WHI – Chapter 23

Chapter 23

“No, sorry,” Lin Ting said directly. Being too indirect about this sort of thing would be worse.

The girl’s face froze for a moment, her smile becoming stiff. “Um, I… I understand. Then, as friends, we could get to know each other first…”

“Really not interested, sorry.” Lin Ting sighed. The girl in front of him was probably one of the best-looking in the school, which was likely why she dared to confess in the middle of the cafeteria at noon.

The girl seemed completely unprepared for such a thorough rejection. Her expression turned unnatural, but she managed to maintain basic composure. Muttering an apology for disturbing him, she quickly hurried away.

The surrounding cheers turned into laughter. Lin Ting disliked being made a spectacle of. After casting a cold glance around, the onlookers quickly averted their gazes and went back to their meals.

When Lin Ting had gotten his food and sat down to eat, Wen Lan, along with his four followers, plopped down opposite him.

“You eat without waiting for us, Lin Ting. Don’t you have any sense of collective honor?” Wen Lan placed his tray on the table.

“I don’t recall any rule about us having to eat together.”

“That’s right. Someone’s busy collecting confession letters from little girls,” Wen Lan said, turning to Yu Zhile.

Yu Zhile dramatically leaned onto the table and, closing in on Lin Ting, said, “Brother Lin, you’re not going to abandon your friends for a pretty face, are you?”

Seeing these sarcastic individuals, Lin Ting put down his chopsticks and crossed his arms. “No, what’s wrong with you guys? Looking for trouble?”

Li Ziyao, standing beside him, surveyed the scene. “Brother Lin, it’s like this. Our team emphasizes collective honor and discourages forming cliques. So, it’s not that you can’t date, but you have to… report it!”

“Report it? To whom?” Lin Ting furrowed his brow, watching Li Ziyao’s eyes dart around as he spewed out this nonsensical speech.

Wen Lan cleared his throat. “Me.”

“You? On what grounds?” If they weren’t in such a public place, Lin Ting would have loved to throw a few punches at this Wen fellow.

“No grounds. So, you were actually confessed to? And you agreed?” There was a rare seriousness in Wen Lan’s eyes.

Lin Ting shook his head and sighed. “No, I’m dedicated to my studies and have no distractions. Are you satisfied now, old man?”

“Alright,” Wen Lan said, a corner of his mouth lifting. “Remember that.”

Remember, Lin Ting certainly did. Now, every time he saw Wen Lan, he remembered that kiss on the tip of his nose. Although he had calmed down considerably, he couldn’t say he was completely without distractions. Of course, he couldn’t say that to Wen Lan.

I’m halfway into the gay scene now, so I’m busy taking traditional Chinese medicine to regulate my body. I have no intention of accepting confessions from girls. The thought made Lin Ting want to laugh.

Lin Ting ate his meal quickly, burdened by his secret. And, whether it was his imagination or not, he felt Wen Lan kept glancing at him during the meal.

When Lin Ting finished eating and began clearing his plate, Wen Lan glanced at him again.

Lin Ting propped his hands on the table. “If you keep looking at me like that, I’m not going to play your make-believe games anymore, School Bully.”

With that, he turned and left.

Because there was a monthly exam the next day, they only had one class with Teacher Yao in the afternoon before moving desks and chairs. Lin Ting checked his exam location: Chemistry Lab 3. No familiar faces.

After moving the chairs and confirming his exam location, he immediately packed his things and rushed to the traditional Chinese medicine shop he had found on his phone the night before.

The medicine shop looked old. The large characters ‘Huichun Hall’ on the once-red wooden plaque made Lin Ting feel as if he had traveled back in time.

Lin Ting was a little nervous. He hadn’t felt this nervous in a long time.

Damn it, it was all Wen Lan’s fault.

“Doctor, I’d like to get some medicine…” Lin Ting said to the middle-aged shopkeeper who was lounging on a recliner behind the counter.

“What’s wrong, young man? Sit down, and I’ll take your pulse.” The shopkeeper was quite enthusiastic. Lin Ting thought about it and sat down, resting his wrist on the cushioned cloth on the table.

In a daze, Lin Ting even saw the Red String on his wrist. He was startled and refocused his gaze—there was nothing there.

…Thank goodness. Otherwise, he would have to get his eyes checked.

The shopkeeper frowned as he took Lin Ting’s pulse for a long time. Then he opened his mouth and said, “Your physique is quite good…”

Lin Ting sighed. It seemed this shopkeeper wasn’t very skilled. But he didn’t intend to say it directly, so he took out his phone and recited the names of the Chinese herbs he had noted down yesterday.

He could clearly sense that with every word he spoke, the shopkeeper’s expression grew more troubled.

After he finished, the shopkeeper hesitantly said, “The pulse I just took seemed fine. You probably don’t need much.”

Lin Ting frowned. He knew he was only halfway into the scene. “Prevention.”

The shopkeeper nodded. “Alright. I’ll get the medicine for you.” He then came out from behind the counter, rummaged through an iron cabinet in the back, and handed Lin Ting a large transparent plastic bag containing dozens of small bags filled with a dark, unidentifiable liquid.

There were no words on them, only a date stamp on the seal of each small bag.

