"Glad you ate, come in." Feng Yan gestured towards the hospital room.
"Okay," Mu Anxiao replied and walked into the room alongside Feng Feng.
"Dad, my brother's friend is here," Feng Feng said, looking down at Feng Ba, who was sitting on the sofa.
Hearing this, Feng Ba looked up at Mu Anxiao, "Hello."
"Hello," Mu Anxiao greeted and turned to Feng Qishi, who was lying in bed, "He'll be alright, please don't worry."
"Did he scare you?" Feng Ba suddenly asked as he stood up.
Mu Anxiao, not immediately understanding, looked at Feng Ba and blinked.
Seeing Mu Anxiao's slow reaction, Feng Feng said, "My dad means, did my brother suddenly jumping from up there scare you?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Anxiao glanced at Feng Feng, then quickly looked back at Feng Ba and said, "I was startled, but I'm relieved that he's okay."
"You and Qishi must be very close," Feng Ba suddenly said again.
This time, Mu Anxiao made an effort not to appear slow on the uptake and replied, "No, my relationship with him is very ordinary. Perhaps it's precisely because of this ordinary relationship that he doesn't guard against me."
"Guard against?" Feng Ba questioned.
Mu Anxiao didn't know why she had uttered those words. Looking at the confused expression on Feng Ba's face, she thought for a moment and said, "I mean, because my relationship with him is ordinary, he doesn't guard against me and lets me follow. It's just that..." She bit her lip. "I'm sorry, he doesn't tell me anything. If I had been more observant, perhaps this tragedy wouldn't have happened."
Seeing Mu Anxiao's self-reproach, Feng Ba quickly said, "No, it has nothing to do with you. Qishi has never liked making friends since he was young, especially outside of family. He never interacts with the opposite sex outside. I've noticed that he has indeed changed a lot since you arrived. If it's possible," he paused, then continued, "when Qishi wakes up, could you help me guide him?"
"This..." Mu Anxiao listened to Feng Ba's sincere request and, thinking about the approaching days, hesitated before saying, "I'll try. But if he doesn't listen to me, I can't do anything."
"As long as you agree, I'll be grateful no matter the outcome," Feng Ba said, his raised heart finally at ease.
Mu Anxiao could see that Feng Ba's concern for Feng Qishi was far greater than that of his mother, who was always targeting him. Especially looking at Feng Ba's still sincere eyes, she thought of Feng Qishi, and her own raised heart also settled.
Feng Yan smiled, "Thank you."
"It's nothing," Mu Anxiao replied politely to Feng Yan.
Feng Feng laughed, "I think you two could get together."
"Get together for what?" Mu Anxiao asked, confused.
"I think you should just be my brother's girlfriend. Anyway, I feel like, apart from you, he'll never find anyone else in this life," Feng Feng said.
"I don't understand what you're talking about," Mu Anxiao said directly.
Feng Feng's mouth twitched, "Do you dislike my brother that much?"
"It's not exactly dislike, I just don't understand what you're saying," Mu Anxiao replied, then turned to the bedside and looked at Feng Qishi's closed eyes, sighing.
"Why are you sighing?" Feng Feng asked.
Mu Anxiao said, "I can't figure it out."
"Can't figure out what?" Feng Feng walked up to Mu Anxiao.
Mu Anxiao continued to stare at Feng Qishi's face, saying, "I can't figure out why he's unwilling to interact with the opposite sex."
"I don't know. Since he was young, apart from me and relatives, he barely speaks to any other women. Of course, he's not completely shut off; if people talk to him, he'll respond, but it's just too..." Feng Feng couldn't find the right word and scratched his face, pausing for a few seconds before exclaiming, "He's just too reserved."
"Isn't being reserved good?" Mu Anxiao frowned.
"It's not bad, it's just that feeling. It's like he's swallowed a fly and it's stuck," Feng Feng swallowed, "stuck in his throat, making it very uncomfortable for the observer."
"Elaborate," Mu Anxiao prompted.
"Specifically, let me think!" Feng Feng said, looking down at Feng Qishi's face, lost in thought.
Mu Anxiao gazed at Feng Feng's profile, blinking.
Then, Feng Feng's eyes lit up, and he quickly looked at Mu Anxiao, saying, "One time, after school, a girl suddenly called out to me... brother, and then..."
That day, after Feng Qishi was called, the girl quickly ran up to him. Feng Qishi looked at her defensively and took a step back, asking, "What do you want?"
"Um," the girl looked at Feng Qishi for a moment, then said, "You dropped something." As she spoke, she handed Feng Qishi his pencil case.
"How did my pencil case get to you?" Feng Qishi asked, snatching the pencil case and taking another step back.
"Why are you backing away?" the girl asked, looking down at Feng Qishi's feet.
"It's impolite for you to look at my feet like that," Feng Qishi changed the subject.
The girl's expression stiffened. She looked up at Feng Qishi and smiled wryly, "I'm your classmate. I've been observing you for a long time, and I've noticed that you're different from other male classmates. You..."
"You are different too," Feng Qishi suddenly said.
The girl, surprised by Feng Qishi's words, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and asked gently, "Then tell me, how am I different?"
"Most girls are clean; you are not," Feng Qishi stated directly.
The girl's face immediately changed, but thinking Feng Qishi was the boy she liked, she endured and asked, "Then tell me, how am I not clean?"
"If I'm not mistaken, the chili on your teeth is from lunch," Feng Qishi said, pointing to the girl's exposed teeth.
Upon hearing Feng Qishi's words, the girl's expression turned instantly awkward, "Are you sick?"
"Yes, I'm sick, but not as sick as you," Feng Qishi said, then walked past the girl.
The girl stood stunned, then closed her eyes helplessly. She took a small mirror from her pocket, looked at her teeth, and shouted,
"Feng Qishi, is it fun to reject me with such a cheap trick?" With that, she threw the mirror to the ground.
Hearing this, Mu Anxiao glanced at Feng Qishi's sleeping face and asked, "Did her teeth have any chili on them?"
Feng Feng's face froze, and he asked, "No, that's what you're focusing on?"
Feng Yan, hearing Mu Anxiao's silly question, couldn't help but laugh.
Feng Ba also laughed openly.
Hearing the laughter of Feng Ba and Feng Yan, Feng Feng turned and asked, "Brother, Dad, what are you laughing at?"
"I'm laughing at you. You've been telling this story since middle school and you're still not tired of it," Feng Yan said, giving a thumbs-up. "Impressive."