Shen Yu started crying.

When Jiang He noticed, his voice grew flustered. "Hey, why are you crying?"

Shen Yu put down her spoon and wiped her eyes forcefully with the back of her hand, but the more she wiped, the more tears fell.

"I... I don’t know."

She had actually wanted to say: ’Seeing you cry makes me feel awful.’

But the words died on her lips.

It was their first time meeting, after all. Saying something like that would be crossing a line. It would be too weird.

So, she mumbled and changed her tune, "I just... suddenly remembered something sad."

"Don’t be sad, don’t be sad."

Jiang He quickly tried to comfort her, his mind racing to find something to distract her.

He suddenly remembered the mung bean cakes and took them out.

Jiang He tried to sound as casual as possible. "I bought some mung bean cakes on my way here. Want to try one?"

"Oh... I couldn’t."

"It’s fine." Jiang He pushed the paper-wrapped package forward. "They’re not expensive, just a few bucks. I just thought they were pretty good and wanted to share them with you."

"Well... I’ll have just one, then?"

Shen Yu opened the oil-paper package and picked up a piece from the very edge.

The mung bean cake was flaky, not too sweet or heavy. It melted in her mouth, releasing a fragrant bean flavor.

Shen Yu stopped crying.

In a couple of bites, she stuffed the remaining half into her mouth.

"Is it good?" Jiang He asked.

Shen Yu nodded repeatedly. "It’s delicious. So delicious."

Jiang He smiled. "Right? I think it’s delicious too. This kind doesn’t have added sugar, so it’s not heavy."

Shen Yu: "This is the best mung bean cake I’ve ever had! It’s completely different from the ones I buy at the supermarket."

Jiang He nodded. "Right?"

Shen Yu’s interest was piqued. "Where did you buy it?"

"Right next to my university."

"I can’t believe I’ve never heard of it..."

"Yeah, it’s a real hidden gem."

"Hidden gem?" Shen Yu paused. "Is there a treasure in the shop?"

The term hadn’t been coined yet in this era.

Jiang He laughed and explained, "The mung bean cakes. They’re the treasure."

"Oh~ so that’s what you meant. Haha, what an interesting way to put it~"

The two of them kept chatting, and the conversation naturally drifted.

They went from mung bean cakes to the price of food in the school cafeteria, and from food prices to the stray cats and dogs at their respective universities.

It was all just meaningless small talk.

As they talked, Shen Yu suddenly burst out laughing.

When she laughed, her eyes curved into crescents, and two shallow dimples appeared on her cheeks. She said:

"What is going on with us? Who ever heard of two people crying and laughing together on their first meeting, before they’ve even had two bites of food?"

Jiang He laughed along with her. "I have no idea. It is strange."

Shen Yu looked at him, the smile in her eyes gradually fading a little. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

She glanced at the now-empty plates on the table, thought for a moment, and then tentatively asked, "So... what are you doing this afternoon? Are you still busy?"

Jiang He shook his head. "Not anymore. I have a senior schoolmate named Lu Xiaolin who’s at Peking Union Medical College Hospital for the National Day holiday. I just finished dropping off some data for him this morning."

"Peking Union Medical College Hospital!" Shen Yu sounded impressed. "Are all you medical students such hard workers, even during the National Day holiday?"

Jiang He nodded.

Lu Xiaolin really was at Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

He had originally planned to visit him on this trip to the Capital City, which he’d made to find his wife.

Following that thread, Jiang He naturally led into his next move. "Yeah, so I was thinking, since I finally have a day off, maybe I should actually take a break, walk around the area, go out and have some fun..."

Shen Yu’s eyes lit up, and she immediately volunteered, "Oh, how about I show you around my campus? We have a really old red building, and next to it there’s a small lake and ginkgo trees. The leaves have all just turned yellow, so it’s especially beautiful. I’m free this afternoon anyway, so I can be your free tour guide!"

Jiang He nodded at the speed of light. "Yes, absolutely! I’ll be in your hands, Teacher Shen."

