I'm a senior in high school, and the Emperor Development System has arrived!

A red hydrogen balloon, trailing a golden ribbon, crashed into the high dome of the auditorium.

As the last note faded into the air, the group performance segment of the senior high school coming-of-age ceremony finally came to a close.

"Withdraw! Withdraw! Withdraw!"

Li Bin sprang up from the last row of chairs like a monkey whose tail had been stepped on:

"If we don't leave now, the cafeteria will only have sweet and sour pork left, no pork tenderloin!"

"No hurries."

Stephen Chow slowly and methodically picked up the glow sticks that had fallen to the ground:

"Didn't you see the homeroom teachers still giving 'friendly reminders' at the door? You want to get yourself into trouble?"

Chen Zhou leaned back in his chair, stretching out his long legs and bracing them against the chair legs in front of him, waiting to leave.

The coming-of-age ceremony performance ended close to lunchtime, but we were free to do whatever we wanted at school in the afternoon.

Today's main task is to take all the photos for the graduation yearbook.

Then pay 40 yuan.

You'll have a commemorative album of your youth when you graduate.

The corridor outside the auditorium had become a sea of ​​people.

The boys and girls gathered in small groups, their faces still showing excitement and fatigue from the performance.

Some people were exchanging gifts, some were excitedly discussing the show they had just watched, and others were holding up their phones and making faces at the camera.

Li Bin nudged Chen Zhou with his elbow and looked at Bai Qianqian:
"The violin piece that Mr. Bai played just now, was it 'Zigeunerweisen's Song'? It gave me goosebumps all over, not from a cold feeling, but from something truly inspiring!"

Stephen Chow added, his tone carrying a professional commentary tone:
"There are some minor flaws in the technique; the vibrato feels a bit like an electric shock. These are my shortcomings. You play really well."

Bai Qianqian lowered her head shyly:
"No...where, I just pulled it anywhere..."

Before Chen Zhou could speak, a clear voice rang out from behind him:
"Chen Zhou, that was a good speech!"

The three of them turned around at the same time.

Jiang Xia stood behind them, wearing a simple white T-shirt and jeans. Her hair was simply tied into a ponytail, revealing her smooth forehead. Her eyes were clear and bright, precisely locked onto Chen Zhou.

"Lao Xia? He's still here? It was Squad Leader Jiang who helped me write the draft. The class teacher said the original draft wasn't good enough."

Chen Zhou stood up with some surprise and stretched.

Li Bin and Zhou Xinglun exchanged a glance and joked:
"Mr. Xia, your class's performance just now was really interesting."

Jiang Xia hummed in agreement and helplessly shrugged.
"No one wanted to go, so the teacher drew lots, and I became a suicide squad member."

Chen Zhou chuckled:
"This is so touching, I've decided to put ice cubes in my crotch and become a cold-blooded person from now on."

Jiang Xia: "..."

She turned and left, as if she had never been there:

"I'm not going to joke with you anymore, I have things to do in class."

Li Bin was still savoring the joke Chen Zhou had just blurted out; it seemed to linger in his mind.
"Cold-blooded, indifferent... what were you thinking?"

Chen Zhou patted his shoulder casually and said earnestly:

"Read more books and newspapers, eat fewer snacks and sleep more."

Just then, a girl from the class ran over and shouted to Chen Zhou:
"Chen Zhou, the squad leader wants you to go to the warehouse and move some things!"

Chen Zhou pointed to himself:
"You only called me?"

"Correct!"

Chen Zhou glanced at Li Bin and Zhou Xinglun, then headed towards the school warehouse with some suspicion.

The sky seemed much gloomier than in the morning, with low-hanging, leaden-gray clouds that looked like they were about to rain.

He quickened his pace toward the warehouse not far away.

The warehouse's roller shutter door was half-open, and Jiang Yutong was squatting on the ground taking inventory of something.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up, a hint of anxiety on her face:
"Chen Zhou, you're finally here! Come help me move these landscaping panels, we need them this afternoon."

As Chen Zhou approached, he saw several wooden landscaping panels, each about half a person's height, piled on the ground. They were covered with realistic brick walls and green plant stickers, and looked quite heavy.

"so much?"

He frowned.

"Yes, the scenes should be more varied."

As Jiang Yutong spoke, she picked up a slightly smaller board:

"Come on, let's each carry a few pieces and get them inside first."

Chen Zhou didn't say much, but bent down and picked one up as well.

The board was heavier than I expected, and the edges were rough.

The two walked one after the other into the depths of the warehouse, where a simple filming backdrop had already been set up.

"Watch your step."

Chen Zhou reminded him.

No sooner had he finished speaking than a loud "Ouch!" was heard behind him, followed by the dull thud of a wooden plank hitting the ground.

Chen Zhou turned around abruptly and saw Jiang Yutong fall to the ground, the landscape panel she had been holding lying on the side.

"How are you?"

Chen Zhou quickly put down the board in his hand and strode forward.

