"What on earth is going on? Were you playing basketball or fighting? How did you manage to twist your ankle this badly?"
Inside the school infirmary, the medic gave Su Ming a thorough, head-to-toe scolding.
If Shen Ruoyan hadn't been standing nearby and repeatedly interceding, Su Ming probably would have had to endure even more of an earful.
In this era of rather rudimentary medical facilities, treatment basically consisted of applying some disinfectant liquid, wrapping it with a hot towel, and leaving the rest entirely to natural recovery.
Still, it wasn't a major issue; kids from this period weren't all that delicate, boasting massive health bars and incredible resilience.
Su Ming was no exception, gritting his teeth and toughing it out through sheer willpower.
"Classes are about to start, A-Yan. You should head back first, I'm fine here."
"Huh? What did you just call me?"
Just as she was turning to leave, Shen Ruoyan looked slightly incredulous.
In her memory, the two of them had always addressed each other by their full names.
"A-Yan, of course. If you don't like it, I could also call you Ruoruo, or little Shen..."
"Stop! A-Yan sounds nice enough, but you can't call me that in front of other people."
"Well, well! Is our little beauty afraid of losing face?"
"Of course! I'm not like you. When you took advantage of me just now, everyone saw it. How am I supposed to face anyone after this?"
At the mere thought of that episode, a trace of blushing shyness swept across Shen Ruoyan's fair face once again.
"You have zero seriousness in you! I hate you, humph!"
With that, Shen Ruoyan made to turn and leave.
Just as she reached the door of the infirmary, however, she seemed to remember something.
"Su Ming, let me ask you a question."
"Go ahead, we're practically inseparable aren't we?"
"In your impression, what is the sweetest thing in the world?"
As soon as those words left her mouth, Su Ming froze.
Memories of his past life came flooding back into his mind—those painful things he refused to face yet could never forget.
Even this very question felt sickeningly familiar...
Was it the wedding candy of Zhao Yuanhua and Liu Rumeng?
No! It definitely wasn't that!
Seeing Su Ming's dazed expression, Shen Ruoyan hurried back over and gently massaged his temples.
You had to hand it to her; the moment she sat down beside him, the whole world seemed to brighten considerably.
Bathing in the girl's unique fragrance, laden with the meticulous care of a childhood friend...
"Here, I've got something good for you."
Shen Ruoyan fished a piece of candy out of her pocket and casually placed it right in the palm of Su Ming's hand.
"Let me tell you, the sweetest thing in the world has got to be milk candy!"
"Eat it, and your ankle will heal in no time, and your head won't hurt anymore either!"
The sunlight outside the window was warm, and the girl before him was gentle.
In an instant, Su Ming found the answer in the radiant smile of the young woman.
That was it.
He had found the most important answer in his life.
"Yeah, it really is sweet."
"Hey! You're just brushing me off, you haven't even eaten it yet! If you don't want it, I'm taking it back!"
"I do want it! You hurry back now, or else Teacher Chen is going to nag you."
"All right, get some proper rest. I'll come find you after school so we can go home together."
Sweet!
So sweet!
The weight of those final six words possessed explosive lethality for Su Ming right now.
Hastily turning his head away, he forced back his useless tears.
The midday sun was exceptionally warm, and the twittering birds seemed to be celebrating Su Ming's return.
"Brother Ming, I knew you'd be here!"
The moment Shen Ruoyan left, Su Ming's good buddy Zhang Wei charged into the infirmary.
"Wait a minute, bro, the class bell already rang, why are you staging an upside-down rebellion?"
"What's there to be afraid of? I told the math teacher you needed someone to look after you here, so I specially snuck over."
Zhang Wei looked thrilled; with his best friend injured, he had a legitimate excuse to skip class.
Zhang Wei was quite handsome, fond of smiling, and frequently flashed a row of brilliant white teeth.
He was just a bit tanned, his legs were a tad short, and he was notoriously stingy.
"Hey! Who gave you that milk candy? Was it Shen Ruoyan?"
"Not gonna lie, bro, you've got guts! The first thing you do after bumping your head isn't crying—you turn right around and hug the campus belle to take advantage of her. You must be on cloud nine!""Just one question: is your little childhood sweetheart sweet and cozy?"
