When Feng Ning regained consciousness, she was awakened by thirst.
She propped herself up with her hands, sitting up slightly to survey her surroundings. It was a high-end suite with a wall-mounted TV, floral wallpaper, and European-style sofas. If it weren’t for the IV drip, she wouldn’t have realized this was a hospital.
The wooden wall lamp emitted a soft light. When she moved, the person dozing at her bedside woke up.
The curtains were half-open, and outside was pitch black with a blurry moon hanging in the sky. She mustered her energy and asked, “What time is it? Why are you here?”
Jiang Wen rubbed his eyes, his voice low and hoarse, “Are you feeling better?”
“Much better,” Feng Ning’s stomach was cramping, but she forced herself to talk to him. “Is there water? Can you pour me some?”
It was very late, with almost no other sounds around. The warm water flowed down her throat, finally relieving her parched voice.
In the dim light, Jiang Wen stood several meters away, looking haggard and completely disheveled.
Their eyes met, and Feng Ning looked into his watery eyes, smiling easily, “I’m fine, why are you looking like that?”
He paused, “Today…”
“I’ve been selling alcohol since middle school, I’ve seen it all. Besides, Teacher Feng was just leading by example, showing you that circumstances are stronger than people. Last time my words didn’t get through to you all, but this time it was vivid enough, made quite an impression, right?”
She yawned, still maintaining a joking tone, “Alright, alright, let’s move on. Look at your gloomy face, people might think you’re at my funeral.”
“……”
After a while, Feng Ning shifted her body and felt a surge of bleeding in her lower abdomen. She sniffed her collar and almost threw up again.
Feng Ning looked up, “Hey, can you help me with something? Go look around nearby for a 24-hour supermarket, buy any cotton short-sleeve shirt, and a pack of overnight sanitary pads.”
Jiang Wen’s face alternated between green and red. After a long while, he struggled to ask: “What brand…”
At the late-night convenience store, Jiang Wen lingered alone in the feminine products section, his face showing an unusual flush.
A young nurse passing by after her night shift looked at him curiously.
Being stared at like this, Jiang Wen had to pretend to be calm as he bent down to take the blue-packaged Space 7 from the shelf.
He went to the counter to check out, wanting to finish quickly.
The clerk was lacking energy too, scanning the items lazily and saying, “You really spoil your girlfriend, huh.”
He maintained a calm expression and gave an ambiguous response.
When Feng Ning came out after showering, she found Jiang Wen with closed eyes and heavy breathing, seemingly exhausted, having fallen asleep directly on the sofa.
She went over quietly. After watching him for a while, she found a thin blanket to cover him and turned off the lights.
The next day, Meng Taoyu came very early, putting the fruits she bought aside.
Feng Ning was leaning against the headboard getting an IV drip, looking somewhat helpless, “I’m being discharged this afternoon.”
“What exactly happened?” Meng Taoyu was worried, “I sent you messages and called you last night, but you never responded. Later I found Zhao Binlin through the class group chat and messaged him, that’s how I found out you were in the hospital. Are you feeling better now?”
“Yeah, it’s nothing, nothing, I’m fine.”
“Zhao Binlin said Jiang Wen stayed here last night, has he left?”
“He left this morning, I guess. I was sleeping, don’t know.”
Meng Taoyu changed the subject, holding up the book in her hand, “Are you bored? Want me to read to you?”
The nurse opened the window for ventilation, and a breeze came in from outside, blowing hair into her eyes.
Meng Taoyu put down the book, freed her hands, undid her tied ponytail, and re-tied the loose strands around her cheeks.
The sound of footsteps approached, and when she turned her head, she saw four or five people had entered the room at some point.
Meng Taoyu stood frozen in place, holding her book.
The person in front was tall, with an expressionless, hard face and broad shoulders. He wore auto repair coveralls with oil stains, seeming to have just finished work. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, showing tanned arms.
Meng Taoyu quickly stepped back half a step to make room. As that person brushed past her, she felt her arm bump into him.
Feng Ning on the hospital bed called out, “Brother.”
“What happened to you?”
Feng Ning smiled wryly, “Just drank too much. I’ll probably have to answer this question several more times, might as well hang a sign around my neck.”
“Was it Axin?”
Feng Ning’s expression turned serious, “The matter’s resolved, don’t worry about it.” She smiled at Meng Taoyu, “Let me introduce you, this is my brother. Actually, you two share the same surname.”
Meng Taoyu was fair-skinned and petite, with a gentle, good-natured appearance. She was delicate, refined, and quite likable.
She was a bit shy, biting her lip and stammering a greeting, “Hello, big brother.”
Meng Hanmo turned his head slightly to look at her, “Oh… hello.”
Zhao Binlin entered the hospital, went up to the third floor, turned a corner, and saw someone leaning in the hallway.
Hearing footsteps, Jiang Wen turned his face.
Zhao Binlin hesitated, looking him over, and pointed inside, “Why aren’t you going in?”
Jiang Wen lifted his eyelids and gave him a bland look: “There are people.”
“Who?”
“Don’t know,” Jiang Wen answered.
Zhao Binlin looked at his expression, feeling somewhat puzzled. He poked his head out to secretly peek a few times, then suddenly realized, “Ah, Feng Ning’s boyfriend?”
