Chapter 11 Applying Medicine

Chapter Summary: Why is my mood so bad again?

Fu Xianyin was somewhat stunned.

Her dry eyes were moistened by warm liquid welling up from her eye sockets. She blinked, her eyes glistening with tears.

The words I was going to use to explain were stuck in my throat.

She tilted her head back and stared straight at Gu Linzhao.

The two stared at each other in silence for a long time. Finally, Gu Linzhao sighed softly, tilting the umbrella slightly towards Fu Xianyin. He half-squatted down, his gaze level with Fu Xianyin's, and pointed his pale finger at the plastic bag behind her, then beckoned to it, saying:

"Give it to me."

Fu Xianyin obediently took the bag.

Gu Linzhao handed her the umbrella, and seeing that Fu Xianyin looked somewhat dazed, he sighed and instructed, "Hold the umbrella steady, I'll apply the medicine for you."

Fu Xianyin tugged at the corner of her lips: "Class monitor, why do you keep sighing?"

Gu Linzhao chuckled softly, gently applying an iodine-soaked cotton ball to Fu Xuanyin's wound with tweezers. Watching the girl grimace in pain, he raised an eyebrow.

"It's all because you're such a worry."

The fair knees were covered with layers of bruises, and on top of the bruises was a patch of scattered wounds.

Gu Linzhao changed the cotton balls three or four times before he could wipe away the dried blood.

Fu Xianyin sat by the river, one foot still in the water, while the other leg was tilted to the side to make it easier for Gu Linzhao to apply medicine to her.

She looked at the boy's dark hair and suddenly heard him speak: "Why are you not saying anything again?"

Fu Xianyin opened her mouth: "...Thank you, class monitor?"

Gu Linzhao: ...

He suppressed the urge to sigh: "That's not what I asked you to say."

He looked up, and Fu Xianyin could clearly see the smile in his eyes: "Where's that quick wit you usually have at school?"

Fu Xianyin pouted: "You said it yourself, it's at school, but we've already left school."

“Besides,” she paused, looking at Gu Linzhao seriously, “class monitor, you’re indirectly insulting me. How come you’re more vengeful than I am?”

"Where did I insult you?"

Fu Xianyin: "You do have those things. You scold me for talking back to you at school, for not following school rules and regulations, for being arrogant, and for being lawless."

The boy's voice was helpless: "I just said you're quick-witted, how come you interpreted it in so many ways?"

Fu Xianyin laughed: "I already said it, it's because I'm lawless."

Gu Linzhao looked up and met her somewhat sly gaze. She blinked and said, "The class monitor is right. I really am lawless."

Gu Linzhao carefully bandaged the injured knee, and wrapped the used iodine cotton balls in a tissue and put them in a plastic bag.

He naturally took the umbrella from Fu Xianyin's hand, but the umbrella surface still maintained an angle tilted towards Fu Xianyin.

He teased, "Do you want to get soaked in the rain here a little longer?"

Fu Xianyin: ...

She offered a weak explanation for her sitting in the rain: "I just forgot my umbrella when I went out."

Gu Linzhao: "Don't you check the weather forecast before you go out?"

Fu Xianyin: ...

Damn it, this conversation is going nowhere.

How come she never noticed before that Gu Linzhao had such a sharp tongue?

After Gu Linzhao's interruption, Fu Xianyin lost the desire to stay any longer.

She used the stones to support herself as she stood up. Gu Linzhao gave her a light touch under her arm, but withdrew his hand the moment she regained her balance.

Her long, tied-up hair was slightly damp from the rain. Fu Xianyin removed the hair tie, casually ran her fingers through her hair, and tilted her head to look at Gu Linzhao: "Where's the class monitor? Where do you want to go?"

Gu Linzhao thought for a moment and said, "Let's have milk tea."

Fu Xianyin smiled and said, "That's exactly what I was thinking."

As evening self-study time began, the school gate of Linlan No.1 Middle School became much quieter.

The milk tea shop was not crowded. Fu Xianyin walked to the counter and asked Gu Linzhao, "What would you like to drink, class monitor? It's on me."

Gu Linzhao glanced at the menu and said, "Two cups of mango pomelo sago, with crispy boba."

Fu Xianyin raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Two cups of mango pomelo sago were quickly prepared. Fu Xianyin sat by the window, took a big gulp, and squinted her eyes in satisfaction.

Gu Linzhao's lips curved into a smile.

His deskmate always looked smug when he ate something delicious, and his eyes always had a sly look on them.

Like a cat.

She has a rather bad temper.

He took a sip of his own, and when he looked up, he met Fu Xianyin's bright eyes.

Gu Linzhao's intuition told him that his deskmate was planning something.

Gu Linzhao raised his chin: "Speak."

Fu Xianyin chuckled and said, "Class monitor, how about we make a deal?"

"After we get back to Beichuan, could you lend me your notes and your notebook of wrong answers to make copies?"

