Chapter 5: Shake hands, Gu Ci, just one. …

Ever since he “unilaterally” established a friendship with Huo Wenyuan, Gu Ci has always kept this friend’s affairs in mind. Although he was ordered not to get close, he still observed the “person in care” from a distance, paying special attention to whether he took his medicine on time and whether he felt unwell, for fear that Huo Wenyuan would collapse in front of him.

Gu Ci tried to imagine the scene, but he couldn’t bear to watch it.

In order to avoid such a tragic situation, Gu Ci specifically consulted Butler Feng and learned that Young Master Huo had to take medicine five times a day, at 7 a.m., 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 7 p.m., with a regular interval of three hours.

At 10 a.m., Gu Ci observed once and found that Huo Wenyuan took his medicine on time.

He specially opened a column in his draft book and made a neat tick at the corresponding time.

As a banned amateur paparazzi, Shang Zui had a keen sense of smell and noticed his subtle movements. He leaned over and whispered, "Gu Ci, what are you drawing?"

Gu Ci furtively glanced at the back of Huo Wenyuan's head and whispered to Shang Zui, "I'm recording whether Huo Wenyuan has taken his medicine on time."

Shang Zui couldn't help but say, "Huh?"

What's there to record?

But what surprised him even more was that when he looked at the densely packed boxes, Huo Wenyuan... actually took so many pills a day?

Although he had known Huo Wenyuan since childhood and knew that his health had always been poor, seeing such specific numbers for the first time still gave him a bit of a strange feeling. He had known Huo Wenyuan for

so long, but he wasn't as attentive as Gu Ci, who had only known him for a few days.

Shang Zui glanced at Gu Ci's profile as he listened attentively, and he felt a sense of certainty.

The evidence that Gu Ci was an angel was even stronger.

The last class of the morning was once again taught by Teacher Xie Bu Ruo. Teacher Xie likes to end the class a few minutes early at lunchtime. As soon as he announces the dismissal, the students in the class immediately shout "Thank you, bro" and then rush to the cafeteria in groups for a 100-meter sprint.

With the usual foundation, the 50-meter score in the physical exam is also stable.

Teacher Xie picked up the lesson plan and stainless steel thermos cup, and saw that there were still a few students left in the classroom.

She asked with concern: "Except Wen Yuan, aren't you going to eat?" One student answered: "Right away!

" Another student answered: "My parents brought me lunch today!"

Gu Ci was copying the last paragraph of his notes on the blackboard.

He looked up and replied: "Thank you for your concern, teacher. I'll be there right away too!" Shang Zui turned a page of his privately collected comic book and said: "Ditto."

Teacher Xie nodded with great satisfaction and wiped his head with his hand: "That's good. You are in the period of growth and the pressure of studying is high. Remember to eat more. I'm going to eat too!"

Teacher Xie left, and Gu Ci also finished copying the last set of phrases. Shang Zui turned his head and invited Gu Ci: "Classmate Gu Ci, can we set off now? I want to eat avocado and shrimp salad."

Gu Ci put his pen neatly back into his pencil case, stood up and nodded: "Of course!"

When he reached the door, he thought of something and looked back. Huo Wenyuan was still sitting by the window, with his shoulders straight, looking at the book in his hand, as if everything around him had nothing to do with him.

Shang Zui noticed him stop and asked, "Why aren't you leaving?"

Gu Ci asked curiously, "Doesn't Huo Wenyuan eat lunch?"

Shang Zui understood his concern and said nonchalantly, "Of course he does. He's not cultivating."

He put his arm around Gu Ci's shoulder and forcibly led him out of the classroom: "Let's go first. I'll tell you on the way."

On the way to the cafeteria, the bell rang as expected, and a large group of people rushed out of the teaching building to eat. Shang Zui then said, "Did you see that? With this amount of people, Huo Wenyuan would probably faint if he walked through here."

Gu Ci thought about it, but then thought, "Where does he eat lunch then?"

Shang Zui started to build momentum, asking as they waited in line, "Do you know there's a lounge on the sixth floor that's bigger than the classroom?"

Gu Ci nodded.

Shang Zui continued the interaction: "Do you know who's using it?"

Gu Ci shook his head.

Shang Zui said, "Huo Wenyuan."

Gu Ci: "...Oh?"

