Spring and summer in A City were separated by a long, often fluctuating transitional period.
Yesterday still carried a chill in the breeze, but today, the sun blazed fiercely, prompting everyone to shed their jackets.
The music for the long break still blared from the speakers, the entire campus buzzing with energy.
The Multimedia Building next to the school auditorium, however, was exceptionally quiet and still.
Sunlight streamed through the glass into a classroom on the third floor. A gentle breeze drifted in, carrying the unique fragrance of youth—the scent of young women.
Dozens of girls with flowing hair sat primly, backs straight, behind desks arranged in a square formation, listening attentively to a teacher standing in the center of the room.
Shen Shuyu was among them.
She sat in the back row of the classroom, in a corner amongst the flourishing beauties—not a very conspicuous spot.
But even though Shen Shuyu wasn’t trying to stand out, a quick glance was enough to see she was exceptionally otherworldly, a crane among chickens.
Just her cool, fair skin, illuminated by the light, was pinkish and porcelain-white, easily surpassing the others’.
Shen Shuyu’s attention wasn’t on the teacher. She secretly lowered her head, looking at her phone tucked inside her desk.
Yu Mo: 【Doesn’t it look much better this morning than yesterday? I feel like it’ll be healed soon and we won’t need to keep applying the medicine.】
Over the past few days of applying ointment, the relationship between Shen Shuyu and Yu Mo had somewhat eased.
But ironically, under Yu Mo’s meticulous care, the ointment had worked its full effect, and the wound on Shen Shuyu’s back was visibly nearing recovery.
Looking in the mirror this morning, Shen Shuyu saw only a shallow greenish-purple mark about the length of a finger remained.
Unwilling to let go of this precious bond between them so easily, Shen Shuyu replied: 【But I still feel applying it for a few more days would be safer.】
Yu Mo also thought that even though it was almost healed, they shouldn’t be lax: 【Mhm. Then same time at noon today, as usual.】
Getting what she wanted, a rare, small smile of joy flickered across Shen Shuyu’s normally cool face. Her neatly trimmed nails tapped crisply on the screen: 【Okay.】
She then sent Yu Mo a sticker of a little penguin holding two bunches of flowers.
Looking at the little penguin on her screen, Yu Mo had long since moved past her initial impulse to reboot herself and now took it in stride.
She didn’t know if Shen Shuyu was like this when chatting with Li Qingqing and the others.
She just felt like she’d glimpsed a hidden side of Shen Shuyu.
Aloof yet somehow adorable.
The smile originally lingering on Yu Mo’s face gradually faded.
Was it because her relentless pursuit in the previous life had made Shen Shuyu dismissive of her?
Or was the Shen Shuyu of this life truly different from the last?
Yu Mo couldn’t figure it out.
And didn’t need to force herself to.
The answer no longer mattered to her now.
She glanced at the little penguin once more and put her phone back in her pocket.
The screen on Shen Shuyu’s phone slowly dimmed.
Just as it was about to turn off completely, she lightly tapped it with her finger, keeping it alight.
Five minutes had passed since she sent her last message to Yu Mo, and she still hadn’t replied.
“Shuyu, can you take this role?”
Suddenly, the teacher’s stern voice rang out from the center of the classroom.
Shen Shuyu abruptly looked up. Seeing the suppressed anger in the teacher’s eyes at her distraction, she nodded without even thinking. “I can.”
No sooner had she spoken than Shen Shuyu noticed the stunned, glancing looks exchanged among her classmates.
Even the teacher standing in the middle seemed a little surprised. She looked at Shen Shuyu and asked again, as if giving her an explanation, “Shuyu, are you sure you want to dance the Ghost King?”
Hearing the words “Ghost King,” a flicker of surprise crossed Shen Shuyu’s eyes.
Then, looking at the three circled key roles on the blackboard behind the teacher, she realized this meeting had just reached the stage of deciding the “Ghost King” role.
The production the school was preparing for the Arts Festival was the ballet Giselle.
In her previous life, Shen Shuyu had played the Female Lead in this ballet.
Although the “Ghost King” had an incredibly beautiful solo dance in this ballet—arguably even more outstanding than the Female Lead’s—it greatly tested the dancer’s fundamentals. In her past life, Shen Shuyu, along with many others, had actively avoided this role.
But now, looking at the words “Female Lead” on the blackboard, Shen Shuyu hesitated.
Choosing the Female Lead would inevitably involve close physical contact with another classmate playing the male lead role. In her previous life, this had sparked long-lasting rumors linking Shen Shuyu romantically with the girl playing the male lead.
Even though Yu Mo probably didn’t care now, Shen Shuyu didn’t want any misunderstandings that would require explaining.
She treasured this fragile bond she had just forged with Yu Mo beyond measure.
She wanted to dance for her alone.
Shen Shuyu nodded again, firmly confirming, “Yes, Teacher.”
“Good.” A delighted expression appeared on the teacher’s face. She voiced strong approval for Shen Shuyu’s decision. “I think if Shuyu dances this Ghost King, it will be absolutely stunning. I will definitely help you present the best possible performance.”
Shen Shuyu gave a polite slight nod.
Countless hopes sprouted and grew from the depths of her eyes.
She wanted Yu Mo to come watch her in this ballet. More than that, she wanted to dedicate that solo dance to Yu Mo.
To let that unforgettable, stunning flower bloom in her heart.
