She didn’t know how she survived the flight time, every minute, every second, seemed to be frying her in a pan. Her heart was in her twist, her mind was still blank. She desperately comforted herself: I can’t think about it, I don’t want to think about it anymore. After I see Zhenrong, it will be fine. Once it see him, it will be fine. Even if he lost a leg or arm, I’m still willing to accompany him for the rest of his life. As long as he – as long as he is there well, it’s fine.
When she got off the plane, she even thought, if he becomes disabled, she will marry him right away. As long as he still wanted her, she would marry him immediately.
There was unexpectedly people from the hospital waiting for her at the airport. One of them she recognized – a female doctor from Shao Zhenrong’s department, a very kind person. Du Xiaosu originally called her “Big Sister” together with Shao Zhenrong. Big Sister usually took great care of them. Once, when her family wrapped spring rolls, she went out of her way to call them to try some out. Before Du Xiaosu said anything, Big Sister already came over, and held onto her, “Xiaosu, you have to be strong.”
What did that mean?
She was almost angry, she had always been strong, but what do they mean by being here? She nearly angrily shook off Big Sister’s hand: “I can walk by myself!”
She kept silent in the car. Big Sister quietly observed her face, but did not dare to say anything. When she arrived at the hospital, she saw the well-lit No. 2 building. When she go out of the car, she asked “Zhen Rong must be hospitalized. Which department is he in? The orthopedic department? Neurology department? Is he seriously injured? Which room is he in?”
“Xiaosu…” Big Sister said with some difficulty, “We told you on the phone in the afternoon already – you have to face the reality firmly… Dr. Shao…already…He just happened to meet upon a collapsed area…The rescue team did their best…but they weren’t able to save him…”
Xiaosu watched as Big Sister’s mouth opened and closed: “Landslide… accident… for the patient… sacrifice…”
Such terrible words, one after another came from her mouth. Du Xiaosu eyes were open wide. She stared blankly.
All of this was just a dream, a nightmare. She was just caught by nightmare. As long as she opened her eyes hard, she would wake up and know that it was a dream and that she could see Shao Zhenrong reappear in front of her in all health. Or perhaps, the people in these hospital were all deceiving her, hiding Shao Zhenrong, let her be anxious, and then when she was desperate, Zhenrong would naturally pop out, all smiles, tap her nose and call her a little fool.
She didn’t even shed a single tear. She kept on feeling, how was it possible, how could all of this be possible? They must’ve made a mistake, otherwise, she was tricked. There was no way this was real. Because he told her to wait. He was a person who held true to his promises. He wouldn’t even be late to a date. How could he lie to her?
She didn’t know what they were talking about. She didn’t know at all. She lowered her head, closed her eyes, and waited quietly. As she promised, she would wait for him to come back.
When she opened her eyes again, she was already in the hospital bed. She silently counted the drops in the drip tube, hoping to count the drips like last time, and he would suddenly push the door in and look at her. It turned out that when he looked at her, there was a little smile in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth were slightly pursed. When he laughed, there was a small dimple on his left cheek, which could not be seen without paying attention, but she knew it because he was her Shao Zhenrong. She loved him, so she knew even his most subtle expressions. He must be scaring her this time, he must be. Maybe he was seriously injured, maybe really disabled, so he didn’t want to see her because he couldn’t accept it psychologically, or he didn’t intend to forgive her in the end. But it all didn’t matter, she would wait for him until he came back, just like in the hospital last time.
But she counted and counted. She didn’t know how many she had counted until the bottle of medicine dripped out and was replaced with another bottle. The nurses around came and went. The psychologist came to talk to her every day, often sitting in front of her bed for a few hours. But even if the doctor said enough to break their lips, she didn’t talk.
Because they were all tricking her.
He would definitely come back, he loved her so, even if she made such a big mistake, he still told her to wait for him. How could he be willing to leave her here alone? He would definitely come back.
Her parents rushed over from home after hearing the news. They were distraught. Especially her mother, who stayed by her side, not leaving a step, repeatedly advising, “Child, cry, let yourself cry. Don’t hurt yourself like this. Once you cry, it’ll become better.” But she didn’t cry. Yet her mother had cried, and kept wiping at tears.
And she raised her face slightly, but she didn’t understand the need for tears.
Her Shao Zhenrong was gone, but he would definitely come back. He used to love her so much, how could he be willing to leave her behind? He would definitely come back, no matter what, he would definitely come back.
On the last day, her mother and the nurse helped her change clothes, combed her hair, and helped her into the elevator. She didn’t know where they were going, she was muddled and at the mercy of others.
When she stepped into the hall, she only saw him in the distance, using that smile while looking at her.
She didn’t understand. She kept walking closer, until she reached out and stroked the black picture frame. The photo was very large. Separated by the cold glass, her fingers slowly slipped over his lips. He used to smile so warmly. He had always smiled so warly. The picture was very good, but she wasn’t the one who had taken it. She looked back hastily and found Nanny Zhao, so she softly called, “Auntie Zhao.” She remembered, remembered very firmly, that Zhenrong had brought her to meet Nanny Zhao during the Spring Festival. Nanny Zhao treated her like her own daughter. She cooked chicken soup for her and gave her a ring because she was Zhentong’s girlfriend. ――Auntie Zhao was also held tightly by someone, almost unable to stand up. IN just a couple months, Auntie Zhao looked haggard like she was ten years older. Even her hair turned white. When Nanny Zhao saw Du Xiaosu, her tears rolled down. Du Xiaosu broke free of her mother’s hand and walked towards Nanny Zhao, her voice still very soft: “Auntie, Zhenrong asked me to wait for him, but he never came back.”
Aunt Zhao seemed to choke. Her body became soft and she fainted. There was huge chaos in the hall, and a few people rushed to help the nurse hold Auntie Zhao and move her aside… Her moher also held her hand tightly and burst into tears: “Child, don’t be stupid, don’t be stupid.”
She was not stupid. He had said to her himself, telling her to wait for him. She had been waiting, but he hadn’t come back.
He said he wanted to talk to her when he came back. How could he not come back if he loved her so much? He loved her so much, how could he not want her?
She didn’t understand. She didn’t believe it until the last moment, when they took her to the heavy coffin. There were so many flowers, all white chrysanthemums, and he slept in the middle of the flowers with a peaceful expression.
She stared in confusion, as if she still didn’t understand what was going on, until they closed the coffin lid inch by inch, until Aunt Zhao fainted from crying again, and everyone burst into tears. She was the only one who stood there stupidly, without consciousness, without anything, as if everything had been lost, as if everything had ceased to exist.
