The fruit cart jolted up and down on the uneven concrete road, sending fruits flying off, smashing onto the ground, or rolling downhill just as wildly as the cart itself.

Ning Xi tried to stand up, but his legs felt like they were filled with lead—he couldn’t lift them at all.

The cart kept coming closer, its tilted wheels looking like they were about to tip the entire thing over in the next second. If that happened, Ning Xi was definitely going to be hit and left half-paralyzed.

“Hey!”

Just as the cart was about to hit Ning Xi, a sudden force yanked him to the left. He lurched violently, the pull forcing him upright and shifting him slightly to the side.

“Clang—” The fruit cart still struck Ning Xi’s calf before flipping over entirely due to inertia.

Fruits scattered everywhere, juices of different colors splattering onto the ground, creating a complete mess.

Ning Xi was still dazed.

Ah, he must’ve attracted evil spirits

Who the hell gets hit by a cart right after falling down?

At that moment, he suddenly realized that he seemed to be leaning against something soft.

He whipped his head around and saw Song Yize’s grim face.

Song Yize had one arm wrapped around Ning Xi, the other propping himself up on the ground, half-collapsed.

The rich scent of ebony filled the air, carrying the biting chill of snow-capped mountains. It swept over Ning Xi, sending a shiver through his body.

“Wait, weren’t you buying something…” Ning Xi instinctively leaned back, pointing at Song Yize’s face.

Song Yize straightened his back and asked in a tone as if addressing a retard, “I should be asking you—were you just sitting there waiting to get hit by a cart?”

Ning Xi didn’t want this to happen either, but he truly felt half-paralyzed and couldn’t move at all ah.

“Aiyo, aiyo, my cart!” A grandmother’s anxious voice came from behind.

She hadn’t even had time to grieve over her fruit cart before she was startled by the sight of the children sitting on the ground.

“Aiyo, it even hit someone.” Grandmother hurried over in a fluster, reaching out to check on Ning Xi. “Young man, are you okay!”

Grandmother was old, and as she spoke, she couldn’t help but slap her thigh repeatedly. “Ai, my useless hands ah. What do I do now ah? If you’re seriously hurt, how can this be a good thing ah!”

“Uh, I’m fine,” Ning Xi said instinctively, seeing how worried she was and trying to reassure her.

The midday sun was scorching, casting harsh shadows that highlighted the deep lines on grandmother’s face, the traces of time etched upon her.

Sweat beaded on her forehead, large droplets hanging there, and her thin, frail frame stood at the side, making her seem even more small and powerless.

“How can you be fine ah?” Grandmother looked at Ning Xi’s pale face, and upon realizing he was an Omega, she blamed herself even more. “Look at your little face, so white. You should go to the hospital and get checked ah. Ai, it’s all my fault ah. I should’ve held onto the cart better. I have, I have some money on me…”

As she spoke, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a few crumpled bills. “These are not much, but…”

Ning Xi suddenly felt a little sour in his heart.

An old woman selling fruit was anxiously trying to use her hard-earned money to comfort a stranger, while high school students in the prime of their youth were “righteously” bullying the weak and extorting money.

What a shame.

“Aiya, really, there’s no need.” Ning Xi scrambled to his feet and gently pushed her hand back, urging her to put the money away. “I’m not hurt. You don’t have to give me this.”

“Not hurt?” The old woman asked skeptically. “Ai, you really should go to the hospital to have a look. What if you have internal injuries?”

“Ai, no need.” Ning Xi patted his chest. “I’m perfectly fine.”

Grandmother still looked worried. Song Yize, who had been standing silently at the side, finally spoke. “Don’t worry, I’ll take him to the hospital.”

“Oh, that’s good, that’s good.” Grandmother nodded, her voice trembling slightly. “Make sure he gets checked. Ai, such a pretty face, so pitiful…”

Ning Xi was baffled. Did he really look that pitiful?