“Okay,” Gu Linzhao asked, “Which department, which part?”

Fu Xianyin asked somewhat shyly, "All of them, is that alright?"

Gu Linzhao looked at her with some surprise, and then said, "Sure, but it will take a long time to copy all of them, and I may not have much time recently."

She and Gu Linzhao took the same flight back to Beichuan. They arrived in Beichuan on Sunday afternoon, and then they had to go back to school for evening self-study.

There really isn't much time.

Fu Xianyin: "The ones before the monthly exam are fine; the rest can be postponed until the National Day holiday."

Gu Linzhao nodded, looking at the half-empty cup in front of Fu Xianyin, and suddenly asked, "Have you had dinner?"

Fu Xianyin hesitated and pointed to the mango pomelo sago in front of her: "We're eating it now."

Gu Linzhao pinched the bridge of his nose and traced back further: "What about lunch?"

Fu Xianyin skillfully uses language: "When I woke up, it was already noon."

"Okay" also means "didn't eat."

Not only is it a cat with a bad temper, but it's also a cat that doesn't like to eat.

He resignedly got up, leaving behind the words, "I'll go to the convenience store to buy you something, you stay here." Then he opened his umbrella and went out.

Fu Xianyin thought to herself, "He didn't say I'm going to buy some oranges and that you shouldn't move around here; that's already very polite of him."

She watched Gu Linzhao's departing figure, and suddenly felt a mix of emotions.

Her deskmate is really a bit too kind.

She couldn't understand how there could be such kind people in the world.

When I saw her looking down at school, I would buy her milk tea. If we bumped into each other in another city, I would hold an umbrella for her and ask about her knee injury, even more anxious than she was.

Now that I know she doesn't eat, I still go out to buy her food.

Fu Xianyin sincerely wishes that such a good person can live a healthy life to the age of 120.

The rain was still falling outside the window, and Fu Xianyin gazed aimlessly at the street that was so familiar to her.

Suddenly, her gaze met that of a figure outside the window.

The figure had already passed by the milk tea shop, but turned back the moment he saw her. His lingering gaze lingered on Fu Xianyin before he went straight into the milk tea shop.

Fu Xianyin frowned, and subconsciously circled Gu Linzhao's cup of milk tea to her side as well.

Wu Jiacheng went straight to Fu Xianyin as soon as he entered the milk tea shop.

He sat down opposite Fu Xianyin without ceremony, grinning, and said, "I thought you'd never show up again. What were you doing for the past week?"

Fu Xianyin smiled and said bluntly, "Have you completely forgotten about the beating I gave you last time? I've seen people eagerly begging for food, but I've never seen anyone eagerly getting beaten up."

Wu Jiacheng's smile froze on his face.

Last time, Fu Xianyin cornered him at the spot where he skipped class by climbing over the wall and beat him up. Not only did she beat him up, but afterwards she also went to the teacher to complain that she had seen him fall off the wall with her own eyes.

Unfortunately, the teacher believed in Fu Xianyin's ideas.

In the end, he was considered to have failed in his attempt to skip class, and was required to go home and reflect for three days, plus make a self-criticism under the national flag.

He stared at Fu Xianyin, his voice dark and menacing: "I heard you transferred schools? Believe it or not, if I want, no matter where you transfer, I can ruin your reputation. I'll let everyone know that you, Fu Xianyin, are just pretending to be well-behaved, and that you're a shameless and promiscuous woman in private."

Fu Xianyin raised an eyebrow and retorted sarcastically, "Fine, then believe me or not, if you come to me again, I'll beat you so badly you won't be able to get out of bed for a month?"

Having just finished spending time with a good person like Gu Linzhao, Fu Xianyin now feels even more disgusted with Wu Jiacheng than before.

She leaned back in her chair, curled her fingers, and tapped the table: "You know I transferred schools, so I don't need to pretend to be well-behaved in Linlan anymore. If you don't leave, I'll beat you so badly you can't get up, right here, so everyone can see, you believe me?"

Wu Jiacheng's face turned pale. He said "You just wait" and left in a hurry.

Fu Xianyin scoffed.

She knew what Wu Jiacheng meant by "getting her into trouble"—it was nothing more than spreading rumors, fabricating scandalous stories about her, and saying insulting things.

Some people believe this kind of talk, while others don't. Fu Xianyin never really cared about her classmates' opinions; as long as her grades were good enough and she behaved well with the teachers, they wouldn't believe such nonsense.

As long as the teacher doesn't believe her, Chen Huimei won't go crazy.

Even though she didn't care, Fu Xianyin's mood inevitably worsened when facing someone like Wu Jiacheng.

Outside the milk tea shop, Gu Linzhao, who had bought oden and rice balls, looked at the girl by the window and frowned in confusion.

No, he just went to buy some food. He was perfectly fine when he left. How come he's in a bad mood now, only a few minutes later?