How's your injury? Stop playing the victim.

As Lin Shiren came out of Chen Mo's office, he saw Pang Ziyi coming aggressively from the other side of the corridor. Pang Ziyi looked terrible, and her lips were bitten so hard they were almost bleeding. As Lin Shiren passed by, her resentment burst out: "Did you tell the teacher?"

Lin Shih-ren ignored her and continued walking without looking to the side.

Pang Ziyi stepped forward to block her, looking a bit agitated: "Whether you believe it or not, I didn't take those photos online."

Lin Shiren stopped in his tracks and finally looked at her directly: "What are you feeling guilty about?"

After three days of insomnia, she had noticeable dark circles under her eyes. She simply didn't have the heart to prioritize harmony; she still had homework to do and vocabulary to memorize, and no energy to deal with unimportant people.

Pang Ziyi was furious at her accusation and said angrily, "Who's guilty? You came to Teacher Chen's office first thing in the morning, wasn't it obvious that you were here to complain about me?"

Lin Shiren's face turned cold: "I don't need to report to you what I do."

Pang Ziyi was convinced that this attitude was a condemnation of her, and she glared back even more fiercely: "You've blocked my phone number and WeChat. I tried calling you from my family's phone, but you didn't answer. I did follow you that night, but only to scare you. Besides, Zhou Lin already spotted me downstairs at your place. I'd have to be crazy to take pictures of you secretly..."

"Zhou Lin?"

Lin Shiren frowned and interrupted her: "What were you talking about?"

Pang Ziyi recalled the details of that night, feeling the oppressive feeling from Zhou Lin. She pretended to be calm and said, "What else can I say? He won't let me follow you anymore. Anyway, I knew you two were dating that day."

"We didn't talk." The soft female voice suddenly interrupted, her small face flushed slightly, carrying an undeniable stubbornness.

It turned out that Pang Ziyi hadn't reformed, but rather that Zhou Lin had quietly solved her problem. Lin Shiren lowered his long eyelashes, concealing the emotions in his eyes.

Pang Ziyi keenly observed her expression, paused for a few seconds, and added, "Whether you two are dating or not, there are so many girls who like Zhou Lin, and just as many who dislike you. There are plenty of people who can take photos secretly, so please don't wrong an innocent person like me."

Lin Shiren didn't understand what kind of good person she was, but he didn't want to say anything more. His tone was still cold: "I won't wrong an innocent person, nor will I let a bad person go unpunished. Did you take the photos secretly? I reserve the right to pursue this matter."

After the standoff, Pang Ziyi left, while Lin Shiren's straight back slumped slightly, as if all his strength had been drained away.

The news that Zhou Lin was not coming to school quickly spread.

Perhaps because the other person involved in the scandal was a girl, more than one or two people came to Song Ci during breaks to inquire about the news. Most of them were gossiping about whether Zhou Lin and Lin Shiren were dating or not, and why he had stopped coming to school. Li Pengfei was the most enthusiastic among them.

"What's going on with Zhou Lin? Did he really talk to Lin Shiren?"

If only they had actually gotten together, he wouldn't have developed this "reading addiction" at home. He's already been accepted into Q University, but all he did during the three-day National Day holiday was read books. He's practically hopeless.

For some reason, despite still having that aloof and scholarly tone, Song Ci managed to detect a hint of escapism and healing in his absence from school.

He shook his head violently, dismissing the absurd idea. Zhou Lin and Lin Shiren had only known each other for two months...

No, no, that's not true.

Li Pengfei was still wondering: "So what if they're dating? Aren't there plenty of couples in our school? Not to mention how many are secretly dating, there are countless couples who call each other 'husband' and 'wife' openly. Why aren't they coming to school yet? It's already hard to find enough people to play basketball at noon, and now it's even more hopeless."

Everyone around them was listening intently. Song Ci found his chatter annoying: "What nonsense are you spreading? Zhou Lin isn't coming to school because his cat is very sick. What does that have to do with these baseless rumors?"

At this critical juncture, "Schrödinger" cannot afford to fail. Zhou Lin is heartbroken, and the cat he grew up with has also passed away... Song Ci is genuinely worried.

Lin Shih-ren heard all of these words.

It got colder when school ended.

Just as she stepped out of the teaching building, a large raindrop hit her nose. The students quickened their pace, and Lin Shiren walked silently in the line. The sound of the wind whistling through the leaves was loud. She took out her buzzing phone from her pocket, glanced at it, and replied with two words: "Okay."

There were more people at the convenience store outside the school than ever before.

The stationery store, located 100 meters ahead of the bus stop, was surprisingly deserted.

A "Welcome" jingle sounded at the door. Lin Shiren grabbed a few ink cartridges and walked around the shelves toward the notebook section. Shen Xuqing was standing in the corner, his attention completely focused on his phone screen. He only looked up when the footsteps got closer.

"I'm sorry for keeping you from getting home."

"It's okay, I'm just going that way by subway."

As he spoke, Lin Shiren opened his schoolbag, pulled out a printed document on A4 paper, and handed it to him: "Take this. Whether you give it to your mother or not is up to you."

Shen Xuqing glanced down and landed on the text: "What is this?"

Lin Shiren maintained a proper distance from him, avoiding eye contact, and said softly, "My mother said that there are many treatment options for early-stage breast cancer, and the one that is least harmful to the body is traditional Chinese medicine. She has compiled a list of several highly-regarded TCM doctors, and the materials include cure rate reports. However, none of these doctors are in this city. If your family wants to try, my mother can contact her local classmate to help you make an appointment in advance."

In other words, this information contained Xin Xiaomei's network of connections, which was a great favor. Whether he went or not, Shen Xuqing was grateful.

