"You're saying Xiao Jinyu isn't the one who hit you?"
After returning home and changing her shoes, Wen Li grabbed a popsicle from the fridge and leaned against the kitchen doorframe, watching Ji Cheng, who was dealing with dinner with a face full of irritation.
Ji Cheng took a full thirty seconds to calm his breathing: "When did I ever say he was the one who hit me?"
"You never said it, but you implied it."
Ji Cheng's hand, which was chopping vegetables, paused: "When?"
"Just yesterday. You were cursing him while editing your thesis, saying he was inhuman, destined to die alone, posting experimental data in the group chat at two in the morning, and had to be one step ahead of you in everything."
Ji Cheng was speechless: "I was just complaining a bit. What kind of reading comprehension do you have?"
"But if it wasn't him, then who else could it be? You're holed up in the lab every day—when would you have time to offend anyone else?"
"Enough." Ji Cheng clearly didn't want to discuss this matter, and before she could press further, he begged off first, "Let's just let this go, alright? I'll say it again—it wasn't Xiao Jinyu. Don't go provoking him."
"Fine." Wen Li took a fierce bite of her popsicle.
"And also," Ji Cheng added, trying to salvage his pride, "who said he's ahead of me in everything? Am I not better-looking than him?"
Not necessarily. Wen Li glanced at the person in front of her, whose face was bruised and swollen, then recalled the man she'd seen today—clear and refined like a gentle breeze under a bright moon. She didn't expose him, carefully protecting her brother's fragile self-esteem.
But Ji Cheng still keenly caught her contemptuous look: "What's that look supposed to mean?"
"I'm just a little curious."
"?"
"Even though I'm unconditionally on your side, are you sure you didn't get beaten up because you're usually too sharp-tongued?"
Ji Cheng's face darkened considerably: "Do you still want dinner or not?"
"Just kidding!" Wen Li took a bite of her popsicle and darted away with a laugh. "I'm just saying, you shouldn't stay cooped up in the lab grinding all day. Get out and exercise once in a while—hit the gym so you're not such a weakling that your little sister has to worry about you."
"Who asked you to worry?" Ji Cheng said impatiently. "Mind your own business."
"Blah blah blah." No good deed goes unpunished. Serves him right for getting beaten into a pig's head.
After dinner, Wen Li lay in bed, opening WeChat to look at the transfer account. Xiao*Yu. She could see his profile picture—a chubby orange cat, soft and adorable, which didn't match his aloof image at all.
For days in a row, Wen Li was somewhat distracted, gradually losing sleep, her mind replaying scenes like a movie, involuntarily conjuring up that day's events.
The man had an extraordinarily beautiful pair of eyes, with distinct eyelid curves and slightly drooping outer corners. They were supposed to be flirtatious peach-blossom eyes, but his cold, distant demeanor pressed them into something sharp and stern.
As Wen Li recalled, her heart began crackling and popping like fireworks again.
What was going on? She couldn't actually be falling in love, could she?
She turned over and decided to watch a few episodes of Ten Deadly Sins to neutralize her lovesick brain.
After watching for about ten minutes, a message popped up in her group chat with her rowdy friends.
One Pig: [Are we still going to teach that bastard who bullied our brother a lesson today?]
Big Pear: [Pig classmate, I have to criticize you here. So rude. Can't we resolve things politely? Why must we resort to violence?]
One Pig: [?? How do you propose we resolve it politely?]
Wen Li thought for a moment, then replied.
Big Pear: [After careful consideration, I've decided to activate Plan B.]
Sunflower: [We have such a thing?]
Big Pear: [Just came up with it.]
One Pig: [What plan?]
Big Pear: [I've decided not to get revenge on him but to pursue him instead. Once he's deeply in love with me, I'll dump him. How about that?]
Sunflower: […]
One Pig: [Are you sure this is your plan and not your play?]
Big Pear: [Hey, actually, I misunderstood him. My brother wasn't beaten by him.]
One Pig: [? Are you messing with us?]
Big Pear: [I really didn't mean to. I'll treat you to a meal.]
While they were chatting nonsense, Wen Li received a message notification from her mom: [Lili, remember to have your brother take you to the hospital to get the cast removed today. Mom's business trip means I can't make it back.]
Go to the hospital to get the cast removed.
Hospital! What a coincidence.
Wen Li immediately perked up: [Got it! I'm heading out right now.]
Wen Li sprang up from the bed, opened her wardrobe, and picked out an outfit for ages before finally choosing a pale yellow dress. She even did her makeup before taking a cab to Haida Affiliated Hospital.
