"What's going on?"
In the study, Gu Xingdong looked at the person opposite him and asked directly.
Li Weimin lowered his eyes. "It's nothing. I just feel I'm not good enough for her, so it's better to let her go and have a better life."
Gu Xingdong scoffed. "I never knew you had such high aspirations."
"Her parents look down on me," Li Weimin said as if provoking him.
"You're going to hurt that girl's feelings over something as trivial as this? Never mind her parents not approving of you, I look down on you too." He thought it was a big deal, but it turned out the boy was just backing down because of his girlfriend's parents' disapproval.
Li Weimin looked up, staring blankly at Gu Xingdong.
"Look at you now. You don't look like a soldier I've trained at all. If you don't have the resolve to be the only one who can take care of her for life, then let her go early and don't waste her time with you."
After a pause, Gu Xingdong added, "I just want to ask if you still have feelings for Zhang Xue. If you do, stop dithering here. Show some of the responsibility a man should have. Did you just give up after her parents said a few words without even putting up a fight? You'd be a prisoner of war on the battlefield!"
"It's not like I haven't made promises, but they just don't listen. They've already decided that their daughter won't be happy with me."
Gu Xingdong sighed. He had thought the kid was quite sharp, but it seemed he was also a blockhead.
"What good are promises? You expect them to hand over their daughter, whom they raised painstakingly for over twenty years, to you based on empty words? You need to prove yourself with actual actions."
Sensing Gu Xingdong's anger, Li Weimin glanced at his expression and asked cautiously, "What kind of actual ac—"
Gu Xingdong stared at him expressionlessly.
Li Weimin: "...tion."
Gu Xingdong's nose started to puff out. For the first time, he truly felt the urge to pry open this blockhead's skull and see what was inside.
But he was sure it wasn't a brain.
Li Weimin hesitated for a moment, then mustered up his courage and said, "It's my first time dating, I don't have experience."
Who said it was anyone's second time!
"Get lost. Don't say you know me."
"Don't say that, leader. I'm almost thirty now. You can't understand the hunger of a starving man when you're full—"
"Scram."
Gu Xingdong was thoroughly infuriated. He didn't even keep Li Weimin for dinner and directly kicked him out.
"Hey, why did he leave? I thought he was going to stay for dinner," Chen Lishu asked curiously when she saw Li Weimin leave.
Gu Xingdong: "Don't mind him, we'll eat ourselves."
Li Weimin looked at the door, which almost hit him, and couldn't help but rub his nose. He stood there for a moment, then turned and walked towards Experimental Middle School.
Experimental Middle School hadn't started yet, and there were very few teachers around. The large campus was quiet.
Because there were few people, the heating in the faculty dormitory wasn't very timely, and the entire room was cold.
Zhang Xue had felt a dull ache in her stomach since she woke up that morning. At first, she thought her period was coming. She managed to get some hot water from the boiler room downstairs, filled a hot water bottle, and then curled up in bed.
However, not only did it not alleviate the pain, but the pain in her abdomen grew more intense.
"Knock, knock."
Zhang Xue, enduring the pain, was about to get up to open the door when a familiar voice called from outside: "Zhang Xue, are you there?"
Zhang Xue hurriedly lay back down on the bed and said in a displeased tone, "No."
Li Weimin: "..."
"Open the door, I have something to tell you."
She was already irritable from the stomachache, and now hearing Li Weimin's voice, her anger grew, along with a deeper sense of grievance.
She had eagerly gone to find him, only for him to spout a lot of nonsense. What else was there to say?
"Just leave, I have nothing to say to you."
After a long silence, she didn't hear Li Weimin's voice anymore.
Had he left?
Zhang Xue couldn't help but get out of bed, feeling suspicious.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw Li Weimin standing there like a wooden post. Seeing her look, he immediately bared a row of white teeth and chuckled.
Zhang Xue realized what was happening and was about to close the door when Li Weimin quickly blocked it with his hand. "Zhang Xue, I have something to say to you."
"Didn't you say we had no common ground?" Enduring the stomachache, Zhang Xue frowned and said stubbornly.
"I was an idiot. Old Gu talked to me before I came, and I've been thinking a lot on the way. I think he's right. I must have the resolve, the resolve that no one but me can take care of you for a lifetime. I apologize for my cowardice."
The stomach pain intensified. Although she was still managing to stand, Zhang Xue's forehead had started to sweat, and her legs were trembling.
"After I get back, I'll ask for leave and want to visit your parents again—"
As Li Weimin spoke, he noticed her increasingly pale face and suddenly realized something was wrong. He stopped speaking and asked with concern, "Zhang Xue, what's wrong?"
Due to the pain, Zhang Xue felt her vision go dark. Li Weimin's voice seemed to come from afar. She weakly opened her mouth, "My stomach hurts..."
Seeing that she might collapse at any moment, Li Weimin's heart tightened. He quickly turned around, his back to her, and said anxiously, "Get on, I'll carry you to the hospital."
Zhang Xue leaned onto his shoulder as he instructed, and soon she felt a sense of delirium from the pain.
Li Weimin dared not delay. Carrying her, he ran quickly towards the hospital.
The closest hospital to the school was about half an hour's walk away, and there were no taxis. Yet, he managed to reach the hospital in just over ten minutes.
The moment he put her down, his legs began to tremble noticeably.
After the doctor completed the various examinations, Li Weimin anxiously asked, "Doctor, how is she?"
"Acute appendicitis. Her temperature was measured just now, and she has a slight fever. We can start with intravenous drip for conservative treatment."
Seeing the sweat on his forehead like it had been rained on, the doctor added, "Don't worry, she'll be fine. I'll prescribe some medication, and then she just needs to get injections and take medicine on time every day."
The doctor then explained the precautions.
Li Weimin noted everything down, took the prescription from the doctor, and then helped Zhang Xue, who was already receiving an IV drip, to sit on a long bench in the outer room.
"Sit here for a while, I'll go pay the bill and be right back."
Li Weimin instructed, and seeing Zhang Xue nod, he went downstairs to pay.
After one bag of IV drip was finished, although Zhang Xue's stomach still hurt, the agonizing pain was gone.
"Come on, I'll carry you back," Li Weimin squatted in front of Zhang Xue again.
Zhang Xue said shyly in a small voice, "So many people are watching. Besides, I'm feeling much better. Just help me walk."
Li Weimin turned his head and said with a frown, "If you don't come up, I'll carry you."
Zhang Xue hesitated for a moment, then finally lay down on his back.