LRTH - 15

When Li Yizhou carried Fang Nanzhi to the infirmary and the doctor told him that she had low blood sugar due to her diet and had fainted from hunger, he was taken aback.

It was understandable for a girl her age to want to be pretty, but it was too much to harm her body for the sake of it.

He really hadn’t expected such a dedicated, seemingly obedient, and well-behaved girl to use such a drastic method.

That’s why he had just said a few words to remind her, but he didn’t expect the girl in front of him to quickly tear up after he finished.

He was momentarily stunned, caught off guard.

He was quite afraid of girls crying. He cleared his throat and said, “I didn’t mean to scold you. I was just reminding you.”

Fang Nanzhi pursed her lips. She didn’t want to cry.

But when she thought about how embarrassed she was today and that he would soon be going to college and she would rarely see him again, she couldn’t control herself.

She couldn’t get past this plateau, just as she couldn’t get past the distance between them.

“I’m not blaming you... it’s not because of you... I’m fine...”

The more she said it, the more tears she shed. The lenses of her glasses were smudged with tears, blurring her vision.

Li Yizhou had no experience with comforting girls, but it was clear that he was the one who had made this girl cry.

He was at a loss for a moment. He took out a tissue and handed it to her. “I’m sorry.”

Fang Nanzhi shook her head, her heart feeling both sour and sore.

He knew nothing, and she could never let him know.

She took off her glasses and, while crying, used the tissue to wipe the lenses, lowering her head to avoid his gaze. “I’m just... I’m just crying because I was hungry... it’s really not because of you... I haven’t even thanked you for carrying me here... I’m very heavy.”

Li Yizhou was a little amused and helpless at the same time. “Tingyou and the others should be back soon. Also, you’re not heavy. It was easy to carry you.”

Fang Nanzhi paused her wiping and looked up at him. “Really?”

Without her glasses, her facial features were much clearer, especially her eyes. Her eyelashes were thick and long, and with the tears in them, she looked especially pitiful. The way she was asking questions in a daze made people’s hearts soften.

Li Yizhou said, “You’re really not heavy. How heavy can a girl be?”

At this moment, Fang Nanzhi still didn’t believe him. She was much lighter now than she was at the beginning of her first year, but she definitely wasn’t light enough to be carried easily. Besides, it was a long way from the track to the infirmary, so he must have been tired from the trip.

“But thank you for carrying me here today...”

“It’s nothing.”

After that, they didn’t say much more.

Fang Nanzhi held her glasses, leaning weakly on the bed, watching the IV drip slowly fall.

A few minutes later, Xu Tingyou and Zhao Ke returned, and Xu Yuanhe was also with them. After the 1,000-meter race, Xu Yuanhe went back to their spot and didn’t see anyone familiar. When he asked around, he found out what had happened a little while ago.

“Liaoliao, the food is here. Eat something quickly,” Xu Tingyou said, worried. She shoved the food in front of her and insisted on watching her eat it all.

But with so many people in the room, Fang Nanzhi couldn’t eat. She looked up at Li Yizhou and the others. Li Yizhou understood and said, “We’ll be going now. There’s nothing else to do. Tingyou, you stay here with her.”

Xu Tingyou: “Oh, I got it. You guys go. I’ll call you if anything happens.”

Li Yizhou: “Mhm.”

The three of them quickly left the room.

Later, Zhao Ke had a high jump competition. He insisted on dragging Li Yizhou and Xu Yuanhe back to the track and field and wanted the two of them to be there to support him when the competition started.

Li Yizhou and Xu Yuanhe had looks of exasperation on their faces, but they still followed him.

“Hey, did you guys notice just now that the junior is actually quite pretty? I mean, without her glasses—”

“She’s lying on a hospital bed, and that’s all you’re looking at,” Li Yizhou said out of the blue.

Zhao Ke chuckled. “No, no. I’m also worried about her. But I just happened to glance over and noticed that the junior has really beautiful eyes, right, A-He?”

Xu Yuanhe was suddenly called out. He glanced at Zhao Ke, but his mind subconsciously recalled that she hadn’t been wearing glasses in the infirmary. She looked... decent.

“I don’t know. I didn’t pay attention,” Xu Yuanhe said.

“Tsk, what’s wrong with you two?” Zhao Ke put his arms around their shoulders. “And I also noticed that the junior has lost weight. I remember she was a little round when I first saw her. She’s not so round anymore. But no wonder she lost weight, she’s so ruthless with her dieting.”

Li Yizhou said, “You should be warming up instead of thinking about this. Will gossip make you jump higher?”

