It was truly a colossal misunderstanding.
Liang Ruyan had been strolling around campus with her boyfriend at the time. As they passed the basketball court, she heard someone calling Yu Zhi’s name.
At first, she didn’t react, but then she caught the distinctly unfriendly tone in the boy’s voice.
“Didn’t you say you weren’t feeling well? If you’re not feeling well, how can you…”
Before he could finish, he saw Liang Ruyan turn around, and his words abruptly cut off.
He clearly realized he had mistaken her for someone else, a flicker of embarrassment crossing his face, though what seemed more prominent was a sense of relief.
“Sorry,” he said.
Though it was baffling, mistaking someone wasn’t entirely incomprehensible. Later, when Liang Ruyan went to the cafeteria, she was looking down at her phone when she suddenly felt an intense gaze fixed on her.
She looked up and saw Zhong Shiyu standing not far away, staring right at her.
Remembering the earlier incident with Chen Yihan, she immediately understood and greeted him with a smile, “Hi, here for a meal?”
His reaction was much calmer than Chen Yihan’s. He just glanced at her outfit, responded quietly, and then looked away.
Now, Liang Ruyan recounted all these experiences to Yu Zhi with great relish.
She even teased at the end, “Are you and Chen Yihan really just childhood friends? You have no idea how strange his tone was. It even made my boyfriend suspect there was something going on between us.”
“Cough, cough, cough,” Yu Zhi tried to speak but nearly choked on her own saliva. “What could possibly be going on between us? It’s just that our parents know each other. Otherwise, how would I ever cross paths with someone like him?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Liang Ruyan didn’t like her putting herself down. “Pretty faces are a dime a dozen, but an interesting soul is one in a million. I’d say there’s an eighty percent chance he has a crush on you.”
Yu Zhi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but she didn’t even have the energy to make an expression.
It was only then that Liang Ruyan noticed something was off. “Oh, Yu Zhi, are you sick?” She reached out and felt Yu Zhi’s skin, which was noticeably hot to the touch. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine. I’m already feeling much better. I’ll probably be fine after another good sleep.”
“Are you sure? Shouldn’t you see a doctor?”
“If I’m not better tomorrow, I’ll go see a doctor.”
Even after Yu Zhi said this, Liang Ruyan still poured her a glass of water and only relaxed after watching her drink it. When the other two roommates returned, she quietly explained the situation. The dorm fell silent that night, and the lights went out early.
The next day, Yu Zhi still couldn’t hold out and went to the campus clinic.
The first two classes were large lectures where attendance usually wasn’t taken, so she just told her roommates to cover for her if needed.
Jiang University’s campus clinic was quite well-equipped, especially since the university had its own medical school. Yu Zhi first had her blood drawn for tests. While waiting on the hospital bed for an IV drip, Chen Yihan showed up.
Seeing him appear at the doorway of the ward, Yu Zhi’s first thought was: Is he sick too? It wasn’t until she saw him heading straight toward her that she realized he was there for her.
The boy didn’t speak immediately when he reached her bedside. Instead, he looked her up and down, then glanced at the medicine in the nurse’s hand.
His expression was complicated. Yu Zhi actually thought she detected a hint of guilt or worry in his eyes, but as soon as he spoke, she knew it was all an illusion.
“So you really are sick? Serves you right for cursing yourself every day. Now it’s come true, hasn’t it?”
A dog’s mouth can’t spit out ivory!
After checking the medication, the nurse prepared to give Yu Zhi the injection. Yu Zhi simply ignored him and closed her eyes.
Chen Yihan opened his mouth to speak, but upon seeing the discomfort on the girl’s face, he ultimately remained silent. Standing on the other side of the hospital bed, he instinctively grabbed Yu Zhi’s hand the moment the needle went in.
The girl frowned from the momentary sting of the needle and instinctively gripped his hand back.
Watching her tightly furrowed brows, Chen Yihan felt a fleeting sense of daze, just like when they were kids. Yu Zhi, who had always been terrified of injections—whether for vaccines or illness—would cling tightly to his hand whenever he was around.
“Looking at Chen Yihan makes the pain go away,” little Yu Zhi once said, tears still glistening in the corners of her eyes, making both families laugh.
