gust of wind made him shiver uncontrollably.
Shivering was useless—the exam hall officials didn't care about anyone's survival, let alone providing medical help.
He could only grit his teeth and endure until the next day, which was even worse. His cell faced the sun. At noon, the sunlight felt warm and comforting, but it baked him for hours. The alternating chills and fever made his head increasingly fuzzy. At some point, he passed out over his desk. When he woke up, he knew he had definitely fallen ill.
"Oh heavens! What do we do?!" Zhang Bingwen was so anxious he was nearly in tears. Xu Huaqian was already in poor health, and now he had a fever—would he even pull through?
"What else can we do?" Duan Youyan, who had been a physician for many years, hoisted Xu Huaqian up. "Get him to a medical clinic immediately!"
He had been feverish for two days and was almost delirious. Without treatment, it would be too late.
"Oh, right." The others, also dazed from the exam, quickly carried, supported, and dragged Xu Huaqian out of the examination hall.
"—Cough, cough," Free from his cell and burning with fever, Xu Huaqian barely knew who was holding him. He coughed uncontrollably but his muddled mind remembered something important. "Remember... to send word to my husband... when you get back to the inn."
He was afraid Chen Liejiu would worry if he didn't return.
"We know, save your strength." Pei Wangshu, seeing blood seeping from the corner of his mouth as he spoke, quickly wiped it with a handkerchief. "Stop talking. We know what to do better than you right now."
"Mm." Xu Huaqian knew they were all thinking more clearly than he was and fell silent.
As they half-carried, half-dragged Xu Huaqian out of the exam hall, other candidates, seeing how ill and frail he was, assumed he had some consumptive disease and gave them a wide berth.
This actually cleared a path for them, making it much easier to get through.
Chen Liejiu had arrived early in the morning with the carriage, bringing Wang Wanwan and Chen Xiaomei to wait for Xu Huaqian outside the exam hall. He thought his husband must have suffered greatly inside and planned to take him to recuperate properly after the exam.
Instead, he saw a group dragging out a severely ill Xu Huaqian, who was barely recognizable.
Chen Liejiu: "!!!"
Furious and anxious, he rushed forward: "What happened?"
Pei Wangshu, seeing an excessively handsome man in red rushing toward them, was stunned for a moment—how could a man be this good-looking? But he quickly snapped out of it and waved him away impatiently. "Move aside! Can't you see we're taking a patient to the clinic?"
"No need," Chen Liejiu said, his heart aching at the sight of his barely conscious husband. He directly took Xu Huaqian from them, lifting him horizontally into his arms. "I am his husband. I'll take him for treatment myself."
"You're Xu Huaqian's husband?!" Pei Wangshu, hearing this, was taken aback, then exclaimed in surprise. Xu Huaqian's husband was this good-looking?!
"Mm." Not daring to delay, Chen Liejiu carried Xu Huaqian quickly to the carriage, placed him inside, and helped the equally anxious Wang Wanwan and Chen Xiaomei in. Before driving off, he didn't forget to thank Duan Youyan and the others: "Thank you. Once my husband recovers, I will host a banquet for all of you."
Chen Liejiu swiftly took Xu Huaqian away, leaving the four of them standing there in shock.
What had they just seen?!
A man had carried—picked up—a full-grown man?!
Xu Huaqian was thin, but he was tall. Even if he was just skin and bones, he wasn't exactly light.
Even Duan Youyan, who seemed the strongest among them, had struggled to carry Xu Huaqian. Yet this man had lifted him effortlessly and walked off?!
And this man wasn't some hulking, brawny type—he had a slender waist and long legs, at most just not delicate-looking. Who would have thought he had such strength?
Most importantly, he was incredibly handsome!
The same thought flashed through all four of their minds: fair skin, delicate eyebrows, large eyes, a straight nose, red lips... There wasn't a trace of the affectation they typically associated with men. He was straightforward, decisive, and capable. It didn't feel strange or out of place at all—instead, it felt like this was how a man should be.
"...Is that really Xu Huaqian's husband?" Pei Wangshu, after a long pause, looked at Duan Youyan, hardly able to believe that a sickly person like Xu Huaqian could land such a husband.
"...Should be." Duan Youyan, also somewhat stunned, nodded as he came back to himself. On the entrance exam day, his impression of Chen Liejiu at the academy gate had been fleeting—just a vivid man in red. He hadn't expected his personality to be so dashing and impressive.
Pei Wangshu was heartbroken: "...Such a fine man, why didn't he choose a healthier husband to marry into his family?" He suddenly understood why Xu Huaqian had agreed to marry into Chen Liejiu's family when money was offered back then.
If it were him, he wouldn't have been able to resist either.
"Because my Senior Brother is good-looking, of course." Only Zhang Bingwen, still too young for romance, saw nothing wrong with Xu Huaqian marrying into Chen Liejiu's family. "You don't understand—a 'sick beauty' is called that because the sicker they are, the more beautiful they become."
"True." Meng Fangxun nodded. Xu Huaqian was frail, but he was truly handsome, with an air of fragile beauty that made people want to protect him—especially when he coughed up blood, that feeling was even stronger.
Perhaps Xu Huaqian's husband was just into that!
Pei Wangshu, a wicked thought arising: "What do you think—if I made myself sick now and went to his house to apply to be a live-in husband, would it work?"
"—Ew." The others imagined a burly man pretending to be sickly and were disgusted!
"Get that filthy thought out of your head." Zhang Bingwen was so grossed out he got goosebumps. "Don't covet a friend's spouse. Besides, Senior Brother is this sick already, and you're thinking like that? What kind of friend are you? If you keep this up, don't blame us for cutting ties."
"I was just too surprised!" Pei Wangshu hadn't seriously meant it; he wasn't that despicable. He was just habitually running his mouth. But he did make a decision: "From now on, if I look for a husband, I'll look for one with this kind of personality!"
"Give it a rest," the others quickly stopped him. "Forget whether you can find one—whether they'd even look twice at you is another matter."
Even without knowing much about men, they knew someone like Chen Liejiu was rare under heaven. Wanting to find another like him was pure fantasy.
Though they didn't expect that many years later, Pei Wangshu would indeed find someone with a personality similar to Chen Liejiu's—not a man, but just as dashing.
Meanwhile, in the carriage, Xu Huaqian, burning with fever, barely managed to open his eyes. Seeing that it was Chen Liejiu who had come for him, his anxious heart finally found its anchor.
Holding his hand, he passed out peacefully.
With his wife here, he felt safe.