Chapter 33

By the time the nurse came over to change the IV, Qiu Li was fast asleep.
Yan Xiao quickly motioned for her to be gentle. The nurse smiled, nodded, and moved quietly, finishing the job without a sound before slipping out again.
Yan Xiao let out a soft sigh, then turned to pull his down jacket up over him so he wouldn’t get cold while he slept.
When she drew her hand back, her gaze lingered on his sleeping face.
Good-looking people even looked good when they were asleep.
She couldn’t help but smile.
He usually looked so sharp, so self-possessed, but asleep, he seemed completely different. Peaceful. Obedient, even.
The bold lines of his brows softened when his eyes were closed; his lashes, thick and long, drooped against his cheeks, hiding those penetrating eyes that seemed to see through everyone.
He looked less like the aloof, domineering top student everyone feared and more like some well-behaved boy who hadn’t yet faced the world.
His nose was straight, his lips soft and pale from the fever, altogether so gentle, so fragile, that it made her chest ache.
Looking at him like this, it was hard to imagine him as the cold, dangerous villain described in the book.
She stared for a while, then frowned slightly. After a bit of hesitation, she reached out, wanting to poke his cheek, but halfway there, she pulled her hand back.
Forget it, she thought. Don’t pull the tiger’s whiskers while it’s sleeping.
He must’ve been exhausted; he probably hadn’t slept at all last night. Better not wake him.
She sat quietly beside him. But staying in one position for too long made her left side go numb. When she shifted a little, a faint sound of protest came from beside her.
She turned her head. Qiu Li hadn’t opened his eyes, but his brows furrowed as if in discomfort, or maybe displeasure.
Just as she was wondering what to do, she felt a tug at her clothes.
She looked down, and froze.
His hand was clutching the fabric of her shirt.
Tightly.
The wrinkles were deep in the material.
And in that moment, she suddenly remembered nine years ago, the first time she’d seen him with a fever.
It had been Qiu Yan’s birthday. Her parents weren’t home, so she’d gone with her aunt to the party.
Back then, she had just received her “mission” and was obsessed with earning points. When she didn’t see Qiu Li at the birthday banquet, she’d begged her aunt to swing by the Shengyi villa afterward, to see what he was up to, and maybe find an opportunity to score.
That was when she found him burning up with fever. The housekeeper who usually took care of him had gone back to help with the party, leaving him alone in that big, empty villa.
He’d been only six years old then, stubborn to the bone and refusing to go to the hospital. In the end, she and her aunt had teamed up to carry him there for an IV.
She could still remember his small face, tense and guarded, scowling even in sleep. Yet even then, just like now, he’d gripped the hem of her clothes tightly in his hand.
Her eyes stung a little as she stared at his hand now.
Back then, all she’d cared about was earning points. She’d never stopped to think, wasn’t he scared?
A six-year-old, home alone and sick, what must that have felt like?
And why did he hate hospitals so much?

