Li Zheng skipped down the stairs. He was feeling much more comfortable.
He bumped into Qiao Sheng at the bend.
He trembled.
He quickly grabbed his head.
Qiao Sheng was extraordinary. He leaped up the stairs four steps at a time, and he looked like he was stomping the ground. He looked as though he were in a hurdle race.
He mumbled as he stomped. "This won't do. I have to drag her along with me."
He didn't forget to talk to Li Zheng when he passed by him. "Go get busy with your stuff. I'll treat you to a good meal after we're done here. It'll definitely hit the spot."
Li Zheng didn't dare to agree to this. He turned his head and ran away.
He only settled down when he returned to his class.
It was the lunch break, and many of the students in the class were napping with their heads on the table. A few of them were chatting. Some students were even gathered around in a circle, secretly using their cell phones.
He instinctively looked toward Lin Yujing's seat.
There was no other reason for why he did this. It was just that he had gained a lot of study techniques ever since he had started paying attention to her, and he might be able to notice something this time.
However, his sight was blocked by someone this time around.
Jiang Qinghua was mumbling in front of Lin Yujing's table.
"This… I happen to have this with me today…" Jiang Qinghua placed a small circular box on Lin Yujing's table while pretending to be casual about it. "They're lozenges, orange-flavored. I don't know if you like these or not."
Li Zheng chuckled and returned to his seat.
"Jiang Qinghua, you don't understand women," Li Zheng thought.
"Women are creatures that love to lie."
"You would have lost if you believed them."
"Did you think that her throat was sore just because she said so?"
"She's making an issue out of nothing at all."
"Why do you bother with her?"
"Don't bother yourself with her bad habits."
"Sigh, you're too young."
However, Li Zheng saw that Lin Yujing was sprawled on the table with her palms pointing toward the ceiling. It looked like she was surrendering. She didn't move.
He felt as though he could hear her mumble.
"What a heartless person," Li Zheng thought.
"She's sleeping so comfortably."
Jiang Qinghua said something else before he realized that Lin Yujing was wearing her earpiece.
"I probably shouldn't disturb her," Jiang Qinghua thought.
Jiang Qinghua was a little conflicted. He didn't know if he should take the lozenges away and give them to her after she woke up, or leave the lozenges on her desk.
"Yayayaya." Liu Yue walked over with a stride emulating that of the actor, Fan Wei. She flicked her braid. "I was wondering what you were putting in your bag in such a hurry at the school gate. To think that it was lozenges."
"Shh… Shh.." Jiang Qinghua blushed. He was flustered.
"Extra, extra!" Liu Yue shouted excitedly.
"Don't, don't, don't." Jiang Qinghua frantically pushed her toward the door. "I'll do your duty for you tomorrow."
"Once isn't enough. Three times," Liu Yue laughed.
"Three times, three times, three times."
The two of them shouted as they walked out of the classroom. However, Lin Yujing had woken up from the noise.
She pulled off her earpiece and mumbled as she rubbed her eyes.
"Urgh…" she muttered angrily.
She was grumpy from waking up.
"!" She noticed the lozenges on the table.
She looked around with caution.
She naturally noticed Li Zheng.
Li Zheng turned his head and ignored her.
"Oh~" However, Lin Yujing picked up the lozenges and pouted slightly. She then pressed on her throat and pretended to cough. "Cough~ Cough~"
Li Zheng was displeased.
"What do you mean by that?" he thought.
"Do you think I don't know that you're pretending to have a sore throat?"
"I'm not as simple as Jiang Qinghua, alright?"
"I didn't give you that," Li Zheng said with a stern face. "It's better if the pain kills you."
"Tch!" Lin Yujing turned her head in disdain. However, she still happily opened the box and picked up a lozenge. She then popped the sweet into her mouth and put on her earpiece again before going back to sleep.
She looked like she was sleeping soundly.
She also looked like she wasn't afraid of cavities.
Jiang Qinghua returned to the class. He was elated when he saw that the box of lozenges was open.
He wanted to ask Li Zheng about it but hesitated for a moment. In the end, he changed the topic and said, "Let's go. Let's play some basketball, MVP."
