Chapter 56: It’s On Fire

“Why isn’t Little Bird in class today?” In the early morning class, the half-awake Liu Xie turned to ask the equally half-awake Ye Qingchang next to him.

As for Yang Shuli, just making it to the classroom was already her best effort. Liu Xie didn’t expect her to be fully awake before lunchtime.

“She took a leave, I think.” Ye Qingchang frowned, gently pinching the bridge of her nose.

There was no expectation or joy for the new day in her eyes, only utter despair toward life itself.

“Took a leave?” Liu Xie was momentarily stunned. “Why didn’t you say so earlier? If I’d known, I wouldn’t have come today either.”

Ye Qingchang scrolled through her chat log with Gou Yu, then replied, “She took sick leave because she caught a cold in the rain. Did you catch a fever too?”

Then Ye Qingchang glanced at Liu Xie, her eyes focusing especially on the waves pressing against the top of the wooden desk.

The button at the very front of the white shirt was like Spider-Man trying to stop a runaway train with his body, making those two soft mounds even more attention-grabbing.

“I am burning up, for sure.”

Liu Xie grinned and puffed out his chest, using his height to loom over Ye Qingchang. “Some little cups aren’t worthy of talking to the extra-large ones, but standing at the top means facing endless envy.”

Ye Qingchang couldn’t be bothered to respond. She took off her glasses and flopped down on the desk.

“How many days did Little Bird take off? National Day is coming up in a couple of days—if she comes to school to game for two days, it’s not a big deal.” Liu Xie poked the collapsed Ye Qingchang.

“She already thought of that, so she took sick leave straight through to National Day.” Ye Qingchang’s voice was muffled in the crook of her arm.

Liu Xie’s face fell. “That’s so sneaky. Counting the day before when there’s no class, she gets ten days off for National Day.”

“Don’t jinx it—she’s so sick right now, her break might not even be as good as ours.”

After hearing that, Liu Xie felt a little more balanced inside.

“Want to get together before the break?” Liu Xie suggested, as they did every time there was a long holiday.

“We’re basically all on campus anyway, isn’t every day a get-together?” Ye Qingchang was now fully awake from Liu Xie’s constant pestering. “Does Little Bird look like the type to go home?”

Liu Xie pursed his lips. “Fine, I guess I’m the only one going home to suffer.”

“Look on the bright side. Sure, you’ll be miserable, but we’ll be truly comfortable.” Ye Qingchang yawned.

“Oh, right.” Liu Xie’s blond hair shimmered with his movement, like osmanthus, like a phoenix tree. “Did your family really not notice anything about your situation?”

“They noticed.” Ye Qingchang shrank her neck. “My parents are super curious and always call me home to ‘play’ with them.”

Liu Xie seemed to understand why Ye Qingchang didn’t go home.

After a pause, Ye Qingchang added, “But the only good thing is that my parents have switched from urging me to find a girlfriend to urging me to find a boyfriend.”

“Is that really a good thing?”

Liu Xie sighed and glanced over at Yang Shuli, who was still collapsed on the desk. “What about the dorm leader?”

“Didn’t she call her grandparents right in front of us the other day?” Ye Qingchang recalled. “Her grandparents just asked if she’d started eating sweets now.”

“I don’t know why, but I’m not surprised at all by that.” Liu Xie straightened up a bit and glanced at the very front row of the large lecture hall.

Xu Nian and Xiao Yi’an seemed to be getting along better and better. During class, they looked practically joined at the hip.

A bit like partners in crime.

But from Liu Xie’s perspective, Xiao Yi’an was just an electronic pet being played with, and Xu Nian was just a foodie hanging out with Yang Shuli.

Even if it looked odd, there was nothing she could say about it.

In the end, it just turned into: “Since we’ve got nothing better to do, let’s bother Little Bird.”

“Are you sure you’ve got that right? Shouldn’t it be the people on break bothering those still in class?”

Liu Xie waved his hand and pulled out his phone. “That’s exactly right—sneak through Yinping, go straight for Shuhan!”

Then, she stuffed her other earbud into Ye Qingchang’s ear and dialed Zhu Niao’s number.

[Ding dong ji, ding dong ji……]

“Seriously, who started using this ringtone first?”

Ye Qingchang didn’t get a chance to answer Liu Xie’s complaint before the call connected.

The call timer started from zero. Liu Xie and Ye Qingchang couldn’t hear Zhu Niao on the other end, but she could probably hear the lecture going on in the background.

Letting the call timer tick up for over ten seconds, Liu Xie finally couldn’t hold back.

“Little Bird, where are you? How are you feeling? Want us to come visit?”

A normal roommate’s concern was still necessary.

“Uh……” Gou Yu’s voice came from the phone, even though the call was to Zhu Niao. “She’s still resting. Her temperature’s going down, just not very quickly.”

Liu Xie and Ye Qingchang both fell silent.

They exchanged glances, both seeing the same “used to it” look in each other’s eyes.

“If you guys want to come, let me know in advance. But she probably can’t handle any visitors today.” Gou Yu added.

He’d taken leave these past two days as well, seriously cutting into his delivery earnings.

So he blamed Zhu Niao’s fever on his dear sister and made her send him two hundred yuan as living expenses for these two days.

But in reality, just buying medicine had almost used it all up.

“Um……”

Liu Xie opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something.

Then, from the other end of the call: “Old Gou~ I want some water, can you get me some?”

She turned to see Ye Qingchang making the exact same “what the heck” face as herself.

There was no way they misheard—that was Zhu Niao’s voice.

It was just a bit whiny, a bit coquettish.

Zhu Niao must really be feverish—feverish for real.

“All right, all right, take your medicine first, I’ll get you water right away.” Gou Yu coaxed Zhu Niao, picking up the quilt she’d kicked off, tucking her slender legs back under the covers.

Of course, there were also her messy clothes, and a sudden glimpse of spring.

But this was his good buddy, and right now, she was a patient.

So he just closed his eyes, gently pressed Zhu Niao’s delicate, exposed shoulder strap back up, and pushed the drowsy Little Bird back onto the bed.

He also put two pills into his palm and popped them into Zhu Niao’s mouth.

Just as he was about to get water, he seemed to remember something and grabbed Zhu Niao’s phone again, speaking into it: “What were you guys saying just now?”

“Uh……” Both voices on the other end sounded a bit hesitant. “Then we’ll leave Little Bird in your care, sorry to bother you……”

Then they hung up.

Gou Yu raised an eyebrow, set down Zhu Niao’s phone, and picked up the water cup nearby.

He took a sip to test the temperature, making sure it was suitable for Zhu Niao right now.

After Little Bird finished the water and swallowed the pills, Gou Yu reached out to take the empty cup.

But he didn’t get it—instead, a soft, boneless hand grabbed his wrist and yanked him closer.

Delicate collarbones, hazy eyes, two soft mounds barely visible, and air hotter than usual brushing against Gou Yu’s cheek.

She said:

“Old Gou, do you want to try thirty-nine degrees?”