Chapter 12

She knew the original body had a weak constitution, but she hadn’t expected it to be this bad.

The next morning, when Yan Can woke up, her head was foggy, as if someone had force-fed her a cup of some dreamy, disorienting brew.

The moment she moved, pain shot through her whole body; it felt like she’d been run over by a truck.

Her throat was painfully dry. She pushed herself up with both arms, but the instant she got to her feet, her legs went soft beneath her, like she was walking on cotton. She lost her balance and sank back onto the bed.

Yan Can…

Fine. Once she got over this cold, she was definitely starting to exercise.

There was no way she could go to school like this. She called Ji Yun to ask for leave, then had the family doctor come over.

It was already half an hour later when the IV was finally hung. Secretary Cen stayed by her side.

Yan Can glanced at her. “Secretary Cen, you can head back first.”

She didn’t like being fussed over as if she were the center of everyone’s world. It was too much. It was only a cold, and with the family doctor already here, having a secretary sit there and keep watch too made her feel awkward from head to toe. She couldn’t even relax while looking at her phone.

Secretary Cen knew her temperament. She stood up and gave the family doctor a look.

After the two of them left, Yan Can took a photo of the back of her hand with the IV in it and sent it to their group chat:

Yan Can: Getting an IV right now [cry-laugh]

They were probably in class, because no one replied after she sent it.

The weather was very nice today. Yan Can leaned against the headboard and looked out through the open window; the sky was a clear blue, and the faint scent of violets lingered in the room, very pleasant.

Her phone, resting on her stomach, suddenly started vibrating over and over.

Zhang Ru: That serious?

Zhang Ru: Ugh, next class is physics again. So annoying. That fossil of a physics teacher loves calling on people to answer questions; please don’t pick me! Pick Yu Ting instead! She’s good at physics, hehe [silly grin]

Zhang Ru: I’ll chat with you later. We’re in class right now, bye.

The one who’d said she’d stop still hadn’t stopped by then.

...

Zhang Ru: Rest well. No need to rush back to class; missing a few days won’t matter.

Zhang Ru: Ugh, without you it’s so obvious, and I feel completely unsafe over here. I’ve spent the whole morning under that devil’s glare.

Zhang Ru: Why aren’t you saying anything?

Zhang Ru: Ah, seriously, no more talking! The teacher’s looking over here [terrified]

Yan Can…

She’d meant to reply, but after thinking it over, she let it go. She was really afraid that if she sent one message, Zhang Ru would send a hundred back and never stop; then the teacher would catch her and punish her.

After the infusion finished and a few reminders were given, the family doctor and Secretary Cen left together.

She didn’t have much of an appetite, so she ate a bowl of vegetable congee made by the household cook. Her head was still a little dizzy and she felt sleepy, so she lay back down to rest.

She’d left her phone on the bedside table. As she drew her hand back, her eyes landed on the blue-tinged puncture mark on the back of her hand.

On a whim, she forwarded the IV photo she’d just taken to Su Ci.

...

Yan Can was woken by the ringtone of her phone. She opened her eyes groggily and, after a moment, reached for the phone on the bedside table.

At that moment, Zhang Ru and Yu Ting were standing at the gate of the Yan family villa, looking up at the second-floor window of Yan Can’s room. The window was half-open, and the pale blue curtains were swaying back and forth in the wind.

Zhang Ru clutched her phone and muttered, “Why still no answer? She’s not actually in some kind of trouble, is she?”

Just as she finished muttering, the call connected.

“What?” Yan Can’s voice was hoarse.

Hearing her voice, Zhang Ru finally relaxed. She gave Yu Ting, standing beside her, a look that said all was well, then couldn’t help complaining.

“What are you doing? Yu Ting and I @-ed you hundreds of times in the group chat and you never replied; what’s going on? Anyone who didn’t know better would think something happened to you! Also, why is there not a single person at your place? Open the door already; we’ve been waiting forever! It’s so hot!”

Her tone was complaining, but she was still worried. Precisely because she was so worried, she was complaining like this.

After being nagged at for a while, Yan Can finally checked the time. It was already afternoon. Looking at her social app, she saw that the two of them really had sent her a ton of messages, not to mention the calls; checking the call log, they were practically calling once every two minutes. Ninety-eight calls.

Just how dead asleep had she been…

She immediately went to the window and looked down. Sure enough, the two of them were standing at the front gate, wiping sweat with tissues while waving up at her with aggrieved expressions.

Yan Can felt something soft and warm in her chest ache a little.

She wasn’t the original Yan Can, but in the hearts of these two people, she was.

“I’ll open it right away.” Not long after she hung up, the automatic gate slowly opened to both sides. Once the two of them came inside, it gradually closed again behind them.

They walked in, and Yan Can was already waiting for them on the sofa.

Seeing that her complexion was still fairly rosy and her color looked decent, they finally let their hearts settle back down.

