At seven in the evening.
Chen Nannan curled up on the sofa, going through her usual Club Federation Department work as always.
Her fingertips flew across the laptop keyboard, but her eyes seemed to have lost focus.
Two hours earlier, the two of them had finished dinner.
After that, they had spent about an hour and a half cleaning up—or rather, chatting idly while cleaning.
In other words, Shen An had left just half an hour ago.
Strangely enough, when he was there, Chen Nannan hadn’t felt any particular surge of emotions. Under his teasing, she had temporarily pushed previous matters aside and chatted and laughed with him just like old times.
But only half an hour after he left, Chen Nannan found herself unable to contain her swirling thoughts.
Thud.
She flopped powerlessly onto the sofa and murmured, “I must have hurt him after all, right?”
During that hour and a half of conversation, he had been perfectly proper.
Completely in line with what she had expected—friendly banter that fit squarely within the bounds of friendship.
But her own feelings had quietly shifted.
Guilt and unease once again filled her heart.
He seemed not to care…
Did that mean she shouldn’t care too much?
Was he pretending not to care while actually feeling deeply unwilling inside?
Or had he grown tired long ago of giving without reciprocation?
Every tangled thought that arose tormented her.
After he left, this sense of helplessness was gradually enveloping Chen Nannan.
She pressed a hand to her forehead and closed her laptop.
She felt a little sleepy.
Tonight wasn’t suitable for work.
It was perfect for a good, long sleep.
Once she woke up, it would be a new day. She could leave all her troubles behind in this one!
Crawling up from the sofa, Chen Nannan shuffled slowly toward her room.
Tonight, the lights went out unusually early.
Meanwhile, after leaving Chen Nannan’s apartment, Shen An didn’t head straight back to his own.
His afternoon trip to the supermarket with Chen Nannan had given him a way to break the impasse.
At least for now, it was a method that had been proven effective.
Xu Yijing seemed particularly averse to loud noises, especially the sharp banging from cooking in the kitchen.
It might not be the most ethical approach, but Shen An decided to give it a try first.
If it didn’t work on her, then he would seek Zhao Qingyu’s help.
He hoped Zhao Qingyu would give him a few good looks by then.
So Shen An made a beeline for the supermarket. Remembering how empty Xu Yijing’s fridge was, he bought a bunch of ingredients in one go.
Back at the apartment, everything was pitch black.
No droning soap opera sounds. Shen An raised an eyebrow and thought to himself, “Has she not come back yet?”
Perfect—this gave him plenty of time to prepare.
He took the ingredients to the kitchen and stocked the fridge. Just like at Chen Nannan’s place, he put those brand-new kitchen tools to use.
The cookware here was actually more complete than at Chen Nannan’s; Shen An didn’t need to buy a whole new set.
Her kitchen had come equipped with them originally—most still unopened, tags intact.
Whew~
Shen An was a bit nervous, truth be told.
He didn’t like forcing his way into someone’s life like this, let alone intruding in such a manner.
But he didn’t carry too much moral baggage either. In a way, he could console himself that he was treating a patient.
Unless the anorexia information from Zhao Li was fake, Shen An felt obligated to correct some of Xu Yijing’s unhealthy habits.
He had Zhao Li’s permission and had accepted her earnest request.
Still, intervening like this would probably earn him a cold glare from Xu Yijing.
By the time Shen An finished setting up the kitchen, it was already eight at night.
Still no sign of Xu Yijing at eight.
That was a bit unusual.
Xu Yijing was a workaholic with a strong sense of responsibility toward Student Union matters, but she rarely stayed out this late.
There were no special meetings or events at the Student Union today—everything had been calm.
Harboring some doubts, Shen An didn’t retreat to his room. Instead, he sat in the living room, quietly waiting for Xu Yijing to return.
To pass the boring time, he turned on the TV to watch a sports match.
On the other hand, he pulled out his phone and switched into multi-thread online chat mode.