Shao Zhenrong’s face was covered inch by inch until everything was covered, his whole person was covered. She suddenly understood that all this was not a dream, all this was true. They didn’t lie to her, he really wouldn’t come back, he would never come back. She really lost him forever.
She rushed over like crazy, her parents desperately held her, many people came up to help her, but she just cried: “Mom! Let me go with him, I beg you, let me go with him, I want to follow him! Mother… Let me be with him…”
More people wanted to pull her away, and she cried so hard that she couldn’t breathe: “Let me be with him, I beg you. Shao Zhenrong! Shao Zhenrong! Get up! How can you leave me like this?! How could you do this……”
Her fingers were pried away one by one. She cried until her whole body was shaking. With brute force, she wanted to break away from everyone’s hands and squeeze herself into the cold coffin. Because in there was her Shao Zhenrong. She wanted to be with him, no matter when or where. She only wanted to be with him.
She heard her own crying, hoarse and desperate, like a trapped beast, knowing that it was impossible, but she fought with her life, not caring about anything else, she just had to be with him.
Everyone was pulling her and persuading her. She heard her own voice, stern as a knife, gouging at her heart, gouging out blood and flesh. She said repeatedly: “Let me go, let me go, you let me go, Shao Zhenrong is dead. What am I doing alive? Let me go, I beg you.”
Her mother pulled her arm desperately, crying out of breath: “Child, child, don’t do this! What should Mother do if you are like this? What should Mother do…”
All the tears seemed to gush out at this moment. She struggled desperately like this, but her Shao Zhenrong wouldn’t come back, he really wouldn’t come back. Despite her making such a scene, crying like this, yelling like this, reaching out to scratch like this desperately, but every time she could only just grab onto the cold coffin. Everything was in vain, he would never answer her again, he lied to her, he lied when he told her to wait for him. She kept waiting, but he would not come.
Her voice was all horse. She didn’t have the strength. People came up, moved her to the side. She could only watch as they as took took him away, watch as they took away her Shao Zhenrong. She really didn’t want to live anymore. She only wanted to be with him. If he was dead, then they should be dead together. But he didn’t wait for her, he left first by himself.
Her mother hugged her tightly, calling her name. Her mother’s tears fell on her face, and she watched others lift the coffin away. She couldn’t make any sound anymore, as if her vocal cords had been broken.
She no longer had Shao Zhenrong.
She was so desperate, but she couldn’t even keep him for an extra minute or second. Fate was that stingy. Not even a minute or second would be given to her. She was truly hopeless. Using the last of her strength, in her fragmented, broken voice: “Mom, don’t let them take him away… Mom… I beg you, mom… Don’t let them take him away…”
Her mother cried so much that she couldn’t even speak, and finally collapsed on her back and fell into Xiaosu’s father’s arms. The people nearby supported onto her firmly. But she was helpless like a newborn baby. She had no way. Even the mother she trusted and depended on the most had no way.
Everything fell apart, and the whole world went dark before her eyes. Summer in the city always had sudden torrential rains. The weather had changed in an instant. Only the lead-grey could be seen from the windows, and the heavy clouds hovered out extremely close to the ground, so low as though they were within reach. Such a sky was like a lens to a future city in a movie. The huge glass windows were covered with water droplets, making trails one after another, before being blown to the side by the wind.
The atmosphere in the entire conference room was also low and depressing. Everyone was in a bad mood. It was an indisputable fact that the performance of the projects focused on real estate had declined for two consecutive quarters, The big boss had finally returned to Shanghai from Beijing. They had to face the problems accumulated over the past few months. Looking at Lei Yuzheng’s expressionless face, all the supervisors were cautious, afraid to accidentally cause his anger.
“We will not rebuild the disaster area.” Lei Yuzheng closed the half-inch-thick plan with one finger. “The competition is fierce, and there is no need to get involved..”
The vice president in charge of planning’s face had an ugly color. Although the company was registered in Beijing, the focus of business had always been in Shanghai. Many major investment plans were made in the name of the Shanghai portion. This time, it took them almost a month to plan it out in such detail, but before it even reached the board of directors, it was so easily rejected in a regular meeting.
Disaster area reconstruction?
Lei Yuzheng almost sneered: Why? Why should we rebuild those ruins?
No one knew how he rushed to the earthquake zone that day, and no one knew how he got to the scene of the landslide. Standing in front of the collapsed rock, he really knew that there was no hope. But he was very calm and used all available power. The local rescue team also tried their best, and finally dug out the collapsed ambulance. At that time, the leader of the medical team, a big man cried as he stood. They were doctors. They were accustomed to seeing life and death and seeing blood and pain, but in the face of disaster and death, their faces were ashen. They could only cry.
He dug Zhenrong out with his own hands. Zhenrong’s whole body was miraculously not injured. His face was even clean, and his body was still soft, but because of suffocation, there was no sign of life. It was too long, too long… He couldn’t wait for his second brother to rescue him, and he was already taking his last breath under mud several meters deep.
This was his most beloved younger brother, his parents’ most beloved youngest son, his dearest sibling, the little tail that followed him since childhood, the little bit who followed after him, softly calling out “Brother”, that little bean sprout that still carried the scent of milk – Since young, Shao Zhenrong had been in poor health. So they family would order him two bottles of milk: one for the morning, one in the evening. So he would always carry the scent of milk, letting him make fun of him for having a “milk scent not dried.”
Zhenrong grew up day by day, gaining long legs and arms, and his own opinions. Zhenrong was admitted to the best high school, Zhenrong insisted on studying medicine, Zhenrong went abroad to continue his studies… One time, Lei Yuzheng went abroad for an inspection trip, he deliberately went on a detour to go see Zhenrong at school. Heavy snow had just fallen that day. The two brothers walked side by side on the road of the school. The snow squeaked under their feet. They were surrounded by ancient foreign buildings. Zhenrong told him about the school’s trivial matters. The wind blew snowflakes onto his face. Zhenrong squinted like he did when he was a child. It was then that Lei Yuzheng suddenly realized that Zhenrong was actually as tall as himself.
He always thought that they would live a long time, until their hair was all white, all their teeth were lost, and they would sit by the pond in the sunset, fishing, and talking about their children and grandchildren.
He was his closest sibling, his most beloved brother. He sat on the plane holding Zhenrong. The whole cabin was empty, and no one dared to talk to him. He thought that his face must be more ugly than Zhenrong’s. He didn’t allow anyone to touch Zhenrong, and finally, when got off the plane, he personally took Zhenrong down.