Jiang Wen turned his gaze to the side and made a sound of agreement.
He recognized Meng Hanmo as the person who had fed Feng Ning tangerines that day.
Easily noticing his friend’s silent dejection, Zhao Binlin couldn’t help but comment in a mosquito-like voice, “Well anyway… you and Feng Ning, you both… you have a girlfriend too, right?”
“We broke up.”
Zhao Binlin didn’t quite react, “Huh? What?! You broke up already… how did that happen?”
“Didn’t like her,” Jiang Wen said this very calmly, with a hint of indifference.
“Didn’t like…” Zhao Binlin repeated, hesitating to continue, “Then do you like…”
Almost three minutes of silence passed. Jiang Wen smiled self-mockingly.
While they were talking, Meng Taoyu stared at the floor, keeping to herself.
Meng Hanmo seemed to have other business and left after saying a few words. Meng Taoyu couldn’t help but watch him from the corner of her eye.
A crew-cut man waiting outside offered him a cigarette, but he neither looked at it nor took it, brushing it aside with one hand.
After he left, Feng Ning suddenly called out, “Damn, my brother left his keys here.”
Meng Taoyu chased down to the ground floor, her heart pounding. She looked through the glass outside, searching for that figure. Her steps slowed, then couldn’t help but quicken again.
They had all gotten on their respective motorcycles.
Meng Taoyu got anxious and called out from dozens of meters away:
“—Brother Meng!”
With that shout, everyone heard it. They all paused and looked toward the source of the voice.
“Brother… Meng?” The crew-cut man enunciated each syllable, his shoulders shaking, “Mo ge, where did you find this little sister?”
“Looks like a schoolgirl, so pure, Mo ge’s taste has become quite mild.”
Meng Taoyu heard these words as soon as she arrived. Her steps faltered, and blood rushed to her head, her face and earlobes visibly reddening.
Meng Hanmo gave that person a moderate kick, “Don’t tease the little sister.”
This really amused the others, and they each pitched in, speaking crudely: “Oho, why are you so shy, little sister?”
“Already blushing, little sister?”
“Come on, you sons of guns, nobody’s allowed to tease Brother Meng’s little sister.”
Ignoring the others’ teasing, Meng Hanmo put out his cigarette and looked at her, “What is it?”
“Oh, the keys.” Meng Taoyu came to her senses and quickly handed them over, saying softly: “Ning Ning asked me to bring them to you.”
“Thanks.” Meng Hanmo bent slightly to take them.
Meng Taoyu stepped back twice, quickly shaking her head, “It’s nothing, no need to thank me.” Being watched by so many people made her extremely nervous, and she actually gave a small bow, “I’ll go now, goodbye, brother.”
“Pfft.” The crew-cut man’s face twitched from holding back laughter.
Meng Hanmo raised his eyebrows slightly, seeming to smile a bit, and said casually: “Mm, goodbye.”
Meng Taoyu’s heartbeat was ridiculously loud, her mind still in a semi-blank state. She carefully hid behind the flower bed, secretly watching them all leave.
Monday came, and school resumed as usual.
Feng Ning’s stomach had been aching vaguely these past few days, and even her period pain seemed to last longer than usual. She felt extremely tired and listlessly lay on her desk for two class periods.
The third period was English class.
Before the class bell rang, the Iron Lady stood at the podium, tapped the desk, and said, “Everyone quiet down, put last week’s homework on your desks, I’m coming around to check. Those who didn’t do it, stand up conscientiously and go outside.”
As soon as she said this, the whole class erupted. Rustling sounds immediately arose.
Feng Ning had been lying in the hospital for two days and hadn’t touched any homework. She silently sighed, just about to stand up when suddenly a completed test paper was thrown onto her desk. She was lacking energy, and even her brain was a bit slow to process.
The sound of a chair being dragged came from in front.
Her eyelashes flickered, and she looked up in shock to see Jiang Wen standing.
The Iron Lady had just walked over, looked him over twice, and asked, “Why are you standing? Didn’t do your homework?”
Jiang Wen lowered his head and made a sound of agreement.
“Where’s your test paper? Let me see how much you wrote.”
Jiang Wen said quietly: “Didn’t write any.”
“Not a single word?”
Jiang Wen remained silent.
Zhao Binlin’s inner thoughts were turbulent, his mouth forming an ‘o’ shape as he looked at Feng Ning, then at Jiang Wen, then at Feng Ning again.
The Iron Lady’s expression was neither good nor bad as she suppressed her anger, “Why didn’t you write it?”
“Forgot.”
“Forgot?!” The Iron Lady’s face darkened as she suddenly raised her voice, “How many times did I emphasize it and you still forgot? Are you treating the teacher’s words as background noise? Do you know how far your weekly test ranking has dropped?”
Jiang Wen remained silent.
Now, the entire class’s attention was focused here.
The Iron Lady took a deep breath to calm down and announced loudly: “Is there anyone else who didn’t do it?”
A few minutes later, three or four more boys in the class stood up sporadically.
“All of you, line up,” The Iron Lady pointed outside, “Go down to the track field and run, right now!”
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