It's Not Easy

"Hmm?" In the afternoon, while still at school, Ye Shuang suddenly received a message and realized it was from Chen Qin.

Chen Qin: Hehe, miss me?

Chen Qin: Orange cat peeking.ipg

Ye Shuang: Probably not.

Chen Qin: Hehehe, say you miss me, and I’ll give you a little surprise.

A surprise?

Ye Shuang stared at the message on his phone, thought for a few seconds, then replied:

Ye Shuang: Tell me about it.

Chen Qin: Say you miss me first.

Ye Shuang: You miss me.

Chen Qin: I’m gonna get mad, you know.

Ye Shuang couldn’t help but chuckle, though he decided not to tease Chen Qin any further. After replying with "I miss you," the other person simply said, "I’ll tell you the day after tomorrow."

Then, silence.

"This girl…" Ye Shuang pondered what the so-called surprise might be—probably some kind of gift, right? But he had no idea what Chen Qin might be planning. He could only hope it would be something relatively normal.

Ye Shuang sat back in his seat to rest. Not far behind him, on a sickbed, Zhixia lay quietly, recovering—after getting a fever-reducing shot, she just needed some rest as long as her temperature didn’t spike again.

"Ye Shuang…"

"Ye Shuang, this student seems to have a fever."

Just then, Ye Shuang noticed a male teacher supporting a boy as they walked in.

"..." Ye Shuang stood up, put on gloves and a mask, and said, "Let me take a look."

After a quick examination, he had the boy sit down to rest. His condition seemed much milder than Zhixia’s, so Ye Shuang just had him take his temperature first.

"Are there a lot of students with fevers at school today?" Ye Shuang asked the male teacher.

"I’m not sure," the teacher replied. "But if many students are falling ill, should we report it to the academy?"

To prevent the spread of infection, students with fevers should stay home to rest and isolate.

"Yeah, it’s best to report this to the academy first," Ye Shuang said, pulling out his phone to check with his colleagues at the other school clinics. After confirming that other clinics were also seeing fever cases, he immediately escalated the matter.

Beep beep. The thermometer on the feverish boy chimed. Ye Shuang took it out and checked. "Yep, it’s a fever."

Though not as extreme as Zhixia’s 40-degree spike.

"Have you been in contact with anyone else who has a fever?" Ye Shuang asked.

"There’s one in my class… with a low-grade fever."

"Got it." Ye Shuang went to fetch some medicine—normally, school clinics charged for medication, but Yinshan Academy was an exception. Apparently, to avoid discouraging students from seeking treatment due to cost, fees had been waived entirely.

"Have you eaten? Any allergies?"

"No."

"Here, take this medicine and drink this water too."

"Thanks, doc."

The boy’s condition was mild enough that, despite the fever, he could go home after taking the fever reducer and some additional meds.

"Two cases now…"

Ye Shuang held the registration sheet, deep in thought, when another voice came from the door.

"Ye Shuang~ I feel so hot~"

He glanced over and recognized a frequent visitor to the clinic. The slight flush on the student’s face confirmed that the fever was real.

"Seriously, this many?" He pinched the bridge of his nose and got back to work.

......

Achoo!

In the park, Tang Keke suddenly sniffled and rubbed her nose. "Weird, why’s my nose so itchy?"

Beside her, a short-haired girl deadpanned, "I just saw a fly crawl in."

"Eek?!"

"Just kidding."

"..."

"You love bullying people so much, no wonder you don’t have friends," Tang Keke muttered, nudging Bai Yuyou. "Right?"

Bai Yuyou tilted her head. "Aren’t we friends?"

"Mm."

Tang Keke wasn’t sure if she counted as An Shiyu’s friend. The girl always greeted her with "Hey, big-chested," and Keke doubted An Shiyu even knew her name.

"An Shiyu, are we friends?" Bai Yuyou asked softly.

"Of course! We’re all besties here," An Shiyu replied in an exaggeratedly sweet tone.

Bai Yuyou looked at Tang Keke.

"She’s totally faking it! How can you believe that?!" Tang Keke immediately protested.

Bai Yuyou didn’t seem to fully grasp the situation, but she felt An Shiyu wasn’t lying.

"Such a hassle," An Shiyu sighed.

"Come on, Yuyou, we still have more areas to clean," Tang Keke said, pulling Bai Yuyou away.

"Okay." Bai Yuyou let herself be led off without resistance.

Silence returned. An Shiyu remained leaning against the large tree. After a moment, she pulled a rice ball from her pocket, unwrapped it, and took small bites.

"Friends, huh…"

"Tch…"

......

By the time they regrouped, Bai Yuyou and Tang Keke rejoined their team. The cleanup hadn’t taken long—after lunch, most of the time had been free activity.

Some couples had slipped off to secluded spots, while others lounged on benches or steps, chatting or scrolling through their phones.

"Just got word—Yinshan Academy is suspending classes tomorrow."

After taking attendance, Li Chunhua announced through a megaphone, "There’s been a sudden outbreak of high fevers at school, suspected to be a highly contagious flu. Classes are canceled tomorrow, so after returning to campus, skip club activities and head straight home to monitor your health."

"If you show signs of fever, report it immediately and seek medical treatment. Understood?"

"Understood!" The students cheered—all they processed was "day off tomorrow."

"A fever outbreak?" Tang Keke frowned. "I didn’t notice anyone sick in class today. A whole-school shutdown seems extreme, no?"

But if that was the case… should she still go to her part-time job today?

Bai Yuyou asked, "Fever…?"

"Yeah, it’s like being really sick. Your whole body burns up, and your limbs ache," Tang Keke explained. "You’ve never had one?"

"I have…" Bai Yuyou nodded.

"After baths, sometimes. But sleeping under the covers helped."

"Though when I was hungry, I couldn’t stand up."

Tang Keke scratched her head.

"You’ve had it rough, huh."