3

The ward fell into a quiet stillness.

“Ding ding ding.”

A rescue phone call rang out, and Xiang Ran felt a wave of relief as he quickly moved three meters away.

“Brother Ran, are you eating dinner at the second cafeteria tonight? If so, could you grab me a plate of fried noodles? Make it extra spicy!”

“I want a cup of Xiaoxue Bingcheng!”

“Get me a pack of cigarettes.”

“…”

His roommates chimed in one after another with their requests. Since he couldn't clarify the situation, Xiang Ran started to think of a plausible excuse to leave.

As he turned to look at Liu Shuyao, who was sitting on the bed with her eyes fixed on him, the sun had begun to slowly sink below the horizon. The golden afterglow filtered through the window frame, softly illuminating Liu Shuyao's face, highlighting the tears she hadn’t wiped away from the corners of her eyes.

Then, almost instinctively, he replied, “I won't go home tonight; you guys can order takeout.”

“Okay, then let’s meet in the classroom tomorrow.”

The chubby guy didn’t say much upon hearing this. Xiang Ran lived in the city, so he often went back home.

They then redirected the conversation to today’s visit to Liu Shuyao.

“Did you go to the hospital?”

“Although I went, it was pointless. I heard from those who went today that Liu Shuyao was resting in the afternoon and didn’t even show her face; they dropped off their things and left.”

“I didn’t go; I had something to take care of in the afternoon.”

Xiang Ran felt a bit guilty saying this. He hadn’t just skipped the hospital—he couldn’t even leave right now.

He could only reassure himself that he was just looking after a fellow student; it was normal for classmates to help each other.

It was just for one evening; there wouldn’t be any issues. By tomorrow, maybe Liu Shuyao would remember.

Xiang Ran hung up the phone and spent a while mentally preparing himself, taking a deep breath.

When he turned to look at Liu Shuyao, he found that she had somehow already peeled the apple, cut it into small pieces, and was casually offering it to him.

Xiang Ran instinctively leaned back, trying to avoid it, but was pulled back firmly.

That action was nothing like the Liu Shuyao he remembered, who was hard to approach.

Just now, the room had been very quiet, and every word from the phone had reached Liu Shuyao’s ears. She noticed that Xiang Ran had clearly sighed in relief after rejecting his roommate's call.

Sure enough, her boyfriend still loved her and wouldn’t just walk away, leaving her alone here.

As long as she performed a bit better tonight and acted more obediently, her boyfriend wouldn’t stay angry about her running off and getting into an accident.

Realizing this, Liu Shuyao’s lips curved into a smile, and her eyes sparkled a bit as she leaned closer.

“Hubby, I knew you wouldn’t ignore me.”

Her usually cool voice suddenly turned soft and sweet, a stark contrast to her usual demeanor.

Xiang Ran's arm brushed against her, feeling like he was gliding over soft clouds. Liu Shuyao’s head rested against his neck, and her warm breath caressed him.

In that moment, the distance between them became almost imperceptible.

“Can you please stop calling me 'hubby'?”

Xiang Ran finally couldn’t hold back any longer.

He had to address this awkward nickname; it felt way too strange. Regardless of whether he acknowledged the boyfriend label or not, he couldn’t let her call him that so openly.

Most importantly, he felt overwhelmed by such a beautiful girl calling him ‘hubby.’ Which guy could handle that?

Liu Shuyao’s eyes drooped slightly, a hint of melancholy reflecting in her gaze.

“Why not?”

Xiang Ran found himself at a loss for words. He couldn’t outright deny his relationship with Liu Shuyao, fearing the potential consequences. Her clear, innocent eyes were filled with such sadness, resembling an abandoned kitten, making it impossible for him to resist.

After a moment of hesitation, he decided to change his approach.

“Can we just… pick a different way to address each other?”

Realizing he wasn’t outright rejecting her, Liu Shuyao looked up at him. Her eyes, still glistening from tears, sparkled with a soft light. Her lashes fluttered gently, and as she tilted her delicate neck, her voice became sweet and playful, as if lightly tickled by a kitten's paw:

“Master?”

She even half-knelt on the hospital bed as she said those words!

How could anyone handle that?

Xiang Ran suddenly coughed a couple of times and turned his face away, feeling completely flustered. This was too much for him to bear!

“Let’s just stick to using names!” he blurted out before making a hasty exit, grabbing his laptop and finding a quiet corner to calm down.

In the competitive world of tech, he knew he might start his own business someday, so he wanted to learn as much as he could while still in school. Besides group projects, he was also trying his hand at independent game development to hone his skills.

Xiang Ran’s life was meticulously organized, with each day following a strict schedule, and not a single minute was dedicated to dating.

As soon as he opened Intellij IDEA, he was hit by an unexpected sight: a line of code that had been running fine earlier now displayed an error:

Error 500: Internal Server Error.

It felt just like his day had gone off the rails.

Tonight, with no one else to care for Liu Shuyou, he had to play the role of her “fake” boyfriend and stay by her side.

With the school beauty nearby, he had to avoid awkward small talk, using the excuse of coding. But let’s be real—most of what he was writing was probably just bugs.

Liu Shuyou, meanwhile, managed to catch a rare, peaceful sleep beside him.

As for Xiang Ran, he was in trouble. Everything today had been absurd, and he was left wondering how to face Liu Shuyou moving forward.

Xiang Ran had always been absorbed in his research, avoiding the mundane world. Now, faced with a school beauty who had lost her memory and was practically a girlfriend on his doorstep, he felt it was wrong to take advantage of her vulnerability. Yet, outright rejection might affect her recovery.

He could only choose not to initiate anything and refuse any intimate contact, taking it step by step.

Wait, did that make him a bit like a "scumbag"?

He couldn't help but chuckle bitterly to himself.

The next day, Zhao Ying arrived at the hospital early, carrying some breakfast.

As soon as she walked in, she noticed the dark circles under Xiang Ran's eyes. Compared to Liu Shuyou’s bright and cheerful demeanor, it was clear he hadn't slept a wink all night.

Liu Shuyou pulled out two steamed buns from the bag and placed them in front of him, her voice soft and tender.

“Have a steamed bun first to tide you over. They're all vegetarian, and I asked Zhao Ying to buy them from that place you like outside the south gate,” Liu Shuyou said.

Xiang Ran stopped trying to understand how she knew him so well. He wanted to refuse, but seeing the plastic bag made him pause. It was from that very place he frequented, and he could tell it was filled with his favorite fillings.

But now, he had no appetite for buns. With Zhao Ying finally here to take over, he just wanted to escape. Playing the role of a boyfriend felt absurd; he could be using that time to write more code instead.

“Well, since Zhao Ying is here, I think I'll head back to class,” he said, standing up as if to leave.

Zhao Ying noticed Xiang Ran's intent to leave and quickly set down her half-drunk soybean milk, calling out toward the door, “Don’t forget to swap shifts tomorrow!”

In an instant, Xiang Ran dashed away as if zombies were chasing him.

Once outside the hospital, he checked the time. He had planned to head straight back to class, but after nearly a sleepless night, he felt too drained to focus on lectures. So he decided to return to his dorm for a nap instead.

However, lying in bed, he tossed and turned, twisting the sheets into strange shapes. He listened to deep sleep brainwave tracks, rain pattering on banana leaves, and the sound of wind over wheat fields multiple times before finally feeling a hint of drowsiness.

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