Zhao Ke: “Gossip won’t, but a pretty girl will. I think the junior might be a beauty.”

Li Yizhou didn’t hold back and gave him a kick. “Hurry up and go.”

Zhao Ke stumbled a few steps and rubbed his butt. “Is this how you treat a high jump champion?”

Li Yizhou: “If you’re a real champion, I’ll treat you to dinner.”

“And you have to fan me and hold an umbrella for me.”

Li Yizhou smiled and said, “Fine, whatever you want.”

Zhao Ke immediately became happy. “Alright, I’m going! A-He, you hurry up and go. Attract some girls to stand by and cheer for me.”

Xu Yuanhe: “...Get lost.”

________________________________________

Half an hour later, Fang Nanzhi had finished all her food, and the IV drip was also done.

Just in case, the doctor had her stay in the infirmary for another half an hour to make sure she was okay before she could leave.

“What’s wrong with these people? You fainted. Fainted! They’re so envious. Idiots,” Xu Tingyou said, scrolling on her phone. She had stumbled upon a post by a fellow student on Weibo.

Fang Nanzhi: “What?”

Xu Tingyou handed her the phone. “I don’t know what class they’re from. They took a video of Brother Yizhou carrying you just now and said they were envious and why it wasn’t them who fainted.”

Fang Nanzhi took the phone and clicked on the video. In the video, Li Yizhou was carrying her on his back, walking down the stairs, and then moving through the crowd, carrying her out of the track and field.

In the video, everyone along the way was turning their heads, looking in the direction they were going.

Fang Nanzhi’s face flushed immediately, all the way to her neck.

When she fainted before, she was in a daze and only vaguely smelled the scent on him. Now, seeing it from a third-person perspective, she truly felt what it was like for him to carry her. She was leaning on his shoulder, and the two of them were so close...

But when she exited the video and accidentally scrolled down, her face turned pale, inch by inch, as she read the comments.

[Who is this person? Why is Li Yizhou carrying her?]

[They say she’s a first-year student. She just happened to faint there, and Li Yizhou kindly took her to the infirmary.]

[What a coincidence? What if she faked it?]

[Ahhhhh, what the hell! How dare she let my crush carry her on his back!]

[The one who fainted is Fang Nanzhi from our class. Wow, she’s so fat. Does she want to kill someone from exhaustion?]

[She doesn’t look fat from the back. You guys are too jealous.]

[Attacking a girl’s appearance is too much (she’s really not fat).]

[She probably got close to Xu Tingyou to get close to Li Yizhou and Xu Yuanhe. She’s so close with Xu Tingyou now.]

...

Xu Tingyou had only seen the video and the post’s text just now and hadn’t had time to read the comments. When she saw Fang Nanzhi’s face looking unwell, she leaned over to take a look.

“What the hell are these people talking about?” Xu Tingyou immediately snatched the phone back from her. “Don’t listen to what these internet trolls are saying.”

She furiously typed a reply to the user who mentioned her: [I’m Xu Tingyou, and I’m the one who wanted to be friends with Fang Nanzhi. It has nothing to do with anyone else. You shut your mouth, you idiot!]

Fang Nanzhi had felt truly sad when she saw the malicious comments, but now that she saw Xu Tingyou fiercely replying to the internet users and defending her, she suddenly didn’t feel so sad anymore.

Others were just maliciously speculating about her. People who believed in her would naturally believe in her.

Just like the person in front of her.

“Tingyou, thank you.”

Xu Tingyou paused and looked up at her. “For what?”

“Thank you... for being on my side.”

Xu Tingyou was stunned and said awkwardly, “Don’t be so mushy. I’m just stating the facts.”

“Mhm, but I’m still very happy.”

Xu Tingyou shoved her phone into her pocket, her ears a little red. “Alright, are you feeling better now? Do you want to go?”

“Let’s go. I’m not feeling bad anymore.”

The sports meet lasted for three days. After the first day, the most talked-about topic, besides “which class had a higher score,” was the incident of Li Yizhou carrying a girl on his back. Because Fang Nanzhi was on his back at the time, her face wasn’t visible in the video, so many students from different classes were either asking around or going directly outside their classroom to get a look.

But after seeing that the person being carried was just an ordinary and even slightly unstylish girl, their suspicions were dispelled. Most people would just say, “Oh,” and then mutter that Li Yizhou was just being a good person.

They wouldn’t think that Li Yizhou had any kind of connection with a girl like that.

But not everyone would think that way. Zhang Lanlan wouldn’t.

