What did she think of it? The way he asked that question…

Remembering his cunning questions on her birthday night, this time, Sheng Xia struggled to regain her ability to think clearly, not wanting to be led in circles by him again.

[From now on, I’ll only listen to your confessions…]

But did this count as her confession? She couldn’t ask that out loud – what if he immediately demanded a confession?

[I’ll only give you flowers and necklaces…]

Flowers were fine.

“Skip the necklace,” Sheng Xia mumbled, “it’s too expensive.”

Zhang Shu hadn’t expected this response. His heart softened, but then he suddenly felt something was off. “Give her a necklace? Who?”

Seeing his reaction, Sheng Xia wondered if she had misunderstood again.

“I’ve only ever given my sister necklaces. Are you jealous of that too?” Zhang Shu asked incredulously. After a brief thought, he said, “Fine then, once she has a man to give her necklaces, I’ll give her other things. I won’t give necklaces anymore, okay?”

So that’s what it was…

Sheng Xia felt a bit embarrassed. Was this what they called groundless jealousy?

Wanting to quickly change the subject, she continued: “The one-meter distance rule isn’t necessary either… People will need to ask you questions…”

After all, they couldn’t shout questions and answers from a meter away, could they?

Zhang Shu: “From now on, no other girls will come to me with questions, except for Xin Xiaohe. Trust me.”

Sheng Xia asked puzzled: “Why?”

Zhang Shu raised his eyebrows, speaking casually: “Who would be so blind not to see that this grass has an owner?”

These words – ‘grass has an owner’ – seemed electrically charged. Sheng Xia’s fingertips trembled slightly, and her entire hand slipped out of his palm.

Zhang Shu looked at her shy expression, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

That phrase wasn’t too much, was it?

Even this level wasn’t acceptable?

Sheng Xia also felt her reaction was a bit extreme. Suddenly withdrawing her hand seemed like rejection. Unsure if she had unintentionally hurt him again, she awkwardly looked up, searching for something to say: “Then why would Xin Xiaohe still ask?”

Zhang Shu looked at the ceiling, smiling.

How should he put this?

She’s your family, so she has the confidence, you silly girl.

He definitely couldn’t say that – she’d probably run away immediately if she heard it.

Zhang Shu lowered his head to look at her spring-clear eyes and asked: “Sheng Xia, with all those romantic poems and verses you study, didn’t they teach you how to date?”

Sheng Xia: …

A knock at the door rescued Sheng Xia as a nurse pushed in a small cart.

Sheng Xia stood up to make room, casually saying in a low voice: “Time for your medicine.”

After saying it, she noticed Zhang Shu’s face stiffen, and only then did she realize how her words, coming so shortly after his question, sounded like she was answering him – implying he was sick in the head.

Zhang Shu gave a short laugh, giving her a deep look that seemed to say – just wait.

“You seem in good spirits today, Zhang Shu,” the nurse teased.

Zhang Shu: “Not bad.”

“Still need to take your medicine and get your shot though.”

The nurse used the bottle cap to hold the pills, placing them in Zhang Shu’s palm. Seeing that the care worker wasn’t around, Sheng Xia came over to help, taking a disposable paper cup to pour water for Zhang Shu. She first poured a little hot water, then added some room-temperature purified water, checking that the temperature was suitable before handing it to him.

The nurse stood by with smiling eyes: “Your classmate is so thoughtful, isn’t she, Zhang Shu?”

There was unmistakable teasing in her tone.

Sheng Xia lowered her head slightly. Zhang Shu smiled and took the water, “Just a classmate? Sister Ting, why don’t you take another good look?”

With that, he tossed the palmful of pills into his throat and gulped down the water, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

The nurse’s gaze wandered between their faces as she pretended to ponder for a long time before saying: “Hmm… your sister perhaps? You do look alike!”

Cough cough!

Zhang Shu suddenly burst into violent coughing. Having swallowed all the pills at once, the choking fit made his face turn red and his neck flush.

