A Life for a Life

"Little Pufferfish, are you angry with me?" Xiao He asked, frowning, while preparing dinner with Ye Wanqing.

"No," Ye Wanqing said calmly, but she was actually still resentful that Xiao He hadn't confessed his feelings.

Xiao He glanced at her sideways and muttered, "She really is a Little Pufferfish... always so puffed up with anger."

"Isn't that your fault?" Ye Wanqing thought through gritted teeth as she glanced at him.

However, their relationship immediately warmed up when it came time to eat.

This person is really... If he could eat 24 hours a day, he would be so much cuter. Ye Wanqing thought to herself as she watched Xiao He eat, resting her cheeks on her hands.

"Aren't you going to eat? You have the AME Probiotic Virus in your body now, so eating more won't make you fat, okay?" Xiao He suddenly asked, staring at her. Ye Wanqing looked away and replied, "I'm already full."

Xiao He discovered that Ye Wanqing was the type who would immediately look away after making eye contact, but some girls were different, such as the proprietress of Willow Restaurant, who would actively look back at him and look directly into his eyes when he looked at her.

Thinking about it carefully, Ye Wanqing's little quirk is actually quite cute.

"Old Xiao," Ye Wanqing said, fiddling with the chopsticks on the table, "Let's go to school tomorrow, it's been so long."

"It seems that it really is..." Xiao He pondered for a moment.

It started when Ye Wanqing caught a cold and had a fever, so she took two days off. Then he caught a cold himself, battled the AME Influenza for two days, rested at the Special Response Department for a day, and now he's back just in time for the weekend. All in all, it seems like they haven't been to school for a whole week. After all, they're still university students.

Not going to school all the time would probably arouse suspicion.

"Okay, go ahead." Xiao He nodded and smiled, "Perfect timing, I can go to your department and assert my boyfriend's ownership."

Ye Wanqing smiled slightly, "Then I won't stand on ceremony and will come to your department for a visit, and tell the girls there not to have any designs on my boyfriend."

"Please do as you please," Xiao He said nonchalantly. Times had changed, and he no longer cared about Ye Wanqing asserting her dominance in his department. In fact, he was quite proud—such a cute girlfriend with such a great figure...

"Hmph, that's more like it..." Ye Wanqing nodded in satisfaction, thinking to herself. She rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought, "Actually, this isn't so bad, it's almost like a real boyfriend and girlfriend relationship, it's just..."

Thinking of this, Ye Wanqing stole a glance at Xiao He, her face flushing slightly: She hadn't actually kissed him, but she had indirectly kissed him before...

"No, Ye Wanqing, what are you thinking! You two have only known each other for a little over two months! How can you already be thinking about kissing!" Ye Wanqing solemnly admonished herself.

"Old Xiao, I have a question for you." Ye Wanqing cleared her throat, trying to appear calm. "How long do you think it's appropriate to date a girl after you've known her for a while?"

"Me?" Xiao He raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised, then pondered, "At least three months, six months would be best, that's enough time to get to know each other. After starting to date, you can try holding hands first, then slowly move on to hugging. After about a month, you can kiss, right? After three months, you can take it a step further..."

"Enough!" Ye Wanqing interrupted him, her face flushed, and said angrily, "I didn't ask you that many questions! Why did you keep talking on and on!"

"Then I thought..." Xiao He muttered, glancing at her sideways.

"Hey, eat your food!" Ye Wanqing said, stamping her foot as she sat down.

Although she was throwing a tantrum, Xiao He found the way she stomped her feet so cute that he couldn't help but smile like an aunt.

Xiao He didn't argue with her and silently continued eating, while Ye Wanqing watched him from the side, resting her chin on her hand.

What?! You actually think exactly the same thing as me... Ye Wanqing was a little incredulous: the two of them clearly couldn't get along at all, yet their views on love were exactly the same.

While washing the dishes, Ye Wanqing suddenly said, "Old Xiao, have you noticed that you look like a panda now?"

"No way, I've lost a lot of weight recently, I'm only 75 kilograms now..." Xiao He pursed his lips.

Ye Wanqing frowned, raised her little foot and stomped on him. "I was talking about the diplomatic significance! Look, doesn't our country have Panda Diplomacy? Leasing pandas to other countries to improve relations between them. Your blood is basically being used for something similar now, isn't it?"

"It does have that feel to it," Xiao He thought for a moment and nodded. "Isn't it great? It promotes world peace."

"If only it were that simple," Ye Wanqing muttered softly, handing over the plate. However, because of the dish soap, her hand slipped, and both of them tried to grab the plate. Xiao He reacted faster and grabbed it first, while Ye Wanqing ended up holding it in his hand.

"Ahem." Ye Wanqing cleared her throat, pretending it was nothing serious, while secretly rejoicing that she was short, Xiao He couldn't see her blushing face when she lowered her head.

"But my blood is far more precious than a panda's," Xiao He replied. "It feels like it's on par with Moon Rock. The blood sample I gave to E Country a couple of days ago was only 100 milliliters, wasn't it?"