Zhao Qingyu…
She wasn’t online. Pass.
Chen Nannan…
Hmm, time for a cooling-off period. Pass.
That left Wang Yuqiong and Song Rui as his options.
Heh~
Shen An could guess with his butt what the two women would chat about with him. A faint smile tugged at his lips as he proactively initiated the conversations.
Another hour passed like this.
By nine o’clock at night.
There was a sound at the door.
Shen An’s gaze flicked over, and he quickly wrapped up his chats.
Click.
The door opened gently—Xu Yijing was back.
Shen An turned his head, pretending nonchalance, and said softly, “Yo…?”
He hadn’t even finished his greeting when his expression turned bizarre.
It was indeed Xu Yijing who had returned.
But not the usual Xu Yijing.
Her face was deathly pale, her steps unsteady, as if she could barely stand—like she might collapse at any second.
She had to grip the door handle tightly with her small hand just to keep herself upright.
“Senior Sister?”
Shen An shot to his feet and walked toward her.
He realized this might be an opportunity.
A rare one.
“I… I’m fine.” Not just her face was pale—her voice was too.
Her exquisitely perfect little face was marred everywhere by a sickly weakness, her voice feeble and faint, like the groan of someone on the brink of death.
“How is this fine?”
Shen An narrowed his eyes and hurried to support her.
“Don’t touch me!”
He hadn’t expected such a fierce reaction from Xu Yijing.
The moment his hand brushed her shoulder, she shoved him away with violent resistance.
The force was so great, clashing with her evident frailty, that it nearly knocked Shen An off balance.
Xu Yijing licked her pale, dry lips and rasped, “I’m fine… really.”
Even as she said it, that burst of resistance seemed to have drained her last reserves of strength.
She could no longer stand and slowly slumped down, collapsing onto the entryway rug.
Huff~
Huff~
One small hand clutched her abdomen tightly, her pale little face twisting in something like ferocity, as if she might vomit.
But she couldn’t.
She could only dry-heave.
Shen An frowned, but Xu Yijing covered her small face and mouth with her hands. Her hoarse voice leaked through her fingers, thick with disgust.
“You… go back now… to your room…”
“Now, immediately!”
She didn’t want Shen An to see her in such a wretched state.
No—she didn’t want anyone to see her like this.
“Let me help you up first.”
Shen An bent down and extended his hand.
Smack.
Once again, Xu Yijing slapped his hand away without mercy.
“Go back.”
She gritted out coldly.
Heh.
Shen An let out a laugh of exasperation.
She was so weak she couldn’t even stand, yet she had the strength to struggle like this.
And… this level of disgust didn’t seem like Xu Yijing’s usual attitude toward everyone.
If it had been a stranger, she might have accepted the help.
Zhao Qingyu was right—she had been putting on an act with him all along, and a brilliant one at that.
Fine.
Rejected multiple times, Shen An wasn’t a saint.
Moreover, Xu Yijing’s undisguised rejection and revulsion now revealed that she had always harbored some scheme against him.
Seeing her in this pitiful state—so different from her usual composure—Shen An couldn’t be bothered anymore. He sauntered back to the sofa and sat down.
“I… told you to go back…”
Seeing him settle in comfortably, completely ignoring her, only fueled Xu Yijing’s anger.
“Senior Sister, remember our agreement? Live and let live.”
Shen An crossed his legs. “I won’t disturb you, but please don’t disturb me.”
“I have the right to be wherever I want. You don’t get to order me around.”
Bastard…
Xu Yijing clenched her fists.
She never imagined… her condition… would flare up so suddenly, and so severely.
As early as the afternoon, while at the Student Union, she had felt faintly unwell.
But she hadn’t paid it any mind then, as this had happened countless times before.
So she popped a few pills and kept working.
By six in the evening, she clocked out, ready to head back to the apartment.
