2 month before the incident that brought Li Zhao to the brink of death, Li Zhao and An Hao got their test results back and again An Hao was the top student followed closely by Li Zhao. Li Zhao felt an urge he didn't quite understand, but he wanted to beat An Hao at least once, maybe to impress her. Li Zhao decided he would go to the school library early to study, to his surprise An Hao was already there. An Hao looked up and caught his eye, but she didn't nod and looked back down to continue reading. Li Zhao grabbed a book and came and sat across from her. "So this is how you beat me".
An Hao looked at him disinterestedly "I didn't even know we were in competition"
Li Zhao then leaned in and asked "I heard you saved your sister by sacrificing your chi potential...that's why you don't practice martial arts with us"
An Hao turned to look at him, "Are you scared if I could practice martial arts, I would beat you there to?"
Li Zhao laughed, "No, I was just surprised by the selfless act, I find it quite impressive"
An Hao slightly annoyed "Anything else you want to ask me?"
Li Zhao then looked up and leaned back in his chair putting his hands to the back of his head "I heard you have many suitors, are you interested in any of them?"
An Hao put her book down and looked at him "Are you so bored you are concerned with my love life?"
Li Zhao didn't look at her "No.. my mother asked me about you, I'm just the messenger, she said you were the most decent in the kingdom for what you did for your sister and that maybe I should court you, of course I refused and said you weren't my type"
He then got up pulled out a cookie from his pocket and placed it on the table. "Here take this since you are going to be here all day" and left
An Hao shook her head in disbelief, then looked at the cookie on the table and smirked.
Later in the day An Jian came into An Hao's room, scratched her head standing in a boyish pose said to An Hao "Li Zhao is acting weird, he is letting me win on purpose and it's annoying, how am I supposed to get better when he's doing this?". An Hao laughed then said "Maybe he is flirting with you", An Jian gave her the stink eye "Gross... our relationship is not like that, in fact, I often see him sneaking glances at you, I think he is purposely getting injured to see you!"
An Hao was like the acting school nurse, even more knowledgeable than many of the doctors who taught medicine at the school.
An Jian went on to complain "That Li Zhao purposely didn't block my strike, and I almost killed him, in fact I think he is going to come see you soon" and like clock work there was a knock on the door, and a slightly injured Li Zhao walked into the room. An Jian looked at An Hao like "I told you so" and gave a dirty glare at Li Zhao before leaving.
An Hao looked at Li Zhao "It seems you are getting injured a lot these days"
Li Zhao smirked "An Jian is just getting a lot better these days"
Men faking injuries to come see her was not new, they would usually complain about non existent pain to come see her, but Li Zhao truly took a strong blow from An Jian to be here.
She had to treat him properly or there could be lasting damage.
Li Zhao removed the upper part of his robe revealing his perfectly proportioned athletic physique, with a large palm size bruise on his sculpted chest.
An Ho pretended not to notice how beautiful of a specimen he was and poured 2 different thick viscous medicines onto his chest. She then thought about asking him to rub it himself to mix the two medicines, but decided to do it herself for the most effective mixture. She rubbed her hands on his chest in a circular motion slowly mixing the medicines together in the process. Li Zhao stared at her intently as she did this. An Hao feeling his stare then said "What?"
Li Zhao smiled, "Maybe I agree with my mother"
A Hao looking confused didn't look at him and continued the procedure "agree about what?"
"That your the most decent"
A Hao continued spreading the medicine over his chest and smirked "Does that mean you are going to court me by getting beat up by my sister?"
Li Zhao looked at her proudly "I would say it was worth it"
An Hao reached over and pulled his robe back over his shoulder and looked at him disapprovingly.
"Don t get hit by An Jian again, this spot is close to your heart, it could kill you next time"
"I won't, if you will allow me to take you to the spring festival"
An Hao looked at him with her mouth pouted to one side and her bang draped across one eye.
"Fine... so you can tell your mother you tried and it didn't work out"
Li Zhao got up with a big grin "It will work out", placed red bean pastry on her desk and left.