The eldest brother had already rushed back to Beijing, and several lonely cars were parked. It was that far. He walked slowly, step by step. He nearly couldn’t hold onto him anymore, Zhenrong was no longer that light, sick child. Zhenrong had become a man. The eldest brother walked over, silently, and extended his arm to take Zhenrong. Travelling thousands of miles, he brought back his youngest brother and handed it over to the eldest brother. The two lads carrying the stretcher only dared to follow them from a distance. The eldest brother walked to the car, put Zhenrong down, and put it in the coffin prepared in the car. Lei Yuzheng helped off to the side, holding Zhenrong’s head. The moment he lowered his head, he could clearly see that two tears fell from his elder brother’s eyes and fell on Zhenrong’s clothes.
That was the first time he saw his elder brother shed tears. He was always handsome, even calmer and more determined than his father. Lei Yuzheng stood in front of the car, watching the wind mess up his eldest brother’s immaculate hair, and watching the two lines of tears on his face. They tried their best to comfort their parents. Although they brought Zhenrong back to Beijing, they even unreasonably wanted to prevent their elderly father from going to see Zhenrong one last time. So they sent Zhenrong back to Shanghai and held a memorial service where Zhenrong worked in Shanghai. Because both him and his brother knew that their father had a serious heart disease and couldn’t bear that kind of scene.
No matter what, it shouldn’t have been Zhenrong.
He was the youngest in the family, and the most adored one in the family.
He never bullied his classmates. He had always treated people the best and most sincerely. He had never done any harm to the world. He chose to do medicine because he could treat illnesses and save people, and he even went to the disaster area to save people.
No matter what, it shouldn’t have been Zhenrong.
For a long time, Lei Yuzheng stayed with his parents, reminiscent when he was very young, each child by their knees.
Because the eldest brother was busy with work, he couldn’t spend a long time with the parents like Lei Yuzheng. Thus, sister-in-law took a long vacation and brought the children back here to live. Because the family had a little niece who was still learning to speak, the house didn’t appear so empty. But his mother still got thinner and thinner. When his little niece was taking a nap, he would often see his mother holding a group photo of the brothers when they were young. One look would take two or three hours.
He almost thought savagely, why was it Zhenrong? Why must he invest in the land that caused such sadness to his family? Why did he need to rebuild those ruins?
Even the person who most shouldn’t have died died. Even the heavens had become blind. Why?
He would no longer have any sympathy, he would no longer have any mercy, even fate did not pity him, nor Zhenrong. Why should he pity others?
He would never again. Never again.
After the meeting came out, the secretary, Shan Wanting, seemed to be in a hurry, and then asked: “Mr. Lei, Miss Du from Boyuan Design made an appointment a week ago and wants to meet with you. Did you see her?”
He heard the words “Boyuan Design” and remembered that he was a partner of the company, so he said: “The design company is left to Vice President Liu.”
Shan Wanting knew he hadn’t remembered, and added: “It’s Miss Du, Xiaosu Du.”
He finally remembered who this woman was, so he was even more expressionless: “What’s the matter with her?”
“I don’t know, she insisted on talking to you, and called again and again, she said it was related to your brother.”
Shan Wanting took a careful look at the boss’s face after finishing talking. She don’t know why, but the boss had been in a bad mood recently. Not only had he lived in Beijing for a long time uncharacteristically, but also had no patience for official business after returning. There were rumors in the company that something happened to the boss’s family, but no one knew what happened, let alone had the courage to inquire.
As a result, Lei Yuzheng left a sentence very coldly: “Look at the schedule and give her five minutes.” After speaking, he turned and entered the office.
Shan Wanting went to check the boss’s schedule, adjusted the schedule, and then called Du Xiaosu to inform her to see Lei Yuzheng in the afternoon.
Lei Yuzheng barely recognized Du Xiaosu when he saw her. Two months since they last met, she is so thin that she was almost just bones. Her face was a circle smaller and her eyes were haggard and absent.
He thought of the girl that Zhenrong led home, her plump apple face, and her big flickering eyes. Even if he recognized her later and prevented her from staying with Zhenrong, she still seemed proud and strong when she came to the office to talk to him, as if she had the most powerful strength to support her.
But now she seemed to have become another person, her whole body dimmed, and her expression was tired. She was holding a big travel bag. She put the heavy bag on his desk, unzipped it, and turned it upside down. In a thump, bundles of hundred-dollar bills spread across a table, rolling down everywhere.
He frowned.
Her voice was very small, but very clear. She said: “Mr. Lei, here is 700,000 yuan. I know it is not enough, but these are all the funds I can raise. I have a job. I can apply for provident funds and business loans. 700,000 yuan should be enough for the down payment. I’m here to beg you, sell me the house that Zhenrong bought.”
Her tone was almost humble, but her eyes flashed with unspeakable craze. She stared closely at his face and his eyes, as if staring at the only hope in the world. She said: “Mr. Lei, this is my only wish. I hope you can agree to it.”
Lei Yuzheng gently pushed away the money with his fingers: “I am not going to sell that house to you.”
She put another stack of documents in front of him without arrogance: “This is the house purchase contract and the house payment invoice.”
He still had no expression: “The contract has not been filed with the Real Estate Bureau, and it is still invalid.” He picked up the house purchase contract and looked at it, and suddenly tore it from the middle. Du Xiaosu was stunned by his sudden action. She watched him tear the contract to pieces. He said casually: “The payer is Shao Zhenrong. You are not qualified to get this house.”
“I just wanted to buy this house, so I came here with the money.” She was shaking all over, “Why are you tearing up the contract?”
“I’m not going to sell it to you.” He pressed the phone line, called the secretary, “Send Miss Du out.”
She did not cry or make trouble, but followed Shan Wanting obediently.
Lei Yuzheng originally thought that that was the end of the matter, but didn’t expect that when he got off work that night, she would suddenly rush out from the roadside, into the middle of the road and stop in front of the car. The driver was frightened and hastily pressed the brake. Fortunately, the performance of the car was good, and it stopped. The car was only a few centimeters away from her. The wind swept her skirt against the air-intake grille at the front of the car, her whole body was so thin that she looked like she could be blown away by the wind at any time, but she stood there, looking straight at him. The security guard in the parking lot was taken aback, and immediately ran over here. Through the car window, she just looked at him calmly, as if she didn’t care about the dangerous action she just made.