On the third day of the sports meet, it happened to be Fang Nanzhi’s turn to do classroom cleanup. She, Zhang Lanlan, and Qian Feng had always been in the same cleanup group. It was fine during normal class days, as they would do the cleanup. But now that the sports meet was like a holiday, the cleanup was easily forgotten.

“Wait.”

There were very few people in the classroom. Some hadn’t come to school yet, and some had gone to the track and field. Fang Nanzhi stopped Zhang Lanlan and Qian Feng just as they were about to leave.

“It’s our turn to do cleanup today,” Fang Nanzhi said.

Zhang Lanlan glanced at her. “Oh, we’ll do it later. I want to go watch the games.”

“There’s no time. Someone will be here to check at 11 o’clock,” Fang Nanzhi said in a low voice, but the empty classroom made it easy to hear.

“But the games are about to start, too. It’s our grade’s relay race. Even if you don’t watch, I want to,” Zhang Lanlan said impatiently. “You can sweep it yourself.”

Qian Feng always did what she said. He waved his hand. “Then we’ll have to trouble you, who isn’t watching the games, to sweep for us.”

Fang Nanzhi’s brows furrowed slightly. In the past, she would have just accepted it, but this time, she mustered her courage. “If you wanted to watch the games, you could have done your part of the cleaning earlier, instead of waiting until now. Since you’re not going to sweep... I won’t do it for you either.”

Having learned her lesson once before, she would not “work” for them again.

Zhang Lanlan, however, looked like she had heard something funny. She walked over to her and said, “What, you’re getting bold because you’re close with Xu Tingyou?”

“...”

Zhang Lanlan smiled and then said, “No, it must be because you’re close with Li Yizhou now, right? Oh yeah, two days ago he carried you to the infirmary. I seem to remember someone swore to me at the beginning that she wasn’t close with him at all.”

Fang Nanzhi: “When I first started school, I wasn’t close with him...”

“Still lying? What do you mean you weren’t close? You just didn’t want to introduce him to us, right?” Zhang Lanlan said sarcastically. “You’re really good at faking it. I didn’t want to do anything back then. I just wanted you to ask him and Xu Yuanhe to come out and hang out with us. You wouldn’t even do that. Is there a need to be so protective?”

Fang Nanzhi was stunned, and her anger flared up almost instantly. “Zhang Lanlan, what do you mean by ‘protective’? What do you think they are?”

This was the first time Zhang Lanlan had heard her speak so loudly. Her eyes widened, and she got angry as well. “What are you getting so angry about?! I was nice to you and treated you as a friend, but you wouldn’t even introduce them. You wouldn’t even give me his WeChat. I’m not even angry yet! You’re just a hypocritical and petty person.”

“You—”

“It’s not that she’s petty and wouldn’t introduce you. It’s that we heard what she said, but we refused.” Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the classroom window. It was light and a little cold.

Fang Nanzhi quickly turned her head and saw three boys standing outside the window: Li Yizhou, Xu Yuanhe, and a rare-faced Zhao Ke without a smile.

Li Yizhou was the one who spoke. Fang Nanzhi felt a little embarrassed when their eyes met. She didn’t know when they had arrived or how much they had heard.

Zhang Lanlan was also stunned when she saw the three boys outside the window. After she finally understood what Li Yizhou had said, her face turned slightly pale.

“We didn’t want to get to know you, so there was nothing she could do about it. You can’t force people to do things, right?” Li Yizhou’s tone wasn’t heavy, but his words felt sharp.

Zhang Lanlan dared to talk back to Fang Nanzhi but not to these people. “...I didn’t mean that.”

Zhao Ke went around to the back door and came in. “Then what did you mean? Elaborate.”

Zhang Lanlan: “...”

Zhao Ke picked up two brooms from the back and threw them at Zhang Lanlan and Qian Feng’s feet. “You’re good at bullying people. Hurry up and sweep the floor. Don’t push your work onto others. What’s this, a schoolyard bully?”

Qian Feng was very smug in front of Fang Nanzhi, but under the gaze of a few third-year students, especially Li Yizhou and the others, he didn’t dare to act out. He glanced at Zhang Lanlan, his eyes asking what they should do.

Zhang Lanlan never expected them to suddenly show up and defend Fang Nanzhi. Her heart was filled with jealousy and anger, but she didn’t dare to show any of it. Her face was stiff.

Li Yizhou: “Fang Nanzhi.”

“Mhm?”

Li Yizhou’s voice was a little cold. “Get your backpack and Tingyou’s backpack, too. We’re going home.”

Fang Nanzhi: “...Oh.”

