Chapter 19

Though it was only a single punctuation mark, Yan Can knew that for someone as cold and reserved as Su Ci, it was an enormous concession.

That meant their relationship was getting closer. Thinking of that, Yan Can couldn’t help the corners of her mouth lifting.

Yan Can: It hurts so much [crying]

As soon as she sent it, the typing indicator appeared above the screen.

Su Ci: Didn’t the doctor prescribe painkillers?

Of course the doctor had prescribed painkillers.

Yan Can: Still hurts even after taking them

This time Su Ci didn’t reply. Yan Can played two rounds of Candy Crush, but there was still no response. Why wasn’t she replying? Was it really that hard to say something comforting?!

She got annoyed again because Su Ci was ignoring her.

Yan Can had a bit of a rebellious streak. The more Su Ci ignored her, the more she wanted to provoke her.

After thinking it over, Yan Can sent a message Su Ci would definitely respond to——

Do you still mean it that you’ll come to my house to keep me company while I do homework?

If not for this accident, they would have been coming to Yan Can’s house together to do homework.

Someone like Su Ci, with that proud, aloof temperament, would never go back on her word.

And as Yan Can expected, the other side replied very quickly.

Though it wasn’t the answer she wanted.

Su Ci: Isn’t your hand injured?

What an excuse, what an excuse! She just didn’t want to come to her house! Hmph! So she didn’t want to get entangled with her, was that it? Then Yan Can was determined to cling to her!

Yan Can: I still have one more hand!

Su Ci: Oh

What did that “oh” mean? Was she coming or not? Yan Can was about to lose her patience. While she was still editing a long message, Su Ci’s reply came in——

It counts

Yan Can smiled in satisfaction.

After all, this had been a serious accident. No matter how much Yan Can insisted she was fine, Mother Yan still wasn’t reassured. With Secretary Cen keeping an eye on her, she stayed home to recover for three days before returning to school.

On the day she went back, Yan Can received unprecedented attention. After all, the accident had caused quite a stir and even made the local news. Everyone knew Yan Can had been injured, and they all came over to express concern when they saw her.

She had only been away from school for a few days, but her desk was already piled high with gifts, snacks, and letters tucked underneath.

She carefully gathered up all the letters and put them into her backpack. As for the snacks, she handed them out directly to the classmates around her. She still didn’t know who had given her the gifts, so she planned to compare them with the letters when she got home, find the owners, and then repay the money in cash.

After all, those gifts weren’t cheap, and nobody’s money grew on trees.

“Yan Can, I thought you’d be resting a while longer! If it were me, I’d probably stay in bed at home for at least half a month.” Zhang Ru said with a grin as she ate the imported snacks Yan Can had just given her.

Yan Can didn’t have time to chat with her. She noticed there were also letters in the desk compartment, all pink and scented; they were probably written by girls.

Too embarrassed to leave them out in the open, they had stuffed them into the desk compartment.

After she put away all the letters and zipped up her bag again, she looked up and smiled. “Lying around at home all the time gets boring too.”

“That’s impossible!” Zhang Ru said. “Home is so comfortable!”

“It is pretty comfortable,” Yan Can said.

The original owner’s home had everything. She lived alone and could do whatever she wanted, with no one to control her. Meals came with a single phone call; after eating, she didn’t even have to wash the dishes. The life of a rich young lady was pretty nice.

The two of them were chatting idly when someone came over. “Yan Can, someone’s looking for you outside.”

Yan Can looked up and glanced blankly out the door, but didn’t see anyone.

Zhang Ru leaned in nosily. “Who is it?”

The girl said it was a younger student from second year of high school.

Someone who overheard teased, “It must be some little junior who likes Yan Can. She’s only just back and already has a junior coming to check on her.”

Yan Can ignored the teasing and wasn’t annoyed. She knew they meant no harm. She stood and went outside. Only when she reached the hallway did she realize it was Xia Xia.

The girl was holding a carefully wrapped cake box.

Xia Xia handed her the box. “Senior, I heard you like mangoes, so I made a mango cake. I hope you’ll like it.”

