When Will My Childhood Sweetheart Marry Me?-Chapter 216: Promise

The lights were bright.

Pei Yan’s gaze, deep and contemplative like a still pond, fell dimly upon her.

Slowly, a playful smirk curled up the corners of his lips, "Since the Princess has spoken, there’s no option but to win, right?"

Jiang Shuyao reached out, straightened the curve at the corner of his mouth, and repeated, "I’m not joking, you must win."

Her voice was soft, her small face radiating stubbornness and determination.

Pei Yan’s smile faded, capturing her fingers, he kissed them gently, "Okay."

One word, a promise made.

Jiang Shuyao, touched by his gesture, also reminded herself to give it her all.

The dormitory dinner was set for seven o’clock at the Haidilao Hot Pot restaurant on the street behind the school.

Fang Wei couldn’t eat spicy food, so upon entering, He Shumiao immediately called the waiter and ordered a yuanyang pot (half-spicy, half-clear broth).

As the two headed to mix their sauces, Jiang Shuyao stood at the door with her cellphone, looking outside over and over again.

Until a WeChat message popped up.

[Ten more minutes, you guys start eating.]

She exhaled with relief and turned back to head inside.

The meal wasn’t particularly lively, even with He Shumiao’s natural skill at livening up the atmosphere; under Zhong Yuan and Fang Wei’s immutable ’poker faces’, the conversation ultimately died.

Silence spread, mingling with the steam swirling up from the hot pot.

He Shumiao coughed twice and dumped a plateful of tripe into the pot, deciding to immerse herself wholly in the struggle for the sustenance of the common folk.

After sitting for a while, Zhong Yuan got up to use the restroom. When he returned, he was carrying two full plates... of cilantro.

Jiang Shuyao’s eyelid twitched, but before she could say anything, He Shumiao was already dumbfounded, "Good heavens, isn’t cilantro just a seasoning? Can you even eat it like this?"

Of course, the beauty of hot pot was that everyone could eat what they liked without interfering with each other.

Two plates of cilantro went in, and the peculiar aroma swiftly filled Jiang Shuyao’s nostrils.

Before this, dorm dinners had only been three people, and both He Shumiao and Fang Wei knew she didn’t eat cilantro. They didn’t think about allergies, and she hadn’t said anything, so the topic never came up.

And Zhong Yuan, of course, was completely unaware of her condition.

Jiang Shuyao didn’t want to dampen the rare occasion of all four of them getting together today.

She looked at the bubbling broth and thought that a little taste probably wouldn’t matter.

However, the reality proved that she had overestimated the resistance of her body.

Fang Wei was the first to notice something off about Jiang Shuyao.

"Yaoyao, what’s wrong with your face?"

The familiar discomfort wasn’t as severe as the last time she had crawfish, but it still wasn’t pleasant.

Jiang Shuyao pulled out her phone to check in the front-facing camera and saw red rashes starting to appear on her face.

"It looks like an allergic reaction, Yaoyao. Are you feeling anything else uncomfortable, like dizziness, nausea, or an increased heartbeat?"

Her heartbeat was a bit faster, mainly because of the heat.

She felt unusually hot that night.

Suddenly, Zhong Yuan spoke up, "Could it be an allergy to cilantro?"

Jiang Shuyao paused for two seconds and then shook her head, "I don’t know."

Seeing the person in question relatively calm and with no other reaction than the rash, He Shumiao relaxed and continued enjoying her food, "It’s nothing. These kinds of allergic reactions usually go away quickly. If you’re worried, we can stop by the clinic later for some medicine. There shouldn’t be a big problem."

Indeed, typical allergic symptoms were like that, and it was only a bit of cilantro flavor—she couldn’t be that fragile.

By the time they finished eating hot pot, it was nearly nine o’clock.

He Shumiao and Fang Wei planned to go to a nearby supermarket to buy some everyday items and asked Jiang Shuyao if she wanted to join.

"You guys go ahead, I’ll head back to school."

Subconsciously, she covered her burning face with her hand, which seemed even hotter than before.