After she responded, she remembered something and immediately said, “I still have to do cleanup.”

Li Yizhou said, “Zhao Ke said he’d do your part for you. Let’s go.”

Zhao Ke glared at Li Yizhou. “???”

But when Fang Nanzhi looked at him with a confused expression, he grinned. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll do your part for you. And I’ll keep an eye on these two students so they don’t slack off! You go home first.”

Zhang Lanlan, Qian Feng: “...”

Fang Nanzhi: “But...”

Zhao Ke: “No buts. Just go, just go. I promise I’ll make it spotless, okay?”

Fang Nanzhi never expected the final outcome to be that she didn’t have to do the cleanup herself.

As she came out of the classroom with her backpack, she was still hesitating and looking back at Zhao Ke.

“Give me your bag,” Xu Yuanhe said, leaning against the wall and holding out his hand.

Fang Nanzhi said “Oh” and handed him Xu Tingyou’s backpack.

After Xu Yuanhe put Xu Tingyou’s backpack on his shoulder, he didn’t put his hand down. Fang Nanzhi looked up at him, a little confused.

Xu Yuanhe frowned. “Give me yours, too.”

Fang Nanzhi let out a small “Ah” and quickly waved her hand. “No, no! I can carry it myself. Thank you.”

“Oh, whatever you want.”

The three of them walked toward home together.

“Why were you guys there today...” Halfway there, Fang Nanzhi still couldn’t help but ask.

Li Yizhou: “To get Tingyou’s backpack.”

Xu Yuanhe said unhappily, “She wouldn’t come to school herself. She knew we were going home, so she said to bring her backpack back for her. She’s so lazy.”

Fang Nanzhi: “No wonder...”

The sun was just right today. It was the end of spring, and the three of them were walking home. The temperature was very comfortable.

“When you were cleaning the back garden alone before, was it because of them, too?” Li Yizhou asked.

Fang Nanzhi paused and nodded.

Li Yizhou said, “If they bully you again, you can tell us.”

Living in the same neighborhood and being Xu Tingyou’s good friend, they were all gradually becoming familiar with each other, and Fang Nanzhi was unconsciously being included in their group.

Xu Yuanhe glanced at her and also said, “You can also learn from Xu Tingyou. See if anyone at school dares to mess with her with her bad temper.”

Fang Nanzhi nodded and couldn’t help but smile, her heart feeling even warmer.

She had never dared to dream that one day, she would have people standing behind her.

________________________________________

The college entrance exam was getting closer, but Huang Yurou wasn’t very nervous about it.

First, Xu Yuanhe’s grades had always been pretty good, and getting into a good university in the country was not a problem. Second, she was also prepared. If the college entrance exam didn’t go well, she could still send her son abroad, and he would still have a good future.

She was only nervous about the twins. Their grades fluctuated in the middle-to-low range, and they couldn’t get into any good schools abroad. It was killing her with worry.

The college entrance exam was in early June and lasted for three days. The school gave the first and second-year students a holiday during those three days to free up the classrooms to be used as examination rooms.

On the day of the exam, Xu Tingyou told her that she and her family were accompanying Xu Yuanhe to the examination hall. The test center was in another school and was a bit far. She said she was waiting outside for Xu Yuanhe to finish the exam.

When she received the message, Fang Nanzhi was running on the treadmill at home. After she lowered the speed, she replied, “Where are you waiting?”

Xu Tingyou: “In the RV. It’s so hot outside.”

Fang Nanzhi remembered that she had indeed seen a very long, tall vehicle in their garage before. She said, “I wish your brother good luck on his exam.”

Xu Tingyou: “okok.”

After her run, Fang Nanzhi went to take a shower. Since she had fainted from dieting during her plateau, she hadn’t weighed herself again. She stood in front of the mirror, looking at her body, and pinched the much, much smaller amount of fat on her stomach before putting on her clothes.

Three days later, the college entrance exam was over, and the internet was flooded with information about the exam questions, answers, and so on... Fang Nanzhi often saw third-year students shouting that they were finally free. Seeing this, she started to wonder what Li Yizhou’s mood was like.

But a pre-admitted student probably wouldn’t feel anything about the end of the college entrance exam, right? Ah... it’s so good to be an honor student.

“Zhao Ke said everyone’s getting together this weekend. They’ve graduated and want to have some fun. He asked me to call you,” Xu Tingyou said, poking her arm after their Chinese class ended.

Fang Nanzhi: “They’ve graduated... are we going, too?”

