Chapter 4 shoelace

"Please have Yuhang go to CT room number six for examination," the electronic female voice sounded twice. Yuhang swallowed back the questions she wanted to ask and headed to CT room number six.

Fu Mingyi accompanied her inside as the door of the CT room slowly closed, enveloping the room in a slightly oppressive darkness. Yuhang obediently lay down and raised her arms. Fu Mingyi had accompanied her for such examinations before; he put on his radiation protective clothing and lifted Yuhang's right hand.

The sounds emanating from the machine had a futuristic quality, making her feel as if she were in a spaceship. She closed her eyes and followed the prompts to inhale and exhale. After a while, a bitter taste filled her nostrils, and her body began to feel feverish. She knew this was a normal reaction, but the discomfort she couldn't control made her subconsciously hook her finger around Fu Mingyi's.

The man didn't hesitate and intertwined his index finger with hers.

Once everything was over, she quickly withdrew her hand from his palm.

Fu Mingyi glanced at his empty hand with a faint expression.

Yuhang had only one thought-she needed to use the restroom.

Before the examination, she had to hold her urine, enduring it for a long time. Finally, when it was over, the first thing she did was to find the restroom. Fu Mingyi bought her some tissues and glanced at her pants. They were jeans with three buttons.

With the indwelling needle needing to stay for another twenty minutes for observation, she couldn't use her right hand with force.

Wearing such troublesome pants, he would probably have to wait for quite some time.

Yuhang followed his gaze and blurted out, "I can untie them."

After saying that, she froze in place.

Fu Mingyi chuckled softly, "Let me help you, it's fine."

Yuhang felt embarrassed and refused repeatedly, taking the tissues from him and fleeing.

Upon closer inspection, her ears turned red.

...

Fu Mingyi waited for her for ten minutes.

Yuhang came out of the restroom with a flushed face, the flush caused by the pants.

With one hand tied to the pants, which were three-buttoned jeans, it was too much of a challenge.

Fu Mingyi glanced at the time, commenting, "Let me help you."

"..."

Yuhang's face grew even redder. Fu Mingyi regretted what he had said; teasing a young girl really destroyed his image.

They prepared to return to the CT room for rest. With his tall stature and long legs, Fu Mingyi walked ahead, realizing after walking for over ten meters that no one was following him.

He turned back in surprise and saw the girl walking strangely, swinging her right foot back and forth.

Her shoelace had come undone.

As Yuhang swung her long shoelaces back and forth, she lamented never wanting to wear these shoes or this pair of pants again. Trying to tie shoelaces with one hand-she couldn't manage it even with ten more attempts.

Suddenly, another pair of leather shoes appeared in her line of sight.

His tall figure momentarily lowered, and his fingers touched her shoelace. "When did it come undone?"

"!!!"

Yuhang widened her eyes, startled, and took a few steps back, repeatedly saying, "No need, Mr. Fu, please stand up quickly, I can do it myself." She even used formal language.

Fu Mingyi didn't stand up; instead, he looked up with smiling eyes, "Then do it yourself, I'll watch."

Yuhang was flustered, "You, you should stand up first..."

She bent over to help him up, resembling an emperor assisted by a minister in ancient times.

Fu Mingyi wanted to grab her shoelace again.

Yuhang bit her lip and squatted down, struggling with her left hand and the two disobedient shoelaces, getting entangled with one, while the other escaped.

She tried for a long time, and Fu Mingyi watched for just as long.

With people coming and going in the lobby, they attracted a lot of attention to the two crouching figures.

Fu Mingyi felt like a monkey in a zoo. After Yuhang failed to tie the shoelaces for who knows how many times, he sighed softly, "If you had let me tie them earlier, we would have been done and removed the needle by now."

"..."

Yuhang stopped moving, suggesting another feasible solution, "I can go remove the needle first, then tie the shoelaces." Fu Mingyi: "..."

He wondered what she was hesitating about.

He said, "Stand up."

His voice was still calm, but it seemed like he was angry. Yuhang stood still for a moment, then got up.

Her calves felt a bit numb, and her knees were sore. She didn't know how long she had been trying.

This time, she didn't avoid Fu Mingyi's hand.

He lowered his head, and she could only see his thick, dark hair.

She was somewhat mesmerized and thought, did people who study mathematics have so much hair?

"Done."

He made a neat bow on her shoelaces, and finally, she could stand up. There was a small bulge on her knee where the pants had been squished due to squatting for too long.

He flicked his pants, but the bulge remained unchanged. Fu Mingyi found a step for himself to sit on. "It's not giving me face."

He added, "And you're not giving me face."

This was the first time he had helped someone tie shoelaces, and he had been rejected.

Yuhang wanted to nod but stopped herself. How could she accept Fu Mingyi, this kind of person, tying her shoelaces?

Just looking down at him made her feel uncomfortable and strange.

"I don't mean that," she tried to explain for herself, "I just feel that someone like you shouldn't-"

"Someone like me?"

Fu Mingyi repeated her words, his attitude becoming somewhat stern for the first time, "Yuhang, no matter what you think of me, first and foremost, I am your fiancé-"

He paused and added, "In name, at least."

Both sides knew the truth, which was suddenly brought to light by him. Yuhang froze in place, momentarily speechless.

"I just hope you don't feel any psychological burden," he said. Yuhang lacked someone to take care of her, and he happened to comply with his grandfather's wishes, offering her a helping hand. Bringing up the non-existent relationship of fiancé and fiancée was just a way to help her accept his kindness.

Yuhang rarely argued with him, so she simply nodded gently.

But she thought she would never accept Fu Mingyi helping her tie shoelaces in her next life.

...

Leaving the hospital, Yuhang pressed the hemostatic patch on her arm and followed Fu Mingyi to the parking lot.

Now both her hands were disabled. Fu Mingyi opened the car door for her and fastened her seatbelt.

When asked where she wanted to go, Yuhang said she wanted to go back.

After ensuring that the needle site wouldn't bleed, Yuhang took out her backpack and pulled out the student code of conduct manual.

Fu Mingyi glanced at her. "It's dark outside, and it's not good for your eyes. You can read it later."

The night was pitch black outside, and coupled with being inside the car, the debuff was at its maximum.

Yuhang showed no intention of putting it away. "I'm looking for something."

"Hmm?"

Yuhang had always been obedient to him, so her rebelliousness was rare.

Fu Mingyi was very safety-conscious, especially when driving at night. Unable to use the reading light inside the car, he reached for his phone and handed it to her. "Turn on the flashlight. The password is four zeros."

"...Thank you."

Yuhang unlocked his phone, afraid of pressing the wrong buttons. She turned on the flashlight and quickly locked the screen.

She spread the manual on her lap, reading under the light of the flashlight, scrutinizing each line.

On the third page, she came across a sentence: "Those involved in fights will receive corresponding penalties based on the severity of the situation. Those who initiate physical violence will receive the lightest punishment of being placed under school observation."

In an instant, she understood what Xie Yan meant by that remark.

The air inside the car suddenly felt thin, and she clenched her lips, flipping to the page on disciplinary points.

"Students will lose their monthly dormitory privileges for accumulating three points per month. Accumulating seven points per month will result in losing dormitory privileges for the entire semester."

Yuhang had just completed her dorm registration yesterday. "..."