An ungrateful little brat.

Inside the infirmary.

As soon as the door to the infirmary was opened, a refreshing coolness swept in, instantly dispelling the heat that clung to her body.

Having been carried by Zhang Heyu all this way, Jiang Ci no longer cared about the pain coursing through her body. Leaning against his chest, her entire body felt stiff and rigid.

If this continued, Jiang Ci guessed her heartbeat might betray her, becoming an impossible presence to ignore in the enclosed space.

Zhang Heyu didn’t notice the girl’s nervousness. He looked around the infirmary and, seeing a bed, gently placed her down.

“Little sister, what happened?” The school nurse was an older woman, exceptionally gentle with the students, earning her the affectionate nickname “School Nurse Xi Shi.”

Jiang Ci was about to speak when Zhang Heyu jumped in, “She just fell and got quite a serious scrape.”

“I see.” The nurse put on her glasses, took a quick look, then went to fetch her medical kit and returned to Jiang Ci’s side. “Yes, it’s quite serious.”

Jiang Ci lowered her gaze to her wound. Before her eyes shifted down fully, a dry voice sounded above her head.

“Don’t look, it’ll hurt later.”

She looked up at him. The boy stood beside her, his dark eyes twinkling with faint amusement. The slender curve of his lips beneath a high nose bridge hinted at a casual, carefree air.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she hastily averted her gaze. “...Got it.”

“Disinfection will sting,” the nurse said with a smile, picking up where Zhang Heyu left off but kindly warning her, “Your scrape covers a large area; it might hurt quite a bit.”

At that moment, Jiang Ci had no idea what was coming. She simply nodded without another word.

Seeing the cotton swab soaked in hydrogen peroxide, Jiang Ci instinctively furrowed her brows and shifted her legs to avoid it but caught an impatient “tsk” that sent chills down her spine.

She knew that sound came from Zhang Heyu.

The moment the swab touched her wound, Jiang Ci felt as though the sky was collapsing. She had expected pain but never imagined it would be this intense, her delicate face contorted in agony.

Zhang Heyu lowered his gaze to watch her. The girl kept her head down, biting her lip, not uttering a single word of complaint like a wronged little rabbit.

After five excruciating minutes, Jiang Ci’s eyes welled up with tears. The nurse remarked, “You’re quite tough for a little girl. Alright, disinfection’s done. Sit for a bit; I’ll step out.”

Jiang Ci gave a soft “Mm.”

Once the nurse left, the infirmary fell silent.

“Eating some candy might make it hurt less,” Zhang Heyu said, producing a piece of candy from who knows where. He lifted his chin, gesturing for her to extend her hand. “Hold out your hand.”

Jiang Ci thought he had already left, but he was still there.

She stretched out her hand and noticed the palm was pink with various scrapes.

“...” Zhang Heyu’s gaze lingered on her palm for a few seconds before his well-defined fingers slowly unwrapped the candy and popped it into her mouth.

Jiang Ci was momentarily stunned as the sweet peach flavor spread inside her mouth.

Zhang Heyu turned to the medical kit on the table, calmly opened it, and dipped a cotton swab into the hydrogen peroxide.

“Why didn’t you say your hand was scraped too?”

Jiang Ci hadn’t really felt the pain in her hand; all the pain was focused on her knee, so she hadn’t noticed.

She hesitated for a moment. “I didn’t know.”

Hearing this, Zhang Heyu smirked vaguely, “Pretty dense, huh.”

Jiang Ci was speechless.

“Try to tolerate the pain. And don’t cry even if it hurts.”

Though he said this, Zhang Heyu was clearly gentler than the nurse, applying less force.

Holding her hand, she felt a cool touch on the back of her hand that made the burning sensation even more intense.

After some time, Zhang Heyu tossed the used cotton swab into the nearby trash bin and applied a bandage to her palm.

Jiang Ci was about to thank him when a figure suddenly burst into the infirmary.

