Gu Yanzhi, the aloof campus heartthrob of B University's biology department, has published three papers in Nature subjournals. Cool, refined, and impossible to approach.
That's what Su Xiaoxiao always thought, until the day she accompanied her father to get his hemorrhoids treated and ran into him in the colorectal surgery ward.
He was holding an appointment slip, the tips of his ears bright red, trying to save face with the excuse that he was "picking up some materials for his advisor."
The nurse's voice rang through the entire floor: "Patient 17, Gu Yanzhi, prep for surgery!"
The worst part came later. When he woke from anesthesia, he grabbed Su Xiaoxiao's hand and tearfully asked, "Is my chrysanthemum still intact?" She recorded the whole thing.
When the new semester began, Gu Yanzhi announced at a group meeting, "Su Xiaoxiao will work on my project. I'll supervise her personally."
Su Xiaoxiao: ???
Before long, the whole university knew that the campus heartthrob had been humiliated in the colorectal surgery ward. A secret admirer from the medical school came to Su Xiaoxiao and told her to "stop pestering Senior Gu."
Su Xiaoxiao exploded. "He's the one who insisted on showing me his chrysanthemum!"
Behind the crowd, Gu Yanzhi stood holding two cups of milk tea, his face ashen.
He handed her the milk tea, his voice as calm as if he were reporting data. "Black tea latte, less sugar, 45 degrees. You're right. I was the one who insisted on showing you."
Later, he sent her an encrypted email, a love letter written in DNA base sequences.
She replied with a research paper titled "A Study of Abnormal Courtship Behavior in Individuals with Injured Self-Esteem."
He sent back a review article.
When he said, "You've already seen my chrysanthemum. You have to take responsibility for me," Su Xiaoxiao knew that this aloof flower had well and truly landed in her lap.
Theme: Take care of your health
