Chapter 4: Feeling dizzy?

To be honest, Bai Ci’s heart was a mess that day.

Sitting on the Ferris wheel, the moment Lu Mingfei started to speak, she felt like the world was slipping away.

She could guess what he was about to do, and she knew how she should respond, but…

The neon lights outside, the buildings slowly drifting by—she felt like an idiot, completely lost.

It was supposed to be a romantic moment, but her mood was as bad as tossing a popsicle into a Sichuan hot pot.

Reject him?

Lu Mingfei would be pitiful—two failures in one week, the second from the girl who stood up for him.

No one would have his back this time.

Accept him?

What would that mean for her?

Bai Ci closed her eyes, trying to suppress her emotions, but her body still trembled slightly.

“I…”

Lu Mingfei finally spoke. “I’m at Cassel College too.”

Bai Ci froze, the tension in her body dissolving.

She opened her eyes, looked at him, and a faint smile curved her lips. “Then… let’s look out for each other.”

Lu Mingfei grinned, and they both quietly watched the sky.

The Ferris wheel slowly descended.

Bai Ci stood up and headed out.

“Miss? Miss?”

The staff called several times before she snapped back, turning to see Lu Mingfei sitting motionless.

He looked like he was asleep, head down, silent.

Bai Ci hesitated, then walked over, crouched down, grabbed his shoulders, and shook him to wake him up.

No response.

She frowned, tapped his cheek. “Hey! Lu Mingfei!”

Nothing.

He stayed in the same position, not even twitching.

Did he faint?

Why?

Bai Ci bit her lip, pulled out her phone, and dialed 120.

While waiting for the ambulance, she touched his nose—he was breathing, not dead.

The ambulance arrived, and doctors rushed him to the emergency center with a stretcher.

“Probably fainted from stress and then suddenly relaxing,” the doctor said, handing her a bill. “Exams, bed, IV, and ambulance fees—2,000 yuan total.

Pay at the counter.”

He sighed. “I know the college entrance exams are coming, and stress is high, but you’ve gotta take care of yourself…”

“Okay.”

Bai Ci nodded, left the room, and pulled out her phone.

“Senior Sister Chen Motong, can I borrow some money? I’ll pay you back when school starts…”

After withdrawing cash, paying the bill, and arranging a bed, Bai Ci finally exhaled.

She sat beside Lu Mingfei, watching his sleeping face.

He was decent-looking—short black hair, bangs just past his forehead, slightly drooping eyes.

“Was being with me that stressful?”

Bai Ci asked.

She’d known Lu Mingfei for six years.

Every time they met, he was goofy, carefree, like a clueless idiot—even their first chat was like that.

Maybe because that shady internet café was cheap and let minors in, she ended up there when she had nowhere else to go.

She remembered that day: this loudmouth from class walked in, sat next to her, and suddenly asked if she wanted spicy strips.

Before she could say no, he’d tossed a pack on her table and dove into his game.

She wasn’t good at talking to people, opened her mouth, but said nothing.

The strips were spicy—her tongue burned.

She stuck it out like a panting dog, trying to cool it down.

Then Lu Mingfei chucked a Nutrition Express at her. “Look at you, dying over there.

Drink this.”

She didn’t even like milk drinks, but those damn strips were too much, so she chugged half the bottle.

Lu Mingfei laughed at her, and since she’d taken his stuff, she couldn’t snap back.

Somehow, they became friends.

But any normal girl would’ve gotten mad and ignored him for teasing like that!

Bai Ci couldn’t figure out why he gave her those spicy strips or the drink.

Maybe because they were both loners in class?

Or because they were both practically orphans?

Though Bai Ci had it worse—Lu Mingfei’s parents were alive and thought of him, while she had no one in this world.

But pity or sympathy didn’t matter.

That was the first time she felt what having a [friend] was like.

When Lu Mingfei woke up, he was on a hospital bed, covered with a thick blanket.

The AC was on, but it couldn’t mask the smell of disinfectant.

Bai Ci was slumped over the bed’s edge, asleep, propped on her arms.

For some reason, he recalled a line he’d seen in the literature club—“By the hearth, she’s like the moon, her fair wrists gleam like frost and snow.”

He’d forgotten who wrote it, but he thought the guy was a creep, staring so closely at a barmaid pouring wine, even writing it down.

Now he got it… when you like someone, whether they’re pouring tea or munching a jianbing, even if they’re passed out on a bed with their head buried in their arms, you could quietly watch their hair shift and their perfect profile for a whole night.

That’s what liking someone feels like.

Lu Mingfei looked at Bai Ci and smiled.

Liking someone is so random, uncontrollable.

Like how he fell for Chen Wenwen without knowing why.

He wanted to mess up her already-tangled hair like he used to.

She’d bother to fix it back then, but eventually stopped.

[“You’re gonna mess it up anyway, so whatever.”]

Lu Mingfei grinned again.

Being with her felt so much better than with Chen Wenwen.

At least… she actually thought about him.

“You awake?”

Bai Ci slowly lifted her head, rubbing her tired eyes.

Lu Mingfei hurriedly looked away, but his heart stayed on her, pounding hard.

Then Bai Ci slumped back down.

Running around the hospital for half an hour was exhausting.