“Ci Ci, oh my god! Are you okay?!” Yu Xijin bypassed Zhang Heyu and rushed straight to Jiang Ci’s side.

“I’m fine, just a little sore,” Jiang Ci said, “Sorry to scare you.”

Yu Xijin waved her hand. “Don’t mention it! When Zhang Heyu brought you here, I was totally stunned!!”

“Hey, I didn’t ask him to; he volunteered to escort you!” Yu Xijin rambled on, completely oblivious to the boy standing right there.

“When did you two get so close?!”

Jiang Ci felt the burning gaze nearby and shrank her neck. “Jin Jin, please stop…”

“What’s up?” Yu Xijin had just asked when she noticed Jiang Ci’s glance and turned to look, uttering a startled “Whoa.”

Zhang Heyu was lazily leaning against the table, legs crossed, a faint smile playing on his lips as he gazed at them both, radiating a casual confidence.

“My relationship with her is quite special.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ci was shocked.

That sounded incredibly ambiguous, and her heart trembled.

Zhang Heyu, with his nonchalant air, added, “We have a life-or-death bond.”

Just then, Huo Chensi and Fan Mian walked into the infirmary.

“Whoa, why’s it so crowded here?” Huo Chensi, holding a basketball, felt cramped inside the small infirmary.

Yu Xijin looked over and saw Huo Chensi standing at the door.

He noticed the girl beside Jiang Ci and paused before turning his gaze back to Jiang Ci. “Sister Ci, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Jiang Ci glanced at Zhang Heyu.

Huo Chensi, with a straight face, said, “As long as you’re okay. I was so heartbroken when you fell.”

Zhang Heyu, expression unchanged, shot Huo Chensi a warning glance.

Feeling intimidated, Huo Chensi chuckled nervously. “Just kidding, Sister Ci.”

“What’s up?” Zhang Heyu asked flatly.

Fan Mian replied, “Just here to ask if you’re still playing basketball. The guys in the next class are insisting on a match with you.”

Zhang Heyu said nothing but looked at Jiang Ci, as if asking her.

Jiang Ci hesitated, then nodded.

After Zhang Heyu and the others left, Jiang Ci finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hey, Ci Ci,” Yu Xijin poked her arm, “what’s this ‘life-or-death bond’ you guys have?”

Life-or-death bond.

Jiang Ci suddenly recalled the midday when he had a stomach ache and she gave him medicine, and that night when she was followed and Zhang Heyu saved her.

She briefly explained this to Yu Xijin, who understood and stopped pressing further.

*

After the last class ended, Jiang Ci looked down at her knee wrapped tightly in several layers of gauze and sighed helplessly.

In her current state, leaving school was a problem, let alone going to work at the noodle shop.

With no other choice, Jiang Ci asked the noodle shop owner for leave.

Yu Xijin had planned to walk Jiang Ci to the school gate before returning to the dorm, but Jiang Ci refused, so she didn’t insist.

Jiang Ci packed her things, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and slowly shuffled along the wall, leaving the classroom.

At the same time, Zhang Heyu emerged from the broadcasting room on the other side of the teaching building and happened to see Jiang Ci inching forward like a snail.

He softened his footsteps and quietly approached her. When the distance was close enough, he stopped, leaning against the wall, eyelids drooped, his face unusually relaxed.

“At this speed, you’ll be crawling home till eleven at night.”

Jiang Ci looked up and saw Zhang Heyu’s lips curl into a sly smile, as if taking pleasure in her misery.

She puckered her lips, annoyed, “Are you purposely enjoying my suffering?”

“If I wanted to mock you, I wouldn’t have brought you to the infirmary,” Zhang Heyu said as he stepped in front of her. “Life-or-death bond means I owe you once, and you owe me once — a debt that’s never cleared.”

Jiang Ci was speechless.

If it were anyone else, Zhang Heyu would help them too; it wasn’t just her.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Ci noticed he was holding some papers—looking like scripts. She suddenly remembered he was part of the broadcasting station.

