“Ditching class to play in an escape room, then jumping off a two-meter-high platform and injuring your leg.” Kong Lingrou’s tone as she inquired about the situation was flatter than the hospital’s stark white ceiling.
It gave one a distinct feeling that answering was entirely unnecessary.
Lying on the hospital bed, Shi Bei turned her face away, pretending not to hear, and looked out the window at the blue sky and white clouds.
“I’m sorry!” Kong Lingyu hurriedly pressed her hands together in a pleading gesture to her older sister, then turned to Shi Bei and said, “Now that my sister is here, she’ll help you find the absolute best doctor in all of Japan to guarantee you heal in the shortest possible time!”
“Heal what?” Kong Lingrou crossed her arms and asked, “Her brain?”
Shi Bei muttered under her breath: “It was your sister who egged me on.”
Kong Lingrou replied expressionlessly: “She only egged on an idiot. She didn’t jump herself.”
“No… that’s not it! I didn’t mean to, and besides, who could have expected it to be so high…”
Kong Lingyu was breaking out in a cold sweat.
At the time, she was clearly just making a joke, or simply running her mouth.
Who could have guessed that this quiet, well-behaved girl would actually jump the second it was suggested! So fierce and fearless—outperforming Zhang Fei, outmatching Li Kui—frightening her so badly her courage shattered on the spot—
Kong Lingrou couldn’t be bothered to listen to her go on.
“You head back first.”
“Huh? Ah, oh, okay!”
As Kong Lingyu quickly packed up her bag, she maintained a flattering smile on her face and said, “Then I’ll trouble you with the surgery and treatment stuff later, Sis! Deduct the bills from my allowance. I’ll be super good lately, thanks Sis!”
After she pulled the door shut, absolute quiet settled over the ward.
The private hospital’s single room was excessively spacious; the massive floor-to-ceiling window made the entire space feel more like a hotel than a hospital room. Looking out from the window sill, besides the deep blue sky and piercing white clouds, there were two little birds fluttering their wings at each other.
Shi Bei lay on her side, intently watching the sky.
“The location of your injury is both fortunate and unfortunate. It’s a fracture, but it’s considered the mildest kind. No surgery is needed, but after it’s fixed in place, you’ll need at least a month to rest and recover.”
“Oh.”
“…”
Holding a massive stack of hospital forms in her hand, Kong Lingrou had originally intended to pick out the key points and translate them for her. After pausing for a moment, she switched to a casual, conversational tone and asked: “Your major shouldn’t have anything to do with the business school, right? There are other English-taught programs—why did you go and register for those classes?”
Shi Bei: “…”
She couldn’t answer, nor did she intend to.
Kong Lingrou flipped through the forms while organizing them.
After waiting a moment, she added: “If you still have time to play with Kong Lingyu every day, don’t you need to work a part-time job?”
Shi Bei, who worked almost every single day, heard this and immediately raised her hand to pull the blanket higher, burying her face inside it. Her voice came out muffled:
“I have a scholarship.”
“Exchange students get scholarships too?”
“If your grades were a bit higher, you could have one too.”
Given her slow, deliberate cadence, people unfamiliar with her wouldn’t easily pick up on the passive-aggressiveness underlying her words.
Kong Lingrou: …
Kong Lingrou silently rolled her eyes, stepped a few inches closer, and stared down condescendingly at the little girl whose face was hidden in the blanket for a brief moment.
“So, what is your major?”
Shi Bei pretended to be asleep and stayed silent.
Silence reigned for a moment.
Kong Lingrou pressed: “Computer Science?”
The body beneath the blanket shifted slightly.
Shi Bei, who had originally decided not to answer, held it in for a moment before she couldn’t resist poking her head out, staring at her as she asked, “How did you know?”
Kong Lingrou tilted her head down, the corner of her lips curving up almost imperceptibly.
“I figured you couldn’t study anything else.”
Shi Bei didn’t immediately register that this was her instantly returning the passive-aggressive jab.
Kong Lingrou added: “Still, it seems you’ve been living quite well these past few years—”
The gaze Shi Bei fixed on her instantly turned sharp. Beneath her long eyelashes, the pupils reflected the light with a glass-like sheen, carrying an obvious hint of malice.
The standard polite small talk had barely begun before it was abruptly severed by this icy stare.
