Chapter 42: Encounter

Anning moved so quickly that Chen Yu had no time to react. His hand was abruptly pried off, and he lost his balance, falling hard to the floor. Li Jixiang was sitting in the back row, and Chen Yu’s head struck the sharp edge of the cement blackboard behind him. Blood immediately began to seep from a gash on his forehead.

“The counselor is bleeding…”

Ma Hongmei pointed at Chen Yu’s forehead, her face draining of color from fright.

“This is bad. Why did he pass out? Anning, take him to the school infirmary, quick,” Li Jixiang said, her voice tense. After all, Chen Yu had saved her in the forest earlier—she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

Anning glanced at Chen Yu but remained silent. He’d seen plenty of scuffles and blood before, and he hadn’t even used much force just now. Chen Yu was simply too frail and brought this on himself; there was no reason for Anning to help him see a doctor.

The other day, after Li Jixiang had her bike sabotaged by Chen Yu in an act of petty revenge, she discussed with Anning how best to expose Chen Yu’s true character. That night, she deliberately left the shop’s shutter unlocked, hoping Chen Yu would take the bait. Chen Yu came but left again, and Anning, who had been hiding in the shadows, had nowhere to expend his pent-up energy, cursing Chen Yu as a coward as he fled.

Now, seeing Chen Yu’s hand on Li Jixiang’s fair ankle, Anning felt that simply prying his hand away was already being polite. If they weren’t at school, he’d have made Chen Yu regret ever crossing him.

Without another word, Anning hoisted Li Jixiang onto his back and carried her out of the classroom.

Li Jixiang, knowing Anning’s stubborn nature and his hatred for Chen Yu, knew she couldn’t count on him. But seeing Chen Yu lying unconscious and bleeding, she turned to Ma Hongmei, telling her to find help quickly so his wound wouldn’t get infected.

Ma Hongmei agreed, but as Anning disappeared with Li Jixiang, she returned, flustered, to help Chen Yu. Although Chen Yu wasn’t as tall and strong as Anning, he was still a grown man of slender build.

Ma Hongmei tried to haul Chen Yu onto her back, but no matter how hard she tried, he lay there unmoving.

“What am I going to do?” Ma Hongmei was on the verge of tears, feeling utterly helpless. It was field trip day; the school nurse had already left. Taking Chen Yu to the town clinic was out of the question for her alone. She ran out to look for other students, but the middle and high school wings were deserted. It seemed the whole school was empty—except for her and Chen Yu.

“Counselor, don’t die—I’m scared…” Ma Hongmei whimpered, patting Chen Yu’s chest, and, sniffling, tried once more to lift him.

A pungent smell of unwashed hair stung Chen Yu’s nose, and he suddenly opened his eyes to see Ma Hongmei clutching and tugging at him. Startled, he leapt up as if spooked.

“You’re awake!” Ma Hongmei exclaimed, falling back onto the floor from the force of his sudden movement. She clearly felt her backside hit the ground, but pain was the last thing on her mind—her eyes shone with relief as she looked up at Chen Yu. From her angle, he seemed even more impressive and heroic.

“I’m fine, I’m leaving,” Chen Yu said, quickly exiting the classroom as Ma Hongmei’s infatuated gaze lingered. He touched his forehead; the blood had dried, but the pain had gotten worse. He wasn’t a weakling—hitting the wall couldn’t have knocked him out. But for a moment, it was as if he was floating on a cloud, voices echoing in his ears.

Li Jixiang’s concern and anxious tone warmed him, and slumping there against the wall felt oddly comfortable.

He’d gotten up early to help organize the field trip, skipping breakfast. He’d missed lunch too, having gone with Li Jixiang into the woods to look for Zhang Chunfen’s son. After being knocked into the wall by Anning, he almost wanted to just stay slumped there, avoiding further conflict and secretly enjoying the care others showed him.

Too bad it wasn’t Li Jixiang holding him! Fleeing Ma Hongmei’s lovestruck gaze, Chen Yu made his escape.

Anning pedaled hard on his bicycle, worried that Li Jixiang, with her long legs, would be uncomfortable perched on the back seat.

She gripped the upright of the bike seat, and whenever Anning took a sharp turn, her hands instinctively circled his waist for support.

The sight of these two striking youths riding through town turned heads wherever they went. Anning, as ever, wore his cool, fearless expression, while Li Jixiang grew increasingly uneasy.

She didn’t care about the town gossip regarding her and Anning; what worried her was passing the Jixiang Tofu Shop and being seen by An Chen, who would surely sulk at the sight. Never mind increasing her popularity—An Chen might just bring it down by a hundred points.

“No, I have to see you to the door and carry you inside,” Anning insisted when Li Jixiang asked him to stop so she could walk home on her own.

“Brother… Jixiang…” Li Jixiang’s calculations all came to nothing when An Chen appeared, blocking Anning’s bike and insisting on checking her injury.

Before her popularity points could drop, Li Jixiang quickly pulled up her pant leg, putting on her most pitiful expression.

“Jixiang, does it hurt? You need to see a doctor,” An Chen said, his small, double-lidded eyes misting as he saw the swelling on her ankle, on the verge of tears.

Seeing her popularity points jump by a hundred, Li Jixiang let out a sigh of relief.

Prompted by An Chen, Anning also felt it was necessary to take her to the clinic. A sprained ankle was no small matter for a girl, unlike the boys who could just tough it out. Without giving her a chance to protest, he turned the bike around and headed straight for the town health center.

No matter how Li Jixiang tried to stop him, there was no escaping it; she could only hold on to his waist and resign herself.

An Chen’s mother saw her eldest son riding up and hurriedly called out to him, telling her husband to hurry up and bring the cart.

“Grandma!” Li Jixiang cried, spotting her grandmother sitting in An Chen’s father’s tricycle, hair disheveled and dazed, and she forgot her injured foot, rushing straight to her.

An Chen’s mother had borrowed a bottle of medicated oil from a neighbor and rubbed it into Li Jixiang’s ankle, soothing her by saying the sprain wasn’t serious—if a bone were out of place, she wouldn’t even be able to walk.

“This bottle of oil won’t be returned to the Ding family; use it whenever you can, and I bet you’ll be fine by tomorrow. Take the day off and don’t go to school; I’ll have Anning ride your bike back for you.”

With Grandma Li present, An Chen’s mother didn’t mention a word about what had happened to her in the provincial capital. That afternoon, the local police came to tell them what had transpired, and both she and An Chen’s father dropped everything at the tofu shop, leaving An Chen to mind the store while they rushed to the station.

Now, Grandma Li, freshly washed and changed, sat on the edge of the kang, watching as An Chen’s mother’s deft hands massaged her granddaughter’s ankle, as if massaging her own heart, unable to hold back tears that fell silently, one after another.