That touch was extremely brief, yet because of the two people’s overly abnormal reactions, it appeared especially awkward. The atmosphere for that moment was inexplicably delicate.

The clothes Ruan Mian wore today had no pockets. After withdrawing her hand, for an instant she didn’t even know where to put her hands. In the end, she could only grip tightly onto her bag strap.

The man who had shouted to get on the elevator ultimately squeezed his way in. The already narrow space became even more crowded because of him and the wheelchair he held in his arms.

The man turned back to thank Ruan Mian. Ruan Mian nodded and smiled, saying it was no problem. He raised his hand to press the button for the fifth floor. The elevator stopped on the second floor and three more people got on. The man holding the wheelchair backed up. It looked like it was about to scrape against Ruan Mian, so she instinctively took a small step backward.

Like a behavior of “walking into a trap.”

Her head bumped into Chen Yi’s chin, and she didn’t stand steady on her feet. Chen Yi raised his hand to grip her arm and steady her, his chest pressed against her back. From behind, that action looked as if he was holding her in his embrace.

Ruan Mian’s whole body went stiff. She almost didn’t dare turn back.

She couldn’t help but feel somewhat fortunate that Chen Yi was standing in the back position and couldn’t see her slightly flushed face and extremely nervous expression.

Chen Yi steadied her, withdrew his hand, and stood there. His gaze naturally fell on her. From the too-close distance, he could even see she had an ear piercing—and only one at that.

Her fair earlobe was small and delicate, at this moment tinged with a faint red. He only looked for a few seconds before lowering his head to touch his own ear and turning his gaze away.

The elevator quickly arrived at the third floor. Several people got off on this floor. Ruan Mian followed the crowd out of the elevator. As if trying to cover something up, she said, “It seems a bit hot today.”

Chen Yi saw her flushed cheeks and nodded in agreement. “Indeed.”

Neither of them brought up what had just happened, as if nothing had occurred.

The dressing change room was at the end of the corridor. Because Lin Jiahui was in general surgery, Ruan Mian was very familiar with the medical personnel here.

Chen Yi went in to change his bandage. She chatted outside with Yu Wu, another nurse on duty. Inevitably, she was gossiped about. “Dr. Ruan, is this your boyfriend?”

Ruan Mian wished she could shake her head like a rattle drum. “No, just a friend.”

Yu Wu smiled. “Friend is friend then. Why are you so nervous?”

“…” Ruan Mian couldn’t smile. She pulled a tissue from the table to wipe her hands. “Not talking to you anymore. I’m going to the restroom.”

“Go ahead.”

She came out from the dressing change room and stood in the corridor to calm her breathing. In the end, she didn’t go back in until Chen Yi came out from inside.

Chen Yi wore a single piece today. When changing the bandage, he probably took off his shirt. When he came out, the hem of his black shirt was untucked, the buttons were also fastened messily, and the area from his neck connecting to his collarbone was blindingly white.

The psychological preparation Ruan Mian had just made nearly collapsed. After just one glance, she immediately averted her gaze and asked with feigned composure, “Where are we going now?”

“Restroom.”

“Huh?” She was startled.

Chen Yi lowered his eyes and laughed. “I’m going to straighten out my clothes first.”

He fastened his buttons with one hand. The black shirt made his fingers appear exceptionally long and fair, inexplicably adding several degrees of sexiness to his person.

Ruan Mian blinked twice somewhat uncomfortably, pointed out the restroom’s location to him, and said, “I’ll wait for you by the elevator.”

“Okay.”

Chen Yi only went for less than three minutes. The elevator going down didn’t have many people. Ruan Mian stood much farther from him than before.

By the time they left the hospital, it was already past three-thirty. On the way here, Chen Yi had a friend from the car dealership drive his car over. After getting the car, the two of them realized this time slot was awkward—neither early nor late.

The car was parked in a temporary spot by the roadside. Along one side of the road was a row of poplar trees. The sunlight at this time wasn’t that strong. Ruan Mian sat in the passenger seat with wind blowing in through the window.

Chen Yi fastened his seatbelt, his hand tapping twice against the steering wheel. “It’s a bit early for dinner at this time. Do you have any plans?”

Ruan Mian’s lips moved. She hadn’t figured out what to say when she heard him continue, “If not, let’s go watch a movie. That way the end time will be about right.”

After speaking, Chen Yi turned his head to look at her. “Does that work for you?”

Ruan Mian’s eyelid jumped. She nodded. “…That works too.”

The nearest cinema was at Yintai City. On the way there, Ruan Mian looked at recently released movies on a ticket-purchasing app.

There were some released just yesterday, closer ones, and ones released half a month ago that still had showings, though there were fewer sessions and the times weren’t very suitable.

She casually scrolled down. The Yintai cinema had many showings. For a while she didn’t find anything suitable and planned to choose when they arrived.

It was over twenty minutes’ drive from the hospital. Ruan Mian originally thought about saying something, but after thinking for a long time, she couldn’t find anything to say. She sat there in a daze for over ten minutes, but actually didn’t feel as awkward and nervous as before.

Outside the window, tree shadows and tall buildings flashed by.

When they arrived, Chen Yi parked the car on the second basement level. After getting out, he locked the car and walked toward the elevator entrance with Ruan Mian, casually asking, “Do you usually drive to work?”

“Rarely. I rent an apartment near the hospital with a colleague. Taking the subway is a bit more convenient than driving.” Ruan Mian looked ahead.

