After Stealing a Kiss from My Sponsor Sister - Chapter 33
Getting into the car.
Click. The seatbelt buckle snaps into place.
The headlights flicker on, piercing the vast night as the car slowly pulls out, merging into the endless stream of traffic.
Silence fills the interior.
The initial unease in her heart gradually settles into drowsy calm under this quiet.
Yu Shuang yawns, pulling her shawl tighter around herself.
The weather had already turned warm, and while her exposed legs felt nothing, her body remained sensitive to the cold. The cashmere-blend shawl, originally meant to shield her from the plane’s air conditioning, still clung to her even after disembarking… Yu Shuang glanced at the central console—only the air circulation was on, no AC… Fine. Her body wasn’t as resilient as before.
Shifting her gaze slightly, Jiang Ya’s stern face came into view.
Expressionless. Unhappy. Unapproachable.
Hmm.
Not something a patient should dwell on.
Yu Shuang relaxed again, even adjusting the passenger seat to recline slightly, turning on the massage function before nestling deeper into the shawl.
It was good to be back home.
Even at eight or nine in the evening, the roads were still lined with headlights, one after another.
Yu Shuang dozed off briefly.
When she opened her eyes again, her phone displayed a new message.
From Tan Xiao.
Yu Shuang sent a quick update: Landed.
In the car, heading home.
Tan Xiao, ever the instigator: Did Jiang Ya scold you?
Yu Shuang’s brow arched high. She wouldn’t dare.
Silence was fine. A sour expression was tolerable. But outright scolding? Unacceptable.
Why wouldn’t she? She nags you every day, practically reciting the entire health manual to you. Have you listened?
“……”
Rubbing her nose, Yu Shuang felt a twinge of guilt as she recalled the reason she’d caught a chill.
But she doubled down. What’s the point of health regimens? The whole point of a vacation is to enjoy yourself.
Tan Xiao: Enjoy burning up to 39°C?
It was 38.8, thank you.
Enjoy burning up to 38.8°C?
……
Yu Shuang stole another glance at Jiang Ya in the driver’s seat. Her sharp, cool features were frostier than usual, as if coated in a layer of ice.
Yu Shuang instinctively tugged the shawl tighter.
“Cold?”
The driver’s voice cut through the silence, its tone no warmer than her expression.
Yu Shuang: “Yeah. Your face alone could lower the temperature.”
“……”
Jiang Ya still adjusted the vents, redirecting the airflow.
Silence returned, thick and uncomfortable. Yu Shuang shifted restlessly, disliking the atmosphere.
But initiating a conversation to explain herself? Absolutely out of the question.
At least not now.
Amid this tense standoff, Yu Shuang watched as Jiang Ya steered the car toward the hospital.
“……”
Peering out the window at the glowing sign, she recognized the private hospital she frequented.
Fine!
Taking a deep breath as the entrance barrier lifted, Yu Shuang grabbed Jiang Ya’s wrist. “My fever’s already gone.”
There was no need for excessive medical intervention.
Unfortunately, the accelerator was foot-operated. The car shot forward through the gates, and at low speed, Jiang Ya steered with one hand. “I know. We’re just getting bloodwork to check for lung infection.”
“…No appointment. The doctor I know might not even be here.”
“He is. I called while picking up the car.”
Good. Good.
Just as stubborn as the person who trained her.
“Miss Yu, I need both hands to park.”
No struggle, not even an attempt to shake off her grip—but Jiang Ya’s meaning was clear.
Yu Shuang squeezed the offending wrist in irritation.
Jiang Ya: “Miss Yu, you don’t even have the strength in your hand. Better get checked.”
“.”
Yu Shuang released the wrist with a flick.
Registering, seeing the doctor, answering questions.
Yu Shuang suspected Jiang Ya was doing it on purpose.
During the questioning about her condition, the entire medical history was laid bare. By the time Jiang Ya finished listening, Yu Shuang could no longer hide anything.
“Playing in the water, eating ice… What medication did you take after the fever started?”
“How many days did the fever last?”
“Antipyretics, oh, this one.”
“It subsided by the second day? That’s good.”
“Are you experiencing any discomfort now?”
Once the questions were done, it was time for a bl00d draw.
After sitting for a short while, a nurse called out, and Jiang Ya immediately stood up to retrieve the bl00d test results.
Yu Shuang glanced at them, wanting to see but unwilling to speak to Jiang Ya. She held it in all the way back to the doctor’s office, only hearing the details from the doctor’s mouth.
The doctor said there was nothing wrong.
Jiang Ya: “Should we get a chest X-ray? Her fevers are often caused by lung infections.”
“There was one episode the year before last, and a milder one last year, but it still happened.”
Yu Shuang: “…”
Doctor: “Her bl00d test results are all within normal ranges, no signs of inflammation. If you’re concerned, an X-ray wouldn’t hurt.”
