This matter naturally involved others, with only Shu Yang taking leave to care for Meng Ting.
Meng Ting didn’t know where to find him. Her calls went unanswered, and her messages received no reply.
However, today she was so panicked she was on the verge of tears when she finally got through to Jiang Ren.
She wore a blue and white hospital gown, her figure frail.
“Jiang Ren,” she said.
The young man’s voice was hoarse as he softly replied, “Mm.”
“Where are you? Can I come to see you?”
Silence fell on the other end for a long time.
The silence stretched on until they could both hear each other’s breathing. She took a soft breath and said with a sob in her voice, “I saw it. You carried me out, didn’t you?”
You carried me out.
Jiang Ren looked at the moonflowers blooming outside the window, gripping the bedsheet tightly. The young man used all his strength, his hand’s veins bulging from the effort.
It took all his willpower to say calmly, “No, the fire was too big. I couldn’t get in.”
Meng Ting didn’t believe him.
But he had no intention of telling her the truth. Chairman Jiang pushed open the door and saw Jiang Ren on the phone.
The young man’s face was pale and cold. Chairman Jiang held back his anger repeatedly before finally bellowing, “Hang up!”
His voice was so loud that even Meng Ting heard it.
Jiang Ren ended the call. The young man lowered his gaze, staring silently at the phone.
Chairman Jiang’s anger of several days finally erupted: “Have you gone mad? Don’t you care about your life anymore? What did you say when you woke up? Break up, you said you’d break up! What now? You don’t care about your life, wanting to be someone’s hero. I didn’t know I had such a great son!”
Gao Yi stood behind Chairman Jiang, not daring to make a sound, but Jiang Ren was exceptionally calm.
On this June afternoon, he was bare-chested, a band of gauze around his body. Ignoring his father’s hysterics, he said to Gao Yi, “Bring me my clothes.”
“You’re not going anywhere! I’d like to see who dares to go today! If you’re tired of living, I’ll kill you myself!”
Being on Chairman Jiang’s payroll, Gao Yi naturally couldn’t follow Jiang Ren’s orders.
Jiang Ren didn’t mind. He was unusually calm. With a layer of cold sweat on his forehead, he reached for the clothes on the bedside table.
Sunlight couldn’t penetrate the room, only the bright fluorescent lights illuminated his cold profile.
He raised his hand, enduring the pain, and put on the black shirt.
Button by button, his knuckles ice-cold, he fastened it up to his Adam’s apple.
Gao Yi watched, his eyes reddening.
Jiang Ren pressed his lips together and dialed the number he had memorized countless times in his heart.
“I’m in the VIP room 712, B Building of the City Hospital. Come over.”
Meng Ting’s voice trembled, “Okay, I’ll be right there.”
He hung up, and Chairman Jiang’s face was already thunderous.
Jiang Ren turned on the TV with the remote. It was showing a game show where contestants had to overcome multiple obstacles to win the grand prize. But many people, no matter how hard they tried, fell into the water midway.
When he turned on the TV, it happened to be showing a man who had made it to the final obstacle. He had almost jumped over, but his hand slipped, and he failed at the last moment.
Chairman Jiang Jixian was almost fifty this year. He had Jiang Ren when he was in his thirties.
This son was rebellious, hyperactive, crying, and making a fuss since birth, never giving him peace. But he had never seen Jiang Ren so quiet, as if nothing could disturb his world.
He still remembered how he looked when he received the call from H City. The emergency surgery light had been on for eight full hours.
Fifteen percent burns on his back, and his legs were a mess of blood and flesh.
Even under anesthesia, he still trembled in pain in his sleep, his muscles tense.
A real man doesn’t cry, only bleeds. In so much pain, he didn’t shed a single tear.
Chairman Jiang understood everything when he arrived. His troublesome son had rushed into the raging fire and protected a young girl before the beam collapsed. Was he crazy? Did he not care about his life anymore? Who did he think he was, an immortal?
Jiang Ren didn’t even have the strength to carry her out, letting the firefighters who arrived later take her out.
Chairman Jiang said, “Why did you call her here?”
“To break up,” he said these two words too calmly, only his suppressed breathing revealed his unsettled heart.
“Tell her on the phone. Tomorrow you’re transferring to H City with me!”
Jiang Ren clenched his fists tightly, and turned to look at him, his suppressed emotions finally erupting: “Tell her on the phone! I want to say it on the phone too. In our three-minute call, I thought about those two words countless times, but how can I say it? How do you want me to say it? Even if it costs me my life, I want to be with her! You think I want to break up?”
Gao Yi turned away, his eyes moist.
After a long while, Jiang Jixian closed his eyes and walked out the door: “Let that young girl come.”
Meng Ting ran and coughed, the June sun hanging brightly in the sky. She and Jiang Ren were in the same hospital, just in different buildings. She asked for directions all the way, her breath painful, her voice hoarse.
Shu Yang looked at her worriedly.
The fragile girl was very strong, she hadn’t even changed her clothes.
They went up to the seventh floor.
Shu Yang hadn’t lied to her. When he rushed back home to the fire scene that day, he did see someone in firefighter gear carrying Meng Ting out. He was so anxious when he saw the scene that he didn’t pay attention to anything else. He didn’t see Jiang Ren.
When Meng Ting reached the seventh floor, the entire corridor was quiet.
Shu Yang didn’t follow her, just waited at the elevator.
Meng Ting pushed open the door of room 712. The TV in the room was very loud.
Under the bright fluorescent light, he was intently watching a game show.
The TV was full of laughter and cheers. He curved his lips slightly, his attitude lazy, and finally turned to look at her.