His eyes shone brightly: "Thank you so much, I'll give it to my dad as soon as I get back."

Lin Shiren nodded and said okay, but then suddenly remembered something and frowned: "But weren't you going to pretend you didn't know?"

"They've been exposed."

Shen Xuqing sighed: "It's okay when I'm at school, I don't have much time to think about things. But these past few days have been a holiday, and I've been staring at my mom all day. I just couldn't help it, so I asked her directly."

Lin Shiren looked at him and said, "This is for the best. It's exhausting to keep things from each other."

"Yes, my current problem is how to convince my mother to go to another city for treatment..."

The stationery store door rang again, and rustling chatter grew louder as they approached. Lin Shiren and Shen Xuqing looked over at the same time, and suddenly a girl blurted out, "What are you two doing here? Are you on a date?"

After Ruan Ya finished speaking, she covered her mouth, nudged Xu Yiqiao with her elbow, and sent him gossip through her eyes.

Lin Shiren wanted to say something, but after opening her mouth, she swallowed her words and left the interpretation of her previous statement to Shen Xuqing. Her gaze then passed over her and landed on Xu Yiqiao.

There was no conversation among the four of them; the air was so quiet it was almost suffocating.

Finally, Ruan Ya, with a somewhat awkward expression, tried to start a conversation: "It's drizzling outside, did you bring umbrellas?"

Shen Xuqing: "If you didn't bring any, how will you get home?"

"If I take a taxi, it will take another ten minutes or so according to the navigation."

The atmosphere finally calmed down. Xu Yiqiao gave Ruan Ya a "hurry up" signal, and Ruan Ya understood. She said, "You two keep chatting, we'll be going now."

Shen Xuqing folded the A4 paper in his hand in half, then in half again. As Xu Yiqiao took a step to leave, he reached out and tugged at her backpack: "You guys wait here. You're not wearing a coat, it's cold outside."

A young person's thoughts cannot be hidden.

Lin Shiren stood there silently. She could sense Shen Xuqing's unease. She wanted to explain but felt at a loss. His one-sided affection was revealed in her peripheral vision.

Xu Yiqiao's gaze darted between the two of them: "No, it's not good for you two..."

Shen Xuqing's eyes followed her, and he spoke almost the instant she finished speaking: "Don't spread rumors. We're all just ordinary classmates, it won't have any impact."

When people are caught up in their emotions and desires, they don't bother to examine how the subtle emotions of avoiding suspicion in their words might hurt others.

Lin Shih-ren gripped her backpack strap tightly. After her eyelashes trembled rapidly several times, she suddenly looked up, a faint social smile curving her lips: "I'm leaving now."

She rushed out of the stationery store, the cold wind stinging her eyes. A light drizzle began to fall, the air damp and chilly. No one followed her, and her phone remained silent. She glanced again at the dark sky, thick with clouds, even the moon hidden away.

It's nothing. I never gained anything, so how could I have lost anything?

...

Finally, Song Ci picked him up and put him in the car.

Song Ci's mother is an Air Force major. She recently went on a mission and instructed Tang Shi to take good care of her younger brother. Tang Shi immediately obeyed her mother's orders and changed to a virtuous persona. Lin Shiren almost didn't recognize her from the moment he got on the bus until now.

"What do you want to eat tonight? I'll make it for you."

"Let's order takeout, I'm afraid I'll get poisoned."

"If that's the case, I'll definitely have to show off my skills tonight,"

Song Ci sat in the passenger seat, seemingly sealed away. He rubbed his throbbing temples, beckoned to Lin Shiren, and pulled out his phone as if he had a secret: "I'll show you something good...?"

His tone was too ambiguous, and Lin Shiren was afraid that he would see Zhou Lin's photo. He quickly closed his eyes and said with a face full of refusal, "I don't want to see it, I don't want to see it."

Tang Shi's eyes were fixed on the road, and thinking he had taken out something inappropriate for children, she yelled, "If you dare show Renren any porn, I'll teach you a lesson tonight!"

Song Ci muttered something about how boring it was, and threw her phone onto the back seat: "I'm really fed up. What are you guys thinking! Zhou Lin tracked down the person who posted the photos using an ID from the forum. Don't you want to know who's stirring things up behind the scenes?"

The screen was still lit. Lin Shiren's fingers stiffened for a moment, and then she said, "I don't want to pursue this any further. Knowing who they are will only make me more internally conflicted... No matter who they are, it's not worth it."

"I agree."

Tang Shi looked at her in the rearview mirror and said, "Besides, Zhou Lin is fine, isn't he? We can just let him handle this kind of person."

Song Ci immediately chimed in: "Sigh, mainly because Zhou Lin has been having a really tough time lately too."

The topic was subtly chosen, so obviously that even Lin Shiren noticed. She took a breath and asked softly, "What's wrong with him?"

Song Ci didn't look at her, continuing to sigh out the window: "His dad's away on a business trip, his mom's busy with work, and he injured his arm. I've been bringing him food these past few days. He was perfectly fine, but now he can't even hold chopsticks. Although he was saving you, it's only natural for a man to protect a woman, and there's nothing to complain about. But if you really feel bad about it, you could at least give him a call to check on him..."

Lin Shih-ren, after a long string of words, grasped the key point: It's all your fault.

Zhou Lin only had a scrape that day, and there was no bone injury. How did it become so serious? Could it be that he didn't treat the wound at all, leading to an infection?

Lin Shiren's face grew paler with each thought, overwhelmed by guilt. He pulled out his phone, unlocked the screen, found their chat, and sent a message: "How's your injury?"

-----------------------

Author's note: 50 red envelopes!