Yu Shuang’s eyes flickered, and then she heard Jiang Ya decide, “Never mind, then.”
Their gazes abruptly met in midair. Yu Shuang clearly saw Jiang Ya let out a soft sigh, as if restraining something, before saying, “She just had one half a year ago. If there’s no inflammation, we can wait until her next physical. Too frequent isn’t good either.”
Hah. So she knows about overmedicalization?
Jiang Ya: “Radiation accumulates in the body.”
She said this while looking directly into Yu Shuang’s eyes, her expression still unreadable—Yu Shuang even felt that gaze was cold. After speaking, Jiang Ya turned away to chase after the doctor with more questions.
“It’s not that serious, though. How did playing in the water and eating ice lead to a fever?”
“She’s been taking all her supplements. I’ve been keeping an eye on it.”
“Is that so…”
Jiang Ya let out a long sigh.
She looked even more troubled than Yu Shuang, the actual patient.
“Alright.”
“Mhm.”
“Got it.”
“We’ve already cut back on her workload a lot this year, and I’ve been making sure she sleeps and wakes early.”
“Exercise—I’ve dragged her out hiking a few times. Daily activity is just moving around more. No gym workouts, she doesn’t like those.”
“The year before last, last year… The earliest was four years ago, when she was hospitalized for half a month.”
“Daily health? No chronic conditions. Anemia counts, I suppose, but we’ve been monitoring it. She’s been taking supplements, and this year’s levels are normal. It’s just iron-deficiency anemia. I’ve also reminded the housekeeper to cook more meat…”
As she listened, Yu Shuang’s irritation gradually dissipated.
Jiang Ya knew her far too well…
When she glanced over, Jiang Ya was earnestly discussing the minutiae of her life with the doctor—her daily habits, her health status.
Some details even Yu Shuang might not remember, Jiang Ya knew them all.
Slowly, Yu Shuang exhaled as well.
Her emotions settled. On the way back, leaning against the seat, Yu Shuang didn’t even realize when she dozed off.
She woke to the sound of rustling.
The moment she opened her eyes, she was met with a cascade of long hair, spilling like liquid silver in front of her.
Yu Shuang reached out and caught a handful. The strands slipped through her fingers, too smooth to hold. With the slightest movement of her fingertips, they flowed away like light through the gaps.
The touch carried a faint, pleasant coolness.
Her sudden awakening seemed to startle the owner of the hair, freezing her in place.
With a slight shift of her gaze, their eyes met.
Face to face, impossibly close.
Yu Shuang was half-asleep, her gaze still hazy with drowsiness as she looked at Jiang Ya in a daze. With a flick of her fingers, she pressed both hands against Jiang Ya’s face.
The moment she was touched, Jiang Ya tensed up but remained silent.
Yu Shuang studied her intently.
Her skin was fair—a cool porcelain white—yet soft and warm.
Her eyes were round with delicate double eyelids, giving her an innocent appearance. But that wasn’t the case at all.
Her nose was elegantly straight, her cheeks full with the plumpness of youth.
Yet compared to when they first met, some of that youthful collagen had faded, revealing the superior bone structure beneath. It accentuated the girl’s ethereal, untouchable aura.
Some things had changed.
She had matured, grown more beautiful, learned how to dress herself.
But some things remained the same.
At her core, she was still that stubborn girl Yu Shuang had brought home all those years ago.
Outwardly obedient, inwardly rebellious.
Yu Shuang smiled, reaching out to tug at the corners of Jiang Ya’s lips, pinching her cheeks to force a smile.
“You’ve grown so much…” she murmured.
“Stop frowning.”
“I didn’t mean to catch a cold.”
A hint of helplessness flickered in Jiang Ya’s eyes.
Yu Shuang’s grin widened.
She pinched the girl’s cheeks again, clearly enjoying herself.
“I’m not angry—”
“Mhm, you’re just giving me the cold shoulder.”
“Miss Yu—”
The way she drew out those three syllables made Yu Shuang’s heart skip a beat.
Jiang Ya fixed her with a serious gaze. “You promised me you’d be careful.”
Here we go again.
Yu Shuang withdrew her hands, fidgeting as she clasped them together, muttering guiltily, “I was careful.”
“I know.”
Jiang Ya lowered her lashes. “I just really don’t like it when you’re sick.”
“Your health is too fragile now.”
“…”
“Every time you fall ill, I get anxious, wondering where I went wrong.”
“You’re already doing more than enough—”
Reminding her to eat breakfast and lunch, pestering her about supplements at night, all while juggling time zones—even an alarm clock couldn’t be this precise.
Those eyes lifted again, locking onto Yu Shuang. “But you still have a fever.”
Well.
It wasn’t like Jiang Ya was scolding her.
Her tone wasn’t harsh.
