Chapter 7

The second time in the hospital, still the same ward.

Only this time, the fellow patients have changed.

The little boy from last time passed away at the beginning of the month, taken out of this ward, not even five years old.

My bestie heard the news, her eyes turned red, looking at me tearfully.

I was angrily arguing with the seller, “Do I look like a bank robber to you?”

“Dear, we’re all law-abiding citizens, okay?”

The next second, I threw the stockings over my head.

“So I bought a hat, and you sent me stockings???”

Xie Shuyan came in just as I received the Taobao¹ refund.

I almost dove into the quilt with lightning speed.

Only leaving my backside exposed.

“Meng Tingyue.”

Xie Shuyan’s voice was calm.

I stuck my butt out, muffled, “Meng Tingyue isn’t here, I’m her bestie.”

My bestie beside me: “…”

Xie Shuyan still lifted my quilt.

My hair was a mess, like a guilty little mutt looking up at him.

His face was cold, lips tightly pressed.

A female doctor nearby laughed, “Shuyan adjusted your medication plan, wanted to tell you, but as soon as he walked in…”

The implication was clear.

The fellow patients in the ward were amused.

Only Xie Shuyan didn’t laugh, “Seems like you’re not in the mood to listen now, I’ll come back tomorrow.”

“No, Professor Xie, please go ahead, I’m listening carefully.”

I hurriedly grabbed his hem, years of seeking treatment had accustomed me to humble flattery.

Xie Shuyan’s gaze fell on my fingertips, he opened his mouth, his brows furrowed deeply.

For a moment, it seemed as if he… wanted to cry.

I must be muddled from the illness.

Xie Shuyan stood by the bed, emotionlessly explaining for about half an hour.

Each sentence paused just right, ensuring I understood.

He said he wanted to try a new drug, effective but with significant side effects.

I leaned against the bed, smiling, “Oh, I know, clinical trials always need participants. I didn’t go to college, haven’t contributed much to society, even if it fails, there’s no regret.”

“Meng Tingyue, I won’t treat lives as a joke.”

Xie Shuyan’s lips were tightly pressed, his serious demeanor inexplicably reassured me.

…

The side effects of the new drug came quickly.

Used in the morning, by evening I was hugging the toilet, almost vomiting my stomach out.

Followed by heartburn and irritability.

Taking advantage of my bestie going home to rest, I pushed the wheelchair alone to the small garden outside the hospital.

Dusk.

The sunset lay calmly over the lake.

With the wind, the shimmering waves rolled like thousands of goldfish tumbling in the waves.

I blew in the wind, occasionally burying my head in a plastic bag to retch a few times.

Then lifted my head, suddenly seeing a woman.

“Miss Meng, what a coincidence, what are you doing here?”

It was the female doctor standing beside Xie Shuyan that day.

Forgot to ask her name.

But she quickly answered my curiosity, extending her hand for a self-introduction, “Yan An.”

I shook her hand.

The diamond ring on her ring finger dazzled my eyes.

I remember the president of this hospital is surnamed Yan.

Could she be the president’s daughter? The one set to marry Xie Shuyan.

Yan An stood beside me, her tone gentle, “How did you and A Yan meet?”

I took a while to react, realizing her “A Yan” referred to Xie Shuyan.

The atmosphere suddenly became somewhat delicate.

Former and current, always like this.

I adjusted my crooked hat, “We were high school classmates.”

“Just classmates?”

I was silent for a moment, “Yes, just classmates.”

Yan An chuckled softly, “That’s not what I heard, you were Xie Shuyan’s ex-girlfriend, after the college entrance exam, you threw a wad of money at him and kicked him out.”

Her words were quite blunt.

Probably here to vent for her fiancé.

Seeing my silence, she continued, head lowered, “Why? Did you get sick? You wanted to push Xie Shuyan away like this.”

I still didn’t speak.

The wind whistled past my shoulders.

I heard Yan An sneer, “How foolish, thanks to you, I can be engaged to Xie Shuyan.”

I’ve been sick for so many years, almost worn out my temper.

Hearing this, I couldn’t help but retort:

“Then kneel and thank me, and give me five million.”

“You–”

I glanced at her sideways, annoyed, “What do you want to hear? That I regret it?”

Yan An didn’t get angry but laughed, “Don’t you regret it?”

“Oh, I regret it.”

Yan An was stunned.

Just saw me shamelessly smiling, “I’m going to win Xie Shuyan back. I’m going to confess to him, cry my heart out saying I still love him, make him kick you out and marry me.”

I held my head high, just waiting for Yan An to show an expression as if she had eaten something foul.

