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Yao Jiamu loosened his fingers and raised both his arms. With a beaming smile, he challenged the duo: "C’mon!"

Ten minutes later, Xiao Yun and Wu Hongwen laid limply on the ground, their eyes devoid of life.

"Maybe Er Qiao just doesn’t love us anymore?" mumbled Wu Hongwen. "It’s all because of this Yao Xiaomu that stole away Er Qiao’s attention. As expected, wild flowers would always smell nicer than homegrown ones."

"Heh heh."

Xiao Yun managed a painful chuckle.

"That’s it! You’re pretty much asking for it now!" Wu Hongwen got up angrily while pulling up his sleeves.

Xiao Yun shot him a glance. "If only your talent points were higher, maybe Er Qiao would’ve taken you under her wing. You have no one else to blame but yourself!"

The blame was on him. Wu Hongwen crouched down silently. He felt that he should refrain from speaking to Xiao Yun for the rest of the day. He had been trying his best not to bring up the matter of him being a total noob but why was she so obsessed with picking at his wounds?

Turned out that it was true. No one loved him here. QAQ.

Yao Jiamu went into the dressing room and changed into a new set of clothes before coming out to find that the two still hadn’t left.

"Are you guys going to the hospital?"

"For what?" asked Wu Hongwen indifferently. "You have a terminal illness now?" He smirked the more he pondered the possibility of that being true.

"..."

Yao Jiamu left the place in silence.

Wait, this shouldn’t be happening. Wu Hongwen got up and started yelling, "Yao Jiamu, Yao Xiaomu, Yao Numskull, Xiao Blockhead, are you gonna leave us again? Although I am saddened by this if you must go, I wish you a smooth journe-"

"Slam!"

Before he was able to finish his sentence, Yao Jiamu had sent him flying into a tree trunk.

To say that Wu Hongwen was thick-skinned wasn’t really wrong. The ancient warrior had been pummelled all day long and he still seemed to be unaffected by this, which earned him Xiao Yun’s pitiful laughter.

Seeing that the annoying one had received his punishment, Yao Jiamu stopped to wait for Xiao Yun.

"Miss Gu went through an operation just now. I think she should be waking up now. I’m going to see her. What about you guys?"

"Wait a sec." Xiao Yun’s heart raced. She outstretched her palm. "Wait a sec. Could you repeat that one more time? Operation?"

"Gu Xiqiao. Miss Gu," said Yao Jiamu very slowly, just in case Xiao Yun couldn’t hear his words clear enough.

"Didn’t you guys know about it?"

Wu Hongwen stopped acting dead. Still lying prone, he crawled over army-style and with a dead serious look on his face, he asked, "You’re talking about Er Qiao?"

It was then that Yao Jiamu realized that the both of them were still kept in the dark about this. Thinking that there wasn’t too much of a problem, he revealed the truth to the duo.

"Yeah, she’s supposed to go through a marrow transplant operation to help save Dalin."

"Dalin? Who’s that?" Although this was a life they were talking about, Wu Hongwen quite obviously wasn’t a fan of the one being saved.

Seeing how different their reactions were, Yao Jiamu subconsciously peered at the faces of the duo. It’s just a marrow transplant is it not? Was there a need to act in such a hostile way? Because he was acquainted with Luo Wenlin, he personally felt that there wasn’t too much of a problem with the whole operation.

However, Wu Hongwen and Xiao Yun, who had no idea who Luo Wenlin even was, found it hard to accept that Gu Xiqiao was donating her marrow to this Dalin fella. Xiao Yun peered at Yao Jiamu with an emotionless face. "Do you know this Dalin?"

"Yes..." This was Yao Jiamu’s first time seeing her act so seriously and he was a little bothered by it.

"In any case, let’s go there and take a look first." Wu Hongwen’s joker attitude had faded away in an instant. Dusting himself off, he left with Xiao Yun to see their comrade in hospital. Yao Jiamu, who became abandoned, was left in place, stunned.

’Did they eat the wrong type of medicine today?’

***

At the hospital, Gu Xiqiao’s transplant operation had ended successfully. Contrary to popular belief, such a transplant does not cause damage to one’s body and the hospital encourages potential donors to step forward and save lives. However, that wasn’t completely true either. The human body contains blood producing cells and these cells do not replicate indefinitely through cell splitting. There is a limit to the number of times these cells can self-replicate and when that limit is reached, the human body will start aging and hence, deteriorate.

