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Chapter 41
“Could it be that you’ve finally realized you like me a little?”
A sentence filled with numerous qualifiers, framed as a question.
It carried a hint of nervousness and sincerity that Ji Wenchen himself hadn’t even noticed.
The pale golden autumn sunlight streamed in through the window, flowing along Ji Wenchen’s hair tips, casting a faint glow over his long eyelashes.
His eyes were like deep pools under a clear sky.
His heartbeat suddenly became rapid.
Qin Xiaoxiao found it a bit hard to withstand that gaze and looked somewhat flusteredly toward the yellowed wall.
“You…”
Knock, knock—
Following the sound of knocking, the school doctor, who appeared to be in her fifties, entered. “Here, this is two days’ worth of medicine.”
Unaware that she had interrupted a moment of budding romance, she handed the bag of medicine to the male classmate and turned to the pale female classmate lying on the bed. “Is your stomach currently empty?”
Qin Xiaoxiao, with her eyes lowered, shook her head.
“Not empty, then you can take one dose of medicine now. Male classmate—go and fetch her a cup of warm water.”
Ji Wenchen gave Qin Xiaoxiao, who had turned her face away, a deep look before heading out to fetch the water as instructed.
The hand resting on her abdomen moved to her left chest, and Qin Xiaoxiao pressed down slightly with some force.
Her heart was still beating a little too fast.
Even her ears felt a bit warm.
It must be because of the illness, definitely because of her weakened immune system…
The water dispenser in the school infirmary wasn’t working. Ji Wenchen turned it on and leaned against the wall, waiting for the water to boil.
The hand in his pocket fiddled with a lighter, his mind replaying the scene from just a minute ago.
The word “you” at the beginning—what was she about to say…
—You’re right?
—You’re overthinking it?
Ji Wenchen tugged slightly at the corner of his mouth. No matter how he looked at it, the latter seemed more like something she would say.
Let’s just assume she’s a little liar who loves pretending to be calm.
When Ji Wenchen came in holding the cup of water, he saw Qin Xiaoxiao pressing on her abdomen with a frown.
“Does it hurt a lot?”
Qin Xiaoxiao bit her lip and shook her head, too drained to speak.
In her previous life of over twenty years, plus the half-year since coming here, this was the first time she realized how painful menstrual cramps could be.
She propped herself up on the bed with one hand and said weakly, “Water…” Give it to me.
Ji Wenchen held the cup of water steadily, while his other hand opened the bag and tore open a pack of medicine.
He handed her the medicine, along with the wrapper, right in front of her.
Qin Xiaoxiao took the medicine with her left hand, reaching forward with her right. “Water…”
“I’ll hold it for you,” Ji Wenchen said, standing by her bedside. “So it doesn’t spill.”
“…” Qin Xiaoxiao silently protested.
“Hurry up and take it, or do you want me to feed the medicine directly into your mouth?”
Qin Xiaoxiao, feeling a bit helpless, poured half of the medicine into her mouth.
The cup of water was promptly brought to her lips. She took a sip—the temperature was just right—and swallowed the pills.
And just like that, she finished the packet of medicine.
There was still about a third of the water left in the cup.
“Do you want more?” Ji Wenchen asked, shaking the cup slightly.
Qin Xiaoxiao nodded.
She had already been fed twice, so one more time wouldn’t make a difference.
Maintaining an air of composure, she drank the rest of the water from his hand.
Whether it was the medicine working quickly or something else, Qin Xiaoxiao felt the dull pain in her lower abdomen ease a little.
“What time is it now?” Her voice was still weak and feeble.
Ji Wenchen took out his phone. “Nine thirty-seven.”
This class had already wasted twelve minutes.
Ji Wenchen noticed her intention to get out of bed and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Lie down a little longer.”
The warmth of his hand, with just the right amount of pressure, rested on her shoulder. Qin Xiaoxiao lifted her eyelashes and looked at him.
“This period is Old Wu’s class. Are you sure you want to go in halfway?” Ji Wenchen leaned down slightly, his deep amber eyes almost level with her almond-shaped ones, catching a faint, subtle fragrance from her. “You’ve already missed half the class. Might as well wait until it’s over, hmm?”
Qin Xiaoxiao pressed her lips together lightly. “…Fine.” The main issue was that he wouldn’t take his hand off her shoulder, and she didn’t have the strength to push him away or bypass him to run back to the classroom.
By the time the class ended, the pain in her abdomen had mostly subsided.
She firmly refused Ji Wenchen’s suggestion to carry her back to the classroom.
Ji Wenchen shrugged slightly, a hint of regret in his expression, and followed behind her as they returned to class.
…
After the fourth period ended, Feng Maoxing ran up to the fifth floor with a thermos in hand.
There were a few senior students from Class 8 in the hallway.
“Senior, could you help me call—”
“Call Qin Xiaoxiao, right?”
