The emergency department was quite efficient, and it wasn’t long before Qian Wei’s turn came. Lu Xun went in with her.

“This is hives. If you’ve never had a reaction like this before, and there’s no family history, it might be something you ate that you’re allergic to, or it could be that you haven’t been sleeping well lately and your immune system is a bit off. I’ll prescribe you a topical cream for now—if the itching doesn’t stop with just that, then take this oral medication as well.” The female doctor was very patient, and after finishing, she glanced at Lu Xun. “Make sure to apply the cream regularly, and try to avoid scratching. Remind your girlfriend, otherwise a girl’s skin covered in rashes like this really isn’t a good look.”

“Understood, thank you, doctor. Since you mentioned it could be something she ate that caused the allergy, should we get an allergen test done?”

“If the hives haven’t gone away after half a month, come back to the hospital—that would mean it’s chronic hives, and at that point we’d need to do an allergen test to check. For now, there’s no need.”

Lu Xun nodded and glanced at Qian Wei. “I’ll go queue up to pay and get the medicine, then.”

The doctor watched Lu Xun’s retreating figure with a smile, then handed the medical record back to Qian Wei. “Your boyfriend is really handsome, and so thoughtful too—coming with you to the dermatology emergency room in the middle of the night, and he’s the only companion here who didn’t touch his phone the whole time. A guy like that is worth holding onto.”

Qian Wei felt a bit embarrassed. “Actually he’s not my boyfriend, just a classmate.”

The young female doctor gave her a knowing smile. “Then he definitely likes you.”

Qian Wei tried to explain further, but the doctor had already called the next patient. As she left, she gave Qian Wei a playful fist-pump gesture. “Good luck! Go get him! Don’t let this one slip away!”

Qian Wei naturally didn’t take the doctor’s teasing seriously—Lu Xun’s type was someone as perfectly flawless as Mo Zixin. With how impossibly high his standards were, someone like her wouldn’t even register on his radar. Besides, she’d already asked that foolish question earlier and been shot down flat, so she wasn’t about to keep flattering herself. But precisely because she was so sure Lu Xun would never like her, even after all the awkward moments between them, Qian Wei could still get along with him without a second thought.

On the ride back, the sky had already begun to lighten faintly. Qian Wei looked over at Lu Xun beside her, unreadable as ever, his features bathed in a faint golden glow, his overly handsome face softened and made all the more real by it. She felt genuinely grateful for him accompanying her to see a doctor in the middle of the night like this, and quietly resolved to herself: she would definitely help him win over Mo Zixin, would definitely make sure Lu Xun didn’t end up a lonely bachelor still single at thirty. He liked children so much, she absolutely had to help him get married and have kids early, so he could experience the warmth of family instead of turning into someone whose whole life revolved around nothing but overtime work. Qian Wei, keep it up!

“Lu Xun, you know, to thank you for staying up so late with me to see the doctor, I’ve decided to do something to repay you. Do you have any wishes lately? As long as it’s reasonable and legal, I’ll do my best to make it happen.”

“I do.” To Qian Wei’s surprise, Lu Xun actually engaged with her question this time instead of ignoring it.

“What is it, what is it?”

“That seat of mine at the library—please stop arranging for Mo Zixin to sit there anymore.”

Qian Wei was rather surprised. “Why? Isn’t the whole point of you going to the library to run into Mo Zixin? I went out of my way to arrange for you two to be together out of good will—do you know how hard it is to find a quiet, secluded spot with just two seats at a table in that library?”

Lu Xun shot her a cold glance. “Who told you I go to the library to run into Mo Zixin?”

“Didn’t you say you never used to go to the library to study? If it’s not to see Mo Zixin, then why do you go?”

“To sleep.”

“Huh???”

Lu Xun frowned. “The dorm’s been too hot lately, and a few of my roommates like to play cards, it’s pretty noisy. The library has air conditioning and it’s quiet, perfect for napping.”

“…”

“So I don’t want anyone else coming to disturb my nap.”

“You can just keep napping, can’t you? Mo Zixin’s always very quiet whenever she comes to study at the library, how could she possibly disturb you?” Qian Wei tried to reassure him. “You don’t need to feel embarrassed about napping in front of Mo Zixin either—even if you’re asleep, at least you’re showing up in front of her, which counts as making an impression. And besides, sometimes sitting quietly together in a library like that can actually stir up some romantic tension between two people.”

“Her perfume is too strong. It messes up my sleep.”

“…”

In that moment, Qian Wei felt a wave of profound admiration for Lu Xun. Lu Xun, oh Lu Xun, it’s really no wonder you were still unmarried and hadn’t won over Mo Zixin by the time you turned thirty—you’ve genuinely earned that single status through sheer skill.

By the time Qian Wei and Lu Xun made it back to the treehouse, Qian Chuan and Liu Shiyun were both still sound asleep.

“Remember to apply the cream.” Lu Xun tossed the bag of medicine he’d been carrying the whole way to Qian Wei, then opened the door and went inside. Qian Wei crept quietly upstairs too, quickly applied the cream, and lay down to catch some more sleep.

That sleep didn’t last long before it was time to get up and start the day’s activities.

“There are so many activities at this forest park I want to try!” Liu Shiyun was already up early, studying the forest park’s activity brochure. “Horseback riding, the forest mini-train, those sound like a lot of rustic fun; rock climbing, bungee jumping, those are pretty thrilling too. There are also tons of water activities here, bamboo rafting, whitewater rafting—I don’t want to miss a single one, what do I do!”