Kong Lingrou knitted her brows and stopped speaking.
Aware of her own lapse in composure, Shi Bei tried hard to suppress the terrible mood that had suddenly surged within her.
Underneath the blanket, her hand clenched tightly, crumpling the bedsheets.
Her pupils were pure black; on their own, they looked a bit fierce. However, framed by her fair, soft oval face and watery almond eyes, she appeared immensely childish.
At this moment, with her face lowered and expressionless, she looked no different from how she was in middle school.
Kong Lingrou didn’t open her mouth again.
In the stagnant silence, deep, unreadable emotions churned softly.
Finally, Shi Bei smiled as if nothing had happened.
“I haven’t been living that well. I rushed here as an exchange student wanting to learn Japanese properly, only to end up breaking my leg. If you’re not too busy, why don’t you come over when you have time to teach me the language?”
“Kong Lingyu said you already learned basic everyday conversation right after arriving.”
“She’s talking nonsense. I only know a few simple words and can’t speak at all. I don’t even dare to speak up when going to restaurants or convenience stores.”
“You don’t need to speak when going to restaurants or convenience stores.”
“…”
The friendship between the two had ended on extremely bitter terms. Kong Lingrou believed that no matter how ungrudging Shi Bei was, she wouldn’t have forgotten it.
Although she couldn’t immediately see through Shi Bei’s apparent motive for still wanting to get close to her, she had no desire to be curious either.
“Kong Lingyu bears indirect responsibility for your fracture. Afterward, she will…”
Shi Bei interrupted her: “Your sister said you would take care of me during this period and satisfy my every request. Because tomorrow she’s heading off to chase a voice actor and attend his fan meetups across different cities.”
Of course she knew that deliberately approaching her would be difficult; Kong Lingrou had long been a deeply suspicious person who maintained a strong sense of distance.
However, one thing would most likely never change: this person was fiercely protective of her own.
As long as someone was placed under her wing, even if they made an utterly absurd request, it would be granted to a certain degree.
Even if afterward, a price like a bargain with the devil might be demanded in return.
Since Shi Bei had suffered an injury during the time Kong Lingyu couldn’t tear herself away, and since Kong Lingyu had entrusted the cleanup matters to Kong Lingrou—
Then she would most likely take over.
Shi Bei had planned step by step, calculating every move, waiting for precisely this kind of opportunity.
“…”
Hearing this, Kong Lingrou froze. She made a subtle motion as if to grab her phone, but restrained herself.
After a moment of silence, she suppressed her annoyance and an inexplicable, complex emotion: “Fine. I’ll find some suitable books and bring them to you.”
…The gamble paid off.
That foolishly innocent sister who acted like a golden retriever was indeed someone under her protection right now.
Shi Bei couldn’t quite describe how she felt, but regardless, a slight smile appeared on her face first:
“Don’t bring books that are too basic—that’s too inefficient. Don’t bring materials that are too difficult either—my foundation is weak. You know I’ve always set relatively high standards for my own grades. The books you bring need to show noticeable progress, but don’t schedule too much—the stress will affect the recovery of my leg injury…”
A whole string of do’s and don’t’s came pouring out, causing Kong Lingrou’s brow to furrow.
Shi Bei met her gaze quite openly.
She even curled her lips into a fake, cute smile.
After a long pause.
Kong Lingrou returned the gesture with an equally superficial, insincere expression:
“Got it.”
Soon after, Shi Bei was discharged from the hospital and returned home.
Although it was a fracture, she didn’t feel much pain. It was just that she had to avoid letting her casted foot touch the ground as much as possible, making moving around on one leg with crutches rather troublesome.
Unable to go to school for a period of time, she grew a bit restless cooped up in the tiny apartment and began to feel glad she had accepted the project from her senior student. Having work to do did indeed dispel much of her irritation.
Two days later, after helping her contact the school to fill out countless unnecessary, redundant forms and completing all procedures, Kong Lingrou rang the doorbell according to the address on the photocopy of Shi Bei’s residence card.
Shi Bei, hopping over on one foot, pushed open the door.
She saw Miss Kong wearing a mask, carrying a canvas backpack, and holding a large paper bag in her hand.
“Staying in the hospital for a month was clearly the best choice, yet you insisted on coming home. There are massive flights of stairs you couldn’t avoid along the way, and you even have to climb stairs to get up to your floor?”