"Sister, please give me a serving of this salad, no sauce, thank you!" Shang Zui was very satisfied with Gu Ci's reaction. After licking his meal card, he continued to explain to him, "Huo Wenyuan's ancestors were the largest shareholders of Xichen and founded this school. Even though it was later converted to a public school for some reason, it still has an unshakable presence in Guicheng." "

Over the years, the Huo family's donations have never stopped. Huo Wenyuan has a special physique, so they only gave him one lounge. Even if he wanted ten, he might have had them."

Gu Ci asked, "Does classmate Huo Wenyuan eat lunch there at noon?"

Shang Zui nodded, holding the salad and sitting down face to face with Gu Ci. "We hired a special chef to tailor the menu for him. His taste is so picky and unique, it's better not to mention it."

He then recalled, "Huo Wenyuan is really a very strange person. I knew him when I was wearing open-crotch pants, but I never understood the way his mind works."

"In the first year of junior high, a classmate accidentally bumped into him. He turned pale, his breathing became rapid, and he was rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Since then, everyone in school knows not to touch Huo Wenyuan." "

But he's also strange. He could easily get first place in the city without attending classes, and yet he insists on coming to school despite his physical condition."

He might be reluctant to leave his classmates, but he's actually cold and unapproachable to everyone. He loves studying, but this genius doesn't even attend class; he's just reading.

It seems like he's using this place as a mock background.

Gu Ci listened intently, carving the pork chop on his plate, cautiously speculating, "Could it be... he doesn't want to stay at home or in the hospital anymore?"

He'd heard Butler Feng say that the young master's activities were limited: either at home or in the hospital, and beyond that, only at school. He

'd always assumed Huo Wenyuan was the stern, grown-up type, but he'd never expected him to get bored sometimes.

Gu Ci, drawing on Butler Feng's words, shook his head and sighed, "Pretending to be cool can be lonely, too. Huo Wenyuan must be quite lonely too."

Shang Zui couldn't help but burst out laughing.

It was a bit disingenuous, but the thought of Huo Wenyuan being associated with loneliness made him want to use Erquan Yingyue as a background music.

But the truth was, in the seven or eight years he had known Huo Wenyuan, he had never seen him express loneliness.

They were of similar age, neither older nor younger. From what he'd learned, some had confessed their feelings to Huo Wenyuan, while others simply admired him, but he had never seen Huo Wenyuan accept any advances, let alone initiate any intimacy.

Even Gu Ci, who lived under the same roof, was asked to keep his distance.

Look, Huo Wenyuan was the one who single-handedly isolated everyone.

Gu Ci's sympathy for Huo Wenyuan deepened genuinely.

After finishing his meal, he came out of the classroom alone to wash his cup. He happened to meet Huo Wenyuan coming down from upstairs, so he subconsciously waved and greeted him: "Classmate Huo Wenyuan, good afternoon."

Huo Wenyuan frowned and turned around and said, "Stay away from me."

Gu Ci looked at the distance between them and Huo Wenyuan, feeling a little puzzled.

Although it couldn't be called a "chasm", it was definitely not a big deal that he would bump into him. Wasn't this a bit too cautious?

"By the way, Huo Wenyuan!" Gu Ci thought of something and called him, "It's almost one o'clock. Remember to take your medicine."

Huo Wenyuan paused.

He turned around and stared at Gu Ci.

Gu Ci was not afraid of him seeing him, thinking that this distance was safe.

Huo Wenyuan sneered and asked, "Who are you to persuade me?"

It was lunchtime. There were not many students in the corridor outside. There was a staircase between the two of them. The sunlight shone on Gu Ci's soft hair, which made Huo Wenyuan feel even more depressed.

Gu Ci, oblivious to Huo Wenyuan's annoyance, explained earnestly, "We're friends. It's normal for friends to care for each other."

"Besides, I live in... receiving the Huo family's kindness, so I should do my best to take care of you."

Huo Wenyuan faltered for words, his fingers twitching. He saw Gu Ci's sincere expression, completely drawn into those large, dark, luminous eyes. He didn't want to hear what he was saying.

His breathing became even more difficult.

Gu Ci finished his explanation and waited for Huo Wenyuan to respond, but for a long time, no further response came.

He stood in the beam of light and waved his hand at Huo Wenyuan, warning him, "Classmate Huo Wenyuan?"

Huo Wenyuan: "So noisy."

Before Gu Ci could even say "excuse me," a rapidly spinning basketball suddenly shot out of the stairwell and flew straight towards Gu Ci.

Two exclamations echoed simultaneously, both inside and outside the hallway. Both

the thrower and the recipient were stunned.

