Chapter 26

Have you seen a doctor?

"No, I don't have time."

"No time, no time! How long does it take to see a doctor? Do you want to die? Look at yourself now, you look like a ghost. You're sick, fine, but what happened to your forehead? Why is it so swollen?"

Li Ye didn't say anything, looking pitiful. She knew Zhuang was a troublemaker; the more you talked, the more excited she became, so she simply kept quiet.

"But I have to say, God has really been kind to you. Even though you've made yourself into this mess, I think you can still fool young girls with that face. You can go for the sickly young nobleman route now."

Zhuang Ke grinned mischievously and squinted as he walked step by step into Li Ye's territory.

"Get out of here! What sickly young master? I'm starving. If I don't eat something soon, I'll become a ghost prince."

“Perfect timing, I brought a table full of Cantonese dim sum.”

Zhuang Ke thought it was too late to have a big meal, so he went to a Cantonese restaurant and bought a bag full of Cantonese dim sum, which came in handy.

Zhuang Ke quickly unpacked the bags and boxes, took out all the dishes, and laid them out on the table. After the two sat down, they could see the Wu Su River flowing slowly outside.

"Let's go to the hospital after we finish eating." Zhuang Ke ate a shrimp dumpling and looked at Li Ye's lifeless face and messy, disheveled hair.

"I'm not going. I'm almost fully recovered. I slept from yesterday afternoon until you came, and I've already recovered to about 70%."

Zhuang Kexin wondered why he hadn't replied to the message. Then she thought, "Hasn't he been unconscious for twenty-four hours? Such a serious condition, shouldn't he see a doctor?"

"Don't avoid seeking medical help. You've been unconscious for twenty-four hours. Do you know how serious that is?"

"Sleep, sleep, big sister, you're not unconscious. How about this, after I finish dinner, I'll rest for another night. If I'm not better by tomorrow morning, I'll go again tomorrow, okay?"

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Ke examined her face for a long time and, realizing she wasn't going to die anytime soon, said, "I reluctantly agree, but if things change, we'll go tonight. I must have owed you something in my past life; I'm always cleaning up your messes."

"Ugh, do you think my perpetual single status is because of you? It's definitely because of you!"

"Professor Zhuang, you're a university professor, and you teach civil and commercial law. Can't you act like a teacher? Do you know what attribution is? Don't try to shift the blame. It's clearly your own sexual frigidity that's to blame."

"I'm a civil and commercial law professor, not a criminal law professor. Don't talk to me about attribution; I don't understand attribution. What's this 'sexual frigidity'? Explain it clearly. I had a relationship in high school, okay?"

Li Ye was already exhausted and hungry, and couldn't help but put down his chopsticks when he heard this: "Teacher Zhuang, does your high school relationship count as dating? Did you even kiss? I'm not saying this to be mean, but you probably didn't even hold hands? Do you even remember what your boyfriend looked like? Do you remember if he had long hair or short hair? Not at all! And you still have the nerve to say you've ever been in a relationship."

Back then, Zhuang Ke often told her about her "early love history," which made Li Ye think that she was very experienced. She often asked Zhuang Ke about her and Xu Wanyi's problems. It was only much later that Su Che told her what Zhuang Ke's so-called early love was all about.

Su Che and Zhuang Ke were originally in the same high school.

Li Ye was deeply shocked, feeling as if he had spent a whole semester consulting kindergarten children about the maximum amount of mortgage rights.

From then on, this joke became a staple of their repertoire, and they would use it to humiliate Zhuang Ke whenever the opportunity arose.

"Hey, what happened to your forehead? You're a 10th Dan Muay Thai fighter, you can't just fall down like that, can you?"

Li Ye looked out the window and fell silent again.

Zhuang looked out the window and saw the south bank of the Wusu River. The riverbank was shaded by green trees, and the streetlights emitted a dim yellow light. The leaves and light intertwined to form patches of mottled shadows.

The Liye residential area has an elegant environment. The Wusu River runs through the middle of the area. Although it is not a villa, the building density is extremely low. Each building is not tall and has two households per floor.

Her apartment is on the second floor, 200 square meters, with two sides of transparent glass windows, providing excellent natural light and views.

"Could it be Xu Wanyi... who hit him?" Zhuang Ke suddenly remembered something and bit her tongue in shock.

She remembered that one day during college, Xu Wanyi called her in a hurry, saying that something big had happened and she needed to come over immediately.

She rushed over and saw Li Ye covered in blood but with a stubborn expression, pursing her lips and not saying a word. Xu Wanyi covered her head with one hand while crying.

It took a while to figure it out: during their heated argument, Xu Wanyi pushed Li Ye, and in the process, Li Ye accidentally hit his forehead on the corner of the table...

He'd only been Xu Wanyi's lawyer for two days and already gotten himself into such a mess. It seems these two are really incompatible.

“Uh…” Li Ye was speechless for a moment. “No, that’s not it. Our relationship isn’t close enough for her to hit me.”

“I’m telling you, Attorney Li, Attorney Li, you’re a famous lawyer in Haixi now. The line of men pursuing you must stretch from the top floor to the first floor, right? How can you still be so shameless? What does ‘too close a relationship to the point that someone can hit you’ mean? Explain this to me from a legal perspective.”

