ATAFBS Chapter 13

For the next few days after Zhou Huiyue hurt his hand, the responsibility of preparing meals fell on Yu Juan.

They ate instant noodles the majority of the time since anything else Yu Juan tried to make would turn out completely disastrous and unsuitable for a recuperating person as well as for himself, a picky eater. The good news, though, was that he had managed to learn how to ride his bike, so he went to Anshan Village several times. Grandma Liu there was really kind to him, letting him buy meals from her. A lot of things couldn’t be measured in monetary values– Yu Juan was her guest, so she would naturally not charge him for a meal, but Yu Juan would be embarrassed to not pay for the portion he wanted to bring back for Zhou Huiyue. Grandma Liu knew how troubled Yu Juan would feel if she didn’t take his money, to the point he might even stop coming over altogether, so she’d simply accept the payment while making him his favorite dishes in return each time.

The mountain path wasn’t very smooth, but Yu Juan was fortunate enough to not have fallen even once despite being a beginner.

During this time, Yu Juan’s college entrance exams had finally come out. After thinking about it carefully, he applied for a computer major.

As for where he would study at, it was a place far, far away from Baicheng by at least a few hundred kilometers.

Yu Juan had been here for less than six months at most, and the majority of that time was spent lying on the bed and unable to go out, so he didn’t understand this world well. That was why he wanted to leave Baicheng– why he wanted to stay away from where the novel’s main plot would unfold.

Yu Juan would go to Zhou Huiyue’s room and help the other change the dressing for his wound everyday at noon.

Before walking in the room after opening the door, Yu Juan would look at the broken window with utmost vigilance– as if he was incredibly worried something would rush in.

Nonetheless, he still entered each time.

Zhou Huiyue saw such a Yu Juan.

Once it was time to cut the gauze, though, Yu Juan was entirely concentrated for fear of accidentally making the wound hurt more.

In fact, Zhou Huiyue wasn’t scared of pain– he was already used to it, given how he had to suffer for a long time due to the sequelae of the car accident.

The wound on his hand was, in comparison, too small, too shallow.

Nonetheless, Yu Juan cared about it very much and would always ask questions whenever he would apply medicine and dress the wound.

It was indeed true that Yu Juan really hated pain.

Yu Juan would use the word “hate” for every negative feeling.

After dressing the wound, Yu Juan put away the things before blankly staring at Zhou Huiyue’s palm for a moment.

Yu Juan didn’t suffer much physically in his eighteen years of life– the biggest pain he had to endure was after he had transmigrated.

Thinking up to here, Yu Juan lifted his head– the one sitting right in front of him at this moment wasn’t the culprit, but it was still Zhou Huiyue himself who had hurt him.

Yet, here they were, getting along peacefully.

Zhou Huiyue looked at Yu Juan– the latter had his chin propped up with his hand, his eyes drooping slightly. It was unknown what the other was thinking of, but, suddenly, his mood seemed to have worsened.

His fingers moved for a bit before he decided to ask in a really casual manner, “Yu Juan, why did you come here?”

Yu Juan looked down at Zhou Huiyue with his eyebrow raised, “You sure have a lot of questions.”

Zhou Huiyue didn’t get angry– though, to be precise, Yu Juan had never seen him reveal anything akin to anger. Zhou Huiyue just simply asked, “Do you want me to guess?”

Yu Juan hummed, “Go ahead.”

“When you first came in through the door at the beginning,” Zhou Huiyue paused to cough, “I thought you were here to break off the engagement.”

Yu Juan, “…”

He thought that Zhou Huiyue’s guess indeed hit the nail right on the head– if Zhou Huiyue didn’t look like he was on the verge of death, Yu Juan would’ve already beaten him up and broken the engagement off before announcing it to the whole world without giving Lu Shuicheng any time to react and figure out how to save face.

Zhou Huiyue continued, “What you said, however, was that you hoped I could meet your requirements for a fiancé.”

He paused for a moment. “If the purpose is for us to get married, shouldn’t we get to know each other?”

Zhou Huiyue’s question wasn’t out of the ordinary at all, but Yu Juan found it hard to give an answer.

Marriage, requirements, fiancé– these words that were once very out of reach of Yu Juan’s life were suddenly dragged right in front of him.

