Chapter 7: His Name Is Cheng Xingye

As he spoke, his chin hovered just above her head. The sharp lines of his Adam’s apple were especially pronounced, moving up and down as he talked.

Lu Qingyue stared at his Adam’s apple for a few seconds before shifting her gaze up to his face.

Seeing that the girl seemed none the worse for wear, Lu Yi waved his hand, dismissing the crowd and leaving only himself and the two main culprits behind who had caused the stray ball.

“What’s wrong? Did the hit leave you silly?” Cheng Xingye raised his hand and waved it in front of her eyes.

His long, slender fingers passed before her eyes, while the other hand still held her arm, as if afraid she might collapse again.

His palm pressed against her skin, warm and slightly rough in a distinctly masculine way—foreign, but not unpleasant.

Lu Qingyue belatedly realized she’d been hit hard enough that her head was still spinning.

Hearing Lu Yi’s words, she immediately took them to heart, her eyes widening in alarm.

“Wow… can you really turn silly from this?”

She was only sixteen! If she became stupid, how would she ever find a boyfriend?

Lu Yi snorted, cutting her off before she could squeeze out any tears.

“What are you thinking? Weren’t you silly enough before? Don’t go blaming others for everything!”

Lu Qingyue: “…Could you just stop talking if you can’t say anything nice?”

Her head was still throbbing from the hit, and now, on top of that, she had to withstand her brother’s relentless verbal assaults. She was both physically and emotionally battered, her face full of pent-up grievances.

Cheng Xingye watched her aggrieved little face, a faint sense of anxiety rising inexplicably within him.

He had no little sister, and the girls he usually interacted with were all around his own age. He really didn’t know how to comfort a girl this age.

He tentatively touched her forehead, his voice gentle and apologetic.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t notice someone was here. Should we go to the hospital? Don’t worry, I’ll take responsibility.”

What?

Why are you so eager to take responsibility for me?

Lu Qingyue suddenly looked up, her bright, watery eyes locking onto his.

She instantly caught something significant in his words. Not even half a second later, her eyes widened.

“That ball just now—was it you who hit it?”

“What did I ever do to you, that you’d hit me with a ball?”

She was livid!

She hadn’t even had a chance to settle the score with him for tattling to Lu Yi last time, and now he’d come to her again?

Before Cheng Xingye could explain, Lu Qingyue, deciding to go all out, covered her forehead in mock distress and put on a pained expression.

“Wuwu… my head’s spinning, I feel awful. If I don’t go to the hospital, I might not make it…”

Lu Yi had been hit by a ball before, and seeing that her forehead was only slightly red and she could still talk and cry, he knew she was fine.

He sighed helplessly, exposing her exaggerated acting without mercy.

“Alright, enough. With such a minor injury, the wound would heal if we waited another two minutes.”

As he spoke, his eyes drifted to a certain silent someone standing nearby, and he said testily,

“Besides, you can’t blame him entirely! If Lu Ming hadn’t raised his hand to block it, it wouldn’t have hit your head at all.”

Lu Ming, who’d been standing there blankly, was taken aback to find himself involved.

“I didn’t see anyone there either! And Lu Dot, you saw us playing ball—why didn’t you walk around?”

Lu Qingyue, annoyed that both her brother and cousin were siding with her “enemy,” snorted in protest. Still fuming about Cheng Xingye’s tattling, she clung to the issue relentlessly.

“I was just walking along, how was I to know your ball skills were so bad you could hit me from so far away? Sure, I look fine now, but who knows if I have some internal injury? What if my brain really is damaged?”

Lu Yi raised an eyebrow, staring at the stubborn girl, and replied with mock seriousness,

“The fact that you can say that makes it quite possible your brain is damaged.”

Lu Qingyue: “…”

What did she do in a past life to deserve a brother like this!

Lu Yi figured it was no big deal; he’d been hit by balls before, and a good night’s sleep was usually enough to recover.

But Cheng Xingye seemed a bit anxious.

After all, she wasn’t his real sister. If anything really happened, he’d have to take responsibility for the girl.

He stared at her reddened forehead for a few seconds, then gently put his arm around her shoulders and nudged her forward.

“Let’s go to the hospital anyway, just in case.”

The thin fabric of her shirt barely muted the warmth of his hand, but before she could react, the touch was gone.

Cheng Xingye lowered his hand, turned to the edge of the court, and bent down to pick up his phone.

Lu Yi thought it wasn’t a bad idea; a check-up would set everyone’s mind at ease. So, the three of them took the unlucky victim and drove to the affiliated hospital of Jiang University nearby.

…

“An MRI? Is that really necessary?”

Lu Qingyue stared at the doctor in disbelief.

The doctor, after a brief examination and finding nothing serious, suggested that if they were concerned, an MRI would show whether there was any cranial injury.

Lu Qingyue watched in a daze as Lu Yi deftly scanned the code at the self-service payment kiosk and paid the fee.

“Wait, is it really that serious? Won’t a little observation in the hospital be enough?”

Lu Yi, holding the examination form the doctor had given him, pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

“You’re the one who said your head hurts and you’re dizzy. The only way to check for any cranial injury is to do an MRI.”

Lu Qingyue had only wanted to scare Cheng Xingye a little, but now, faced with such a complicated examination, she started to lose her nerve.

“I think… maybe I’m not that dizzy anymore.”

Lu Yi wasn’t moved. Holding the exam slip in one hand, he used the other to push her firmly toward the examination room.

“You’ve been hit by a ball, the fee’s been paid, and you’re already here.”

Mid-sentence, he suddenly bent down with a laugh, tilted his chin toward the hallway, and said,

“Besides, didn’t you say you wanted him to take responsibility?”

Lu Qingyue paused, following his gaze to see Cheng Xingye leaning lazily against the wall, carelessly texting someone.

She thought to herself that such a minor injury hardly required his “responsibility.”

But since Lu Yi had already paid, he clearly wouldn’t rest until she’d been through the scan. Unable to resist, she pondered for a moment, then asked,

“By the way, bro, what’s his name?”

Lu Yi narrowed his eyes, instantly suspicious of his scheming sister.

“Why do you want to know? Planning to force him to marry you? For such a tiny injury… can’t you just let it go?”

Lu Qingyue frowned in annoyance and sighed.

“What are you talking about! If something really does happen to me, I should at least know the name of the culprit, shouldn’t I?”

Lu Yi studied her for a few seconds, as if trying to discern whether she was up to something, and then warned her again.

“You’re sure you don’t have any designs on him? I have to remind you, he’s both a player and a dog. Don’t get yourself burned.”

Lu Qingyue thought, if he’s such a player and a dog, why not just change his name to “Seal.”

She paid her brother’s warning no mind—after all, she was only pretending to be dizzy to scare him a little. How could she possibly get herself into trouble?

So she replied offhandedly,

“What designs could I possibly have? Besides, I’m old enough to know how to protect myself.”

Lu Yi regarded her for a few seconds, thoughtful.

A sixteen-year-old girl couldn’t be completely clueless.

But Lu Qingyue, though sheltered by her family all her life, was more clear-sighted and straightforward than anyone.

He suddenly felt she probably had no real designs on Cheng Xingye. After all, after sixteen years of living with him, she was probably immune to handsome faces.

With that thought, he realized his suspicions had been a bit overblown. He patted her head.

“His name is Cheng Xingye. Got it?”