“Wait! Hold on, maybe don’t call her after all.” Feng Maoxing scratched the back of his head. Since his cousin wasn’t feeling well, it was better not to make her come out.
Just as Feng Maoxing was about to ask the senior to take the thermos to Qin Xiaoxiao, he saw Yang Min coming out of the front door of the classroom. His eyes lit up. “Senior Yang Min!”
That shout almost made Yang Min’s heart skip a beat.
She tried hard to control the corners of her lips that always seemed to lift when facing him, responding as gracefully as possible, “Junior, are you here to see Xiaoxiao?”
Feng Maoxing nodded, then shook his head. “Please help me give this to Xiaoxiao.”
“Sure,” Yang Min agreed without hesitation. How could she refuse?
The junior hadn’t come up to see Qin Xiaoxiao for a while, and Yang Min felt like she hadn’t seen him in days. She wanted to ask about his hand again, “Your—”
“I’ll get going now. Thanks, Senior!” Feng Maoxing raised his uninjured hand, waved, and quickly left.
Yang Min took a step forward, “That…” Her words turned into a soft sigh of disappointment.
While holding the thermos, Yang Min stood in place for a few seconds before feeling happy again: the junior had called her by name today and even said two sentences to her. It was a pretty good morning.
Ah, she needed to deliver the thermos to Xiaoxiao.
After turning around, Yang Min saw Bi Chun standing at the water dispenser, filling her cup.
She felt even happier at the thought: the junior hadn’t called Bi Chun or greeted her but had chosen to call her instead.
As Yang Min passed by Bi Chun, she noticed that Bi Chun, with her eyes lowered, seemed a bit off.
But that had nothing to do with her.
Although the school bully sitting beside Xiaoxiao made Yang Min a bit nervous, she mustered up the courage to approach Qin Xiaoxiao’s desk, remembering that this was a task entrusted to her by the junior.
“Xiaoxiao,” Yang Min subconsciously lowered her voice due to the school bully’s intimidating presence, “this is from the junior for you.”
“Feng Maoxing?”
“Yeah.” Yang Min placed the thermos on Qin Xiaoxiao’s desk.
She glanced at Qin Xiaoxiao’s somewhat pale face. “Are you feeling better now? What did the school doctor say?”
“Much better, nothing serious.”
“Oh, okay, then I’ll get going.” Yang Min didn’t dare linger there any longer.
Qin Xiaoxiao, who had little strength left, made a small effort to open the thermos her cousin had sent over. The warm aroma of brown sugar wafted out.
She chuckled softly, closed the lid, and placed the thermos next to her own cup.
Her cup was already filled with brown sugar ginger tea—she had no idea where her deskmate had managed to get it.
Under her jacket, there was also a hot water bottle pressed against her abdomen—something else her deskmate had provided.
By Friday morning, Qin Xiaoxiao’s condition had mostly recovered.
Feng Maoxing hadn’t come upstairs these past two days.
During the break, Qin Xiaoxiao grabbed his thermos and went downstairs to look for him.
Qin Xiaoxiao rarely went to her cousin’s classroom, but every time she did, she always attracted the attention of the juniors in the hallway.
“Excuse me, could you please call Feng Maoxing for me?” she asked.
“Ah…” The girl, who had been quietly admiring the famous, beautiful senior, was caught off guard when their eyes met. Flustered and a bit embarrassed, she quickly replied, “Ah, okay, I’ll call him for you.”
“Thank you,” Qin Xiaoxiao said with a polite smile.
She’s so beautiful and elegant! And so gentle… The girl, feeling a bit dazed, walked toward the window. “Feng Maoxing, Qin… someone’s looking for you!”
“Who is it?” Feng Maoxing muttered as he glanced outside.
Seeing the familiar figure, his starry eyes immediately curved into a smile. Hastily closing the comic magazine on his desk, he got up and walked out of the classroom.
“Xiaoxiao, are you…” Feng Maoxing asked with concern, “Is it still hurting?”
Qin Xiaoxiao smiled and shook her head. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“That’s good.”
“You don’t want your thermos anymore?” Qin Xiaoxiao asked casually, shaking the thermos in her hand.
Feng Maoxing easily took the thermos from his cousin’s hand. “Of course I do.”
“Then why didn’t you come to get it these past two days?” Qin Xiaoxiao said with a smile.
“I…” Feng Maoxing scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
He had wanted to go find his cousin, but the thought of running into Bi Chun made him feel a bit awkward.
Just over a week ago, Bi Chun had confessed her feelings to him on QQ—the messaging app she had added him on earlier when borrowing his library card.
He didn’t have that kind of interest in Bi Chun, so without much thought, he rejected her message outright.
Recalling how his cousin had once asked him, “Do you like Bi Chun?” Feng Maoxing started to wonder if he had somehow given Bi Chun unnecessary hope—even though he had spent dozens of minutes reflecting and couldn’t identify any behavior of his that could be considered ambiguous.
In any case, he decided to decisively distance himself from Bi Chun.
