Shen Yujing had never found Song Yi so terrifying before.
He wanted to run away, but hearing Song Yi's angry shout behind him made him feel guilty.
So Shen Yujing stopped in his tracks, turned to face Song Yi, and tried to reason with her, "Calm down! Let's talk..."
Let's talk this through!
Of course, before Shen Yujing could finish his sentence, he watched helplessly as Song Yi slipped and suddenly lunged toward him.
Instinctively, Shen Yujing reached out to catch Song Yi, but neither of them was prepared for the tremendous force.
So when they fell, seeing the rocks and snow on the ground, Shen Yujing immediately used his other hand to protect her head against his chest.
In those brief two seconds, countless images flashed through Song Yi's mind.
She suddenly remembered that school trip and that dramatic, accidental kiss with Hang Feng.
Surely this kind of thing wouldn't happen again?
Being a Mary Sue protagonist in this world was really scary...
Well, no.
The pain on her face made Song Yi clearly realize that she had crashed into Shen Yujing's chest, not some awkward body part.
Though surprising, it was also unexpected.
Despite being in a similar situation, the person before her, who had more of a Mary Sue aura than the antagonist, had somehow avoided the typical Mary Sue scenario.
What did this mean?
Song Yi's mind raced with thoughts.
At that moment, the young man let out a pained groan, and after ensuring her safety, the hand that had been protecting her head released its hold. He then tugged at her ponytail and called out weakly, "Hey, get up first."
Song Yi snapped back to reality and quickly scrambled up, then reached out to help Shen Yujing, asking worriedly, "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
After standing up, Shen Yujing adjusted his hat, pulling it down to cover his head completely.
He quickly wiped his hand behind his back, then forced a smile, acting casual, "It was just a fall, what could happen?"
Song Yi pressed her lips together, raising her ice-cold hands to her mouth to warm them with her breath, then looked at the breakfast she was holding in her other hand.
The bag hadn't been tied properly, and the food inside was covered in snow, with two buns having rolled onto the ground.
She threw the food into a nearby trash can, then took out two cartons of milk from her backpack, handing one to Shen Yujing, saying, "It's from my dad."
Shen Yujing took it, lowered his head to drink the milk through the straw, glanced at Song Yi, but seemed hesitant to speak, pressing his lips together.
Song Yi: "If you have something to say, just say it."
Shen Yujing took a deep breath, then stepped forward.
Under Song Yi's confused gaze, he reached out and pulled her into his arms.
Shen Yujing's embrace was light, seemingly a hug, but his hand only rested on Song Yi's shoulder, maintaining a centimeter of space between their bodies.
The hug came suddenly, but because Shen Yujing kept his distance, Song Yi, though not returning the embrace, didn't feel uncomfortable and patiently asked, "What's wrong?"
His voice was low as he said, "I'm sorry, I wanted to make you happy, but I messed up again."
At this point, Shen Yujing suddenly felt somewhat sad.
It always seemed to be this way - he would try to do something nice, but would always make some basic mistake, causing the result to be the opposite of his intention.
He had come here wanting to make her happy, but in the end, he had only made her angry.
He was useless, couldn't do anything right.
The young man's usually cheerful almond-shaped eyes drooped, filled with disappointment and dejection.
Song Yi felt somewhat helpless. She raised her hand to ruffle Shen Yujing's golden hair but remembered he was wearing a hat today, so she lowered it and instead patted his shoulder comfortingly.
With Shen Yujing, Song Yi's anger always came quickly but dissipated just as fast, because she knew he never meant any harm.
And between friends, some friction was normal.
If Shen Yujing had been pushing his luck right now, she would have definitely hit him, but since he apologized, she might as well forgive him.
Song Yi said, "It's okay, I'm not really angry. I actually really liked that snowman."
Shen Yujing's voice still sounded gloomy as he said, "But..."
Song Yi interrupted him, saying, "No buts. If you feel guilty, then help me take some photos?"
Song Yi stood in front of the snowman and made a peace sign.
Shen Yujing held Song Yi's phone and crouched down as she requested, shooting from a low angle to make her legs look longer.
After taking several photos, Song Yi reached out her hand, "Let me see the pictures."
Shen Yujing smugly handed over the phone.
Song Yi's face darkened as soon as she looked at the screen, because what she saw was a close-up selfie of Shen Yujing.
Song Yi shouted, "Shen Yujing!"
How dare he take such liberties!
Song Yi reached out to grab Shen Yujing's hat, determined to mess up his hair as revenge for his mischief.
Shen Yujing immediately protected his hat, backing away while shouting, "No, no, no! I was just joking! It's just one selfie! The rest are all of you! All of you!"
They left the place while playfully quarreling.
The snowman now stood lonely on the ground.
Not far away, a young man stood under a tree, silently watching everything.
He looked down at the strawberry milk in his hand, which he had specially heated but had now gone cold, and chose to leave without approaching, as if he had never been there.
