1
Last week, my dad suddenly had a hemorrhoid flare-up.
He was so uncomfortable he couldn’t sit still.
After two days of eating only porridge, he just couldn’t take it anymore.
“I need surgery!” my dad cried out in pain.
But on the second day after the operation—
“Ahhh!!!” My dad wailed in the hospital bathroom, “I’m never having hemorrhoid surgery again, never!!”
I was chatting with my best friend, and she was gossiping about some strange news.
Apparently, mind-reading was becoming contagious.
I laughed so hard—what a story idea!
But my dad’s cries distracted me, so I called my mom to hurry over.
The patient in the next bed hadn’t shown up at all.
But as a girl, it wasn’t convenient for me to stay alone.
When my dad finally came out of the bathroom, his face was pale as a sheet, like he’d just survived a marathon.
As my mom was about to arrive,
I turned to head toward the door.
Suddenly, a boy walked in.
He had black hair and dark eyes, his expression indifferent.
He tilted his head, holding his phone between his shoulder and ear, talking on the phone,
His hand fumbled with the buttons on his hospital gown, but he was buttoning them all wrong. The ill-fitting hospital gown made him look impatient.
I almost cried out, “!!?”
Isn’t this Ryan Lee, the legendary senior from the class next door?!
2
I shifted my body to the side, afraid of bumping into him.
After all, this handsome guy in a hospital gown was notorious at school for his bad temper.
I heard that last semester, he got a major demerit because a few boys from another school came to his class to chase after the school beauty, Ivy Qin. One of them even put his foot up on Ryan Lee’s desk.
When Ryan came back, he immediately picked up a chair and threw it right at them.
Those muscular guys from the other school couldn’t even beat Ryan alone.
One of them got his head split open and had to stay in the hospital for half a month. He even threatened to sue Ryan.
But Ryan’s family was rich, so after a couple of days, everything went quiet.
Still, because the fight was so serious, the school gave Ryan a major demerit.
Ryan kept his eyes down, focused on buttoning his hospital gown, not even glancing at me as he walked straight past to the bed next to mine.
That’s when it hit me.
Ryan Lee had hemorrhoid surgery?!!
This shocking and juicy fact was hard to believe.
I felt a mix of emotions—surprised, but also a little amused.
Surprised that such a handsome guy would have hemorrhoids at such a young age.
Amused because, apparently, even good-looking guys can get hemorrhoids—just like even the prettiest girls have to go to the bathroom.
Suddenly, I felt comforted. Maybe God really is fair.
I mean, I don’t have a particularly beautiful face, but at least I have an interesting soul.
And I don’t have hemorrhoids—ha!
Just as I was about to make a quick escape from the hospital room, the boy who had just walked past me suddenly turned his head and called out to me.
His voice was low, cool, and a little distant:
“Hengyang High, right?” (the name of my school)
3
Oh no.
I was still wearing my school uniform.
Now that the big boss knew someone had found out his secret, was he thinking about silencing me?
I stopped in my tracks, but didn’t turn around.
I lowered my voice, trying to fool him: “No, this is my sister’s uniform. I go to Sanshui High.”
He didn’t say anything after that. I thought I’d managed to trick him and was about to slip away,
when suddenly I heard a cold laugh.
“Your sister’s? Who are you trying to fool with that nonsense?”
Why was he being so rude?
I turned around, already wearing a mask, and mumbled, “I’m not lying, I swear.”
Ryan had already finished fixing his hospital gown. The oversized gown looked a bit baggy,
but with his broad shoulders and long legs, he somehow made the ugly hospital clothes look just right—
almost stylish, like some wild model who just threw on a striped pajama set.
Without any embarrassment, Ryan sat down on his hospital bed and started taking off his pants.
My eyes nearly popped out of my head: “!!!!!”
Ryan changed into his pants and stood up straight.
For a split second, I caught a glimpse of his abs when his shirt lifted up—a set of perfectly toned muscles.
Wow.
That kind of body must have taken at least ten years of sports to build!
If I, Lily Wang, could trade one day of my life just to look at it again, I would!
After Ryan finished changing, he finally had time to lift his eyelids and glance at me.
But this time, I could clearly feel he was considering silencing me.
He paused for a moment, then said, “If you dare to tell anyone about me being in the hospital…”
“Uh—”
Just then, my dear father started snoring loudly at just the right moment.