22
After Si Xiuyuan carried Wu Jiao to the school clinic, Mo Li helped her change into dry clothes and dried her hair.
Fortunately, it wasn’t anything serious. She was simply exhausted, dealing with inflammation in her body, lacking proper rest, and running a fever, which had caused her to faint.
The doctor hooked her up to several IV bags, assured them he would keep an eye on her, and told Si Xiuyuan and Mo Li to return to class.
When Wu Jiao woke up again, her head felt much clearer, though her thoughts were still a little sluggish.
Before she even figured out where she was, she started mentally reciting vocabulary words.
She had just come across a word she hadn’t fully understood.
“Panacea… is that how you spell it? What did it mean again? I knew it this morning—why can’t I remember all of a sudden?”
Wu Jiao’s brain finally started working.
She looked around and realized she was in the school clinic.
Xiao E: “Host! You’re finally awake! You scared me to death. Thank goodness you’re okay—where else would Xiao E ever find a host as good as you?”
Hearing Xiao E’s voice, Wu Jiao finally remembered what had happened.
She asked Xiao E, “Did Mo Li bring me here?”
Xiao E: “She did but to be precise, two people did. Brother Si Xiuyuan was there too.”
Wu Jiao: “…Why are you calling him ‘brother’?”
Xiao E, bursting with excitement: “Brother Xiuyuan is so cool! You should have seen how he treated Yan Yixin—it was straight out of a satisfying web novel! Having a male lead as your protective brother is amazing. And Mo Li is such a good person too, super quick on her feet. Host, I’ve decided I’m rooting for Si Xiuyuan and Mo Li. We have to help him win her over!”
Wu Jiao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“So how far along are they? What do I need to do?”
Xiao E: “Well… I’m not sure, but according to the original story, they’ve already… had some physical contact? I think it happened in the infirmary.”
The infirmary?
Wu Jiao’s slightly mischievous mind didn’t dare dwell on that thought. And wasn’t she currently in the school clinic’s infirmary right now?
Xiao E: “After they brought you here, they must have said something or done something, right? Maybe…”
“Okay, stop. Don’t say another word. Otherwise, whenever I see them again, it’s going to feel weird.”
Xiao E, giggled: “Hehe. Alright, host, you should rest for a bit. You’ve been working so hard lately.”
Wu Jiao hummed in acknowledgment and closed her eyes but her mind was still circling back to that vocabulary word.
She was lying on the bed closest to the wall. The one farther inside had its curtain drawn, and Wu Jiao could hear the sound of someone turning over in the bed next to hers.
Suddenly, a mechanical female voice, neither loud nor soft, rang out.
“Panacea. A magical cure-all. ‘Love is a panacea that cures spiritual wounds.'”
Wu Jiao: ?
What a coincidence—she was just thinking about that word.
Wu Jiao turned her head to look. The white, slightly translucent curtain fluttered gently in the breeze. Light streamed in from the outside, revealing the rough outline of someone on the bed.
It looked like a boy. The bed seemed a little too small for him.
He was facing away from her, apparently unaware that anyone else was in the room. He was holding his phone, memorizing vocabulary and as luck would have it, the word was panacea.
Wu Jiao listened as he played the pronunciation twice, then played the example sentence once. Now she’d definitely remember it.
He repeated the process, continuing to drill vocabulary. Wu Jiao just listened in from her side.
“Hey, how do you spell that word again? I forgot. If only it would go back one more time.”
Sometimes, just as Wu Jiao forgot a previous word, the boy would immediately go back to it and play the pronunciation three times.
It was amazing. Even his forgetting patterns matched hers.
Wu Jiao couldn’t help but feel curious. Who was in the bed next to hers?
What happened to him? It looked like he was also on an IV.
Xiao E was also a bit curious: “Do you want me to take a look for you, host?”
The other bed shifted slightly, as if he was pulling the blanket tighter.
But she could still hear the English vocabulary playing clearly from his side.
Wu Jiao shook her head. “No need. It’s probably someone I don’t know.”