Gu Ci instinctively bent his elbow to block it. Seconds passed, and the basketball should have landed, but the impact he had expected didn't come.

Did he slip away from somewhere?

The basketball-playing teenager in the hallway came running up with a "thump thump" sound. Gu Ci slowly put down his hand and was surprised to find that the basketball... was actually controlled by Huo Wenyuan!

When did he come here?

Gu Ci was stunned.

The owner of the basketball was also stunned, especially after seeing the person he had bumped into, he was even more panicked and incoherent: "I'm... I'm sorry, Huo, Huo Wenyuan! My hand slipped..."

Huo Wenyuan passed the ball to him coldly and said, "It wasn't me, it was him."

The basketball-playing teenager understood what he meant and turned to apologize to Gu Ci and ask for forgiveness.

Gu Ci was always easy to talk to, and seeing that the other party was also very sincere, he waved his hand and said, "It's okay, but next time you should play basketball less in the hallway, for fear of bumping into other classmates."

The basketball-playing teenager made repeated promises and fled with the basketball.

At that moment, Gu Ci's gratitude for Huo Wenyuan was overflowing with words. He turned to look at Huo Wenyuan, his expressive eyes blinking, his long, thick eyelashes fluttering like butterflies, and a wide smile curled his lips.

If Huo Wenyuan hadn't shot... he'd likely have been hit by the basketball since he was so slow to react.

But he hadn't expected Huo Wenyuan to be so agile and strong!

Thinking of this, he pursed his lips again, tilted his eyes, and thanked Huo Wenyuan sincerely, "Thank you, Huo Wenyuan! Otherwise, I would have been hit on the head."

"You're amazing!"

Huo Wenyuan said, "Haha."

He certainly saw the surprise and admiration in Gu Ci's eyes. Seriously, he had an immune system disorder, not myasthenia.

With the mutual support they'd just given him, Gu Ci mustered up the courage to ask, "Since you've helped me too, are we now... friends?"

Huo Wenyuan laughed at his pretentiousness. "Who would be friends with you?"

He wasn't that idiot Shang Zui, who was always foolish to approach others.

Gu Ci thought for a moment, then held out his sky-blue water cup to Huo Wenyuan. "How about this? I can't shake your hand, but we can shake hands. For the sake of our friendship, let's shake hands!"

Huo Wenyuan dismissed him with a hint of disdain, then kindly reminded him, "How did I make three rules with you this morning?"

Gu Ci blinked, his chubby cheeks puffing out as he recalled Huo Wenyuan's three demands. Frustrated, he retracted the water cup and slowly backed away. "Oh, yeah

, I almost forgot.

" Huo Wenyuan called him back again.

Unsure what had changed his mind so quickly, he breathed rapidly, "Come back."

Huo Wenyuan had no idea what he was doing. His mind was in a state of turmoil. He clearly didn't want Gu Ci to get any closer, but seeing his aggrieved expression, especially those annoyingly bright eyes, the dormant restlessness within him surfaced again, as if something desperately needed to be soothed.

Oblivious to his change of heart, Gu Ci continued to ask, "Didn't we say we should keep a safe distance?"

Huo Wenyuan's voice was low and quick: "I've changed my mind. This rule is

null and void." So irritated, so desperate.

Gu Ci was clearly surprised: "Why?"

"Why so many whys?" Huo Wenyuan extended his bony hand towards him. "Aren't we supposed to be friends? Shake hands."

Gu Ci couldn't believe his ears: "But... Huo Wenyuan, we can't touch..."

Huo Wenyuan interrupted bluntly: "Shake hands or not?"

Gu Ci was startled by his serious expression. He bit his lip and hesitated for a moment before extending his hand. But then his mind began to imagine Huo Wenyuan fainting from shaking his hand, and alarm bells immediately went off.

No, he would never allow that to happen!

Gu Ci stepped back firmly holding the water cup and persuaded: "Master... you really can't, you will faint."

Huo Wenyuan's already limited patience was almost gone, and he babbled calmly: "If I fainted, it was my own fault."

Shake hands, Gu Ci, just one.

Gu Ci shook his head and stepped back, with his hands tightly behind his back, refusing to give Huo Wenyuan any chance. Until the familiar piano music "Adelina by the Water" sounded on the school radio, he finally had the opportunity to completely break Huo Wenyuan's thoughts.

"It's one o'clock! Master, it's time to take your medicine!"