Yu Zhi’s mother sighed helplessly, “What are we going to do with such a little face-lover?”
Yes, Yu Zhi was a face-lover, and Chen Yihan knew it. From the very beginning, she had always loved his face the most.
But now, things had changed quite a bit…
The moment of distraction passed quickly. Before he could fully regain his composure, Yu Zhi had already swiftly pulled her hand away.
Yu Zhi felt nothing but awkwardness, recalling memories that made her want to curl her toes in embarrassment.
As a child, she had loved holding Chen Yihan’s hand. Every day, walking to and from school, she insisted on holding his hand, claiming, “This is what good friends do.” Not only did she hold it, but she would also swing it back and forth, as if trying to fling it up to the sky.
The image was truly… unbearable to recall.
Yu Zhi tried to push the thought away and instead asked, “Weren’t you in class? What are you doing here?”
These two lectures were ones they shared.
Chen Yihan slowly moved his hand behind his back. It seemed to still carry the force of her grip from earlier—tight, as if she were desperately holding onto him.
It took him a moment to process what Yu Zhi had asked.
“Why didn’t you accept my transfer yesterday?”
As if on defensive autopilot, a clumsy excuse came out naturally.
By now, Yu Zhi’s injection was done. She thought for a moment, then used her free hand to open her phone and accept the transfer.
“Alright, I’ve accepted it. You can go back to class now.”
She closed her eyes again but heard no footsteps, no response from Chen Yihan—only the palpable low pressure in the air and his gaze lingering on her, unwavering.
Was he angry?
What was he angry about this time?
Just as Yu Zhi was thinking this, a System prompt suddenly echoed in her mind.
“Entering Chapter 17 of The Spoiled Childhood Sweetheart plotline.”
Wait, didn’t Chapter 16 just end yesterday? Why so frequently?
Yu Zhi opened her eyes abruptly. Chen Yihan was no longer in front of her—only a familiar nurse, pushing a treatment cart toward her.
Yu Zhi raised her hand. It was empty. Where was her IV? The needle that had just been inserted?
“What’s your name?” the nurse asked as she approached to verify the information.
“Wait, wait a moment,” Yu Zhi sat up. “I just remembered, I think I have something to do… something urgent. I’ll come back another time.”
“Huh? Your IV fluids are already prepared.”
“It’s fine…” Yu Zhi wanted to say it didn’t matter—she didn’t want another injection. More importantly, this was part of the plotline, so getting another injection would be pointless. But remembering her Character Persona, her tone grew firmer. “It’s not like I’m not paying.”
Unfortunately, before she could even get out of bed, the hospital room door was pushed open, and the same person hurriedly entered.
Unlike in reality, Chen Yihan in the plotline showed no attempt to hide his urgency: “Momo, why didn’t you tell me you were sick? I only found out from your roommate. How are you feeling? What’s wrong? Are you in a lot of pain?”
The boy naturally sat down by her hospital bed, touching her forehead and then her hand.
Yu Zhi: “…”
She tried to negotiate with the System: “Does your book not have its own plotline?”
The System remained silent.
“Can you stop plagiarizing my memories like this? Tell me, is this your original work?”
Good grief, she had just fallen sick in reality, and now she was sick in the book too.
The System remained silent.
This lousy System was like that—whenever it felt guilty, it would play dead.
“You’re making it so hard to distinguish between reality and the plotline. It really feels like I’m fantasizing about him.”
This time, the System finally responded.
“What if you could think of it as him fantasizing about you?”
Hmm… you know what, that’s actually a fascinating perspective.
But as a powerless party with little say, she had no time to argue with it now—there was a problem to deal with right in front of her.
The nurse had just asked, “Do you two know each other? This student said earlier she didn’t want the IV anymore. Should we proceed?”
“Yes, yes, yes,” Chen Yihan grabbed Yu Zhi’s wrist. “Nurse, please be gentle and accurate. My girlfriend is afraid of needles.”
This is the end.
Yu Zhi finally slipped into character, pulling her hand away abruptly. Even if she couldn’t avoid the injection, she couldn’t embarrass herself like this.
“Go stand over there.”
