On his birthday, Xiao Chen didn't really rest. It wasn't until 4pm that he had time.
Yu Na asked him what he wanted to do, and Xiao Chen said he wanted to eat the meal she made.
This day was nothing special for him, the only special thing was having his girlfriend by his side.
This was already the best birthday present for him.
But just as Xiao Chen finished up being busy, he suddenly received a call from Qiao Rui.
When he answered, it wasn't Qiao Rui's voice, but a gentle female voice.
The voice was slightly familiar.
The woman on the phone introduced herself, "Brother Qiao Rui, hello, I'm Xu Yi's mom, do you remember me?"
"..."
Upon hearing the words "Xu Yi", Xiao Chen realized who she was, and knew nothing good was going on.
Could he have gotten into trouble again, this damn kid!
"I remember, is it those two—"
"Come to the Number One Hospital now."
Xiao Chen's heart jumped violently.
"The hospital?"
"It's like this, there's a folding ladder near our building, and the kid climbed up to the window next to my home using the ladder. When I opened the door and came in, I must have scared him, so he fell off the ladder."
Each word was like a clap of thunder, Xiao Chen listened with a pounding heart, in that moment, he was already thinking of buying an urn for him.
Xu Yi's mom went on to explain, "Don't worry, we live on the first floor. He scraped his knees, and twisted his ankle a bit, nothing serious." The two kids are studying, Qiao Rui was afraid I wouldn't let him in, so he went to Xu Yi's bedroom window.
Xiao Chen let out a breath at this point.
If the call had come from Xu Yi instead of her mom, he would have at least told her that if any limbs needed to be amputated, don't give him any anesthetic.
This damn kid was always causing trouble.
"I told the kids that if they want to study together in the future, let me know in advance. I'm not trying to stop them from seeing each other, I'm just worried it will interfere with their studies. But if it's for studying together, then of course I agree."
"When you get home, please also tell Qiao Rui not to do such dangerous things again. Luckily we live on the first floor, this kid is just too bold."
Xiao Chen had to be humble at this point, "Okay, I will definitely scold him later, sorry to trouble you Xu Yi's mom, this kind of thing definitely won't happen again."
"It's no problem, it's no problem," Xu Yi's mom spoke gently and understandingly, "I just wanted to explain what happened and apologize at the same time, it was me who scared the child."
"It's not your fault, it's because the kid is too bold. I'm heading to the hospital now."
"Okay, I have something urgent to attend to now and have to leave. I'll have Xu Yi look after him here. After you arrive, just bring the child home."
"Thank you Xu Yi's mom."
"You're welcome."
After hanging up, Xiao Chen slammed his fist on his office desk.
This damn kid!
He sent a WeChat message to Yu Na: [Come with me to the hospital, Qiao Rui made trouble again]
Yu Na immediately replied: [What happened?]
C: [I'll explain in the car, on my way to pick you up now]
N: [Okay]
After picking up Yu Na from Huanting One, Xiao Chen repeated Xu Yi's mom's words to her.
Yu Na was relieved that it wasn't serious.
She leaned back in her seat, seeming a bit tired, "Xiao Chen... I really don't know what to do with him."
"It's fine," Xiao Chen's gaze was icy, with a hint of an insincere smile at the corner of his mouth, "I know how to deal with him."
...
Xiao Chen and Yu Na hurried to the hospital, and saw the two of them sitting on a bench in the hospital lobby.
They were chatting and laughing. Next to them was a transparent plastic bag with medicine inside.
Xu Yi was holding a familiar English textbook, Qiao Rui sat beside her, hands supporting the back of his head. He was wearing athletic shorts, and his bandaged knee could be seen. From his expression it did seem there was nothing wrong.
It looked like they were reciting vocabulary.
Qiao Rui got one wrong, and Xu Yi, disregarding his protests, firmly flicked his forehead.
"You're serious?"
"That's what you get for getting it wrong! Continue, talent."
"Tal—" Before Qiao Rui could finish, he saw Xiao Chen and Yu Na hurriedly arriving, "You came?"
"What do you mean 'you came'! It's talent!" Xu Yi didn't notice where his gaze went, and thought he had gotten it wrong.
She raised her hand again, flicking his forehead without holding back her strength.
A small red mark appeared on Qiao Rui's forehead.
"Ow—" He rubbed his forehead in pain.
Xiao Chen suppressed his anger with great effort, and went to Qiao Rui's side. Yu Na followed behind.
Seeing them, Xu Yi quickly stood up, "Brother, Teacher Yu. We were reciting vocabulary."
Xiao Chen smiled politely at Xu Yi, then put his hand on Qiao Rui's shoulder, brows furrowed seemingly with concern, "Let brother take a look at your injury."
He actually didn't hit or scold him. Qiao Rui felt moved, "Bro..."
"Tsk, what a pity," seeing he was fine, Xiao Chen's expression became even more grieved. He looked into Qiao Rui's confused eyes and breezily said, "Your leg didn't break, I'm really sorry for your feat."
Qiao Rui: ?
There was anger in Yu Na's words as well, standing in front of them, pretending to sternly lecture them, "When will you two ever stop?"
Xu Yi anxiously explained, "Teacher Yu, we really were reciting vocabulary."
"I didn't say anything about reciting vocabulary. Qiao Rui, if Xu Yi's home was on the sixth floor, would you still climb the ladder?"
Qiao Rui mumbled indistinctly in a mosquito tone, "I'd have to plan for that."
Xiao Chen slapped Qiao Rui on the head, "You think I'm spoiling you? Starting today, all your allowance is cancelled. Still going out to play? Stay at home obediently."
This was the devastating blow for Qiao Rui, "...Ah? Bro, can you not do something so inhumane on my birthday?"
"You know today is my birthday too?"
"..." Qiao Rui started to stand up, and his knee involuntarily bent for a moment before Xu Yi supported him.
Qiao Rui spoke very sincerely to explain, "Bro, Teacher Yu, I'm sorry. But I went to find Xu Yi truly so she could explain some math problems to me."
Yu Na: "Oh? What problems required you to climb a ladder to ask?"
"I didn't want to either! We don't dare talk at school, afraid the principal will find out. And we can't meet during breaks either, but I don't understand some of the problems, only Xu Yi can explain them to me clearly."
Xiao Chen almost choked, "So it's all our fault?"
"I improved so much last semester, it was all because she helped me. Really, sometimes she explains things even clearer than the teacher."
Qiao Rui's improvement really was significant.
But that wasn't the issue being debated now. Yu Na unsatisfiedly asked, "Then can you consider the consequences when doing things? Don't you care about your life? How old are you, why so childish?"
This time Qiao Rui didn't refute.
Yu Na calmed her emotions a bit, standing in front of them and suddenly said, "You two like studying together right? Fine, you can study together on weekends, Xu Yi's mom also agreed. But for the next exam, you two must show significant improvement. If either of you regresses, then you'll study separately. If you both improve, I can continue letting you be deskmates."