Yu Juan felt his face heat up as he once again regretted that he found such an excuse at that time when he could’ve just said something like how Zhou Huiyue’s mother had taken care of him before, so he came to repay the favor by looking after his benefactor’s child.

It was too late for any regrets– not that Yu Juan was someone who would ever be overcome with regrets though.

Yu Juan thought for a moment. “Marriage is a matter for the far future. Besides, right now, you’re not even close to meeting all of my requirements.”

He didn’t give it much thought and just said whatever came to mind, his tone slightly harsh just like a villain in a novel. “You need to be healthy, wealthy, and have a brand new holiday manor.”

All of these were things Zhou Huiyue didn’t have.

Afterwards, Yu Juan glanced at Zhou Huiyue in a seemingly provocative manner.

Zhou Huiyue spread out his palm, and, whether intentionally or not, revealed the gauze at the center.

Yu Juan had the impression that he was bullying someone who wasn’t well.

However, that slightly indescribable feeling dissipated as quickly as Zhou Huiyue retracted his palm and said, “Is that so?”

“Doesn’t seem much.”

Zhou Huiyue’s reply was sincere. It was as if Yu Juan’s requirements weren’t that harsh, but rather only natural, and it would be his own fault if he couldn’t meet them.

Yu Juan was stunned for a few seconds.

He realised that the protagonist was a bit hard, no, really hard to deal with– whether it was that cold, sneering look of fifteen years later, or this seemingly honest appearance.

The current situation, however, was different from that of fifteen years later. They were quite familiar with each other, so Yu Juan did hope that Zhou Huiyue could live on and recover to a standard suitable enough for Yu Juan to take his revenge.

When Yu Juan lowered his head, the side of his face pressed against the table, his soft hair spread out like quicksand. Part of it fell on Zhou Huiyue’s palm accidentally.

For now, at least, Yu Juan was willing to take care of Zhou Huiyue’s injury.

*

In the evening, Lu Shuicheng’s expected phone call finally came.

Yu Juan answered as he went downstairs.

He didn’t like doing things he disliked in his room– for example, picking up the call of someone he hated. It would affect his mood and make him hate the room and everything that came with it, and it would stop being the most relaxing place for him.

She didn’t call even once even though Yu Juan had stayed here for so long already. It was, of course, because she didn’t want to hear him complain and have to coax him.

It was only today that she finally found some free time to willingly handle this matter, and was ready to perfunctorily deal with Yu Juan.

Su Li had called to tell her that Yu Juan was always strolling outside. Since it was quite dangerous being in such a remote mountain with thick forests, whose fault would it be if something bad were to happen?

Since she was Yu Juan’s elder, Lu Shuicheng reasonably criticised, “You have to be a bit more considerate.”

Yu Juan said “oh” before continuing, “If I wasn’t being considerate, I should’ve been in Baicheng right now and not here, don’t you think so?”

He knew that Lu Shuicheng wanted to control him, but that was impossible. Even if he was really just a cannon fodder in a novel, he would never allow anyone to treat him like that.

Lu Shuicheng was too stunned for a moment and couldn’t say a word, so Yu Juan just hung up and threw the phone next to him on the sofa.

Upstairs.

Zhou Huiyue heard Yu Juan’s breathing go from rapid to smooth and could even imagine how the latter looked like with his face plastered against the corner of the sofa and his hair hanging off. He then heard Yu Juan say really lightly, “Really so annoying, these people.”

The screen of the phone he put aside emitted a dim light.

Zhou Huiyue, who was sat in his wheelchair, looked at the window in front of him. The glass and the screen had been installed, so it was in good condition again as if it was brand new.

He had once believed that since he wanted to look outside, he wouldn’t do such a thing as it would obstruct his sight.

Tomorrow would be the last day. The least serious and smallest injury on his body, yet also the most important one, would be fully recovered by then.

Yu Juan would never come to this room again, since he hated bugs and would make sure to avoid any place that could potentially have bugs.

Zhou Huiyue hoped that wouldn’t be the case, however, since he wanted to study Yu Juan.

As for what would happen afterwards… He wanted to change his current situation, so everything he did had a purpose. Summer was different, however– whether it was the scorching sun or the rainstorm, he could only accept them. Summer won’t change.

And neither will Yu Juan.