Xu Juan felt uneasy throughout the entire meal.

’Shen Yu is just completely throwing herself at him,’ she thought.

’Normally, she keeps a respectful distance from all the guys at school who try to hit on her.’

’But now?’

’Jiang He pours her a glass of water, and she just grins like an idiot.’

’And whenever she smiles, her eyes subconsciously dart over to Jiang He.’

’She’s being way too forward!’

’Girls like that never find happiness!’

’Men love easy targets like that, silly girls they can win over without even trying. Once the novelty wears off, they’ll just toss her aside like an old shoe.’

The more Xu Juan thought about it, the angrier she became. Even her gaze toward Jiang He grew extremely wary.

After dinner, Jiang He walked to the entrance of their private room and watched Xu Juan help Shen Yu with her crutches.

He knew exactly what Xu Juan was thinking right now.

Xu Juan’s hostility toward him was, at its core, born from her protectiveness of Shen Yu.

Far from being annoyed, Jiang He actually felt reassured.

’After I go back to Southern China, I’ll have to count on Xu Juan to take good care of her.’

Xu Juan and Shen Yu thanked him, then got into a taxi and left.

「Back at the Normal University dormitory」 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Xu Juan threw her bag onto a desk, pulled a chair to sit across from Shen Yu, and crossed her arms.

"Shen Xiaoyu, I need to give you a serious talk today. I know you think that Jiang He guy is handsome, smart, and caring, and you’ve really fallen for him, haven’t you?"

Shen Yu blushed and said nothing.

Xu Juan said in frustration, "But! As girls, we have to be reserved! Do you even know what ’reserved’ means?"

Shen Yu nodded awkwardly. "I-I do..."

"You don’t know a thing! If a girl is too forward, guys will look down on her! The more you cling to him, the cheaper he’ll think you are. The things they can’t have are always the most desirable. They never cherish what comes too easily!"

"But... he helped me so much yesterday..."

"Repaying a kindness is one thing, and throwing yourself at him is another. Don’t mix them up! In any case, starting right now, I’m setting some rules for you. First, you’re not allowed to get all dressed up to see him. Second, if he asks you out, you can’t say yes every time. You have to learn to refuse. And third... especially tonight, do not, under any circumstances, message him first! Do you hear me?"

Shen Yu blinked and nodded obediently. "Okay, okay. I know."

"That’s more like it." Xu Juan stood up and went to the communal washroom to get ready for bed.

In truth, Xu Juan didn’t actually want to break them up.

She just understood all too well how cruel the world could be.

She didn’t want Shen Yu to give her heart away without reserve before truly getting to know someone.

After they finished washing up, the two girls each climbed into their beds.

The dormitory lights went out. Shen Yu pulled her blanket up, took out her phone, and sent a message to Jiang He:

"Dr. Jiang, have you reached your hotel?"

The moment the message sent, a hand suddenly shot out from beside the bed and snatched her phone away.

"Hey!" Shen Yu cried out, sitting up abruptly. "My phone—!"

Xu Juan stood on the ladder between their bunk beds, letting out a cold sneer.

"Shen Xiaoyu, oh, Shen Xiaoyu, you’re just asking for it! Did the rules I just gave you go in one ear and out the other? ’Dr. Jiang, have you reached your hotel?’ Is that it? You want to send messages? I’ll show you sending messages!"

Xu Juan tossed the phone onto her own bed and started tickling Shen Yu.

"Ah! Juanzi, I was wrong! I won’t do it again!" Shen Yu shrieked with laughter, trying to squirm away.

"Too late for apologies now! You traitor, choosing boys over your best friend!"

The two girls roughhoused playfully on the narrow single bed.

When they had had enough, Xu Juan breathlessly climbed back to her own bed.

She stared at the ceiling, silently plotting.

’Tomorrow, I’ll go to the hospital for a check-up.’

’That Jiang He sounded so serious. I’ll find out if he was just talking big or if he actually knows what he’s talking about as soon as I get the results.’

’If he was just spouting nonsense, just watch me expose his true colors when I get back. Then Shen Xiaoyu will have to give up on him.’

「The next morning」

Xu Juan yanked the blanket off Shen Yu.

"Get up, get up! You’re coming to the hospital with me!"

Shen Yu mumbled sleepily, "Why are we going to the hospital? My foot is already much better..."

"It’s not for your foot, you’re coming with me for a check-up. Get dressed, stop dawdling! I won’t be able to rest easy until I prove that guy’s a liar!"