"I don't deserve that title. It was a fluke." Li Zheng rhythmically took out a stack of flimsy books and placed it neatly on the table. He ergonomically positioned the books, then said, "I'll play after school. Otherwise, I'll be sweaty and feel uncomfortable."
"Fine then," Jiang Qinghua said without thinking. "Also, tell Lin Yujing when she wakes up that I have more lozenges if those aren't enough."
"You can tell her yourself. I don't want to bother myself with her."
"You guys are still arguing?" Jiang Qinghua smiled. "Then you have to hide your skills a little when we play after school. You're our secret weapon. Don't let Class 2-2 notice your true abilities."
"Yes, hiding my aura, that's my specialty," Li Zheng nodded confidently.
"Haha, then I'll head off first. If Lin Yujing was to ask… Forget it, you can sleep."
As Jiang Qinghua left, even Li Zheng could sense that Jiang Qinghua had lost his usual carefree attitude.
Li Zheng thought, "This guy, could he… have taken a fancy to Lin Yujing?"
He shook his head, a stoic expression on his face.
"I'm not optimistic. Not optimistic," Li Zheng thought.
"Lin Yujing is such a devilish woman."
"On the other hand, Jiang Qinghua is so innocent."
"The difference in their abilities is stark."
"Isn't it good to be alive, Handsome Jiang?"
Li Zheng didn't think about it too much and slowly lowered his head onto the makeshift pillow he had made out of books just now.
The pillow was extraordinary.
Physics for the pillowcase and Chemistry as the stuffing. There was even a Mathematics assignment stuffed in the middle.
With his head on the books, Li Zheng could only see two words.
In stock.
"Yes, I'll strive to dream about exams," he thought.
"And dream about doing my assignments too."
…
At the Sky Temple Hospital, in the area for neurological patients...
A young female doctor wearing frameless glasses and a high ponytail walked forward quickly.
Her male colleagues often jokingly called her Mrs. Aoi Wenyue, as her hairstyle made her look a little like a Japanese samurai.
Cheng Wenyue didn't know what the point of that nickname was.
And she didn't know what was in the minds of those male doctors.
Even though her male colleagues were extremely rude toward her, Hu Chunmei and Qiao Sheng were respectfully following behind her.
As long as they followed her, everything would go smoothly.
They immediately got a slot for a specialist when others might not have gotten one even if they waited for two weeks.
Hu Chunmei felt very uncomfortable because she was receiving special treatment. She didn't even dare to look up at the rest of the patients in the hospital.
They arrived at the office of the deputy head of the department a short moment later.
Cheng Wenyue raised her arm and looked at her watch.
"4, 3, 2, 1."
At the end of her countdown, the sound of a cellphone alarm rang out from within the office.
Then came a man's moans as he comfortably stretched.
Thirty seconds later, Cheng Wenyue knocked on the door.
"Teacher Li, it's me."
The person in the room jogged over and personally opened the door.
Li Yi respectfully invited Hu Chunmei and her husband into the room when he saw them. "Mrs. Hu, Mr. Qiao, please."
Hu Chunmei had never seen Li Yi in person, but at one glance she determined that he was Li Zheng's father. However, it seemed that Li Yi was much healthier and stronger than Li Zheng. He didn't look like a man his age.
Of course, he was still a good distance away from Qiao Sheng.
Qiao Sheng didn't look like a civilized person from this era.
"Brother Li, Brother Li, we're imposing on you, Brother Li." Qiao Sheng smiled as he walked into the room with Hu Chunmei in his arms.
Hu Chunmei took a seat and scolded, "Who are you recognizing as family? You're still doing this…"
"Hehe, it's alright, you don't have to be polite." Li Zheng stretched. He sat behind his desk, then smiled and said as he wiped his glasses, "I'm sorry for making you wait that long. I have to take a 20-minute nap every afternoon. I wouldn't be able to concentrate otherwise."
"It's alright. We've just arrived, we've just arrived." Qiao Sheng hurriedly placed the materials on the table.
Li Yi took a glance at the materials, then picked up the Medicare Card and swiped it across the card reader.
"You've come to our hospital before, have you?" Li Yi easily brought up Hu Chunmei's case file on the computer. "Please wait a moment."