“It’s so hot, so hot!” Cheng Wanyue screamed in alarm, nearly falling off the chair.

Qing Hang quickly steadied her. The oily broth had splashed everywhere. He slipped, and the mouse escaped from his hand and ran away.

She could barely take care of herself, but her fear of mice remained. “Qing Hang, the mouse got away!”

“Forget about the mouse for now. Quickly, go rinse with cold water.”

Burns needed immediate treatment. Qing Hang couldn’t worry about anything else and swiftly carried Cheng Wanyue to the bathroom, kicking the door open. The doorknob hit the wall and bounced back, closing as the wind blew it shut.

Even a slight touch made her cry out in pain. “…It hurts so much, be gentler.”

“I know,” Qing Hang turned on the shower and directed it at her bottom. “Hold onto the sink. Hold on tight.”

The water rushed loudly. Cheng Wanyue’s lower half was completely soaked. The cold water eased the burning pain, and only then did she start to worry about herself.

Fortunately, it wasn’t freshly boiled water.

“Do you have ice at home?”

“I don’t think so. My mom used it all yesterday for iced fruit tea.”

Water splashed onto the mirror, leaving streaks that vaguely reflected the young man’s facial features.

This was the first time Cheng Wanyue had looked at his appearance.

Among the boys she knew, Qing Hang’s complexion was quite fair. His features were delicate but not at all soft. When he silently met her gaze, there was a certain sharpness to it, like a newborn leopard—youth did not diminish the wildness in his bones. Usually calm and composed, but once truly angered, he would pounce suddenly, tearing apart his opponent with claws and teeth.

What would someone like him look like when angry?

His brows were furrowed in concentration, as if dealing with something extremely thorny. Cheng Wanyue turned her head to look back. “Your pants are wet.”

Qing Hang said, “It’s fine. Let’s rinse with cold water for a while before going to the hospital.”

The pain wasn’t as unbearable as before. “Will my butt be saved?”

She was still wearing clothes. The thin fabric, soaked through, clung to her skin, revealing the curves of her waist and hips. Water trickled down her thighs, dripping at her feet.

Qing Hang looked away. “I’ll go out. Check for yourself.”

“Forget it, let’s just go to the hospital,” she didn’t want to go—having her burned bottom examined by a doctor would be too embarrassing, but she was afraid of scarring.

“You still need to change clothes. Stand on the chair and look in the mirror to see if there are any blisters.”

There probably weren’t any. The water hadn’t been that hot, but her skin was delicate, so he couldn’t judge based on his own experience.

“…Alright, help me get some clothes.”

Qing Hang wiped his hands dry with two tissues before opening the wardrobe. Dresses were convenient and wouldn’t rub against the burned skin, so he picked out a dress and handed it into the bathroom. “I’ll clean up the floor and table. Change slowly. If there are blisters, don’t break them, or they could easily get infected.”

Cheng Wanyue thought he would be embarrassed and wrap underwear inside the clothes, but after looking several times, there was still only a dress.

“Are you trying to make me walk around outside naked?” She glared at him angrily, yet with a hint of grievance. The corners of her eyes were moist and reddish, and her voice gradually lowered. “Six o’clock is when the streets are most crowded. I might run into classmates and teachers… You might as well give me a megaphone so I can stand at the street corner and call everyone to come look at my butt.”

Only then did Qing Hang realize what was missing. Of course, that wasn’t his intention, but he wasn’t good at explaining himself.

He returned to the wardrobe. It was filled with seasonal clothes. Cheng Wanyue was a messy person. Every time Yang Huimin organized her things, it would only take a few days before she turned everything upside down again. He couldn’t figure out where to start.

“Where is it?”

“In the bottom cabinet. Just take any.”

Qing Hang crouched down and opened the cabinet. Inside were several boxes containing socks, bras, and underwear. The hot water hadn’t scalded him, yet his skin felt like it was on fire.

He didn’t dare look too much and just grabbed one randomly.

It was black.

