“Jiang… Jiang Xiao, you…”
Seeing this, Song Qiuyu didn’t dare rest on Jiang Xiao’s arm anymore. She scrambled up, gasping for breath, and hurried to help him up as well.
She swept her gaze forward unintentionally. There wasn’t a single person left on the steps—only a few withered leaves, swirling in the cold wind.
This feeling was just the worst—indescribably terrible!
That stranger dressed like a science-and-engineering nerd!
Even if he probably hadn’t meant it, she still decided to draw a circle and curse him.
As for the specific contents of the curse, she’d think about that later.
She turned to look at Jiang Xiao. Though he didn’t say a word, his face was already twisted slightly in pain, and her heart tightened at once.
“I’m fine, there’s almost no time left. You need to hurry to the Test Center.”
Jiang Xiao, wincing from the pain, lowered his head and sucked in a sharp breath. The arm he’d fallen on trembled slightly, his fingers curling in.
At his words, Song Qiuyu paused, but her sense of loyalty wouldn’t allow her to leave Jiang Xiao behind at this moment and go take the exam alone.
If they were going, they had to go together.
“What are you saying? I need to take you to the hospital first!”
Supporting Jiang Xiao, she started leading him off campus. After falling from steps that high, he might have fractured a bone.
The School Hospital probably couldn’t handle it—they’d have to go straight to a big hospital outside.
“Song Qiuyu.”
Jiang Xiao furrowed his brow and looked up at her, serious, stopping her.
“These two weeks of hard work can’t go to waste. You go take the exam. I’ll go to the hospital myself!”
Time was too tight, and his tone grew more urgent and resolute. As he spoke, he used his uninjured hand to gently push her forward.
After a few pushes, Song Qiuyu’s eyes unknowingly grew a bit warm.
The emotions churning in her chest felt like grievance and anxiety, with a hint of unreasonable frustration.
She could understand his reasoning, but she just couldn’t accept it.
The exam was important—but right now, Jiang Xiao was the most important!
“Uh…”
Seeing her eyes turn red, Jiang Xiao assumed he’d scared her with his loud voice and suddenly felt guilty and helpless.
But if he didn’t push her like this, Song Qiuyu would definitely miss the exam.
They’d worked hard for two weeks, all to pass this exam, hadn’t they?
He couldn’t let Song Qiuyu forfeit the test because of him.
“Song Qiuyu, I know what you’re thinking. But I can go to the hospital by myself, so hurry! If you keep dragging it out, it really will be too late.”
Jiang Xiao looked at her with even more determination.
Suddenly, Song Qiuyu gritted her teeth, no longer hesitating.
She let go of Jiang Xiao’s arm and decisively dashed up the steps again. “I’ll finish the test as fast as I can!” “Song Qiuyu, don’t worry about me. Do your best—!” Jiang Xiao called out, clutching his aching arm with a big laugh.
But right after he shouted that, he saw Song Qiuyu stop on the steps, suddenly turn, and run back down.
Jiang Xiao froze, confused.
Could it be…?
He wondered if she was stubbornly insisting on taking him to the hospital after all. His heart pounded faster.
He felt helpless, but he had to admit—he was also touched.
Then, Song Qiuyu shoved something hard into his hand, pursed her lips, and sprinted up the steps again. In the blink of an eye, she was a tiny dot and vanished from view.
The hard object was a Phone—Song Qiuyu’s own Phone.
Jiang Xiao stared at the Phone, blinked, and after a few seconds, he figured it out. The corners of his mouth curled up—he was actually quite happy.
She probably realized he didn’t have a Phone and might not be able to pay, so she’d handed hers over to him… She just turned in her own Phone so readily?
He thought of a four-character phrase:
“When you care, you get flustered.”
Song Qiuyu made it to the Test Center just in time. Faced with Xie Zhuran and Lin An’s confused looks in the same Test Center, she couldn’t sit still.
The papers were already being handed out. She couldn’t explain much and had to keep her mouth shut and focus on the exam.
Hmm?
At a glance, she actually seemed to know how to do all these questions!
Most of them were problems Jiang Xiao had gone through with her over the past two weeks. He even guessed the essay topic!
Song Qiuyu gripped her black gel pen, feeling complicated.
The CET-4 English Test shouldn’t be difficult for Jiang Xiao—he could pass it anytime.
But the one who should’ve been injured was her, and the one sitting the exam should’ve been Jiang Xiao.
She glanced at Jiang Xiao’s empty seat behind her.
Her guilt from the Shen Xi incident grew heavier, and she bit her lip.
Thinking of Jiang Xiao’s shout as he watched her run to the Test Center, she closed her eyes and sighed.
How could he… still smile at a time like this?
As expected, people in love all turn into fools. Jiang Xiao was like this three years ago, and he still hasn’t improved at all.
That’s why Jiang Xiao’s wife has to be an amazing woman.
Someone who would never lie to him, would treat him especially well, and be absolutely beautiful, too.
Time ticked by as she answered the questions.
Scribble, scribble—Song Qiuyu finished, packed up in a rush, and was the first to submit her paper, dashing out of the Test Center.
She reached for her Phone to contact Jiang Xiao, but as soon as she pulled it out, she froze.
“No way…”
Song Qiuyu’s face went pale with fright. Jiang Xiao’s Phone was right here—so the Phone she’d handed to him was her own?
Her mind spun, her expression shifting rapidly. She quickly entered her number and called herself.
She’d given him her Phone so he could pay, but she’d given him the wrong one.
Her Phone was locked, and Jiang Xiao didn’t know the password—he probably couldn’t use it at all.
The call connected.
“Jiang Xiao, you—”
She took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, but her voice still shook a little.
“Don’t worry, I brought Cash.”
Jiang Xiao’s deep, magnetic voice came from the other end.
It was as if he was speaking right next to her ear.
Song Qiuyu’s ear tingled and warmed. She bit her lip, pressed her hand to her chest, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness.
He seemed to be laughing at her for mixing up the Phones. Right after, she heard a short, light chuckle.
Song Qiuyu rolled her eyes, pursed her lips in embarrassment and frustration.
If he still had the mood to laugh at her, maybe things weren’t so bad after all?
After clarifying his situation and location, she rushed over at once.
All the way there, her heart was in a panic.
Even though Jiang Xiao said it was only a mild fracture and no big deal, she couldn’t feel any more at ease.
What was she going to do? She owed Jiang Xiao more and more!
A fracture…
How much must that hurt?
When she reached the hospital, the first thing she did was head for Jiang Xiao. He was tall and handsome, with a striking presence.
Even in the crowded hospital hallway, he was the kind of person you could spot right away.
She saw that his right arm was already in a Plaster Cast, and he sat quietly and alone on a chair. She immediately held her breath.
She hurried her steps toward him, the urge to know his exact condition growing as the distance shrank.
The sound of her footsteps wasn’t too loud or too soft, easily covered by the conversations around her—but somehow, they seemed to fall right into Jiang Xiao’s ears.