The real reason, however, was that Xu Juan couldn’t leave Shen Yu alone in the dormitory.

’What if I leave, and the next thing I know, she’s limping off to find Jiang He? I have to keep her tethered to my side.’

Shen Yu had no choice but to get out of bed obediently.

Not wanting to run into her father, Xu Juan deliberately chose Peking University Third Hospital, which was a bit farther away.

By the time they arrived at Peking University Third Hospital, it was already 8:30 AM.

Xu Juan got lucky. It wasn’t especially crowded today, but she still had to wait in line for two hours just to register for a general consultation in the nephrology department.

The nephrology department was on the third floor of the outpatient building, and the stainless-steel benches lining the hallway were packed with people.

They waited another half hour for her number to be called.

Finally, it was Xu Juan’s turn.

The attending physician was a middle-aged woman with glasses.

She asked Xu Juan a few simple questions about her symptoms, then picked up a ballpoint pen, scribbled on a lab request form, tore it off, and handed it to her.

"Go get a urinalysis and a kidney function blood panel first. Bring the results back to me when they’re ready. The blood draw requires fasting. You haven’t eaten this morning, have you?"

"No, I haven’t."

Xu Juan took the form.

Paying the fee, getting her blood drawn, providing a urine sample.

After completing the tedious process, all that was left was a long wait.

Xu Juan and Shen Yu sat on the benches outside the lab.

"Juanzi, I’m sure you’re fine," Shen Yu said comfortingly, holding Xu Juan’s hand. "Dr. Jiang probably just made a mistake. He’s only a student, after all."

Xu Juan snorted. "Of course I am! My dad’s a director at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and even he didn’t notice anything. What could a student possibly see? When the results come back completely normal, I’m going to make him apologize to me!"

By the afternoon, the dot-matrix printer next to the lab window finally ground to life with a RASPING noise.

"Xu Juan! Xu Juan’s report is ready!" a nurse called from inside.

Xu Juan hurried over and took the still-warm printout from the window.

She couldn’t make sense of any of it.

She took it back to the doctor. "Doctor, the results are back."

The middle-aged doctor took the lab report. Her expression turned serious after a single glance.

She looked up, studied Xu Juan’s complexion carefully, and then spoke.

"3+ proteinuria, 2+ hematuria, and your serum creatinine levels are also elevated."

"Doctor, what... what does that mean?" Shen Yu, who had followed her in, asked nervously.

The doctor sighed and looked at Xu Juan. "Young lady, it’s a good thing you came in for an examination when you did. Otherwise, this would be a much bigger problem."

"For a young woman your age to show these results, we have to suspect glomerulonephritis, and we also need to rule out autoimmune diseases like lupus... Based on these numbers, your kidneys have already sustained substantive damage, which is causing a massive protein leak. You must have been experiencing symptoms like lower back pain and fatigue. How could you not have taken it seriously?"

Xu Juan: "?"

Shen Yu quickly asked, "Doctor, what do we do now?"

"You need to be admitted to the hospital immediately. We have to perform a renal biopsy as soon as possible to determine the specific pathological type, and then start you on steroids or immunosuppressants. If you let this drag on and allow the proteinuria to continue, it’s only a matter of time before it develops into uremia. By then, your only options will be dialysis or a kidney transplant."

Uremia.

A kidney transplant.

To two nineteen-year-old college students, those words were like a bolt from the blue.

Xu Juan stood frozen in place, a chill running through her limbs.

If Jiang He hadn’t made that bet and pushed her to come to the hospital, she would have never taken this seriously.

Knowing her personality, even if she felt tired or got swollen, she would have just toughed it out until her body completely gave out.

Shen Yu, standing nearby, looked at the doctor in utter shock before turning her gaze to Xu Juan.

’How could it be this serious?’

’Jiang He... He just glanced at her once during dinner and accurately diagnosed Juanzi’s condition. He’s incredible...’

’We really owe him for this one!’

"You need to be admitted for the renal biopsy as soon as possible, but I don’t have any available beds right now. I’ll write you an admission order so you can get on the waiting list. You need to call your family right away to come help you sort this out."

Xu Juan numbly took the order.

For the first time, she seemed to have lost her nerve. She turned her head and asked, "Yu’er, what... what do we do now?"

Shen Yu answered without a moment’s hesitation. "Call your dad. We’re transferring you to Peking Union Medical College Hospital!"