7

This is nothing like him.

At least he's not like the Xu Yu who kept everyone at arm's length three years ago.

Thinking about it, Ji Shengsheng stood up, raised her arm, and gently placed the back of her hand on Xu Yu's forehead.

……really.

"You have a fever?" Ji Shengsheng poured a glass of water and handed it to Xu Yu. "Do you have any other discomfort?"

"No." Xu Yu took the water glass, but just held it in his palm without drinking it.

"When did it start?" Ji Shengsheng pulled out a small medicine box from under the table.

"I don't know." Xu Yu watched her rummaging through the hair with her head down, staring at the stray hairs on her head.

From this angle, she looks like a busy little rabbit, diligently and earnestly working on something.

After a while, he saw Ji Shengsheng take out a thermometer and several kinds of medicine from the medicine box.

Then, he saw Ji Shengsheng looking at him somewhat embarrassedly. After confirming that he didn't want to move, he awkwardly helped him take off his coat, then gently opened his collar and quickly inserted the thermometer.

A few minutes later, Xu Yu heard Ji Shengsheng read out a temperature that clearly indicated a high fever.

Then close your eyes and lean back on the sofa.

"Do you have any drug allergies?" Ji Shengsheng rummaged through several commonly used fever reducers. "I can't drive, and it's not easy to get a taxi here, so I may not be able to take you to the hospital right away."

“I have no drug allergies,” Xu Yu answered each of her questions carefully. “I don’t need to go to the hospital.”

"Hmm..." Ji Shengsheng thought for a moment, "You might feel a little sleepy after taking this medicine, and I can't guarantee you'll be able to drive back smoothly later. I'll call a car for you first. After you take the medicine, lie down here for a bit, and I'll call you when the car arrives. Is that okay?"

"good."

It was so late, and she was staying on the edge of the city. She tried raising the price several times, but no one accepted the order.

The only suggestion that could quickly get her a ride was to choose carpooling.

...She couldn't imagine carpooling home for Xu Yu, especially since he was sick.

While she was struggling with her decision, Xu Yu seemed to have already fallen asleep.

Ji Shengsheng had no choice but to find all the disposable items she could provide before gently patting Xu Yu's shoulder to wake him up.

"I can't get a taxi. Do you mind sleeping in the bedroom?" Ji Shengsheng stammered as she explained, "I only have one bed here..."

She thought Xu Yu would refuse.

There was almost no other possible answer; she still remembered the severity of Xu Yu's obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Then she heard Xu Yu say...

"I don't mind."

Ji Shengsheng blinked and let out a soft sigh: "Do you need me to help you?"

If Xu Yu had refused to let her stay overnight, she might not have been able to immediately come up with another good way to resolve the situation that night. Therefore, Ji Shengsheng breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving a positive answer.

But he quickly regained his composure.

"Ji Shengsheng".

"ah?"

“Perhaps you don’t need to be so polite.” Xu Yu stood up, his gaze towards her somewhat complicated. “Especially since there are no outsiders here.”

The tone was as if to say that people who have met honestly don't need to act so distant.

Ji Shengsheng clenched his fist.

During their several chance encounters after her return, she could always sense Xu Yu's hostility. If it was because of past events, it was clearly Xu Yu who had wronged her more.

So, where does this hostility come from?

She was clearly the one who felt more wronged.

Xu Yu looked down at Ji Shengsheng's arm, reached out and gently took her wrist, opening her tightly clenched fist.

Looking at her reddened palms, his voice softened considerably: "Speak."

“Say it then…” Ji Shengsheng looked up into Xu Yu’s eyes, “Whether it was three years ago or now, I haven’t done anything wrong to you.”

Even though something inappropriate happened due to impulsiveness, both Xu Yu and she made sacrifices. Neither of them took advantage of the other, and neither of them should feel guilty towards the other.

"Really not?"

"No."

There has never been a moment like this when Ji Shengsheng was able to bravely look Xu Yu in the eye.

"When are you leaving on Monday?"

As Ji Shengsheng carefully recalled the events of three years ago, her mind racing, Xu Yu looked away, no longer looking at her, and changed the subject.

She didn't think much about why Xu Yu knew she was going to visit the girl she was sponsoring on Monday, and casually replied, "Early morning flight."

"Bon Voyage."

After saying that, Xu Yu let go of her hand, turned around and left.

Ji Shengsheng was stunned. By the time she reacted and ran to the window, Xu Yu had already started the car and driven away.

She didn't think much about or have much curiosity about the hidden meaning in Xu Yu's words.

The words "entanglement" and "entanglement" do not exist in her dictionary.

Especially regarding things that happened so long ago, she wouldn't dwell on the rights and wrongs anymore.

After only a brief moment of confusion, Ji Shengsheng went to organize the key points from the day's meeting to prepare for the continued progress of work the next day.

The next morning at six o'clock, she had just opened her eyes when Cheng Yu called.

I'll pick her up on the way; that's all.

She probably knew the location of Cheng Yu's house, which was obviously not "on the way".

"Thank you, Chengyu. I need to go to my friend's place this morning," Ji Shengsheng explained. "He'll take me to the company in a bit, so I won't be late."

Cheng Yu laughed loudly and exaggeratedly, as if she wanted to tell the people next to her: "Going to find a boyfriend so early?"

