Chapter Text
"Wake up, Baizhu. You can't sleep the whole morning."
The man shivered at the words, flinching in the bed. Changsheng knew how to abruptly wake him up, and today was no exception.
Well, except he just wasn't feeling well.
It was never that bad. Those men… it would never be like this.
Maybe because he escaped and tried to hide from them in his own house, where everyone knew he lived, without any line of protection. Even Qiqi was away, as he let her stay with that friend of hers for the night. It was good for her not to be alone all the time.
He was sure that the door was not in good condition anymore. He'll have to change that, somehow.
But now he doesn't really want to do anything.
"Baizhu, get up."
"You know better than anyone I can't, Changsheng."
The snake wasn't going to deny the situation he was in, never. She wasn't the one who could help him when these things happened and was the only actual witness to this. But as stubborn as he was, he didn't want to tell anyone about it. Even if it could've solved everything.
But they were strong. Always outnumbered him. And he rarely saw the same few every time it would happen. Maybe there were too many of them to even stop something like this from happening every time.
"Just give me some more time, alright? Then I'll take care of the doors."
The snake signed. "You can't keep this a secret for too long, you know?"
He knows he can't. He was going to crack one day, he knew that very well.
But there didn’t seem to be any exit for this situation currently. So, he’ll just have to endure it. He was able to until now. Sure, something like this shouldn’t last for over a year, but what was he going to do about it?
“Let me rest for a bit longer, alright? Then I’ll go and do my job.”
“If you say so.”
Changsheng didn’t want to argue with him more, that was clear. She’s probably had enough of it too, having to watch him struggle almost every day over something like this. It would probably be good for him to have a break that lasted longer, but right now that’s not the option. He could take a day off tomorrow maybe.
As he covered himself once again, another unknown sound was heard. It was the now broken front door, alarming him immediately.
“Dr. Baizhu?”
Qiqi.
“Are you awake?”
“Hello Qiqi dear.” He was still under the covers, only letting his head be visible. He was too tired (and bruised all over) to let the child know something had happened.
“Qiqi thinks the doors are not okay.”
“Yes, it’s a bit of a problem. I’ll fix them later, I’m just a little tired right now.”
“But work Dr. Baizhu.”
He wasn’t sure how to approach this now. “Don’t worry, I’ll get to it, just a few more minutes.”
Qiqi, while not looking suspicious, was looking oddly… worried.
“Is Dr. Baizhu alright?”
How to assure her there’s nothing to worry about?
“It’s just a cold, don’t you worry. Please, you should make sure everything is alright in the pharmacy until I go downstairs.”
Qiqi only nodded her head, sloppily closing the broken door behind her as she left. He’ll really have to fix that.
“Please, don’t look at me like that Changsheng”, he sighed as the snake eyed him again, shaking her head. “She’s a child, I can’t tell her about anything.”
“You are right on that one”, the snake replied. “That still doesn’t make the situation any better.”
He lay down again and let out a sigh. Today was just not feeling that great.
He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a bit more time to relax until he had to deal with the rest of the day.
Baizhu was woken up by a thud of some sort.
As he flinched, he was greeted by an unusual sight in front of him.
“Oh, good morning Dr. Baizhu!”
Yaoyao, the girl Qiqi stayed with last night, was there. Another person, he assumed someone related to her, was moving around the broken door not far from them.
“Dad, Dr. Baizhu woke up!”
The man put the door down and turned towards him.
“Good morning doctor! I apologise for the noises, this door is quite heavy.” He seemed to be replacing it with another one. Baizhu couldn’t see everything, as some things seemed to be outside, but he was very much working.
“It appears I missed something while I was asleep.”
“Ah, yes of course! I’ll keep it short: Yaoyao came to pick up some medicine for her mother while we were in town for some work reasons. She found out from your herbalist and Qiqi that you had a broken door, which caused you a cold since you couldn’t close it properly. I offered to help replace it, considering you always help our community. It would be a shame if our doctor was sick.”