Lei Yuzheng knocked on the back of the seat and told the driver: “Drive.”
The security guard pulled her away and the car drove out of the parking lot. From the rearview mirror, she could still be seen struggling, almost about to break free of the security guard.
He ignored the blurry shadows that became smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror.
She used to be in entertainment reporting, he remembered, and now she seems to spend all of her time on it. She doesn’t cry, make trouble, or harass him, just follows his car at a distance. She went wherever he went. If he went back to the apartment, she followed him outside the door of the apartment; when he went back to the villa, she followed to outside the gate of the villa area; when he went out to socialize and eat, she waited outside the restaurant or hotel.
She was like a quiet madman, or an incurable paranoid, very calmly following him, not carrying where he went, just innocently, quietly following him. He had asked the security to expel her countless times and prevented her from appearing near his office building. She didn’t quarrel or fight, and let the people take her away – she obediently and quietly let them do whatever. But her eyes kept on staring at him. Her eyes were very dark, so dark that her pupils seemed larger than the whites of her eyes. She looked at him with nothing in her eyes, only a kind of empty peace, like a terminally ill patient with no vitality, just looking at him like that.
She was like a madman in the truest sense. She only lived in her own world and did what she wanted to do. She would not give up unless she achieved her goal. If he didn’t sell her the house, she would follow him every day, follow him all the time, and she spend all of her time doing this.
Lei Yuzheng found it strange. The woman was getting thinner and thinner, her wrist was so thin that it looked like it might break at any time. The security guards could move her aside without any effort. He didn’t know what supported her. She was like a blade of grass, with enough strength to push up a stone and grow out of the gap.
Shan Wanting asked him twice: “Mr. Lei, do you want me to notify the Legal Department to come forward and send a lawyer’s letter. What she’s doing is harassment.”
Lei Yuzheng glanced at the figure in the rearview mirror, and faintly replied: “I will see how long she can follow. Half a year? One year?”
Shan Wanting no longer mentioned it.
Du Xiaosu was tougher than they imagined. She is almost unimpeded, unperturbed by any weather. She would always appear in their sight before and after Lei Yuzheng got off work. Gradually, even Lei Yuzheng’s driver got used to it. Before leaving the garage, he always had to take a look at the rearview mirror. As soon as Du Xiaosu’s figure appeared, he would step on the accelerator and leave.
Lei Yuzheng worked overtime this day. It was already eight o’clock in the evening when he got off work. It was already dark, and it was raining again. It was dark all around. Even the light from the street lamps looked like hazy balls. The rain was too heavy. The water flowed down the driveway, like a river. The car drove from the garage. The two headlights illuminated the silver-arrow rain striking the car at an angle. The windshield wipers were already at the highest gear. Waves of water splashed over. When the wiper wiped them away, even more water would splash down. The sky was like a hundred rivers, pouring straight down.
The driver drove slowly due to the heavy rain. He glanced at the rearview mirror habitually and couldn’t help but uttered a “Huh”. He knew that he had done something out of line and stopped making noise.
Lei Yuzheng raised his head when he heard the sound, and also glanced at the rearview mirror. It turned out that Du Xiaosu was standing by the exit of the garage even after such heavy rain, because that area was close to the root of the building wall, and there was a protruding marble wall which could provide some shellder. She didn’t hold an umbrella, and her whole body was already soaked. The street light outlined her thin figure, which looked like it was made from paper. He saw her figure drifting away in the rearview mirror, shaking a few times in the busy rain, before finally falling down into the stagnant water, motionless.
The driver watched her fall from the rearview mirror, and instinctively stepped on the brakes.
Lei Yuzheng asked: “What are you stopping for?”
The driver was a little embarrassed, and quickly started the car again. In the rearview mirror, she was only seen falling into the water, still motionless. More rain fell on her, and as the car drifted away, the figure in the rearview mirror was getting smaller and smaller, until finally, she was out of sight.
Du Xiaosu had a very long dream. She dreamed of Shao Zhenrong, that he had come back. But she was so tired that she couldn’t speak, her whole body was exhausted to the extreme, she couldn’t breathe, she felt like she was choking, maybe it was the water, suffocating her. She couldn’t even move her lips, she was so tired, as if her bones were broken. She had so many things to tell him, she missed him so much. Everyone said he was dead, but she didn’t believe them. She would never believe them. She missed him, until her heart started to hurt. If he knew, he would come back. He let her wait, so she continued to wait, obediently wait, but she wasn’t able to wait until he came.
Now that he was back, he finally…came back.
She didn’t cry, because she had a lot to tell him. For example, that she loved him, in this life, in this world, in her next life, she would continue to love him; for example, she missed him, she was very obedient, she went to the psychiatrist on time, she ate medicine on time, only she was never able to dream of him.
But his figure was very vague. His figure stayed there for a short moment before attempting to disappear. She stretched out her hand in vain, trying to grab something, maybe the corner of his clothes. She held on tightly. Someone was prying away her fingers again. She was afraid, not wanting to let go. She knew that the moment she let go, he would leave, or perhaps when she let go, she would wake up and never be able to dream of him again. That was Zhenrong, her Zhenrong. Even if she died, she wouldn’t let go. She would rather die than let go.
Lei Yuzheng frowned slightly, looking at the fingers that tightly gripped the corners of his clothes. They were very thin, so thin that their fingers were like bamboo knots, but they seemed to have brute force. They held onto the corners of his clothes, firmly refusing to let go. No matter how hard he tried, until her nails had turned white, she refused to loosen them.
He already felt that he had made a mistake in sending her to the hospital. He might as well let her fall into a coma and choke to death in the water. He really shouldn’t care about such trivial matters, but she held onto the corner of his clothes, refusing to let go.. Her lips were white and blue, her cheeks a sickly flushed color. She had a high fever, the medicine in the drip was half half gone, and the fever had not gone away. The doctor came several times, and the nurse also came to measure the body temperature, announcing: 39.6 degrees, 39.4 degrees…
He didn’t know if she continued to have a fever, if her head would burn broken…In any case, she was basically already crazy. He thought of many ways to pry her hand away, but she gripped too tightly, her fingers were scorching hot. He could feel the frightening temperature even through his clothes. He almost wanted to cut off the corner of his own clothes, so that he could get rid of this nasty woman. He tried to move her fingers away, so he bowed his body. He was closer and so he finally heard what she was saying.
What she said was: “Zhenrong…”
It turned out that she had been calling Zhenrong’s name this whole time.