Jiang Yutong was clutching her knee, wincing in pain, and a fine layer of cold sweat instantly appeared on her forehead.

She tried to stand up by supporting herself on the ground, but the pain made her gasp and she sat back down.

"It's nothing... I think I twisted it..."

"do not move."

Chen Zhou squatted down and, without saying a word, lifted the hem of her shirt dress.

A large patch of skin was scraped off the outside of her knee, and blood was seeping out of the wound, which looked quite shocking.

"hiss--"

When Jiang Yutong saw the wound, she couldn't help but gasp, her face turning slightly pale, but she still tried to remain calm.

"It's nothing, just a scrape. I used to get this all the time when I was a kid..."

"You're bleeding and you say it's nothing?"

Chen Zhou frowned.

A sprained ankle is a bigger problem than a scraped skin.

Jiang Yutong looked at the fallen landscape panel and sighed helplessly.

"What should we do now?"

Chen Zhou reached out and tapped her head:
"At times like these, you should take care of yourself. The class won't stop running without you."

Jiang Yutong frowned slightly, but still maintained a calm and composed demeanor as she looked at Chen Zhou, smiling and narrowing her eyes:

"So, according to you, I guess I'll just have to take a break?"

Chen Zhou shrugged:

"If all else fails, I'll help you."

Jiang Yutong nodded.

But just then, a thunderclap sounded in the sky outside, followed by a pattering rain.

Seeing this, the two looked at each other in bewilderment.

Did you bring an umbrella?

"Did not bring……"

"What should I do?"

Chen Zhou had a bit of a headache. On one side was the torrential rain, and on the other side was Jiang Yutong, who had twisted her ankle.

She wasn't in a hurry at all; she pulled her ankle back slightly and looked out at the rain.

"Let's wait until the rain stops."

Chen Zhou sighed:

"It can only be the."

However, upon seeing the wood chips scattered all around him, he squatted down without saying a word.

Jiang Yutong noticed his movement and couldn't help but raise her eyes:
"What are you doing?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Zhou picked up Jiang Yutong and looked at the blushing girl in his arms, and smiled:
"Let me move you to another spot, the ground is too dirty."

Jiang Yutong buried her head in his chest:

"You still have a conscience."

Chen Zhou carried Jiang Yutong and found a relatively clean corner in the warehouse.

There were several empty wooden crates piled up there, covered with dust cloths.

He carefully put her down and let her sit on a relatively flat wooden box.

"Thank you."

Jiang Yutong said softly, her cheeks still feeling a little hot.

Chen Zhou sat down on another wooden box next to her and stretched his arms.

Jiang Yutong gave him a reproachful look:
"What, you think I'm too heavy?"

"No, no, it's just that I have kidney deficiency." Chen Zhou waved his hand with a smile, deliberately exaggerating as he pounded his arm.

Jiang Yutong rolled her eyes, full of resentment:

"You're clearly saying I'm too heavy!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhou sighed and picked Jiang Yutong up again.

Her face flushed with embarrassment, and she punched Chen Zhou's chest lightly.
Why did you pick me up again?

Chen Zhou said frankly:
"You're not used to holding him yet, but you'll get used to it after a few more practice sessions."

Jiang Yutong gently bit down with her pearly teeth:
"You can't make me practice like that, can you?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhou said "oh" and put her down again.

Jiang Yutong was speechless.
"Chen Zhou, you can be quite unreliable sometimes."

"sometimes?"

Chen Zhou raised an eyebrow:

"I've always been unreliable, okay?"

"Yes Yes Yes."

Jiang Yutong nodded perfunctorily, but her gaze turned to the rain outside the warehouse.

Raindrops pattered against the roller shutter and windows, splashing up sprays of water, and the whole world was shrouded in a hazy mist.

The warehouse was quiet, with only the sound of rain and the occasional conversations between them.

"Speak of it."

Chen Zhou also looked out the window:
"We rarely seem to be alone like this."

Jiang Yutong's fingers unconsciously picked at the wood grain on the edge of the wooden box, and she softly hummed in response.

The light bulb on the warehouse ceiling flickered twice, as if there was a malfunction.

The rain seemed to intensify, the sound of it hitting the roller shutter door like someone banging on a drumstick, which only made the quietness in the warehouse stand out even more.

"I used to think that senior year of high school was as long as a lifetime."

She suddenly looked up at Chen Zhou:

"I only realized today that I'm already almost halfway through my senior year of high school."

Chen Zhou couldn't help but sigh:

"Yes, time flies. It feels like just yesterday that I started high school."

A soft "clang" suddenly came from the corner of the warehouse; it was the empty paint buckets piled there that had been blown halfway by the wind.

Jiang Yutong patted her chest:
"Oh my, you scared me."

Chen Zhou also glanced in that direction, then seemed to remember something.

He suddenly stood up and began rummaging through the warehouse.

"I remember the last sports meet, the PE teacher left the first-aid kit here..."