Compared to Liu Shiyun’s high energy, Qian Wei looked considerably more listless. After applying the cream, her hives had mostly cleared up, but the severe lack of sleep left her uninterested in anything.

“Let’s go for the whitewater rafting first! This one’s highly recommended, everyone says it’s especially thrilling and fun.”

Unlike yesterday at the theme park, today’s activities at the forest resort had the whole group moving together. Qian Wei had no objections and followed along with everyone to get ready for the rafting.

Along the way, Qian Chuan was still in high spirits, telling Mo Zixin all sorts of jokes and funny stories, making her laugh nonstop.

“Oh right, speaking of funny things, I had the strangest dream last night. I dreamed Qian Wei came knocking on our door in the middle of the night, shouting something about cracking down on illegal activity, and dragged Lu Xun out with her in the middle of the night! And then, get this, I actually woke up in the middle of the night and Lu Xun really wasn’t there! I’d had some beer last night, and once I sobered up I couldn’t fall back asleep, so I waited for Lu Xun for a long while but he never came back. I finally couldn’t hold out and fell back asleep, and by the time I woke up again, he was back.” Qian Chuan chuckled a couple of times, eyeing Lu Xun. “I noticed you kept yawning earlier—looks like you really didn’t sleep well last night. Where’d you actually run off to in the middle of the night?”

Lu Xun’s expression stayed perfectly calm, his voice equally unbothered: “Ask Qian Wei where I went—wasn’t I helping her crack down on illegal activity?”

Qian Wei tensed up a little at first—even though she and Lu Xun hadn’t actually done anything, sneaking out together alone in the middle of the night as an unmarried man and woman was bound to look suspicious. Qian Wei worried it might create some unnecessary misunderstanding with Mo Zixin around, and inwardly groaned—didn’t Lu Xun understand the concept of a harmless little white lie? Did he really have to tell the truth?

But to her surprise, Qian Chuan burst out laughing at Lu Xun’s answer: “I was just joking, there’s no way you’d actually go out with Qian Wei in the middle of the night. Not to put her down, but she’s not exactly got that kind of pull to drag a guy out of bed at midnight.” After saying this, he even shot Qian Wei an infuriatingly smug grin. “Honestly, I have no idea when our dear Qian Wei is ever going to find a boyfriend and finally stop tormenting me.” The way he said it made it sound like Qian Wei simply couldn’t find a boyfriend at all.

Qian Wei was furious—if it weren’t for Mo Zixin being right there, she would have loved nothing more than to set the record straight on the spot: not only had she, the great Qian Wei, dragged a man out of bed in the middle of the night, she’d even gotten him to accompany her all the way to the hospital! Let’s see you believe that—that’s the personal charisma of yours truly right there!

“Come on, everyone put on your life jackets, we’re getting on the rafts!”

Fortunately, the group finally arrived at the starting point for the rafting activity. Qian Wei put on her life jacket along with everyone else, and the group split into two rafts, setting off amid a cheerful chatter of voices.

Qian Wei, Qian Chuan, Liu Shiyun, Mo Zixin, and Lu Xun naturally ended up on the same raft. With a jolt, the inflatable raft carried the group off on their journey. This forest resort area truly lived up to its high recommendation—the scenery along the river was absolutely worth admiring, with lush, dense green vegetation and birdsong echoing through the verdant mountains.

But despite the lovely scenery, Liu Shiyun, who’d been looking forward to some thrills, was rather disappointed: “Didn’t they say this was the most thrilling attraction here? Why is the current so calm? This isn’t rafting, this is just floating.”

“Speak of the devil.” Qian Chuan snorted coldly. “Don’t forget how you were clinging on for dear life in that haunted house. If this rafting got any more intense, you’d probably be screaming your head off again.”

Qian Wei thought to herself that whatever grudge existed between Qian Chuan and Liu Shiyun must run pretty deep, since even with Mo Zixin right there, Qian Chuan had temporarily set aside his usual flattery just to spend his precious time bickering with Liu Shiyun instead.

“Water! There’s so much water!”

Mo Zixin’s sudden exclamation finally snapped Qian Chuan back to attention. He followed her gaze and looked. “Damn it!” He glared fiercely at Liu Shiyun. “You wanted thrills, well here they come—this raft is taking on water!”

“Quick, bail the water out!”

Someone shouted, and everyone snapped out of their daze and immediately started scooping water out with their hands. Fortunately, the leak in the raft wasn’t too severe, and before long, they’d managed to clear out the water that had gotten in.

“But we’ve still got a long stretch of rafting left—we can’t keep bailing water out the whole way like this. What if we can’t bail fast enough later? Are we going to sink? Who knows if there are any deep water sections ahead.”

Someone called out: “We’re already halfway through, there’s no way to get to shore now!”

“This leak is actually quite small,” Lu Xun said, still perfectly composed as he examined the situation and tested it out. “It’s just that you can’t block it with your hand—there are gaps between your fingers, and you can’t keep your hand pressed in that position forever anyway.”

Liu Shiyun, who’d been hoping for some excitement just moments ago, now looked genuinely nervous. “I can’t swim! What do we do, what do we do! I’m too pretty to die like this! Qian Wei, can you swim?”