Cheng Wanyue’s fall was quite solid.

The front door hadn’t been fully closed, so Qing Hang immediately pushed it open when he heard her cry. The contents of her bag were scattered everywhere, and her phone screen had shattered into a spiderweb pattern, but Qing Hang’s attention wasn’t on these external things.

The most obvious injury was her scraped and bleeding knee, but he wasn’t sure if she was hurt anywhere else.

“Can you stand up by yourself?”

“Give me a moment, I need to recover,” Cheng Wanyue wasn’t deliberately crying for him to see; physiological tears were beyond her control. “It hurts too much.”

A tear dropped onto the back of her hand, and Qing Hang suddenly became awkward. Only after lowering his head to avoid her teary-eyed gaze did he recall the first aid procedures he had long mastered.

She had always been like this in the past. She never cried loudly, just sobbed softly, but the tears would keep falling. She wouldn’t speak, just look at him with an aggrieved expression, waiting until he began to reflect on whether he had done something wrong. He would unconsciously apologize to her, and only then would she show her smile again.

He didn’t understand how she could have so many tears, crying at the drop of a hat. He never knew how much of her tears were genuine and how much were fake, but he always compromised each time.

“Let’s go inside first.”

Qing Hang placed one hand on her back and slipped his other hand under her knees. When she was lifted, her hands instinctively wrapped around his neck. His body stiffened slightly; initially, he was just supporting her with his arm strength, but when her left foot dangled in the air, his hand tightened against her skin, and she could feel the warm dampness of his palm.

Her breath mixed with a few soft sobs, and her hair tips brushed against his neck, tickling his peace of mind. Qing Hang took several steps back to the living room and only sighed with relief after placing herself on the sofa.

Her ankle was already visibly swollen, her knee was still bleeding, and her elbow had reddened as well.

Qing Hang knelt before her, first taking out two tissues for her to press against the abrasion to stop the bleeding, then holding her foot with his right hand, gently pressing on the joint. “Does this hurt?”

“A little, but not too much.”

“Is it the inside that hurts, or the external abrasion on the skin?”

“Both, a little.”

He moved to another position, applying slight pressure with his fingertips. “How about here?”

Cheng Wanyue almost cried out but held back. She bit her lip and shook her head, unable to speak. Seeing this, Qing Hang stood up to find medicine. There was only a bottle of anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving spray at home. He opened a drawer to search for band-aids and iodine for disinfection.

The sun had already reached the TV cabinet. Cheng Wanyue kicked him lightly, “I’m so hot. Turn on the air conditioner.”

“There’s no air conditioner out here, only in the bedrooms,” Qing Hang said, sweating too. “Bear with it for a few minutes. After I give you some basic treatment, we’ll still need to go to the hospital to get an X-ray to check if there’s any bone damage.”

She leaned back against the sofa weakly, her nose and the corners of her eyes tinged with red. “Then help me pick up my things first.”

Qing Hang efficiently treated her wounds, then took an empty cup to dilute the hot water on the coffee table and handed it to her before going into the hallway. One by one, he picked up the scattered lipstick, bag, earphones, keys, and those high heels.

“The phone seems unusable.”

Cheng Wanyue tapped the shattered screen a couple of times, and indeed, there was no response. “Then… can you call a car for me? A ride-hailing service would be convenient. Hailing a taxi by the roadside would take too long.”

She lowered her head to look at her ankle. “Will I end up limping?”

“No.”

“But it won’t take too long to heal, right? What if I do end up limping?”

“We’ll go to the hospital now,” Qing Hang turned to find his keys. “Don’t wear high heels for now, to avoid a second sprain.”

“…But I don’t want to wear those slippers that don’t fit.”

All the slippers at home were men’s sizes. The last time she came for dinner, Zhou Heng had found two pairs of disposable slippers for her and Meng Qi, which were thrown away after use.

There were no other shoes for her to wear at the moment. Qing Hang pressed his lips together and silently crouched down in front of her.

Cheng Wanyue sat still. “Qing Hang, I might expose myself like this.”

She was wearing a dress.

Qing Hang turned around and bent down to pick her up as before. A breeze blew in from the window, lifting the light skirt and revealing the black leggings underneath.

As she used her hand to hold down her skirt, Qing Hang averted his eyes. After a brief moment of contemplation, he carried her into the bedroom.

“What’s wrong?” she looked puzzled.

He didn’t speak, closed the door, turned on the air conditioner, and took a white long-sleeved shirt from the wardrobe, placing it at the foot of the bed.

Cheng Wanyue hooked one finger into the collar of the shirt, picked it up, and shook it out. She stared at the shirt in her hand for a while, then tilted her head to look at Qing Hang. He had messed up the wardrobe when taking out the shirt and was now tidying it up with his back to her.