Knowing it was the cake she’d made last time to thank Yan Can for helping her, and had never managed to give her, Yan Can accepted it with a smile.

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it properly.”

Seeing that Xia Xia still seemed to have something to say, Yan Can didn’t rush her and waited for her to speak on her own.

There were people watching from both the corridor and outside the classroom, and Xia Xia instantly forgot all the lines she had prepared. She shot Yan Can a quick glance, then lowered her eyes and said softly, “Senior, enjoy your meal!”

With that, she fled as if running for her life.

Yan Can watched her retreating figure disappear around the corner with amusement before turning back to the classroom.

At noon, Yan Can didn’t go to the cafeteria. Her right hand was still in a cast, so it wasn’t convenient to go somewhere crowded. Secretary Cen simply had someone deliver her meal on time.

It was a light, nutritious set meal suitable for Yan Can’s condition.

Taking into account how inconvenient her left hand was, the dishes had all been cut into bite-sized pieces that were easy to scoop up with a spoon.

Because of the fracture, Yan Can had the privilege of not having to do homework or take exams. Even outdoor classes were optional. What delighted her even more was that the math competition was next month, and given her actual condition, she didn’t even need to participate.

However, she still had to go to weekend special training. She couldn’t move her hand, but her ears and brain could still listen to class.

Thinking about not having to take the math competition, Yan Can was in a bright mood all day, and time seemed to pass especially quickly; in the blink of an eye, it was dismissal time.

“Hey, Yan Can, it’s my birthday this weekend; don’t forget to come to the party.” As school let out, Zhang Ru reminded her.

Mentioning the party, Yu Ting looked at Yan Can. “Why don’t you ask Su Ci and invite her too?”

“Su Ci?” Yan Can hesitated. Thinking of that ice-cold face, she really didn’t seem like the sort of person who would go to a lively place like that. “I’ll ask her when I have time.”

.

“Hey, Su Ci, aren’t you packing up yet?” After one seat change, Zhao Panpan had become Su Ci’s deskmate.

Most of the class had already left, and she’d finished packing and was ready to go, but the cold academic star beside her hadn’t moved at all.

Su Ci stood up and let her squeeze past. “I’m waiting for someone.”

“Oh, I see. Then I’ll head off first.” She didn’t ask any more questions, waved at Su Ci, and left first.

Just as she reached the corner by the classroom door, she saw Yan Can walking this way. By the time she’d gone a long way and turned back, Yan Can had already gone into their classroom.

So Su Ci was waiting for Senior Yan Can. Their relationship was really good; they even left school together.

Yan Can reached the entrance of Class 1, Grade 2, but didn’t go in. She just stood there and called for Su Ci.

There were still a few people in the classroom who hadn’t left yet. Seeing her, they glanced over a few times, already used to it and no longer surprised. Now everyone knew that Yan Can, the third-year rich young lady, and Su Ci, the special-admissions student from Class 1 of Grade 2, were good friends.

Su Ci looked toward the door and saw Yan Can with a backpack hanging from one arm and a cake box in her hand. Her slow, unhurried movements while packing up suddenly quickened; she casually shoved two books into her bag, stood, and went out.

Yan Can walked in front. Su Ci watched her occasionally jostle the backpack hanging from her arm; she probably wasn’t finding it easy to hold the backpack and cake box at the same time. She hesitated about whether to step up and help, but when she saw that Yan Can didn’t seem to need it, she ultimately let it go.

When Chen Shu picked them up, he smiled politely at Su Ci and stepped forward a few paces, wanting to take the things from Yan Can’s hands. Yan Can refused.

“It’s fine; it’s not heavy.” She smiled brightly, and it seemed she really didn’t want anyone helping her. Chen Shu had no choice but to give up and open the car door for her.

Their private school got out early; by the time they got home, the sun still hadn’t set.

Yan Can first took the cake to the kitchen before bringing Su Ci up to her room on the second floor.

This was Su Ci’s second time in Yan Can’s bedroom. There was a faint fragrance in the room, not the lavender scent drifting in from the yard.

This smell was the same as the one on Yan Can herself, Su Ci thought; probably some kind of diffuser.

Why hadn’t she noticed this soft scent the first time she came? Maybe because she hadn’t paid attention then.

