When Xue Lu was in her first year of high school, she met Zhou Tingzhao for the first time.

Someone had relayed a message from the teacher asking her to go to the office. As she hurried there, she accidentally bumped into someone at the doorway of another classroom. The person was much taller than her. She didn’t have time to look up and was busy apologizing. By the time she realized what had happened, the person had already said a mild “It’s nothing” and walked away.

Later, she discovered that they were heading to the same destination. The teachers had called the top students from each class for a district speech competition.

It was supposed to be a meeting of academic stars, but Xue Lu was unusually distracted.

The person she had bumped into earlier stood diagonally in front of her. His posture was straight, and he looked clean and serious. Even in an ordinary school uniform, he stood out as remarkably handsome.

So this was Zhou Tingzhao.

The flutter in her heart probably began at that moment, what people call love at first sight.

When they collided, Zhou Tingzhao had said “It’s nothing,” which she took as mere politeness. Now she suddenly realized that Zhou Tingzhao probably genuinely didn’t mind.

His steps when leaving had been orderly and measured. Thinking about it now, perhaps he was just absent-mindedly going through the motions of a pursuer, just as she later closely followed behind him. Even then, on the way to the office, Sang Ru was already walking ahead of Zhou Tingzhao.

The pursuit game had been set up this way from the beginning, but she hadn’t seen it clearly until she stumbled upon their intimacy, until she got Sang Ru’s answer.

And just when this secret crush finally seemed to be going somewhere, Zhou Tingzhao followed her from behind for the first time and tapped her shoulder.

He greeted her, then got straight to the point: “Please keep it a secret.”

Xue Lu felt somewhat irritated and deliberately asked, “What secret?”

Zhou Tingzhao seemed choked by the question and fell silent, which finally gave her some satisfaction.

“Whatever it is,” Zhou Tingzhao said, “anything that would hurt her, please keep it secret.”

“…I understand.”

After saying this, she turned and left. She had never been so tough in front of him before, yet she felt herself drowning in sadness.

This secret crush probably didn’t need any further observation of where it was going. Taking another step would only be self-humiliation.

It was time to put a period to it all—

After a physical education class, Zhou Tingzhao was still doing okay, but Sang Ru’s sneezing symptoms were getting worse. Her speech already had a nasal quality, and by the last class of the afternoon, her voice had become completely stuffy.

Zhou Tingzhao directly reported to the teacher, saying he needed to take her to the infirmary, and then sneezed a few times himself.

Seeing this, the teacher immediately agreed, emphasizing how crucial this period was for third-year students, that physical health was especially important, and that they should recover quickly to avoid infecting other students.

It was still class time, and the campus showed a rare quietness during the day. Walking beside Zhou Tingzhao, Sang Ru suddenly laughed: “Your sneezes just now were so fake.”

Zhou Tingzhao turned his head, his index finger bending to slide across the tip of his nose, looking somewhat uncomfortable as he said, “As long as it worked.”

Sang Ru made an “Mmm” sound, the tail of her voice lifting upward. Zhou Tingzhao’s heart stirred hearing it. If one ignored her physical condition, her voice was particularly cute at this moment.

The school doctor took Sang Ru’s temperature and said, “You have a slight fever. Lie down and rest a bit, and we’ll put you on an IV.”

Sang Ru didn’t feel anything was wrong, but Zhou Tingzhao immediately furrowed his brows with a serious face and asked, “Is it serious? What medicine should she take? How long until she recovers?”

The school doctor, a middle-aged woman, laughed at the barrage of questions: “How serious could it be? It’s seasonal change, colds and fevers are normal. I’ll prescribe some medicine for the young lady in a bit. Remember to take it on time and stay warm, that’s all.”

Even after hearing this, Zhou Tingzhao’s brow remained furrowed. Sang Ru secretly scratched his palm to comfort himself, then said, “Please check him too. He also has a bit of a cold.”

“Alright,” the school doctor also took Zhou Tingzhao’s temperature, confirmed he didn’t have a fever, and then asked, “Do you have any symptoms? Feeling dizzy? Runny nose?”

Before Zhou Tingzhao could answer, the person beside him replied quickly: “No runny nose, just sneezing.”

Sang Ru turned to look at him and asked as if it were the most natural thing: “Are you dizzy? Does your throat hurt?”

Zhou Tingzhao hesitated, then obediently answered her: “A little dizzy, but my throat doesn’t hurt…”

Sang Ru then repeated his answers to the school doctor, speaking in a way that made people laugh: “Did you hear that?”

Sang Ru laughed a couple of times without showing any embarrassment. Seeing Zhou Tingzhao’s lips curl up, she assumed he was teasing her, so she slipped her hand back into his palm and secretly pinched him to vent.

Unexpectedly, he closed his palm, enveloping her with a warm touch, and gently squeezed twice. There were other people present, and Sang Ru wanted to withdraw her hand, but couldn’t pull it out. Zhou Tingzhao casually stepped forward to shield their hands behind his body, still holding on firmly.

“Alright, you two go pay the fee first.”

Sang Ru gave a start and tried to break free forcefully. Zhou Tingzhao finally let go of her hand and took both of their payment slips, saying, “I’ll go pay. Please set up her IV first.”

“Sure.”

Before turning to leave, Zhou Tingzhao looked once more at the person staying behind. She looked back at him, her dark pupils seeming moist, her expression somehow slightly forlorn.

As if she were reluctant to see him go.

Zhou Tingzhao’s heart melted completely. If there hadn’t been others present, he truly would have wanted to kiss her right then.