Chapter 5

Mu Cheng looked at the cold medicine in her hand. For some reason, her heart warmed inexplicably. Suddenly, her opinion of Zhong Yingzhi changed, and she felt that maybe this person was not quite so terrible after all.

But the moment that thought emerged, Mu Cheng immediately shook her head like mad to deny it. At the same time, she inwardly cursed herself. Zhong Yingzhi had already given her countless “slaps” before, enough to make her head buzz, and now, just because she offered her a tiny sweet date, Mu Cheng was going to forget all her bad points cleanly? Wasn’t that far too unprincipled and pathetic?

Mm. Mu Cheng had never had much principle or dignity to begin with.

Mu Cheng shifted her chair back a little, leaned her head back, and raised her voice. “Thanks.”

Zhong Yingzhi stopped typing on the keyboard and looked over.

Mu Cheng waved the cold medicine in her hand. “I’ll accept the cold medicine you gave me. Thanks.”

Zhong Yingzhi furrowed her brows and did not reply.

The moment Mu Cheng finished speaking, Xiao Xiaoli, who was just preparing to take an afternoon nap, poked her head out from under the blanket and coughed heavily several times as if hinting at something.

Mu Cheng looked at her in confusion. “You caught a cold too?”

“No, I just wanted to say, um…” She hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping.

“What are you trying to say? Stop dragging it out. If you’ve got something to say, spit it out.” Mu Cheng rolled her eyes at her.

Xiao Xiaoli pointed at the cold medicine in her hand. “When I went downstairs to pick up my delivery, didn’t you ask me to bring you a box of cold medicine? That’s the one I brought you.”

Mu Cheng froze. Her face turned green, then white. It seemed there really had been such a thing.

Mu Cheng awkwardly stole a glance at Zhong Yingzhi. Zhong Yingzhi did not have much of a reaction and had already gone back to doing her own things on the computer.

She had almost gotten sentimental over nothing again. This Zhong Yingzhi was an ungrateful wolf. How could she possibly be kind enough to send cold medicine over? Mu Cheng had really thought too much.

The QQ penguin icon flashed. Zhong Yingzhi clicked open the chat window. It was a message from someone noted as Dr. Lin.

Dr. Lin: “I was in a meeting just now and only got free now. Did something happen?”

Zhong Yingzhi’s distinct, slender fingers quickly tapped the keyboard a few times. “A cold has dragged on for a month without getting better. Coughing and runny nose, no fever. What’s going on?”

Her question was concise, without any unnecessary words, just like the person herself—cold and stiff.

Dr. Lin replied worriedly, “Is your cold still not better?”

Zhong Yingzhi: “No. Asking for someone else.”

Dr. Lin let out a long breath of relief. He was originally the Zhong family’s private doctor. The main reason he was working in the infirmary was because of Zhong Yingzhi.

Chairman Zhong was not at ease with Zhong Yingzhi living alone at school, so he had arranged for Dr. Lin to remain on standby at the school in case of emergencies.

Dr. Lin had served by Zhong Yingzhi’s side since she was very young and could be said to understand her somewhat. Her personality was indifferent, and she never took anyone to heart. So why would she be asking about something like this on someone else’s behalf now?

Curious, Dr. Lin asked, “Who is it?”

Zhong Yingzhi lost her patience. “Is there something wrong with your brain? Say less nonsense and answer the question.”

Dr. Lin looked at the rude message the other party had sent. Used to it, he shrugged. “If a cold has dragged on for a month and still hasn’t gotten better, then just buying cold medicine and taking it definitely won’t work. It’s best to have that person come over here so I can take a look. If it’s serious, they’ll need to go to the hospital for treatment.”

Zhong Yingzhi closed the chat window. Her thin lips pressed together slightly, and she turned her head to glance at the person who was coughing.

Mu Cheng coughed so hard it seemed to tear through her lungs and heart. She clutched her chest and wanted to dry heave, then ran to the bathroom, but nothing came out.

This cold seemed much more serious than the ones she had had before.

Xiao Xiaoli asked worriedly, “Are you okay?”

Mu Cheng waved a hand. “I’m just coughing a little badly. It’ll be fine in a couple of days.”

Zhong Yingzhi suddenly cut in coldly, “If you’re uncomfortable, go to the infirmary and have it checked.”

Mu Cheng froze, then exchanged a look with Xiao Xiaoli. Both of them were surprised that someone like Zhong Yingzhi, who was unwilling to say even half an extra sentence in a day, had actually taken the initiative to speak.