Sheng Xia hurriedly went over to pat his back and help him catch his breath.

Zhang Shu recovered somewhat and glared at the nurse: “Shut up.”

The nurse giggled, organizing the medicine bottles and pushing the cart out, muttering: “Oh my, don’t get excited, I meant you have the look of a married couple!”

Sheng Xia: …

At this point, Zhang Sujin returned, actually carrying cut fruit and yogurt, which she opened for Sheng Xia to eat.

Sheng Xia: “You didn’t have to, I’m leaving soon.”

Zhang Sujin: “Have some, I already bought it.”

Sheng Xia quietly ate the fruit cup.

A phone vibrated – it was Sheng Xia’s.

Wang Lianhua called, saying she was downstairs to pick her up for class.

Sheng Xia stood up, “My mom’s here, I have to go to class…”

She felt a bit embarrassed to mention it.

However, this time, Zhang Shu didn’t seem unhappy about it, only saying: “Sis, can you walk her down?”

“Okay.”

“No need, I can go down by myself.”

Zhang Shu: “You probably won’t find the way.”

Sheng Xia: …

It wasn’t that dramatic, was it? She’d been here twice already and remembered how to get out, even if it was quite a maze.

As she reached the door, she heard Zhang Shu ask from behind: “When will you come next time?”

Sheng Xia turned back. She didn’t know when Wang Lianhua would let her come again. “As soon as I can. Take good care of yourself.”

“You promised.”

On her way, she received a message from “Song Jiang.”

It was a long message – she’d never seen him write such a long message on QQ before.

“I didn’t get to tell you earlier – thank you for your hard work, for enduring and trying so hard all this time. Also, I’m sorry I didn’t see your efforts, wasn’t there to cheer you on when you were working so hard, and even said some cold things. I’m sorry. I said before that with how hard you work, you couldn’t possibly get bad results. But if it comes to the worst outcome, even if you do go abroad, I’d be okay with that. I’ll earn money at university, visit you during holidays, maybe even try to arrange an exchange there. If that doesn’t work, I’ll take the graduate school exam to study in America if you need me to. I take back what I said about stopping here, but I still hope you have a bright future ahead. I don’t want to be just an observer – I want to be the one giving you flowers and blessings if you need me to.”

“Do you need me, Sheng Xia?”

Sheng Xia was stunned, reading it over several times.

His writing was still the same, nothing particularly literary, even repetitive and wordy.

But reading it made her heart clench.

The bright and proud young man, putting himself in the position of a beggar, repeatedly saying “If you need me.”

Sheng Xia couldn’t help but imagine how he looked right now.

He was probably half-lying in the hospital bed, earnestly typing on his phone, anxiously waiting for a reply. Would he, like her, keep watching their chat window as the phone screen lit up and dimmed, dimmed and lit up?

Would he frown because he couldn’t get a reply?

Would he bite his lip while choosing his words?

This was torture.

She’d only just left, but she already missed him terribly.

Even when they reached their destination and Wang Lianhua called her to get out of the car, Sheng Xia hadn’t come back to her senses.

She got out with an “oh,” entered the building, and arrived at the classroom.

The teacher started the lesson, but her mind was still wandering.

How should she reply?

For the first time, Sheng Xia, usually so full of literary expressions, found herself at a loss for words.

She didn’t know what kind of language could convey the same depth of sincerity.

By the time she got home after class, the other side seemed to have finally run out of patience and sent a question mark.

This question mark made Sheng Xia feel more at ease.

Zhang Shu was still Zhang Shu, the domineering Zhang Shu.

Since it was a confession, he naturally needed an answer.

Sheng Xia remembered him teasing her about whether poetry and literature hadn’t taught her how to date.

She searched through her mind, picked a suitable line, and sent it back.

“Fortunate that your heart mirrors mine, surely we won’t fail this love.”