Yet Yu Shuang couldn’t explain why she felt so guilty.
And it wasn’t just this once. At some point, Jiang Ya had developed this uncanny ability to disarm her without a single word of reproach.
Yu Shuang sometimes wondered if she had magic.
But she had always been carefree, unwilling to rein in her nature.
So,
she always seemed to fall for the same tactics from Jiang Ya.
And they were always effective.
Yu Shuang smiled.
Jiang Ya: “You’re trying to weasel your way out again.”
“…No way, I’m just happy to see you—”
Wait, when had she left again?
“Thirteen days.”
“Right, right, almost half a month. Didn’t you miss me?”
Jiang Ya’s lashes fluttered. “I did.”
“Wow, you sound so reluctant.”
Yu Shuang poked at Jiang Ya’s stony expression.
“I’m not reluctant.”
It was obvious Miss Yu was trying to dodge the topic, distracted as always.
Too bad the speaker might be indifferent, but the listener took it to heart.
“Then smile for me.”
Jiang Ya forced a smile—not reluctant, just complicated.
And with utterly emotionless cheer, she stated, “Miss Yu, this is your second fever this year.”
“…”
This conversation was never going to end!
Yu Shuang couldn’t help but marvel. “How do you say such icy words with a 37-degree mouth?”
“Thirty-seven degrees isn’t cold, but thirty-eight point eight is a low-grade fever.”
“……”
Yu Shuang wilted. “Fine, just get it over with. Whatever punishment you’ve got, bring it on.”
“Stop dragging this out. Are you holding a criticism session for me or what?!”
“No.”
The voice was soft, barely more than a whisper.
Laced with a subtle nuance that was hard to pinpoint.
Yu Shuang vigorously rubbed Jiang Ya’s face with vengeful force, “Then. What. Is. It?”
“If there’s nothing, can’t we just smoothly move past this topic?”
“So Miss Yu, you just want to weasel your way out of this, don’t you?”
“…I’ll report you for elder abuse, you know.”
“No elder could be this radiant and unrepentant.”
“I surrender! Seriously, just tell me what you want me to do. Give me a solution! I’ll listen!”
“Really?”
“Really, master, please stop chanting! I’m begging you!!”
Yu Shuang covered her ears, looking utterly mentally tortured.
A very soft sound.
Yu Shuang thought she might have misheard.
But she couldn’t have misseen.
Jiang Ya smiled.
Like ice melting, spring returning to the earth.
This kid had such a presence—cold and distant when stern, yet gentle and reserved when smiling, exuding an Eastern charm that was impossible to look away from, something you wanted to explore.
Her features weren’t striking, but the negative space was just right.
Understated to the extreme, yet radiating an unexpected allure.
But…
While her artistic side was purely admiring, as the patient herself, Yu Shuang felt utterly exasperated. “Funny?”
“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”
“You just told me to smile. It’s been half a month since I last saw you—I’m happy to see you.”
“…Hmph.” Copying her!
The smile faded, and the beautiful face nearby turned serious again. “Then let’s stick to the agreement from the start of the year. For the rest of this year, no more fevers, okay?”
Again?
Yu Shuang was half-dead with frustration. “I don’t think that’s something I can control…”
She really hadn’t overdone it this time.
But she’d still gotten a fever.
“At least try your best?”
Yu Shuang took a deep breath.
Jiang Ya smiled again, this time with a hint of ingratiating charm.
Yu Shuang took another deep, deep breath.
“I! WILL! TRY! MY! BEST!!!”
She realized it.
Jiang Ya was her kryptonite.
Yes, exactly—kryptonite! Her kryptonite!
Click.
A faint sound.
Only then did Yu Shuang realize Jiang Ya had been leaning over to unbuckle her seatbelt.
The irritation in her chest deflated, as if punctured by a needle.
She’d lost count of how many times this had happened.
Every time she was about to lose her temper, somehow, it was always her who ended up backing down.
Yu Shuang was numb to it by now.
Completely numb.
So she found other ways to vent.
“I’m hungry,” Yu Shuang grumbled as she got out of the car, her tone deliberately surly.
“The housekeeper made food. I’ll heat it up as soon as we get home.”
“I want a Coke!”
Jiang Ya didn’t miss a beat. “I’ll open a can for you at home.”
“I want it iced!”
“Miss Yu—”
Yu Shuang couldn’t stand that tone. “Fine, just two ice cubes then!”
“Two small ice cubes.”
Alright, alright.
At least she was getting her way.
As they stepped into the elevator, Yu Shuang couldn’t resist muttering again, “I also want to take a bath.”
“……”
“I want to take a bath!”
“……”
“Wan-wan-want to take a bath.”
“I’m deaf. Can’t hear you.”
“?”
“Deaf-deaf-deaf-deaf-deaf. Can’t hear.”
“……”