Instead, she merely looked at me with a peculiar expression, then smiled and said, “Xie Shuyan, if your ex-girlfriend confessed to you, would you go back to her?”

My smile froze, as if I had stepped into a bottomless pit.

Turning around, I met Xie Shuyan’s indifferent gaze, my face felt as if it had been splashed with chili oil.

Xie Shuyan’s white coat was dyed a dazzling orange by the sunset.

His face remained expressionless.

“You can try.”

I almost lost the ability to think, “Try what?”

“Say you still love me.”

At that moment, the golden sunset reflected off the shimmering lake surface.

It fell into my eyes.

The golden light swallowed Xie Shuyan’s figure.

In a dizzying blur, I only heard his voice coming from a distant place.

Carrying an echo spanning ten years.

He said:

“You can try.”

“Say you still love me.”

“See if I will come back to you.”

My mind was filled with a buzzing sound, and when I came to my senses, I saw Yan An gracefully leaving and Xie Shuyan gradually walking towards me.

I sat in the wheelchair, my legs as heavy as lead, allowing Xie Shuyan to take control of the wheelchair.

It’s hard to describe the feeling at that moment.

Embarrassment, inferiority, awkwardness, regret.

Layer upon layer of emotions stacked together, becoming a boulder stuck in my throat.

Xie Shuyan pushed me along the lakeside.

The wind brought his faint questioning, “Not planning to say anything?”

I lowered my head, picking at my nails, “Say what?”

“Was everything you said just now nonsense?”

I drooped my head.

Looking at the hospital gown blown flat by the wind, I thought of the increasingly sparse hair under the hat.

Earlier, it was out of spite, now it’s guilt.

How thick-skinned I must be to say such words to bring him back.

“Meng Tingyue,” Xie Shuyan suddenly stopped, “Is it fun to toy with me? Is love so cheap to you?”

He was angry.

I could feel it.

“I wasn’t toying with you…” I awkwardly lowered my head, “I was just arguing, it won’t happen again. I’m sorry for causing you such trouble…”

In the past, I could always keenly sense Xie Shuyan’s emotions, and before he got angry, I would swiftly apologize with a smile.

But this time, I really couldn’t smile.

Not only couldn’t I smile, tears started to well up.

Xie Shuyan said, “Indeed, Yan An and I are going to get engaged, but that’s just her father’s wishful thinking.”

He walked to my side, crouched down, and looked at me at eye level.

The light color of his eyes brought a strong sense of oppression.

“I asked her to come today, and those extremely unpleasant words were also instructed by me.”

Being stared at by him up close, a sudden surge of anger and grievance rose in my heart.

Even though I’m already so unlucky, a person who’s about to die, I still have to be chased and tormented.

“Well, congratulations then,” I said sourly, with a hint of sarcasm, “Without me kicking you, you wouldn’t have become the president’s son-in-law.”

“Yes,” Xie Shuyan said sharply, “That’s why I say you’re utterly foolish.”

“Xie Shuyan! I don’t want to argue, I… I feel terrible, I want to vomit.”

My eyes reddened, tears started to fall, “About what happened back then, I apologize to you. I shouldn’t have hurt your feelings, shouldn’t have humiliated you publicly, it was my mistake, can you… let me go?”

Xie Shuyan tightly gripped my shoulders, took a deep breath, then looked at me again.

“Do you think I care about that?”

“What?”

His eyes reddened, holding my hand, he guided it to touch the collar of his white coat.

The rough and hard fabric was somewhat abrasive.

“I’ve walked this path, Meng Tingyue, do you think I care about your humiliation? Do you think I don’t know why you broke up with me?”

Xie Shuyan, who was supposed to study mathematics, became a doctor.

He abandoned his preferred career path, and now, stands here, in front of me.

His eyes filled with grievance, almost overflowing.

He questioned me, “I’ve endured so many years of hardship to come to you, why should I leave just because you say ‘let me go’?”

I was stunned.

“That experiment recruitment…”

“I asked the monitor to send it to you.”

Xie Shuyan’s gaze was intense, “I knew you would come.”

My mind was in turmoil, I had only told the monitor about what happened back then.

And asked him to keep it a secret.

Could it be that he told Xie Shuyan?

The wind gradually picked up.

In the distance, a nurse was calling me back.

Xie Shuyan stood up, restrained his emotions, and said with a hint of resignation:

“Meng Tingyue, you’re sick, I won’t argue with you, but you’ll never escape from me.”

Footnote:

1. 1. Taobao(淘宝):A major Chinese online shopping website, similar to eBay or Amazon, known for its vast selection of goods and often competitive prices.