45 Coughing Husband

There was quite a racket inside the mansion. Everyone was taken by surprise as soon as Hou Wei Yan came back home carrying bags of chocolates and other cooking ingredients. Fang Tao was trailing behind her with an obvious 'Don't ask me' look written all over his face. They were dying to know the details but were silenced by her beaming face filled with happiness and excitement.

"Young Lady?" Gu Man asked as he saw the things she had bought. He had only arrived after bringing in some files inside Ji Li Zhao's office. "What are this for?"

Hou Wei Yan immediately raised the bag and smiled at him. "I want to cook something"

Gu Man flinched as she said this. Under this situation, what was he supposed to say? The young master was extremely worried and becomes anxious every time she enters the surgery room, will he allow her inside the kitchen?

According to the data and observations they gathered, Hou Wei Yan's skills are proficient when it comes to cooking. However, the kitchen is a battlefield, even professionals can get shot by wild bullets despite all the efforts they do to stay safe. Knowing his worrisome master, he simply cannot just agree to this. "May I ask for a few moments with the master? I shall ask him for permission regarding your request"

"Can you please not tell him this? I want to give him some cookies and surprise him a little bit" Hou Wei Yan blurted out when she noticed Gu Man about to step out to call her husband. Gu Man stopped his plan and looked at the sincere and shy lady in front of him. She looked so embarrassed by what she had just said. "He treated me with many things and even gave me a reliable assistant and guard, yet I had given him nothing at all. I cannot continue receiving things without showing my gratitude, that would not be me at all"

"Can you allow me this request? I really want to bake some cookies for him" she as she looked deeply into Gu Man's eyes with a pleading look.

A sigh immediately escaped from his lips as he surrendered himself to her earnest request. Well, the boss likes receiving things from her, he even placed her name card in a frame inside his office. If he allows her to bake him some cookies, he won't get that angry as he will be filled with ecstasy from the very thought of receiving a gift from his beloved.

Anyhow, if he does get angry, he can just take the blame and bare the consequence. "Alright, I shall ask everyone to clear the kitchen. However, the young lady must promise to be extremely careful inside the kitchen. If any harm befalls you, I will ban you from entering the kitchen again"

Hou Wei Yan immediately nodded in agreement. She knows the hidden danger of a kitchen and she's very careful when it comes to that all the time. If she gets hurt, she won't be able to continue her work as a doctor so her safety is her priority next to her patients and the people she loves. Most especially her hands as it is her biggest asset as a surgeon.

She took a bow at Gu Man and thanked him before she hurried inside their room to change. While she was doing this, Gu Man was instructing the kitchen staff to clear everything for Hou Wei Yan. As he waited for Hou Wei Yan to come down, he cannot stop but look at his master's room and sigh in relief, thankful that he was too busy to check on anything going on outside. Ji Li Zhao had a lot of paperwork to be done and remained stuck in his office upstairs ever since the afternoon with a meeting.

"I hope he gets well soon" he mumbled to himself as he remembered Ji Li Zhao coughing earlier. When it comes to working, Ji Li Zhao is also stubborn, much like his wife. He often neglects his own health just so he can finish the job. It's making him frustrated.

Hou Wei Yan who was already near did not let this statement pass. As she stared at Gu Man, she began tracing where his gaze lays and was immediately concerned. "My husband is here? Is he sick?"

Gu Man flinched when he heard her voice. Ahh, trouble. His master will not like it if he finds out he made Hou Wei Yan worry. But another conflict within him rose as he knew his master will only listen to his wife. All he wants is for his best and the best lies in their Madame. "He was coughing earlier. Did not get much sleep either"

Deep concern marked Hou Wei Yan's face. Not sleeping enough? Somehow, she finds this quite similar to her, but that somehow lessened when she began having someone taking care of her. She at most didn't want to make him worry so she began assessing her health.

As a wife, and a person greatly indebted to this man, she cannot let this matter go. "Can you please bring him some herbal tonic? It will help him with his cough. It's in our bedroom, in my drawer"

"I will bake him some cookies and prepare him milk. Make sure he takes the medicine, if he refuses, tell him that I'll barge in and make him drink it myself" she said seriously before disappearing into the kitchen.

The servants who heard this all looked at each other before dispersing without uttering anything. In their minds marked Hou Wei Yan's domineering image. Looks like their master will be having a tough time refusing their Madame from now on.

.....

Series of coughing resonated across the room. Luckily, the meeting had just finished so no one was able to see this weak side of him. After coughing some more, Ji Li Zhao lay lazily in his chair.

"This is quite troublesome" he mumbled to himself as he felt his energy draining out every time he coughs.

A soft knock was heard all of a sudden in the middle of his coughing session. "Young Master"

He looked at the door and coughed again. "Come in"

When Gu Man opened the door, all he can ever hear was his master's coughing and the continuous clicking of the keyboard. He can only sigh at the sight as his master continued typing while coughing hard. "Master, I have brought you some medicine"

Ji Li Zhao looked at Gu Man and proceeded to his work with a poker face. "I didn't ask for medicine. I'm fine"

A sigh escaped from the butler's lips once more. Slowly he shook his head and brought it close to him. "Madame ordered me to bring it. I was specifically ordered to tell you that if you refuse to take it then she will force you to drink it herself"

At the mention of this, Ji Li Zhao's hands immediately stopped writing and his eyes swiftly went to the medicine. "She's back?"

"A little earlier than expected" he answered, to cover up the surprise Hou Wei Yan wanted to make. "She accidentally heard me mumbling about your condition so she made me bring it"

Ji Li Zhao coughed again and this time, it was harder than the last. He stared at the bottle of medicine and began thinking of his wife's worried face.

[ No! I can't make her worry ]

"Tell her I did what she said, so she should go to sleep without worry" he said before taking in the medicine. A smile was then plastered on his face as he felt relief rush throughout his system.

Gu Man was extremely pleased with his young master's obedient side. Making him take medicine is by far the hardest part of his job. He can make all sorts of excuses just so he can escape it and would even use his authority to make him stop. Now that the Madame is here, there was nothing for him to worry about. "I shall be back with your snacks, young master"

When he was left alone, Ji Li Zhao looked at the picture he had with her when he was a teenager. It was actually taken by one of their class booths back at their academic fair. He was just walking by when he got dragged and was tied to a knot with Hou Wei Yan for the promotion of their Love Knot booth. Someone managed to capture the moment and he went by many bribery before he could get the picture without alarming Hou Wei Yan.

Now that he thinks back about it, he was such a fool. He smiled at this and even chuckled to himself. But his even much of a fool today than in the past.

"Wei Wei" he mumbled as he smiled at their picture together. "I love you, and only you" he confessed to the air as he cannot whisper it to her ear yet.

It's not yet time.