Proud senior schoolgirl was tender and sweet, we fell in love

For a long time afterward, Luo Yanran was unable to visit the hospital.

Xie Xiao didn't go either; he followed her to report to college and to school.

Guarding her like that, of course, without entering the dorm, was somewhat impolite.

Luo Yanran was too beautiful, and there were many who confessed their love when she had just started school.

From the senior who helped her report to school and carry her luggage to the male classmates who added her on WeChat during the first class meeting.

But she remained her usual icy self, rejecting everyone regardless of who it was.

The girls in the dormitory asked, puzzled, "Luoluo, why does it seem like you refuse everyone?"

She just smiled and shook her head, "I already have a guy I really like."

"Oh my God, he must be super outstanding for you to reject so many people for him?"

"Yes, he's super outstanding and very gentle."

"Is he from our school?"

Luo Yanran's eyes dimmed a bit, "No, after the college entrance exams he had an accident and can't come to college for now."

"Ah, I'm sorry," her curious roommate said with an embarrassed face and then added, "But it's okay, tomorrow you can consider our freshman juniors too."

Luo Yanran smiled and nodded, without explaining too much.

Soon the news about her having a guy she liked spread.

Eventually, it turned into her having a very outstanding boyfriend.

This made many boys give up hope.

The guy who could win the heart of someone as beautiful as Luo Yanran must be really outstanding too.

Just as Luo Yanran said, one week into military training she took a day off due to physical discomfort.

She got dressed early in the morning and hurried to the hospital.

Even though Yang Lan had told her not to come anymore, she still remembered to bring Xie Xiao sugar water.

But this time when she arrived, she sensitively noticed that Xie Xiao seemed off, reverting to his unwillingness to engage with others.

Luo Yanran talked to him about many things at school.

Then she took out the sugar water and went to open his meal tray, when the young man on the bed spoke coldly, "I don't want to eat."

Luo Yanran paused in her action, and Xie Xiao wanted to go up and give himself a few slaps because he saw the bewilderment in Luo Yanran's eyes.

She withdrew her hand and uttered, "Okay then, next time you want something, text me, but it has to be something you can eat..."

"I don't want anything. Don't you have other things to do in your life? Isn't military training supposed to last fifteen days? Why are you here again?" The young man's voice was cold, his gaze not lingering on her.

Luo Yanran stood beside him like a clueless child.

Her eyes started to redden as she asked softly, "Did you encounter something upsetting?"

The boy's hand by the bed clenched the sheet beneath fiercely and only said, "No, I just think you shouldn't waste so much time on me. You started college, you should have your own life."

He had meant to be harsher at first, but seeing her like that made his heart wrench, and he couldn't bring himself to be cruel.

Xie Qingxiao walked in at that moment.

In the end, Luo Yanran left, a bit flustered, saying, "Uncle, I'll go back first."

Xie Xiao looked at himself on the hospital bed, his eyes red-rimmed.

He still chose to follow Luo Yanran.

She didn't go far, sitting in the familiar stairwell once again.

Xie Xiao even felt she spent more time sitting in the stairwell than any other place.

But he didn't expect her to sit there for so long this time.

The night he thought about ending it all, the night she comforted her mom,

turned out she wasn't just arriving but had been there since the afternoon.

It was also for this reason that Yang Lan held her and cried.

Heartache for her son and for the foolish girl before her.

Xie Xiao's heart was already numb from pain.

Looking at the wheelchair outside, Xie Qingxiao's voice drifted in.

Luo Yanran and Yang Lan both dried their tears.

Xie Xiao, seated in a wheelchair, was the first thing she saw upon pushing open the door.

And there was Xie Qingxiao, anxiously coming out to look for his son.

Xie Xiao's gaze fell on Luo Yanran and Yang Lan's eyes, and he said, "I'm sorry."

He was apologizing for the impulsive urge to end his life just a moment ago and for what he had said to Luo Yanran that afternoon.

But Luo Yanran smiled and said, "It's okay."

It wasn't until the next day that Luo Yanran returned to school; with Yang Lan having made a phone call to the teachers, they didn't give her a hard time.

After finishing her military training, she started frequenting the hospital again.

While others went to clubs, socialized, or went out to play,

She was almost always at the hospital.

Xie Xiao seemed to be getting better, starting to read books, study, and looking into things he found interesting.

He harbored a wild hope that if he could become a little more excellent, just a little more, then perhaps?

Perhaps what?

A vibrant rose bloomed in his heart; he wanted to protect that rose.

The rose was beautiful, and many people wanted it, but she chose to bloom on his barren heart, so Xie Xiao still wanted to try a little harder.

Even if it was a delusion, he just wanted to see if he could protect this little rose.

Eventually, Xie Xiao was discharged from the hospital, and he returned home.

And Luo Yanran's destination shifted from the hospital ward to his home.

A smile found its way back onto Xie Xiao's face.

Lin Yu finally came to visit him as well and would help around the house,

Changing light bulbs, fixing pipes, and such.

Xie Qingxiao and Yang Lan were too busy.
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So often Lin Yu would take care of these things while he was there.

Everything seemed to be getting better.

However, the relationship between Luo Yanran and Luo Ming remained quite tense.

But she had sought out her mother to try and offer assistance to Xie Xiao's family, yet they still refused.

Seeing this, Xie Xiao knew he didn't need to confirm his suspicions; that agency insisting on helping him was indeed related to Luo Yanran.

Everything made sense.

Xie Xiao noticed that since Luo Yanran had always been single, the number of her pursuers had increased substantially.

The rumor that she had a boyfriend when she first enrolled had naturally fallen apart.

Three years had passed since enrollment, and no boyfriend had ever appeared.

Quietly, Luo Yanran had set Xie Xiao's photo as her screensaver, and each time someone confessed their feelings to her, she would pull out her phone, "This is my boyfriend."

While the confessor would usually be surprised, they generally left with dignity intact.

Of course, there were those relentless ones who wouldn't take no for an answer.

Each time Xie Xiao witnessed this, he felt like punching someone; she was clearly his wife!

It was because of one such persistent junior that Luo Yanran, in her rush to leave school, forgot to change her screensaver.

When she arrived at Xie Xiao's home, a message came through during dinner.

Xie Xiao glanced at it and then froze.

Luo Yanran's face suddenly flushed, and with a smack, she covered her phone and blurted, "I have to take a call!"

Xie Xiao saw her scrambling to the balcony in a flurry and really wanted to tell her, that was a message...

His wife is truly adorable.

Seated in his wheelchair, Xie Xiao also smiled. He suddenly remembered what Lin Yu had said, "Can't you take the initiative like a man for once? Isn't it obvious enough with Luo Yanran? You can't just play the self-pity card and expect that to be an excuse?"

Xie Xiao thought, perhaps he should indeed try being a bit more proactive?

Whether it was the chat with Liu Ou he had accidentally seen last time or today's screen,

Xie Xiao felt it was time he took the initiative.