21
Just when Wu Jiao thought she could finally settle down and focus on her studies, she fell ill.
Her period refused to end, the bleeding continuing day after day. A persistent discomfort lingered in her lower abdomen, leaving her mind foggy and sluggish. Homework that once took her little time now dragged on longer and longer, stealing more of her sleep each night.
She didn’t dare tell Wu Zihui, afraid of making her worry. Nor did she want to take time off and go home, knowing it would interfere with her work.
She had planned to see a doctor on the weekend by herself, but trouble found her before then.
That morning, just after the second period, before the long break had even begun, Wu Jiao was working through an English cloze test, scanning the vocabulary options one by one, when a girl from her class suddenly rushed over. Looking anxious, she told Wu Jiao that Mo Li had been locked inside the restroom.
Mo Li was indeed not in the classroom.
Wu Jiao confirmed the situation and listened to the girl’s thoughts—she wasn’t lying.
She put down her pen and went to find Mo Li.
The nearest restrooms were empty. Thinking for a moment, she headed to the more secluded one.
Before she even got close, Wu Jiao heard Mo Li’s cries. She really was inside.
“Is anyone there? Please help me! I’m locked in the very last stall!”
The panic in Mo Li’s voice was unmistakable.
Without overthinking it, Wu Jiao pushed the door open and a bucket of water came down straight over her head, drenching her completely.
The water splashed noisily. Mo Li’s cries stopped abruptly, clearly startled. “Who is it?”
Same place, same people, a scene that felt all too familiar. Wu Jiao could only be grateful that this time the water was clean.
She wiped the water from her face and said calmly, “It’s me, Wu Jiao.”
“Wu Jiao? It’s you! That’s great!” Mo Li was overjoyed, but then hesitated. “Are you okay? What just happened out there?”
“Nothing. Just got soaked. I’m fine.”
Xiao E was furious: Host, you call that fine?! You were already feeling unwell, what are you going to do now?!
Wu Jiao: “It’s okay. I know my limits. I can handle it.”
She set the bucket aside and walked straight to the last stall, easily removing the mop that had been wedged against the door handle.
As the door swung open, Mo Li jumped out happily—then gasped when she saw Wu Jiao, drenched like a drowned rat.
The girl before her didn’t have a single dry spot on her. Her hair was plastered into sticky strands, water dripped from her face, and her uniform hem was steadily dripping onto the floor.
“Oh my God, you call this fine?!”
“We need to get you changed! This is all my fault. I dragged you into this.”
Mo Li’s eyes were full of apology.
“No.”
If anything, Wu Jiao had dragged Mo Li into it.
It was easy to see that this hadn’t been aimed at Mo Li.
It was aimed at her.
“Let’s go. Time to head back. We’ll have to do the exercises soon.”
Wu Jiao forced herself to ignore the discomfort and started walking out.
“You can’t do the exercises with your clothes soaked like that! Let’s go change first.”
Mo Li followed behind her, pleading. Xiao E was also chattering nonstop in her ear. Wu Jiao’s head grew heavier and dizzier, and her feet felt like they were stepping on soft clouds.
No—she was the class monitor. She had to take attendance…
She pushed her legs, trying to move forward, but some force inside her fought back, refusing to let her advance.
Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Then she heard Mo Li crying.
Why was she crying?
She wanted to turn back to comfort her, but then she lost consciousness.
Mo Li, following behind Wu Jiao, could clearly tell something was wrong with the way she was walking.
She rushed forward in concern and the next second, Wu Jiao collapsed into her arms.
Mo Li held Wu Jiao, completely at a loss, and couldn’t help but cry.
“Wu Jiao, Wu Jiao, wake up, please don’t let anything happen to you!”
Wu Jiao was much taller than she was, making it difficult for Mo Li to support her. After struggling for a short distance, she could barely take another step.
It was deserted with no one in sight. Suppressing the panic threatening to overwhelm her, Mo Li carefully helped Wu Jiao onto a nearby bench. After hastily wiping away the tears blurring her vision, she turned and sprinted down the corridor, desperately searching for someone who could help.
“Sister Yan, Mo Li went to get someone.”
A girl ran over to tattle to Yan Yixin.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with Wu Jiao. She got drenched and then passed out. Who knows if it’s real or fake.”
Yan Yixin’s eyes filled with malice as she let out a cold snort. “It’s definitely fake. Stop Mo Li. Don’t let her alert any teachers.”
She then turned and pulled a pretty girl beside her, flashing a bright smile.
“Yaoyao, don’t be mad anymore. I’ve taught her a lesson for you.”
The girl called Yaoyao was clearly still unsatisfied. “This is supposed to be a lesson? Cao Haotian rejected my confession, and it’s all because of her!”
Yan Yixin was also annoyed, but she pretended to be considerate as she comforted Yaoyao. “But we’re at school right now. We can’t go too far. Later, I’ll lure her out, and you can teach her a lesson however you like.”
On her way to find help, Mo Li spotted a few girls walking straight toward her, along with two boys.
She recognized them. They were the ones who hung around Yan Yixin.
She changed direction and ran toward the administrative office building for teachers. The group immediately chased after her.
Just as they were about to catch up, Mo Li shouted, “Help!”
This area was full of teachers’ offices. If she could just get one to hear her, there was hope.
“Help, teacher—!”
A large hand quickly covered her mouth from behind. One of the boys had caught up, wrapping his arms around Mo Li and pulling her toward the stairwell.
Mo Li was so desperate she bit him. Just then, a cold male voice intervened.
“What are you doing? Let her go.”
