“Getting sick isn’t my fault either,” Yu Huan muttered.
If she could avoid getting sick, who would willingly choose to be sick? It wasn’t like she had any masochistic tendencies.
“It’s my fault,” Zhu Heqing said. “I didn’t take good enough care of you.”
“It’s fine.” Yu Huan patted his shoulder. “I won’t blame you.”
When she said that, she felt a rare twinge of guilt.
When Zhu Heqing took care of her, he cooked nutritious and delicious meals every day, with a level of attentiveness almost identical to her mother’s.
The real reason she got sick this time was mainly because she hadn’t rested well, combined with the temperature difference between Moscow and Beijing—hot and cold exposure at the same time, and she got sick before she could react.
Yu Huan was the type who couldn’t keep things to herself.
She tried hard to turn her head and look at Zhu Heqing, who was buried against her neck, and asked as casually as she could, “When I had a fever… I feel like I awakened something weird… Did I kick you?”
The topic shift was stiff, practically revealing her thoughts outright.
Zhu Heqing lifted his head and looked at her slightly dry lips. He poured a glass of warm water and watched as she slowly drank it.
“It didn’t hurt at all. Don’t take it to heart.”
Yu Huan drank half the cup in small sips, then glanced at him and suddenly said something shocking: “Do you want to break up with me?”
Zhu Heqing looked at her as if he had misheard. “Baby, what did you say?”
Just like that, out of nowhere—why would his girlfriend suddenly want to break up?
“You want to break up with me?” Yu Huan continued on her own. “My personality is so bad, I can’t do anything, I rely on you for everything. Being with me must be very tiring for you.”
These words were not something Yu Huan had come up with herself, but rather what “the original plot” had once made Zhu Heqing say to her.
And she had figured it out.
Whether that dream was real or not, she needed to prepare.
Step one: test Zhu Heqing’s current attitude toward her.
If he hesitated, it meant he truly thought that way.
Then she could move on to step two—parting peacefully.
Although she was reluctant, Yu Huan knew her personality wasn’t something she could change. Rather than slowly becoming the bitter couple from the dream, it was better to stop the relationship early.
“Did someone say something to you?” Zhu Heqing’s response was not what she expected.
He was smiling, but the smile did not reach his eyes.
“Baby, did someone whisper nonsense into your ear? Tell me who it was.”
Who was so meddlesome?
The matters between him and Yu Huan—why should anyone else interfere?
If he found out who it was, Zhu Heqing’s hand tightened slightly. He would like to see exactly what that person had said.
A mouth that couldn’t speak properly might as well not exist at all.
“No,” Yu Huan said. “You’re not allowed to answer like that.”
“I’m the one asking you. Why are you questioning me instead?”
She put down her cup and asked again.
In strange matters like this, Yu Huan was always stubborn.
Zhu Heqing knew that if he didn’t answer, he wouldn’t get anything out of her either.
“I won’t break up with you,” he said, brushing a strand of her hair downward. “You’re my first girlfriend, and you will also be my wife in the future. In my eyes, you’re perfect everywhere. I feel honored to be needed by you.”
“Baby, the person who told you that must be jealous that I have such a good girlfriend. He’s jealous of us, wants to break us apart. People like that are unloved, which is why they say such malicious things.”
As he spoke, his voice grew slightly darker, and a faint sharpness flashed in his eyes.
Yu Huan blinked.
Did Zhu Heqing realize that the “unloved person” he was talking about was himself?
Seeing how confidently he said it, Yu Huan temporarily believed him, but still emphasized, “Anyway, I won’t change.”
Zhu Heqing chuckled softly. “No need to change. You’re perfect as you are.”
……
Yu Huan stayed in the hospital for two more days and only went home after fully recovering.
During that time, He Zhiheng and Xu Yunshu each came to visit her. Zhao Xun had gone to another city for something, but he asked He Zhiheng to bring her a game cartridge as a gift.
Yu Huan liked the gift very much. She stopped using her phone entirely and spent her days playing on her Switch.
After returning home, the first thing she did was take a shower.
She hadn’t bathed during her illness.
Although the air-conditioning in the hospital kept the temperature comfortable, she had still sweated while having a fever, and the sticky feeling was very uncomfortable.
She stayed in the bathroom for a full hour and a half—so long that Zhu Heqing had to knock on the door to check if something had happened—before she finally came out reluctantly.
As soon as she did, Zhu Heqing lifted her with one arm and placed her on the sofa. Then he stood behind her with a hairdryer, gently drying her hair.
When it was about half dry, he brought out hair oil. Like he was handling an important project, he squeezed out the right amount and carefully worked it through her hair strands with serious concentration.
Yu Huan closed her eyes comfortably and casually informed him that she was going back to her own home.
His hands paused slightly. “Why the sudden decision to go back?”
“I always do this,” Yu Huan said. “I stay with you in July, and go home in August.”
“It’s not even August yet. Why are you in such a hurry?”
“Zhu Heqing, have you not checked a calendar in a long time?” she laughed. “Tomorrow is August 1st. My mom has already reminded me several times on WeChat today.”
Her home was quite far from school, so on weekends she usually stayed with Zhu Heqing. She only went back during winter and summer vacations.
If calculated this way, after entering university, she actually spent more time with Zhu Heqing than with her parents.
After applying the hair oil, Zhu Heqing continued drying her hair. His voice was steady.
“What time are you leaving tomorrow?”
“Noon. My dad knows I like sleeping in, so he said I should message him when I wake up.”
“Your uncle coming over is inconvenient. I’ll send you myself, and also visit your parents.”
Yu Huan shook her head. “My dad said you still have work. Zhou Muyang just came back from traveling anyway—he can bring me back.”
When she mentioned Zhou Muyang, her tone became familiar and relaxed.
Zhu Heqing gave a quiet “mm,” finished drying her hair completely, put away the hairdryer, and carried her to the bed.
“All done. You just recovered—don’t stay up late.”
Sometimes, Yu Huan’s intuition was very sharp.
Leaning against the bed, she asked, “Are you unhappy?”
Zhu Heqing looked at her for a few seconds, then gave a faint smile to reassure her.
“A work collaboration has some issues recently. It affected my mood a little.”
“I’ll go pack your things. You should sleep first.”
He gently closed the door behind him and leaned against the wall, exhaling slowly.
As the older one in the relationship, Zhu Heqing always tried to act like a guiding, responsible partner.
Many times, he silently digested his darker emotions.
Like now.
He felt something shameful—jealousy toward a young man about the same age as his girlfriend.