She didn’t know how she survived the flight time, every minute, every second, seemed to be frying her in a pan. Her heart was in her twist, her mind was still blank. She desperately comforted herself: I can’t think about it, I don’t want to think about it anymore. After I see Zhenrong, it will be fine. Once it see him, it will be fine. Even if he lost a leg or arm, I’m still willing to accompany him for the rest of his life. As long as he – as long as he is there well, it’s fine.
When she got off the plane, she even thought, if he becomes disabled, she will marry him right away. As long as he still wanted her, she would marry him immediately.
There was unexpectedly people from the hospital waiting for her at the airport. One of them she recognized – a female doctor from Shao Zhenrong’s department, a very kind person. Du Xiaosu originally called her “Big Sister” together with Shao Zhenrong. Big Sister usually took great care of them. Once, when her family wrapped spring rolls, she went out of her way to call them to try some out. Before Du Xiaosu said anything, Big Sister already came over, and held onto her, “Xiaosu, you have to be strong.”
What did that mean?
She was almost angry, she had always been strong, but what do they mean by being here? She nearly angrily shook off Big Sister’s hand: “I can walk by myself!”
She kept silent in the car. Big Sister quietly observed her face, but did not dare to say anything. When she arrived at the hospital, she saw the well-lit No. 2 building. When she go out of the car, she asked “Zhen Rong must be hospitalized. Which department is he in? The orthopedic department? Neurology department? Is he seriously injured? Which room is he in?”
“Xiaosu…” Big Sister said with some difficulty, “We told you on the phone in the afternoon already – you have to face the reality firmly… Dr. Shao…already…He just happened to meet upon a collapsed area…The rescue team did their best…but they weren’t able to save him…”
Xiaosu watched as Big Sister’s mouth opened and closed: “Landslide… accident… for the patient… sacrifice…”
Such terrible words, one after another came from her mouth. Du Xiaosu eyes were open wide. She stared blankly.
All of this was just a dream, a nightmare. She was just caught by nightmare. As long as she opened her eyes hard, she would wake up and know that it was a dream and that she could see Shao Zhenrong reappear in front of her in all health. Or perhaps, the people in these hospital were all deceiving her, hiding Shao Zhenrong, let her be anxious, and then when she was desperate, Zhenrong would naturally pop out, all smiles, tap her nose and call her a little fool.
She didn’t even shed a single tear. She kept on feeling, how was it possible, how could all of this be possible? They must’ve made a mistake, otherwise, she was tricked. There was no way this was real. Because he told her to wait. He was a person who held true to his promises. He wouldn’t even be late to a date. How could he lie to her?
She didn’t know what they were talking about. She didn’t know at all. She lowered her head, closed her eyes, and waited quietly. As she promised, she would wait for him to come back.
When she opened her eyes again, she was already in the hospital bed. She silently counted the drops in the drip tube, hoping to count the drips like last time, and he would suddenly push the door in and look at her. It turned out that when he looked at her, there was a little smile in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth were slightly pursed. When he laughed, there was a small dimple on his left cheek, which could not be seen without paying attention, but she knew it because he was her Shao Zhenrong. She loved him, so she knew even his most subtle expressions. He must be scaring her this time, he must be. Maybe he was seriously injured, maybe really disabled, so he didn’t want to see her because he couldn’t accept it psychologically, or he didn’t intend to forgive her in the end. But it all didn’t matter, she would wait for him until he came back, just like in the hospital last time.
But she counted and counted. She didn’t know how many she had counted until the bottle of medicine dripped out and was replaced with another bottle. The nurses around came and went. The psychologist came to talk to her every day, often sitting in front of her bed for a few hours. But even if the doctor said enough to break their lips, she didn’t talk.
Because they were all tricking her.
He would definitely come back, he loved her so, even if she made such a big mistake, he still told her to wait for him. How could he be willing to leave her here alone? He would definitely come back.
Her parents rushed over from home after hearing the news. They were distraught. Especially her mother, who stayed by her side, not leaving a step, repeatedly advising, “Child, cry, let yourself cry. Don’t hurt yourself like this. Once you cry, it’ll become better.” But she didn’t cry. Yet her mother had cried, and kept wiping at tears.
And she raised her face slightly, but she didn’t understand the need for tears.
Her Shao Zhenrong was gone, but he would definitely come back. He used to love her so much, how could he be willing to leave her behind? He would definitely come back, no matter what, he would definitely come back.
On the last day, her mother and the nurse helped her change clothes, combed her hair, and helped her into the elevator. She didn’t know where they were going, she was muddled and at the mercy of others.
When she stepped into the hall, she only saw him in the distance, using that smile while looking at her.
She didn’t understand. She kept walking closer, until she reached out and stroked the black picture frame. The photo was very large. Separated by the cold glass, her fingers slowly slipped over his lips. He used to smile so warmly. He had always smiled so warly. The picture was very good, but she wasn’t the one who had taken it. She looked back hastily and found Nanny Zhao, so she softly called, “Auntie Zhao.” She remembered, remembered very firmly, that Zhenrong had brought her to meet Nanny Zhao during the Spring Festival. Nanny Zhao treated her like her own daughter. She cooked chicken soup for her and gave her a ring because she was Zhentong’s girlfriend. ――Auntie Zhao was also held tightly by someone, almost unable to stand up. IN just a couple months, Auntie Zhao looked haggard like she was ten years older. Even her hair turned white. When Nanny Zhao saw Du Xiaosu, her tears rolled down. Du Xiaosu broke free of her mother’s hand and walked towards Nanny Zhao, her voice still very soft: “Auntie, Zhenrong asked me to wait for him, but he never came back.”
Aunt Zhao seemed to choke. Her body became soft and she fainted. There was huge chaos in the hall, and a few people rushed to help the nurse hold Auntie Zhao and move her aside… Her moher also held her hand tightly and burst into tears: “Child, don’t be stupid, don’t be stupid.”
She was not stupid. He had said to her himself, telling her to wait for him. She had been waiting, but he hadn’t come back.
He said he wanted to talk to her when he came back. How could he not come back if he loved her so much? He loved her so much, how could he not want her?
She didn’t understand. She didn’t believe it until the last moment, when they took her to the heavy coffin. There were so many flowers, all white chrysanthemums, and he slept in the middle of the flowers with a peaceful expression.
She stared in confusion, as if she still didn’t understand what was going on, until they closed the coffin lid inch by inch, until Aunt Zhao fainted from crying again, and everyone burst into tears. She was the only one who stood there stupidly, without consciousness, without anything, as if everything had been lost, as if everything had ceased to exist.