And so, there can only be so many times one could donate blood in his lifetime. While he may be willing to go above the limit, the body simply cannot.

To donate marrow was an even more serious matter that would impact the body on an even greater scale.

Both Wu Hongwen and Yao Jiamu knew about this fact, which explained why he was so upset when he heard the news of Gu Xiqiao agreeing to the surgery. Holding his head nervously in the elevator, he asked, "Tell me, why the hell did she agree to do such a foolish thing?"

Even before they met, Wu Hongwen had started to despise this Dalin fella.

Xiao Yun counted the floors as they went up. "It’s because of that attitude of hers. She feels obliged to intervene in anything that is remotely linked to her. It’s not like you don’t know her!"

"But can her frail little body even make it through the surgery?!" Wu Hongwen scratched his head in panic.

"We’ll see when we get there." Even Xiao Yun was getting riled up. How dare she hide this from them. This is outrageous! She’s gonna witness their full wrath when they get to her room!

At least, that was what they thought. Such feelings quickly fizzed out when they saw her lying there on the hospital bed. Still under anesthesia, her eyes remained shut. Her face no longer had that rosy tint and instead, it was of a deathly pale complexion.

Jiang Shuxuan stood beside her bed. Judging from his facial expression, he was not in a good mood. His thin lips were pressed together tightly and his brows were knitted. The air pressure around him dropped significantly, almost sublimating into ice.

Standing there, he emanated an incredibly intimidating aura. Even the nurse, who was checking on Gu Xiqiao trembled out of fear, almost flipping over her tray.

Jiang Shuxuan’s expression softened upon seeing Xiao Yun and Wu Hongwen enter the room. At the very least, he was friendly toward Gu Xiqiao’s friends. "You two stay here and look after her. I’ll be heading back to prepare her meal."

The two nodded eagerly. Moments after Jiang Shuxuan left, the sneaky Gu Xiqiao slowly opened her eyes, which was noticed by Wu Hongwen in an instant. "Er Qiao you slimy rat... you almost got me there."

"Why are you two here?" asked Gu Xiqiao. It wasn’t that she wanted to fool them. It was more that she was afraid of seeing Jiang Shuxuan’s face.

Now that she had mentioned this, Xiao Yun felt nothing but anger for her. Glaring at Gu Xiqiao’s pale white face, she lowered his voice, "What do you think? You’re going through such a life-threatening surgery and you think you can just stay silent like that? Is making a phone call such a difficult task?"

"C’mon, it’s no biggie. I’ll just have to stay here for 12 hours and I’m gonna be discharged tomorrow morning."

"No biggie!? They had to slice you open for god’s sake!" Xiao Yun glared at her. She couldn’t hold herself back any longer. "Does it hurt? Can you still eat? Is there anything you would like Wu Hongwen to buy you?"

"Brother Jiang’s preparing food for me back home. I’m feeling a little tired so I’d like to sleep if that’s okay with you." As the anesthesia was still coursing through her veins, she was able to fall asleep in a matter of seconds.

historical

Silently, Xiao Yun and Wu Hongwen walked outside her ward. Just then, Yao Jiamu had finally hurried over but to his disappointment, he was stopped by Wu Hongwen from seeing her.

"Er Qiao’s asleep. You should stay outside. You’re entire body’s covered in germs and sh*t after all."

"Fine, then would you like to pay Dalin a visit?" asked Yao Jiamu as he thought they’d be interested.

"Let’s go." urged Wu Hongwen. He wanted to see what this trash of a person, Dalin looked like!

Because he had just undergone the surgery, Luo Wenlin was moved to the ICU so they could only watch him through a glass window. Luo Wenlang was sitting on the bench outside the ICU when they got there, which puzzled Wu Hongwen.

"Why’s Luo Wenlang here?"

"Because, he’s Dalin’s elder brother," said Yao Jiamu as he approached the window. At the moment, Luo Wenlin was resting on a bed with his eyes shut. There were pipes inserted in both his legs as well as his head. As if that wasn’t terrifying enough, there was a great big shiny needle protruding out from where the tubes led into his body.