It was Si Xiuyuan.
He had just dropped off homework for a teacher and was walking out of the office when he witnessed the scene.
These same old tricks again. Weren’t they tired of them yet?
The girls behind him saw the trouble coming and quickly stepped forward, grabbing Mo Li’s hand. “It’s nothing. We’re just playing around. Come on, Mo Li, time for the exercises.”
Mo Li shook her off and said rapidly, “Wu Jiao fainted! Si Xiuyuan, you have to go save her!”
Si Xiuyuan’s heart sank.
“What happened? Explain clearly.”
He glanced at the people around Mo Li. Seeing that things were going wrong, they immediately ran off to tip off the others.
They hadn’t alerted a teacher but now Si Xiuyuan knew. What were they going to do?
“I can’t carry her. I need your help.”
Mo Li quickly told Si Xiuyuan where to go, while she went to find the school nurse.
Si Xiuyuan didn’t stop for a second. It took him less than thirty seconds to get down the stairs, and only a minute to find Wu Jiao.
Wu Jiao was curled up on the bench in the corridor, completely soaked. She looked utterly pitiful.
He reached out to feel her forehead. It was burning hot.
Idiot.
He had reminded her—anything at all, she could come to him for help.
Si Xiuyuan lifted her into his arms. Wu Jiao, barely conscious, instinctively struggled for a moment, but he pulled her closer, and she stopped moving.
His jacket got wet too, but he didn’t care. He only kept glancing down to check on her.
Her body was also burning up. She probably had a fever.
Si Xiuyuan walked quickly, but someone else arrived just as fast.
Yan Yixin had rushed over as soon as she heard the news. When she saw Si Xiuyuan carrying Wu Jiao, she suppressed the jealousy in her heart and put on a worried expression.
“Brother Xiuyuan, what’s wrong with Wu Jiao? Do you need my help?”
Si Xiuyuan paid her no attention, his handsome face as cold and indifferent as frost.
This was the first time Si Xiuyuan had ever ignored her like this, and Yan Yixin immediately panicked.
She quickly tried to distance herself from the situation: “I heard that Wu Jiao likes Cao Haotian, and some girl from International Class 1 is jealous. Maybe she—”
Before she could finish, Si Xiuyuan cut her off.
“Get out of the way.”
His tone was colder than ever before.
But Yan Yixin refused to let go. “Brother Xiuyuan, I—I’ll come with you. I can take care of her!”
Si Xiuyuan finally stopped.
He frowned and gave Yan Yixin a look of undisguised disgust.
This was the girl who had followed him around since childhood, always pampered and spoiled.
“Yan Yixin, you are truly boring. I will have a proper talk with you about this later. Right now, I don’t have the time to watch you put on an act.”
With that, he strode off with Wu Jiao in his arms.
Yan Yixin stood there, tears of resentment streaming down her face.
She couldn’t understand it. It was just a little prank. She had done far worse things to Wu Jiao before, and he’d never batted an eye.
So why was he protecting her like this now?
……
Pei Jiamu had taken two days of sick leave.
The flu had been going around, and he’d unfortunately caught it, spending most of his days sleeping.
Ge Cheng’an knew he was recovering at home and didn’t text him, simply telling him to rest well and that he’d see him when he got back. So, Pei Jiamu had no idea what was happening at school.
After taking his medicine and feeling a bit better, he decided to go to school.
It wasn’t that he particularly wanted to attend class—he just wanted to be at school. What exactly was driving that urge, Pei Jiamu himself didn’t quite know.
But a certain person flashed briefly through his mind.
Wearing a mask to avoid infecting anyone, he made it through morning self-study, but then started feeling dizzy again. He packed up and headed to the school clinic.
The doctor prescribed him three IV bags and told him to lie down. He found an empty bed, pulled the curtain shut, and tried to sleep.
But instead of getting sleepier, he grew more awake.
Ever since he’d upset Wu Jiao last time, he hadn’t been able to cheer up himself.
He even wondered if that was why the flu had gotten him—after all, he was usually very healthy. Even when half the class had fallen sick, he’d still been bouncing around.
Should he take the initiative to apologize?
But several days had already passed. Showing up out of nowhere like that would make it really hard to start the conversation.
He kept opening Wu Jiao’s chat window, scrolling up through old messages, then scrolling back down, only to exit again.
Had she even noticed he wasn’t at school?… If she had, why hadn’t she texted him? She probably hadn’t noticed.
But why hadn’t she noticed?
He was a whole person—not showing up for the exercises, not crossing paths at school. There was no way she hadn’t noticed!
Ah… what could he do to make her reach out to him first?
Pei Jiamu stared at the ceiling with a look of utter despair, blankly zoning out.
After a few seconds, his gaze landed on the IV bag hanging above him.
His face lit up with a smile.
There it was.
He angled his hand—the one with the IV needle in it and took a photo of it against the backdrop of the school clinic. Not satisfied, he took several more until he finally got one he liked.
He had the photo, but he still needed a caption for his Moments.
“I’m down. Feeling awful. In desperate need of comfort.”
No, no. Too melodramatic.
“I’m sick—your cold shoulder is freezing me.”
Would she even know I’m talking about her? That doesn’t really work either.
This didn’t work, that didn’t work. Finally, Pei Jiamu steeled himself and posted just the photo with no caption at all.
That way, at least it wouldn’t look like he was whining for no reason, right?
**
Author has something to say: Pei Jiamu, my dear boy… let’s just say, hypothetically speaking—and I’m only saying hypothetically—what if Wu Jiao doesn’t check her Moments at all?