After entering the bedroom, Yan Can casually tossed her backpack onto the cream-colored fluffy carpet beside the sofa and collapsed onto the sofa in the laziest sprawl.

Noticing that Su Ci was standing straight and looking at her, she assumed she was being reserved and said with a smile, “It’s not the first time you’ve been to my house; make yourself at home.”

Su Ci took her backpack off her shoulder, walked to the desk, put it down neatly, and looked at the person sunk into the sofa.

“Didn’t you ask me to come keep you company while you do homework?”

She knew Yan Can’s hand was injured; there was no way she’d actually asked her to come over to do homework. And yet she still came. She herself didn’t even know why.

If this had been before, she definitely would have felt a little unwilling. But this time she didn’t. In fact, during afternoon class, she’d even felt a little anticipation, and she didn’t know why. Maybe it was because she had promised Yan Can before that she would keep her company while she did homework. That promise had never been fulfilled, and it always left a knot in her chest.

Hearing that, Yan Can opened her eyes, which had been closed. Ever since the accident, this body had seemed to be getting worse and worse; recently she’d been prone to exhaustion. She had almost dozed off in class that afternoon.

Was it because of the medication? Even though the IV was gone, she was still taking oral medicine.

“I’m a little sleepy.” Yan Can looked at her through half-lidded eyes, her tone carrying a trace of fatigue. “Probably a side effect of the medicine. I’ll just nap for a bit; you start on your homework.”

Since she said that, Su Ci said nothing more. She pressed her lips together, pulled out a chair, and sat down to do her homework.

Yan Can really did just nap for a bit. When she opened her eyes again, only ten minutes had passed.

Yet those ten minutes made her feel as if she had slept for a long time; when she woke up, she felt completely refreshed.

The room was very quiet, with only the rustle of turning paper. She turned her head and saw Su Ci sitting at her desk, doing homework.

Looking at her back, Yan Can felt that something about it was awkward no matter how she looked, and it took her a while to figure out why.

Su Ci sat far too properly. Her head was a foot from the tabletop; her chest was a fist’s width from the desk. From the way she sat to how she held her pen, everything strictly followed the textbook Three Ones Principle.

When you were used to seeing people sit all wrong, suddenly seeing someone so standard made it hard to get used to.

Yan Can smiled, her gaze falling on Su Ci’s back. Her long straight black hair hung naturally down, a few strands draping over her chest; the hem of her white shirt was tucked into her dark green plaid skirt, drawing out a narrow waist, and below that were slender, straight calves…

Su Ci really was the kind of girl whose back looked beautiful too.

Perhaps sensing the gaze behind her, the soft rustle of pen against paper suddenly stopped. Su Ci put down her pen and turned her head, meeting Yan Can’s eyes head-on.

“Do you have something to say to me?” Her voice was cool.

It wasn’t an accusing tone, but it still made the guilty person look away. “N-no, nothing.”

Su Ci didn’t say anything, but Yan Can could clearly read “I don’t believe you” in her eyes.

“Um, do you want some fruit? I’ll go wash some.” Yan Can suddenly wanted to slip away. How was this heroine so sensitive? Did she have eyes on the back of her head or something?

Su Ci said nothing, only let her gaze fall on the bandage wrapped around Yan Can’s right hand.

After a moment, the chair scraped lightly against the floor. Su Ci stood up and said, “Your hand isn’t convenient. I’ll wash them instead. What do you want?”

Her tone was still as flat as ever, but Yan Can somehow heard the gentleness and consideration hidden inside.

Yan Can blinked, a little surprised. So the heroine wasn’t that cold after all; she did know that her hand was injured…

Wait. Her hand was injured, wasn’t it inconvenient…

Why hadn’t she thought of getting a little more sweetness out of Su Ci?

Her mind immediately turned mischievous again.

She wanted to see what this person would look like when flustered, when she lost control, when she wasn’t so cold…

Thinking that, she smiled and said, “Anything in the fridge is fine; wash whatever you like.”

Mm, she should think carefully about how to boss Su Ci around. This was really interesting.

Su Ci went downstairs and soon came back up with a plate of fruit.

