Chapter 552: The Unwelcome Guest

Xia Ling had already become a bit of a Little Diva, and requests for her appearance in shows had increased exponentially. Her team was struggling to cope with this inflow of requests. Even if Lin Yunan didn't join the team, she would still need to hire more people in the future. His addition to the team helped her avoid the inevitable hassle.

Lin Yunan was highly capable. His abilities to select suitable schedules and PR capabilities were impeccable. Before long, he had steadied her popularity and position in the industry, proving her mettle and allowing no one to question her "Little Diva" title. With her path in the limelight going smoothly, they started to prepare for her first solo concert.

At the end of spring and the start of summer.

Xia Ling woke to feel slightly giddy and nauseous, possibly because of the weather changing coupled with her daunting work schedule. She sniffled in bed feeling like she might have caught a cold.

"Li Lei..." Instinctively, she whined and turned to hug the huge human "bolster" next to her.

Li Lei slapped her hand away. "Stay away from me. I've caught a cold and don't want to infect you."

She became less sleepy in an instant and raised her blurry eyes to look at him weakly. "I've also caught a cold." She whined. There was no telling which one of them had infected the other. In any case, both of them were under the weather, so it didn't matter. She inched closer to Big Boss Li and hugged him closer.

Li Lei didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He coaxed gently, "Be good. Let me get up so I can go find us some medicine."

"It's not good to have too much medicine." She mumbled. It was said that cold medication tended to deal with the symptoms and would not cure it entirely, so there was no real need to take them. When she was at the Pei Family house, how did she deal with a cold? She thought for a while with her eyes half-closed, before she whined to Li Lei again. "I want to have some red sugar ginger tea, or vinegar tea, or snow pears boiled with rock sugar."

"Okay, be good, I'll go make some for you." Big Boss gently said.

"Mmhmm..." She mumbled back before falling asleep again. Then, she suddenly snapped awake, remembering that Big Boss was ill as well. "No." She said. "You lie down. I'll go make them."

Li Lei was taken aback for a moment before a warmth spread within his heart. Was Xiao Ling feeling concerned for him despite being ill herself? Her concern struck him in the gentlest part of his heart, and he looked at her more lovingly. "Don't worry, I'll go. You're such a klutz, you'll just make a mess of things."

"I'm not." Xia Ling whined and struggled to climb off the bed. She pulled a random robe out from the cupboard, put it on, and stumbled towards the kitchen. Li Lei had always been the one taking care of her. In this rare occasion that he was ill, it was her chance to do the same.

She found a pear in the fruit basket and washed it under the tap for a bit before she started to slice it up with her head still spinning. She had learned to cook through Li Lei's insistence but was still an amateur. As she peeled the skin off the pear, she sliced off a good amount of the pear flesh as well. By the time she was finished, there wasn't much left outside of the pear core.

Xia Ling stared at the pear core in a daze.

She heard a laugh from behind her.

She turned and saw Big Boss looking on with a huge smile. She bristled angrily. "Hmph... I'm not making any for you!" Yet, she carefully placed the pear core into the large pot.

"Let me take over." Big Boss gently coaxed and took the knife from her while retrieving another pear.

"I'll do it!" Xia Ling exclaimed unhappily.

Big Boss allowed her to snatch the knife and pear from him before he hugged her from behind and guided her hands. "Look closely..." He demonstrated. "This is how you peel a pear..."

She stared down at her hands in his. Almost magically, a perfect pear lay completely peeled in a jiffy.

"Amazing." She murmured.

Big Boss' eyes curled into two joyful semi-circles as he smiled widely again. He sneaked a peck on her ear and said, "I'll help you cook."

"I'll help you cook." She responded in resignation.

"Mmhmm, let's cook together." His voice was nasal as well. Clearly, the cold was not a minor one.

He helped her to gauge the water level, as well as the amount of rock sugar to add into the soup. Together, they made a pot of the snow pear soup. The sweet fragrance permeated the room, which was extremely heartwarming, and even Er Mao and Hairball couldn't resist popping into the kitchen to get a closer whiff.

"The soup isn't for you guys!" Li Lei helped Xia Ling dish the soup into bowls before gloating at them. "Xiao Ling made this for me!"

Er Mao gave him a look that read "childish" before leaving with Hairball in tow.

Xia Ling brought the bowls to the table and tested the temperature with a spoon. She then brought the spoon near to Li Lei's lips. "Have a taste and see how it is."

He took a sip from the spoon. The soup was sweet, and the sweetness went straight to his heart.

"You made it. Whatever you make is nice." His smile broadened across his face.

"You did most of the work." Xia Ling admitted. Even though she was ill, she knew who made a greater contribution to the outcome of the soup. She bent down to have a taste as well. "It's good!"

The taste was different from the soup she tasted at Pei Ziheng's.

It was sweeter and more delicious.

The two of them sat down at the small dining table and shared the pot of snow pear soup between them. After finishing the soup, both of them became more energized.

"Remember not to have any medication." She reminded him. "I'll boil some porridge for you tonight, and make some salad on the side."

"Okay." Li Lei smiled. In fact, he did not have the habit of taking medication when he was ill since his disposition was good. The medication in the house was prepared for Xiao Ling in case she caught a cold. However, he did not reveal this as he relished in her shower of attention over him.

Xia Ling was satisfied with his answer. She gleefully pulled him downstairs to head to Skyart together.

Since she had caught a cold, she did not go into the recording studio but instead completed a magazine interview accompanied by Lin Yunan, firmed up her schedule for the coming month, and went to purchase suitable clothes for them. In the afternoon, she recalled her promise to Li Lei on porridge for dinner and, hence, instructed her assistant to buy several recipe books from the bookstore before heading home early intending to practice first.

As she was unwell, she felt a little dizzy.

Lin Yunan asked in concern, "Are you alright?"

Xia Ling replied, "I'm just a little ill, it's nothing. I'll be fine after a while." Medication would make her drowsy and affect the sensitivity of her vocal cords. This might not be significant for others, but it was for her. She was reluctant to take any medication if she could help it.

Lin Yunan said, "You can't cook porridge in this condition. I'll get a nanny to come over to help you with that. Just lie down and rest."

Xia Ling refused. "But I want to make the porridge for Li Lei." Big Boss Li was usually so healthy and seemingly impregnable, she had no means of finding an opportunity to show her concern for him. She was still feeling guilty about how she treated him regarding the burial. Now that he was ill, she had found a chance to take care of him and make amends.

Lin Yunan didn't know how else to convince her, so he rolled his eyes and left her be.

He sent her to the base of her apartment building and watched as she disappeared into the elevator.

It was quiet outside the apartment as Li Lei would not typically be home at this time. Xia Ling keyed the password into the number lock to open to door and realized that the house was full of people.

An old man with a full head of white hair was sitting on the sofa right in the middle.