Since he didn’t seem to be avoiding her, she didn’t say anything either and reached for the zipper at her side.

That shirt wasn’t from the current season and had been stored at the very bottom. Qing Hang had just finished straightening the wardrobe and turned around, intending to take his phone to call a car, when the scene on the bed caught him completely off guard, freezing him in place.

The bedroom had dark curtains, and both the bedsheet and thin quilt were gray. The natural light bathed her, making her skin appear even fairer. A light-colored bra wrapped around her full, soft breasts, with a deep cleavage between them. When she lowered her head, the pearl pendant on her necklace sank into it. The cool air from the air conditioner stirred her hair, and Qing Hang could see how the pearl slid out from between her flesh.

She was oblivious, looking down and unbuttoning the shirt one by one. Only after undoing the last button did she pick it up to put it on.

The oil-stained dress was piled at her feet, and she had removed the leggings underneath as well. The shirt hem couldn’t cover her long, slender legs.

The cool breeze reached the foot of the bed, causing her delicate toes to curl slightly and her legs to draw together a bit.

The third buttonhole was too tight, and it was inconvenient with just one hand. Her taut abdominal muscles were still exposed to the air when suddenly, the sound of a chair being dragged came from upstairs, jolting Qing Hang back to his senses.

In that instant, all the blood in his body seemed to rush to his head.

As he turned away, he bumped into the corner of the table, making it shake.

“Cheng Wanyue, why did you take off your clothes?”

This was the first time he had called her by name since they’d met again, and his tone conveyed obvious annoyance.

Back in school, friends and classmates, whether close or not, all called her Yueyue or Wanyue. Only he had always addressed her by her full name.

“When changing clothes, shouldn’t you first take off the dirty ones you’re wearing? How can I change without taking them off?” She was still working on that button, not even raising her head. “It’s so hot outside; this season isn’t suitable for layering.”

The sound of the air conditioner couldn’t cover the rustle of clothing against skin behind him. Qing Hang closed his eyes briefly and said in a low voice, “I meant for you to tie it around your waist.”

“Huh?” Cheng Wanyue was taken aback. “I’ve already put it on. You should have been clearer.”

“There’s still a man in the room, and you didn’t even think before undressing?”

She gave a light “hmph,” the airy nasal sound seemingly suggesting that she didn’t even consider him a man.

Qing Hang’s hand at his side clenched, and the abnormal redness at the tip of his ears gradually subsided.

Cheng Wanyue said, “Find me a pair of shorts.”

He grabbed a pair randomly. “They might be a bit big. You’ll have to make do.”

He had returned to the same coolness as half an hour ago when he asked if she wanted water. After speaking, he left the room.

Cheng Wanyue didn’t mind. She untied the belt from her dress and used it to secure the shorts, which were still a bit loose but wouldn’t fall off after a couple of steps.

Since she refused to wear the slippers that were several sizes too big, Qing Hang carried her on his back downstairs. Neither of them spoke in the taxi, and it was the same at the hospital. He left her sitting on a chair in the lobby while he rushed around. After finding a doctor, he carried her upstairs again.

Qing Hang had found a colleague who happened to be on outpatient duty, but even with a doctor he knew, the whole process still took about two hours.

He stood in front of the computer looking at the examination results, discussing her condition with the doctor. Only then did Cheng Wanyue notice that his back was soaked with sweat.

“Zhou Heng went to the emergency room and won’t be back until the afternoon,” the young doctor casually asked, “Why didn’t you use a wheelchair from the first floor? Were they all borrowed out?”

Cheng Wanyue had been carried by Qing Hang when she arrived, and he had also carried her downstairs for the X-ray and back to the doctor’s office.

“Didn’t think of it.” Qing Hang turned his head toward the computer screen. “Please prescribe some medicine for her.”

“There’s blood stasis. I’ll prescribe two boxes of medicated plasters.”

“No oral medication?”

“Not necessary. Just apply the plasters for a few days. Wounds easily get infected in summer, so be careful,” the doctor glanced at the clothes Cheng Wanyue was wearing. The atmosphere between her and Qing Hang seemed strange. “Your sister?”

Cheng Wanyue neither denied nor confirmed, just smiled and asked, “Do we look alike?”

The doctor said, “Same skin tone, both glowing white.”

She tossed her hair. “So, do family members get a discount?”

The doctor smiled. “Only when wives give birth. Nothing for other cases.”

“…Alright,” there wasn’t a trace of embarrassment on Cheng Wanyue’s face. “I’m not his sister, nor his friend.”

“Not a relative or a friend—surely you can’t be enemies?”

“…Hard to say.”

Qing Hang went to get the medicine. By the time he reached the door, the two inside were still chatting. She could chat with anyone.