After the two left, Zhong Yuan walked to the curb and hailed a cab, saying he would take her to the hospital.

Jiang Shuyao quickly stepped back, "I’m not going."

To go to the hospital in the middle of the night, and if her family found out, there would be hell to pay.

In some ways, Zhong Yuan and Boss Pei were really alike.

Once they were set on something, nothing could pull them back.

Zhong Yuan couldn’t be bothered to dawdle with her anymore and forcefully shoved her into the back seat of the car.

At that moment, she fully understood what it meant to be outmatched by someone else.

Had she not witnessed Zhong Yuan’s formidable combat skills earlier and known she couldn’t outstruggle him, she wouldn’t have complied so easily.

The patchy shadows of light and dark, with street lamps from both sides of the road casting reflections inside the car, made the girl’s profile look peaceful and tender.

Her fingers intertwined on her knees as she lowered her gaze to her phone, her brows slightly furrowed, seemingly troubled by something.

"Why didn’t you mention your allergy to cilantro?"

The androgynous voice sounded next to her ear, and Jiang Shuyao turned her head dumbfoundedly to look at Zhong Yuan.

The night wind slipped through the crack in the window, taking away much of the warmth from her face.

She smiled lightly, appearing relaxed, "It may not be the cilantro, it could be something else."

"Still pretending."

With a scoff, Zhong Yuan reached out to touch her face.

In the dim light, the rash didn’t look as startling as before, but there was still no sign of it subsiding.

His hand then landed on her forehead.

Zhong Yuan furrowed his brow, feeling a scorching heat at his fingertips.

"Driver, go faster."

"I’m fine."

"When will it be serious enough for you to admit there’s a problem!"

Zhong Yuan’s tone grew slightly harsher, sounding a bit annoyed with her. He fished a cigarette from his bag, lit it, took a couple of puffs, then suddenly, as if remembering something, he lowered the window and threw the cigarette out.

The atmosphere soured.

The driver upfront timely interjected to ease the mood, "Young lady, your boyfriend is just overly concerned about you. Don’t be upset. I’ll drive faster, and we’ll be at the hospital soon."

?!

Actually, it wasn’t a big deal, but upon hearing this, Jiang Shuyao couldn’t help but laugh inappropriately.

Sneaking a glance to her side, she saw that Zhong Yuan’s face had already turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.

She didn’t blame the driver; to anyone meeting Zhong Yuan for the first time, without deep analysis, it was easy to mistake her for a boy.

Surprisingly, neither of them bothered to correct the misperception.

All the way, Jiang Shuyao suppressed her laughter, pushing the discomfort from her allergy to the back of her mind.

The calm didn’t last very long.

They arrived at the hospital at 9:30 p.m., with no one on duty at the dermatology department, so they had to go directly to the emergency room for the allergic reaction.

Just as they hung the IV drip, Boss Pei’s call came through.

Jiang Shuyao took several deep breaths before daring to press the answer button.

"Princess."

"Mhm?"

"Where are you?"

The person on the other end spoke lazily, seemingly in a good mood.

Zhong Yuan had gone downstairs to pay the bill, and she stared silently at the door, trying hard to appear calm.

"I’m shopping at the mall with my roommate. He Shumiao fancies a piece of clothing; we don’t like it, but she’s insistent it looks good."

There was a pause of silence on the other side.

Followed by a light chuckle.

Pei Yan’s eyes narrowed, "Oh? Because the person I just saw must have been a ghost then."

"..."

She had a fever of 39 degrees, her brain slow to react.

Jiang Shuyao swallowed dryly and asked, "Who exactly did you say is a ghost?"

After asking, she closed her eyes despondently.

Upon opening them again, she found her phone had run out of battery and had already shut down.

Staring at the darkened screen, she felt somewhat at a loss. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

A while later, Zhong Yuan returned with the medicine and was also holding a cup of warm tap water.

Approaching the bed, he separated each type of capsule by dosage, poured them into the palm of his hand, and presented them in front of her.