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Lu Chi's heart skipped a beat. Just as he was wondering how to explain his "strange" behavior, he saw Yue Bin looking at him with obvious disapproval. "Didn't Dr. Sun say that you should use your brain as little as possible during treatment? You need to make sure your brain gets enough rest. Acting so recklessly, are you really afraid you won't have any lasting effects?"

Lu Chi froze at that and looked up at Yue Bin.

Yue Bin snorted. "Looking at me won't help. No, I need to have a proper talk with that caregiver. I hired him to look after you—how exactly has he been doing that? Does he just sleep at night without keeping an eye on you? And you too. Don't you know your own condition? You stayed up all night. Didn't you feel dizzy, nauseous, or unwell?"

The other students chimed in as well. "Exactly! Lu Chi, we know you used to get excellent grades at your county high school. You probably haven't adjusted to suddenly transferring to Yanda Affiliated High School and failing exams, and you can't let go of your top student pride. But you can't mess around with your health! Teacher Sun said it himself—learning isn't something that happens overnight. You have to take it slow and steady, and learn how to manage and allocate your time properly... Given your condition, you might need to see a psychologist more often and learn how to balance your mindset. You need to understand that Yanda Affiliated High School is the best high school in the country. There are countless geniuses here. Even if you rank first in the entire year, there will still be people who surpass you in competition results or other areas. Take, for example..."

At that point, Zhang Yang pointed at Yue Bin, then at himself. "Don't be fooled by how Yue Bin scores better than me on every exam. When it comes to talent for business, he can't compare to me—although Little Master here didn't make the top hundred in the whole grade, my review notes are sought after by students all over the school, even plenty from other schools. Think about it. Our high school division has more than two thousand students. Even if only half of them bought review notes from me, at thirty yuan per copy, how much could I make just from our school?"

Zhang Yang looked especially smug as he said this, even raising his eyebrows at Yue Bin. It seemed that beating Yue Bin in any area was the greatest honor of his life.

Yue Bin looked at Zhang Yang and gave him a smile like a refined scoundrel.

The smugness on Zhang Yang's face faded slightly. He cleared his throat and continued, "Of course, don't think that just because Yue Bin ranked eighth in the whole year on this monthly exam, he's inferior to Zhuo Yue, who's always hogging first place. Sure, that bastard Zhuo Yue gets good exam scores, but good exam scores are all he has. Other than grades, what else does he have? Yue Bin speaks six languages, can drive cars and yachts, and even earned an honorary badge from the International Boy Scout Training Camp... Isn't that far better than that fake snob who only knows how to bury himself in books? I just don't get it—what gives Zhuo Yue the right—"

Before Zhang Yang could finish, the ward door was suddenly pushed open.

Qiao Shiyu stood outside with a thermal food container in her arms, smiling brightly. "Oh, there are so many people here. What are you all talking about so lively?"

The room instantly fell silent. Yue Bin smoothly picked up the conversation. "Zhang Yang was introducing some of our schoolmates to Lu Chi. What about you? Why are you only getting here now?"

Qiao Shiyu smiled faintly as she walked in. "I stewed some pig brain for Lu Chi in the small cafeteria."

Qiao Shiyu set the thermal container on the table, unscrewed the lid, and ladled Lu Chi a bowl of pig brain. Smiling eagerly, she said, "Lu Chi, I made this myself. It's good for the brain. Try some?"

Lu Chi lowered his head to look at the pig brain in his bowl, the smile on his face turning a little stiff—

It had to be said that, influenced by his family, Lu Chi was not only a foodie, but also a rather conservative foodie who cared about how food looked. In other words, his menu could accommodate chicken, duck, fish, meat, shrimp, crab, and even cicada pupae, which were fairly common dishes in the north. He could even reluctantly accept mixed soups and offal dishes. But a whole, intact pig brain, tender in color and vividly lifelike...

Lu Chi swallowed, feeling the hairs on his arms silently stand on end.

Qiao Shiyu noticed Lu Chi's reluctance too, and her smile paused slightly. "What's wrong? Are you worried my cooking isn't good? Don't worry, I specifically learned how to make this soup. I even drank a bowl before coming here. It tastes pretty good."

"No." Holding the bowl and spoon, Lu Chi gave Qiao Shiyu a faint smile. "It's just that I..."

Lu Chi did not know how to put it.

Yue Bin blinked and asked, "Are you scared to eat it?"

Lu Chi smiled and nodded. "I really haven't eaten it before."

"Really? I see..." Qiao Shiyu's smile became a little awkward too. She tucked her hair behind her ear and reproached herself, "Honestly, look at me. I only thought about pig brain being good for the brain and forgot to ask whether you liked it. Then how about..."

Qiao Shiyu paused, pointed at the table, and forced herself to suppress her disappointment. "Just leave it there. I'll make you something else next time."

She had specially made the soup for him, then taken a taxi from school to bring it to the hospital. Even if Lu Chi had low emotional intelligence, he would not waste someone else's kindness like that.

Lowering his head, he looked at the pig brain in the bowl, carefully scooped up a spoonful of soup away from it, and tasted it—

"It really is good." Lu Chi looked at Qiao Shiyu with a gentle smile and said softly, "Thank you."

Looking at Lu Chi's tender, smiling eyes, Qiao Shiyu felt slightly dizzy, as though she had developed concussion aftereffects herself.

After lunch, Yue Bin and his little group left just in time for afternoon classes. Before leaving, they did not forget to take Zhang Yang's computer and the backpack he had specially brought for Lu Chi.

"Get some proper rest this afternoon. We'll come see you after school tonight and bring your computer along. And don't go to any internet cafés. Those places are dark, smoky, and filthy. You're a patient—you shouldn't be going into places like that..." Yue Bin nagged on and on, even calling over the caregiver to give him a thorough set of instructions. As a result, he got so caught up in talking that he nearly walked straight into the doorframe when he turned around.

Yue Bin reflexively slapped the doorframe once in revenge. The entire sequence was smooth and natural, making it obvious this was far from the first time.