“Ah!”
Song Qiuyu squeezed her eyes shut in pain, cold sweat streaming down as she couldn’t hold back a cry.
Jiang Xiao was startled for a moment, then hurried over, cupping her delicate face in both hands and turning it so she was looking right at him.
“Mm!”
Her soft, pale cheeks were squished by his palms, causing Song Qiuyu’s lips to unconsciously pout.
Jiang Xiao didn’t have time to admire her cute expression; his full attention was on her reddened forehead, his eyes brimming with concern.
Feeling the temperature of her cheeks rising, Song Qiuyu quickly grabbed Jiang Xiao’s hands, not giving him the chance to do anything further.
“I’m fine, really, I need to go take a shower, or else I’ll be running late!”
Hearing this, Jiang Xiao thought for a moment, then nodded, letting her pull his hands away.
Rubbing her reddened forehead, Song Qiuyu quickly walked into the bedroom, soon coming out with a change of clothes, and dashed into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.
She turned sideways in front of the mirror, took off her sweat-soaked sports jacket first, and tossed it into the laundry basket.
Next, she grabbed the hem of her drenched T-shirt and pulled it up, exposing her cool, pale skin to the air.
Thinking back to what had just happened, she lowered her eyes and let out a heavy breath, her chest feeling a bit tight.
Lately, whether it was Jiang Xiao’s touch, his breath, or his scent, all of it seriously affected her heartbeat.
Jiang Xiao’s seduction plan was working even better than she’d expected.
But it couldn’t be just her body getting lured in!
Everything else must be the illusion brought on by the suspension bridge effect—it was just that she was too scared.
Every time she thought about Jiang Xiao possibly knowing everything, or Jiang Xiao possibly ambushing her and getting her pregnant, her fear skyrocketed.
Speaking of which, deepseek, which she used to trust, had changed now, with the hallucinations getting really severe.
And herself too—that illusion of “maybe I kind of like Jiang Xiao” was getting really strong…
She slowly took off the creamy-white chest binder, revealing her slightly raised skin to the air.
Turning her head, she saw in the mirror a girl’s body full of youthful vigor, right at the blossoming stage—curves where they should be, slim where they should be, especially her little
butt, really like a peach…
Did she gain a bit of weight?
Damn.
No matter how she looked at it, it was Jiang Xiao’s fault—his cooking was just
too good!
Pouting, she glanced down at her own curves and tried measuring with her hands, then sighed softly.
Very good, let’s keep it at “little buns”—don’t let it grow any bigger.
At this level, even wrapped up, it’s already uncomfortable—any bigger and how stuffy would that be…
When Song Qiuyu finished showering, got dressed, and walked out of the bathroom,
Jiang Xiao had already prepared breakfast, and there was an extra plastic bag on the table.
It was JD Takeout—inside were Cotton Swabs and Polysulfated Glycosaminoglycan Cream, for reducing bruising and swelling.
“Finished showering? Hurry and sit down, let me put some ice on your forehead and apply some medicine!”
Jiang Xiao took out a bag of ice cubes he’d prepared earlier from the freezer.
“Isn’t this a bit much? I just bumped my head.”
Song Qiuyu looked at Jiang Xiao with a strange expression.
Boys bump into things all the time, it’s not a big deal—not like she was some fragile girl from a greenhouse; this was making a mountain out of a molehill.
“It’s not too much. You bumped your head, after all!”
Jiang Xiao frowned, grabbed her, and pressed her down into a seat.
“Sit still and let me take care of it, or you’ll be late for breakfast and the test!”
“Okay.”
Feeling the pressure from Jiang Xiao, she obediently closed her mouth and gave her forehead over to him.
She noticed how careful he was, as if he was touching a piece of fragile paper.
Being treated so gently like this made her more and more uneasy the longer she sat.
The ice melted faster.
For someone used to handling everything herself, she almost couldn’t take it.
She couldn’t help but wonder: if the one sitting here was Shen Xi, would Jiang Xiao be even more gentle?
Her thoughts twisted, but she stopped herself in time.
After all, she couldn’t be Shen Xi; she was Song Qiuyu.
They weren’t the type to lose track of time, but thanks to this little accident, they ended up as the last batch rushing to the Test Center.
There were quite a lot of examinees in this wave, all of them swarming up the steps, racing against time for the Test Center, anxious expressions all over their faces.
Jiang Xiao was no exception, trying several times to squeeze ahead with Song Qiuyu, but those in front had the same idea and refused to budge.
Song Qiuyu and Jiang Xiao ended up running on the very edge, forced to hope those ahead would hurry up.
Just then, the person in front of Song Qiuyu seemed to suddenly remember something and turned to go back down the steps.
His swinging arm smacked right into her.
As luck would have it, she’d only just placed her front foot onto the next step, her balance still unsteady.
With that extra shove from behind, she lost her balance and fell backward.
“Uh….”
As her body fell and her black hair fluttered, she clearly saw that the person who’d bumped her was a tall, burly, hat-wearing guy in typical science student attire—his eyes now wide with shock.
Song Qiuyu’s mind went blank for a moment.
It’s over.
The spot she was falling from seemed pretty high…
After all that test prep with Jiang Xiao, if she fell now, she definitely wouldn’t make it to the exam today.
And with a fall like this, she’d probably have to go to the hospital—if that happened, her gender wouldn’t stay
hidden…
“Careful!”
Jiang Xiao tried to grab her but missed, so he lunged after her without hesitation, pulling her into his arms, protecting her head with his big hand, and adjusting their position as much as possible to minimize injury for both.
With a thud, his arm—the one protecting her head—hit the stone step first, and his whole body crashed hard onto the ground.
A searing pain exploded in his arm like a landmine being triggered.
He thought he even heard the faint sound of a bone cracking. If Song Qiuyu had fallen alone, the outcome would’ve been much worse.
Frowning in pain, he clenched his teeth, holding back any sound, and lowered his head to look at the person in his arms, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
The feeling of saving his beloved somehow eased the pain. Right now, the pain felt more like a badge of honor for a man, stirring a bit of pride deep inside.
This thrilling feeling, it seemed, could only be found in Song Qiuyu—the one he loved.
Wrapped in Jiang Xiao’s embrace, Song Qiuyu’s mind jammed, her face pressed to his chest in a daze.
Everything had happened so fast, she hadn’t even realized what was going on.
“Song Qiuyu, are you alright?”
Jiang Xiao’s gentle, caring voice was like a beacon, pulling her out of her confused daze. She blinked twice.
Song Qiuyu paused, feeling like Jiang Xiao’s voice was different from usual—lower, as if he were enduring something.
She came back to herself, turned her head, and saw that he had caught her in a sideways hug, tumbling down the tall steps and landing hard on the ground!
The arm protecting her head had undoubtedly taken the worst of it.
Huh?
Feeling the arm beneath her head trembling from the pain, Song Qiuyu’s heart sped up, her pupils dilated, and she instinctively thought of the worst.
Jiang Xiao’s hand—could it be…fractured?