“……Hm?” Su Man looked down — and she really was bleeding. Near the nail of her index finger, a bead of bright red had welled up, vivid and startling.

“This child, you’re so careless.” Su Ma quickly pulled out a few tissues and handed them to her. “At your age, you manage to cut yourself peeling an apple.”

Su Man smiled awkwardly and pressed a tissue to the wound. “It’s just a little nick…”

Mainly because she’d been too absorbed in listening to their conversation.

“Even a small cut needs attention — after all, this is a hospital, and bacteria can get in anywhere.” Lu Yuwen stood, his expression serious. “I’ll go ask a nurse for some alcohol. Wait just a moment.”

Su Man blinked. “Oh — no, it’s — it’s really not necessary, is it?”

Lu Yuwen had already turned and left.

Su Man: “……”

Such a tiny little cut — by the time he came back, it would probably have already closed on its own… And he’d gone off to track down a nurse for antiseptic. Wasn’t that a little… over the top?

Then again, who didn’t like the feeling of being treated as precious?

Lost in thought, Su Man’s parents were chatting idly back and forth:

“That young Lu is quite attentive — I didn’t even notice Man Man had cut her hand just now.”

“Neither did I when I took the apple.”

“Tsk — even if you had noticed, you wouldn’t have said anything, would you? The way you Su family people raise children is something else. When Man Man was little and staying at your parents’ place, she’d knock a huge bump on her head and they’d just rub a bit of lard on it and call it done — didn’t even bother going to the infirmary.”

“What do you mean ‘something else’? We just raised her a bit like a boy — a little tougher, that’s all. Besides, you were busy with work back then and couldn’t look after the child yourself…”

“Are you saying it was my fault for not being around to care for her?”

“Of course that’s not what I meant…”

Su Man had no desire to listen to the two of them bicker, and quietly stood up and headed for the door.

Su Ma looked up. “Where are you going?”

Su Man held up her injured finger. “I’ll go sort this out — no need to put anyone to any more trouble over something this small.”

Su Ma dismissed her and went back to bickering with Su Ba over old grievances.

……

Su Man stepped out of the hospital room and spotted Lu Yuwen standing directly ahead in the corridor — surrounded by several young nurses, one showing him how to apply the antiseptic, another demonstrating how to use the cotton swabs, all of them chattering away merrily.

Lu Yuwen saw her coming and smiled, then turned to the nurses beside him: “Thank you all — I’ll take care of it for my girlfriend.”

The nurses laughed and dispersed.

Su Man: “……”

Lu Yuwen walked up to her, leaned down close to her ear, and said quietly, “My apologies — I had to make use of you a little. Otherwise they were about to ask for my number.”

Su Man’s face went red. She had absolutely no idea how to respond… She wrestled with it for a few seconds before forcing herself to stay composed and give a neutral “Oh.”

Lu Yuwen kept a close eye on her expression. Seeing no particular resistance on her face, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly, and he gently reached for her hand —

Su Man’s face was already completely crimson. She snatched her hand back in an instant. “I — I’ll do it myself!”

Lu Yuwen said nothing, his expression still calm and pleasant. “You can apply the antiseptic yourself — but let me put the bandage on for you.”

This time Su Man didn’t refuse. She held out her finger, stiff and unnatural, and let Lu Yuwen wrap the bandage around it.

His movements were extremely gentle — careful and thorough, examining it from all angles before he finally let go of her hand.

Su Man let out a long exhale, only to realize that she had been holding her breath the entire time…

Good heavens — was she really this on edge?!

She berated herself yet again!

Then a low, pleasant laugh drifted to her from beside her — she looked up in confusion.

Lu Yuwen’s eyes curved with a smile as he looked at her. “You seem quite uncomfortable. Let me guess… Did you grow up mostly without male friends around?”

Su Man’s lips tugged upward, and she felt a strange little bubble of pride rise in her. “Wrong this time — nearly all of my friends growing up were male!”

As a child she’d roughhoused with the boys in the compound. When she was a little older she’d joined the scouts’ summer camp as an exception. Later still she’d trained in combat and extreme sports, surrounded almost entirely by men the whole time.

“It’s just that…”

“Hmm?” Lu Yuwen asked. “Just what?”

Su Man paused, then shook her head. “Never mind…”

*It’s just that I ended up becoming a tomboy among the boys. Hardly anyone ever thought of me as a girl…*

—