She was just a little curious. She didn’t want to disturb anyone.
Wu Jiao made herself as inconspicuous as possible and quietly followed along with the boy’s vocabulary drill.
Their memorization rhythm was perfectly in sync. Wu Jiao even had the strange feeling that he could tell what she was thinking—why else would he “happen” to go back to the exact words she’d forgotten the meaning of?
Maybe it was because of the IV drip, but Wu Jiao soon drifted off to sleep while memorizing.
Only after confirming he could no longer hear Wu Jiao’s thoughts did Pei Jiamu tiptoe out of bed.
He gave a soft cough. When there was no reaction from the other bed, he slowly pulled the curtain aside.
The girl in the bed was curled up under the blanket, her sleeping face peaceful. Her long hair was fanned out beneath her head. She looked very quiet.
Without realizing it, Pei Jiamu smiled—then, remembering something, his expression turned cold again.
After Mo Li left, Si Xiuyuan stayed in the sickroom for quite a while.
Pei Jiamu had finished his IV. The doctor had removed the needle, but Pei Jiamu was still sleepy and wanted to lie there a little longer. Then the curtain was pulled open.
Whoever opened it didn’t say anything. Pei Jiamu assumed it was a nurse and didn’t think much of it. But then someone tapped him, and there went his sleep.
He squinted and saw Si Xiuyuan.
“Bro? You came to see me?”
Pei Jiamu was a bit surprised. Since when did posting on Moments bring Si Xiuyuan running?
It felt great having a brother.
No sooner had he spoken than Si Xiuyuan shot him a glance, signaling him to shut up, and then looked toward the other bed.
Pei Jiamu closed his mouth. When he saw it was Wu Jiao, he opened it again.
“She—”
Wu Jiao was asleep, and talking would only wake her. Pei Jiamu stopped pressing the back of his hand and pulled Si Xiuyuan outside.
Once they found a place to talk, Si Xiuyuan said, “If you’re free, keep an eye on Wu Jiao.”
Pei Jiamu had only just finished his IV himself and hardly looked like someone in perfect condition.
And yet Si Xiuyuan had woken him up just to watch over Wu Jiao?
Pei Jiamu didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he asked, “What happened to her?”
“She wasn’t feeling well. Someone threw water on her. She has a fever.”
“Who did it?!” Pei Jiamu’s voice rose a notch, and he didn’t even notice he’d lost his composure. “I’ll kill them!”
Si Xiuyuan gave him a long, deep look.
“You seem very worried about her. Have you two gotten closer?”
Pei Jiamu stammered, “N-no! Bro, you know we can’t stand each other. How could we have gotten closer? It’s just…”
Si Xiuyuan waited for him to finish the “just.”
“It’s just that I did something wrong to her a few days ago. I was in the wrong. I feel bad about it.”
Pei Jiamu had done plenty of wrong things and upset plenty of people, but Si Xiuyuan had never seen him like this.
Si Xiuyuan grunted in acknowledgment, his expression unreadable. “Then you should probably go back to class.”
“What about you, bro?”
“I have something to do.”
With that, he left without another word to Pei Jiamu. Pei Jiamu watched him walk away, then, as if drawn by some unseen force, went back to his original spot and lay down again.
The female nurse found it odd. He batted his eyes at her and made a “I’m dizzy, want to sleep, please please” gesture. She immediately smiled and gave him an “OK” sign.
Pei Jiamu lay back down, but his heart was pounding like a drum.
He opened his phone and texted Ge Cheng’an.
Pei: Help me ask—has anything been going on with Wu Jiao lately?
To his surprise, Ge Cheng’an replied “OK” instantly, then sent a message three minutes later.
He gave a brief summary: Wu Jiao had been harassed by Luo Yihuan, and just recently she’d been bullied by the cliques of Yan Yixin and Xu Yaoyao.
Pei Jiamu’s eyes darkened.
Your Ge Ge: But Luo Yihuan transferred out a few days ago. I heard he also got beat up. No one found out who did it.
