Qi Sui had a friend who was a doctor, and during college, she had sat in on a few of her professional courses. The knowledge points in her memory were no longer clear; she only remembered that the lesson was about the human body, saying that the throat cavity was a very sensitive organ, even more so in men than in women.
Because the neck is wrapped in the thyroid cartilage, the fragile throat cavity and mouth are thus protected, and male hormones stimulate the thyroid cartilage to grow a blunt protrusion, sheltering the vocal organs. This is an extra piece of cartilage tissue that men are born with compared to women, and the protruding part can be called a harmless "deformity."
Qi Sui put down the documents in her hand and stood beside the man again, guiding him step by step on how to use this small cough spray.
Cough sprays usually come with a long, thin nozzle to guide the liquid deep into the mouth. The taste of the liquid is bitter and astringent, but if you just spray it in hastily and then swallow it all at once, you might as well not spray it at all.
"Aim it at the red, inflamed area, then spray gently two to three times. The liquid should be held in the mouth, not spit out or swallowed."
Having said this, Qi Sui suddenly realized the impropriety.
This cough spray was only half full, and the first half had been used by her. When she gave it away, she never expected that she would still be standing here instructing someone, let alone a superior several levels above her.
She fumbled in her pockets, searching her top and jeans for a while, before finding a cleansing pad from her back pocket, which she usually used to wipe her hands.
She reached out and handed it over, saying awkwardly, "This—wipe the nozzle first, otherwise—"
At this point, she began to feel uneasy.
How was she supposed to say it?
Should she say, "Don't swallow my saliva, okay?"
Fortunately, LEO didn't seem to mind much.
The man's fingers curled slightly before he carefully took the pad from her palm, cleaned the nozzle, tilted his head back slightly, and pressed it twice with his eyes half-closed.
In the quiet office, the "hissing" sound of the aerosol could be heard. Almost instantly, LEO started coughing lightly, bending over the desk in a somewhat flustered manner. Qi Sui felt sympathetic.
Cough sprays are very different from the usual lozenges. Ordinary lozenges or enteric-coated tablets are mostly internally driven medications; they have to obediently go into the stomach before reaching the target site through osmosis.
But sprays and ointments are quite simple and crude—they go straight to the site of action, acting as quickly as possible.
The cooling liquid with mint, sprayed onto the red, inflamed wound, was incredibly painful.
LEO coughed awkwardly, covering his mouth with the side of his hand, but a small amount of the dark brown liquid still seeped from his fingers. His bowed head looked pitiful and fragile.
Oh dear, had she done a good deed that turned out badly?
Qi Sui stood frozen on the spot. If it were Qian Jin, he would have stepped forward, first blaming himself and then finding a dignified excuse for his superior to save face, after all, he was the type to be ingratiating in the workplace.
But Qi Sui was not like that.
She hesitated for a long moment, then bent down slightly and carefully patted the man on the back, asking softly, "Are you okay?"
The body's self-protection mechanism is not something you can control at will.
The first time Qi Sui used a cough spray, she had the same reaction—she ran to the bathroom and vomited for a long time before she could swallow the knife-like pain.
The man took a deep breath, his voice low and hoarse, with an inexplicable urgency. He bent over, completely covering his face.
"Water..."
His back arched like a small bridge.
It was clear that he was very concerned about his image, and absolutely did not want anyone to see him in such an ugly and disheveled state.
On the desk, there was only a frosted glass water cup. Qi Sui grabbed it, ran out the door, and slipped into the break room to get him some cold boiled water.
The chaos went unnoticed by anyone.
In short, after LEO frowned and used the cold water to suppress the bitter taste in his mouth, Qi Sui stood obediently opposite him, as straight as a wilted little green onion.
Not exactly dazed, but not quite alert either.
He coughed twice with his hand over his mouth, glanced at her, and said meaningfully, "Not good to use."
After a pause, he asked, "Did I use it wrong?"
It was a conditioned reflex of a working person.
Don't contradict your superiors, don't talk back to your superiors.
Qi Sui stood up straighter, feeling that her voice had inexplicably taken on a flattering tone. She pursed her lips and replied with embarrassment, "No, it's just that this medicine's effect is too poor. I was planning to throw it away anyway."
"Mm."
Qi Sui saw him lower his eyelashes, as if scrutinizing the small text on the bottle to figure out where he had gone wrong.
The corners of his long, narrow eyes were slightly red, without any hint of a smile, but the fine lines were distinctly raised, giving Qi Sui an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if she had seen this face somewhere before, but it was vague and unclear.
He lifted his eyes. The round curve of his lower eyelids made his expression appear calm and composed. Although the mild, uncontrollable cough was awkward, his steady demeanor made Qi Sui feel it wasn't a disgrace.
He reached out his hand, the bottle lying in his broad palm, presumably signaling her to take it back.
Her mouth moved before her brain, and Qi Sui asked, "How about—I help you?"
LEO was visibly stunned.
His gaze finally became less calm. He looked down at the small bottle in his hand, then glanced from bottom to top over Qi Sui, finally meeting her fragile, tired eyes. He seemed about to refuse, but instinctively complied: "Mm, is that okay?"
Since the words were out, refusing would mean contradicting her superior.
"It's okay."
Qi Sui took a deep breath, took the bottle from LEO's hand, bent the guiding nozzle to about 120 degrees, and leaned toward him with her other hand on the desk. LEO obediently tilted his head back and opened his mouth.
Qi Sui quietly requested, "Mm... Could you tilt your head up a little more?"