Being called "Teacher Shen" made her a little bashful. She picked up her tray. "Let’s go, then. We should clear our trays first."

Jiang He picked up his own tray and followed her toward the tray return area.

They walked out of Cafeteria No. 2.

Jiang He walked half a step behind and to the side of Shen Yu.

Watching her hair flutter in the wind, listening to her chatter on about the university’s history, he felt a sense of peace he had never known before.

Reborn into this life, he had crossed a distance of two thousand kilometers. And at this very moment, she was walking right beside him, vibrant and alive.

’This is wonderful.’

Just then, a sudden bark came from a nearby flower bed.

"WOOF! WOOF WOOF!"

Jiang He followed the sound with his eyes.

A fairly large, yellow Chinese rural dog was baring its teeth, frantically lunging at the old scholar tree next to the cafeteria steps.

And on the trunk of the old scholar tree, a chubby orange cat was scrambling upward for dear life, its fur standing on end.

It was Tuanzi.

The stray cat Shen Yu had been feeding earlier.

"Tuanzi!" Shen Yu cried out in alarm and stopped in her tracks.

The yellow dog seemed to have failed to snag any food from the cafeteria’s back kitchen and was now taking its frustration out on the cat.

It leaped and bounded around the trunk, its front paws scratching relentlessly at the bark.

Tuanzi was already fat. It usually ate too much and was not very agile.

Startled by the dog, it scrambled up in a panic and ended up on a side branch that was dry and brittle.

The branch couldn’t support Tuanzi’s weight at all. With a CRACK, it bent sharply downward.

"Meeeooww—"

Tuanzi let out a piercing cry, its four paws clinging desperately to the bark as its entire body dangled precariously in mid-air.

Seeing this, the yellow dog below barked even more ferociously, opening its mouth and waiting right underneath.

"No, it’s going to fall!"

Without a second thought, Shen Yu broke into a run and charged toward the old scholar tree.

"Be careful!"

Jiang He tried to stop her but couldn’t.

In a flash, Shen Yu was already under the tree.

"Tuanzi, don’t be afraid..."

Before she could finish her sentence.

CRACK—

The dead branch finally snapped.

Tuanzi, along with the piece of branch, plummeted straight down.

There was no time to think. Shen Yu opened her arms to catch it.

The heavy orange cat landed in her arms.

Tuanzi’s claws flailed instinctively, leaving several scratches on the sleeves of Shen Yu’s sweatshirt.

Although she caught the cat, her forward momentum was too great.

She wasn’t careful and failed to notice the raised concrete edge of the flower bed at her feet.

She fell.

Even as she fell, she held the cat tightly in her arms, not letting Tuanzi hit the ground.

Anxious, Jiang He first stomped his foot to scare off the yellow dog, then hurried to Shen Yu’s side.

"Are you okay?" he asked, crouching down, his voice filled with concern.

Shen Yu sat on the ground where she’d fallen. Tuanzi struggled out of her arms, darted into the bushes, and disappeared.

Her face was pale as she clutched her right ankle. "I think... I sprained my ankle. It hurts so much, I can’t move it at all..."

Jiang He’s gaze immediately locked onto her right foot.

"Don’t move. Let me see."

He knelt on one knee in front of Shen Yu and moved her hands away.

To get a clear look at the injury, he first took off her shoe, along with her short white sock.

The top of Shen Yu’s foot was exposed to the air. Her toes curled slightly from the pain, and a small lump was already visibly swelling on her outer ankle.

Jiang He cupped the sole of her foot with one hand and gently pressed and slid his other hand over the joint on her outer ankle.

"Ow, that hurts!" Shen Yu was on the verge of tears again.

Although his heart ached for her, Jiang He still said, "Just bear with it."

He was making a quick diagnosis.

Fortunately, the bone wasn’t broken, and the pulse in her dorsalis pedis artery was normal.

It was just a typical acute sprain of the anterior talofibular ligament, accompanied by a mild subluxation of the ankle joint.

If the jammed joint space wasn’t realigned, the pain would make it impossible to walk, and the swelling would only get worse.

’I have to treat this for her right away.’