The teacher clapped her hands to address the others. “Alright, then let’s move on to deciding the Female Lead.”
Seeing the previously sure-fire role of Female Lead—originally assumed to be Shen Shuyu’s—now vacant, the others’ earlier timidity in avoiding the “Ghost King” role completely vanished. One by one, they eagerly raised their hands.
.
The long break music had ended, and the teaching building was bustling and noisy.
Restless, heated air threaded through the campus brimming with youthful spirit.
Coming out of Zhang Wenmin’s office, Yu Mo didn’t turn left to go back to the classroom. Instead, touching the nearly empty tube of ointment in her pocket, she headed towards the school infirmary.
The infirmary was hushed. The smell of disinfectant hung in the hallway air.
Following her memory, Yu Mo found the surgical consultation room of Doctor Lin, with whom she’d had a few interactions.
Doctor Lin stood with one hand tucked into her white coat pocket, the other holding a small watering can, watering her potted clivia by the window.
Yu Mo crept silently behind Doctor Lin and called out softly, “Teacher Lin!”
Doctor Lin jumped, the watering can flicking in her start, splashing water onto Yu Mo’s leg.
“Aiyo! This kid! Why didn’t you knock when you came in?” Doctor Lin clutched her startled heart and pulled a few tissues for Yu Mo. “See? Why did you scare me? Now your clothes are wet.”
“Who knew you’d be so easily spooked, Teacher?” Yu Mo took the tissues to wipe her clothes, the culprit expressing significant regret.
“What are you here for? Did you scrape something again? Coming to the infirmary every few days, we really should make you a loyalty punch card—buy ten visits, get one free.” Doctor Lin walked over to the grid shelf above her desk and pulled down a tray holding disinfection tools.
“I’m not here for a scrape this time. I’m here to get more of this medicine.” Yu Mo placed the nearly empty ointment tube from her pocket onto Doctor Lin’s desk. “Can you prescribe me a few more tubes of this?”
“This is…” Doctor Lin picked up the tube, dented and squeezed flat, and stretched out the part with the medicine’s name so she could read it clearly.
After reading the awkward line of Western script, Doctor Lin frowned. “This medicine… I don’t think our infirmary carries it…”
“No?” Yu Mo frowned too.
To confirm, Doctor Lin entered the ointment’s name into the hospital’s medicine database. After a long stretch of “Searching…”, Doctor Lin turned the screen towards Yu Mo, pointing at the “None” displayed. “See? None.”
“Wasn’t this the medicine you prescribed for me? How could there be none?” Yu Mo was even more confused.
“Me? How could I possibly prescribe this kind of medicine for you?” Doctor Lin examined the ointment again and became even more certain. “See this batch number, starting with 0001? It’s expensive and hard to come by. How could I prescribe it for you? I wouldn’t even use it myself, let alone saddle you with it.”
Yu Mo took the ointment tube and looked at the batch number Doctor Lin had indicated.
She froze.
This indeed was a very difficult type of medicine to obtain.
It was also the kind Yu Mo had become accustomed to using during her time with Shen Shuyu in the previous life, causing her to overlook such a crucial detail.
But that wasn’t the key point. The key point was: Who had put this medicine into her bag of prescriptions?
Yu Mo’s heart swirled with doubt. She’d always assumed it was the little nurse from the school infirmary who’d delivered the medicine to her classroom.
But now, that reasoning seemed very flimsy.
Yu Mo’s heart began pounding with unease.
A name she found hard to believe surfaced in her mind.
“I might have remembered wrong. It’s nothing, Doctor Lin. I’ll be going now.” Yu Mo fabricated a hasty excuse, stood up abruptly from her seat, eager to verify the answer in her heart.
Soft lighting filled the quiet hallway.
The events that had occurred in this hallway over ten days ago replayed in Yu Mo’s mind.
The same little nurse who had dispensed her medicine that time was still on duty at the pharmacy window.
Yu Mo sweetened her tone a bit, leaning against the window to ask, “Nurse Sister, do you still remember me?”
The nurse wasn’t busy at the moment. She put down her phone, looked up at the smiling girl, and thought for a moment. “Are you that little student who was bitten by a differentiated girl about ten days ago?”
Yu Mo nodded, a flash of delight in her eyes. “Yes! Nurse Sister, you remember me.”
“How could I not? We were just discussing your case back then. You handled it so well, little classmate.” The nurse praised her, then placed her hands on the counter. “Come on, give me your prescription slip and campus card, and I’ll get your medicine.”
“I’m not here to pick up medicine, Jiejie. I just wanted to ask… was my medicine last time picked up by that… classmate who was with me?” Yu Mo asked.
It was clearly a secret to which she already knew the answer.
Yet, without confirmation from someone in the know, Yu Mo still couldn’t bring herself to fully believe it.
“…Yes,” the nurse answered frankly. “I even explained to her how to care for the wound properly…”
Yu Mo felt like her heart had been struck by a hammer.
Thud.
A candy wrapped in a thin coating of touched sweetness and bitter confusion rolled around in Yu Mo’s heart.
Her feelings were a complex mixture.
She didn’t understand why Shen Shuyu, after such an unpleasant falling out, would still bring the medicine back for her.
She didn’t understand why Shen Shuyu would slip that tube of ointment in, yet say nothing.
Even more, she didn’t understand why Shen Shuyu, known for her coldness, would show concern for her—especially on just their first day of meeting.
