A slight palpitation

At the school gate, I ran into Xu Sheng and Wan Xiaoyi. The two of them were riding bicycles, while she had walked there. Every time, she had to get up an hour earlier than everyone else.

She felt dizzy, feverish, and weak all over.

"Qi Xu, did you not sleep well last night? You look terrible," Wan Xiaoyi asked worriedly.

"It's just that the thunder was too loud last night, which affected my sleep, and I didn't sleep as well as before," Qi Xu explained.

Xu Sheng parted ways with the two at the classroom door.

She returned to her seat, saw the breakfast on the table, and handed it back to Han Xue.

Han Xue stared at her and said, "Dad, you made breakfast."

"I don't need it."

"Seven Xu! Stop throwing a tantrum. We're not children, we're family." Han Xue was already impatient, and she said angrily in only their voices.

Qi Xu ignored her and sat back down in his seat.

Han Xue had already lowered her standards and treated her very well, but she didn't appreciate it at all. So she didn't need to give in to her again and again.

In class, Qi Xu felt uncomfortable all over, very sleepy and wanted to sleep.

The Chinese teacher called out, "Group leader of the third group."

Wan Xiaoyi nudged her and whispered, "The teacher is calling you."

She stood up, feeling dizzy, and said, "I... I'm the team leader."

"You must be the new student, Qi Xu. The class monitor has been very tired lately and recommended you to me. I took a look at your entrance exam results and they were quite good, so I decided to make you the group leader. Is there anyone in your group who hasn't memorized them?"

Qi Xu felt dizzy and didn't hear the teacher's question clearly. His vision also seemed to be blurry. He shook his head, trying to clear his head.

"Sit down," the teacher said, looking around at the members of the third group. "Hao Nan, you recite yesterday's content."

He propped his head up with his hand, looking at Qi Xu with a puzzled expression. "I didn't carry her, so why did you help me?"

The teacher called his name several times, and the whole class followed suit.

He stood up and began to recite "A Moonlit Night on the Spring River," reciting it fluently without any stumbles.

The teacher nodded in approval and praised, "You did a good job reciting this time. Keep up the good work!"

Luckily I memorized it yesterday, otherwise I would have had to copy it again. Being praised suddenly feels a bit strange and I'm not used to it.

As soon as class ended, he was ready to find out the reason, so he ran to her side and asked, "Why did you lie to the teacher and say that I had memorized it?"

Her cheeks were flushed red like an apple, and she was so upset that she didn't want to say a word.

Hao Nan noticed that she wasn't doing well, so he searched everywhere for a thermometer for her, shook off the markings, handed it to her, and said, "Take your temperature. I feel like something's wrong with you."

She held the thermometer between her fingers, feeling increasingly unwell. She held her head in her hands, and tears began to well up in her eyes.

Hao Nan returned to his seat and increasingly felt that her condition was very bad, so he went to her side and suggested, "Let's go to the infirmary."

Tears were already falling from her eyes. She covered herself with her hands, not wanting others to discover her vulnerable side.

"You don't need to do this. No one will notice. Just cry it out if you're upset. I'll shield you from their gaze." Hao Nan had always thought she was a very strong person. When they first met, he felt that she always had an indomitable spirit.

He also wanted to persuade her: "Go to the infirmary."

Not getting a response from her, he was at a loss. Noticing someone looking at him strangely and blocking his view, he angrily shouted, "What are you looking at!"

The boy rolled his eyes speechlessly and returned to his seat.

Then he sat in Wan Xiaoyi's seat, building a wall for her to block all unfriendly stares.

"The time is up, you can take it out now."

Qi Xu took out the thermometer, but he snatched it away and glanced at it.

He put the thermometer back in the box, grabbed her arm, and whispered, "It's almost 40 degrees Celsius. Come with me to the infirmary."

The two were behaving very strangely. To outsiders, it looked like a young couple playing around. Hao Nan was trying to charm Qi Xu, but Qi Xu was aloof and unwilling to acknowledge him.

The students in the classroom stared at the two of them in shock, their smiles full of gossip.

Han Xue, sitting behind her, naturally noticed the situation between the two, but she couldn't be bothered to care, and they didn't appreciate it anyway.

After she left, I still put the fever reducer in her drawer.

Xu Sheng and Wan Xiaoyi were chatting outside the door, completely unaware of what was happening inside the classroom.

Hao Nan forcibly dragged her to the infirmary. She was too weak to resist and let him pull her along as they staggered.

Class was about to start when Wan Xiaoyi walked into the classroom and was pulled into a small group by a girl.

"Squad leader, what's going on between Qi Xu and Hao Nan?"

"Yeah, yeah, aren't these two a couple?" The girl who spoke was excited, covering her face in embarrassment.

Wan Xiaoyi looked completely bewildered and asked, "When did this happen? How come I didn't know about it?"

"No way, class monitor, aren't you the most knowledgeable person in our class? You don't know?"

"Let me tell you, class monitor, we saw it with our own eyes: Hao Nan was acting cute towards Qi Xu."

Everyone started laughing.

Wan Xiaoyi cursed Hao Nan from head to toe in her heart. When did this guy get my deskmate?

I had only been gone a short time when she was kidnapped by someone else.

