Leaning against Ansheng's back, Miaomiao stubbornly held her upper body as straight as possible, forcing Ansheng to bend forward quite a bit just to keep his balance.
Ansheng took off his school uniform jacket and handed it to Miaomiao, telling her to cover her head with it.
"Put this over your head so the other students don't spot us. If they do, you're done for, and I'll be dragged into a whole mess of trouble."
That was exactly what Ansheng had said. Although Miaomiao understood the consequences, she couldn't help pouting in resentment. He made her sound like she was doing something utterly shameful. After all, she wasn't completely devoid of charm, was she?
Why did this guy always act like she was such a burden to him?
"My dear ancestor, can you please hunch down? Why does it feel like I'm not carrying you, but rather you're riding me?"
Ansheng was panting heavily. Having his back bent for so long was getting to be too much. How did trying to do a good turn end up turning him into a pack mule?
"No way!" Miaomiao refused flatly.
"Why not, my dear ancestor?"
Miaomiao pursed her lips, casting her gaze down and to the side. "If I lean forward... then my, my thing... is going to press right against you."
Her voice was barely a whisper, the tips of her ears turning red.
"Oh, you mean your boobs," Ansheng said without a second thought, crisp and matter-of-fact, leaving Miaomiao immensely embarrassed and annoyed.
"You knew exactly what I meant and you still said it! Did you do that on purpose?!"
With that, Miaomiao clenched her fist and gave Ansheng a solid thump on the back. Ansheng winced, grimacing as a sharp twinge of pain shot through him.
"How many times do I have to tell you? I have zero interest in three-dimensional girls. As far as I'm concerned, those are just two lumps of fat—at most, a couple of water-filled balloons!"
"Shut up!"
Deep down, Miaomiao knew Ansheng was probably telling the truth; after all, he looked completely unbothered by the whole thing, unlike her, whose ears were burning hot.
Still, there was no way she could just slump against him like that! It would make her feel like a thoroughly indecent girl!
In the end, Miaomiao refused to compromise. Ansheng had no choice but to grit his teeth, hunch his back, and brave the occasional strange looks from passersby as he hurried through the streets, finally arriving at his apartment door.
Ansheng turned sideways, holding up the door lock toward Miaomiao. "Unlock it. Stay at my place for now."
"Oh."
Miaomiao nodded and pulled out her key ring. It held two keys: one for her own place and a spare for Ansheng's, which she hadn't returned to him yet.
*Screech*—the door swung open. Without even bothering to change his shoes, Ansheng hurried inside and deposited Miaomiao onto the sofa, then collapsed onto the opposite end, panting heavily.
"Oh, man..."
Ansheng groaned. He was drenched in sweat, his back practically soaked through. Lugging her all the way here had genuinely exhausted him.
Watching Ansheng's exhausted state, Miaomiao hesitated for a moment, then asked with a touch of embarrassment,
"Sorry... am I a bit too heavy?"
Ansheng turned his head, casting a scathing look in her direction.
"Duh. 'A bit' is an understatement."
Miaomiao blinked in surprise. Under normal circumstances, shouldn't a guy say something polite like "not at all" and brush it off, pretending she was actually super light?
Clearly, she had underestimated Ansheng's thought process.
In Ansheng's mind, you just said whatever was on your mind. Beating around the bush and forcing people to guess, or tossing out empty polite compliments—none of that existed in Ansheng's conversational dictionary.
"You—!" Miaomiao's face flushed crimson. She pointed an accusing finger at him, completely lost for words.
"Just rest your honorable self, will you?"
Ansheng curled his lip, swatted Miaomiao's pointing finger away, and added, "Take off your shoe. Let me see."
"Are you some kind of pervert?" Miaomiao asked suspiciously.
"...Bro, I'm trying to check how bad the injury is. What on earth is going on in that head of yours?"
"Oh."
Miaomiao obediently took off her white casual sneakers, revealing a pair of dainty feet clad in white socks.
"Are you an idiot?" Ansheng asked, utterly speechless.
"Why are you yelling at me?" Miaomiao protested, looking unconvinced.
"Do you seriously think I can see anything with your socks still on?"
"..."
Blushing furiously, Miaomiao finally peeled off her white socks, baring her small, delicate soles.
Ansheng stared at Miaomiao's ankle, noticing it was already swelling up. After a brief pause, he asked, "Need medicine?"
"Are you going to buy it?"
"Who else is gonna buy it, you?"
Ansheng was increasingly baffled by how this woman managed to rattle off one idiotic question after another.
Aside from him, was there anyone else here with functioning mobility? Did she expect a wounded invalid like herself to go out and buy it?
Choked with frustration, Miaomiao's face turned beet red and her chest rose and fell heavily. She looked thoroughly furious.
Ansheng took her silence as consent. He shook his head, dropped one final remark, and headed back out the door.
"Wait here. I remember there's a convenience store right next door."
