Early the next morning, when Cheng Su returned from her workout, she saw that Sister-in-law Song had a bruise at the corner of her eye and was taken aback.

Sister-in-law Song saw her and hastily avoided her gaze, lowering her head with a forced smile: "Sister-in-law Qi, off for a run again?"

"Yeah!" Cheng Su couldn’t hold back and pointed to the corner of her eye: "What happened here?"

Sister-in-law Song’s expression became more flustered as she evaded: "It’s nothing, I got up in the night and accidentally fell."

Cheng Su uttered an "oh," but her gaze remained heavy, thinking that perhaps Song Cheng might have hit his wife. No matter how much Sister-in-law Song was trying to get a bargain, hitting one’s wife is not something a good person would do!

With a belly full of questions, Cheng Su returned home.

"Quick, feel Xiao Qi’s forehead, is it a bit hot?" Mother Cheng gestured at her.

A fever?

Cheng Su was shocked and hurried over, reaching out to touch him. It wasn’t just a bit; he was indeed hot.

She quickly rummaged through the emergency medical kit at home and pulled out a thermometer, undressing her son as she asked: "When did this start? He didn’t feel feverish when I went out just now!"

To lose the weight she gained during her postpartum period, she now went for a run for half an hour every day. She had fed her son before she left, and he showed no signs of a fever!

"I only felt it when I tried to give him water just now." Mother Cheng was a bit anxious: "Do you think we should take him to the hospital?"

"Let’s take his temperature first." Cheng Su put the thermometer under her son’s armpit, held him, and noticed how his usually bright eyes seemed dim, which broke her heart.

They say a child is the flesh of a mother’s heart. This saying is true. Seeing him so listless, her heart felt like it was pierced by needles.

"Mom, give me that water." Cheng Su pointed at the bottle.

Mother Cheng quickly handed it over. Cheng Su picked it up, tested the water temperature, and put the nipple in Qi Xiaoqi’s mouth, but he turned away and wouldn’t drink.

"My dear, you have to drink; drinking more water will help you get better." Cheng Su said with heartache and brought the nipple back to his mouth.

This time, he obediently took a couple of sips.

"Could it be from the cold?" Mother Cheng suggested.

"It’s already October, and it’s getting colder. With the change of seasons, children’s immune systems can be weak, and fever isn’t unusual." Cheng Su said, looking at her son’s small face. This was his first fever.

As she spoke, it was time to check the thermometer. Cheng Su took a look—38 degrees—and her heart trembled.

She knew that children getting fevers is normal, and she was prepared for it. But seeing the reading on the thermometer made her heart ache; she knew how uncomfortable a fever felt.

Mother Cheng saw it too and exclaimed: "38 degrees, let’s go to the hospital before it gets worse!"

Qi Xiaoqi started crying at that moment.

As he cried, Cheng Su’s already tingling nose became uncontrollable, and tears welled up in her eyes, and she cried too.

The mother and son cried together as Mother Cheng paused momentarily, then patted her: "Silly girl, why are you crying? Let’s hurry to the hospital!"

Cheng Su nodded: "Mom, go and get Guiying, see if she has any way to bring the fever down, don’t let it rise!"

Mother Cheng went off in response, and Guiying quickly arrived. She felt Xiao Qi’s forehead and said: "38 degrees isn’t especially high. Let’s try some physical cooling first. If it goes up, we can go to the hospital."

Cheng Su wiped away her tears, brought her son back to the room, and, with Guiying, took some alcohol swabs and wiped them on her son’s body, gave him warm water to drink, and went through a round of fussing.