Even though the old woman refused help, Song Yize still assisted her in lifting the cart and pushing it back into place.

Ning Xi knew this was his own fault. If he hadn’t been sitting on the ground, unable to move, the cart wouldn’t have hit him.

Come to think of it, he really owed Song Yize a thank-you.

After helping the old woman, Song Yize walked back down from the slope.

Ning Xi felt a bit awkward. After all, he knew that Song Yize was the protagonist of this novel, and this was the first time he was having such a surreal conversation with him. It was kind of a strange feeling.

“Thanks for earlier ah.”

Song Yize didn’t respond. Instead, he suddenly crouched down and reached for Ning Xi’s pant leg.

“Hey!”

Song Yize pulled up Ning Xi’s pant leg, revealing a slender, pale calf covered in a large bruise and swelling.

“Don’t you have a sense of pain?” Song Yize couldn’t help but frown.

“…”

Honestly, compared to the pain in his leg, what disgusted Ning Xi more was the discomfort in his body.

It felt like something was trying to burrow into his body, making him restless and feverish. Every bone in his body seemed on the verge of breaking, and every inch of his skin felt like it was being scraped raw.

But then, a cool sensation pressed against his forehead.

It was the ebony scent with citrus, which seemed much fresher than before.

Soft, gentle, slowly enveloping him bit by bit, finally soothing his nerves.

“You have a fever.”

Song Yize spoke, his voice low and deep, yet unexpectedly gentle.

Only then did Ning Xi realize he had been forcing himself to endure. He reached up to touch his own forehead and, for some reason, felt a strange sense of relief.

“Fever ah.”

*

When he regained consciousness, Ning Xi found himself lying in a hospital bed.

He seemed to have had a very long dream.

In that dream, he had transmigrated into a novel with ridiculously bizarre settings, had his phone confiscated by the high school director, was punished with cleaning duty, got surrounded by delinquents, and was even to the point of being hit by a cart.

It was utterly ridiculous.

Ning Xi turned his head to the side, his face blank as he stared at Song Yize, who was sitting by his hospital bed, filling out a physics test paper.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a dream.

Noticing that the person in the bed had moved, Song Yize looked up and said, “You’re awake?”

Ning Xi forced himself to sit up. “Aren’t you going back to class?”

“And this is how you treat your savior?” Song Yize finished writing his last equation and put the test paper away.

“It’s not…” Ning Xi scratched his head. “I just mean, you and I barely know each other, and you’re still in school. There’s no need for you to stay here with me…”

Song Yize reached out and lightly pressed the back of his hand against Ning Xi’s forehead. “You still have a bit of a fever.”

The clean, crisp scent of ebony wood lingered close, and somehow, Ning Xi’s body didn’t feel as uncomfortable anymore.

“Are you always this considerate to everyone?” Ning Xi couldn’t help but ask.

“You owe me 50 cents. I need to make sure you stay alive.” Song Yize replied.

“…”

As expected, this didi had an indescribable aura—something about him made people inexplicably want to beat him up, but they just couldn’t bring themselves to do it.

Still, all the trouble he had gotten into had been resolved by Song Yize. He really did owe him a thank-you.

Was this what they called the protagonist’s halo?

“Bed 13, time to change your IV.”

A nurse walked in with two IV bottles and approached Ning Xi’s bedside.

Ning Xi recalled the last time he had been in a hospital, which was a long time ago as the nurse removed the empty IV bag.

“Let’s verify your information ah,” the nurse said, flipping open the medical record. “Name: Ning Xi. Gender: Male. Undifferentiated Omega. Age: 17. That’s all correct, right?”

“En… Wait, what did you just say!” Ning Xi abruptly sat up, startled.

“Is there a mistake?” The nurse double-checked the record. “No, it’s correct. I printed it straight from your health insurance.”

Damn, I actually have insurance.

Ning Xi forced himself to stay calm.

