The next day, Li Yundong skipped his morning classes, purchased some fruit, and headed straight for the First Municipal People's Hospital.

As he neared the hospital, Li Yundong happened to notice someone selling small pets by the roadside. He couldn't help but pause to watch for a moment. After a brief thought, he took out some money, bought a pair of hamsters, and hurried toward the hospital with the cage in hand.

Just as he stepped into the inpatient building, a robust nurse yelled at him, "Hey, hey! No pets allowed inside! You—hey, I'm talking to you! What's the meaning of this?"

Li Yundong froze, pointing at himself. "Me?"

The nurse said brusquely, "Nonsense. Is there someone else here? Where do you think you are, bringing pets in?"

Li Yundong feigned difficulty. "Then where am I supposed to leave them?"

The nurse turned her head, pointed to a spot, and said, "Take them to the storage there!" But when she turned back, Li Yundong was nowhere in sight.

Having evaded the nurse, Li Yundong no longer strode boldly toward the ward. He carefully concealed the cage behind him.

Arriving at Zhou Qin’s room, Li Yundong saw her lying in bed, sipping slow-cooked congee spoonful by spoonful.

Beside her, Zhou Keqiang watched her with eyes full of both affection and sorrow.

The moment Li Yundong entered, Zhou Qin’s gaze followed him. A flash of pure joy erupted in her eyes, but it was quickly and skillfully masked, replaced by a coldness capable of freezing a man’s very bones.

Seeing him arrive, Zhou Keqiang coughed lightly and said to Zhou Qin, "I need to step out for a moment. You two chat."

Li Yundong entered the room, first setting down the cage he held and the Seven Treasures Spiritual Fan strapped to his back. He greeted Zhou Qin with a smile.

Zhou Qin, however, was having none of it. She said coldly, "Didn't I tell you not to come back here?"

Li Yundong offered a slight smile. "You're my friend; how could I not come?"

"Friend?" Zhou Qin let out a cold laugh, then suddenly laughed self-mockingly. "Do I even have friends anymore? Hahaha!"

Li Yundong looked at her with softening features. He picked up a knife from the table, took an apple, and without asking if she wanted any, began peeling it himself, asking as he worked, "How could you not? Am I not your friend?"

Zhou Qin sneered, "You better think carefully about what you say. Right now, I’m like a plague carrier; everyone avoids me."

Li Yundong smiled gently. "The whole world can avoid you, but I cannot! You ended up like this because of me. If I also shun you, what difference would there be between me and that brute, He Shao?"

Zhou Qin paused, the coldness in her eyes softening momentarily, but it quickly returned to ice. She said icily, "That’s none of your business. This was my choice, and it has nothing to do with you! Are you here to see me fail, to mock me?"

Li Yundong understood that Zhou Qin, usually a proud princess carried high, had suddenly been cast into the dust, and she surely couldn't process it yet. He smiled and said, "Don't say so much. Here, have an apple."

Seeing that Li Yundong completely ignored her harsh words, Zhou Qin couldn't help but snap in anger, "I don't want an apple!"

Li Yundong chuckled, "Then what do you want to eat?"

When Zhou Qin saw Li Yundong’s faint smile, she felt an inexplicable pain, as if sharp needles were pricking her heart. She desperately wanted to explode like a shrew, hurl the ugliest words, use the most damaging and humiliating vocabulary to drive this young man away.

Yet, the words lodged in her throat, refusing to come out. Deep inside her, a faint voice echoed: If I truly chase him away, and he never returns, what then?

Zhou Qin gritted her teeth. She pointed at the fruit basket beside her and declared, "I want a banana!"

Li Yundong quickly fetched her a banana and peeled it, but Zhou Qin snatched it, threw it to the ground without a second glance, and snapped, "I want a pear!"

Li Yundong faltered for a second, but quickly realized: This girl is turning things around, throwing a tantrum!

Li Yundong smiled. "Alright, alright." He then went to get a pear.