Jiang Ren didn’t look much different, except for his pale face. However, as she walked towards him step by step, he spoke: “Don’t come any closer, just stand there.”
Meng Ting blinked, it was the first time his tone was so cold. Her eyes stung, but she still walked forward.
“Didn’t you hear me tell you not to come closer?”
His fake smile was almost impossible to maintain.
Don’t come any closer.
Just like before, when you disliked me when even looking at me for an extra second made you unhappy.
However, the young girl wasn’t afraid of his fierce tone. She just walked to his bedside, tears falling, her voice hoarse with a thick nasal tone: “Jiang Ren, where are you hurt?”
Her eyes were watery. Before, when he looked into these eyes, he wanted to give her the whole world.
Now it was just dense pain, making him crumble.
She carefully reached out and held his ice-cold fingers, her tone soft: “Does it hurt anywhere?”
His heart. That’s where it hurt the most.
He closed his eyes briefly. The girl’s small hand was soft, bringing the warmth of summer, making him tremble slightly. Jiang Ren pulled his hand away, his tone carrying a smile: “It hurts. I didn’t expect the fire to be so big, I barely got in before I had to get out. When I was about to die, I realized I don’t like you that much.”
She softly replied, “Mm.” Those eyes were clear and pure as if his clumsy lie was transparent. She smiled gently, the corners of her lips curving up, her voice hoarse but sounding like she was comforting him: “It’s okay.”
He originally wanted to say many things, like “Stay away from me, isn’t it enough that you killed your mother, do you have to ruin me too?” These would have been the most effective words, but in the end, he couldn’t say anything.
The pale pink moonflowers on the windowsill swayed.
He calmly said, “Let’s break up.”
Her big eyes were filled with tears: “No.”
“Do you know why I dated you? Because of my mom! She was also your type, pretty and aloof. I just wanted to see how people like you fawn and please others, understand? Meng Ting, you’re not even as good as Shen Yuqing. What? You think I didn’t give you money? My wallet is…”
She was both angry and hurt.
Did she look that stupid? She didn’t want to hear him make up such ridiculous reasons.
The sound of someone falling into the water came from the TV. She bent down and gently kissed his lips.
Her breath was long and slow, and his arrogant demeanor seemed to disappear in an instant.
Slowly turning cold.
She didn’t believe him. No matter what he said, she didn’t believe him. She gently kissed him once, like comforting a child, her tone light and soft: “Jiang Ren, can I see where you’re hurt?”
Don’t be afraid, I’ll always be with you, let me see, okay?
His black pupils were cold. But no matter how cold, they only reflected her image.
She was seventeen this year, and even though she was sick, she had a breathtaking beauty. Because she was gently comforting him, her eyes held docility and intimacy.
For a moment, he wanted to say okay regardless of everything. But in the end, he only said, “You should go, I’m tired. I’m going back to H City tomorrow.”
She was wearing a hospital gown, her pitiful appearance making him gasp and unable to look at her again.
Jiang Ren pressed the bell, asking the nurse to take her out.
Meng Ting finally cried.
He had seen her cry many times, but this was the first time she cried for him.
She was like an abandoned kitten, her voice sobbing, saying she didn’t want to leave.
The nurse pried her fingers off one by one. He gripped the remote tightly, turning the volume up to 100.
The huge sounds of music, obstacle crossing, cheers, and disappointment filled the entire room.
Finally drowning out her cries.
Seeing her once was enough. She was fine. In the big fire, she was protected by him and wasn’t hurt at all. She would only get better in the future.
Meng Ting refused to leave. The door inside had already been locked by the other nurses taking care of Jiang Ren.
She knocked on the door but he couldn’t hear, only the noisy TV sound covered everything.
Shu Yang heard the noise and quickly came over. He was stunned, it was the first time he had seen her cry like this.
The little fairy he had seen in childhood, even when she was wronged or sad, would only silently shed tears. He gritted his teeth and hugged her: “Sister, let’s go back, okay? Don’t cry anymore.”
It wasn’t okay, not at all okay.
Jiang Ren must be in so much pain. She didn’t want to break up with him like this. He was so bad, so bad. When he wanted to be with her, he pursued her relentlessly, and now that he didn’t want her, his heart was so cruel.
She cried until she couldn’t breathe until she couldn’t even make a sound.
The TV in the room was deafeningly loud, and who knows how long it went on.
Chairman Jiang opened the room and finally turned off the sound.
His son was much calmer than he had imagined.
“Dad, did she leave?”
“Mm.” The little girl was stubborn, her respiratory tract was already not good, and she was almost suffocating.
Jiang Ren smiled, his hoarse voice unexpectedly carrying a hint of tenderness: “Dad, her name is Meng Ting. She’s the top student in the second year of Seventh High. She’s very capable, she can dance, play the piano, and she’s first in the Math Olympiad too.”
“She’s also very gentle, and a bit silly. No one else was willing to teach me, but she wrote teaching plans page by page. She has a very good temper and is very hardworking.”
“She’s excellent, her only flaw is that she doesn’t like me that much.”
“But I,” he paused, “I like her very much. I want to accompany her to college, accompany her for a lifetime. It doesn’t matter if she doesn’t like me.”
Jiang Ren’s voice was hoarse, and finally, he couldn’t help but his eyes reddened.
Chairman Jiang was silent for a long time before closing the door.
Jiang Ren originally wanted to say much more, to tell about the feelings he had harbored, how he had secretly liked her for so long, to tell about those days and nights in Pear Blossom Town, afraid of missing her, to tell how seriously and hard he had pursued her.
He had truly used a lifetime’s passion to like a young girl.
But in the end, tears flowed through his fingers.
In the quiet with only his left, he finally said, “I’ve given up on her. I admit defeat.”