He wasn’t expecting that in this novel, he was actually someone with a status.

In other words, there was actually a character in this novel with the same name and face as him—only a year younger—and he had somehow transmigrated into his body?

Song Yize noticed that Ning Xi’s expression didn’t look great and asked, “Are you afraid of needles?”

“You’re the one afraid of needles,” Ning Xi shot back.

Feeling that he was in the way of the nurse, Song Yize stood up and said to Ning Xi, “I’ll step out for a bit.”

Just as Ning Xi was about to stop him, the nurse pressed him back onto the bed. “Aiya, it’s just for a little while. You’ll be fine la.”

That said, she picked up a syringe from the tray and connected it to the IV line.

Ning Xi sighed.

Forget it, it was better this way.

It was better than being alone and having nothing.

“Knock knock.”

A female doctor knocked on the door and asked, “Is this Ning Xi’s ward?”

Ning Xi nodded cautiously.

The female doctor was petite, dressed in a white coat, and looked like a seasoned professional. However, her demeanor seemed unusually youthful.

She walked to Ning Xi’s bedside, flipped through his medical records, and said, “An undifferentiated Omega… During differentiation, Omegas need to take better care of themselves. Your body will be weaker than usual, so make sure you get enough rest. The injury might take longer to heal, but that’s normal, so don’t worry too much.”

Ning Xi nodded.

He was carefully trying to understand how this world worked.

As for him, en, an Omega, as they said, he really needed to figure out what the hell this was all about at some point.

Just then, a dull ache spread across the back of his hand.

“Hiss—” Ning Xi stared at the skewed needle and couldn’t help but clench his teeth.

The nurse quickly apologized, “Sorry. I think I missed the vein. I’ll do it again!”

“…It’s fine.” Ning Xi forced a smile.

She’s definitely an intern.

But the second try wasn’t any better.

Maybe it was just like that doctor said—his body was extra sensitive right now because of this whole Omega differentiation period thing.

When such a simple needle pricked, and yet Ning Xi felt like he was in pure agony.

“Your veins are too thin. It’s a bit tricky…” The young nurse frowned and rubbed the back of Ning Xi’s hand before preparing for another attempt. Just as she was about to insert the needle, Ning Xi suddenly stopped her.

He must really be out of it from the fever because, without thinking, he blurted out:

“Ai! Can you call back that guy who just left?”

“The guy who just left?” The female doctor standing nearby asked. “What’s the matter?”

How was he supposed to explain this?

Was he supposed to say that Song Yize was the male lead, and he just wanted to borrow a bit of his protagonist’s halo?

How crazy ah.

“Uh, actually, he’s my gege. My real gege,” Ning Xi lied without hesitation.

The female doctor blinked. “Your insurance record says you’re an only child ah.”

“…” Ning Xi was speechless ah. The more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt. In the end, he could only mutter, “I’m scared of needles. I just want him to accompany me.”

The doctor suddenly chuckled, covering her mouth as her tone lifted in amusement. “Ya, is he your boyfriend?”

“…”

This novel was actually so open?

Ning Xi watched helplessly as the intern nurse botched the third attempt. The pain made him furrow his brows, and he finally couldn’t hold back any longer. He broke the pot and said, “Yes, yes, yes, he’s my boyfriend. Please, just call him back.”

To make it more convincing, he even added, “I can’t do without him.”

The female doctor’s face lit up with delight. “Alright, alright, I’ll go get him…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Song Yize appeared at the doorway, holding a bowl of plain congee.

The moment his eyes landed on the female doctor, his pupils noticeably widened.

A joyous occasion! As soon as Song Yize appeared, the intern nurse finally managed to insert the needle properly into Ning Xi’s vein.

But what came next was far more devastating than the physical pain—an emotional, soul-crushing thunderstrike.

Song Yize stepped into the ward, placed the congee on the bedside table, turned around to look at the female doctor, and calmly said—

“Mom, what are you doing here?”