Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Wen Tangtang found the whole thing absurd. “So you actually thought Nan Mu hated you?”

Wen Miao thought about it for a moment. “At least… that’s how I felt before.”

“That is just too ridiculous…”

Wen Miao wasn’t convinced. “Then how are you so sure he likes me? Did he say it himself?”

“Well, no…”

Seeing the ‘I told you so’ look on Wen Miao’s face, Wen Tangtang rushed to explain. “I’m not just guessing. Every time your name came up in class, his ears would perk up faster than anyone’s. He thought I didn’t notice, but I saw it clear as day.”

Wen Miao looked skeptical.

“I’m serious! The guys in our class are total gossips. Of course, they didn’t just talk about you… basically every girl with even a bit of a reputation in school got gossiped about. Usually, what they chatted about was harmless enough that I didn’t bother with them. But one time, someone started a rumor saying they saw you getting really close to some teacher… it was around the time you won first place in that skills competition. They were basically implying that you only got the spot because you were ‘close’ with him.”

Wen Miao looked shocked. “What?! I did no such thing!”

“I know, I know.” Wen Tangtang patted her arm soothingly. “Of course I believe you. That’s why I was about to go over there and punch them! But do you know who spoke up before I could?”

With the way she asked, the answer was obvious, but Wen Miao still found it hard to believe. “Who?”

“Nan Mu!” Wen Tangtang threw her hands up. “I swear to you, those guys have talked trash about other girls before. I didn’t know those girls well enough to know if it was true or not, so I never got involved-and Nan Mu never stepped in either. But that one time, Nan Mu suddenly stood up and interrogated the guy, asking if he had any proof. He told him that if he didn’t have proof, he should stop spreading rumors right then and there! He said there are some things you can say, and some things you definitely shouldn’t!”

Wen Tangtang described the scene with animated gestures. “That guy was so intimidated he didn’t dare say another word.”

Wen Miao’s lips curved upward slightly, but her mind reminded her to stay rational. “That’s it? He might have just been in a bad mood. Or maybe he just didn’t like that guy. Or maybe it was because he had a good relationship with the teacher they were slandering?”

Wen Tangtang’s eyes widened as if she were seeing Wen Miao for the first time. She shook her head and said, “I never realized you were so stubborn…”

She indignantly started counting off every suspicious incident she had noticed on her fingers.

However, Wen Miao’s thoughts had drifted back to the first time she took Nan Mu to the hospital. The nurse had joked that Nan Mu’s allergic reaction was a ploy to chase her, and Nan Mu had replied with a smile, “You’re right. Next time, I’ll find a different way to pursue her.”

Maybe Wen Tangtang was right. Maybe Nan Mu really had a crush on her all this time…

No, no. She shook her head vigorously, remembering their confrontation at Su Yu’s house. Nan Mu had admitted himself that he only returned to investigate Gu Zhishu’s death.

Besides, Nan Mu had even suspected her. If he really… how could he have suspected her?

And…

And if they really had a mutual crush, how could they have spent ten years without ever ending up together?

It was true that every young girl has her romantic dreams.

In the beginning, she only thought this boy’s reactions were strange, so she had started observing him in secret.
But she found that the longer she observed him, the more curious she became. The more curious she was, the more she thought of him, and the more she looked at him, the more she found herself drawn to him.

A top student in the biology department, from a highly educated and harmonious family, athletic, and handsome to boot. He even showed a soft spot for stray cats and dogs.

It didn’t seem strange at all that she would develop feelings for a guy like that.

The problem was, she knew very well at the time that he didn’t like her. So, she kept that crush buried deep in her heart, never once considering revealing it to anyone.

“You can’t just let it go like that, can you? Have you never thought about how to win him over?”

“I haven’t. At least… we can still be friends, right?”

“What did you say? What friends?”

Seeing the confusion written all over Wen Xin’s face, Wen Miao finally snapped back to reality.

Crap! She had actually spaced out while they were on their way to sneak into the hospital and steal data.

“No-nothing. What do we do now?” Wen Miao hid nervously behind Wen Xin.

“Sigh, isn’t that what I’m asking you? Why are you asking me back?” Wen Xin looked frustrated.

She was the one who had called him to the hospital to steal data. Seeing how calm she looked the whole way here, he had assumed she had a foolproof plan. After all that, it turned out she had no plan at all.

Although the hospital had plenty of computers, finding an unattended one was no easy task. If he couldn’t get his hands on a computer, no matter how good his technical skills were, he would have no way to use them.

Wen Xin reached back and pushed Wen Miao, who was acting suspiciously behind him, out into the open. “Don’t be so nervous. The more nervous you look, the easier it is for people to realize you’re up to no good!”

Hospitals were crowded places where people of all sorts gathered; nothing was considered particularly strange. However, they couldn’t afford to be timid or look shifty. Wouldn’t that just be telling everyone they were there to cause trouble?

Wen Xin and Wen Miao loitered back and forth in front of the consultation rooms. With the end of the shift approaching, they still hadn’t found an opportunity.

“How about… I go look for some outside help?” Wen Miao asked weakly.

===

Wen Miao went up to the seventh floor to find Nan Mu.

Nan Mu had taken his medicine and was resting. It took Wen Miao a long time to shake him awake.

Nan Mu sat up in bed, a single cowlick sticking up from his messy hair. Wen Miao couldn’t help herself; she reached out and smoothed down the stray tuft on his head.

“What’s wrong?” Nan Mu couldn’t see what he looked like, but he instinctively followed Wen Miao’s movement and touched his own head.

“Have you been tired lately? It’s almost four o’clock and you’re still napping?”

“It’s four?” Nan Mu blinked, pulled out his phone, and checked the time. It was 3:54.

He frowned. “I don’t know why, but these past two days… I’ve just been feeling extremely lethargic.”

Wen Miao couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious upon hearing this. “Could it be because of the concussion? The doctor told you to rest, but you’ve been running around outside these past two days… Could that be why?”

Nan Mu wasn’t sure either, but he felt like it had nothing to do with that.

Unable to figure it out, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. “Right, what did you come to see me for just now?”

“We wanted Wen Xin to investigate the hospital’s outpatient records earlier…” Wen Miao said, looking a bit embarrassed. “But the two of us… we can’t get access to any of the hospital’s computers.”

The hospital’s entire system wasn’t connected to the internet; it used an internal local area network. Therefore, if Wen Xin wanted to access the outpatient records, he first needed a computer connected to that internal network.