The Physician Diagnosed the Artist

Yu Zixu found a blank space in his memories.

One second, he was handing tea to his junior sister, and in the next second, he woke up from a moment of darkness, a throbbing pain on his forehead and blankets weighing down on him. 

Zixu's eyes flew open. He could see something in the midst of his blurry vision, the movement of a hand, perhaps, but he closed his eyes just as quickly. His eyelids felt heavy. Keeping them open took far too much effort.

There was the noise of shuffling around him. He wondered what this noise was, but he couldn't bother to focus on it for too long. A wave of drowsiness lazily crashed into him, the idea of sleeping seeming far more appealing than opening his eyes up or even thinking in general. 

A part of him reminded him that he needed to study. Study, study, study. That was all that was on his mind during the past few days. He needed to study to get the top spot during the imperial examinations. He needed to study to get the future he wanted, and the future that he couldn't get in any other way. 

But he also wanted to sleep.

The darkness of sleep called out to him, pulling him down. The darkness felt freezing, but the blankets piled atop of him— how did he get covered in blankets?— brought him a bit more warmth.

It was a struggle between two parts of him, logic and desire, but soon enough, the appeal of sleep won over. For now, at least, he would allow himself these few moments of letting go. 

Zixu sunk deeper into the darkness. 

…

The physician promptly got to diagnosing Zixu quickly, and Yujia simply watched as he did so. Carefully, the old man took out one of Zixu's arms from under the blankets and turned it over so that he could take the pulse. Fingers resting on Zixu's wrist for a few moments, the physician quietly nodded. Then, he turned his attention to Zixu's face, opening Zixu's mouth and pulling down his jaw to look at his tongue.

He observed this for a few more moments. Following that, he made a couple more observations of different things, such as Zixu's temperature or the color of his lips. 

Finishing with that, the old man stood up, glancing over at the two. His gaze was more directed at the servant as he said, "Don't worry. Your young master simply caught a cold. It isn't too serious, but he must get proper treatment now."

Yujia let out a breath of relief upon hearing that. So she was right with her previous assumptions that Zixu shouldn't be afflicted with anything too serious. Regardless, it was still nice to hear an official confirmation from someone certified. 

The physician hobbled over to the table where Yujia sat, taking a seat across and pulling out a slip of paper from his medicine box. With a brush, he wrote down the instructions of a prescription, saying as he did so, "It seems like your young master hasn't been eating or sleeping well, from what I've heard earlier, correct?"

The servant boy replied, "Indeed."

"When I checked earlier, your young master is sleeping, not fainted. He likely fell asleep after he fainted," the physician continued after receiving this confirmation.

Yujia blinked. 

Asleep.

Yu Zixu was asleep. 

She didn't even realize that. She thought he was still fainted all this time, which was the main cause of her worry since he had been for so long. Who knew that Zixu actually fell asleep? The source of her worry was all nothing in the first place. 

"So, there's no need to worry about that either," the physician affirmed, "He was likely too sleep deprived, so a moment like this happened. Your young master needs to be more careful from now on. Make sure that he gets plenty of sleep and rest."

He finished writing the prescription, passing the slip to the servant boy, who gratefully accepted it.

The physician ended with saying, "Be sure that besides giving him this medicine, have him eat a stable diet as well. This medicine is only for treating the cold and fever. After that, improving his health completely relies on improving his daily habits. You can try giving him some dishes that will improve one's health. That may help."

"Thank you, Physician Lai." The servant respectfully bowed in gratitude. 

Nodding and giving a slight bow of his head as well, the physician prepared to leave. "I will go back to my clinic if that is all. This is the extent of what I can do for your young master. Hoping that he will recover quickly."

"Actually—" Yujia swiftly spoke up, "Physician, while you are still here, I happened to burn myself a bit too with some hot tea earlier. Would it be too much to ask for you to check up on it?"

The physician looked up, paying actual attention to Yujia for the first time in a while.

"Oh… of course, Noble."

Yujia held out her hand across the table. The physician stared at it for a few moments, but didn't bother touching it or reaching out in any way. In fact, he actually moved himself back a bit, putting more distance between the two.

He looked up after observation, saying, "It doesn't seem like any blisters will form, and the skin is only reddish pink, but it will be slightly painful for… Noble over the next few days. Any common burn ointment will do in soothing it, but you must remember to use it often. No scarring should occur."

Yujia caught on to the hesitation before the word "Noble". She pieced it together with the distancing movement of the physician before, piecing the two together. 

The physician must've realized that she was in disguise. 

Considering that the other individual was a doctor, it would've been inevitable that he realized her true gender. In fact, Yujia was surprised that Zixu's servant boy didn't seem to. 

Grateful that he was wise enough to not expose her, Yujia reached and pulled out her money satchel, fishing out a few taels and handing it to the physician. "Thank you." 

"Of course, of course. It is my job." The old man nodded, all the while taking the money from her, not the slightest bit hesitant.

Yujia smiled. People like this old physician were easy to deal with. 

…

The physician, finished with his job, left soon enough. The servant boy also left after informing Yujia he would go buy some medicine. 

And so, once more, Yujia was left with an unconscious— no, asleep— Yu Zixu.

She stared at Zixu's relaxed expression, wondering what she could possibly do now. She couldn't feed Zixu medicine since the servant went to buy it, and she shouldn't wake Zixu up either. There was nothing more that she could do in the situation, except for straightening Zixu's blankets and changing the damp cloth on his head. 

Yujia completed both of those tasks rather quickly. She was back to staring at Zixu with nothing else to do.

A moment of boredom later, Yujia glanced over at the steamed buns left untouched on Zixu's desk. 

Well, if Yu Zixu wasn't going to be awake anytime soon to eat them, and Yujia had nothing else better to do… maybe she should just go and eat those steamed buns.

She knew that she made it for Zixu. Except at the moment, there was nothing better to do than to eat them herself. She might as well give the existence of those steamed buns a purpose. If they weren't meant to be eaten, what did she cook them for?

With those excuses, Yujia managed to convince herself that it was completely okay to eat what was meant to be eaten in the first place. Her persuasion skills may have been average, but in the face of food, they seemed to skyrocket to a whole new level.

A foodie's self-control was indeed a bit lacking.