Chapter Four: It Takes a Hundred Days to Heal
"You, what are you doing?"
"I'm looking for my bike."
"Then... why are you picking someone else's lock?"
Chen Nuo sighed deeply, yet his tone was serious. "If I said I don't remember which bike is mine, would you believe me?"
"Boring!"
School belle Sun immediately judged his behavior as that of another immature boy trying to show off to get her attention.
School belle Sun intended to leave.
"Wait a minute." Chen Nuo strode over to the girl. "Can I ask you a question?"
"...What?" The girl's tone was deliberately standoffish.
Chen Nuo stared at School belle Sun's face for a few seconds, his voice gentle. "Actually, you could be a bit nicer to me."
"What?"
"I understand you want to maintain your 'persona' and don't like being pestered by boys like me." Chen Nuo waved his hand. "But there's no need to be so icy or hostile towards me."
School belle Sun's eyes widened.
"Look, I saved your life yesterday."
"...You wouldn't necessarily die from falling from the second floor."
"You'd get hurt, though. Okay, so I didn't exactly save your life, but at least I helped you out, even if it was by chance."
Although she wanted to argue, the girl was kind-hearted deep down and couldn't refute this claim, so she nodded despite herself.
"As for me, I'm a nobody. You probably don't want people linking you with me in gossip. But you don't need to put on such a spiky facade, you know. You can refuse, but do it more gently, especially since I've helped you. Otherwise, people might think you're being mean. You wouldn't want others to see you that way, right?"
The girl remained silent.
"Do you know someone named Zhang Xiong?" Seeing the girl's puzzled expression, Chen Nuo thought for a moment. "Does he go by the nickname 'Little Knife', or 'Knife Bro'?"
Sun Keke looked somewhat disgusted. "Yeah, I know him. He blocked my way at the school gate twice. The first time, my dad chased him off, but he came back again a few days later."
"He won't be bothering you for a while."
The girl looked at Chen Nuo curiously. "What?"
"I said, he probably won't trouble you for a good long while."
"For how long... exactly?"
Chen Nuo thought for a moment. "It takes a hundred days to heal... Hmm, three months."
"What? I don't get it."
Chen Nuo smiled. "No worries, you don't need to know the details. I'm just helping you with a small problem. Actually, I need a favor from you."
School belle Sun immediately became wary. "You need something from me?"
"The school's competition in Yanbian, you know about it, right?" Chen Nuo asked casually, as he bent down to fiddle with the lock on another bike.
"What do you want with that competition? And stop picking other people's locks!" the girl couldn't help exclaiming. "Your bike is over there—the black one with the rusty basket and the half-broken bell."
Chen Nuo raised an eyebrow. "How would you know? You're not in my class."
"I... I just know!" The girl's face flushed, thankful that the darkness concealed it. She was a bit nervous and quickly changed the subject. "Why are you asking about that competition?"
"I'd like to sign up for it, but after reading the announcement, I don't qualify."
"You want to go to Yanbian with the group?" School belle Sun was still quite sharp. "Why?"
"To see the snow," Chen Nuo chuckled.
"To see snow?"
"Yeah, to see the snow."
"Weirdo!" School belle Sun made to leave again, but Chen Nuo stepped in her path once more.
"Is there another way to join the competition? Your dad is the head disciplinarian; you must know, right?"
School belle Sun bit her lip.
Chen Nuo seriously wanted to advise her against making that gesture in the future. She had charming, peach-blossom eyes that naturally held a hint of allure. When she bit her lip in front of men, even if unintentionally, it could easily be misinterpreted as an attempt to seduce. Of course, if he actually said that, he'd probably be labeled a creep.
"The sign-ups for the competition are handled by Teacher Liu from the Academic Affairs Office. He isn't directly employed by the school; he's sent by an educational company. That's what I heard from my dad," School belle Sun quickly explained. "Aside from the competitors, there are a few slots for students to go as observers. However, you need a teacher's recommendation."
After saying this, the girl looked at Chen Nuo. "That's all I know."
Chen Nuo pondered for a moment. "What if I give your dad two bottles of good liquor? Could he pull some strings for me and get me on that list of student observers?"
The girl rolled her eyes.
"Okay, I was just kidding," Chen Nuo laughed.
"You really are weird," the girl said, biting her lip again.
GURGLE GURGLE... Chen Nuo's stomach started growling.
Sun Keke frowned at Chen Nuo. "Haven't you eaten yet?"
"Nope."
"Why not? It's so late."
"Because I'm poor."
The girl frowned. "Why are you being so flippant?"
Looking at Chen Nuo, she hesitated, then said softly, "I know about your family situation. Although, um... um... it's a bit difficult, it can't be that you don't have any money for food. If... if... um... I could actually talk to my dad, and maybe you could apply for financial aid for needy students at school..." As she spoke, she suddenly seemed to remember something and hurriedly added, "I... I don't mean to look down on you, I..."
Chen Nuo squinted, scrutinizing the girl's flower-like face, her blushing cheeks, and her darting eyes.
"You seem to know a lot about me. Have you been asking around?"
"Nonsense! I... I just heard people talking!" The girl reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
GURGLE. His stomach growled twice more.
Chen Nuo suddenly noticed the insulated food container in her hand.
"What's that?"
"Rice with sausage, meat, and vegetables, and braised chicken legs..." Sun Keke replied instinctively, then immediately caught herself, pulling back the hand holding the container. "This is my dad's dinner!"
"I saved you, remember? If I hadn't caught you, you might have fallen face-first and been disfigured."
"...Well..." Flustered, the girl said, "I put two chicken legs in there... so, I can only give you one."
A few minutes later, Chen Nuo walked away slowly, nibbling on a chicken leg.
School belle Sun seemed to finally snap back to reality.
What just happened?
"Hey!!!" she called out, then, losing some of her nerve, asked, "That 'Knife' person you mentioned... what was that about a hundred days?"
"Don't worry about it. He won't be bothering you anymore."
Chen Nuo didn't stop walking but waved his left hand over his shoulder as he walked away from School belle Sun.
「District Hospital, Inpatient Building, Orthopedics Ward 4, Bed 6.」
In front of a hospital bed with a nameplate reading "Zhang Xiong," a resident physician on rounds was writing on a clipboard.
"Zhang Xiong, 21 years old. No history of allergies. No history of chronic diseases... Left tibial fracture."
Director Sun was eating dinner.
The rice with sausage, meat, and vegetables was half-eaten, and the chicken leg was gone.
Still feeling unsatisfied, Director Sun wiped his mouth. "Keke, bring more chicken legs tomorrow. One isn't enough."
The girl blushed. "...Okay."
The coffee table in the living room had been moved aside. In the cleared space, Chen Nuo was doing one-arm push-ups with his legs together.
Prison fitness, although very limited, was the most suitable way to exercise given his current lack of money and facilities.
The seventeen-year-old's body was still somewhat frail. Chen Nuo needed to increase his physical strength as quickly as possible.
As his body rose and fell, beads of sweat dripped onto the plastic matting on the floor.
But Chen Nuo's eyes remained fixed on what was in front of him.
In the patterned glass before him, half a glass of cold boiled water still sat.
The water's surface was perfectly still, without a single ripple...
[Hey, it's a new week. Can I get some recommendation votes? Asking for votes for a new book feels so unfamiliar.]