Chapter 4: Now She Was Sure…

Bit by bit, she was invading the space he had set aside in advance, a space he thought was safe enough.

Although Fang Fuyi said that Sheng Sui wasn’t the same as before, deep down, she knew that at his core, he hadn’t really changed much.

You could tell just from the fact that, even when he was struggling himself, he still fed stray cats.

She trusted her own judgment.

If Sheng Sui were truly someone she couldn’t count on, there wouldn’t be any need for explanations—she would have walked away herself.

It was precisely because Fang Fuyi knew what kind of person Sheng Sui was that she chose to lay everything bare, without hiding a thing.

She knew he had a soft heart. So she used that to her advantage, tying a rope between them—one that would bind them tightly together. She let him understand her situation, turning him into her accomplice, making him someone in the same boat as her. That way, in the end, he’d no longer be able to find a reason to push her away.

The rain had washed the window until it was sparkling clean. A faint light peeked through the small gap in the curtain.

Her long lashes cast shadows on her face, her cheeks were squished together, and that almost too-perfect face was now pressed tightly against his chest.

At this moment, his heartbeat grew stronger and warmer.

The reason, of course, was the girl in his arms.

Sheng Sui lowered his eyes. When he noticed the steady breathing from above, he realized that Fang Fuyi, having vented all her emotions, had somehow fallen asleep.

She was always so full of life, constantly moving, like she had endless energy all day long. But now, asleep, she seemed soft and quiet—like a wind-up toy that had suddenly lost its batteries.

That sudden silence was a little hard to get used to.

The places she had touched were still faintly hot. Sheng Sui gently carried her back to bed, tucked the blanket around her, then sat by her side for a while before lying back down on the blanket he’d laid out on the floor.

The girl in bed had thrown all her troubles onto someone willing to clean up the mess for her—and she was sleeping soundly.

The veins on the back of his hand bulged, and his fist clenched tightly, making cracking sounds. But Sheng Sui felt no trace of sleepiness.

He let out a long breath, feeling uneasy inside.

He kept replaying Fang Fuyi’s words in his mind, imagining all kinds of scenes to match what she had described. Just the thought of those scenarios made him feel unbearably frustrated—so angry he could hardly stand it.

He tried hard to calm himself down, telling himself that now wasn’t the time to act on impulse, but no matter how many times he tossed and turned, he couldn’t fall asleep.

The new school term was about to begin.

They were both attending local universities.

Fang Fuyi was in her third year at an art college.

Sheng Sui was studying engineering and was about to start his senior year.

He had actually taken a leave of absence starting from the second semester of his junior year. Fortunately, his professors were aware of his family situation, and the school was understanding enough to allow him to self-study and take exams—so he could still rejoin his original classmates when the new semester began.

He quietly calculated the money he had on hand. It had been manageable when he was supporting only himself, but now there was someone else to consider. Just their combined tuition alone was a significant expense—not to mention food, housing, daily necessities… everything cost money.

In the pitch-dark room, the light from his phone screen was glaringly bright.

On the screen was a chat history with Uncle Zhang.

Sheng Sui stared blankly at the WeChat contact Uncle Zhang had just sent him. He knew that if he wanted a stable life, he needed more money. At the very least, his current savings weren’t nearly enough to support both himself and Fang Fuyi.

—

It was unclear when the storm had stopped.

By dawn the next morning, the sun was already high in the sky. After the heavy rain, the weather had cleared—it unexpectedly turned into a beautiful day.

When Fang Fuyi woke up, she immediately felt something was off. Her head was foggy, her throat sore, her limbs ached, and her whole body felt hot and weak—she couldn’t summon any energy at all.

After covering her forehead with her hand for the third time, she came to a conclusion: she probably had a fever.

She cautiously opened one eye to scan her surroundings. The bed beside her was empty, and the blanket on the floor had been neatly packed away.

There was no sign of Sheng Sui anywhere. But when she turned her head toward the window, she saw the clothes she’d changed out of yesterday washed and hanging on the balcony to dry. Next to her pale yellow dress were a man’s T-shirt and long pants—two different colors overlapping, the hems swaying gently in the wind.