“Oh.” Seeing that even the mask couldn’t conceal the anger written all over Kong Lingrou’s face, and remembering how she had hated climbing stairs since childhood, Shi Bei immediately offered a bright smile: “But I just wanted to go home.”
Kong Lingrou said nothing and stepped straight inside.
As she entered through the doorway, her shoulder bumped against the half-crippled Shi Bei blocking the entrance, causing her body to sway slightly.
Shi Bei: “…”
Passing by the kitchen, Kong Lingrou spotted several bags of instant ramen of various flavors scattered messily, along with a small, unwashed noodle-cooking pot piled in the sink.
The room was even smaller and messier than she had imagined.
She placed the paper bag she had brought onto the only table. Since there were no other tables, she had no choice but to set her backpack down on a chair.
“Sustaining your vital signs by eating instant ramen?”
“No need for you to worry.”
“Your Japanese shouldn’t be my concern either.”
Shi Bei was choked into silence.
She stopped talking, picked up the crutches placed by the entryway, and slowly shuffled over.
“Let’s eat first.” Kong Lingrou took the items out of the paper bag; they were all bento boxes.
Stacked one on top of another, there were three portions in total.
“I’ve eaten.”
Kong Lingrou didn’t say anything, stacking the bentos and stuffing them into the refrigerator.
She opened her backpack and selected one book from several Japanese learning materials with completely different cover designs: “I’ll come over two days a week to teach you the content of this book. The other books are left for your own study and reference.”
“Oh.” Shi Bei sat down, set the crutches off to the side, then raised her finger and pointed toward the balcony: “There’s another chair on the balcony. Bring it inside.”
Without realizing it, a pitter-patter of rain began to fall.
Rising and falling gusts of wind carried the rain onto the balcony, crashing crisply against the drying rack, the sounds dropping in various spots with rhythmic intervals.
Kong Lingrou brought in the plastic chair that hadn’t gotten wet yet and wiped it clean.
In such a narrow room, the matching basic furniture was naturally small-sized as well. On the one-meter single desk, two open textbooks and a notebook were barely laid out side-by-side.
Kong Lingrou’s gaze rested on her fractured left leg, “Sit further inside.”
“Oh.”
Kong Lingrou placed the stool to Shi Bei’s right.
“Today we’ll finish explaining verb conjugations. Next class, we’ll go over all the grammar of the beginner stage, then start memorizing texts to build up vocabulary.”
Shi Bei nodded: “Okay.”
“Conjugation is the first small hurdle in Japanese. The rules are categorized according to word types…”
The sound of the rain accompanied Kong Lingrou’s voice as she explained verb forms.
Shi Bei listened attentively for a while, her mind relaxing slightly, until she suddenly felt a bit sleepy.
Sharing the narrow desk, her hoodie brushed against Kong Lingrou’s beige sweater.
The desk lamp before her eyes actually resembled the lamp in their old dorm room back then, pouring out a soft white glow that wasn’t as glaring as the fluorescent lights in their later high school classrooms.
“All the rules are on this chart. These few are common special verbs, special verbs are…”
In the past, Shi Bei would always move her chair over to Kong Lingrou’s desk to do her homework.
She would finish her own assignments before school ended, and upon returning to the dorm, she would write the lazy young mistress’s assignments for her since Kong Lingrou couldn’t be bothered to pick up a pen.
The school dormitory was a suite that only the two of them shared. Back then, although the desks were also meant for single use, they were quite large, so two people sitting side-by-side didn’t feel cramped at all.
More often than not, Shi Bei was too lazy to move a chair and would just sit directly on Kong Lingrou’s lap.
Kong Lingrou would embrace her from behind.
Occasionally, Shi Bei would speak up, asking her to hold her a little tighter.
She really liked how tightly Kong Lingrou held her, pressed against her spine. Occasionally, black hair reaching down to her waist would brush intangibly against her neck, itching softly; she always endured it in silence.
Stroke by stroke, she wrote out the homework dutifully.
After a moment, Kong Lingrou stopped her pen and looked at her.
“…Did you memorize it?”
Shi Bei had been zoning out, her mind wandering off to other thoughts.
Hearing her ask, she subconsciously responded first: “I memorized it, Sister.”