When Zhu Wenshu returned to the treatment room, Ling Siyuan was clutching her phone, giggling.

Ling Chen was still sitting in the same spot, glancing out the window, an air of impatience visible even in the line of his jaw.

Zhu Wenshu glanced at him, frowned slightly, said nothing, and turned toward the hospital bed.

“What are you looking at? You seem so happy.”

Seeing Zhu Wenshu return, Ling Siyuan immediately set down the phone, saying excitedly, “Teacher, can I go home now?!”

“No, your IV drip isn’t finished yet.”

Zhu Wenshu touched his forehead—his temperature was basically normal now. “Lie down a bit longer. Teacher’s phone can keep you entertained.”

Ling Siyuan pouted. “Teacher’s phone doesn’t have any games…”

He stole another glance at Ling Chen. “I want to go home and play games.”

Ling Siyuan’s face was still pale, but there was a faint hint of color returning to it now, and his eyes still sparkled, as if he were quite pleased about something.

Zhu Wenshu was a bit puzzled—how had he gone from sick to seemingly recovered after she’d only stepped out for a short while?

“Playing games will only slow your recovery. Why is Yuanyuan being so naughty?”

“Oh…”

Ling Siyuan didn’t believe such placating words for a second—he wasn’t a three-year-old anymore.

But he was a Young Pioneer, so he couldn’t very well ignore his teacher.

Ugh, he just hoped the drip would finish quickly.

Thinking of the 648 yuan that had just landed in his gaming account, he wished he could sprout wings and fly home.

“Then I’ll watch some cartoons for a bit.”

Ling Siyuan picked up Zhu Wenshu’s phone again and swiped around aimlessly, finding nothing interesting. “Teacher, do you have the Monkey King? I saw the part about the three fights with the White Bone Demon yesterday.”

“Journey to the West, huh? Let teacher look.”

Zhu Wenshu took the phone back and searched while saying, “You haven’t even watched Journey to the West? I remember it was assigned as outside reading.”

Ling Siyuan lowered his head, fidgeting with his fingers, and mumbled, “I don’t like reading, I don’t understand it…”

Zhu Wenshu already knew Ling Siyuan’s reading and writing skills left something to be desired, but she hadn’t expected his exposure to outside reading to be quite this lacking.

She looked wordlessly at Ling Chen, her expression saying: look at this yourself, this is really unacceptable.

Ling Chen felt Zhu Wenshu’s gaze, glanced back at Ling Siyuan, and let out a light scoff.

“Can’t even understand Journey to the West? I had the whole thing memorized by your age.”

Ling Siyuan puffed out his chest. “Then recite the Tight-Fillet Spell for me.”

“…You want me to recite for you?”

Ling Chen’s mouth curled. “How many seconds of my time do you think your allowance can buy?”

Seeing his expression, Zhu Wenshu couldn’t help herself and turned away to hide a smile.

In the end, Zhu Wenshu didn’t let Ling Siyuan watch cartoons after all—instead she searched online for a children’s version of Journey to the West and read it with him.

The sunset was beautiful today.

Sparrows occasionally landed chirping on the branches outside the window, and the soft female voice and childish young voice drifted past now and then.

Zhu Wenshu didn’t glance once at the man lounging idly by the window, and the man didn’t glance once at the setting sun outside.

Ling Siyuan’s IV finished right at six in the evening.

The nurse came in and removed the needle, pressing a cotton swab to the puncture site, and Ling Siyuan couldn’t wait to get out of bed.

“Slow down, don’t rush.”

Zhu Wenshu helped him sit up, still debating whether to let him dress himself, when he had already stiffened his toes to put on his shoes.

The result was that he tried to stand before his feet had properly touched the ground, and when he tried to push off, his whole body went weak—he nearly toppled headfirst off the bed.

“I told you not to rush.”

Zhu Wenshu caught him just in time, keeping him from falling.

He was only seven or eight, after all—after a bout of vomiting and diarrhea and considerable pain, of course he had no strength left.