The door clicked shut. Miaomiao let out a long breath, temporarily subduing her murderous impulses.
She glanced around. She had only been away for two or three days, yet she felt a surprising wave of nostalgia for this place.
The decor remained unchanged. Every available surface was covered in posters and figurines; the low table held a few comic books and a water cup—though now there was only one.
Miaomiao lowered her head, extending a foot to rub back and forth against the gray rug beneath the low table.
To her surprise, she rather liked the feel of this rug.
*Mm... should I ask Ansheng for the link to buy this rug?*
Snapping out of her daze, Miaomiao remembered how Ansheng had just carried her all the way back here and gone out to buy medicine.
"Miaomiao, Miaomiao, it seems you've racked up yet another monstrous favor..."
With a helpless pout, Miaomiao relaxed, sinking back into Ansheng's light blue sofa as she stared at the ceiling and muttered to herself,
"How on earth am I supposed to repay Ansheng this time? Tutoring? He doesn't seem to like that very much."
"Buy him an anime figurine? But I'm completely clueless about that stuff, and it's awkward to just come right out and ask what he likes..."
A few minutes later, just as Miaomiao was lost in her wild thoughts, the door clicked open. Ansheng reappeared, holding a bottle of safflower oil.
"Here, bought it. Safflower oil."
Ansheng changed into his slippers, set the safflower oil on the low table, and looked at Miaomiao. "You gonna put it on yourself, or do you want me to?"
"I'll do it myself!"
Miaomiao replied with absolute firmness. Just showing her injured foot to Ansheng had been mortifying enough; she was definitely applying the medicine herself.
Ansheng nodded without another word, picked up a comic book from the table, and began reading, occasionally taking a sip of water.
Miaomiao tore off two pieces of tissue, folded them into a small pad, and poured the safflower oil onto it until it was soaked through just enough that a gentle squeeze wouldn't cause it to drip everywhere.
Since she was sitting on the rug, this method would keep her from making a mess.
Initially, Miaomiao planned to keep her upper body upright while lifting her injured right foot onto the sofa to apply the ointment.
Then she remembered—she was wearing a dress today!
Miaomiao recalled the last time she wore this very dress and accidentally ended up showing Ansheng her panties...
She could never let a disaster like that happen again!
Ultimately, Miaomiao chose to lean her upper body forward, gently dabbing the injured area with the tissue wad.
"My legs are too long..."
Miaomiao muttered under her breath, forcing herself to shimmy downward and readjust her position.
Once she finished, she shot Ansheng a fierce glare.
"What are you staring at?" Ansheng asked, not even looking up, though out of the corner of his eye he noticed Miaomiao glaring at him repeatedly.
"Nothing!"
Covering her embarrassment with a loud, defensive tone, Miaomiao fell silent again. It was time to figure out how to repay this kindness.
Should she just bite the bullet, ask Ansheng what anime characters he liked, and buy him some merchandise?
After turning it over in her mind, that seemed to be the only option she could come up with. Miaomiao gritted her teeth, right as she was about to speak up.
"An—"
"Oh, let me tell you something," Ansheng interrupted, suddenly speaking up.
Startled, Miaomiao asked in confusion, "What is it?"
"Just now when you were putting on the medicine, your panties were showing. The black lace edge."
Ansheng delivered the news unhurriedly, then picked up the water cup from the low table and took a sip.
Miaomiao's eyes slowly widened before going completely blank. Wasn't she leaning forward this time?
"When you bent over and reached out, your arm pressed down on the skirt, and it bunched up a bit around your thigh."
"Pay attention next time. Good thing I'm not interested in you, otherwise you'd be in big trouble."
Seeing the utter bewilderment on her face, Ansheng kindly offered an explanation, his face completely free of any flush or embarrassment.
"..."
Miaomiao's eyelids twitched violently. She lowered her head, her ears burning hot.
Buy him anime merchandise to repay him? In your dreams!
Wasn't there still a ready-made method that would both clear her debt of gratitude and get back at Ansheng?
"Ansheng."
Miaomiao lifted her head, flashing a gentle, sweet smile.
Ansheng looked up, frowning as he muttered, "Why do I suddenly sense a murderous aura?"
"Thank you so much for carrying me back and buying me safflower oil today."
Miaomiao smiled amiably, though Ansheng found it deeply unsettling. "It was nothing..."
She shook her head. "How could it be nothing? ...I've already figured out how to repay you."
"No—"
Before Ansheng could shake his head and finish his refusal, Miaomiao lunged over to his side, her hands firmly gripping his shoulders. Ansheng couldn't help but give a startled shudder.
"I've decided... to tutor you for a whole semester!"
The corners of her mouth curled up, her eyes gleaming with a light that, to Ansheng, looked remarkably like a demon's smile.
Ansheng froze in absolute horror as the comic book in his hand went *clatter* onto the table.
How on earth did he end up stuck with this dear ancestor again?!