Ninety-Six: Set on It, Part Two

Caring for someone was something Chen Ruowen had never done before, so when she tried it for the first time, she was naturally clumsy in the extreme. The angle at which she lifted her arm was stiff and awkward, the motion with which she passed the chopsticks the wrong way around was equally ungainly, and though she kept trying to adjust her wrist, nothing she did seemed quite right.

Chen Liwan cleared his throat.

His precious daughter, the one he had raised in the palm of his hand, was serving someone right in front of him with a willing face on her, and how could he possibly feel good about that? If not for Bai Jinyan’s injuries, Chen Liwan would already have been overturning the table.

"Open your mouth," Chen Ruowen urged again.

"Ah—" Chen Liwan coughed heavily once more.

Under the pressure of her father’s gaze from across the table, Bai Jinyan broke into a cold sweat and obediently opened his mouth.

Compared with Chen Liwan’s open dislike, it seemed that offending Chen Ruowen at this moment would bring even more serious consequences...

Chen Ruowen’s expression eased a little, while Chen Liwan’s face darkened terribly.

"Where is Sister Zhang? Since Young Bai’s hand isn’t convenient, have her come help serve the dishes," Chen Liwan said with a stern face.

"No, I’ll do it myself."

Before Bai Jinyan could even nod, Chen Ruowen had already answered for him. Then she picked up a stalk of celery and brought it to Bai Jinyan’s lips. He braced himself and swallowed it.

Chen Liwan’s face had nearly gone the color of soot, while Gu Jingyuan, seated at the other end of the table, looked at Bai Jinyan with a hint of envy, as though thinking of something.

Yang Anxin watched her daughter’s clumsy movements and silently placed a spoon into Chen Ruowen’s bowl.

"Ruowen, use a spoon instead. Chopsticks are too slow; in a moment you’ll have Jinyan starving."

Bai Jinyan nearly choked. Chen Ruowen’s pretty face flushed, but she readily took the hint and switched from chopsticks to spoon. One spoonful after another made Chen Liwan look as though he might vomit blood on the spot.

A daughter grown is no daughter at all.

He’d only taken one knife wound, and she was already so moved by it?

Just moments ago Chen Liwan had thought he looked a little more agreeable. Now, seeing this, the boy was clearly a master manipulator.

Inside, he cursed Bai Jinyan over and over again.

After the meal, Chen Ruowen insisted on sending Bai Jinyan home. But fearing being seen by the family, Bai Jinyan got out of the car one block before the Bai residence.

Early the next morning, Chen Ruowen got up fifteen minutes before work and ran to the Bai house. When Chen Liwan heard about it, he was so furious he refused breakfast.

Qi Faran looked somewhat surprised when she saw Chen Ruowen coming over.

"Why are you here, Ruowen?"

"Where is Bai Jinyan?" Chen Ruowen asked straight to the point.

"Jinyan isn’t up yet."

"Then I’ll go wake him."

Without waiting for Qi Faran’s permission, Chen Ruowen went straight upstairs, gently opened Bai Jinyan’s bedroom door, and slipped inside. Qi Faran frowned at the sight, but said nothing.

Bai Jinyan’s bedroom was nothing like Chen Ruowen’s. Aside from a few basic pieces of furniture and a washroom, there wasn’t even a walk-in closet or a television, much less a small sitting room like hers.

It was absurdly normal, nothing like the room of a rich second-generation heir at all.

Chen Ruowen circled around to Bai Jinyan’s left side, bent down, poked at his clean sleeping face, then hooked her arms around his neck and lunged straight into his arms.

Bai Jinyan was instantly crushed awake.

Still groggy, he looked at the person who had fallen into his embrace and reached up to pat her back.

"Why are you here so early?"

"I missed you," Chen Ruowen said, touching his right arm. "Does it still hurt?"

"Didn’t you ask that more than ten times yesterday?" Bai Jinyan said with amusement. "Get up. I’m going to wash up."