Zhu Wenshu sighed, bent down, and picked up his shoes to put them on for him.

When she straightened up again, she found Ling Chen had walked over at some point, and without a word, picked up the clothes at the bedside to dress him.

His expression looked impatient, but his hands worked with careful precision, guiding one arm through a sleeve at a time, holding the shirt cuff so it wouldn’t ride up.

Finally, he buttoned the jacket neatly, even remembering to reach up under the hem to smooth out the little wool vest.

Zhu Wenshu looked up, watching Ling Chen with something like disbelief.

“You’re actually quite good at taking care of people, aren’t you?”

At Zhu Wenshu’s words, Ling Chen’s hands paused for a moment, his gaze dimming slightly.

He said nothing more, just picked Ling Siyuan up with one arm and grabbed the medicine bag from the bedside with the other.

“Shall we go?”

“Mm.”

The sun set especially early today, and the streetlights stretched the three of their shadows out long.

Perhaps because Ling Siyuan really was a bit heavy, Ling Chen walked slowly.

“How much was the medical bill? I’ll transfer it to you.”

Zhu Wenshu: “A little over two hundred, but you don’t need to pay me back.”

“That doesn’t seem right.”

Ling Chen glanced sideways at her. “Teacher Zhu, we’re just high school classmates who’ve known each other for seven or eight years. You don’t have to treat him like your own son.”

Zhu Wenshu: “…”

She pressed her lips together, trying not to let her exasperation show too plainly. “That’s not what I meant. Ling Siyuan can just use his medical insurance.”

“…Oh.”

Ling Chen walked forward in silence for a few steps, then asked, “How do you use the insurance?”

Zhu Wenshu: “You just need his insurance card, you don’t need to worry about it.”

“All right.”

Talking as they walked, the two of them reached the clinic entrance before they knew it, where Ling Chen’s car was already waiting.

Seeing them come out, the driver opened the automatic door.

Ling Chen bent down to set Ling Siyuan down, letting him climb into the car himself.

“Can we give you a ride?”

Zhu Wenshu thought of the mountain of work waiting for her back at the office, and a wave of exhaustion swept over her. She sighed and shook her head. “No need, I’ll just grab a taxi.”

“I’ve kept you so long, shouldn’t I at least—”

Ling Chen pressed down the brim of his cap, and said quietly, “Let me treat Teacher Zhu to a meal?”

“Huh?”

Zhu Wenshu glanced at Ling Chen, but just then a new message came in, and she quickly looked down to type a reply. “No need, no need, it’s what I should’ve done.”

“What do you mean ‘should’ve’—if anything, I’m the one who should thank you.”

Ling Chen’s voice landed, neither too heavy nor too light, right above Zhu Wenshu’s head.

She stopped looking at her phone and looked up at him.

“I appreciate the thought, but you should take Yuanyuan home to rest first. If he’s still not feeling well tomorrow, just let me know he needs a day off.”

A taxi happened to pass by, and Zhu Wenshu quickly raised a hand to flag it down.

“Then… I’ll head back to school first.”

In the hazy twilight, a faint sheen of light clung to the ends of Zhu Wenshu’s hair.

She bent and got into the back seat, closing the door.

As the taxi pulled away from beside Ling Chen, he saw Zhu Wenshu wave at him through the window, her lips parting slightly as if to say “goodbye.”

Ling Chen didn’t respond. He watched the taxi merge into traffic before finally turning to get into his own car.

“Uncle.”

The moment he sat down, Ling Chen heard Ling Siyuan calling him from the back seat.

“What?”

He leaned forward. The boy’s small head rested against the side of the headrest, his face tilted toward Ling Chen, and he said something startling.

“Are you trying to date my teacher or something?”

Ling Chen: “…”

He slowly turned his head to look at Ling Siyuan.

“Do you even know what ‘dating’ means?”

Ling Siyuan stared at Ling Chen, both disbelieving and a little disdainful.