Ji Shengsheng said helplessly, "...Why are you suddenly so gossipy?"

Although she and Chengyu were fairly familiar with each other, they weren't close enough to make jokes like that so casually.

"Sorry, Sheng Sheng, I was a little excited today. I won't do it again next time." Cheng Yu stopped teasing her.

After hanging up the phone, Ji Shengsheng was about to wash up and take a taxi to find Xing Xing, but she didn't expect that Xing Xing was already almost downstairs at her house.

On the other side, Cheng Yu looked at Xu Yu, who had a fever, and sighed: "Do you remember when you were sick in your senior year? Ji Shengsheng took care of you all night, and we friends were quite worried about you."

“After all this time,” Cheng Yu tore open a fever-reducing patch and stuck it on Xu Yu’s forehead, “you only have me left by your side.”

Xu Yu was too lazy to pay him any attention.

After feeling embarrassed, Cheng Yu resigned himself to his fate and drove Xu Yu to get an IV drip.

On the way, he thought of Chen Mu.

Xu Yu, Chen Mu, and he were the inseparable trio during their high school years.

Although only he and Chen Mu thought so.

Chen Mu's unilateral break with Xu Yu occurred when the relationship between Xu Yu and Ji Shengsheng was ambiguous.

Chen Mu is a straightforward person, even to the point of being stubborn.

When Chen Mu first learned about Ji Shengsheng, he had a rather favorable impression of her.

Chen Mu is a very picky person. After several interactions with Ji Shengsheng, he only found one flaw—Ji Shengsheng is a "central air conditioner" who is nice to everyone.

But their interactions were relatively normal at that time. Chen Mu treated Ji Shengsheng much more kindly than he treated others.

The situation took a turn when Chen Mu and his friends went back to their high school to visit their teacher. He overheard the names Ji Shengsheng and Xing Xing from his friend's classmate and learned that the two had an ambiguous relationship.

After returning, Chen Mu ran into Ji Shengsheng and Xing Xing having dinner together at the university cafeteria.

In Cheng Yu's view, Chen Mu harbored some "love turned to hate".

From Chen Mu's perspective, Ji Shengsheng is a bad girl who, despite having a stable boyfriend, still casts a wide net and engages in ambiguous relationships.

She waits for willing victims to take the bait by being nice to everyone.

After reaching this conclusion in his heart, Chen Mu began to persuade Xu Yu.

Cheng Yu was unaware of the specifics, only knowing that Xu Yu had hit Chen Mu, and that the two had never spoken a word to each other since.

After graduation, Ji Shengsheng went abroad. Chen Mu tried several times to mend their relationship, but Xu Yu refused. Cheng Yu was caught in the middle, which was often painful, especially since her company recently needed to purchase a batch of equipment from Chen Mu.

"You know that Chen Mu wants to mend his relationship with you, right?"

Xu Yu was receiving an IV drip, and Cheng Yu was beside him: "Brother, considering that I accompanied you to the emergency room so early, could you at least make a statement and let me know how deep the rift between you two is?"

Hearing him chatter on and on, Xu Yu finally opened his eyes: "You can leave now too."

Cheng Yu could no longer contain herself: "...No wonder Ji Shengsheng doesn't want you."

After saying that, Cheng Yu felt a little regretful.

“Um…” Cheng Yu thought for a long time but couldn’t come up with a suitable word, “If you can keep an eye on the IV drip yourself, I’ll go back to the meeting first. Let me know if anything comes up.”

Xu Yu remained silent.

Cheng Yu stood up and said seriously, "You may not treat me like your best friend, but I genuinely wanted you to be more comfortable, which is why I asked you those questions. I wasn't always teasing or joking with you, even though your perpetually serious face is annoying."

After saying that, Cheng Yu shrugged.

He had no way to deal with Xu Yu.

"Reconciliation is impossible."

"ah?"

Cheng Yu was surprised that Xu Yu answered his question, and even more surprised by the answer itself.

"He spread the word about Ji Shengsheng."

Cheng Yu: "..."

This was what angered Xu Yu. He was angry that Chen Mu had "ruined" Ji Shengsheng's reputation.

"I understand." Cheng Yu sighed. "You really love her. You only allow her to set fires, but you won't allow anyone else to expose her, right?"

Xu Yu looked at him and said calmly, "Get lost."

Cheng Yu returned to the company and first held a meeting with Chen Mu to finalize the procurement contract.

After the business was over, seeing Chen Mu's hesitant expression, Cheng Yu gave him a way out.

“Actually, there’s an information gap between you and Xu Yu,” Cheng Yu said patiently. “You think Xu Yu is your friend, and that Ji Shengsheng harmed him, so you’re telling Xu Yu to protect your friend…”

"...But have you considered what if Xu Yu knows? What if he doesn't care about that?" Cheng Yu bluntly stated, fearing Chen Mu wouldn't understand. "Even if he knows Ji Shengsheng has a boyfriend, will Xu Yu still interfere and meddle in their relationship?"

Chen Mu looked incredulous: "Xu Yu isn't that kind of person."

"That's him."

"He's just a bastard who wants to interfere in other people's relationships but can't have the love he wants, so he can only put on a sour face every day!" Cheng Yu finally vented all her anger.