Chapter 15: Is It Always You Cleaning Up My Mess?

"Does it hurt?"
The young girl nodded shyly.
"Then I’ll be gentle."
Lu Yuanqiu spoke softly as he cupped her slender, snow-white ankle in both hands, gently twisting it to examine the bones and feel their current state.
A moment later, his expression grew more relaxed. "It’s nothing serious, just a sprain. It’s not even that swollen. Just apply some medicated oil and you’ll be fine."
With that, he stood up and turned to search the drawers behind him. Sure enough, he found a half-used bottle of medicated oil.
Sprained ankles were common among students at school. The school doctor would typically just apply this stuff and send them on their way.
Lu Yuanqiu returned to his little stool, set Bai Qingxia’s right foot on his knee, and prepared to apply the oil. But just as he was about to start, Bai Qingxia pulled her foot back, awkwardly insisting, "I’ll do it myself."
"Coward!"
Lu Yuanqiu looked up and scolded the girl sitting on the bed.
Bai Qingxia’s right leg stiffened. Taking advantage of the moment, Lu Yuanqiu took her foot back again and chided, "What’s there to be embarrassed about in a special situation? Honestly, you girls are so shy about everything."
He firmly set her right foot back on his knee, muttering, "I’m not going to do anything strange to your foot."
But before long, Bai Qingxia asked coolly, "You’re just applying oil to my ankle, so why did you take my whole sock off?"
Lu Yuanqiu looked up. "Did I?"
Bai Qingxia bit her lip and demanded, "What’s in your right hand?"
Lu Yuanqiu glanced down and realized he was holding her freshly removed white sock in his right hand, while his left held a delicate, petite foot hovering in midair.
Her sole was truly pink and tender.
He barely had a chance to admire it before Bai Qingxia, red-faced and annoyed, snatched her foot back and reclaimed her sock, shooting him a glare as if he were some unsavory foot fetishist.
After turning her back to apply the oil herself, Bai Qingxia put on her sock and shoe, shouldered her backpack, and left the school infirmary.
Lu Yuanqiu hurried after her, trying to explain, "Wait, listen! Sometimes my hands just act on their own…"
Bai Qingxia ignored him, head down as she walked ahead.
After they left, a small door in the infirmary opened, and two men emerged.
Behind the young school doctor in his white coat stood a middle-aged man—the senior year director, Ge Hao, whom the twelfth graders affectionately called "Ge the Almighty."
The school doctor spoke up, exasperated. "Director Ge, you were just here for a hemorrhoid check. If a student came in, you could’ve just pulled up your pants! Why did you insist on hiding in here with me?"
Ge Hao’s face was thunderous as he patted the other man’s shoulder. "Xiao Wu, two grown men alone in a small room in broad daylight—and I happened to be pulling up my pants. What do you think the students would imagine?"
The school doctor, Xiao Wu, froze in realization.
…
By this time, classes had ended. Bai Qingxia said she was going back to study, so Lu Yuanqiu let her go to the classroom while he headed to the bike shed, planning to ride home.
But as he wheeled his bicycle to the school gate, he couldn’t help but think about Bai Qingxia’s injured foot.
He didn’t even know where this girl lived—was it far? Would she really limp all the way home in that condition?
Sighing, Lu Yuanqiu patted the seat, turned back, and headed to the teaching building.
He’d take her home today.
He slowed as he approached the windows of Class 28, Senior Year, and stopped.
Inside the empty classroom, Bai Qingxia wasn’t studying.
She was on the podium, limping as she moved with a chalk eraser in hand, stretching on tiptoe to wipe the blackboard.
Their third class that afternoon had been history, and the history teacher—a six-foot-tall man—loved to write the boardwork at the very top, making it difficult for Bai Qingxia to reach.
She tried her best, arm raised high, the sleeve of her school uniform sliding down to reveal her slender, white forearm.
Still, she couldn’t reach the wild scrawl at the top of the blackboard.
Lu Yuanqiu’s gaze drifted to the duty roster on the board, where it read:
[Blackboard, Podium: Lu Yuanqiu]
On the podium, Bai Qingxia let her arm fall, defeated. She paused to catch her breath, then took a deep breath, called out softly, and jumped on one foot, stretching as far as she could to reach the very top.
Just as the eraser was about to touch the writing, a large hand appeared in her field of vision, snatching the eraser from hers.
Bai Qingxia turned, her heel landing on the floor, but the pain in her injured ankle made her lose her balance and tip sideways. Lu Yuanqiu caught her arm, steadying her.
For a moment, boy and girl locked eyes.
Bai Qingxia, as if caught red-handed doing something she shouldn’t, backed away nervously. "I thought you… weren’t you going home?"
Lu Yuanqiu just looked at her, bouncing the eraser in his hand before easily reaching up to wipe the highest writing on the board.
He cleaned the blackboard, tossed the eraser onto the podium, and said, "No wonder I’ve never wiped the board and the teacher never complains about it. Tell me, have you been covering for me all this time?"
He paused, then corrected himself, "I mean, wiping the blackboard for me. Not… well, you know."
Bai Qingxia turned her face away, refusing to meet his gaze. "No."
But her eyes flickered with guilt as she spoke.
She glanced up at him quickly, then said, "If there’s nothing else, I want to get back to my studies."
With that, she turned to step down from the podium, but Lu Yuanqiu stopped her. "No more studying for today. Your foot’s injured. Let me take you home, and you can study there."
"I don’t need you to take me," Bai Qingxia retorted immediately.
Lu Yuanqiu frowned, "Where do you live? Is it far?"
"Not far."
He looked her over, half skeptical.
Maybe she just didn’t want a stranger to know where she lived—she was a proud girl, after all.
So Lu Yuanqiu didn’t push.
He just said shamelessly, "Fine, but you can only study until six-thirty. When the clock strikes six-thirty, you have to go home, and I’ll be here watching you."
Bai Qingxia turned, biting her lip with a hint of grievance in her eyes. "…Then I won’t study. I’ll go home now."
Lu Yuanqiu grinned. "That’s better."
When she finished packing up, he headed for the classroom door. But from the podium came another sound; he turned back.
He saw Bai Qingxia carefully cleaning the chalk dust from the podium.
As the student on duty, his tasks did include both the blackboard and the podium.
So much for saying she hadn’t been helping him…
She’d been doing the whole job.
When she finished, she slung on her backpack and walked by him with her head bowed, her expression awkward as she hurried past.
Lu Yuanqiu chuckled and followed behind.
Ice-cold and stubborn—those were the perfect words for her.
Pushing his bicycle, he accompanied the girl to the school gate, where they prepared to go their separate ways.
Still, Lu Yuanqiu patted the back seat and offered, "Why don’t I take you home? It’s no trouble."
Bai Qingxia clutched her sleeve, looking troubled. "There’s no need. If my father sees a strange boy approaching me…"