Xu Tingyou: “They’re all people we know. Let’s go hang out together. Anyway, I don’t want to stay home and read this weekend.”

“Oh...”

“Stop saying ‘oh.’ Let’s go together. They’ve all graduated, so we’ll rarely be able to eat together in the future.”

Thinking of this, Fang Nanzhi felt a little sad.

She nodded. “Okay, where are we going?”

“My family has a small villa in Xiyun. It’s a cool place. We’ll have a BBQ there,” Xu Tingyou said. “Oh yeah, you have to go somewhere with me later. My mom said she ordered a watch for my brother there. She said it’s his graduation gift... Hmph, I hope I get a gift like that when I graduate, too.”

A graduation gift.

That person had helped her so much with her studies recently. Now that he was graduating, should she also prepare a graduation gift for him?

It wouldn’t mean anything. It would just be... a way of saying thank you.

It should be okay, right?

Fang Nanzhi was thinking this and went online to look up gift ideas for graduation, but after a long search, she couldn’t find anything suitable.

So she clicked on his moments, hoping to find some clues about his hobbies. Suddenly, she noticed his profile picture.

Since she had bought those few architecture books at the bookstore last time, she had bought many more afterward. She had seen the full version of his profile picture in a book about architectural case studies: the Perot Museum, a natural science museum designed by the architectural firm Morphosis.

Since it was his profile picture, it probably meant he liked the building...

Fang Nanzhi’s mind was starting to form some ideas.

Soon, the weekend arrived.

Fang Nanzhi told Zhao Liyun about her weekend plans. Zhao Liyun was happy that she had friends to go out with and felt very comfortable with Xu Yuanhe, Li Yizhou, and the others, so she happily let her go.

The Xu family had arranged for a driver, and Fang Nanzhi went with them in their car.

Although Xiyun was in Hangzhou, it was in a remote location. It took about an hour and a half to reach their destination. Some people had already arrived earlier. The villa’s gate was open, and lively voices could be heard from inside.

“We’ll start grilling when they get here. Zhao Ke, you’re supposed to be putting the meat on the skewers. Why are you being lazy?!” Song Chuxuan’s voice.

“I’m being lazy?! Look at Li Yizhou. What’s he doing?!”

Song Chuxuan: “Isn’t he adjusting the speakers?”

“He’s been adjusting the speakers for so long. I think he’s doing it on purpose.”

When Fang Nanzhi walked in, she saw several people standing around a rectangular dining table. Some were familiar faces, while others she had only met once before. They were all people from the third-year Class 7 whom she had met at Xu Yuanhe’s birthday party.

Zhao Ke saw them and quickly said hello. Fang Nanzhi replied to him as well.

Walking further in, she saw the person in front of the TV wall in the living room.

Li Yizhou was wearing black pants and a white, loose-fitting T-shirt today, sitting casually on the floor.

He was bent over, adjusting some equipment. His arched back had some definition, but it also had the slender look of a young man.

Zhao Ke said, “You guys came at the perfect time. We can start setting up the BBQ grill. Come on, help us put the meat on the skewers.”

Fang Nanzhi averted her gaze and walked to the dining table with Xu Tingyou and the others to help out. A little while later, music filled the room. The long-unused audio equipment was working again.

“Li Yizhou is amazing after all. You were trying to fix it for so long, and nothing happened,” Song Chuxuan said.

Zhao Ke: “That’s because you told me to come put the meat on the skewers! I only gave him that task. If I had been the one fixing it, I would have been done in a moment. It wouldn’t have taken this long. He was just being lazy!”

Song Chuxuan: “You’re full of it.”

Li Yizhou finished with the speakers and came over. He patted Zhao Ke on the shoulder. “Come with me to move things outside.”

Now that the person in question was in front of him, Zhao Ke backed down. He chuckled. “Alright, alright.”

After he responded, he suddenly remembered something and said, “Oh yeah, A-He, did you bring the alcohol?”

Xu Yuanhe: “I did. I already had someone move it into the kitchen.”

“Oh! That’s good. We can get drunk tonight!”

Fang Nanzhi blinked. Hearing this, she asked Xu Tingyou in a low voice, “Can we drink, too?”

Xu Tingyou: “I guess so. Drink.”

Xu Yuanhao: “I want to, too! Me, too!”

Just as he finished speaking, someone patted the back of Xu Yuanhao’s head. He turned around and saw Li Yizhou standing next to him. “You want what?”

Xu Yuanhao covered his head. “Ow.”

Li Yizhou took the BBQ equipment and glanced at Fang Nanzhi. “No alcohol for minors.”

“...”

Oh.