Chapter Thirty-Three: Thirteen, Who Fights with Her Life
“…?” Jiang Muwen stared blankly at Wen Yichen. Though his answer hadn’t exactly surprised her, it was the kind of reply that really made one want to hit him.
Seeing Jiang Muwen’s reaction, Wen Yichen couldn’t help but laugh. He complained about her weight, but still obediently carried her, step by step, toward the school infirmary.
“If you think I’m heavy, then just put me down…” Jiang Muwen muttered softly.
This time, not only did Wen Yichen hear her clearly, but he agreed cheerfully, “Alright.”
No sooner had he spoken than Jiang Muwen suddenly felt the support behind her disappear. In the next instant, her body dropped downwards.
“Ah—!” Afraid that Wen Yichen would actually just drop her, Jiang Muwen instinctively reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck.
To her surprise, she didn’t fall. She remained securely cradled in Wen Yichen’s arms.
Seeing her so flustered, Wen Yichen couldn’t resist a laugh. “Dummy…”
Jiang Muwen looked at Wen Yichen in a daze. The calm she’d just regained was once again disturbed by his one word: “dummy.”
“I’m not—”
“If you’re not a dummy, how do you manage to fall down just from running?” Wen Yichen followed up on her words.
“…”
“Oh—I get it. Your cerebellum didn’t develop properly.”
“?” Jiang Muwen was momentarily speechless at his comment, even feeling an urge to jump up and give him a beating. But given the circumstances, she had no choice but to stay obediently in Wen Yichen’s arms.
Still, just lying there like this made Jiang Muwen uncomfortable—he’d teased her so many times, but she hardly ever managed to get back at him. “Wen Yichen, you’re so annoying! How do you have the energy to talk so much if you think I’m heavy?”
“I always have the energy to tease you,” Wen Yichen replied as he carried her into the infirmary.
The faint scent of disinfectant tickled their noses, and the clean, sterile environment awakened Jiang Muwen’s deep-rooted fear of hospitals. A moment later, Wen Yichen carefully set her down on a nearby hospital bed. “Sit here and behave. I’ll go get the teacher.”
After giving his instructions, Wen Yichen turned and left the room.
The room fell quiet, leaving Jiang Muwen alone, obediently sitting on the bed. She bent her leg slightly to check her wound, but the sharp, tearing pain made her suck in a breath.
As Jiang Muwen was nursing her aching knee, Wen Yichen returned with the school doctor.
The doctor glanced at Jiang Muwen’s injury, then turned to prepare the necessary supplies. “That’s quite a fall… Let me disinfect the wound first. It’ll hurt a bit, so bear with it.”
“All this for a sports meet? You really went all out, scraped your knee and everything,” the doctor teased as he turned around with the supplies and approached her slowly. “Come, let’s disinfect this, Miss All-Out.”
As soon as he finished, hydrogen peroxide poured over Jiang Muwen’s wound.
The sudden, intense pain nearly made Jiang Muwen cry out; it was as if a wild beast were tearing at her skin, followed by a burning sensation that radiated outward like creeping vines. The pain kept intensifying, bringing tears to her eyes.
She couldn’t take it anymore. The next second, she instinctively reached out and grabbed Wen Yichen’s hand, squeezing as tightly as her knee hurt.
She must have squeezed hard, because Wen Yichen winced in pain, but he didn’t pull his hand away. Instead, he gently stroked her hair with his other hand, as if to comfort her. “It’s alright, just hang in there. It’ll be over soon.”
His tone carried a rare softness, laced with a touch of concern.
Hearing him, the doctor glanced up, looked at Wen Yichen, and then smiled in a way that was hard to describe. “Ah, youth…”
Jiang Muwen froze at the doctor’s words. Did he… misunderstand something?
“That’s not it… Sir, we’re not like that…” Jiang Muwen hurried to clarify.
The school doctor chuckled, turning to retrieve another bottle of medicine for her wound. “I understand~ At your age, no matter what kind of feelings you have, they’re the purest…”
He looked at the two of them and smiled helplessly. “Ah well, there’s no use telling you this now—you’ll understand when you’re older.”
After tending to Jiang Muwen’s wound, the doctor looked at Wen Yichen, patting him lightly on the shoulder. “All done. Let her rest for a bit, then you can take her back.”
Humming a cheerful tune, the doctor left the room.
Everything quieted down, and the air took on a subtle tension.
“Wen Yichen…” Jiang Muwen called softly.
“Hm?”
“Isn’t your birthday next Sunday?”
His birthday—if Jiang Muwen hadn’t mentioned it, Wen Yichen might not have remembered. November 11th, by coincidence, was indeed his birthday.
“What do you want for your birthday?” Jiang Muwen pressed, gazing at him with anticipation, as if expecting a whole list of wishes.
Wen Yichen looked at her for a while, then replied evenly, “If you do well on your midterms, that’ll be the best present for me.”
The moment he finished, the anticipation in Jiang Muwen’s eyes faded. “Can we talk about something happier?” she complained, flexing her leg without thinking—forgetting all about her injured knee until the pain flared up again. “Ow—ow ow ow…”
Wen Yichen couldn’t help but laugh. “Look at you, so careless. Who would dare marry you in the future?”
“You never know~ Maybe someone would not only dare to marry me, but dote on me, too.”
At her words, Wen Yichen fell silent. He looked at the girl before him and realized—she would one day marry someone else, start a family of her own.
He’d never really thought about who she’d marry. It had always seemed natural that this girl would keep revolving around his life, always appearing in his world. It was hard to imagine how he’d react if she were ever to disappear from it.
In Wen Yichen’s vision of the future, Jiang Muwen was present in every corner. Yet the thought of her walking down the aisle on another man’s arm, stepping into a marriage that wasn’t with him, left a bitter taste in his heart…
He used to think it was just jealousy, not wanting to see her happier with someone else. But now, it seemed that wasn’t quite it…