“Yan Can, why isn’t anyone at home? Where are the servants?” Zhang Ru asked in surprise.

In such a huge villa, there wasn’t even a single servant. Even if the household preferred quiet, being alone at home while sick was still rather dangerous. If she died and no one knew—tch, tch, she shouldn’t say that.

Yan Can didn’t answer the question. Maybe because she’d just been woken up, she looked a little listless.

The two of them chattered endlessly in her home, complaining about school and the teachers. Before they left, they checked on her a few more times. Seeing that Yan Can had no intention of keeping them to drink congee together, they told her to rest well, not to secretly push herself studying at home, reminded her a few more times, and then left.

After they were gone, Yan Can flopped bonelessly onto the sofa and stared at the chat window on her phone.

“This girl is really cold, huh,” she muttered.

From morning until now, eight hours and thirty-five minutes had passed, and Su Ci hadn’t sent her even a single punctuation mark.

Compared with that, the original body’s two friends were practically ironclad.

But she couldn’t really compare them like that. After all, Su Ci had only just become her friend not long ago.

Thinking of it that way, Yan Can didn’t feel wronged anymore.

Without expectations, there was nothing to be hurt by.

For the next few days, Yan Can sent Su Ci messages, and Su Ci didn’t reply to any of them. Yan Can didn’t think much of it either.

Yan Can stayed in bed for three days, then the weekend came and she rested another two days. By the time she returned to school, it was already Monday, September 14.

Those five days had gone by too fast. Her heart beat restlessly like a drum, and she couldn’t focus on anything she did; even delicacies and fine food seemed pointless.

As expected, the stomach really was an organ of emotion.

Tomorrow was the 15th; according to the last loop, the female lead would die tomorrow.

Yan Can frowned tightly and looked again at her chat history with Su Ci.

The chat window was full of messages Yan Can had sent her: good morning, good afternoon, good evening—those kinds of pointless greetings—followed by all sorts of food photos. A new private kitchen had opened near their school, and she’d taken pictures of dishes she thought looked tasty and sent them over. There were also the little bits of Yan Can-style chatter.

Su Ci hadn’t replied to a single one, and Yan Can gradually stopped sending them.

But tomorrow was the 15th, and that made it impossible for her to relax.

Yan Can: Come over to my place tomorrow!

Just like last time, she would keep her by her side.

She remembered that in the last loop, nothing had happened until the time she went home to do her homework.

So the risky window was after school.

After the message went out, she waited for a while, but the chat window never showed the other side typing.

She probably wasn’t going to reply either.

Yan Can lowered her head.

Forget it. Better focus first on the urgent matter right under her nose; today was the placement exam.

Because of the exam, there were no classes at all today. They tested from morning all the way through, with a half-hour lunch break in the middle, then continued until evening and went straight home after school.

At Yan Can’s current level, among this group of elites, there was absolutely no way she’d score anything good.

Fortunately, once the results of the last placement exam came out, the teachers had gone over the questions, so Yan Can wasn’t too worried this time. As long as she stayed steady on the essay and didn’t go off-topic, she still remembered most of the answers; getting first place wasn’t a problem.

After the morning exam ended, the few of them went to the cafeteria for lunch. It was the peak dining hour, so as usual, the frail and delicate Miss Yan went to save seats, while her original two friends went to get food and brought back her portion as well.

“Haaah~ Since our cafeteria changed chefs, there are more and more people here,” Zhang Ru said as she set down both trays and wiped the nonexistent sweat off her face.

Yu Ting deeply agreed. She turned toward the drink counter and asked, “What do you guys want to drink? I’ll go buy it.”

After the two of them named the drinks they wanted, Yu Ting stood up and walked out.

Yan Can instinctively followed her with her eyes, and happened to see Su Ci not far away holding a tray, apparently looking for a seat.

Right beside them, there was an empty spot across from her. “Zhang Ru, move over to the side.”

Zhang Ru was in the middle of eating. Hearing that, she set down her spoon…

Yan Can was looking toward Su Ci and said, “My friend is coming to sit here.” She smiled and waved over Su Ci’s shoulder, calling out in a super loud voice, “Su Ci—”

Although Zhang Ru and Yu Ting had heard Yan Can mention this girl more than once, they had never seen her in person, only her side profile.

A friend of Miss Yan’s? They were pretty interested. Turning around, they saw a girl walking toward them; she looked cool and detached, with exquisite features that were beautiful beyond words.

Zhang Ru looked at the person opposite her, smiling like a complete idiot. Huh? Why had she just described Miss Yan as a complete idiot…

She obediently moved over one seat, clearing the spot across from Yan Can.

Right after she shifted over, she looked up and saw Yu Ting not far away, holding drinks and yogurt, looking a little put out. Very perceptively, she went over to help.

At this time, there were still a lot of people lined up at the food window. After the two eleventh-grade girls got their meals, they looked around for seats like everyone else.