Zhong Yingzhi also sensed that it was not quite right and added temporarily, “You cough all day. It’s affecting me.”

Mu Cheng pursed her lips. For a moment, she had almost thought Zhong Yingzhi was caring about her. Being sentimental over nothing really was a rather serious illness.

Mu Cheng deliberately coughed several times in a row, intentionally making a huge racket as she grumbled in dissatisfaction, “I wonder who infected me with this cold. The wound on my ear still hasn’t even fully healed, yet certain people are very good at making sarcastic remarks. Showing off their ungrateful wolf routine so skillfully…”

In the face of Mu Cheng’s rambling accusations, Zhong Yingzhi gave a monotonous cold laugh in response.

Dr. Lin sent another message: “When is the person you mentioned coming over? I’ll arrange things on my end first.”

Zhong Yingzhi’s face turned livid. “Whether she comes or not is up to her.”

Dr. Lin scratched his head blankly. Just now, she had still been talking about bringing the person over. How had her attitude changed immediately when not even a minute had passed?

Mu Cheng’s phone rang, its “ding-ding-dang-dang” ringtone extremely noisy.

She picked up the phone and glanced at the caller ID. It was Grandma.

Mu Cheng quickly cleared her throat, afraid that Grandma would notice she had caught a cold. But no matter how she tried to cover it up, her voice still sounded different from usual.

The moment Grandma Mu heard it, she detected something wrong. “You caught a cold?”

Seeing that she could not hide it, Mu Cheng could only hum in acknowledgment.

“I already told you to wear more clothes. It gets cold at night, so you need to add another layer. Why won’t you listen? Your constitution is weak, and you catch colds at the slightest thing, yet you still don’t know how to be careful. You’re already this old, but you still don’t let me stop worrying. Have you taken cold medicine…” Once Grandma Mu started nagging, she went on and on without end.

Mu Cheng lowered her head, kicked the floor lightly, and smiled. She was not annoyed by this kind of nagging.

A sharp female voice came from the other end of the phone. It was Mu Cheng’s mother speaking from the side. “It’s just a small cold. Mom, why are you so nervous? If you ask me, there’s no need to take medicine for a cold at all. Under normal circumstances, it’ll get better on its own. Why waste that money?”

Grandma Mu glared at Mother Mu. “If your precious son caught a cold, would you be able to say that? Last time, [bailiantales.com]your precious son only cut a bit of skin on his hand, and you were so nervous you sent him to the hospital. But when it comes to Xiao Cheng, buying cold medicine becomes a waste of money? They’re both flesh that fell from your body. Even favoritism shouldn’t be as biased as yours.”

Mother Mu was not happy. “Xiao Cheng is your granddaughter, but isn’t Xiao Xiong also your grandson? You talk about Xiao Cheng, Xiao Cheng every day. I haven’t even said you’re the biased one.”

This kind of argument happened often. Mu Cheng let out a faint sigh.

Mu Cheng had an older brother three years her senior. Mu Aoxiong had grown up soaking in a jar of honey, gathering all of their parents’ love. Mu Cheng, on the other hand, seemed like an unnecessary existence. Occasionally, she would complain and feel dissatisfied too. When she was little, she would cry and make a fuss. But as she grew older, she instead learned to let it go.

Although she did not have her parents’ love, she at least had enough to eat and warm clothes to wear. At the very least, she still had Grandma. She had a grandma who would protect and love her. She was not greedy. That was enough.

Her cold showed no sign of improving. After dragging it out until she really could not bear it anymore, Mu Cheng finally had no choice but to decide to go to the infirmary for an IV drip to recover.

Mu Cheng was afraid of injections. Unless it was absolutely necessary, she avoided them whenever she could. But this time, she really had no other choice.

After class, Zhong Yingzhi walked along the path back to the dorm with several thick books in her arms. Beside her, a male classmate from the same class was trying to strike up a conversation.

The male student had a sunny smile and a handsome appearance. He was none other than Jiang Zhengzhi, the person Mu Cheng had confessed to before.

“There are a few points from this class that I didn’t really understand. If you have time, could you…” Jiang Zhengzhi spoke halfway, then realized Zhong Yingzhi did not seem to be listening. Her gaze was on the infirmary. He asked in confusion, “Yingzhi, what are you looking at?”

Zhong Yingzhi withdrew her gaze and said lightly, “Were you talking to me just now?”