Zhou Qin announced, "I don't want it with the skin on!"

Li Yundong laughed. "Fine, I’ll peel it for you!"

He finished peeling the pear and handed it to Zhou Qin. She grabbed it, then immediately tossed it to the ground again. "I want a banana!"

Li Yundong looked at the peeled pear lying on the floor. His expression was calm, unmoving.

Zhou Qin assumed he was angry because he hadn't moved, so she sneered, "What? You can't handle it already? If you can't, then just leave. I don't want to see you!"

Li Yundong finally turned his face toward her, smiled, said nothing, picked up another banana, peeled it, and offered it to her.

Seeing his demeanor, Zhou Qin somehow grew even angrier. She snatched it and threw it to the floor once more, then glared petulantly at Li Yundong. "I want pineapple!"

Li Yundong smiled, turned, and went to fetch the pineapple. After peeling it, he handed it to Zhou Qin. True to form, Zhou Qin snatched the pineapple and hurled it toward the outside of the room, shouting loudly at the same time, "I want a banana!"

The pineapple landed with a loud thud outside, startling the patients and nurses in the hallway who cried out, "Hey! What are you doing in there? Don't throw fruit around!"

Zhou Qin roared, "What are you shouting about? It’s my fruit; I can throw it if I want! Who are you to judge?"

In those days, the aggressive feared the reckless, and the reckless feared the desperate. Zhou Qin's shout silenced the outside instantly.

Li Yundong chuckled. "Well, that was quite a fearsome roar."

Zhou Qin sneered, "Yes, I’m a shrew with the roar of the East River Lioness. Are you only meeting me for the first time today?"

Li Yundong murmured agreement, nodding. Then he turned around again, glanced somewhere, turned back, and said with a look of genuine grievance, "We're out of bananas!"

Zhou Qin was initially furious when Li Yundong actually nodded in agreement, but seeing his wronged expression as he declared the bananas gone, she almost burst out laughing. She quickly suppressed it, maintaining her icy expression. "Then I want a peach!"

Li Yundong was caught between laughter and tears. "Where would we get peaches this time of year?"

Zhou Qin insisted, her face stern. "I don't care! I want a peach!"

Li Yundong sighed, picked an apple from the fruit basket, and sat by the bed with his legs crossed, humming a little tune while peeling it for himself.

Seeing him diligently peeling the apple, Zhou Qin couldn't hold back her anger. "I said I want a peach!"

Li Yundong hummed an "Mm-hmm," nodding, but remained utterly still, continuing to hum and peel the apple skin.

At his casualness, Zhou Qin’s eyebrows shot up in fury. "Are you deaf? I want a peach!"

Li Yundong slowly finished peeling the apple, tossed the skin into the trash, and then deliberately took a loud bite. He looked at Zhou Qin with an expression of feigned confusion. "Did I say this was peeled for you to eat?"

Zhou Qin blinked, instinctively feeling a smile tug at her lips, but she immediately suppressed it. Her eyes widened as she prepared to flare up, when suddenly a loud shout came from outside the door. "Well, well! I wondered which rascal was causing trouble here—it turns out it’s you!"

Li Yundong turned to see the hefty nurse from downstairs standing in the doorway, hands on her hips, sleeves rolled up, ready to storm into the room with menace.

Li Yundong stood up, waving his hands frantically. "Don't come in!"

The plump nurse scoffed, "You tell me not to come in and I won't? Who do you think you are..."

She didn't finish her sentence. Her foot suddenly landed on the banana Zhou Qin had tossed on the floor. With a slip, she pitched forward like a falling mountain, landing flat on her back in a wide split, shaking the ground. Her shoe flew off her foot and smacked heavily against her own face.

Only then did Li Yundong speak, his face a mixture of genuine distress and feigned sympathy. "I told you not to come in!"