One of them had sharp eyes. Seeing someone finish eating and get ready to leave, she lightly bumped her companion with her shoulder. “Xia Xia, what are you spacing out for all of a sudden? Let’s go there.” She tipped her chin toward the spot.

The girl called Xia Xia seemed to come back to herself at once. She shook her head slightly and said softly, “Sorry, Classmate Lin, can you eat by yourself? I-I have something to do…”

Just now, while looking around for seats, she had seen Yan Can; that senior from eleventh grade who had sent her to the infirmary.

The girl was baffled. “If you have something to do, don’t you still need to eat? Are you not going to eat and just leave?”

Seeing her stammer, the girl waved it off. “Forget it, forget it. Go on.”

Eating alone was the same anyway.

“I’m sorry.” Xia Xia apologized again, then turned and walked off in the opposite direction.

When the girl sat back down, she looked over again and couldn’t help widening her eyes. Her introverted deskmate, the one who blushed at the drop of a hat,

was actually standing in front of that famous Miss Yan in eleventh grade. And Miss Yan had just smiled; it was dazzlingly beautiful.

Wow. So many younger girls wanted to strike up a conversation with that young lady, and not one of them had the courage. Her shy deskmate was actually this bold.

Silently, the girl gave her deskmate a thumbs-up in her heart.

Su Ci had seen Yan Can waving at her and was walking over, but halfway there, she noticed an unfamiliar girl also coming from another direction; it looked like she was heading for Yan Can’s table too.

Instinctively, she slowed down. Then, after seeing the girl’s gaze linger on Yan Can, Su Ci paused and sat down at the table behind them.

“Senior, can I sit across from you?” Xia Xia asked, her face flushed. Apart from Yan Can, there were two other trays on the table.

There was still one empty seat at the four-person table.

Yan Can didn’t speak. Her attention was on the table in front of her; Su Ci was sitting there, and the person beside her seemed to be a classmate from her own class.

So she’d seen wrong just now; Su Ci hadn’t been walking toward her.

That made sense. A classmate from the same class would naturally be closer than she was.

After all, she and Su Ci had only known each other for a few days.

If she hadn’t pestered her all the way, Su Ci might not even have agreed to be friends with her.

“Senior?” Seeing that she didn’t speak, Xia Xia thought she was being disliked. Xia Xia was already timid, and walking over to ask to sit across from her had used up all her strength and courage.

“Sorry.” Yan Can withdrew her gaze and looked at the girl. “Sit down. No one’s using it. Hm? Are you the one from last time…”

Seeing that she remembered, Xia Xia nodded stiffly. “Thank you for last time, Senior. My name is Xia Xia.”

“Xia Xia?” Yan Can repeated it once.

Xia Xia said a little embarrassedly, “My name is a bit hard to pronounce; it’s kind of awkward. Senior can just call me Xia Xia.”

When Zhang Ru and Yu Ting came back, they saw an unfamiliar girl sitting across from Yan Can and were a little surprised.

Xia Xia was very polite. As soon as she saw the two of them, she stood up to greet them. “Hello, seniors.”

Yu Ting nodded, and Zhang Ru smiled and teased her. “What a good little junior. Sit down.”

Xia Xia’s face turned red as she sat back down.

Zhang Ru had just seen Su Ci, and now that a different person was sitting there, she asked curiously, “Where’s Su Ci?”

Yu Ting, who wasn’t in the know, asked, “Who’s Su Ci? What about her?”

Yan Can lifted her chin and pointed toward the table behind them. “She’s sitting with her classmate.” Her tone was a little sour.

The two of them turned to look behind them. Su Ci’s back was too easy to recognize; at a glance, they could tell that the thinnest, coolest-looking back there was Su Ci.

Remembering that Su Ci was Yan Can’s friend, Zhang Ru called out to her.

The girl turned around, and both of them simultaneously read the word “stunning” in each other’s eyes.

She’d only glanced from a distance just now and already thought she was beautiful; now that she was sitting this close and looking again, she was so gorgeous it was almost suffocating. Zhang Ru smiled and said, “What a coincidence, we’re sitting right next to each other.”

Su Ci nodded.

Yu Ting wasn’t as outgoing as Zhang Ru, so she gave Su Ci a friendly smile.

After the simple greetings, everyone ate their own meals.

“Su Ci, were you planning to go sit at the table behind us just now?” Zhao Panpan, sitting beside her, leaned over carefully and said in a voice only the two of them could hear.

Earlier, she’d been sitting here alone, head down and eating. Then she heard someone behind her call Su Ci’s name, and since they were so close, she instinctively looked back; that was when she saw Senior Yan Can’s table behind her.

Senior Yan Can had invited Su Ci to sit at their table, but for some unknown reason, Su Ci had suddenly sat down beside her instead.

Zhao Panpan quickly glanced over, then understood. The senior’s table was already occupied, and it seemed like the people there were on good terms, because she had heard Senior Yan Can say something like hugging her or whatever.