Even though nightlife was sparse in S City, the city always woke up early.

Street vendors shouting, the bustle of early morning commerce—the city was already full of life.

Just as she sat halfway up, wanting to check outside and see if she could find Sheng Sui, she heard a rustling sound at the door—the click of a key sliding into the lock.

Fang Fuyi froze. Afraid that Sheng Sui might ask her to leave, she instinctively lay back down and shut her eyes, pretending to be asleep.

But the moment she did, she hated herself for being such a coward so quickly.

She didn’t believe Sheng Sui would really kick her out.

With her vision shut off, her hearing grew especially sharp.

She could vaguely smell the aroma of food.

She heard his footsteps approaching, felt him enter the room and check on her, then slowly walk out again. Finally, his footsteps stopped in the same spot where they had dinner the night before.

Fang Fuyi opened her eyes just a crack and peeked through the curtain, which didn’t fully block her view.

On the table were a bunch of items—breakfast and fresh vegetables just bought from the market. All of it had just been brought in from outside.

Sheng Sui sat at the table, long legs bent, his expression weary and relaxed. He lowered his head slightly, neither moving nor eating. He just sat there alone, silently, lost in thought.

He didn’t wake her up. Was it because he wanted her to sleep longer, or was it because of what happened yesterday, and he didn’t want to communicate with her? Fang Fuyi wondered. Last night, not only had she scolded him, but she had also hit him with her fist. She couldn’t tell if he would hold a grudge or if he would be angry about it.

However, from what she remembered, Sheng Sui wasn’t the type of person to hold grudges.

If he were, why would he wash her clothes and even buy breakfast early in the morning?

The early morning light filtered through the treetops, with scattered spots of sunlight falling on the windowsill.

As Fang Fuyi pretended to be half-asleep, she thought about how to wake up in the most natural way, when she heard Sheng Sui’s footsteps.

She heard him first go into the kitchen to put the vegetables he bought away, then he circled back and hesitated before entering the bedroom. His footsteps finally stopped in front of the bed.

The hot summer air was engulfed by confusion.

The sound of cicadas outside mixed with the hot wind.

There was no movement for a long while.

Only the noise from outside continued, so long that Fang Fuyi almost thought he had left.

However, just as she was about to open her eyes to check, a cold, woody scent wafted into her nostrils.

She hadn’t expected him to be so in sync.

Her heartbeat slowed for a moment, and the noise gradually faded. As she opened her eyes, the man also leaned over.

Their eyes met.

At this moment, Sheng Sui completely filled her vision.

His narrow eyes, dark pupils, and that handsome face were enlarged infinitely, everything so clear that she could see the dark circles under his eyes and even the reflection of herself in his eyes.

“Mm… what’s wrong? Didn’t sleep well last night? Those dark circles… did you sneak off to steal chickens or rob a bank?”

“Don’t move.”

He immediately noticed something was off.

He pushed his messy bangs back and, seeing her face flushed with fever, his large, calloused hand gently touched her forehead.

Sheng Sui’s palm was warm, but clearly, Fang Fuyi’s forehead felt even hotter.

Knowing she had been caught in the rain, he had made her some hot ginger soup the night before, and had even gotten up several times to cover her with a blanket. He was afraid she might get sick. Yet, despite all his efforts, the one thing he dreaded the most had happened.

“You’re burning up? Are you running a fever?” Worried, he forgot to maintain any distance. Furrowing his brow, he touched her forehead again, then quickly tested his own forehead, repeating the process a few times. “Do you feel unwell anywhere?”

When a person is weak, their reactions to external stimuli become more pronounced.

It seemed she hadn’t fully processed that the man was so close to her.

“Uh… I’m… I’m fine. It’s just… you suddenly came so close, you startled me.” Once she sensed his actions and heard his voice, her mind seemed to stop working for a moment—like her brain had just crashed.

Her heart was racing, and there was a buzzing in her ears.

Fang Fuyi stared into Sheng Sui’s eyes, feeling dizzy, her mind in a tangled mess. Only then did she realize that she really was running a fever.