“What is this? Why aren’t there any words on it?” Lin Ting felt a sense of distrust looking at these unbranded products.

“You kid, who would want to write about this sort of thing! You’re a student, aren’t you? It’s inconvenient to decoct herbs at home, and you probably have to hide it from your parents, right? I’m telling you, these compound Chinese medicine liquids are all the rage now. Convenient!”

Seeing Lin Ting’s continued distrust, the shopkeeper added, “Alas! This packaging sells the best. It used to have words on it, but they changed the packaging later. There was packaging on the large cardboard box when it was delivered. I can give you the box if you want it.”

“No, no, this is fine,” Lin Ting said, waving his hand. “How much is it?”

After stating the price, the shopkeeper reminded him, “There are 30 packets in here. One packet a day, remember to take it after lunch. Come back and buy more after one course of treatment.”

“If one course doesn’t work, I’ll switch medicine.” Lin Ting stuffed the bag into his backpack and left without looking back.

He still had to take it at noon… Lin Ting was actually glad that the packaging had no words on it.

The monthly exams were two days long, and Lin Ting felt relaxed. After all, he could leave once they were over, and not being tied to a chair felt quite good. However—

When he turned and couldn’t see Wen Lan, he felt a sense of unease.

Lin Ting was eating lunch in the cafeteria when this thought struck him. He immediately pulled out the day’s portion of the Chinese medicine liquid from his pocket and gulped it down.

It was so bitter.

“What are you secretly drinking alone? Let me have a taste.”

The more he tried to avoid someone, the more they appeared. Lin Ting sighed inwardly.

Yesterday, he had deliberately waited in the lab for over half an hour before going to the cafeteria. He ate lunch quietly by himself. This morning, after the science and comprehensive exam, his brain cells had been significantly depleted, and he was starving, so he rushed straight to the cafeteria. He thought it wouldn’t be so coincidental, given how large the cafeteria was.

“Medicine,” Lin Ting said without looking up, throwing the empty medicine packet into the trash can.

“Medicine? Are you sick?” Wen Lan looked around Lin Ting. It was peak lunch hour, and the only seat left was to Lin Ting’s right.

Lin Ting looked up and saw Wen Lan sitting beside him, exuding a pleasant sandalwood scent. He felt like the medicine he had been taking for the past two days was useless.

He sighed. “Why do you always smell of sandalwood?”

Wen Lan paused and avoided the topic. “What, do you like it?”

Lin Ting almost spat out the food in his mouth and rolled his eyes at the man beside him.

After that, Lin Ting diligently took his medicine every day. Nine out of ten times, Wen Lan would discover him and ask cheekily, “Aren’t you better yet? What kind of illness is it?”

Seeing the “culprit” flitting about in front of him, Lin Ting felt an urge to hit him. But every time he smelled the pleasant sandalwood scent on him, he felt a tickle in his heart.

Damn it, this medicine was completely useless.

When the monthly exam results were announced, the class was stunned. Lin Ting, who usually slept through class and drifted off, had surprisingly ranked 7th in the entire school and 3rd in his class.

Lin Ting felt he still had room for improvement; he had been playing too hard lately. What surprised him was Wen Lan, who seemed like he would be at the bottom. This time, he ranked 32nd in the class, barely making it onto the school’s top 100 list.

On the day the results were announced, Wen Lan insisted on taking a commemorative photo with his four followers and Lin Ting at the bulletin board.

“Big Brother, are we done? I want to go eat.” Lin Ting looked at Wen Lan, who had his arm slung over his shoulder, and reached into his jacket pocket to feel for the day’s portion of medicine.

Wen Lan, completely oblivious to Lin Ting’s subtle attempts to distance himself, dragged him from the bottom of the list to the top.

“How did you score so high? Did you cheat?”

Lin Ting tutted. “I’m smart, diligent, have a good brain, a scholar, understand?”

“Then teach me.”

“?”

“For the mid-term exam, I want to be in the top fifty.” Wen Lan dropped his arm and pointed at the name of the person ranked 50th on the top 100 list.

Lin Ting felt a bit speechless. He wasn’t some magical wish-granting turtle. Pointing at the unfortunate person ranked 50th, he said, “I think it would be faster for you to replace this person.”

“Are you going to help me or not?”

“No, I can’t help.”

“Then I’ll reveal your secret,” Wen Lan whispered, leaning close and speaking into Lin Ting’s ear.

His voice was low, sounding more magnetic than usual, and it flowed from his earlobe straight to Lin Ting’s heart.

Lin Ting clearly felt his heart skip a beat, then pound violently, sending blood surging to his fingertips.

“Hiss…” His fingers twitched. His fingertip accidentally grazed the edge of the medicine packet, creating a small cut. “What secret?”

“Who knows,” Wen Lan said with a smile, his gaze sliding from Lin Ting’s eyelashes to his lips before he pulled away. “Remember, 50th place.”

With that, he waved and left.

What did Wen Lan know? How did he know? Even though Lin Ting’s mind was filled with hundreds of questions, he couldn’t ask them now.

Asking would easily lead to that night when the window was left open.

He took out the medicine liquid from his pocket and drank it as he walked. By the time he reached the cafeteria entrance, he had already thrown it away.

It was just 50th place. He would help.

Helping was one thing; whether he could achieve it was another matter.