My Courtyard Shelter

Chapter 24: 9 degrees!

Mrs. Xu let out a sigh of relief, “Thank goodness,” and added, “It’s under 39 degrees—that’s not a high fever. It’s probably just a mild cold.” Seeing that Xu Dong was still staring blankly, Mrs. Xu quickly gave him a nudge and urged, “Stop spacing out—hurry up and take Nana and Xiao Bao to the hospital!” Xu Dong snapped out of it immediately, dashed down to the underground storage room, and dragged a brand-new mountain bike out through the emergency exit. It was just so inconvenient right now—the car was out of gas and couldn’t run, and even the car elevator was out of service, so they had no choice but to use the emergency exit. No sooner had Xu Donggang pushed the bike out of the courtyard than Yang Lina, holding Xiao Bao, hopped onto the back seat. Before leaving, she made sure to remind Xu’s mom to keep a close eye on Da Bao and Er Bao. After all, the triplets were together all the time, and if it was a cold, it could easily spread. “Hold on tight!” Xu Dong was in a terrible rush, but he didn’t dare ride his bike too fast. It took him more than ten minutes to finally reach the nearby Children’s Hospital Affiliated with the Yanjing Pediatric Research Institute. The triplets were frailer than average infants and had been receiving regular checkups at this hospital. After parking, the three of them headed straight for the emergency room. Due to a power outage, there weren’t many medical staff or patients in the hospital at the time, and he didn’t see any critically ill patients—they had likely all been transferred elsewhere. After the emergency room doctor examined them and determined it wasn’t a serious issue, they were immediately referred to the outpatient department. The doctor who saw them was a woman in her forties. After a thorough examination, she smiled and reassured them: “Mr. Xu, you seem even more worried than the children’s mother. Don’t worry—the children probably just have a cold; it’s nothing serious.” Yang Lina breathed a sigh of relief and quickly thanked her: “Thank you so much, Dr. Yang! As you know, our children are triplets, and their father does tend to worry a bit too much—he’s always jumping to conclusions.” Xu Dong was still a bit uneasy and couldn’t sit still. Dr. Yang could tell right away, so she added: “Due to the power outage, none of the hospital’s equipment is working right now. If you’re still concerned, you can go to Fangcaodi School, which is diagonally across the street.” Xu Dong’s interest was piqued, and he listened as Dr. Yang continued: “There’s a large civil defense facility there, more than ten meters underground. All of our hospital’s critically ill patients have been transferred there, and the medical equipment there is still functioning normally.” “Dr. Yang…” Just as Xu Donggang was about to speak, Yang Lina pulled him back. “Are we going to listen to you or to the expert? Dr. Yang already said it’s just a cold. Stop making a fuss—you don’t want to turn a minor illness into a major one before the first one’s even cleared up.” Dr. Yang smiled but said nothing; she’d seen situations like Xu Dong’s many times before, and the child’s mother was clearly the more level-headed one. Xu Dong let out a deep sigh. As the saying goes, worry clouds judgment—he’d better let his wife take charge of medical matters! In the end, Dr. Yang prescribed some cold medicine for Xiao Bao and had the little one receive an IV drip at the hospital. At 4:30 p. m. , the little one’s fever finally broke, and Xu Dong and his wife could finally breathe a sigh of relief. When they got home from the hospital, the two Ke Ke rushed over to see their little brother right away. Xu Dong quickly told them to keep their distance so they wouldn’t catch the cold. “Kids have weak immune systems, so it’s better to be careful.” “Daddy, is Xiao Bao feeling really bad?” Tears welled up in Le Le’s eyes; she looked as if she were about to cry, because she knew how miserable it felt when she had a fever. Xu Dong quickly ruffled the little one’s hair and reassured her, “Xiao Bao’s fever has gone down, so he shouldn’t be feeling bad anymore.” “Then when will Xiao Bao get better?” Ke Ke asked right away. “He’ll be fine in a few days.” After calming the two Ke Ke sisters down, Yang Lina carried Xiao Bao straight to the bedroom on the second floor. The triplets would have to be separated for a while—this was the first time they’d slept apart since they were born. It was quite chilly in the room that night. But that was no problem for Xu Dong; he had converted an alcohol stove into a heater specifically for Xiao Bao, and the couple took turns keeping watch until dawn. Early in the morning, Xu Dong felt Xiao Bao’s forehead again; thankfully, the fever had subsided. In the early hours of the morning, the little one had been running a low-grade fever the whole time; if his wife hadn’t stopped him, Xu Dong would have almost rushed Xiao Bao to the hospital in the middle of the night. After breakfast, the couple took Xiao Bao to the hospital for a follow-up visit, where he received another IV drip. After the IV, the little one was noticeably more energetic; once they got home, he even drank a whole bottle of formula. After lunch, Xu Dong sat in the courtyard soaking up the Sun, though he kept glancing at the watch on his wrist from time to time, as if waiting for a specific moment to arrive. The time finally reached 12:55 p. m. —the moment when the Sun's flare was officially over. As someone who had been reborn, this was one of the few precise moments Xu Dong could actually recall. The moment the time struck, Xu Dong immediately jumped to his feet and turned to head down to the basement. He found the Hanergy Company manual and, following the operating instructions, started up the solar power generation equipment step by step. A green indicator light came on, signaling that the equipment was operating normally.