On the mountainside road, the students were panting and exhausted, lying to the side. Ever since they lost two directionally challenged students during the last mountain run, the base had increased supervision and sent more soldiers to monitor the students’ running to prevent anyone from falling behind.

This meant that the chances of slacking off during the run had significantly decreased, and there was no opportunity to skip it.

The first students who had completed the run were resting at the finish line and not allowed to wander around until the last student arrived for the headcount. Lin Shiyu, after reaching the finish line, stretched his legs and stood in place, drinking water. He was so hot that he fanned himself by pulling at his collar, sweat dripped down his clavicle.

“I’m exhausted,” Tao Chen muttered as she moved slowly to find her own water, panting. Her cheeks were flushed from the run. She found her water bottle and opened it, took a sip, then turned to look at Lin Shiyu and said with a smile, “You ran pretty fast.”

The two of them stood in a shaded area, with lush trees and shrubs behind them. After finishing her water, Tao Chen took out a pack of tissues from her pocket but accidentally brought out a coin as well. The coin fell to the ground and rolled into the grass.

Tao Chen had no choice but to put away the tissues and walked into the bushes to search for the coin. After searching for a while, she muttered, “Where did it go?”

Lin Shiyu saw that she couldn’t find the coin after searching for a while, so he walked over, crouched down, and joined her in the search. Tao Chen looked at him with some surprise and then smiled, saying, “Thank you.”

“Hmm.” Lin Shiyu replied briefly, bending down to move aside the grass and search.

‘It should be around here somewhere. Where did it roll?’ Tao Chen wondered as she searched, and suddenly, in the midst of the grass, she noticed something. She reached out her hand and said, “What’s this?”

Lin Shiyu followed her gaze and immediately had a drastic change in expression.

“Don’t move!”

As he screamed, everyone turned to look. Zhong Qi and Ruan Zhikai, who had been drinking water not far from them, also turned their heads upon hearing the sound.

Tao Chen trembled as she held Lin Shiyu’s arm, her expression on the verge of tears. “What should we do, what should we do?”

“What’s going on?” Zhong Qi approached, half-kneeling to examine Lin Shiyu arm, which had two small blood spots with a bit of blood seeping out.

Tao Chen, with a pale face, explained, “He got bitten by a snake.”

At the same time, Ruan Zhikai, who rushed over, asked her, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, but Lin Shiyu…”

Lin Shiyu seemed a bit shaken too, sitting still on the ground.

Zhong Qi immediately started untying his shoelaces, not looking up as he spoke to the people around him. “Spread out. Go and inform the instructor.”

Ruan Zhikai turned to call for help. Someone nearby, with fear in their voice, asked, “How did he get bitten by a snake?”

Tao Chen answered, “It was a very small snake, brown in color, and it had circular patterns on its body. I didn’t notice it, but Lin Shiyu blocked it for me, and that’s how he got bitten.”

Instructor Chen approached impatiently. “It’s you, not again!”

Tao Chen quickly tried to explain, “No, it’s not. He blocked it to help me…”

Instructor Chen waved his hand impatiently and squatted down with his back to Lin Shiyu. “Hurry up, I’ll carry you to the hospital.”

Before Lin Shiyu could react, he was lifted up by Zhong Qi and placed on the instructor’s back.

Zhong Qi let go of his hand, stepped back, and watched as the instructor hurriedly ran down the hill with Lin Shiyu on his back.

Mao Silu and Gao Jie were shocked when they heard about this.

“Bitten by a poisonous snake?!” Gao Jie exclaimed loudly. “Is he okay?”

Zhong Qi said, “He should be fine. The instructor took him to the hospital.”

Mao Silu was deeply worried. “But getting bitten by a poisonous snake can be fatal!”

Ruan Zhikai gave him a slap on the back. “Calm down.”

When the dormitory teacher came to check that evening, Mao Silu hurriedly asked him about Lin Shiyu.

The teacher said they had administered antivenom, so he should be fine. They also contacted Lin Shiyu’s mother to take care of him at the hospital.

The next day, Lin Shiyu didn’t return to the base. During the evening military song practice, the dormitory teacher came to check on how they were doing and was stopped by Zhong Qi.

“Lin Shiyu won’t be coming back?” Zhong Qi asked.

“I expect he’ll be in the hospital until the end of military training,” the teacher said. “He needs to be on a drip for a few days. I just packed up his things and sent them to the hospital during the day.”

Since he was only in the hospital for a few days on a drip, it meant he was fine. Zhong Qi nodded and said, “I see.”

In the hospital, Lin Shiyu was eating with a spoon in his left hand while an IV drip hung from his right hand. Lin Hui sat by his bedside.

The meal was specially prepared by Lin Hui at home, and was light and delicious. Lin Hui glanced at the IV drip and asked Lin Shiyu, “You don’t feel uncomfortable anywhere, do you?”

Lin Shiyu took a quiet bite of shredded potatoes, finding the home-cooked meal much more appetizing than the cafeteria’s stew.

“I’m fine.”

Lin Hui gently touched Lin Shiyu’s head and said, “When I received the call that you were bitten by a snake, I was really frightened. Thankfully, your teachers and the instructor were responsible.”

As she leaned closer, a faint fragrance wafted from her body, and Lin Shiyu noticed the faint scratches on her neck had faded significantly.

After a moment of silence, Lin Shiyu asked, “How much is the medical bill?”

Lin Hui hesitated for a moment. “I have insurance, so it shouldn’t be much.”

However, Lin Shiyu knew that the insurance policy Lin Hui had purchased had a very low premium, and it wasn’t certain whether it would cover these expenses. Lin Shiyu remained silent for a while and then said, “Let’s go back today. Resting at home will be just as good.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. The doctor said you need to stay in the hospital,” Lin Hui scolded him, looking at him reproachfully. After a while, she showed a somewhat helpless expression and asked, “What’s more important, your health or money?”

Lin Shiyu fell silent.

“Which room is it?”

“Well, I remember it’s this one…”

 

Edited by: Jaisland

Proofreader: 

 

Support translation: