“Temperature has reached 39 degrees.” The school nurse frowned as she looked at the thermometer.

Shi Niannian’s entire body ached, and she had no strength. Just now, when she was hunched over her desk doing problems, it wasn’t particularly noticeable, but after walking this short distance, she suddenly felt unbearably tired.

It felt like something heavy was pressing down on her body, making it hard to breathe and causing pain throughout her body.

She didn’t even have the strength to avoid Jiang Wang’s hand when he touched her face, or perhaps she simply didn’t react in time.

His hand was cool and felt comfortable. Shi Niannian unconsciously nuzzled her cheek against it, like a kitten recognizing its owner.

“Don’t worry, let’s first check your symptoms.” The school nurse comfortingly patted her shoulder, pulled over a chair, and asked in a gentle voice, “Do you have a sore throat or runny nose?”

Shi Niannian answered, “Yes… sore throat, but no runny nose.”

“Does your head hurt?”

She nodded.

The nurse frowned slightly. “Very painful, or just a little painful?”

Shi Niannian now felt dizzy even from the slightest movement of her head: “…Very painful.”

The nurse turned and pulled out a tongue depressor from a box on her desk: “Open your mouth.”

Just as she tossed the tongue depressor into the trash bin, the deputy homeroom teacher Liu Guoqi rushed in anxiously: “How is it? How is it? Is it serious?”

The school nurse’s expression was grave: “I suspect it’s influenza A. She needs to be transferred to a hospital for further confirmation.”

Jiang Wang was startled.

Liu Guoqi was also stunned.

Shi Niannian, however, had little reaction, perhaps because she was already delirious with fever. She calmly pulled up the mask on her chin, pressed her index finger against her temple, looked up at the school nurse, and asked: “Right now?”

“Yes, we need to transfer you to the hospital immediately.”

She slowly nodded twice and obediently said, “Okay.”

“Alright, I’ll take her to the hospital,” Liu Guoqi said. “I have a class with Class 4 next period. Jiang Wang, go help me notify Class 4’s homeroom teacher, and then have Teacher Cai inform the parents.”

Jiang Wang frowned: “I’m going too.”

“What are you going for?” Liu Guoqi raised his voice. “Are you going to class or not?!”

Jiang Wang simply wouldn’t listen to persuasion. In the end, it was Shi Niannian who tugged at the hem of his clothes and said in a hoarse, stammering voice: “Jiang Wang, you should… go back first, help me… tell my… brother to inform… my aunt, not to worry… about me.”

The girl was feverish, with her eyes slightly reddened, looking pitifully downcast.

Her voice was soft and weak, making anyone who heard it feel a tremor in their heart.

Jiang Wang crouched down.

Shi Niannian looked down at him, her mask covering most of her face, leaving only a pair of clear, beautiful eyes exposed.

“Don’t be afraid, I’ll come to the hospital later,” he said.

At the hospital, Liu Guoqi took Shi Niannian through registration and waiting in lines, until they finally completed the nasopharyngeal test.

The hospital was more crowded than usual these days, with people bustling and jostling about.

“Excuse me, are you the father of patient Shi Niannian?” a nurse came over to ask.

Liu Guoqi quickly stood up: “No, no, I’m her teacher. The child developed a fever at school.”

“Oh.” The nurse tilted her head to look at Shi Niannian sitting behind him, and said in a low voice, “Her test results are out. Please come with me for a moment.”

Liu Guoqi’s heart skipped a beat.

Following the nurse to another area: “How is it? It’s not influenza A, is it?”

“The test confirms it is indeed influenza A,” the nurse said. Recently, influenza A has been spreading rapidly, so the disease control center needs to register and file a record. The child certainly cannot return to school with you now.”

Liu Guoqi was stunned: “…Does that mean she needs to be quarantined?”

“Yes. But don’t worry, influenza A is not difficult to treat. The mortality rate isn’t much different from an ordinary fever. The child’s immune system seems fairly good. After the fever subsides and after a period of observation, she can return to school normally.”

The nurse’s reassurance didn’t comfort Liu Guoqi at all. Instead, the word “mortality rate” made him even more dizzy.

If it had been another student, they might have been scared to tears by now, but fortunately, Shi Niannian was very calm, so calm that it made people feel sorry for her as she was temporarily led into the isolation room by the nurse.

“Take this medicine first. If you feel sleepy, you can rest for a while,” the nurse said.

Shi Niannian took it from her hand and obediently took the medicine.

“Don’t be afraid. This is a specific medication that will reduce your fever quickly. After a period of observation, you’ll be fine,” the nurse comforted her in a gentle voice. “There won’t be any problems. We’ve already notified your family, and you can talk to them through the glass.”

“Mm.” Shi Niannian raised the corner of her lips slightly before quickly pressing them straight again. “Thank you, sister.”

To avoid causing unnecessary panic, Cai Yucai didn’t announce to the class that Shi Niannian had been confirmed with influenza A, saying only that she had a common fever and probably wouldn’t be coming to school for a while.

However, soon the school nurse came to measure everyone’s temperature in the class, and professional disinfection personnel came to disinfect the classroom, much more professionally than Cai Yucai’s earlier attempt with vinegar.

Everyone could vaguely guess something was wrong.

Jiang Wang had just sent a message to Xu Ningqing asking about Shi Niannian’s condition.

“Could it be confirmed as influenza A? Otherwise, why is the school so anxious? And it’s just our class being treated this way.”

“It’s possible. A regular fever shouldn’t cause such a commotion. Teacher Cai hasn’t stopped moving since that physics class ended, and he was just called away by Wang Jianping.”

“Influenza A… that’s terrifying. My mom’s friend’s eight-month-old baby died from it.”

“What? Really?”

…

Jiang Ling, annoyed by the girls chattering in front of her, shouted at them with a choked voice: “What are you making noise about! Didn’t Teacher Cai already say it’s just a regular fever?!”

The girls in front lowered their voices a bit.

After being yelled at, they secretly rolled their eyes and complained quietly: “We were just guessing, why get so excited?”

Just as they finished speaking, there was a sudden loud “bang” as the back door of the classroom was thrown open.

Jiang Wang flung the door open, a dark expression on his face as he strode out with his phone in hand.

The classroom finally fell silent.

He had just received a message from Xu Ningqing confirming that Shi Niannian had influenza A.

Fortunately, he had driven himself to school this morning. Jiang Wang got into his car while dialing a number: “Hello, Dr. Qiao, I need your help with something.”

Dr. Qiao was the doctor who had been examining Jiang Wang’s ears for the past year: “What’s wrong? You’re due for a follow-up check on your ears, I…”

Jiang Wang interrupted him: “My friend has been temporarily quarantined at the hospital because of influenza A. I need to see her. Do you have any way to help?”

“How can you visit someone in quarantine?”

“That’s why I’m calling you.”

“…” Dr. Qiao paused, deciding to reassure him first. “This influenza A isn’t as scary as people make it out to be. You don’t need to be so worried.”

Jiang Wang impatiently said: “Just tell me if you can get me in or not.”

“It’s a contagious disease! How could I let you in? What if you get infected?”

Jiang Wang laughed, his voice a bit hoarse, his tone disdainful: “Didn’t you say it’s not that scary? If I get infected, we can just be quarantined together.”

He spoke casually, making Dr. Qiao pause in surprise.

This didn’t seem like Jiang Wang’s usual character. He had interacted with him for quite a while and always thought his personality was excessively cold.

He hesitantly asked: “Who exactly do you want to see?”

“My desk mate.”

Dr. Qiao’s tone rose: “Just a desk mate?”

Jiang Wang replied frankly: “She’s also the person I like.”

By the afternoon, Shi Niannian’s aunt and Xu Ningqing had arrived.

Shi Niannian felt much better after taking the medicine. She wasn’t as dizzy and confused as before. Her aunt, afraid she wouldn’t like the hospital food, had brought food in a thermos for the nurse to take into her.

Shi Niannian ate a little and then handed the thermos back.

“Is there anything else you’d like to eat, Niannian? Your aunt can bring it over later,” her aunt said.

She wasn’t used to troubling others: “No need, Auntie, I don’t have… an appetite.”

Her aunt frowned, looking distressed: “Oh, our Niannian, I don’t know how long before you can come out. When you’re better, we’ll go have a feast. It’ll be fine; you’ll get better soon.”

After her aunt left, Shi Niannian started feeling drowsy.

The medicine she took probably contained a sedative. Shortly after, she fell asleep.

Her sleep was restless, with dreams coming in fragments. She dreamed of when she first came to this city, when everything was unfamiliar, and she dreamed of being teased, maliciously or unintentionally, by classmates because of her stutter since childhood.

At the end of the dream was Jiang Wang’s face.

He crouched in front of her, telling her, “Don’t be afraid, I’ll come to the hospital later.”

The young man had a pair of sharp, piercing eyes, with long corners, narrow double eyelids. When she first met him, they were cold. Later, they often narrowed with playful mischief and smiles. And today, they were serious, focused, with something Shi Niannian couldn’t quite identify shining in them.

When she woke up again, the sky had darkened.

The isolation room was unlit, with only a pool of cold moonlight filtering through the window grid. Shi Niannian opened her eyes and saw a vague human silhouette by the bed.

She had night blindness and couldn’t see clearly.

“You’re quite the sleeper, aren’t you?” The silhouette spoke.

Jiang Wang’s voice.

Rationality and consciousness hadn’t yet returned from her dreams. The feeling of a person she’d just dreamed about being beside her when she woke up was too strange. Shi Niannian even thought she might be hallucinating from the fever.

Jiang Wang sat in the chair facing the moonlight, his eyes downcast, looking at Shi Niannian.

He didn’t know how long he had been sitting there. Seeing her sleeping so soundly, he couldn’t bear to wake her, so he sat until it got dark.

Shi Niannian was stunned for a good while before hesitantly calling his name: “Jiang Wang?”

“Mm, I said I’d come keep you company.” He moved closer and gently took her wrist in the darkness. “Are you still feeling bad?”

Shi Niannian still hadn’t reacted. She slowly pulled her hand back: “Turn on… the light, I can’t… see clearly.”

“Hm?”

“I have a bit of… night blindness.”

With a click, Jiang Wang turned on the light. The room suddenly brightened, and Shi Niannian squinted, unaccustomed to it.

She asked: “Why did you come?”

“I told you, I came to keep you company,” Jiang Wang said nonchalantly.

Shi Niannian looked at him, her expression a bit serious: “This is… a quarantine room!”

“I’m quarantined too.”

She knelt up on the bed, straightened her back, and reached out her hand. Jiang Wang paused for a second, then straightened up and leaned in, letting Shi Niannian touch his forehead.

The girl’s fingers were quite warm and soft, gently covering his forehead.

Jiang Wang’s heart quieted.

Unfortunately, she quickly withdrew her hand and seriously said: “You don’t have… a fever.”

Jiang Wang raised his hand, a key dangling from his index finger. He spun it around once and smirked: “I snuck in.”

“You…”

Jiang Wang knew what she was going to say: “Don’t think about sending me away. I begged for this key. It’s the first time in my life I’ve ever begged someone for anything. Can’t let it go to waste.”

Shi Niannian silently looked at him for a while, then after a few seconds straightened up and rummaged in her bag for two masks. After putting one on herself, she handed the other to him.

Jiang Wang didn’t take it, just raised an eyebrow.

“Take it,” she urged.

She was afraid of infecting Jiang Wang and became so anxious her voice rose slightly, with a touch of annoyance.

“So fierce,” Jiang Wang teased her, taking the mask and putting it on, pinching it over the bridge of his nose.

She still tried to reason with him: “You should… go back, fever is… very uncomfortable, and influenza A is… dangerous.”

She stammered with great effort for quite a while, but this person didn’t listen at all. He just kept smiling lazily and casually, hands in his pockets, leaning back in the chair.

He even asked with a smile: “Tired from all that talking?”

Shi Niannian was furious.

Jiang Wang seemed to enjoy teasing her into anger. Watching her puffed-up, angry expression, he couldn’t help laughing for quite a while.

The young man’s voice was deep and somewhat oppressive.

When he finished laughing, he leaned forward, his fingertips lightly catching a loose strand of Shi Niannian’s hair, twirling it once before letting go.

He asked in a low voice: “Are you scared, being alone here?”

Shi Niannian didn’t want to respond and stayed silent.

Jiang Wang again tucked that strand of hair behind her ear, his movement light and slow, as if deliberately torturing her. Shi Niannian felt her face growing hot again.

He said, “It’s okay to be scared. I’m here with you.”

Shi Niannian had heard too many people tell her “don’t be afraid” today.

But how could she not be afraid? This disease was spreading so rampantly, with several reported deaths—it was impossible not to fear it.

She was quite scared.

Although the nurse had been constantly reassuring her that the disease wasn’t as terrifying as people made it out to be, that she would get better quickly after taking the medicine, she was still worried.

What if?

She didn’t want to die.

She didn’t want to appear too timid, so all day she had forced herself to seem calm, as if she weren’t afraid at all.

So when she heard Jiang Wang say this, she felt her eyes stinging.

It was like being asked, “What’s wrong?” when you’re feeling utterly miserable.

“I’ll infect… you,” she said softly.

“If I get infected, so be it. Then I won’t need to sneak in anymore.”

“…”

Shi Niannian silently, secretly, turned up the corners of her lips inside her mask, muttering a single word: “Fool.”

The isolation room was a rather small room. Aside from a bed, there were no other facilities. It felt like an excessively narrow, enclosed space with just the two of them.

Shi Niannian felt uncomfortable sitting on the bed like this. It seemed too strange.

So she got up and put on her slippers.

The girl’s feet were also beautifully formed, with long, round, delicate toes.

There was a narrow window seat by the window. Shi Niannian sat on it, turned her head, and gestured for Jiang Wang to come over as well.

“Don’t get… too close to me,” Shi Niannian said, sitting cross-legged facing the window. “And don’t face… me.”

So Jiang Wang could only sit facing the window as well.

With shoulders touching, sitting on the narrow window seat was admittedly a bit silly.

“Are you bored?” Jiang Wang asked.

“It’s fine.”

“Where’s your phone?”

“At… school.”

“In your desk? I’ll bring it to you tomorrow.”

Jiang Wang took out his phone.

He had a few games on his phone, though he didn’t play them often.

He handed it to her: “See if there’s anything you want to play?”

The phone just sat on the window seat as Shi Niannian lowered her head, sliding her index finger a few times before finally clicking on a music app.

“Want to listen to music?”

“Mm.”

“What do you want to hear?”

“Anything is fine.”

Jiang Wang took out earphones from his pocket and gave one to Shi Niannian, selecting a playlist to play in order.

They each had one earphone.

The second song was Mayday’s “Salted Fish.”

I have no talent, yet I have the innocence of dreams. I’m silly, not stupid. I will prove with my entire life that if I have dreams, is it wrong? Missing out makes understanding clearer. Understanding what persistence means …

Shi Niannian listened to the song and laughed softly.

Jiang Wang turned his head: “What’s so funny?”

“You listening to this song… should have… little resonance with you.”

Jiang Wang thought to himself that he hadn’t even been paying attention to the lyrics. He didn’t understand what Shi Niannian was trying to say, so he just said “Mm” and asked: “Does it resonate with you? Is the top student in our grade a salted fish?”

“I had to… work very hard… very hard… to get those grades,” Shi Niannian said, looking at the brightly lit streets outside the window. “You’re different.”

“How am I different?”

“You got second place… seemingly… easily, and you’re also… great at swimming.”

Shi Niannian unconsciously continued talking until she noticed Jiang Wang turning to look at her. She suddenly froze, realizing what she had just said.

She wasn’t sure if “swimming” was something she could mention to Jiang Wang. It might be a dream he was forced to give up, and perhaps he didn’t want others to know about it or bring it up.

The young man looked at her with a bit of surprise, but no other particular emotion.

Shi Niannian wanted to explain but didn’t know where to start. Her stutter was such a troublesome flaw.

After struggling for quite a while, she managed to say, “I’m sorry.”

“How did you know about the swimming?”

“My brother… mentioned it last time.”

“Ah.” Jiang Wang nodded slightly, with nothing more to say.

“I’m sorry,” Shi Niannian apologized again. “I just… think you’re… amazing.”

The girl didn’t know how endearing it was to softly and vulnerably say “I think you’re amazing” like that.

Jiang Wang indeed had no interest in letting others know about his swimming, nor did he want people to express sympathy or pity for his ear condition, which he didn’t need.

But Shi Niannian was different.

Xu Ningqing probably knew this, and that’s why he told Shi Niannian about it.

He lowered his eyes, glancing sideways at her, silently raising the corners of his lips in a smile, then spoke with a lazy drawl, casually, almost like he was pouting.

“I’m angry now.”

Shi Niannian looked at him in confusion.

The little girl was truly beautiful, with features as delicate as a painting.

Jiang Wang moved a bit closer, sitting nearer to her.

“Sorry isn’t enough, you need—” he paused, his index finger pulling down the mask on his face to under his chin, “—a substantial apology.”

“Wha—”

Shi Niannian’s words halted halfway as her eyes suddenly widened.

Jiang Wang suddenly leaned in, his presence aggressively enveloping her.

The moon hung quietly in the sky, crystalline moonlight on the window seat, while outside, lights blazed brightly.

He kissed her on the lips.

Through the mask.

All sensation seemed to disappear. Music continued streaming from the earphones. She could feel Jiang Wang’s hot breath on her face.

And through the mask, the contour of his lips.