Your Ge Ge: Bro, just stop bullying Wu Jiao. She’s actually a pretty good person. I’ve seen her doing good deeds several times—it doesn’t seem fake. Last time my girlfriend got cut in line, Wu Jiao helped her.
Pei Jiamu didn’t reply.
How could he not know that Wu Jiao was a good person? Otherwise, why would he bother messing with her?
Thinking back to how he’d gone against her and made her sad, Pei Jiamu’s feelings were complicated.
Pei Jiamu quietly got out of bed to tuck Wu Jiao’s blanket. He looked up and met a pair of eyes.
Mo Li looked a bit awkward. Her face turned bright red.
She said softly, “Sorry, I didn’t know you were here too.”
Pei Jiamu shook his head and drew a question mark in the air with his finger.
Mo Li pointed to the porridge and food in her hands and mouthed, “I was afraid she’d be hungry when she woke up.”
Pei Jiamu gave her a thumbs up. Mo Li lowered her head in embarrassment.
As she lowered her head, Pei Jiamu’s eyes met another pair.
Oh my, why was the clinic so busy today?
Mo Li had barely stepped inside when Si Xiuyuan followed right behind her.
Only this time, there was a chill in those eyes. Pei Jiamu’s heart skipped a beat.
Oh, he’d almost forgotten—he’d heard from Wu Jiao that Si Xiuyuan liked Mo Li.
Si Xiuyuan had never looked at him like that before. Was he jealous?
Si Xiuyuan had also arrived, carrying two insulated lunch containers.
Pei Jiamu understood at once. The “something” he had to do was call the Si family to have these sent over.
Mo Li looked at what Si Xiuyuan was carrying. Suddenly, the things in her own hands felt a little inadequate.
The three of them were all lost in their own thoughts. Caught between the two, Pei Jiamu felt like an awkward third wheel.
Not wanting Si Xiuyuan to misunderstand, he quickly retreated to give them some space.
Si Xiuyuan didn’t say anything. He simply placed the containers on the bedside table and glanced at Wu Jiao.
He took out a fever patch, first testing the temperature of her forehead with the back of his hand, then gently applied it.
Pei Jiamu’s heart started pounding again. He glanced sideways at Mo Li. She had her head down, lost in thought.
Si Xiuyuan, you blockhead!
Where’s your usual politeness, your gentleness, your sense of boundaries?!
Right in front of her, you dare be this good to another girl—are you just going to abandon your wife or what?!
Pei Jiamu, who prided himself on being a good younger brother, snatched the fever patch, shoved Si Xiuyuan aside, and mouthed, I’ll do it. I’ll handle it. You two can go back first.
But after he said that, Si Xiuyuan’s gaze turned even colder.
The three of them crowded around the hospital bed in an extremely awkward silence. Fortunately, Si Xiuyuan didn’t say anything.
He stuck a sticky note onto the insulated container. Besides instructions to finish all the food inside, he also wrote not to worry about class—he would help her catch up.
So thoughtful.
So thoughtful that Pei Jiamu inexplicably felt a sense of crisis.
But then he reconsidered. Si Xiuyuan wasn’t interested in Wu Jiao at all. He was just used to being a good person and besides, he liked Mo Li.
Even though Pei Jiamu was also one of the male leads, he truly had no feelings for Mo Li. But Si Xiuyuan…
He glanced at the two people beside him.
Si Xiuyuan was smiling at Mo Li and had taken the things from her hands, saying thank you.
He definitely likes Mo Li!
Si Xiuyuan took the porridge Mo Li had brought. After being carried all the way there, the porridge had already gone cold. And the food in the plastic container, though light, wasn’t very nutritious.
The insulated containers he’d brought contained nutritious meals made by the family chef—better for a sick person.
But it was Mo Li’s kind gesture.
Si Xiuyuan thanked Mo Li, then placed her things behind the insulated container.
From Wu Jiao’s perspective, the first thing she would see would be the insulated container. It would be hard to notice what was behind it.
**