“What position are you standing in at the Terracotta Warriors pit? You don’t even know this!”

“…”

Ling Chen shot him a cool glance. “I’m going to have your dad break your gaming addiction the moment we get back.”

Ling Siyuan’s face reddened. “You! Uncle, you’re just embarrassed and lashing out!”

Ling Chen: “…Come on, repeat after me. ‘Embarrassed’—it’s e-m, not a-m.”

He turned his head and ruffled Ling Siyuan’s hair. “What is your Chinese teacher even teaching you?”

Ling Siyuan: “You’re the one who’s old! I didn’t say anything wrong!”

“Pfft—”

The driver, normally silent while working, couldn’t hold back a laugh.

This man was usually the type to keep his eyes down and mind his own business while on the job, never chatting much.

But he liked children, and especially liked Ling Siyuan.

So whenever Ling Siyuan was around, he’d occasionally chime in.

“Yuanyuan really has a way with words. Sounds like your Chinese teacher teaches well.”

“…”

Ling Chen turned back around, staring coldly at the windshield ahead.

She really did teach well. Learned by example, it seemed.

After a moment, a short, pudgy finger poked his shoulder.

“Uncle, ‘dating’ just means being paired up to hang out together.”

“Are you trying to hang out with my teacher?”

After a long pause, Ling Chen finally said two words, expressionless.

“No.”

Ling Siyuan: “Then why do you want to take my teacher to dinner?”

Ling Chen: “That’s called repaying a kindness. You should learn from it.”

“Then why do you want to be my dad?”

Ling Chen didn’t turn to look at him. “Isn’t it because you were scared of getting scolded by your dad, so you pinned it on me first?”

“Oh…” Ling Siyuan leaned back, looking rather bored. “I thought you were like Lu Zixi’s older brother.”

Ling Chen suddenly fell silent for a moment.

Then he turned his head. “What about her brother?”

Ling Siyuan’s interest was suddenly piqued again, and he tilted his chin over, saying mysteriously, “I’ll tell you a secret, okay? In my class, there’s this girl Lu Zixi—her older brother wants to date our teacher, so he keeps having Lu Zixi bring the teacher little gifts, and tells Lu Zixi to lie and say she made them herself.”

The driver had stopped at a red light and chimed in teasingly, “Yuanyuan, you can’t learn from her. Lying is wrong.”

“Mm.”

Ling Chen added, “So you’re just going to let someone trick your teacher instead of telling her?”

“Huh?”

Ling Siyuan blinked. “But if I tell the teacher, wouldn’t that mean betraying a friend?”

Even the driver thought that logic made sense, and gave him a thumbs-up.

No one spoke again for a long while in the car.

Not until they got home and into the elevator, with Ling Siyuan fully absorbed in his game, did the man behind him suddenly speak.

“Ling Siyuan.”

“What?”

“Still want that 648?”

—

The next morning, Zhu Wenshu arrived at school looking utterly worn out.

The first thing she did upon entering the office was flip through the calendar, calculating when the original homeroom teacher would finally finish her maternity leave.

Realizing that her day of liberation was nowhere in sight, she propped up her chin and let out a yawn.

Right beside her, another teacher yawned too.

Yawns are contagious like that, and soon the whole office was yawning in a chain reaction.

“Teacher Zhu~”

Just then, a crisp voice cut through the office’s languid atmosphere.

Zhu Wenshu turned around. “Zixi? What is it?”

Lu Zixi came skipping over, hands clasped behind her back, the ribbons on her twin ponytails bouncing lightly.

“This is for you, teacher.”

She opened her palm to reveal a small wood-carved piglet resting in it.

“How cute.”

Zhu Wenshu took it happily, holding it up to the sunlight to admire it from every angle. “You’re so talented!”

Lu Zixi seemed a little shy, lowering her head with a small smile.

“I’ll head back to class now.”

“All right, thank you, teacher really loves it.”

After Lu Zixi left, Zhu Wenshu opened the second drawer of her desk.