Shao Zhenrong’s face was covered inch by inch until everything was covered, his whole person was covered. She suddenly understood that all this was not a dream, all this was true. They didn’t lie to her, he really wouldn’t come back, he would never come back. She really lost him forever.
She rushed over like crazy, her parents desperately held her, many people came up to help her, but she just cried: “Mom! Let me go with him, I beg you, let me go with him, I want to follow him! Mother… Let me be with him…”
More people wanted to pull her away, and she cried so hard that she couldn’t breathe: “Let me be with him, I beg you. Shao Zhenrong! Shao Zhenrong! Get up! How can you leave me like this?! How could you do this……”
Her fingers were pried away one by one. She cried until her whole body was shaking. With brute force, she wanted to break away from everyone’s hands and squeeze herself into the cold coffin. Because in there was her Shao Zhenrong. She wanted to be with him, no matter when or where. She only wanted to be with him.
She heard her own crying, hoarse and desperate, like a trapped beast, knowing that it was impossible, but she fought with her life, not caring about anything else, she just had to be with him.
Everyone was pulling her and persuading her. She heard her own voice, stern as a knife, gouging at her heart, gouging out blood and flesh. She said repeatedly: “Let me go, let me go, you let me go, Shao Zhenrong is dead. What am I doing alive? Let me go, I beg you.”
Her mother pulled her arm desperately, crying out of breath: “Child, child, don’t do this! What should Mother do if you are like this? What should Mother do…”
All the tears seemed to gush out at this moment. She struggled desperately like this, but her Shao Zhenrong wouldn’t come back, he really wouldn’t come back. Despite her making such a scene, crying like this, yelling like this, reaching out to scratch like this desperately, but every time she could only just grab onto the cold coffin. Everything was in vain, he would never answer her again, he lied to her, he lied when he told her to wait for him. She kept waiting, but he would not come.
Her voice was all horse. She didn’t have the strength. People came up, moved her to the side. She could only watch as they as took took him away, watch as they took away her Shao Zhenrong. She really didn’t want to live anymore. She only wanted to be with him. If he was dead, then they should be dead together. But he didn’t wait for her, he left first by himself.
Her mother hugged her tightly, calling her name. Her mother’s tears fell on her face, and she watched others lift the coffin away. She couldn’t make any sound anymore, as if her vocal cords had been broken.
She no longer had Shao Zhenrong.
She was so desperate, but she couldn’t even keep him for an extra minute or second. Fate was that stingy. Not even a minute or second would be given to her. She was truly hopeless. Using the last of her strength, in her fragmented, broken voice: “Mom, don’t let them take him away… Mom… I beg you, mom… Don’t let them take him away…”
Her mother cried so much that she couldn’t even speak, and finally collapsed on her back and fell into Xiaosu’s father’s arms. The people nearby supported onto her firmly. But she was helpless like a newborn baby. She had no way. Even the mother she trusted and depended on the most had no way.
Everything fell apart, and the whole world went dark before her eyes. Summer in the city always had sudden torrential rains. The weather had changed in an instant. Only the lead-grey could be seen from the windows, and the heavy clouds hovered out extremely close to the ground, so low as though they were within reach. Such a sky was like a lens to a future city in a movie. The huge glass windows were covered with water droplets, making trails one after another, before being blown to the side by the wind.
The atmosphere in the entire conference room was also low and depressing. Everyone was in a bad mood. It was an indisputable fact that the performance of the projects focused on real estate had declined for two consecutive quarters, The big boss had finally returned to Shanghai from Beijing. They had to face the problems accumulated over the past few months. Looking at Lei Yuzheng’s expressionless face, all the supervisors were cautious, afraid to accidentally cause his anger.
“We will not rebuild the disaster area.” Lei Yuzheng closed the half-inch-thick plan with one finger. “The competition is fierce, and there is no need to get involved..”
The vice president in charge of planning’s face had an ugly color. Although the company was registered in Beijing, the focus of business had always been in Shanghai. Many major investment plans were made in the name of the Shanghai portion. This time, it took them almost a month to plan it out in such detail, but before it even reached the board of directors, it was so easily rejected in a regular meeting.
Disaster area reconstruction?
Lei Yuzheng almost sneered: Why? Why should we rebuild those ruins?
No one knew how he rushed to the earthquake zone that day, and no one knew how he got to the scene of the landslide. Standing in front of the collapsed rock, he really knew that there was no hope. But he was very calm and used all available power. The local rescue team also tried their best, and finally dug out the collapsed ambulance. At that time, the leader of the medical team, a big man cried as he stood. They were doctors. They were accustomed to seeing life and death and seeing blood and pain, but in the face of disaster and death, their faces were ashen. They could only cry.
He dug Zhenrong out with his own hands. Zhenrong’s whole body was miraculously not injured. His face was even clean, and his body was still soft, but because of suffocation, there was no sign of life. It was too long, too long… He couldn’t wait for his second brother to rescue him, and he was already taking his last breath under mud several meters deep.
This was his most beloved younger brother, his parents’ most beloved youngest son, his dearest sibling, the little tail that followed him since childhood, the little bit who followed after him, softly calling out “Brother”, that little bean sprout that still carried the scent of milk – Since young, Shao Zhenrong had been in poor health. So they family would order him two bottles of milk: one for the morning, one in the evening. So he would always carry the scent of milk, letting him make fun of him for having a “milk scent not dried.”
Zhenrong grew up day by day, gaining long legs and arms, and his own opinions. Zhenrong was admitted to the best high school, Zhenrong insisted on studying medicine, Zhenrong went abroad to continue his studies… One time, Lei Yuzheng went abroad for an inspection trip, he deliberately went on a detour to go see Zhenrong at school. Heavy snow had just fallen that day. The two brothers walked side by side on the road of the school. The snow squeaked under their feet. They were surrounded by ancient foreign buildings. Zhenrong told him about the school’s trivial matters. The wind blew snowflakes onto his face. Zhenrong squinted like he did when he was a child. It was then that Lei Yuzheng suddenly realized that Zhenrong was actually as tall as himself.
He always thought that they would live a long time, until their hair was all white, all their teeth were lost, and they would sit by the pond in the sunset, fishing, and talking about their children and grandchildren.
He was his closest sibling, his most beloved brother. He sat on the plane holding Zhenrong. The whole cabin was empty, and no one dared to talk to him. He thought that his face must be more ugly than Zhenrong’s. He didn’t allow anyone to touch Zhenrong, and finally, when got off the plane, he personally took Zhenrong down.