But the moment her front foot crossed the office threshold, a stabbing pain erupted in her stomach, as if a knife were slashing wildly inside her belly.
The spasmodic agony left Xu Yijing unable to stand. She was relieved no one was around to see it and quickly retreated back into the office.
She took more medicine, but it did little good.
From six in the evening until eight at night—two full hours—she endured alone in the office, breaking out in cold sweats, gritting her teeth against the pain, hoping it would ease enough for her to leave.
Even though someone was on duty outside, all she had to do was call out or make a phone call, and they would rush her to the hospital.
She didn’t utter a single word.
A little after eight, the pain finally started to subside.
By then, Xu Yijing had nearly polished off the entire bottle of pills.
Just as she let out a sigh of relief, staggered to her feet, and left the office to return to the apartment—
In the apartment elevator, the agony struck her abdomen again.
And this time, it was far worse!
The fact that she managed to hold back any cries and make it back to the apartment was a testament to her astonishing willpower.
Or perhaps it was her stubbornly unyielding personality kicking in.
Now, though, she was on the verge of collapse.
It really… hurt so much…
If the initial pain had been like a single knife thrashing in her gut, now it felt like a hundred—no, a thousand.
No, it wasn’t that simple. You couldn’t just add or multiply it like that.
This level of pain was one of the worst she’d experienced since developing this condition.
Urp~
Another dry heave, and Xu Yijing crumpled to her knees, nearly sprawling on the floor—but still, nothing came up.
Her stomach felt utterly empty, as if the pain had digested everything inside it.
Urp!
She fought against the urge to vomit, but she couldn’t stop it.
All she could do was dry-heave over and over in front of Shen An, letting out harsh, pitiful wails.
She wanted to die.
Right here, right now.
Compared to the excruciating pain in her abdomen, she felt… her dignity… had been utterly shattered.
Exposing herself like this in front of him…
Aaaah!
How… how did it come to this?
Was it the ice cream… from this afternoon?
Yeah, that must be it…
Damn it, why did it have to hit at a time like this?
Shen An couldn’t bear to watch. Mainly, Xu Yijing’s wails were so piercingly miserable, drilling into his ears. He wasn’t heartless.
Especially seeing her so frail, her face deathly pale—it stirred pity even in him.
He rose from the sofa again, walked slowly over to her, and crouched down.
“I’ll call an ambulance for you.”
Shen An said softly.
Xu Yijing let out a cold laugh, her voice so faint it was barely audible: “No need for your fake concern.”
Shen An’s temper flared instantly: “Hey, Xu Yijing, what the hell is that supposed to mean? I haven’t done anything to offend you, have I?”
“The second you walked in, you collapsed right here, wailing nonstop.”
“I offered to help you up, and you said no. So I suggest an ambulance, and you still won’t have it. You want to just die from the pain right here?”
Xu Yijing struggled to lift her head. Her eyes were threaded with red, her pallid face twisted in a grimace that made her look like some hook from hell emerging—enough to unsettle even Shen An.
“You’re going to take me to the hospital?”
“What else? You need a doctor, don’t you?”
“Ha… haha~ A doctor?” Xu Yijing clenched her fists, grinding her teeth in bitter sarcasm: “Aren’t you one?”
Shen An’s eyes narrowed: “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Ha~ Keep pretending. Keep up the act in front of me.”
Xu Yijing drew a deep breath. The searing pain was driving her insane.
But even in her near-madness, on the brink of emotional collapse, she couldn’t help dragging Shen An down with her: “You know what? You’re not the first one they’ve sent to get close to me.”
“But… but you… you’re the one who makes me… feel the most disgusted.”
“Because you’re a… completely useless doctor.”
“Ha… nothing but… a filthy degenerate… with your mind in the gutter.”
The sudden flare-up, combined with Shen An’s infuriating “sympathy,” had shattered Xu Yijing’s defenses completely.
She had no intention of keeping up the charade with him any longer.
