"Man, you know my situation..."

  Seeing Dong Qi starting to ramble on with his unconventional theories again, Dong Hao felt a headache coming on and didn't want to listen any longer. He simply interrupted:

  "Alright, I'm a bit busy today. I'll catch up with you over drinks when I have time. I came by mainly to check if you were okay."

  Hearing this, Dong Qi asked somewhat puzzled, "What could be wrong with me? I'm just at home typing away at my stories every day, same as always. At the end of the month, which was yesterday, I went to the city supermarket for a big shopping trip. What else could happen?"

  Dong Hao's expression was normal at first, but when he heard Dong Qi say he had gone to the city for supplies just yesterday at the month's end, his face suddenly changed, and he immediately asked:

  "Are you sure you went to the city for supplies yesterday, the last day of the month?"

  In response to Dong Hao's question, Dong Qi replied very casually, "Yeah, I got back too late yesterday, so the stuff I bought is still in the car, not unloaded yet. Why? If you don't believe me, come with me to the underground garage. You'll see I'm not lying."

  Seeing how confidently Dong Qi spoke, Dong Hao's expression grew serious. He took out his phone, unlocked the screen, and said very earnestly, "Look at today's date. Are you sure you bought the groceries yesterday?"

  Seeing the phone display showing it was already the 3rd, Dong Qi didn't process it immediately, thinking Dong Hao was joking with him. He said offhandedly, "Brother, you can't fool me with that trick. The supermarket receipt is still on the passenger side windowsill. How can today be the 3rd? You can't pull one over on me."

  Seeing Dong Qi still thought he was joking, Dong Hao started to explain but then had an idea. He first pointed to his uniform, then to the body-worn camera on his chest with its light constantly blinking. Only then did he say very seriously:

  "You know, once I put on this uniform for work, I never joke with anyone. Besides, this thing has been recording this whole time. Would I lie to you? Come on, let's go get the receipt from your passenger seat. Maybe you just got the date wrong."

  Seeing Dong Hao didn't seem to be joking now, Dong Qi began to waver inwardly. Had he really mixed up the days? He decided not to overthink it—the receipt wouldn't disappear. They'd see who was right once they looked at it.

  The entrance to the underground garage was in the yard, and the two quickly went inside. Since the car was parked in his own garage, Dong Qi hadn't locked it, so he didn't need to go back to the bedroom for the keys. The passenger door opened with a pull.

  When Dong Qi had returned, he had tossed the supermarket receipt very casually onto the passenger side windowsill, so he didn't need to search for it; he just picked it up directly.

  Dong Hao, standing to the side, saw the car packed full of goods and immediately confirmed that Dong Qi hadn't lied about the shopping trip.

  After taking the receipt from the passenger seat, Dong Qi first carefully examined the printed time on it, then said with certainty, "See? I wasn't wrong. Yesterday was the last day of the month. The time on the receipt matches exactly what I said."

  Dong Hao took the supermarket receipt from Dong Qi, examined it closely, and confirmed the time on the receipt was indeed the last day of the previous month.

  But today really was the 3rd. Judging by Dong Qi's demeanor, he didn't seem to be joking either. If he wasn't joking, then had Dong Qi lost his memory of what happened on the 1st and 2nd, or was there another explanation?

  Thinking this, Dong Hao quickly asked, "Dong Qi, in your memory, did anything particularly unusual happen yesterday or today?"

  'Particularly unusual.'

  Hearing Dong Hao's question, Dong Qi immediately thought of the large water stains he'd found on the bed when he woke up earlier.

  Seeing the look on Dong Qi's face, Dong Hao immediately knew Dong Qi had definitely encountered something unusual. However, Dong Hao didn't press him right away; he waited for Dong Qi to speak up on his own.

  The only unusual event Dong Qi could think of was the large pool of water stains on his bed when he woke up. So, without another word, he led Dong Hao to the second-floor bedroom and pointed at the stains on the bed, saying:

  "Let me be clear, I didn't wet the bed. If we're talking about something unusual, it's that when I woke up this morning, I found a large amount of water stains on the bed."

  Hearing this, Dong Hao immediately pulled back the comforter on the bed, turned it inside out, and spread it on the floor. He confirmed that the locations of the stains on the bedsheet and the comforter were roughly the same, both concentrated in the central area. Except for the direction where the head would be, there wasn't a single spot of moisture around the periphery.

  After confirming the location of the stains on the sheet and comforter, Dong Hao reached out and felt the indented area of the pillow. Confirming the spot was also damp to the touch, he then pulled a few tissues from the box on the nightstand to wipe his hands before speaking:

  "As hard as it might be to believe, if my guess isn't wrong, you might have slept in bed for two days after returning at month's end. Those water stains on the bed are likely sweat your body expelled while you were sleeping.

  A certain infectious disease has been spreading in the city recently. One of the symptoms is that the body expels large amounts of fluid during sleep, causing the infected to experience various symptoms or even die in their sleep due to severe dehydration.

  Looking at the situation now, you probably got infected when you went to the city at the end of the month. Then, while sleeping, you also fell unconscious due to dehydration from your body.

  Judging by the state of the bed, your body expelled quite a bit of fluid while you were unconscious. However, because you're somewhat overweight, the dehydration during your coma didn't cause other illnesses. Instead, it inadvertently helped you lose weight. If you don't believe me, find a scale and weigh yourself. See if you've lost a few pounds." After saying this, Dong Hao patted Dong Qi's stomach.

  Perhaps because he didn't need to pursue a relationship and had no one to keep him in check, Dong Qi's lifestyle had indeed become somewhat indulgent.

  Besides his beloved soda pop, Dong Qi's daily meals were completely the opposite of a healthy diet standard.

  The normal standard for a healthy diet should be:

  Eat a good breakfast to replenish the nutrients consumed overnight.

  Eat a full lunch to meet the nutritional needs expended during daytime activities.

  Eat a light dinner because activity levels are low at night; eating less helps prevent fat accumulation.

  Of course, this dietary standard corresponds to a regular schedule.

  Dong Qi's daily routine, however, was:

  Eat breakfast if he could get up—go out to eat if he got up early, or make do with something quick or skip it if he got up late.

  Living in the suburbs, delivery fees were too high, so if he got hungry at noon, he usually just threw together a simple meal or snacked on something to tide him over.

  After two simple, haphazard meals, he usually cooked a proper dinner. The frozen goods he bought from the city supermarket were mostly consumed during this meal.