Zhao ii threw up twice in the middle of the night, but she didn’t have diarrhea anymore. She dozed off around dawn, and when she opened her eyes, she heard her mom and dad talking.
She flickered her eyelids, not fully awake yet, and hoarsely called out, "Mom!"
Liu Xiue hurried over, reaching out to touch her face, "Awake? How are you feeling?"
Zhao ii opened her eyes completely and saw her mom and dad sitting by the hospital bed keeping watch. She murmured, "Where’s my brother?"
Zhao Dazhuang teased her on purpose, "Not even calling Dad first, looking for your brother, huh?"
Liu Xiue playfully glared at him, "The child is sick, act like a grown-up for once!" She reached out to brush away the hair hanging on Zhao ii’s face and said gently, "Your brother went to get dicine from the nurse, he’ll be back soon."
Zhao ii knew Shi Yang hadn’t left, so she was relieved and started acting coy, "Oh, mom, I felt like I was dying last night."
Liu Xiue was utterly distressed, "Are you feeling better now?"
Zhao ii nodded, "A lot better."
Liu Xiue sighed with relief and began tidying up, getting Zhao ii ready to wash up and use the restroom before the IV drip, and arranging the daily essentials they’d brought from ho.
While tidying up, she constantly nagged, "It’s all because of the heavy study pressure that made you sick. The doctor said it was weak immunity, and you don’t pay attention to eating clean food. I give you money to buy food but do you get anything good and clean to eat? Are you too caught up in studies to think straight?"
Zhao Dazhuang said, "Your daughter isn’t the Health Inspection Bureau; how would she know which place is sanitary and which uses gutter oil?"
Every mom has a softer heart than the dads. Seeing Zhao ii tornted and worn out all night, Liu Xiue felt unbearable heartache and said, "From tomorrow, raise your daughter’s al allowance by another 500 yuan. She should eat better; there are less than three months until the college entrance exam, and she needs to be well taken care of!"
Zhao Dazhuang, annoyed by the fuss, used the excuse of feeling stuffy indoors to go out for a walk in the hallway.
Liu Xiue continued talking to Zhao ii, and just as Zhao Dazhuang stepped outside, Shi Yang ca back, and the two started chatting warmly.
Looking at Shi Yang’s dark eye circles, Zhao Dazhuang reached out to squeeze his shoulder and pat his back, "It was a rough night, you must be exhausted. How about your aunt and I stay here, and you go back and get so rest?"
Shi Yang refused, "I won’t be able to sleep even if I go back, I’d better stay here with her."
Shi Yang apologized, "It’s my fault ii got sick. I’ve been busy with business lately and didn’t have ti to cook lunch, so she had to buy it herself and got a bad stomach."
Zhao Dazhuang said, "It’s not your fault she got sick. She didn’t watch what she was eating, and the doctor also said it’s due to stress from studying too hard, lowering her immunity. Don’t think too much about it."
Shi Yang promised, "Once ii recovers, I’ll cook lunch for her every day whenever I’m ho, let her eat at ho. If I have to go to the provincial capital, my aunt can whip sothing up for her and bring it over at lunch."
Zhao Dazhuang said, "No need for that, her current conditions are already quite good, other students don’t even have it as good as she does."
Shi Yang disagreed, "ii is already working hard with her studies; if her nutrition can’t keep up, she’ll collapse. There’s no way I’m letting that happen, so just listen to on this."
Zhao Dazhuang felt both gratified and a bit exasperated, having no choice but to nod in agreent, "Alright, alright, we’ll do as you and ii’s mom say, go ahead and spoil her!"
When it ca to caring and loving Zhao ii, if Shi Yang claid to be second, no one would dare claim first. Even Zhao Dazhuang and Liu He’e, her biological parents, felt less than Shi Yang’s genuine affection, one might even call it doting.
Concerning Zhao ii’s affairs, Shi Yang always followed through. Ever since Zhao ii was discharged, Shi Yang would push back any urgent matters, make fresh als for her three tis a day if he was ho, and even when he went to the provincial capital, he’d call Liu Xiue every morning to remind her to prepare lunch for ii.
With the college entrance exam approaching, the study workload was enormous. Everyone started studying before dawn, heads buried in books; except for toilet breaks, no one chatted idly. With stacks of exam papers like dictionaries, it seed endless even without lifting your head, the pressure was intense.
Zhao ii went ho for lunch and dinner. She always rushed out at the sound of the end-of-class bell to spend more ti with Shi Yang, then hurried back right before the start of the next class bell.
One day, Xu Xu couldn’t hold back anymore and waited for Zhao ii while she was using the restroom.
Zhao ii walked out of the bathroom, shaking the water off her hands, turned a corner and saw Xu Xu waiting in the corridor.
Xu Xu took two steps forward, and they walked side by side back to class.
Zhao ii asked, "Why are you waiting for here? Sothing on your mind?"
Xu Xu looked down, biting his lip for a long while, and asked quietly, "ii, have you stopped eating lunch at school because you don’t want to see ?"
Zhao ii explained calmly, "No, didn’t I get dysentery earlier? My brother is worried about eating outside, so he cooks for every day at lunch."
Xu Xu softly said, "Your brother has always been good to you."
Zhao ii smiled, "That’s true. I scared him when I got sick."
Xu Xu cautiously asked, "ii, you’re really not avoiding , right?"
Zhao ii denied emphatically, "Why would I avoid you? Don’t overthink it; there’s nothing to worry about."
Xu Xu finally felt relieved and awkwardly smiled, "I was just afraid you were annoyed with ."
Seeing Xu Xu’s unease, Zhao ii’s heart softened imdiately, and she put her arm around Xu Xu’s shoulder like before, "Didn’t I tell you already? You’re my buddy for life."
Xu Xu mumbled, "Since that ti, you stopped eating in class. I always thought you disliked and didn’t dare to approach you."
Zhao ii exclaid, "Am I that kind of person? Besides, you’re my buddy, you’re different from others in my heart. No matter what, I won’t turn against you, damn! So that’s how you saw all this ti!"
The "others" Zhao ii referred to ant Wang Jiayue. Xu Xu picked up on this, and finally understood who Zhao ii actually found hard to deal with. When he heard this, it was like a burden was lifted from both of them, no more guessing or overthinking.
They walked arm in arm, close and chatting, pouring out complaints about the pressure of studying and the teachers’ relentless demands.
Xu Xu asked, "ii, have you decided which university you want to attend?"
Zhao ii replied truthfully, "As long as it’s in the provincial capital, I don’t care which university it is."
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