…

The busy routine of senior year three continued, especially for those who hadn’t done well in the first mock exam. Wang Wei had his heart-to-heart brother time every week.

She didn’t know how he managed to chat with over a dozen people in one evening, saying the same things over a dozen times.

But Sheng Xia genuinely felt the tension in these conversations.

Several subjects added weekly tests, making it feel like every day was spent taking exams.

They said that after taking so many tests, you become numb to it.

In the evenings at home, Sheng Xia would review her incorrect problems, and Zhang Shu would call her on voice chat. She could ask questions anytime.

Feeling this would affect his rest, she declined his voice calls.

“Then I won’t be able to sleep unless you come to see me,” he would bring up the old topic, asking almost daily when she would visit.

She wanted to go too, but with Wang Lianhua driving her everywhere, she had no chance unless she skipped class.

And he wouldn’t agree to that.

No way out.

Zhang Shu had also started reviewing his studies in the hospital, though he couldn’t sit up for long, which naturally made his efficiency very low. Hou Junqi often ran to the hospital to bring him recent test papers and materials.

Sheng Xia had heard others discussing him more than once in the water room, corridors, and during lunch breaks.

They talked about Zhang Shu’s bad luck, encountering such misfortune at this time – forget being a top scholar, they doubted he could even get into Heqing or Haiyan University now.

Someone from the experimental class spoke coldly: “Zhang Shu has wasted his good hand of cards. Why keep worrying about him? He’s not the only one who could be our school’s top scholar.”

This was hearsay – Sheng Xia didn’t know who specifically said it or where.

She only knew that Hou Junqi and Wu Pengcheng went to that person’s class and beat them up.

Both received disciplinary warnings.

She was very worried too.

The college entrance exam was an ongoing battle. Even with knowledge in your head, it was hard to get back in form after a long break.

At night, she often blamed herself – if she hadn’t kept going to Yifang Bookstore, he wouldn’t have gone either, and then this wouldn’t have happened.

Even now, with the incident’s heat dying down, people still posted daily well-wishes on Zhang Shu’s Weibo, hoping he’d win the top scholar position.

Many were from other schools.

Tao Zhizhi also said that whether at First High or Second High, many people were discussing this unfortunate potential top scholar.

Former potential top scholar.

Almost nobody had confidence in him now.

They just didn’t dare comment openly because he had done a good deed by helping others.

But Zhang Shu himself didn’t seem so anxious.

Sheng Xia tentatively asked: “Are you doing well with the test papers lately?”

“I can do them all, but without timing myself, I don’t know about efficiency,” he answered.

Sheng Xia: “Health comes first.”

Hearing her concern, he joked: “What if I fail the college entrance exam?”

“Tsk tsk tsk, slap your mouth,” Sheng Xia made exaggerated sounds, “That won’t happen.”

Zhang Shu then spoke seriously: “Alright, if you hope it won’t happen, then it definitely won’t.”

After a while, he added: “I can’t guarantee I’ll be a top scholar, but I promise my score will be enough, okay?”

He must have seen the online comments saying he couldn’t be a top scholar anymore.

“Enough” meant scoring high enough for Heqing University or Haiyan University.

To successfully go to Heyan.

Also, he seemed particularly fond of asking her if things were okay.

She had never said they weren’t. “If you say it’s okay, then it’s okay.”

Their conversations often felt like nested dolls, and there was one thing that upended Sheng Xia’s understanding – Zhang Shu had such an easy laugh, often breaking into uncontrollable laughter as they chatted.

Why wasn’t he like this before?

As he laughed until his stomach hurt, Sheng Xia would scold him: “Stop laughing, or I’m hanging up.”

He’d immediately compose himself: “Okay, no more laughing.”

Another ten days passed. Sheng Xia had mentioned visiting the hospital once to Wang Lianhua.

Wang Lianhua said: “He’s in stable recovery now, there’s nothing much to check on. Don’t trouble yourself.”