“Lost your voice again?” Zhang Heyu clicked his tongue impatiently, his voice low. “Hold these for me.”

He then shoved the scripts into her hands.

Jiang Ci was stunned for a moment, awkwardly holding them. “Why do I have to hold these...?”

Zhang Heyu ruffled his hair, took her backpack, unzipped it, and without waiting for approval, stuffed the scripts inside.

“Just keep them there for now.”

“Huh?” Jiang Ci looked at him, puzzled.

Then, the boy suddenly dropped to one knee with his back to her.

Jiang Ci stared at the scene in front of her, her eyelashes trembling in surprise, frozen in place.

Was he going to carry her?

She heard his urging, “Stop hesitating, get on.”

Jiang Ci paused, hesitated, then leaned in. The warmth of his palm touched her ankle, causing her to tremble slightly.

The girl on his back was light—lighter than he expected, almost without any flesh to hold onto.

She couldn’t imagine how such a fragile frame could carry several bowls of noodles around the shop.

As they walked out of the school gate, they inevitably drew many gazes, especially since Zhang Heyu was a focal figure at South City No. 3 High School.

Jiang Ci could already imagine the rumors about them spreading across the school forums the next day.

Once they left the gate, the attention waned.

Jiang Ci finally looked up, staring at the back of the boy’s head. His hair was neatly trimmed, without a single strand out of place, and he radiated confidence.

“You heading home?” Zhang Heyu asked, carrying her, glancing back with a taut jawline and sharp eyes.

“Yeah, thanks for the trouble,” Jiang Ci breathed in his scent, reluctant to let go of the contact.

Like other girls, she longed for moments of connection, for contact, for conversation with the person she liked.

“Zhang Heyu,” she hesitated, then asked, “Do you really like dating?”

The boy’s silhouette was bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun, casting a halo around him and stirring something in Jiang Ci’s heart.

“No,” Zhang Heyu answered quickly, disinterested. “Dating’s just for fun. No one should take it seriously.”

She should have realized that sooner.

She wouldn’t do anything without a chance of winning—not even liking Zhang Heyu.

No matter how much she liked him, she would never confess first.

Jiang Ci lowered her gaze. “Those girls must have been pretty hurt, huh?”

Like Wan Hanqiu.

“I never begged to date,” Zhang Heyu paused. “Desk mate, you sure are talkative today.”

Realizing this, Jiang Ci wisely closed her mouth.

After a fifteen-minute walk, Zhang Heyu brought Jiang Ci to her doorstep.

This time, he didn’t just drop her off downstairs but carried her up to the third floor of the old apartment complex.

Jiang Ci stood at the door, glancing at Zhang Heyu beside her. The boy showed no emotion, his usual cold demeanor restored.

The narrow hallway made it feel cramped with his nearly six-foot height.

“What are you staring at?” Zhang Heyu crossed his arms and leaned lazily against the stair railing. “Do I have your house keys on my face?”

Sometimes Jiang Ci wanted to rip his mouth apart!

How could someone so handsome always say things that hit right in the heart?

Jiang Ci said “Oh,” took off her backpack, and pulled out a set of keys, the clinking sound crisp in the quiet hallway.

She inserted the key into the lock and turned her head. “Aren’t you leaving?”

“Yeah, I’m about to go.” Zhang Heyu smiled faintly. “Ungrateful little one.”

With that, Zhang Heyu did nothing else, turned, waved a hand behind him, and left down the stairs.

Jiang Ci watched him disappear around the stairwell corner, pursed her lips, twisted the key, and entered her home.

“Ah Ci, why are you—”

Hearing the door open, her grandmother came out of the room and saw Jiang Ci limping inside, her knee wrapped in gauze.

“Grandma.”

Worry immediately clouded her grandmother’s face as she hurried forward to support her. “What happened? How did it get like this?”

Jiang Ci shook her head. “I just accidentally fell during gym class. It’s nothing, it’ll be fine in a couple of days.”