But she thought about it carefully and explained, "A couple stays together to form a family. They live together every day and they will have children. But friends don't need to stay together every day and they won't have children."

Xiao Rong nodded.

But he suddenly became inquisitive. He wrote again, "Then why would a couple have children?"

"Because they love each other." Gu Baisheng blurted out without thinking.

"Will children be disliked by parents?"

"Of course not." Gu Baisheng didn't think about it too much and answered, "Children are the fruit of parents' love. Every mother and father will cherish their children like they are the most precious thing in the world."

Xiao Rong looked at Gu Baisheng's tender face. He suddenly looked down and looked towards his left leg.

Seeing how Xiao Rong looked down sadly, Gu Baisheng suddenly realized.

What she said was a great harm and an incitation to Xiao Rong who was disliked by his parents.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that, Xiao Rong." Gu Baisheng apologized bitterly.

Xiao Rong looked up. His eyes were red, yet he was still signing, "I'm fine."

"Sorry..." Gu Baisheng regretted saying too much.

Seeing her remorseful look, Xiao Rong suddenly pulled her sleeve and asked, "Are you willing to hear about my parents?"

Gu Baisheng looked at him surprisingly.

Xiao Rong sensed her surprise. He wrote on the notebook again, "I don't have a clear memory about them. I haven't seen my father for a decade..."

Gu Baisheng was not surprised.

Xiao Rong was sent to this institute fourteen years ago.

After his mother passed away, his father hated him. It was normal for him to not see his son for a decade.

He was abandoned by Xiao Family like a dead weight.

"My mother didn't like me." Xiao Rong's writing was messy, but he wrote the word "mother" particularly properly. He frowned as if trying to recover his memory, "Since I could remember, my mother called me a b*st*rd that shouldn't be born into this world."

Gu Baisheng was dazed.

A b*st*rd?

What kind of mother would call her child like that?

"But she would never say these in front of my father. When he was present, she just ignored me."

Gu Baisheng actually didn't want Xiao Rong to remember these things that would make him sad.

But if Xiao Rong needed to say it, she was willing to listen.

"When I was seven, she got sick. She became moody and she often beat me. Her curse was worse to hear. She even said that she wished that I would die soon."

Gu Baisheng shook her head. Her heart broke upon hearing this. It was hard to imagine a mother saying such vicious things to her child.

When she was a mother, she wanted to give the whole world to her son.

Yet that child was still taken away.

"She started drinking. One time she was drunk and she pushed me off the stairs. The stairs were high and after I was pushed down, my head hit on the steps and I passed out. When I woke up, I couldn't talk anymore."

He paused for a moment helplessly. Then he continued to write sadly, "When I left the hospital, I got off the bed and found that my left leg was not working properly. They told me that my leg could break and heal, but it was hard to go back to normal. I would be a limp for the rest of my life."

When Xiao Rong was writing, Gu Baisheng could almost see his past experience through the sadness in his eyes.

Her heart ached.

"Things will get better in the future."

"?"

He wrote a question mark on the notebook.

Gu Baisheng reached out and hugged him by his shoulders.

She said gently, "You have me as your friend in the future. I'll protect you."

Xiao Rong embraced Gu Baisheng's hug. He tilted his head. His cheek was almost touching her soft black hair.

Her long hair was gently lying on her shoulders. She was a tiny person, yet her hug had the power to warm a person's heart.

Xiao Rong looked at her dazedly.

The fragile and sad look in his eyes suddenly changed.

It turned to surprise and doubt, yet also some complicated feelings of compromising.

...

After Gu Baisheng changed the medicine on Xiao Rong's wound in the afternoon, she heard that a student twisted her ankle on the playground.

The student who came called her to see the student who was hurt on the playground.

The one who was hurt was a little girl at the age of seven or eight.

She was so painful that she held her ankle and couldn't get up from the ground.

Gu Baisheng went over and squatted. She then felt someone pressing her back.

She turned around and looked.

Some students looked at her curiously and had funny looks on their faces.

One of them was trying to suppress his laughter.

These students all seemed healthy. They were not deaf or blind and they didn't have visible disabilities.

Gu Baisheng suspected that they were mentally challenged students.

So she didn't fuss over the situation and continued to look at the ankle of the girl who was about to cry because of pain.

The girl looked at her with big eyes and asked her quietly, "Are you the new teacher of the school?"

"Yes." Gu Baisheng answered, "I'm the new school doctor. If you are hurt or get sick in the future, I'll be the one treating you."

She just finished her sentence and she felt someone touching her butt from behind.

Gu Baisheng's eyebrows moved and she turned around.