Adding this one in, there were already six little wood-carved animals resting inside.

Seeing this, Teacher Wang said enviously, “Girls are just better—not like boys, who count themselves lucky if they don’t cause trouble for their teachers.”

No sooner had she finished than a boy—Ling Siyuan—walked in, head tilted, both hands cradling a cardboard box.

“Teacher Zhu!”

“What is it?”

Zhu Wenshu was a bit surprised to see him. Knowing his personality, she’d assumed he’d milk the excuse to stay home and play for a couple more days before coming back to school.

She hadn’t expected him to show up today.

“Are you feeling better? Does your stomach still hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Ling Siyuan set the cardboard box on her desk. “My dad and I made this together, to give to Teacher Zhu, to thank you for taking me to the hospital yesterday.”

Zhu Wenshu was a bit caught off guard.

She hadn’t expected that, for something as small as what she’d done, a person like Ling Chen would actually take it to heart.

And that he’d made it himself, no less.

Curious, she opened the box.

Inside sat a small, toy-like white piano.

Ling Siyuan stood on his tiptoes and pointed at the little button on the piano.

“This one, teacher, press it.”

Puzzled, Zhu Wenshu took the piano out and lightly pressed the button—

A melody slowly flowed out of what looked like a toy piano.

The tone was pure, but the melody wound gracefully, rising and falling in gentle turns.

It made the late autumn morning light feel as fresh and vibrant as the first light of a summer’s day.

Before long, even the other teachers in the office had turned to look.

“What’s that, a music box?”

“That sounds really nice.”

“Little Teacher Zhu’s gifts really do run the gamut—I’ve only ever gotten cards and flowers.”

Amid her colleagues’ remarks, Zhu Wenshu, suddenly flustered, switched off the music.

As if afraid someone might discover that this melody came from the Ling Chen who existed only inside her phone and TV screen.

She smiled and said to Ling Siyuan, “Thank you.”

Ling Siyuan looked at Zhu Wenshu in disbelief.

This was a gift from his big celebrity uncle!

And yet his teacher’s reaction was this calm.

If it had been anyone else, they probably would’ve been thrilled out of their minds.

Ah well, a teacher was a teacher—impressively composed, as always.

“Then I’ll head back to class, teacher.”

“Okay.”

After Ling Siyuan left, Zhu Wenshu stared blankly at the music box for a while, then closed the lid and put it away.

At noon, once all the other teachers had gone to lunch, she took the music box out again.

In the empty office, that short melody played through three more times.

But each time, like the songs she’d known since childhood, it plucked expertly at every one of her nerve endings.

Yet she was still fairly sure she’d never heard this song before.

To avoid a repeat of last time’s awkwardness, Zhu Wenshu specifically opened WeChat and tried the “shake to identify song” feature twice.

It truly matched to no song at all.

So… he hadn’t sent her a music box, but this melody itself?

With a faint sense of puzzlement, she sent Ling Chen two messages.

【Zhu Wenshu】: Got the gift, thank you.

【Zhu Wenshu】: You really didn’t need to.

Ling Chen didn’t reply right away, so Zhu Wenshu got up and headed to the cafeteria.

Since she’d arrived late, the teachers’ cafeteria had few empty seats left.

Zhu Wenshu grabbed some food at random and found a corner to sit in.

After a couple bites, her phone finally buzzed.

Chewing, she opened WeChat.

【c】: Mm.

A song began to play.

—It was the female teacher next to her scrolling through short videos, and the background music happened to be one of Ling Chen’s older songs, accompanied by a wave of applause and cheering.

The noisy crowd sounded far away; his voice felt close.

Zhu Wenshu gradually forgot to eat, staring at her phone screen, feeling a strange, private sense of exchanging whispers with Ling Chen under a thousand watching eyes.

Even the way she typed grew more careful.

【Zhu Wenshu】: That melody was really lovely.

【Zhu Wenshu】: Is it your song?

【c】: It’s your song.