Qiu Li woke up to a sharp sting in his hand.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Yan Xiao holding his wrist while the nurse withdrew the needle and left.
“You’re awake?” she asked with a grin, eyes curving. “Feeling better? The doctor said you have to take your medicine on time or you’ll need another shot!”
He blinked, then smiled faintly. “You think you can fool me while I’m asleep? The doctor clearly said to rest and drink lots of hot water.”
Yan Xiao: “…” He heard that?!
Her expression was so comically shocked that Qiu Li had to fight back a laugh. So easy to trick, he thought.
“Come on,” he said, getting up and putting on his jacket. Then he reached over and wrapped her scarf snugly around her neck. “It’s already noon. You’ve been gone all morning, your mom’s probably worried.”
Maybe it was the heat or the long stillness, but Yan Xiao felt a little dazed. She mumbled an “oh,” and obediently let him lead her out of the clinic.
The moment they stepped outside, a gust of cold wind cleared her head.
“Hey,” she said, tugging on his sleeve. “My mom said you’re coming to our place for lunch.”
Qiu Li stopped walking.
Yan Xiao tugged him again. “She said she’s making chicken soup herself, so later you have to tell her how delicious it is, got it?”
Qiu Li’s lips curved in a quiet laugh. “Mm, okay.”
Aunt Chen wasn’t exactly known for her cooking. But for some reason, over the past two years she’d taken an interest in trying, claiming she wanted to “feed their brains” or “help them grow.” He and Yan Xiao had learned to eat everything with forced smiles and creative compliments.
Today, though, was an exception.
The soup was actually good.
Because of the fever, Qiu Li was made to drink two whole bowls. By the end, he felt like if he took another step, the broth would slosh right out of him.
After lunch, he didn’t head straight home.
Chen Ziyi, worried that her daughter had been studying so hard she’d end up sick too, cut up some fruit and told the two of them to rest in the living room and watch cartoons.
Even the New Year’s Eve dinner that night, Qiu Li ate at the Yan household.
After the meal, while her parents were busy making New Year calls to relatives, Yan Xiao dragged Qiu Li up to the attic to watch the fireworks.
“I was going to go to the square to see them tonight,” she said, sitting cross-legged on the carpet and biting into a tiny pear, her voice muffled.
“We can go tomorrow,” Qiu Li replied, leaning back on his hands and smiling up at the bursting lights.
“There won’t be any tomorrow!” she huffed.
Qiu Li tilted his head toward her. “There will be.”
Yan Xiao looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “They won’t! Are you still feverish or just stupid now? They only do fireworks on New Year’s Eve, not the first day of the year.”
“Tomorrow’s an exception.” Qiu Li raised an eyebrow, his smile warm and harmless. “There will be fireworks.”
Yan Xiao squinted. “Oh yeah? And how would you know that?”
He nodded, looking absolutely certain.
Yan Xiao tossed her pear core into the trash bag and clapped her hands clean. “If you’re lying to me, I’m going to beat you up!”
He had been about to nod again but paused, his eyes lighting with mischief. “Oh? And how exactly are you going to beat me up?”
Yan Xiao: “…” Was his fever making him bold now?
She’d been holding back since he was still technically a patient, but since he was the one picking a fight, she didn’t need to be polite anymore.
In one smooth motion, she lunged forward, shoved him by the shoulders, and knocked him flat onto the carpet. Then she swung a leg over and straddled him.
“Like this!” she declared, face stern, shaking her fist at him. “Don’t think just because you’re sick I won’t hit you!”
Completely caught off guard, Qiu Li blinked up at her from the floor, finally processing what just happened. The sight of her so puffed up and fierce made him chuckle.
Her tiny fists weren’t even big enough to fill one of his hands, where did she get that kind of confidence?
Yan Xiao instantly sensed he was laughing at her. She’d already been in a bit of a bad mood today, and now his smirk only made it worse.
Ungrateful jerk.
Muttering under her breath, she plopped back down on the carpet, arms crossed, refusing to look at him.
Qiu Li watched her for a moment, lips still curved. “Are you mad?”
“No!” she snapped.
He reached out and poked her cheek. “Then why aren’t you smiling?”
Yan Xiao, who had never in her life been poked in the face before: “…”
[Ding! 902 points!]
Yan Xiao: “!!!”
He pokes my face and secretly feels “fondness” for me?! You’re a villain, are you mentally okay?!
Qiu Li kept poking lightly until she turned her wide, shocked eyes on him, disbelief written all over her face. He froze.
After a long moment, he cleared his throat and quietly pulled his hand back.
[Ding! 903 points!]
Yan Xiao: “…” Ha. I’ve figured you out, you sly, scheming boy.
After that, the two of them fell silent, watching the fireworks together.
When it was time to send him off, Yan Xiao hesitated at the door before blurting out, “Why do you hate going to hospitals so much?”
Qiu Li, who had thought she was still sulking over the whole cheek-poking incident and wouldn’t talk to him for the rest of the night, was momentarily stunned.
But Yan Xiao had already made up her mind, she wasn’t letting it go without an answer. She tilted her head up, eyes wide in the porch light, and asked again, “Why do you hate hospitals that much?”
It was common sense to go to the hospital when you were sick. She could understand a little kid being afraid of shots or medicine, but he was almost sixteen! Not a child anymore!
Maybe it was the harsh light or the sharp chill of the night wind, but for a second she thought she saw a glint of coldness flash in his eyes.
It vanished almost instantly. By the time she looked again, his eyes were filled only with that familiar, easy smile.
“The disinfectant smell’s too strong,” he said softly, eyes curving. “I just don’t like it.”
Yan Xiao: “…”
He reached out and ruffled her hair. “Go back in. Don’t see me off.”
She didn’t fully believe him, but in the end she didn’t press further.
As he turned away, the wind swept through the quiet street, carrying the warmth from his face away with it. In the flickering light of New Year’s Eve, his expression hardened, all that gentle humor scattering into the cold night air, leaving only the chill behind.
That night, after washing up and crawling into bed, Yan Xiao couldn’t stop thinking about that fleeting look in his eyes.
Something about it wasn’t right.
It had been too sharp, too cold, too unlike him.
At first she thought maybe she’d imagined it. But the more she replayed it, the more certain she became. She hadn’t been mistaken.
She was still mulling it over when,
[Ding! 933 points!]
Yan Xiao shot upright in bed, heart pounding.
What the hell?!
Middle of the night, and thirty points just jumped?!
What is Qiu Li doing, drawing voodoo dolls of me or something?!
She grabbed her phone and glanced at the time. Past midnight.
After hesitating a moment, she dialed his number.
So, on the very first morning of the new year, in the darkness of her room, Yan Xiao sat gripping her phone, teeth clenched, and demanded, “What are you doing?”
Qiu Li, who had been lying in bed debating whether to text her “Happy New Year,” froze for two seconds when her name lit up on his screen before quickly answering.
He had been bracing himself to hear her say Happy New Year.
Instead,
Yan Xiao’s furious voice burst through the line.
Qiu Li: “…”
Thinking about you, he almost said.

Author’s Note:
Yan Xiao: I think I’ve been cursed! ╭(╯^╰)╮
Young Master Li: (^▽^)