“Okay, here’s what happened…” Li Ye recounted what had happened between him and Zhang Gang.

Zhuang Ke frowned after hearing this. "I didn't expect you to be so fragile now. A piece of paper can bring you down. But isn't Xu Wanyi a little too cold-hearted? She didn't even react when you were covered in blood?"

“We’re just lawyer and client. Even if I’m covered in blood, it has nothing to do with her, let alone a small hole in a piece of paper. It’s probably because I’ve been too tired lately and my immune system is too weak that it got inflamed.”

After saying that, she touched her forehead for the first time that night. It was indeed a little swollen and hot, and it felt different from usual.

After hearing Li Ye's words and looking into her eyes, Zhuang Ke, as an outsider, could see very clearly that this guy still had feelings for Xu Wanyi. She probably knew it herself, but was just deceiving herself.

Well, as the old saying goes, "What is love in this world that makes people willing to die for it?" It's something that can't be explained or described, and it doesn't need outsiders to point fingers at it.

"Um, I said, what exactly did you want from me?"

Li Ye snapped out of his reverie and remembered the message from Zhuang Ke that he hadn't finished reading.

"Didn't you see my message?"

"You came to tear down the door before I even finished watching it; you were only halfway through."

"Uh, uh..." Zhuang Ke suddenly stammered, "I didn't see it, I didn't see it, um." She originally thought that Li Ye had seen it, so she wouldn't be so embarrassed. It turned out that Li Ye hadn't seen it, and she had to tell him in person. It was too embarrassing.

"You're already here, can't you just say it directly?" Li Ye continued to deal with the snacks on the table, picking up a soft and tender chicken foot and stuffing it into his mouth.

"I'm telling you, a judge from Yuzhou came to our court for an exchange program. The Academic Affairs Office assigned me to specifically receive her for a few days. After those few days, I felt that my feelings for her were different from those for others!" Zhuang Ke finished speaking in one breath, stumbling over his words. He took a deep breath and almost suffocated himself.

"If you have feelings for him, just tell him! Why are you telling me?" Li Ye looked puzzled.

"I'm not sure if I like him or not. What if I don't?"

"Haven't you watched TV dramas? There are plenty of romance dramas nowadays. If all else fails, go watch web dramas online. Web dramas are very straightforward, and I guarantee you'll know what liking someone means."

"Uh, no. Why would I watch TV dramas? I have them right here, you are one of them, why would I ask someone else?"

Li Ye had just picked up a piece of rice noodle roll, and the roll had barely left the plate when her hand froze in mid-air. "This judge is a woman?!"

"What do you think I've been saying all this time?!" Zhuang Ke felt a surge of anger, wishing she could beat up Li Ye. It turned out that all her words had been for nothing.

"You didn't say she was a girl. I was wondering why a straight man like you would come to me for relationship advice. Oh, I see." Li Ye simply put the rice noodle roll into the bowl and gave Zhuang Ke an "I see" smile.

"Stop laughing and give me some advice."

"I'm not good at it either, to be honest." Li Ye looked at Zhuang Ke sincerely.

Zhuang Ke sighed. Indeed, since she met Li Ye, had she ever pursued anyone? No! It was always girls, and even boys, lining up to chase after her. Her surroundings seemed bustling and lively, but in reality, there were very few people in the crowd.

For over a decade, apart from Xu Wanyi, she really didn't know anyone else she had ever had a close relationship with. Perhaps she had a girlfriend during those years abroad, but the relationship was definitely not deep, at least she had never heard her mention it.

In short, asking Li Ye was a huge mistake!

"Why don't you find an excuse to drink with her? Although alcohol is not good, it's true that people speak the truth when they're drunk."

After thinking for a long time, Li Ye came up with this old and trivial idea.

"Stop, don't say anymore. Just pretend I didn't ask you. Focus on your food."

Li Ye readily agreed. She knew Zhuang Ke didn't really want her advice; judging from her expression, she was already deeply involved. What she needed now was simply someone to confide in.

Zhuang Ke became engrossed in a conversation with himself.

Without Zhuang Ke's interference, Li Ye focused on finishing off the large table of snacks, and soon the table was completely empty.

"I'm not leaving tonight, you get some rest." After tidying up, the two sat on the sofa watching the Discovery Channel. The lemurs on the channel were standing on the East African savanna, gazing into the distance, it was unclear whether they were looking at their companions or enemies.

"Then you can handle it yourself. I'm sleepy and going to bed."

Zhuang Ke was very familiar with Li Ye's house, even more so than with his own home, including some areas like the kitchen and refrigerator.

Before she could answer, Li Ye took two steps into the bedroom, intending to wash her face and continue sleeping; she was indeed sleepy after eating.

Being able to sleep is a good sign. That was her last thought before she drifted off to sleep.

Zhuang Ke shook his head, knowing there was no way to deal with this guy. Since the host didn't act like a host, the guest didn't need to act like a guest either!

After Li Ye returned to his room, Zhuang Ke immediately turned on the internet TV and frantically searched for yuri web dramas on various video platforms.

The saying goes, "Self-reliance leads to abundance!"