Luo Wenlin was a cute boy, which earned their sympathy in an instant. Even the fiery Wu Hongwen who was originally ready to tear his throat out went silent at the sight of the poor boy.

Wu Hongwen’s silence continued after hearing Yao Jiamu’s explanation of Luo Wenlin’s family background. The duo stared at his serene face for a while before finally returning to Gu Xiqiao’s ward. However, with Jiang Shuxuan there, they lacked the guts to loiter around any longer. Right before the hospital closed its doors to visitors, they managed to stealthily CIA their way out of there.

The operation had been a success. Luo Wenlin was able to regain consciousness that night and Gu Xiqiao’s condition had been stable throughout the twelve-hour observation window. Seeing how much she has improved, Jiang Shuxuan could finally sigh out in relief.

As scheduled, she was allowed to be discharged the next morning.

"Wait for me here. I’ll drive over."

Jiang Shuxuan’s car was at the car park and he did not want Gu Xiqiao to walk such a distance by herself. And so, he made sure that she waited for him at the hospital’s entrance. She protested by saying how un-weak she was but one look from him was enough to silence her.

Fine, she admitted defeat this time.

While waiting for Jiang Shuxuan, she leaned against a nearby pillar and started playing on her phone.

"Miss Gu!" yelled someone from behind.

That someone was Shen Nianzi.

"Why are you here?" she asked with an astonished look.

"To see Dalin," replied Gu Xiqiao with a smile. No one knew about her agreeing to donate marrow for Luo Wenlin. Not even the recipient himself knew about this.

"Hey, ditto. I heard he even woke up last night." Shen Nianzi smiled. They were the same batch of kids raised in the orphanage so naturally, they had developed a strong bond with each other. She was so happy for Luo Wenlin’s recovery that she failed to sleep last night. "And I heard his condition’s under control now. I really wish I could thank that donor right now!"

Tucking her phone away, Gu Xiqiao flashed her a smile. "Yep."

"Ah right." Shen Nianzi looked around before continuing in a whisper. "Miss Gu, your drawing has already been sent to the Biennale. Mr. Sima would like to accept you as his disciple as soon as possible. He’s quite serious about this. In fact, he’s called up the director quite a number of times now. I can guarantee you that this man’s the best teacher you could ever hope to get. Miss Gu, even if you’re not planning to learn the art of painting, you should definitely pay him a visit. After all, there’s no harm in doing so is there?"

Shen Nianzi spoke seriously. She was genuinely thinking in Gu Xiqiao’s best interest. What she couldn’t understand the next moment, was how a sane person could reject the god-tier artist, Sima Jun’s offer!

"Thanks but I really can’t do that." Gu Xiqiao shook her head with a smile. She could make out that Shen Nianzi had no underlying intent. "My new semester will be starting soon so I’m afraid I won’t have the spare time to learn about art. As you know, med students are busy as bees."

"Alright." Shen Nianzi was a little disappointed. "Miss Gu, if you ever change your mind, you must see Mister Sima."

"I must," repeated Gu Xiqiao. She must not ever look for Sima Jun. "Oh, my ride’s here. I’ll be leaving then. See ya!"

Shen Nianzi watched Gu Xiqiao get into her car before turning to enter the hospital. However, she was stopped by someone the moment she did so. Looking up, it was revealed to be someone with a pretty face.

"So, you’ve made contact with the one and only, For A Millenium."

"Yeah," replied Shen Nianzi excitedly as she stared constantly at Mu Yunfan’s face. This was the first time she was standing so close to him. The other time she saw him was on the television screen. "But she still rejected Mister Sima’s offer to accept her as his own disciple."

"That I know." Although Mu Yunfan had expected her to say such a thing, he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. Before he left, he reminded her, "The next time you see her, remember to notify me. I’d like to see her too."

"Hold up." After a moment of silence, Shen Nianzi opened her mouth. "You recognized the girl that was standing beside me just now?"

"Beside you?" Mu Yunfan’s eyes were suddenly filled with disgust. "No."

He left shortly after. His butler, with a bag of medicine in hand, followed behind him. As he passed Shen Nianzi, the butler greeted her with a friendly smile.

"Wait. Something’s wrong." Shen Nianzi scratched her head cluelessly. "Didn’t he say he wanted to meet her in person?" If that’s the case, then why did it seem like he hated Miss Gu?

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