Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1188: If I Die Young

He still had classes to attend, so he only came by during lunchtime to visit.

It was around the time Zhao Le usually stopped by, but he wasn’t in the room right now—he had gone to wash a towel to wipe Zhang Xiaoqin’s sweat.

Inside the room, Zhang Xiaoqin slowly held onto the support frame and tried to move step by step. Perhaps she was pushing herself too hard, because her forehead was covered in sweat.

Maybe it was from exhaustion, but she suddenly lost her balance and was about to fall.

At that moment, someone quickly caught her arm, steadying her so she didn’t hit the ground.

Zhang Xiaoqin silently sighed in relief. She was about to thank the person when she looked up—and saw Lin Feng, the man who had visited her home the other day. Her expression stiffened.

“Take a break first,” Lin Feng said softly. “I’ll help you.”

Zhang Xiaoqin didn’t say anything, just nodded. With Lin Feng’s support, she slowly made her way to the seat and sat down. She looked at him, puzzled. “You…”

Lin Feng hurriedly explained, “Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t come here for you. I just came to visit someone else who’s sick. I didn’t expect to run into you, Miss Zhang.”

Zhang Xiaoqin nodded half-believingly.Lin Feng took a deep breath, then pulled out a few of the banknotes he had taken earlier. After sticking two to his own body like a joke, he shoved the rest into Zhang Xiaoqin’s hand.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Buy yourself some supplements,” Lin Feng said with a faint smile. “When it’s time for life to get better, it naturally will.”

“But…”

Before Zhang Xiaoqin could finish, Lin Feng had already waved goodbye and hurried out of the room.

She looked down at the several hundred yuan in her hand, then at Lin Feng’s disappearing figure, and finally shook her head.

“Sis!”

Zhao Le returned with the towel, gently wiping her face. Then he noticed the cash in her hand and frowned. “Did someone just come by?”

Zhang Xiaoqin smiled faintly and gestured for Zhao Le to sit down. “Just happened to run into a friend. We chatted a bit.”

“Who?” Zhao Le grinned. “We should thank them properly—sounds like a kind person.”

“You don’t know him,” Zhang Xiaoqin said softly. “A former coworker. We haven’t talked in a long time. I didn’t expect to see him here.”

Zhao Le nodded, then glanced out the window, spotting two retreating figures. He frowned slightly but smiled as he turned back, crouching beside Zhang Xiaoqin. “Let me give you a massage.”

He began carefully pressing along her calves, his expression serious. Zhang Xiaoqin reached out and gently squeezed his shoulders.

She smiled. “Your shoulders are stiff again. Don’t spend too much time reading. No one else in our family’s nearsighted—just you!”

Zhao Le chuckled honestly.

The doctor said Zhang Xiaoqin’s recovery was going well. By summer, she should be able to walk normally again. Running might still be difficult, but her daily life would no longer be affected.

“I’m not tired,” Zhao Le said cheerfully. “If I don’t work hard, how can things get better? Sis, good days have to be earned!”

“Silly boy.”

Zhang Xiaoqin poked his forehead, then rubbed it gently. “Go to class now, or you’ll be late.”

“Just five more minutes,” Zhao Le said, bowing his head again to massage carefully.

He had been studying massage techniques these past few days, so he was quite practiced by now.

Zhang Xiaoqin thought of what Lin Feng had said—

When it’s time for life to get better, it naturally will.

So… maybe things really were getting better now.

She looked at the five hundred yuan lying on the table and smiled faintly.

…

…

That afternoon, the students didn’t see Lecturer Gao Wen. The class was still being covered by the deputy dean.

“Your Professor Gao has taken a few days off,” the deputy dean announced. “I’ll be substituting for now, so stop asking about it.”

The classroom buzzed softly with chatter.

Chen Mingming didn’t join in. Sitting in the back row, he picked up the book he had planned to finish and began reading intently.

He didn’t really need to attend classes anymore, but he was the kind of person who liked to see things through to the end.

The deputy dean’s voice over the microphone was a bit too loud, so Chen Mingming put on his headphones. Music filled his world.

——《if-i-die-young》

(End of Chapter)