It was those boys who were around twelve or thirteen years old.

And one of the boys giggled at her.

Gu Baisheng took a deep breath to calm down.

She turned back and looked at the little girl, "I'll rub it for you. See if you can stand up."

The girl nodded.

Gu Baisheng then started rubbing the girl's ankle.

After a while, she felt her butt was touched again.

She took a deep breath and couldn't take it anymore. She turned around, "Who did it?"

Those boys saw her getting angry. They didn't dare to continue and left.

Gu Baisheng shook her head helplessly.

She turned around and looked at the little girl.

The girl stared at the back of her clothes and said sadly, "Teacher, your clothes are dirty."

"My clothes?"

Gu Baisheng turned around curiously and wanted to see the back of her clothes.

The girl frowned and pointed at her back, "It's mud..."

Gu Baisheng reached out and tried to touch the back of her clothes.

When she retracted, she indeed saw mud on her hand.

It looked like the mud from the flower bed in the school.

It had just snowed yesterday and the snow melted at noon. The mud in the flower bud would be easy to "apply" to somebody.

She was a bit angry at heart, yet she couldn't do anything with these kids.

She just bent over and supported the little girl up, "I have rubbed your feet. I'll ask Mr. Chu Qin to put ice on it later. I'll ask him to come over and carry you back to the classroom."

The girl nodded.

Gu Baisheng then phoned Chu Qin.

Chu Qin came over quickly.

He saw the mud on Gu Baisheng's clothes and frowned, "Those kids pranked you again?"

Gu Baisheng smiled bitterly and helplessly, "Their welcome is a bit special."

She had just been working for a few days, yet these kids treated her like this. Their welcome was surely special.

Chu Qin was angry, "Which kids? Tell me. I'll ask their head teacher to punish them."

"No need. I don't remember it. I'll pay more attention next time."

Gu Baisheng decided to let go. She pointed at the little girl she was supporting, "Could you please take her back to the classroom? My clothes are a bit wet. I want to go change one."

"Go ahead. These kids don't know how to behave. It's a good thing to have a school doctor, yet they keep pranking."

Chu Qin was angry about these kids because they didn't know how to behave.

Gu Baisheng shook her head, "It's OK. I'm not mad. Kids are just naughty."

Then she touched the head of the wounded girl and said, "She twisted her ankle. She needs an ice compress."

"OK. Rest assured. I'll take care of her."

Gu Baisheng nodded, "I'll go back and change my clothes then."

"Sure. Go ahead."

After informing Chu Qin, Gu Baisheng hurried back to change.

When Gu Baisheng arrived at the infirmary, she checked the time. There were still two hours before she could get off work.

The mud on the clothes was mixed with blood. It drenched the clothes and her back was ice-cold.

Xiao Rong seemed to have fallen asleep.

She then found a room with a curtain and changed her clothes quietly. She took out the sweater she had in the temporary closet and put it on.

She put the sweater here when she came to work.

It was supposed to be a replacement if she got blood on herself when she was treating the students. It was actually put into use now.

After she changed, she opened the curtain quietly.

She looked up and saw the curtain by Xiao Rong's bed waving.

She frowned, "Xiao Rong, are you awake?"

Xiao Rong couldn't speak, so there was no sound.

She then walked over and gently opened the curtain to look at Xiao Rong who was lying in bed.

Xiao Rong's back was facing her. He seemed to be deep in sleep with very even breaths.

Seeing him sleeping, Gu Baisheng didn't go in to check whether he was asleep. She just quietly closed the curtain.

Xiao Rong was limp. When he walked, he would make noises.

When she was changing, she didn't hear any noise. There was no one else besides Xiao Rong and herself in the school infirmary.

Maybe the curtain was blown by the wind.

She tidied her clothes and closed the window that had a small crack.

She then went to the outer room of the school infirmary. She made tea and read a book, waiting to get off work.

Xiao Rong who was sleeping on his side took a breath quietly, after hearing Gu Baisheng leaving the room.

He opened his eyes.

Then he hid his face in the duvet.

His intense body then relaxed down gradually.

Gu Baisheng read two pages of the book.

Then she received a message from Song Shuang.

Song Shuang's words were simple as always.

"I'll come to pick you from work."

Gu Baisheng looked at the time. It was still early.

Yet he already informed her to get prepared.

It seemed that Song Shuang really thought highly of the dinner with Qu Xiaobo tonight.

She just didn't know why Qu Xiaobo asked to have dinner with Song Shuang so abnormally.

Before, Qu Xiaobo would never emphasize having Song Shuang participate when they went out.