Zhou Qin could no longer contain herself and burst into loud laughter. After just a couple of chortles, she noticed Li Yundong looking at her. Zhou Qin immediately stiffened her face, but the stern look didn't last long. Seeing the stout nurse cursing and struggling to pull herself up from the floor, the comical sight made her erupt in another burst of laughter.

Zhou Qin simply couldn't stop giggling, and unwilling to let Li Yundong see her laugh, she snatched the pillow from behind her head and covered her face, shaking uncontrollably with mirth.

The plump nurse clambered up, pointing at Li Yundong and roaring like an enraged beast. "You bastard! Did you deliberately throw that banana on the floor?"

Li Yundong put on a sheepish smile. "Don't jump, don't jump! Be careful you don't slip again!"

The nurse had taken a nasty fall this time. She glanced fearfully at the floor beneath her feet. This sight made Zhou Qin, who had finally managed to stifle her laughter and lift the pillow, let out another "Pfft!"

The nurse felt utterly humiliated, but she couldn't lose her temper with a patient. A crowd had gathered outside, pointing and stifling their laughter. She was furious and enraged, momentarily forgetting the issue of Li Yundong bringing in a pet. Damn those gossips for sending me to deal with this nonsense! They clearly meant trouble. I’m done!

With that thought, she stamped her foot, angrily spat out a parting shot—"You just wait!"—and then rumbled out of the room like a rolling mass of flesh.

Seeing her gone, Li Yundong chuckled silently. He used the broom in the room to sweep up the scattered fruit and dumped it into the trash can.

After stopping her laughter, Zhou Qin kept her face buried in the pillow, only her eyes visible. As she watched Li Yundong busying himself around the room, her gaze couldn't help but soften.

When Li Yundong finished tidying up and looked toward her, Zhou Qin suddenly looked away in a panic. But quickly realizing her reaction, she glared fiercely back at him.

Li Yundong smiled. "Why are you glaring at me? What fruit do you want next?"

Zhou Qin said resentfully, "I want a peach!"

Li Yundong made an "Oh," then turned and slowly began peeling another apple from the fruit basket.

Zhou Qin saw this and instantly felt a surge of rage. She said bitterly, "Why are you only peeling one for yourself? Who is the patient here?"

Li Yundong merely nodded an "Mm-hmm," without speaking, still casually sitting with his legs crossed, peeling the apple skin while humming his little tune.

Seeing him like this, Zhou Qin was so angry she threw the pillow she was holding onto his face; her own face had gone white with rage.

When Li Yundong finished peeling the apple, he pulled the peel back as if presenting a trophy, smiling, "Ta-da! A freshly peeled, top-grade apple!"

Zhou Qin sneered and closed her eyes, thinking: He's definitely peeling it for himself again. Trying to play tricks on me?

But shortly after closing her eyes, she suddenly felt something cool and damp touch her lips. Zhou Qin opened her eyes to see Li Yundong smiling gently at her, speaking softly, "There are no peaches right now, only one peeled apple. Can you make do with it for now? I'll buy you more next year, alright?"

In Zhou Qin's memory, Li Yundong had never spoken to her like this. When he was polite to her, it was merely out of etiquette and propriety; he had never spoken with such tenderness.

Zhou Qin stared blankly at Li Yundong, momentarily lost in a daze.

Seeing she didn't react, Li Yundong said, "No? If you don't want it, I'll toss it." He made a move to throw it away.

But Zhou Qin snapped back to attention, snatching the apple fiercely. As if letting out her frustration, she took a huge, sharp bite, biting her tongue in the process because the mouthful was too large.

The sweetness of the apple mixed with the salty tang of fresh blood, causing Zhou Qin to think in her heart: Is this the taste of love? After all I've done for him, can I finally earn one apple peeled by his own hands?

Thinking this, tears welled up in Zhou Qin's eyes and began to fall. She continued biting the apple, murmuring indistinctly through the food, "Li Yundong, you're annoying. You're truly annoying!"