Haida Affiliated Hospital was one of the top provincial Class A tertiary hospitals in the country, with formidable comprehensive strength—especially in orthopedics, where many specialists were renowned both domestically and internationally. Even in the sweltering summer heat, every outpatient department was packed, the air thick with the smell of disinfectant.
Wen Li didn't like hospitals. Perhaps it was because she'd been to them too many times over the past six months, developing an instinctive aversion.
Orthopedics was on the third floor. She walked briskly through the corridor, surrounded by family members of patients hurrying past, the light itself seeming gray and dim. She was the only one in a bright pale yellow dress and patent leather heels—if not for the cast on her arm, you'd think she was heading to a Weibo Night red carpet.
Wen Li found the office following the location Ji Cheng had sent, raised her hand and knocked on the door. Only after hearing "Come in" did she push the door open.
As soon as the door opened, the male student closest to the entrance looked up: "Who are you looking for?"
Wen Li quickly scanned the room. Three desks inside—this senior at the door, Ji Cheng's by the window further in, and the remaining desk… Xiao Jinyu!
Her gaze froze on that cool, handsome profile, and her heart suddenly raced.
Her crush was here too!
Wen Li withdrew her gaze and put on a sweet, obedient smile: "I'm looking for Ji Cheng. He said he'd take me to get my cast removed."
The senior: "Oh, go sit at his desk for a bit. He just got called out—he'll be back soon."
Wen Li nodded and walked over to sit in Ji Cheng's chair. She kept her back straight, but her peripheral vision couldn't help drifting sideways. Xiao Jinyu was bent over writing something and never once looked her way. Wen Li felt a little disappointed—he wouldn't even glance at her, and she had no excuse to strike up a conversation.
The senior, however, was quite warm. He poured a cup of water and brought it over: "Little sister, have some water."
Wen Li took it with both hands and curved her eyes into a smile: "Thank you, big brother."
That "big brother" delighted the senior, who rubbed his hands together: "Little sister sure has a sweet tongue. Are you from our school?"
"Yeah, I'll be a sophomore after the semester starts…" Wen Li was about to say the School of Physical Education when a painful memory suddenly flashed through her mind. Back in middle school, she'd had a crush on the class study committee member from the neighboring class. She'd pursued him for weeks, and in the end, he went around telling everyone she was bullying him.
To avoid a repeat of that disaster, she decided to hide the truth.
"I'm from the School of Music. Wen Li. You can just call me Lili, big brother."
"Studying music, huh—no wonder you're so pretty." The senior grinned. "I've heard your school is full of beauties, all talented and refined."
"That's not really true."
Wen Li was modest, and her peripheral vision drifted sideways again. Xiao Jinyu still hadn't looked up at her.
"Since we're from the same school, just call me senior." The senior asked her, "What happened to your arm?"
Wen Li didn't dare say she'd been hit by a barbell during a weightlifting competition, so she casually made something up: "I fell off my bike."
"Ouch. You girls are delicate—you need to be more careful in daily life."
"Yeah, I'll be more careful from now on."
Just as she was speaking, Ji Cheng came back, his face dark—he'd probably just been scolded by his supervising doctor. Seeing Wen Li sitting there chatting cheerfully with someone, he furrowed his brows: "I waited outside for you for ages, and you're just sitting here shooting the breeze?"
Wen Li pouted innocently: "How was I supposed to know you were outside?"
"Enough, don't waste time. Let's go get the cast off." Ji Cheng turned around impatiently.
Wen Li quickly stood up and followed him out. The senior couldn't stand it and called after Ji Cheng's back: "Ji Cheng, be gentler with girls. Don't scare her."
Ji Cheng didn't even turn around, just let out a cold snort.
Wen Li smiled sweetly and waved at the senior: "Senior, I'm heading off now."
The senior smiled warmly back: "Go on, go on. Walk slowly, don't bump into anything."
The door closed. The senior sighed and turned to complain to Xiao Jinyu: "Seriously, what did Ji Cheng do to deserve this? All the good fortune goes to him."
Xiao Jinyu: "…"
The senior: "Having such an adorable, gentle girlfriend and still not being satisfied—and he's all grumpy. I really don't know what that girl sees in him."
Xiao Jinyu didn't respond, but the tip of his pen paused.
The senior kept rambling, but Xiao Jinyu could no longer hear him. There was a faint trace of jasmine fragrance in the air—left behind from when she'd been sitting there. She was gone, but the floral scent lingered, faintly and elusively curling around the tip of his nose.