The eldest brother had already rushed back to Beijing, and several lonely cars were parked. It was that far. He walked slowly, step by step. He nearly couldn’t hold onto him anymore, Zhenrong was no longer that light, sick child. Zhenrong had become a man. The eldest brother walked over, silently, and extended his arm to take Zhenrong. Travelling thousands of miles, he brought back his youngest brother and handed it over to the eldest brother. The two lads carrying the stretcher only dared to follow them from a distance. The eldest brother walked to the car, put Zhenrong down, and put it in the coffin prepared in the car. Lei Yuzheng helped off to the side, holding Zhenrong’s head. The moment he lowered his head, he could clearly see that two tears fell from his elder brother’s eyes and fell on Zhenrong’s clothes.
That was the first time he saw his elder brother shed tears. He was always handsome, even calmer and more determined than his father. Lei Yuzheng stood in front of the car, watching the wind mess up his eldest brother’s immaculate hair, and watching the two lines of tears on his face. They tried their best to comfort their parents. Although they brought Zhenrong back to Beijing, they even unreasonably wanted to prevent their elderly father from going to see Zhenrong one last time. So they sent Zhenrong back to Shanghai and held a memorial service where Zhenrong worked in Shanghai. Because both him and his brother knew that their father had a serious heart disease and couldn’t bear that kind of scene.
No matter what, it shouldn’t have been Zhenrong.
He was the youngest in the family, and the most adored one in the family.
He never bullied his classmates. He had always treated people the best and most sincerely. He had never done any harm to the world. He chose to do medicine because he could treat illnesses and save people, and he even went to the disaster area to save people.
No matter what, it shouldn’t have been Zhenrong.
For a long time, Lei Yuzheng stayed with his parents, reminiscent when he was very young, each child by their knees.
Because the eldest brother was busy with work, he couldn’t spend a long time with the parents like Lei Yuzheng. Thus, sister-in-law took a long vacation and brought the children back here to live. Because the family had a little niece who was still learning to speak, the house didn’t appear so empty. But his mother still got thinner and thinner. When his little niece was taking a nap, he would often see his mother holding a group photo of the brothers when they were young. One look would take two or three hours.
He almost thought savagely, why was it Zhenrong? Why must he invest in the land that caused such sadness to his family? Why did he need to rebuild those ruins?
Even the person who most shouldn’t have died died. Even the heavens had become blind. Why?
He would no longer have any sympathy, he would no longer have any mercy, even fate did not pity him, nor Zhenrong. Why should he pity others?
He would never again. Never again.
After the meeting came out, the secretary, Shan Wanting, seemed to be in a hurry, and then asked: “Mr. Lei, Miss Du from Boyuan Design made an appointment a week ago and wants to meet with you. Did you see her?”
He heard the words “Boyuan Design” and remembered that he was a partner of the company, so he said: “The design company is left to Vice President Liu.”
Shan Wanting knew he hadn’t remembered, and added: “It’s Miss Du, Xiaosu Du.”
He finally remembered who this woman was, so he was even more expressionless: “What’s the matter with her?”
“I don’t know, she insisted on talking to you, and called again and again, she said it was related to your brother.”
Shan Wanting took a careful look at the boss’s face after finishing talking. She don’t know why, but the boss had been in a bad mood recently. Not only had he lived in Beijing for a long time uncharacteristically, but also had no patience for official business after returning. There were rumors in the company that something happened to the boss’s family, but no one knew what happened, let alone had the courage to inquire.
As a result, Lei Yuzheng left a sentence very coldly: “Look at the schedule and give her five minutes.” After speaking, he turned and entered the office.
Shan Wanting went to check the boss’s schedule, adjusted the schedule, and then called Du Xiaosu to inform her to see Lei Yuzheng in the afternoon.
Lei Yuzheng barely recognized Du Xiaosu when he saw her. Two months since they last met, she is so thin that she was almost just bones. Her face was a circle smaller and her eyes were haggard and absent.
He thought of the girl that Zhenrong led home, her plump apple face, and her big flickering eyes. Even if he recognized her later and prevented her from staying with Zhenrong, she still seemed proud and strong when she came to the office to talk to him, as if she had the most powerful strength to support her.
But now she seemed to have become another person, her whole body dimmed, and her expression was tired. She was holding a big travel bag. She put the heavy bag on his desk, unzipped it, and turned it upside down. In a thump, bundles of hundred-dollar bills spread across a table, rolling down everywhere.
He frowned.
Her voice was very small, but very clear. She said: “Mr. Lei, here is 700,000 yuan. I know it is not enough, but these are all the funds I can raise. I have a job. I can apply for provident funds and business loans. 700,000 yuan should be enough for the down payment. I’m here to beg you, sell me the house that Zhenrong bought.”
Her tone was almost humble, but her eyes flashed with unspeakable craze. She stared closely at his face and his eyes, as if staring at the only hope in the world. She said: “Mr. Lei, this is my only wish. I hope you can agree to it.”
Lei Yuzheng gently pushed away the money with his fingers: “I am not going to sell that house to you.”
She put another stack of documents in front of him without arrogance: “This is the house purchase contract and the house payment invoice.”
He still had no expression: “The contract has not been filed with the Real Estate Bureau, and it is still invalid.” He picked up the house purchase contract and looked at it, and suddenly tore it from the middle. Du Xiaosu was stunned by his sudden action. She watched him tear the contract to pieces. He said casually: “The payer is Shao Zhenrong. You are not qualified to get this house.”
“I just wanted to buy this house, so I came here with the money.” She was shaking all over, “Why are you tearing up the contract?”
“I’m not going to sell it to you.” He pressed the phone line, called the secretary, “Send Miss Du out.”
She did not cry or make trouble, but followed Shan Wanting obediently.
Lei Yuzheng originally thought that that was the end of the matter, but didn’t expect that when he got off work that night, she would suddenly rush out from the roadside, into the middle of the road and stop in front of the car. The driver was frightened and hastily pressed the brake. Fortunately, the performance of the car was good, and it stopped. The car was only a few centimeters away from her. The wind swept her skirt against the air-intake grille at the front of the car, her whole body was so thin that she looked like she could be blown away by the wind at any time, but she stood there, looking straight at him. The security guard in the parking lot was taken aback, and immediately ran over here. Through the car window, she just looked at him calmly, as if she didn’t care about the dangerous action she just made.