“Hmm?” Qin Xiaoxiao looked at her cousin, who had been hesitating for quite a while.
“Uh… it’s nothing.”
Feng Maoxing decided not to mention the confession.
No matter what, he felt this kind of thing shouldn’t be used as a topic of conversation. In his view, everyone’s feelings deserved respect.
“Alright, I’m heading back upstairs,” he said.
“Wait, do you want to have lunch with me at noon?” Feng Maoxing asked.
“Sure.”
“Then I won’t go upstairs to find you. I’ll wait for you downstairs.”
Perhaps because he had never been in a relationship before, every time Feng Maoxing rejected a girl, he would feel awkward for at least half a month whenever he saw her.
To avoid the awkwardness, he would deliberately reduce the chances of running into the person who had confessed to him.
Feng Maoxing added, “I’ll wait for you at the west staircase.”
Qin Xiaoxiao, unsure why her cousin chose the farther west staircase, replied, “Alright then.”
…
“Impressive, huh, Ah Chen? Did Junior Xiaoxiao fall for you after your princess carry?”
“…Are you this free?”
“Even if I’m not, I had to call you, brother! You have no idea how surprised I was when I saw that post with those two pictures this morning—”
Beep beep beep—
“Hey, hey, hey?”
“What the—he actually hung up on me!”
Jiang Zhousi ruffled his messy, sleep-tousled hair and dialed Ji Wenchen’s international number again.
“Don’t hang up on me, brother. I’m happy for you, okay? After all, I’m your strategist, aren’t I?”
“I’m busy right now.”
“Isn’t it Saturday night? If I’m not mistaken, this week is your bi-weekly break, right?” Jiang Zhousi recalled the strange news shared by alumni from Second High on the forum. “Don’t tell me you’re studying?”
“Why not?”
“You’re kidding me, right, brother? You…”
Ji Wenchen didn’t think Jiang Zhousi had any real reason to call him, so he hung up again.
He had indeed been doing homework earlier but now needed to head out to visit his grandfather.
He didn’t have time to chat idly with Jiang Zhousi.
A little over ten minutes later, he arrived at a VIP ward in a private hospital in Guangjian City.
“Have you had dinner?” The elderly man, still energetic, set down the report and looked at his grandson as he walked in.
Ji Wenchen placed a basket of fruit on the spacious table. “I’ve already eaten. What about you?”
“I ate a long time ago. I’ve told you not to bring things here. I can’t finish them, and they just pile up and take up space.”
“Hmm.”
Ji Kunxiong lifted the thin blanket and got out of bed. “No need to help me.” He brushed aside his grandson’s hand as Ji Wenchen stepped forward to assist.
“My body has been fine for a long time.” He walked over to the table and picked up a mandarin orange.
Ji Wenchen, still a bit worried, followed closely behind his grandfather, maintaining a half-meter distance.
“Quite sweet,” Ji Kunxiong said as he chewed on a segment of the mandarin, casually adding, “Sweeter than the ones your father brought.”
Ji Wenchen lowered his eyes slightly, staying silent.
After finishing the mandarin, Ji Kunxiong took a wet wipe to clean his hands. Then, he turned around and asked, “Did your father take… that person to the house in Shengjin Bay?”
Shengjin Bay was the villa where Ji Wenchen had always lived.
“No,” he replied.
Ji Kunxiong nodded and, with some difficulty, made his way back to the bed. “Not completely muddle-headed yet.”
“Grandfather,” Ji Wenchen said softly, “they…”
As he spoke, Ji Wenchen recalled Qin Xiaoxiao’s gentle words echoing in his ears: “If you can’t control it, then simply let it go.”
“They’re not worth your frustration or anger.”
Ji Kunxiong sighed and looked at his grandson. “You’re right. But I stopped bothering with them a long time ago.”
He felt that what his son had done was improper and prone to criticism, but, “Your father hasn’t wronged your uncle—I’m sure of that. He only got involved with… that person in the past six months.”
“As long as that person doesn’t harbor any inappropriate intentions or covet things they shouldn’t, let them be.”
Ji Kunxiong continued, “Wenchen, I’ve already transferred all my shares to you.”
“Grandfather, you…”
Ji Kunxiong raised his hand to stop Ji Wenchen from speaking. “You now hold the largest share of the company. As for the portion in your father’s hands, it doesn’t matter whether he gives it to you in the future or not. Wenchen, in a few days, you should start going to the company and learning to handle the affairs.”
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Avrora[Translator]
Hello, I'm Avrora (≧▽≦) Thank you very much for your support. ❤️ Your support will help me buy the raw novel from the official site (Jjwxc/GongziCp/Others) to support the Author. It's also given me more motivation to translate more novels for our happy future! My lovely readers, I hope you enjoy the story as much as I do.(≧▽≦) Ps: Feel free to point out if there is any wrong grammar or anything else in my translation! (≧▽≦) Thank you 😘