Chen Yihan, pushed aside, froze for a moment before trying to reach for her hand again: “Momo, don’t be stubborn. The IV will help you recover faster.”
He thought Yu Zhi was still angry with him, throwing a tantrum, and his tone was as if coaxing a child.
Yu Zhi glared at him: “I never said I wouldn’t get the injection. Just stand there and don’t come closer. You’re so annoying.”
The boy’s expression, which had been smiling even in his worry, finally stiffened for a moment. Yu Zhi then turned to the nurse, apologizing a hundred times in her heart, certain the nurse was rolling her eyes internally. But on the surface, she could only maintain a haughty demeanor.
“Go ahead and give me the shot.”
Ugh, another needle.
Chen Yihan stood dumbfounded to the side, watching as the nurse administered the injection to Yu Zhi. As usual, the girl turned her head away the moment the needle went in, and he could feel her body tense up from nervousness.
Instinctively, Chen Yihan reached out to hold his girlfriend’s hand, but before he could touch her, the injection was already over.
Chen Yihan felt panicked, unsure whether it was because Momo’s impatience seemed subtly different from her usual princess-like tantrums or because she didn’t even need him during something as simple as getting a shot.
Though overshadowed by his current concern, that sense of panic and unease lingered like a shadow.
Maybe… his girlfriend was just becoming more independent, and that wasn’t a bad thing…
He tried to convince himself of this, but his sinking heart pointed to another answer—
No, that wasn’t it…
A hint of confusion and gloom clouded the boy’s eyes. This feeling was truly awful—the feeling of not being needed by Yu Zhi was utterly unbearable.
The nurse was professional and said nothing as she completed her task.
After she left, Chen Yihan sat down beside her, pouring water for her and plugging her phone into the charger.
When he finally settled down and sat on the edge of the bed, Yu Zhi kicked him away with her foot.
“Who said you could sit on the bed?”
Chen Yihan smiled indulgently, got up, moved a small chair over, and sat down.
“You haven’t eaten this morning, right? Is there anything you’d like to eat? I’ve already messaged Fu Bin, and he’ll buy something for you later.”
“Why have him buy it?” The discomfort from the cold had carried over into this moment, making Yu Zhi irritable. Her spoiled nature came out effortlessly, and she hadn’t given Chen Yihan a single pleasant look from the start, all without worrying about being Out of Character. “Is he my boyfriend, or are you my boyfriend? Wait, no, ex-boyfrie—”
“Momo,” Chen Yihan cut her off, “don’t say things like that.” It was clear that her words genuinely upset him, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything harsh. Instead, he explained helplessly, “I’m here to take care of you, and it’s more convenient for whatever you want to do. Just tell me what you’d like to eat, and I’ll have him buy it, okay?”
Yu Zhi ignored him. After thinking for a moment, Chen Yihan had no choice but to decide on his own and sent a message to Fu Bin.
The room felt stifling. In the world of the novel, the school clinic was naturally empty except for the two of them. Yu Zhi glanced at her phone out of boredom, but her dizziness made her put it down again.
As for Chen Yihan, he kept his eyes on her the entire time.
“Should I find a variety show for you to watch?”
“No.”
“I can tell you a joke.”
“No.”
Chen Yihan only fell silent when he saw her close her eyes. A flicker of helplessness and the frustration of a trapped animal flashed in his eyes, but he suppressed it in the end.
His darling was just feeling too sick and uncomfortable right now. She didn’t truly hate him, nor did she truly not want to see him.
The poor thing had hardly ever suffered from illness before and was so afraid of injections.
Thinking this, his heart softened completely. His gaze remained fixed on Yu Zhi, occasionally shifting to the steadily decreasing IV drip, until the clinic door opened once again.
But it wasn’t Fu Bin, whom Chen Yihan had asked for help—it was someone else:
Zhong Shiyu.
Author’s Note:
Dear readers, the next chapter marks the start of the VIP section. For the first three days, there will be extra-long chapters daily. After that, I might run out of drafts, but I plan to continue daily updates, and if I can’t, I’ll let you know in advance. I hope for your continued support. On the day the VIP section starts, random red packets will be dropped!