Shen Er'an pressed his lips together. He didn’t seem to understand why either, his frown revealing confusion, but soon after, he returned to his usual calm self.

Jiao Bai had just asked offhandedly, and didn’t want to dig deeper or even know the answer. People shouldn’t worry about too much. He should just focus on the activity levels.

Jiao Bai discovered that his activity level with Shen Er'an had changed from 29.5 to 30. That 0.5 increase was negligible, leaving him feeling both worried and happy.

What worried him was that even though he had broken three ribs, Shen Er'an’s interest in him hadn’t increased much. It seemed that in Shen Er'an’s mind, Jiao Bai was just someone who would risk his own safety to protect his friends, so he wasn’t surprised that Jiao Bai shielded him.

What made him happy, however, was that fortunately, the level of interest wasn’t closely related to how much he sacrificed himself for the sake of friendship[1].

Otherwise, if there was a strong correlation, he would probably have to break all his arms and legs in order to get closer to the other seven friends.

Jiao Bai noticed that Shen Er'an had placed the cloth bag he brought over on his bedside, and his curiosity was piqued. “What’s inside?” It didn’t look like it would be fruit.

Shen Er'an pulled out a stack of practice tests and workbooks from the bag and organized them neatly.

This was all the homework Jiao Bai hadn’t completed last week due to being hospitalised, along with the practice tests assigned this week for every subject, as well as Shen Er'an’s notes.

Jiao Bai: “...”

This was truly unnecessary.

Outside the hospital room, the director observed for a while with his hands clasped behind his back and then turned to leave.

The attending physician followed closely behind him. He asked, “Director, should we notify Mr. Shen?”

The director continued walking. “That eminent person has a short memory, so notifying him would seem like we’re making a big deal out of nothing.”

The attending physician hesitated and said, “But the patient inside and Young Master Shen...”

The director lowered his voice and said, “What? Did you see the stirrings of young love, an ambiguity between them, or the ‘pink bubbles’ that young people often talk about?”

The attending physician reflected on the patient’s interactions with Young Master Shen since his admission, as well as the scene of Young Master Shen bringing him to the hospital, and concluded, “Actually, that’s not the case.”

“Just friendship among classmates.” The director reminisced and said sentimentally, “If this can carry over from school to society, and they continue walking together, then that’s true friendship. It’s far more enduring and valuable than any fleeting romance.”

“That’s true... Are we also not going to notify Madam Shen? If she finds out one day, won’t she be upset with us for keeping it from her even though we knew?” The attending physician felt a bit overwhelmed just thinking about it.

The director immediately became serious. “What do we know?”

“We are doctors, and we’re only concerned about the patient’s condition, not their personal matters. We don’t know about anything else. We don’t know anything!” The director admonished, his expression stern.

The attending physician pulled down his mask and winked. “Director, after all this talk, you’re just afraid of that old lady, aren’t you?”

Director: “...”

“Go back to your office.” The director continued to walk forward with his hands behind his back.

A compassionate person who twirls Buddhist prayer beads and recites “Amitabha” could also be the most vicious person.

Matriarchs of rich and powerful families were not to be trifled with.

.

After about a week in the hospital, Jiao Bai was discharged. Shen Er'an hired a nurse aide for him, a local middle-aged man, who went back home at night and came over during the day.

At night, whenever Jiao Bai needed something, he would simply use his phone to call Shen Er'an over from the next room to lend him a hand.

Since the gold ‘best friend’ card was already in Jiao Bai’s hand, he was going to make the most of it.

Jiao Bai lay on his side in bed, scrolling through Weibo for a while before switching to WeChat. He hadn’t messaged Zhang Zhen in days, and Zhang Zhen hadn’t reached out to him either.

It had been so long, and it was always him who made the first move. This couldn’t go on like this.

He might as well conduct an experiment this time. He wanted to see if Zhang Zhen would contact him if he didn’t take the initiative.

If not, he would need to change his strategy.

After lying down for a while, Jiao Bai called over the nurse aide to help him up for a walk. Lying down was too painful. Standing was better. He shuffled over to the bathroom to look in the mirror. Tsk, that little bit of meat I gained is all gone again.

“Uncle[2], what are we having for dinner tonight?”

The nurse aide listed a few dishes.

Jiao Bai had no appetite for any of those. He suddenly thought of something and quickly sent a message to one of the three numbers saved on his phone.

After the first class of the afternoon, the deputy class monitor approached Shen Er'an to discuss something. Since this would be the seniors’ last New Year’s as high schoolers, they were planning to hold an evening party, but Class 7 hadn’t even started preparing their act.

Usually, Shen Er'an would listen attentively and offer his opinions afterwards, but this time he suddenly pulled out his phone in the middle of the conversation.

The deputy class monitor: “…” Class monitor, the school has a rule against bringing phones. Isn’t it a bit inappropriate to take it out so openly?

Shen Er'an only received messages from one person, which was why he checked it right away. He had saved that contact on his phone under just their name.

Jiao Bai: My best buddy, I want to have hot pot for dinner tonight.

Shen Er'an didn’t think Jiao Bai was just being impulsive or being difficult. He simply said to the deputy class monitor, “Let’s talk later,” and left the classroom. He found a place to call the doctor for confirmation before replying to Jiao Bai.

Shen: I asked the doctor. You can’t have hot pot for the time being.

Jiao Bai: I can!

Shen Er'an could almost sense Jiao Bai’s excitement and determination through those two words. He felt a bit at a loss, as he had never dealt with a situation like this before.

Suddenly, he felt a pat on his shoulder and a spiky head leaned in. “An-ge, who are you texting?”

Shen Er'an put his phone back into his pocket. “A friend.”

Liang Dong was greatly shocked. An-ge had other friends besides him?

He wasn’t being brazen. It was just that An-ge didn’t get along well with others.

Liang Dong asked with a curious grin, “Who is it? Is it a girl from another class? Are you going introduce us?”

Shen Er'an walked to the classroom and asked, sidestepping the question, “Dongzi, do you still, hate Jiao Bai?”

“You even need to ask?” Liang Dong’s expression instantly turned sour. “An-ge, I really don’t want to hear you mention him. I feel like even just you saying his name dirties you.”


[1] 两肋插刀 (liǎng lèi chā dāo) – literal translation ‘stabbing a knife into both ribs.’ It is an idiom that means ‘to attach great importance to friendship, to the point of being able to sacrifice oneself for it.’

[2] 大叔 (dà shū) – Uncle – not his real uncle, is a term used to address a man about the age of one’s father.