Chapter 5

Chapter 5

In the end, I didn’t make it to my appointment.

On the way there, I ended up in the hospital with a leg injury after saving a child who was nearly hit by a car.

To prove I wasn’t just flaking out, I took a photo of my injury and sent it to the student’s mother.

The wound wasn’t severe-just a surface-level scrape that stung like fire-so I didn’t need to be hospitalized.

While waiting for the doctor to apply the medication, I happened to scroll through Xu Nianxia’s social media feed. She had posted photos from her photography club’s latest activity.

Wei Ze was in the pictures, too.

It made sense. Whenever it came to Xu Nianxia, he was always at her beck and call.

I remembered our fourth anniversary. Xu Nianxia had gotten into a fight with her boyfriend and called Wei Ze, crying, after getting drunk at a bar.

“I’m so sad. Can you come and stay with me?”

We had just arrived at the restaurant we’d reserved and hadn’t even ordered yet when he stood up to leave. I told him I’d go with him to check on her.

But he stopped me. His reasoning was: “En’en, Xiaxia has always been prideful. She definitely won’t want you to see her in such a pathetic state.”

I asked him, “What about you?”

“I grew up with her. It’s different for us.”

Later, shortly after Xu Nianxia reconciled with her boyfriend, she acted coy with him during a party, saying, “Hmph, you’re not the only one who likes me. If you make me angry again, I’ll leave you.”

Wei Ze sat nearby, silently downing a glass of wine without saying a word.

Actually, he must have always understood. Xu Nianxia knew how he felt, yet she pretended to be oblivious, continuing to enjoy his devotion without any guilt while staying with the person she actually liked.

As for me, Wei Ze could shut down any of my objections with a single sentence: “She’s like a sister to me, and she’s your friend too.”

Fortunately, now that I have a second chance, I will no longer be a tool for their games.

After my wound was bandaged, I limped out of the hospital. Halfway out, it suddenly started to rain. I couldn’t let the wound get wet, so I endured the sharp pain and hurried to find a building for cover while I tried to hail a ride.

As the saying goes, when it rains, it pours-my phone died.

The late summer wind carried a slight chill. Just as I was resigning myself to waiting for the rain to stop, Wen Zhao appeared.

He emerged from the rain holding an umbrella. He took off his jacket and tied it around my injured calf, handed me the umbrella, and then picked me up in his arms.

“The road here is narrow and it’s hard to get a car. Let’s move to a different spot.”

I leaned against his chest, slightly dazed. I could smell a faint scent of bitter grapefruit and hear the steady thrum of his heartbeat against his chest. My gaze drifted past his prominent Adam’s apple and finally settled on his profile.

Once we were in the car, I asked him why he had come.

He explained naturally that the student’s mother was worried. Since she was stuck in a meeting, she had asked him to check on me. When my phone went dead and he couldn’t reach me, he had spent quite a while searching before finally finding me.

Perhaps because of the rain, the car felt a bit damp and stuffy. I cracked the window open slightly, unable to imagine how many places he must have searched.

Eventually, my frayed nerves relaxed and drowsiness took over. By the time I woke up, the rain had stopped, and we had just arrived at the school gates.

Wen Zhao carefully helped me out of the car and carried me all the way to the door of my dormitory. Before we parted, I thanked him.

Hearing this, he looked down at me with a slight smile.

“Don’t mention it, Teacher Yu.”

After struggling back into my room, I realized his jacket was still tied around my injured leg.