Cheng Wanyue hooked one finger through the delicate lace trim, lifting the small piece of fabric from his hand. “You like this kind?”

“I just grabbed randomly,” he turned away. “I don’t like it.”

She peeked her head out from behind the door. “Then what kind do you like?”

Qing Hang pushed her back in. “Hurry up and change!”

The sound of the door closing was loud, but her laughter from inside the bathroom still reached his ears. Like the ostrich burying its head in the sand, he fled the room and waited outside for two minutes before picking up a cloth to clean up the spilled noodles.

Cheng Wanyue carefully removed her wet clothes and checked in the mirror. She could barely see that there were no blisters. With a sigh of relief, she changed into the dress and walked out.

Qing Hang had already cleaned the bedroom, but there was still a lingering smell.

She couldn’t take public transportation in her condition. Qing Hang found a jacket to tie around her waist and carried her on his back to the hospital.

The outpatient doctors had all gone off duty, so they could only go to the emergency room. The doctor who received them was an elderly physician. No matter how casual Cheng Wanyue usually was, she was still a girl. Even with a curtain for privacy, she still felt embarrassed, lying face down on the bed in silence throughout.

Qing Hang asked the doctor, “Will it leave a scar?”

The doctor replied, “The skin tissue isn’t damaged. As long as the medication is applied on schedule, there won’t be scarring. The ointment I’m prescribing should be applied three times a day.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

He carried her back home the same way he had brought her to the hospital.

The streets were crowded with pedestrians. Since they had already applied the medicine and weren’t in a hurry, he took a smaller path. She leaned listlessly on his shoulder without speaking, only complaining briefly when the air conditioner water dripped onto her hair.

The girl’s soft body pressed against his back, and he knew what it was.

The small path took a longer route and included some stairs. Cheng Wanyue leaned against his ear, clearly hearing his breathing. It was just slightly heavier, not showing any strain.

“You’re quite strong.”

“…You’re not heavy.”

“Did you bring the keys earlier?”

Qing Hang’s footsteps halted. “No.”

In their rush to leave, after being teased by her, he had forgotten to bring the keys.

“Oh, then I’ll climb up to the balcony like Spider-Man.”

“Can we go to your grandmother’s place?”

“No way. If my grandmother finds out, it won’t take five minutes before my parents, my brother, my second uncle, and his wife all know about it,” she couldn’t bear such embarrassment. “Do you think I want a fourth person to know that my butt got burned?”

Qing Hang climbed the last few steps and set her down at the door. “Wait here. I’ll go to your grandmother’s house to get the keys. I’ll just say I forgot to bring them when we left. She probably won’t ask too many details.”

This kind of thing happening to Cheng Wanyue wasn’t surprising at all. She had been careless since childhood, always misplacing things, a habit she never corrected.

“Don’t make me wait too long. There are lots of mosquitoes in the hallway.”

“Mm.”

Qing Hang ran downstairs, ran to Grandmother Cheng’s house, and ran back the same way.

As he wiped away his sweat, he looked up and through the gap saw Cheng Wanyue obediently leaning on the stair railing, waiting for him.

She was also sweating from the heat. After opening the door and entering the house, her first action was to take a shower, which washed off all the ointment, so it had to be reapplied.

Qing Hang told her to do it herself.

“My eyes aren’t in the back of my head. Help me.”

He instinctively refused. “I can’t help you.”

“There’s no third person in the house. If you don’t help me apply it, who will? Not just today, but tomorrow and the day after too.”

Cheng Guo’an and Yang Huimin wouldn’t return until Thursday. Cheng Yanqing had gone to Nanjing yesterday and would be away for at least half a month.

She whined accusingly, “It was your bowl of instant noodles that burned me like this.”

“…I didn’t ask for it.”

“My dad isn’t a tyrannical landlord who makes people work without feeding them. If I have a bite, you have a bite too. Wasting food is shameful. Once I prepared it for you, it was yours,” she always had her logic, no matter what she said. “I already ate from my bowl, with my fork in it. The two bowls were different. I could tell them apart.”