Chen Ruowen obediently climbed up and got off him.

At breakfast, another problem arose. Bai Jinyan still had no strength in his right hand and could not even hold a soup spoon. Luckily, Chen Ruowen noticed in time and immediately used her own willfulness as an excuse to move breakfast into Bai Jinyan’s room, feeding him bite by bite until he finished.

Qi Faran also happened to pass by and see it, but assuming the two were being affectionate, she merely wore a disapproving expression and did not think too much of it.

With his right hand still unusable, Bai Jinyan could not hold a pen to do homework. Chen Ruowen remained leaning against his left shoulder all day, so for today they could only focus on reading and question-based review.

In the middle of this, Chen Ruowen even borrowed Bai Jinyan’s phone to call Doctor Wei. The two of them carefully avoided Qi Faran, who came in and out now and then with food and drinks, and asked about Bai Jinyan’s condition. Wei Kun replied that it would be best not to move the right hand for a full week; after that, he could try simple motions such as holding a pen or chopsticks, nothing too strenuous.

"Then I’ll come feed you every day for this week," Chen Ruowen volunteered.

The look on her face made Bai Jinyan want to laugh.

"I’ll practice writing and eating with my left hand these next couple of days, and I’ll be fine soon." He flexed his left hand and picked up a few test papers from his desk. "I still have holiday homework to do."

"Then... I’ll help you write it?"

"Can you even read it?"

"You tell me the answers, and I’ll write them down for you."

Bai Jinyan ruffled her hair. "Just having that thought is enough to make me happy."

If he could exchange this small injury for Chen Ruowen’s concern, then it would be worth it after all.

Qi Faran came into the room almost every half hour, occasionally bringing up things like "exams" and "homework," pressuring Bai Jinyan in every possible way to study hard.

Chen Ruowen had no choice but, when Qi Faran once again brought fruit salad, to personally escort her out of the room. Then, right in front of Qi Faran, she locked the door and even said a formal "Goodbye, Auntie," which infuriated Qi Faran to no end.

The three-day holiday lasted for three days, and Chen Ruowen spent all three days at the Bai house. On the final day, Bai Jinyan finally managed to finish a meal using only his left hand.

"Go back a little earlier today. You’ve worked hard these past few days," Bai Jinyan said after dinner as he escorted Chen Ruowen out of the Bai residence.

"Are you sure you won’t need me to come find you at school tomorrow?"

"I’m afraid if you come back and make too much of a fuss, people will find out about the injury."

Chen Ruowen had no choice but to nod. "Then I’ll come look for you next weekend."

At that, Bai Jinyan paused, but did not immediately nod.

"If you... don’t find it annoying," he said hesitantly.

"What kind of logic is that?" Chen Ruowen was utterly speechless at his reply. "I’d never be annoyed with you, no matter who else I might be annoyed with."

She grabbed his collar and looked up at him.

"Call me when you get back."

"Mm."

"Every day."

"...Okay."

"Why are you agreeing so reluctantly? It sounds like I’m forcing you."

You... are forcing me...

But he absolutely could not say that out loud... otherwise the fire that had just died down would flare right back up again...

"Don’t always make me come find you. If you’re this unenthusiastic, I’ll be angry, you know?"

"...So, you’re angry because of that?"

At last having discovered the reason for Chen Ruowen’s temper, Bai Jinyan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

"I’ve really been overwhelmed by exams lately, and I haven’t been paying much attention to anything else. I didn’t know..."

He didn’t know that you would want me to look for you, didn’t know that you would need me to look for you, and had even always believed that frequent contact would only make you tire of me all the sooner...

He kept the rest of the sentence to himself.

"I’ll work on fixing that. There’s just one thing..." Bai Jinyan paused, then voiced the most important words he had been holding back for several days.

"Don’t listen to Gao Tang’s nonsense."

"Stay away from him."