He rummaged through the shelves, making a clanging noise, and finally dragged out a red plastic box from the bottom corner.

The box was covered in dust, and when he opened it, the fumes made him sneeze.

Sure enough, there was iodine, cotton swabs, and band-aids inside, along with several rolls of bandage in the corner.

"Sit still."

He squatted down in front of her and unscrewed the cap of the iodine solution.

The pungent smell of medicine filled the air, and Jiang Yutong subconsciously shrank back.

"Afraid of pain?"

Chen Zhou looked up at her, his eyes sparkling:
"Weren't you quite brave when you were moving the planks?"

"That's different..."

She muttered something under her breath, but still obediently straightened her legs.

He moved very gently, first using a cotton swab dipped in iodine to tentatively wipe the edges of the wound.

Jiang Yutong gasped in pain, so he stopped and tried to distract her.

Chen Zhou stroked his chin:

"You're wearing blue today."

Jiang Yutong was stunned for a moment, then covered her chest and said shyly:
"You scoundrel... Ouch!"

Chen Zhou, quick as a flash, had already disinfected the area and said unhurriedly:

"What do you take me for? I was just trying to distract you."

Jiang Yutong still didn't lower her arm, looking at Chen Zhou warily.

But Chen Zhou grabbed her ankle.

His palm pressed against her skin, and through the thin socks, the heat spread all the way to her ears.

Jiang Yutong's ears turned red:

"What are you doing again?"

Chen Zhou was going to help her move her ankles, but before that, he had to take a look.

With a gentle flick of his fingertip, he hooked the top of her sock, and the cotton white ankle sock slid down her calf, revealing more of her fair skin.

In the dim light, you could see the delicate texture of her calves, gleaming with a faint porcelain-like sheen, like lotus roots glistening with dew after a rain shower.

"Check if your ankle is swollen."

He spoke with a straight face, but his thumb involuntarily caressed the delicate skin of her ankle.

The temperature there was slightly higher than elsewhere, carrying the warmth unique to young girls.

It reminded him of the magnolia petals he had secretly touched in early spring, so soft they made his heart tremble.

Jiang Yutong curled her toes, her transparent nails tinged with pink.

She tried to pull her legs back, but Chen Zhou gently pressed down on her knees.
"Don't move, it'll be ready soon."

Through the thin fabric of her shirt dress, he could feel the slight trembling of her knees through his palm.

"Tell me if it hurts."

Chen Zhou slowly wiggled her ankle, but his gaze involuntarily drifted downwards.

Her calves had clean lines, tapering gently from the knees to the ankles, like finely polished white jade.

"It's okay."

Jiang Yutong's voice was barely audible, but the tips of her ears were so red they looked like they could bleed.

She could clearly feel the warmth of his fingertips spreading from her ankles all the way to her heart.

"The twist isn't too bad; it'll heal in a few days."

As he spoke, Chen Zhou suddenly stopped what he was doing and his gaze fell on the inside of her calf, near her knee.

There was a tiny, light brown mole there, like an ink mark that had been lightly dabbed on with the tip of a brush.

He touched it with his fingertip as if he were possessed, and Jiang Yutong immediately pulled her leg back as if she had been burned, her back hitting the wooden box behind her with a soft "thump".

"What are you doing!"

Her voice was breathy.

"A secret base has been discovered."

Chen Zhou laughed and said:

"Looks like I've discovered Sergeant Jiang's erogenous zones?"

He deliberately emphasized the word "sensitive," watching her blush from her ears to her neck, like a ripe cherry about to drip juice.

"I won't tease you anymore."

Chen Zhou tore open the adhesive tape packaging and then stuck it on the spot where Jiang Yutong's knee was bleeding the most.

Jiang Yutong turned her head to look at the relentless rain outside the window and said softly:
"Thank you."

Chen Zhou sat back down as if he had accomplished his mission, and chuckled:

"I might be happier if you added 'Dad' in front of it."

Jiang Yutong's gratitude froze instantly, then she twitched her lips and said:
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Chen Zhou narrowed his eyes slightly, and hooked his finger under the smooth chin of the girl in front of him:
"Oh? You can call me Master, but you can't call me Daddy?"

Jiang Yutong felt incredibly shy:
“That…that’s different.”

Chen Zhou looked at the red lips so close to his face, and slowly leaned in astonished.

He left with a fleeting kiss, savoring the sweetness in his mouth, then smiled and asked, his eyes narrowing:
"Oh? What's different?"

Jiang Yutong's breathing suddenly stopped.

Chen Zhou's kiss was like a feather brushing against the corner of his lips, carrying the faint scent of soap pods from the boy.

The rain outside the window had subsided at some point, and amidst the pattering sound of the water, she could hear her own heart pounding like a drum, making the wooden box vibrate.

"Chen Zhou, you..."

She abruptly turned her head, tears welling in her eyes:
"Bad guy!"

Chen Zhou pulled Squad Leader Jiang into his arms and said with a smile:

"And it gets worse." (End of Chapter)