Lili had no objections, of course. She glanced at Xiaocao, who seemed a bit reluctant, and was wondering how to address it when Xiaocao said to Ziqing,
"Big sis should eat more, so your wounds heal faster. I’ll give mine to you, just don’t eat hers okay?"
Saying this, Xiaocao climbed out of the bed as if to make space for Ziqing.
Lili was momentarily dazed, her heart warmed, and she gestured to Xiaocao,
"Come over here, sit next to me."
Xiaocao obediently crawled over, carefully snuggling into the blanket.
"I can’t eat this much. We can share some with Brother Lu."
Lili patted Xiaocao’s head and said to Ziqing,
"Brother Lu, why don’t we all share some? There’s really too much here."
"Then I won’t be shy."
Ziqing rubbed his hands together and, astonishingly, leaned his crutch against the bed and climbed up as well.
Luckily, the hospital bed in Lili’s room was one and a half meters wide; how could they fit on a regular single bed?
Even so, Lili was still shocked by Ziqing’s actions.
"What’s wrong? Isn’t this little guy moving over there to give me space?"
Lili answered in her heart, but all that came out was a smile.
Ziqing truly wasn’t shy, grabbing a meat bun and biting off a large chunk. In Xiaocao’s sparkling eyes, there was a hint of pain.
"Brother Lu, how’s your leg doing?"
"It’s healing quite well."
"Brother Lu, thank you..."
Lili finally managed to say what she’d been holding back for three days.
Lili raised the soy milk cup like raising a toast, smiling at him, "For everything, from the moment I arrived here in Xilin - everything that happened, I thank you."
Ziqing also raised his cup of soy milk and clinked it with hers, "You’re welcome."
Xiaocao silently munched on his bread. There were only two cups of soy milk...
Ziqing didn’t ignore the little guy, passing the soy milk to him,
"I only took a sip, you don’t mind, right?"
Xiaocao looked at Lili, and with her nod of approval, bashfully took the soy milk from Ziqing,
"Xiaocao, you can call him Brother Lu."
Xiaocao blushed, too shy to speak.
"By calling me Brother, you’re getting a great deal!"
Yet, hearing Ziqing say that made Xiaocao somewhat defiant.
"If you’re nice to big sis, I’ll call you Brother Lu..."
Xiaocao murmured, peeling his fingertips and looking down.
"Wow! Is this kid bargaining?"
Ziqing was surprised but soon chuckled, "Xiaocao, listen here, even if you don’t call me Brother Lu, I’ll still be very kind to your sister."
Lili was taken aback, her heart skipping a beat.
Their eyes met... and she saw him emphasizing with a mischievous grin, "Very, very kind!"
Lili recalled his nickname "Demon Instructor" from the military district, and a chill ran down her spine.
The little guy still kept his head down, his voice soft, but loud enough for Ziqing to hear clearly.
"Xiao Hua, you’ve stumbled upon a treasure."
That was what Ziqing truly felt.
Lili felt the same way, smiling as she sipped her soy milk.
The knocking on the door was somewhat frantic—