“You really didn’t need to do that”, Baizhu tried to brush it off. “I’d do it myself later in the day.”
“Unfortunately, the door wasn’t in the condition where you could do it yourself easily. You would need too much materials and work you’re not familiar with. This way you don’t get to hurt yourself in the process. I’ve changed many doors like these, so this is just something I’m used to! But, it’s very odd to have a door get broken like this, especially if it wasn’t like that only a day ago.”
It was time to make something up again. He could already feel Changsheng judge him for that.
“It was like that when I arrived last night. I assume someone tried to break in and steal.”
Baizhu never kept most of his earned money in the house, it was all stored away in the bank. He learned from his brother that’s the safest way. While using Northland bank as someone from Liyue always earned him a couple of side eyes, he could trust his brother on the money being safe. True, he’d have to make more trips there than one would like, but safety of the money first.
“That’s probably the most logical answer”, Yaoyao’s dad said. “So odd, to think of stealing from our doctor. What was that person thinking?”
“Possibly a treasure hoarder”, Baizhu said. “Or maybe a travelling thief. You never know.”
He tried not to talk too much, the man did have to work without distraction in the end. In the meantime, Yaoyao offered to make him some tea, not wanting Baizhu to stress too much. Considering he did say he had a cold, the most he could do was pretend that was true.
The door got fixed relatively quickly, Yaoyao’s dad also refused to accept any sort of payment for it. He was serious about just helping him because he truly can. Baizhu can make up by not asking for money the next few times they come for medication at least.
But even when the man was done, Yaoyao didn’t seem to want to leave.
“Your dad finished working, you are free to leave with him.” He said.
“Oh no, I’ll stay! I already told him I’ll be here to help you out if it’s needed.”
“There’s no need really. I can get Gui to help me if something’s needed, Qiqi too. You don’t have to-”
“Please, I insist!” The girl wasn’t going to give up. “You always help all of us when we need it! Even if your medicine doesn’t taste very good, it has never failed anyone! The least I can do is help you feel better, just like you always help everyone else!”
There was some truth to what Yaoyao was saying. Even if he wasn’t truly sick, he is the one who helped the sick people of Liyue, but no one really helped him when he was the sick one.
“Alright.”
“Thank you very much Dr. Baizhu!” Yaoyao seemed very happy that he had accepted her help.
“I also told Qiqi that tonight I would be staying with her. I hope that’s not a problem.”
“No, it’s perfectly fine. Qiqi loves it when someone's with her, even if she doesn't really show it on the outside.”
At least she’ll have the little zombie friend to hang out with and won’t be dancing around him all the time.
“I would appreciate some sleep now though.”
“Of course! If you need anything more, I will be close!”
Yaoyao did in fact stay the whole day, and now night. She was also kind enough to make them a meal, much to Baizhu’s surprise. That radish and fish stew she made for them was quite lovely. And once done, she said she’d sleep with Qiqi in her room, leaving him and Changsheng alone.
“She makes good food”, Changsheng commented. “She does it better than Qiqi at least.”
“Well, Qiqi does try her best, that’s what matters with her. In the end, you always end up eating what I make.”
“That’s true.” The snake then repositioned herself, spending almost all day next to him compared to her usual spot around his neck. Today must’ve been an unusual day for her too.
“Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”
“I am… fine.”
He wasn’t hunting anywhere anymore. Some amount of discomfort was present, but that thing has been here since this all started. He had gotten used to it, even if realistically he shouldn't have.
Changsheng sighed. “If you say so.” Seemed like she was sick of arguing with him after so long.
He lied down again, as if he wasn’t in bed the whole day, attempting to relax. He had two kids in the house today, so even if they do try something, they’ll be in for an unpleasant surprise. Qiqi was a light sleeper and she could wake up Yaoyao if needed.
The fact that he was relying on children for his protection felt pathetic, but did he really have someone else?