Faced with Zhang Wei's inappropriate remark, Su Ming really couldn't be bothered to reply.
Until the latter reached out to grab that creamy candy...
"Don't touch that! This one is mine, nobody's taking it!"
"No way. You're usually so generous. Candies are sweet, sure, but there's no need to be this stingy."
"I'll buy you some after school, but seriously, not this one."
"Fine, fine, I won't eat it. Eat too much sugar and you'll get diabetes."
"Damn you! If you don't know how to talk, go write a book—they ran out of toilet paper at the village entrance!"
With Zhang Wei keeping him company, Su Ming certainly wasn't bored.
The two of them walked over to the window to watch the hustle and bustle of the playground.
That girl over there looked nice; those two boys were planning to scale the wall to buy snacks from the little grocery store.
And down in the bushes, Senior Big Yellow and some nameless little female dog seemed to be up to something unmentionable...
All in all, this was the student days, brimming with memories.
"Oh right, that guy who tripped you is Hóuzi. It was probably instigated by his master, Zhao Yuanhua."
"I know why. It's because I've been hanging around Liu Rumeng a lot lately."
At this point in time, Su Ming was right in the early stages of his simping disease.
As a transfer student, Liu Rumeng had shocked all the male compatriots of the school the moment she appeared.
Her demeanor was icy and aloof, and her looks were extraordinary.
Together with Shen Ruoyan, who was always gentle and considerate, they were known as the twin campus beauties of Fandou High School.
Their personalities were exact opposites, representing the difference between an iceberg and the warm sun.
It was just that Shen Ruoyan didn't care at all about the title of campus beauty, so as time went on, some people started proclaiming outwardly that Liu Rumeng was the prettiest girl at Fandou High School.
"If you ask me, your little childhood sweetheart is the best. She's considerate and knows how to take care of people. Why go running after Liu Rumeng every day? Now look at this—you've caught the eye of Zhao Yuanhua. His family is loaded, so don't do anything stupid, huh?"
In his memories, Zhang Wei had tried to advise Su Ming many times.
It was just that back then, he was too deeply poisoned and wouldn't listen to a word.
After a long silence, Su Ming broke the quiet.
"Thanks, bro."
It was meant as a sincere, heartfelt apology, but he hadn't expected Zhang Wei to instantly have his defenses broken.
"What the hell!"
"Do you even consider me a brother?"
"Saying thank you to me—aren't you just insulting me?"
Seeing Zhang Wei getting worked up, Su Ming straightened up and punched the latter in the chest.
"Don't worry about it. I was the one who drove you away before, but the same thing won't happen a second time."
That's right, the Su Ming of his past life had a screw loose; not only did he push his own childhood sweetheart away with his own hands, but he also lost a great friend.
What an asshole he'd been!
"What the hell are you mumbling about over there? Did you bash your head and rattle your brains?"
"Oh right, the class after next is the Bandit's class. I have to head back, I can't stay with you."
The "Bandit" in Zhang Wei's mouth was actually Teacher Chen, the homeroom teacher of Class 2, Senior 3.
While giving people nicknames wasn't very ethical, I ask you, is there anyone here who could completely distance themselves from her?
Of course, Teacher Chen was definitely a good person.
It's just that she was getting older, and while she was extremely strict, she was also particularly old-fashioned.
"Ah, I have to go to the Bandit's class too, or I'll definitely get chewed out."
"By the way, is that foot of yours going to be okay?"
"It has to be okay whether it is or not! The Bandit's spit is no less terrifying than a volcanic eruption."
"Well, what are we waiting for? I'll give you a piggyback ride over in a bit, bro!"
Zhang Wei patted his chest; brothers had to be loyal.
It was because he saw this quality in him that Su Ming had grown closer and closer to him.
"Deal! A great favor deserves no thanks! Just make sure you tie a pillow to your ass later so I don't go kicking you around."
"Alright, alright! A brother shares your heart and mind, and you're out here scheming against your brother?"
"Don't put it like that. Last time the Bandit was checking homework, didn't you sell me out too?"
"Hey! We share blessings and take hardships together—I learned that from Lord Guan~"