CH 94

There wasn’t a throng of people in the hospital; therefore, a doctor saw Miaomiao right away. 

It was just a common cold like she had suspected. She would be fine once she took some medicine.

When Miaomiao came out, Zhou Yuan continued to support her as she walked.

Miaomiao was especially embarrassed about this, and she said, “No do you believe me? It’s just a cold. Nothing serious.”

As he walked alongside her, Zhou Yuan said, “It’s good that it’s nothing. Are we going back to school?”

“Yeah. Let’s head back to school. I haven’t done my homework yet. The new headteacher is also going to explain some tasks to me.”

They hopped into a taxi and headed back to school. Of course, they had already informed Jingjing and Deng Feng about their return in advance. 

Because of this incident, Jingjing created a WeChat group called “squad of four people in hot springs” to make it easier for the four to chat with each other.

After returning from the hot springs, Miaomiao discovered that this trip wasn’t a failure. It was as if something had fired Deng Feng up, as he didn’t discuss the issues within his heart all the time.

Zhou Yuan became lively and cheerful as well.

Although lively and cheerful weren’t suitable words to describe Zhou Yuan, he did undergo a great change that was noticeable to the naked eye.

The biggest change was that Miaomiao noticed Zhou Yuan sported a light gray tracksuit the next morning. He used to wear only somber, dull-colored clothing, which gave him an austere, strict appearance. And he also started to do gymnastics.

Miaomiao was the class president, so she counted the students with a member of the sports committee during recess. Zhou Yuan’s sports attire and interest in gymnastics surprised Miaomiao.

When Miaomiao approached Zhou Yuan, he said, “I only studied gymnastics in elementary school, not in high school.”

Miaomiao pondered for a while, “It’s okay. You can do it with your classmates first. You can do whatever the others do first. After our evening self-study session, you can come out, so I could teach you.”

“Wait, I lost count of how many students there are…”

“I’m number 32.”

“Okay. Then, you’re 33…” Miaomiao continued to count.

Every class had a student who performed their gymnastics exercises in front of the class to lead them. For this class, Hua Miaomiao was the one who led them.

Because she had her back to everyone, she had no clue whether Zhou Yuan was doing his gymnastics exercises or not.

They returned to the classroom after gymnastics. As everyone walked together, Miaomiao followed a several girls who came out of the dormitory and were returning to class.

After catching a cold, Miaomiao took her medicine on time; therefore, her symptoms have been mitigated.

However, Miaomiao couldn’t help but scan the crowd for someone when she walked back. Soon, she eventually spotted this familiar figure.

But he was all alone. Miaomiao felt…he should get along with the other boys of his age as well.

Deng Feng…Forget it; they shouldn’t be inflaming each other’s discontent and dissatisfaction for now. If they did, it’s just going to result in the fermentation and the aggravation of each other’s aggrievement. 

As a sophomore, classes weren’t overly strict. As soon as class ended, everyone talked about what they have been up to and laughed. 

“I almost arrived late this morning. The elevator in my building wasn’t working properly, so I had to walk down all the way from the thirteenth floor.” Zhou Yuan said to Miaomiao.

Miaomiao was stunned for a moment, “…” Is he trying to start a casual conversation?

In any case, the other party was beginning to converse, which indicated that he was slowly acclimatizing himself into campus life.

Uncle Zhou had hoped that he would change his lifestyle in the first place.

They talked about a variety of things. From the elevator to the problem of living alone, and from the problem of living alone to the problem of food. They talked about it all.

“It’s better to cook your own food,” Miaomiao said, “in fact, it doesn’t take up much time.”

“I don’t know how to cook.”

Miaomiao didn’t seem surprised. She knew that people like Zhou Yuan were busy studying and working.

“I like to cook my own food. Eating outside is bad for your health.” Miaomiao remembered that he was once in the hospital because of stomach problems.

“I’ll write some easy-to-make recipes for you first. If you find them delicious, you can cook them for yourself.”

Zhou Yuan realized that they had too few interactions with each other, so they knew very little about each other.

He wanted to understand Miaomiao as well as know himself now.

Miaomiao started scrawling on a piece of paper, and she swiftly jotted down some recipes.

“Breakfast: eggs, milk, boiled tender corn. (Eggs and tender corn should only be cooked in plain water)”

“Lunch: stir-fried vegetables, fried meat (buy the vegetables you want to eat; wash them, and put them in a pot, pour the oil and then add ginger and garlic; then,  add the vegetables and stir it. (This method also works with meat.)”

“Dinner: tender corn…”

Miaomiao wrote them in great detail. She handed the sheet of paper to Zhou Yuan, “Do you use a natural gas stove or an induction cooker?”

“I don’t know,” Zhou Yuan answered. “But I should be able to figure it out if I simply go back and take a look at it.”

If everyone could understand something as simple as a stove, then he should be able to figure it out too.

“If you have any questions, you can call me,” Miaomiao said.

Miaomiao felt very happy when she assisted Zhou Yuan because his effervescence and liveliness made her feel vivacious and gleeful.

Zhou Yuan hummed. 

The next morning, Miaomiao saw something atop her desk when she stepped into the classroom. 

It was a lunch box.

She opened it to discover steamed tender corn within.

“When I woke up this morning, I cooked two corn cobs according to your instructions, so I brought you one.”

Miaomiao mentioned tender corn twice in her scribblings yesterday, so he thought that she would enjoy eating this.

Miaomiao was very surprised, “Thank you.”

Miaomiao picked it up and began eating it. Even though it was a little hot, she still indulged in its flavor.

This kind of corn cob was naturally too tender to peel off the corn kernels one by one, so she just bit into it directly.

The corn still contained some water within despite having been cooked, which gave it a very special flavor.

As he watched her gnawing on the cob of corn like a little squirrel, Zhou Yuan felt a sense of satisfaction within his heart.