*
At the Murong family's entrance.
As soon as the Shen family's car stopped, Shen Yujing said, "You go in first, I have something to do. I'll come back in the afternoon."
"What thing?" Song Yi narrowed her eyes, looking at Shen Yujing suspiciously.
If he really had something to do, he wouldn't have needed to come find her in the first place, and throughout the journey, Shen Yujing hadn't touched his phone, nor had anyone contacted him.
Shen Yujing hesitated for a few seconds but couldn't come up with a suitable excuse, his face full of distress.
Song Yi continued to look into his eyes, suddenly feeling that something wasn't quite right.
Shen Yujing usually acted like someone with severe ADHD, talkative and energetic, but today after getting in the car, he had been listless.
Seeing Song Yi staring at him, Shen Yujing unconsciously pulled his hat down further, avoiding her gaze, "Why do you keep looking at me?"
"Shouldn't I be asking why you're afraid to look at me?" Song Yi said as she leaned closer to Shen Yujing.
Their faces got closer and closer, and Shen Yujing's eyes widened, "What are you trying to do?"
Just as Shen Yujing finished speaking, Song Yi's hand suddenly grabbed his hat and pulled it off.
Shen Yujing frantically reached out to grab it back but was too late.
Song Yi looked down at the hat, seemingly finding nothing unusual.
Shen Yujing's whole body tensed up, his voice slightly trembling, but he still tried to sound calm, "Do you like this hat? I can get you one tomorrow too?"
Song Yi looked at Shen Yujing once, then expressionlessly turned the hat inside out.
The cream-colored hat had obvious red bloodstains on it.
Clearly, it was from when he fell earlier.
Song Yi looked up at the driver and said directly, "To the hospital."
Shen Yujing smiled at her again, saying, "You're overreacting, it's just a scratch. I can have the family doctor disinfect it when I get home."
Song Yi smiled back at him and said, "Either we go to the hospital now, or I knock you out and take you there. Your choice."
*
At the hospital.
Shen Yujing sat inside, his face contorted in pain from the disinfection, yet still trying to act tough as he told Song Yi, "It doesn't hurt! Not at all!"
Song Yi: "..."
Who would believe someone saying it doesn't hurt while looking like they're about to cry?
To preserve what little dignity Shen Yujing had left, Song Yi decided to wait outside.
Song Yi absent-mindedly observed her surroundings when her gaze fell on the corridor below.
A familiar figure appeared, walking hurriedly, and quickly disappeared from her line of sight.
Was that him?
Song Yi was somewhat surprised when footsteps quickly approached. Shen Yujing had finished disinfecting and bandaging the wound, and he walked up to Song Yi, asking, "What are you looking at?"
"Xu Che," Song Yi looked at Shen Yujing, then pointed to the corridor below, "I just saw Xu Che."
"Xu Che?" Shen Yujing found it strange, "What's he doing here?"
Instead of answering, Song Yi walked toward the elevator.
There was a sign posted there, showing which departments were on each floor of the hospital.
They were currently on the seventh floor, and Xu Che had appeared on the sixth floor.
The sixth floor only had two departments: Psychology and Dental.
Shen Yujing and Song Yi exchanged glances, both seeing worry in each other's eyes.
"Damn it," Shen Yujing cursed under his breath, then added in disbelief, "I've always said there was something wrong with his personality, keeping everything bottled up inside without talking to anyone. Could he be sick?"
Shen Yujing had a nagging suspicion - could it be depression? He'd heard this illness was very serious. The daughter of his distant cousin's aunt's neighbor's uncle had committed suicide because of it.
Song Yi clearly shared the same concern, but she pressed her lips together, unsure what to say.
Shen Yujing grabbed Song Yi's wrist and said, "Come on!"
Song Yi looked up at him, "Where to?"
"Let's go wait for him on the sixth floor," Shen Yujing said as he pulled Song Yi by the wrist toward the stairs.
*
Sixth floor, stairwell.
Song Yi and Shen Yujing had a disagreement.
Song Yi said, "This won't work. We can't do anything right now."
Shen Yujing argued back, "We can't just leave Xu Che alone. What if he does something rash?"
Song Yi frowned, "We need to think this through carefully."
"What's there to think about? Let's just ask him directly. Whatever's making him unhappy, he can tell us, and we'll help him solve it, right?"
Song Yi hesitated before speculating, "It's probably because of his family."
Growing up in that kind of family, both Xu Che and Hang Feng had been unfortunate.
Shen Yujing said, "Then we'll go talk sense into Hang Feng. His poor brother is sick now, and their terrible father is already dead, isn't he? What could be stopping brothers from opening up to each other now? I'll buy them each another hundred turtles if that's what it takes!"
Song Yi said, "For Xu Che, his parents must have had a big impact on him too."
"That's even simpler then! Starting today, I'll be his dad and you'll be his mom. Let's give him the warmth of family!"
"...Get lost."