Jiang Zhengzhi smiled brightly and said warmly, “Yeah, I was talking to you.”

Zhong Yingzhi glanced at him. “Do we know each other?”

Jiang Zhengzhi grew embarrassed and gave two dry laughs. “We’re in the same class. During class just now, I was sitting beside you. I’ve sat beside you quite a few times, so I can sort of count as half a deskmate. You didn’t notice?”

“Is that so?” Zhong Yingzhi’s gaze was indifferent. “I don’t remember. I didn’t notice.”

After saying that, she did not wait for Jiang Zhengzhi to react and simply stepped toward the dorm. After taking a few steps, however, she stopped again.

She thought for a few seconds, then turned and headed to the infirmary instead.

Jiang Zhengzhi watched Zhong Yingzhi’s retreating figure and curled his lips into an amused smile. The harder she was to pursue, the more interesting it became.

Jiang Zhengzhi’s buddy ran over and slung an arm over his shoulder. “Forget it. Don’t waste your effort. You won’t be able to win her over.”

Jiang Zhengzhi did not take it seriously. “That’s not certain.”

“What do you mean, not certain? It’s absolutely certain. Pursue her? Don’t even think about it. She doesn’t have a single friend in school. She doesn’t even have anyone she’s slightly familiar with. unauthorized copyIs it because she can’t make friends? No. It’s not. It’s because she looks down on people like us from the bottom of her heart and disdains having anything to do with us.”

His buddy struck him down without the slightest concealment. “What kind of person is she? The Zhong family’s only daughter. You and her aren’t even on the same level, okay? Her starting point is a finish line you absolutely couldn’t reach even if you struggled your whole life.”

Jiang Zhengzhi was not annoyed. Smiling, he touched the corner of his lips, his fighting spirit growing even stronger.

At the entrance of the infirmary, Zhong Yingzhi lingered outside without going in.

Dr. Lin saw her and walked out. “Here to see Mu Cheng?”

“Passing by.” Zhong Yingzhi denied it.

Dr. Lin smiled and did not expose her. “It’s not bad for children your age to make a few friends. You’re always alone. That’s not very good either.”

“Friends?” Zhong Yingzhi gave a cold snort. “I just don’t want to owe her a favor. That’s all.”

“Not going in to take a look?” Dr. Lin asked with a smile.

Zhong Yingzhi frowned and restated, “I’m passing by.”

Dr. Lin nodded repeatedly. “I know, I know. You’re passing by. Then, passing-by you, do you want to go in and take a look?”

Zhong Yingzhi looked at him coldly, and the temperature around them seemed to drop.

Dr. Lin was not afraid. After all, they had known each other for a long time, and he basically understood her temperament.

Dr. Lin said, “She’s fine. Her body is just a little weak. Once the IV drip is done, she can go back.”

“I didn’t ask.” After saying that, Zhong Yingzhi turned and left.

Dr. Lin watched her walk away and shook his head with a smile. His eyes turned, as if he had thought of some interesting idea.

Mu Cheng looked at the bowl of steaming lean pork congee in front of her and said in surprise, “You’re saying Zhong Yingzhi bought this congee for me?”

Dr. Lin nodded. “She came to see you just now.”

Mu Cheng poked her head out and glanced outside. “Then why didn’t I see her come in?”

“She was too embarrassed to come in.” Dr. Lin lied without his face reddening or his heart skipping a beat. “She and I have known each other for a long time. I watched her grow up. That person’s nature is too cold, and her words are not exactly pleasant to hear, but her heart isn’t bad. She’s never had friends since she was young, and she doesn’t understand how to get along with people. Since you two are in the same dorm, I hope you can look after her a little more.”

Mu Cheng picked up the spoon and took a sip of the congee. Thoughtfully, she gave an “Mm.” “She really doesn’t know how to talk. That mouth of [stolen content]hers can choke me speechless at the slightest thing.”

Dr. Lin leaned a little closer and whispered, “Actually, she wants to be friends with you, but she can’t put down her pride and is too embarrassed to say it directly.”

Mu Cheng was so shocked that her spoon fell into the bowl. “Dr. Lin, you’re joking, right?”

Dr. Lin looked utterly sincere. “Everything I’m saying is true. Before, she even messaged me asking what was going on with a cold that hadn’t gotten better after a month. She was very concerned about you.”

Mu Cheng was half-believing, half-doubting as she sank into thought.