Lei Yuzheng knocked on the back of the seat and told the driver: “Drive.”
The security guard pulled her away and the car drove out of the parking lot. From the rearview mirror, she could still be seen struggling, almost about to break free of the security guard.
He ignored the blurry shadows that became smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror.
She used to be in entertainment reporting, he remembered, and now she seems to spend all of her time on it. She doesn’t cry, make trouble, or harass him, just follows his car at a distance. She went wherever he went. If he went back to the apartment, she followed him outside the door of the apartment; when he went back to the villa, she followed to outside the gate of the villa area; when he went out to socialize and eat, she waited outside the restaurant or hotel.
She was like a quiet madman, or an incurable paranoid, very calmly following him, not carrying where he went, just innocently, quietly following him. He had asked the security to expel her countless times and prevented her from appearing near his office building. She didn’t quarrel or fight, and let the people take her away – she obediently and quietly let them do whatever. But her eyes kept on staring at him. Her eyes were very dark, so dark that her pupils seemed larger than the whites of her eyes. She looked at him with nothing in her eyes, only a kind of empty peace, like a terminally ill patient with no vitality, just looking at him like that.
She was like a madman in the truest sense. She only lived in her own world and did what she wanted to do. She would not give up unless she achieved her goal. If he didn’t sell her the house, she would follow him every day, follow him all the time, and she spend all of her time doing this.
Lei Yuzheng found it strange. The woman was getting thinner and thinner, her wrist was so thin that it looked like it might break at any time. The security guards could move her aside without any effort. He didn’t know what supported her. She was like a blade of grass, with enough strength to push up a stone and grow out of the gap.
Shan Wanting asked him twice: “Mr. Lei, do you want me to notify the Legal Department to come forward and send a lawyer’s letter. What she’s doing is harassment.”
Lei Yuzheng glanced at the figure in the rearview mirror, and faintly replied: “I will see how long she can follow. Half a year? One year?”
Shan Wanting no longer mentioned it.
Du Xiaosu was tougher than they imagined. She is almost unimpeded, unperturbed by any weather. She would always appear in their sight before and after Lei Yuzheng got off work. Gradually, even Lei Yuzheng’s driver got used to it. Before leaving the garage, he always had to take a look at the rearview mirror. As soon as Du Xiaosu’s figure appeared, he would step on the accelerator and leave.
Lei Yuzheng worked overtime this day. It was already eight o’clock in the evening when he got off work. It was already dark, and it was raining again. It was dark all around. Even the light from the street lamps looked like hazy balls. The rain was too heavy. The water flowed down the driveway, like a river. The car drove from the garage. The two headlights illuminated the silver-arrow rain striking the car at an angle. The windshield wipers were already at the highest gear. Waves of water splashed over. When the wiper wiped them away, even more water would splash down. The sky was like a hundred rivers, pouring straight down.
The driver drove slowly due to the heavy rain. He glanced at the rearview mirror habitually and couldn’t help but uttered a “Huh”. He knew that he had done something out of line and stopped making noise.
Lei Yuzheng raised his head when he heard the sound, and also glanced at the rearview mirror. It turned out that Du Xiaosu was standing by the exit of the garage even after such heavy rain, because that area was close to the root of the building wall, and there was a protruding marble wall which could provide some shellder. She didn’t hold an umbrella, and her whole body was already soaked. The street light outlined her thin figure, which looked like it was made from paper. He saw her figure drifting away in the rearview mirror, shaking a few times in the busy rain, before finally falling down into the stagnant water, motionless.
The driver watched her fall from the rearview mirror, and instinctively stepped on the brakes.
Lei Yuzheng asked: “What are you stopping for?”
The driver was a little embarrassed, and quickly started the car again. In the rearview mirror, she was only seen falling into the water, still motionless. More rain fell on her, and as the car drifted away, the figure in the rearview mirror was getting smaller and smaller, until finally, she was out of sight.
Du Xiaosu had a very long dream. She dreamed of Shao Zhenrong, that he had come back. But she was so tired that she couldn’t speak, her whole body was exhausted to the extreme, she couldn’t breathe, she felt like she was choking, maybe it was the water, suffocating her. She couldn’t even move her lips, she was so tired, as if her bones were broken. She had so many things to tell him, she missed him so much. Everyone said he was dead, but she didn’t believe them. She would never believe them. She missed him, until her heart started to hurt. If he knew, he would come back. He let her wait, so she continued to wait, obediently wait, but she wasn’t able to wait until he came.
Now that he was back, he finally…came back.
She didn’t cry, because she had a lot to tell him. For example, that she loved him, in this life, in this world, in her next life, she would continue to love him; for example, she missed him, she was very obedient, she went to the psychiatrist on time, she ate medicine on time, only she was never able to dream of him.
But his figure was very vague. His figure stayed there for a short moment before attempting to disappear. She stretched out her hand in vain, trying to grab something, maybe the corner of his clothes. She held on tightly. Someone was prying away her fingers again. She was afraid, not wanting to let go. She knew that the moment she let go, he would leave, or perhaps when she let go, she would wake up and never be able to dream of him again. That was Zhenrong, her Zhenrong. Even if she died, she wouldn’t let go. She would rather die than let go.
Lei Yuzheng frowned slightly, looking at the fingers that tightly gripped the corners of his clothes. They were very thin, so thin that their fingers were like bamboo knots, but they seemed to have brute force. They held onto the corners of his clothes, firmly refusing to let go. No matter how hard he tried, until her nails had turned white, she refused to loosen them.
He already felt that he had made a mistake in sending her to the hospital. He might as well let her fall into a coma and choke to death in the water. He really shouldn’t care about such trivial matters, but she held onto the corner of his clothes, refusing to let go.. Her lips were white and blue, her cheeks a sickly flushed color. She had a high fever, the medicine in the drip was half half gone, and the fever had not gone away. The doctor came several times, and the nurse also came to measure the body temperature, announcing: 39.6 degrees, 39.4 degrees…
He didn’t know if she continued to have a fever, if her head would burn broken…In any case, she was basically already crazy. He thought of many ways to pry her hand away, but she gripped too tightly, her fingers were scorching hot. He could feel the frightening temperature even through his clothes. He almost wanted to cut off the corner of his own clothes, so that he could get rid of this nasty woman. He tried to move her fingers away, so he bowed his body. He was closer and so he finally heard what she was saying.
What she said was: “Zhenrong…”
It turned out that she had been calling Zhenrong’s name this whole time.