But when Yan Can saw the fruit on the plate, she was speechless. “You like cherries?”

There were peaches, watermelon, mangoes, strawberries—so many fruits in the fridge—and Su Ci had deliberately picked the cherries, the one thing Yan Can couldn’t bear to look at…

Thinking of certain unspeakable scenes, her face immediately grew hot.

Seeing that she wasn’t moving, Su Ci’s thick lashes fluttered twice. “You don’t like cherries?”

After all, when she’d first visited, Yan Can had brought her a plate of cherries.

Yan Can didn’t know whether she was doing it on purpose. She probably wasn’t; after all, it was only after that incident that she’d started to feel repelled by cherries.

“I suddenly don’t feel like eating them. You eat them yourself.”

Su Ci looked at her. Seeing that she really intended not to eat even one, she was afraid of wasting them, so she set the plate on the table and began eating the cherries herself.

Her red lips parted slightly; a cherry was drawn into her mouth…

Yan Can…

She couldn’t stand watching, and her cheeks were burning.

Could this person really not let her imagination run wild at all?

Yan Can had said they were going to do homework together, but in the end she didn’t write a single word, not even opening a book.

Because there weren’t any books in her backpack to begin with; it was full of all kinds of envelopes.

When she tipped the bag over, colorful letters spilled across the desk. Su Ci frowned and glanced over at Yan Can.

Yan Can picked up an envelope that had accidentally slid onto Su Ci’s book. She had originally planned to move farther away from Su Ci before reading them; after all, these were the sender’s private matters, and it wouldn’t be good for a third party to see them. But then she remembered that the person beside her was Su Ci, and it seemed there was no need for that concern. So she sat right next to Su Ci and read them one by one.

She read very quickly, because the reason she was opening them wasn’t to look at other people’s admiration for her. She wanted to see whether the letters mentioned gifts so she could convert them to cash and return it.

However, after going through all of them, none of them mentioned that. Even those that did only mentioned the word “gift,” which didn’t match at all.

If Yan Can had looked over at Su Ci while she was reading, she would have found that from the moment she started opening the letters, Su Ci had been distracted, the tip of her pen stopping on a multiple-choice question for a full five minutes.

And Su Ci had never spent that long on any question.

After Yan Can finished reading all the letters, she ran them through the shredder and threw the scraps into the trash.

She turned her head to look at Su Ci. This person was really focused; her eyes didn’t even dart sideways once, and from beginning to end she never asked about the letters at all. She truly wasn’t curious in the slightest.

If it were her, she’d at least have asked a little.

When the streetlights outside came on, Su Ci said she wanted to go home.

Yan Can knew she was the only one at home; if she went back by herself, she’d still have to cook. It would be better to eat with her and avoid having to light the stove again when she got back, so she kept her there.

She had originally thought she’d need to find some excuse, but Su Ci was unexpectedly easy to talk to.

Yan Can’s wound still hadn’t healed, so she could only eat very bland food. Su Ci’s meal, by contrast, was normal.

No matter how delicious a nutritious meal was, it would eventually get tiresome.

Yan Can only ate a few bites before she no longer wanted any. She stared longingly at the pan-seared cod in front of Su Ci.

Maybe her gaze was too intense; Su Ci looked up. “What is it?”

Yan Can pouted. “I want fish too.”

Su Ci pushed the whole plate over to her.

Then she lowered her head and continued eating her own food.

After a while, there was still no movement.

Su Ci looked over.

Yan Can shook the silver spoon in her hand, the metal flashing coolly, and said a little troubled, “It’s too big a piece; I can’t get it onto the spoon properly. Help me cut it smaller.”

That request was perfectly reasonable. Su Ci didn’t seem to think anything was wrong. She looked at the whole cod on the plate, took a pair of serving chopsticks, and divided it into bite-sized pieces. After finishing, she pushed the plate back in front of Yan Can.

Yan Can was a little surprised, because Su Ci had even thoughtfully removed the bones.

Su Ci took such good care of her. Yan Can narrowed her eyes and suddenly wanted to see how far she could push her luck.

She smiled wickedly. “Feed me.”