"That's equivalent to your blood donations for a month," Ye Wanqing said, frowning.

"Hey, what if we give the M Country a milliliter of my blood?" Xiao He suddenly laughed. "Didn't they give us a gram of Moon Rock back then? Let's return the favor and give them a milliliter of blood in return."

"That's enough," Ye Wanqing said, barely suppressing a smile. "Don't underestimate blood donation; long-term blood donation might affect your health."

"Then why don't you just give me more nutrition?" Xiao He seemed unconcerned.

"Hmm, that's true..." Ye Wanqing thought for a moment and replied, "Let's buy some red dates and spinach tomorrow; they're good for replenishing blood." Then she turned to ask, "Old Xiao, do you eat pig liver?"

"Eat! Stir-fried chives and pork liver is the best!" Xiao He swallowed and said. Ye Wanqing couldn't help but chuckle slightly. She smiled smugly and said, "Then you're in for a treat. I'm very good at making stir-fried chives and pork liver. I'll make it for you tomorrow."

"I can't wait..." Xiao He sighed. He suddenly felt that being with a girl like this was really blissful. Even if they had just finished eating, he would look forward to the next time he was hungry and to having another meal with her.

Meanwhile, Ye Wanqing smiled to herself, thinking: I wonder what his expression will be when he eats my stir-fried pork liver with chives? I can't wait...

After washing the dishes, the two went downstairs for a walk, just like before. It had actually been quite a while since they had taken a walk together. They had been confined to their homes or hospital rooms for the past few days while suffering from colds. Walking hand in hand again today, they suddenly felt as if they had been in a different world.

Perhaps because their attitudes toward each other had changed, their stroll today felt a bit affected. The two of them walked slowly hand in hand through the neighborhood, and they both recalled how the other had taken care of them when they had a fever a few days ago.

"Um... I haven't thanked you yet," Ye Wanqing said, smoothing her bangs. "For taking care of me when I had a fever."

"There's nothing to thank me for. You took care of me when I had a fever." Xiao He scratched the back of his head, then fell silent again. Ye Wanqing tentatively asked, "When you had a fever... did you hear what I said?"

Xiao He paused for a moment, then replied, "I don't know. When I have a fever, I have all sorts of strange dreams."

Ye Wanqing breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, but she was also a little disappointed.

"But I still remember that last shout of 'Old Xiao' vividly; my eardrums were still hurting when I woke up..." Xiao He muttered, covering his right ear. Ye Wanqing was annoyed: You didn't hear any of the important things he said earlier!

"If it weren't for my yelling, you wouldn't even know where you are right now!" Ye Wanqing said angrily, pinching his waist, but she found that she couldn't pinch any flesh, only hard muscles, which surprised her.

"Yes, yes, yes, I owe you my life." Xiao He nodded repeatedly. "I will definitely find a way to repay you."

"You really know how to repay me? Just say so first!" Ye Wanqing glared at him angrily, thinking to herself.

Seeing her adorable puffed-out cheeks, Xiao He couldn't resist and gently poked her cheek with his index finger.

Ye Wanqing hadn't expected him to pull such a move, and was immediately deflated with a "plop!"

"..." After a brief two-second silence, Ye Wanqing pounced on him, waving her little pink fists. Xiao He dodged while apologizing, "I was wrong, I was wrong! I just couldn't resist because you were so cute! I was wrong, I was wrong, okay!"

"I'll beat you to death!" Ye Wanqing, both ashamed and furious, followed up with a flurry of blows. "You'll pay with your life right now!"

The two chased each other playfully for a while, until Ye Wanqing glared at Xiao He, panting, "You... you're not allowed to run away!"

"Alright, alright, you can hit me then," Xiao He said helplessly, and walked up to Ye Wanqing.

Ye Wanqing punched him hard, then strode forward.

Xiao He quickly followed behind her, saying, "Slow down, don't fall!"

After walking for a while, Ye Wanqing suddenly paused, then squatted down and looked at something on the ground.

Xiao He leaned closer for a look and found that it was a plump beetle that had somehow rolled over belly up and was struggling desperately, but it couldn't roll back over no matter what it did.

"So stupid..." Ye Wanqing muttered, poking the beetle with her index finger to help it turn over.

The beetle then steadied itself, slowly crawled into the grass, and disappeared.

"This child... is really lovable," Xiao He thought to himself.

Ye Wanqing turned around and glared at him, then held out her hand with an expression that said, "I forgive you."

Xiao He took a step back, his face showing disgust. "You touched the insect's hand, don't touch me..."

"You really deserve a beating!" Ye Wanqing angrily lunged at him, but Xiao He nimbly dodged, then took her small hand and said softly with a smile, "Just kidding."

Their faces were instantly very close, and Ye Wanqing froze, her mind blank, only knowing one thing: his hands were so warm...

Xiao He then took her hand and led her forward, saying, "Let's go."

(Stop laughing, check your blood sugar, and take care of yourself. -- From the author's concern)