_
Wen Li followed Ji Cheng to the consultation room. Behind the desk sat an elderly doctor with glasses—none other than Dean Wu of Orthopedics. He looked at her X-ray, had the nurse remove the cast, and guided her through a few sets of movements.
Dean Wu nodded with satisfaction: "Recovering well. Your function won't be affected."
"Then can I still go pro?" Wen Li asked eagerly.
"Pro?" Dean Wu pushed up his glasses. "Are you an athlete?"
"Yes, I'm a weightlifter."
"Weightlifting! Impressive for such a young lady." Dean Wu looked somewhat surprised and re-examined the X-ray, his expression unreadable.
Wen Li sat across from him, nervously picking at the hem of her skirt.
"Professional athletes train at high intensity, and your joints bear a lot of pressure." Dean Wu pointed at a spot on the X-ray. "If this dislocates again, it's very prone to recurrence, and then it would be dangerous."
Wen Li said nothing, her expression clearly deflated.
"But don't lose heart. You're still young. Start with basic training, gradually increase the intensity, get regular check-ups, and stop immediately if anything feels off."
"Okay, thank you, doctor."
Outside the consultation room, Ji Cheng comfortingly patted her head: "It's fine. Even my advisor said you're okay."
"Since when did Dean Wu become your advisor? Hasn't he not even decided whether to take you on yet?"
Ji Cheng smirked dismissively: "It's only a matter of time. If he can take on an idiot like Xiao Jinyu, how could I possibly be worse than him?"
Wen Li forced a faint smile. Actually, she wasn't all that upset anymore.
Every year, countless athletes retire due to injuries, and she was just one of them. Besides, her parents had never wanted her to take up weightlifting in the first place. They had sent her to the sports school as a child only because her grades were poor, and they hoped she could get into university through her athletic specialty. She had started with track and field—no one expected Coach Zhang from the weightlifting team to take a liking to her.
Now that she had gotten into university, they naturally hoped she would stop training. In their eyes, a girl should be delicate, pretty, and gentle. Weightlifting would make her short and stocky, turn her ugly, and then no one would ever marry her.
So when she got injured during a competition, her parents, despite their worry, actually felt a trace of relief—relieved that their daughter could finally give up this obsession for good and return to the "right path" they had always envisioned for her.
Wen Li understood them. Her parents' generation had endured hardship and feared poverty, clinging to an almost obsessive pursuit of "stability." A steady job and a harmonious family—that was what they considered happiness.
But the happiness Wen Li wanted went beyond that. She wanted to stand on the competition platform, wait for the lights to shine down on her, and feel the whole world go silent, leaving only herself and the barbell in the purest contest of strength.
That feeling—they would never understand.
Ji Cheng noticed her dejection and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Come on, let me take you to the cafeteria. Our medical school's food is way better than yours."
Wen Li let herself be half-pulled, half-persuaded downstairs.
_
Summer break had lasted two months, and the dorm group chat had been silent just as long. After dinner, Wen Li lay on the sofa scrolling through WeChat, and on a whim, tossed a heart emoji into the group.
Big Pear: [Girls, I'm in love!]
Daddy: [??]
Cheng Xiling: [Really?]
Morning: [Holy crap, you found someone? What's his name? Where's he from? Is he tall? Handsome? Got a photo? Spill it all now!]
One sentence blew the group's lurkers out of the water. Wen Li was never one to keep things to herself, and within a few exchanges, they coaxed the whole story out of her.
Big Pear: [We're not official yet, but I think it's close]
Daddy: [The flirting stage, got it. So what's the progress?]
Big Pear: [About 50%…]
Daddy: [Damn, not bad. Haven't seen you in days and you're already at 50%? Second base?]
Big Pear: [No]
Morning: [First base then?]
Big Pear: [No either]
Cheng Xiling: [Then where exactly is this 50% at?]
Big Pear: [It's just that I've agreed, but he hasn't yet]
Morning: […]
Cheng Xiling: […]
The silence in the group was deafening.
Morning: [Being able to describe unrequited love in such a fresh and elegant way—you're truly the first in history]
Cheng Xiling: [/hand over mouth laughing]
Daddy: [Pfft, by that logic, I'm 50% with Wu Yanzu too]
Wen Li threw in a defiant emoji.
Big Pear: [Just you all wait—I'll win him over sooner or later and show you!]
The mockery on the other end was at full blast.
Daddy: [Then I'll be waiting]
Morning: [lueluelue.jpg]