Han Xue overheard the rumors circulating among the group of people as she passed by. Dissatisfied, she tapped the table, leaned against it, and turned to look at them, saying, "Which eye of yours saw anything amiss with those two?"

She gave him a threatening look and said, "Don't spread rumors, especially rumors about Qi Xu."

The group immediately shut their mouths, and Han Xue inexplicably exuded a frightening aura.

It's true that you can't say it in front of her, but there's no rule against saying it behind her back.

A girl glanced at Han Xue, and everyone leaned their heads together, whispering, "Han Xue has become so strange."

"Yes, doesn't she dislike Qi Xu?"

"Who knows? Never mind, let's not talk about her anymore."

"I also heard some gossip."

"Tell us, tell us!" Everyone was eager to know.

"Do you know the school beauty of No. 1 High School? She's two-timing, and both of them are boys..." The girl raised an eyebrow.

Everyone understood immediately.

A girl excitedly said, "Also, about our school, I heard that Xu Sheng from Class 9 is pursuing a girl in the second year of high school."

Upon hearing this news, Wan Xiaoyi was shocked and incredulous: "What happened?"

"Yes, I heard he also bought flowers and lots of chocolates and snacks for them, but unfortunately, they didn't want them."

Wan Xiaoyi remembered that he used to give her all sorts of things, which turned out to be things that others didn't want.

The ringing of the bell broke the silence of the conversation.

As soon as they arrived at the clinic, he helped her get in line. Seeing two people ahead of her, he pleaded urgently, "Brother, sister, can my friend go first? She has a fever of 40 degrees Celsius."

He put on a pitiful look and pleaded, "It's that girl over there with her hair in a high ponytail, leaning her head against the wall."

The girl described to him by the person in front of him did indeed look very weak, with her cheeks burning hot, and she automatically gave up her seat for him.

Hao Nan was very grateful to the two of them and thanked them several times.

"Doctor, my fever is 40 degrees Celsius, what medicine should I take?"

"With a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius, I suggest you get an IV drip, or I can prescribe some medication for you."

The male classmate behind Hao Nan whispered, "Get the medicine ready. All the IV drips in the infirmary are glucose, and they're ridiculously expensive at 50 yuan."

"Let's dispense the medicine," he said to the person behind him.

"Which class are you all in? I'll treat you to lunch this afternoon."

The girl with short hair said, "Li Mengyao, Class 1, Grade 11."

The boy said, "Jiang Hui, Class 2, Grade 11."

"The medicine is ready, it costs 40 yuan in total." The doctor packed the medicine into a bag and handed it to him.

He took a disposable cup from the water dispenser, filled it with warm water, handed it to her, and said, "Drink your medicine."

Qi Xu weakly took the water glass, put the medicine in his mouth, took a sip of water and swallowed it, then leaned against the wall again and closed his eyes to rest.

"Drinking more water will help with recovery."

She gave a faint nasal "hmm," but her hands remained motionless.

"You rest in the infirmary by yourself. I'm going back now."

His response was still just an "Mmm".

He added worriedly, "Don't be reckless. If I leave, you should leave with me. I'll explain your situation to the teacher. Just stay here and recover. If you behave, don't you want to play yesterday's game? I can take you."

Qi Xu opened her heavy eyelids, looked at him, and after a long while squeezed out a sentence: "Don't coax me like a child, and if you don't want to teach me how to play, don't force me."

"Then you should get some rest." He quickly ran towards the classroom.

He was caught by the head of the teaching department halfway there: "What are you doing? Aren't you going to class?"

He calmly turned to face the director and said, "I just accompanied my friend to the infirmary."

"It took you so long to get to the infirmary! Seven minutes into class already, don't you have any sense of time?" the director scolded.

Hao Nan heard the familiar numbers again, and his heart pounded with panic. What punishment awaited him this time?

Just then, Qi Xu appeared, walking unsteadily while leaning against the wall.

The director noticed her too, and frowned, saying, "You're so sick, why aren't you resting properly?"

He turned his gaze back to Hao Nan and said, "Help her to the infirmary to rest, take good care of her, and don't let our school leave a bad impression by being accused of bullying patients."

Hao Nan helped Qi Xu back to the infirmary and scolded him, "Didn't I tell you to stay in the infirmary and rest? Why did you run out?"

"I don't like the smell of medicine."

"These fever reducers usually contain a little bit of sleeping pills. They'll be more effective after you've slept. Don't be picky when you're sick," Hao Nan said, feigning anger.

Qi Xu found his angry expression somewhat amusing. Coupled with her dizziness, she automatically imagined him as a kitten. She reached out and touched his cheek, laughing, "Why are you so cute when you're angry?"

Hao Nan was embarrassed by her behavior, his ears turned slightly red, he took a step back, looked away from her and said, "Can't you be a little more reserved, girl?"

She tilted her head and looked at him, appearing a little dazed, which was rather endearing.

Hao Nan quickly banished the thought from his mind. "Am I crazy? What kind of filthy thoughts are these?"

"I'm a patient, I should give way to other patients." She said blankly, her tone tinged with amusement.

"Patient, you can't do this."

After ending the conversation, he turned to look at her and found her asleep against the wall.