So she had to give up.

When she next video called Zhang Shu, she felt a bit guilty.

Last time she’d promised to visit soon, but it had dragged on for almost half a month.

If not… Sheng Xia suddenly had an idea: On the weekend, she could tell her mother she was going to Tao Zhizhi’s house, and then visit the hospital.

She just needed to coordinate with Tao Zhizhi beforehand.

Zhang Shu’s listless face appeared in the video.

Not saying a single word.

Dissatisfied.

Sheng Xia said: “You know my mom drives me everywhere.”

Zhang Shu certainly knew and had no way to help it, but he was unhappy and had no way to help that either, couldn’t control it.

She was right there in the video, the pixel quality was good, and she looked just like in real life, but it just wasn’t the same.

“Then I’ll do my problems first…” Since she couldn’t cheer him up anyway, Sheng Xia simply put her phone aside and started working on her test papers.

Zhang Shu finally showed some reaction, sitting up straight, seeing she wasn’t in high spirits today.

He asked: “What’s wrong, not happy?”

Sheng Xia looked up from her papers: “Yeah, my scores from two weekly tests were dangerous.”

Though the weekly test quality wasn’t that reliable as a reference, she knew her test-taking state, which was indeed much worse than before.

“With everything so complicated, what if I fail on both ends?” she murmured as if talking to herself.

Their questions were identical – they were both in danger now.

Zhang Shu didn’t comfort her with “that won’t happen” – it would be futile.

“There have been too many things lately, attention is scattered, it’s hard to get back in form,” Zhang Shu analyzed. “Study well, I’ll hang up first, call back if you have questions.”

Sheng Xia interrupted: “It’s not because of you.”

She wasn’t just reassuring him, it wasn’t because of him.

Sometimes with him watching at night, after she got used to his gaze, she would be more focused, afraid he’d catch her slacking off.

Zhang Shu: “You’re under too much pressure, relax a bit.”

“How can I relax at this point?”

Zhang Shu: “You do your problems first, I’ll send you a video in a bit.”

“Okay.”

She thought she’d receive some kind of “laugh for joy” type video, but it was one he recorded himself.

She opened it.

The scene wasn’t his hospital room, but another bed, like an on-duty dorm.

He was still half-sitting half-lying, in hospital clothes, holding a guitar, directing: “Okay, you can record.”

“Already started.” The one recording should be the care worker.

Why wasn’t he in his room? Could he get up now?

Probably afraid of disturbing others in the ward.

Zhang Shu couldn’t bend much, and his injured arm couldn’t move much either. With the guitar in his arms, his whole posture was a bit stiff.

He would occasionally frown slightly, probably from pain.

A nurse’s voice came from the side: “The chief doctor will kill me tomorrow for letting you do this…”

Zhang Shu straightened his chest, indicating he was fine, strummed his fingers to test the sound, then played a few chords.

He began to sing a gentle love song. The melody flowed from his lips, slow and magnetic, completely different from the rock song Sheng Xia had heard before.

That previous song had been wild and unrestrained as if the world belonged to him when he shouted.

But this one was very gentle as if soothing the world.

He had no special singing techniques, but his tone and pronunciation were enough.

Sheng Xia knew this song.

She also knew the chorus lyrics.

When he finally sang it, she found herself humming along—

[Content note: Song lyrics omitted for copyright reasons]

When he hit the high notes, he tilted his head slightly up, his profile different from the previous video.

He had lost weight, his jawline sharper, his cheeks completely hollow.

When singing a particularly meaningful line, he suddenly looked at the camera.

Thump, thump-thump…

Sheng Xia’s heart beat uncontrollably.

She received it.

Across a screen, she received the searching in his gaze.

Received his message of devotion.

[Content note: Additional song lyrics omitted]

Those risky dreams.

Let’s go crazy together.

Ah Shu, this wasn’t relaxing at all.

He wanted her to lie awake all night, thinking of him.