Lin Xi slept fitfully, her dreams filled with people and events from her past. In one dream, she was all alone in a vast manor, longing to speak to someone, but there was no one else there. The scene shifted, showing her father’s strictness, his high hopes for her, and a jumble of other memories.
Eventually, she dreamt of Xue Yang. They were so happy together, and he took her to do many things she had never experienced before. She thought they would be together forever, but then one day, he suddenly left her. No matter how she called out, he wouldn’t appear. The nightmare startled her awake. When she opened her eyes and saw Xue Yang was still there, her insecure heart was finally put at ease.
She glanced at the time—it was almost noon. With a hoarse voice, she said, "Xue Yang, why aren’t you in class? You must be late. Hurry and go."
Xue Yang tucked the covers around her and felt her forehead. She was still feverish. "I had Cui Hao answer for me during roll call," he said, comforting her. "Don’t worry about it. Just focus on getting better."
"I’m fine. You should go to class."
He loves his classes so much; he would never want to skip. I can’t let him compromise his principles because of me.
"Missing a class or two in college is no big deal."
Lin Xi clutched the blanket tightly. "Xue Yang," she asked, "do you find me troublesome?"
"Hmm, yes, you’re a lot of trouble."
The light in Lin Xi’s eyes slowly dimmed. They were practically strangers who had met by chance. Her staying with him was already a huge imposition, and now she was sick, forcing him to take time off just to care for her. And yet... hearing him say that still made her heart ache.
People are more sensitive when they’re sick, and Lin Xi’s emotions were a tangled mess.
Xue Yang stood up and faced the vast expanse of white outside the window. "That’s why you need to get better soon," he said. "Otherwise, I won’t take you out again."
The snow had been falling for two days, blanketing the city in an even thicker layer. Cars struggled to move, and pedestrians trudged along the streets, shrouded in a desolate silence. The northern winter was truly beautiful, but some aspects simply couldn’t compare to the south.
Lin Xi looked at Xue Yang. His eyes held no impatience, only deep concern.
So he said that because he’s actually worried about me.
"Xue Yang, you’re worried about me, right?"
Xue Yang turned back to her. "I’m going to make you some plain porridge."
Lin Xi nodded obediently and lay back down.
"Xue Yang, you are worried about me, you just won’t admit it," she murmured.
Outside, the world was covered in ice and snow, but inside the room, it was as warm as a spring day in full bloom.
Xue Yang, I’ve been waiting all this time for you to say those words.
...
Cui Hao had begrudgingly gotten up early. When it came to roll call, he reluctantly answered for Xue Yang.
If I don’t get a free meal out of this, I’m not letting it go! Cui Hao thought to himself.
After class, the teacher asked Cui Hao to come to her office.
"Spill it. What’s going on with Xue Yang?"
"Professor... I..."
Cui Hao might have acted like a big shot in front of Xue Yang, but now he looked completely flustered. No matter how rebellious or clever a student was, they knew to behave in front of their advisor. Cui Hao thought he’d gotten away with it, but the teacher had seen right through him.
"Xue Yang... he caught a cold. That’s why he wasn’t here."
"If he has a cold, he should request a formal leave of absence. Why did he have you answer for him?"
Cui Hao snuck a glance at the teacher and decided to tell the truth. "He was probably... afraid of losing points for his attendance."
The teacher was slightly taken aback, not expecting such a frank answer. Others might think the same, but they would never dare say it so directly. She didn’t press the issue. Instead, she took a sip of goji berry tea and said, "I’m not an unreasonable person. Besides, Xue Yang is a good student with an excellent record. Catching a cold in this weather is normal. If I remember correctly, he’s from Hui City in the south, right?"
"Yes, Professor."
"I see. Tomorrow’s lecture is very important, so make sure he’s there. Alright, you can go."
As he walked out of the office, Cui Hao’s head was still spinning. Master Miejue had actually let them both off the hook.
Master Miejue was the advisor for the finance program, a woman in her early fifties with neat, short hair and a conservative business suit. Rumor had it she was a big name in the financial world and even served as a consultant for the Lin Corporation. She was squeezing teaching into her busy schedule, so her lectures were a rare opportunity. Almost no one dared to miss her class; students would drag themselves there even on an IV drip. This was for two reasons: one, she was very hard to book, and two, her punishments for unexcused absences were severe.
Anyone she caught skipping was almost guaranteed to fail the course. If she caught someone answering roll call for another, the consequences were even worse: not only would they fail, but they would also receive a school-wide public reprimand.
Yet, she’d just said she wasn’t unreasonable and let both him and Xue Yang off.
This was rarer than winning a hundred million!
Cui Hao immediately fired off a text to Xue Yang: "Master Miejue knows you skipped. I told her you had a cold. She let it slide for today but said you absolutely have to be in class tomorrow."
Xue Yang had just finished making porridge and was in the middle of feeding it to Lin Xi. When he received Cui Hao’s message, he glanced at it and set his phone aside without comment.
"Did your classmate send you a message?"
"Did your professor find out that you were absent?"
Xue Yang looked up at Lin Xi. This girl... she’s sharp. Always guesses right.
"It’s fine. The professor didn’t punish me."
Lin Xi visibly relaxed. "That’s good."
Her illness had drained the color from her face, but it gave her a fragile kind of beauty. Like a delicate flower, her illness only seemed to enhance her refined, ethereal beauty. Her face, though pale, was like an exquisite painting, and the faint smile she wore was meant for Xue Yang alone.
By noon, Lin Xi’s spirits had improved, but that afternoon, her fever suddenly spiked again.
"Lin Xi, get up. I’m taking you to the hospital."
Lin Xi was delirious, but the moment she heard the word "hospital," she began to resist.
"Xue Yang, I don’t want to go to the hospital."
If I go to the hospital, they’ll find out who I am for sure.
"Please, don’t take me to the hospital," she begged. "I don’t want to go..."
She clung tightly to his sleeve, just like the abandoned Xiao Naimao he had taken in. It was as if going to the hospital meant he was abandoning her all over again.
"Okay, we won’t go to the hospital. We won’t go."
Fortunately, Xue Yang had a habit of keeping medicine on hand. He gave Lin Xi some fever reducer, and she drifted back to sleep in a drowsy haze.
While she slept, Xue Yang opened his laptop and started working.
"Xue Yang, I’m cold."
Girls and their colds... they really are a handful.
...