“True, City B’s traffic situation has always been bad.”

The cinema was on the fifth floor. When the two of them came out of the elevator, they happened to run into the previous showing letting out. The lobby was full of people. Chen Yi and Ruan Mian went to the self-service ticket machines.

He opened the recent showings and asked, “What do you want to watch?”

“Anything’s fine. You pick.” She was originally here to kill time anyway. Ruan Mian didn’t really care what they watched.

“Alright.”

Chen Yi stood there selecting a movie. Ruan Mian was a bit thirsty and asked him, “I’m going to buy water. What do you want to drink?”

“Plain water is fine.” Chen Yi selected the movie with the nearest showing time. There were nineteen minutes until it started. After paying and getting the tickets, that side had already begun checking tickets.

He turned back to look. Ruan Mian was queuing at the vending machine. The queue was full of tall guys with long legs. She stood there looking very small, appearing somewhat out of place.

Chen Yi inexplicably smiled, quickly walked over, and said, “I’ll buy it. You go queue to check tickets first.”

In previous years, Ruan Mian’s academic coursework had been heavy. She’d lived busily and under great strain. The occasional rest time in between was all used to empty her brain. This also led her to develop a particularly bad habit now—during free time, she always liked to space out and think about various things.

When Chen Yi came over, she was thinking about what to eat tonight. The voice that abruptly rang in her ear made even her heartbeat skip.

She came back to her senses and took the movie ticket Chen Yi handed over. Her gaze swept over the ticket, but then paused. The movie Chen Yi had chosen was not unfamiliar to Ruan Mian.

It could even be said she remembered it deeply.

During the summer vacation of her second year of high school, she had watched another version of this movie in the cinema. At that time, she envied that the characters in the drama, whether good or bad, at least had an ending, unlike her and Chen Yi who didn’t even have an ending.

Her one-sided performance in her youth—she performed alone from beginning to end. The sadness and bitterness were unknown to anyone. He occupied her world as the protagonist, while she was merely an insignificant passerby in his life.

She had thought the story of Ruan Mian and Chen Yi had already closed its curtain long ago, but the current various signs seemed to indicate otherwise.

Chen Yi detected Ruan Mian’s unusual state. He pressed his lips together slightly and asked, “What’s wrong? Don’t you like this movie?”

Ruan Mian’s train of thought was interrupted by his words. Coming back to her senses, she smiled imperceptibly. “No, I just didn’t expect you to pick this one.”

“I randomly picked the nearest showing time. If you don’t like it, there’s still time to change.” Chen Yi lowered his eyes to look at her, but in his heart he was thinking of something else. “Have you seen this movie before?”

“Mm, I’ve seen the Korean version. The ending wasn’t very good—” After saying this sentence, Ruan Mian paused, thinking to herself whether this counted as directly spoiling it.

Chen Yi didn’t pay much attention to these details. “Still watching it then?”

“Let’s watch it. The tickets are already bought and can’t be refunded.” Ruan Mian held the ticket. “I’ll go queue for ticket checking first. Help me get a bottle of water too.”

“Okay.” Chen Yi watched her walk away, his expression thoughtful.

The movie’s total runtime was less than two hours. The content and ending were largely similar to the Korean version. Watching it a second time, Ruan Mian no longer had that initial sadness.

Perhaps it was already knowing the ending, or perhaps it was something else. Throughout the entire movie, she only sighed a few times at the characters’ helplessness.

As for Chen Yi, he didn’t know at all what the movie was about. From beginning to end, he was thinking about other things.

The two people had different thoughts. When they came out of the cinema, it was already close to six o’clock. There were more people in the mall on the weekend. Ruan Mian chose a moderate restaurant.

After arriving at the restaurant and ordering, on her way back from the restroom, she borrowed a power bank from the restaurant’s bar counter and charged her phone.

Chen Yi had chosen the seats by the window. From inside, they could see the coming and going of people outside.

Ruan Mian finished half a glass of lemon water. Her phone had already charged three percent. With a power source connected, turning it on wasn’t a problem.

Chen Yi withdrew his gaze that had fallen outside the window, landing on her. As if remembering something, he picked up his phone, tapped it a few times, then held it out in front of her. “Let’s add each other on WeChat.”

His phone was the same brand as Ruan Mian’s, a model that came out last winter.

Ruan Mian opened her own WeChat and scanned the QR code on his screen. The page jumped to his profile page. His profile picture was very similar to the one he used for QQ in high school—also an orange cat.

His username was the initials of his name, CY.

The two quickly became WeChat friends. Each took back their phone to fiddle with it. Ruan Mian clicked into Chen Yi’s Moments. He had it fully open, but there wasn’t much content.

The most recent post was from three months ago—the photo in his profile picture. She was about to like it, but thinking about it, felt it wasn’t quite appropriate. She exited WeChat and put her phone aside to charge.

Seeing this, Chen Yi also put down his phone.

Ruan Mian held her teacup and took the initiative to break the silence. “How many days off do you have this time?”

“Two days. What about you?”

“One more day than you.” As Ruan Mian was speaking, she still wanted to touch her phone. Her fingers rubbed against the phone’s edge. “Do you usually have rest time?”

“Yes.” Chen Yi thought for a moment and said, “When not on missions, once a month. Missions are calculated separately. For other things, it depends on the situation. If there’s something, we can also request leave.”

Ruan Mian nodded. They hadn’t chatted for more than a few sentences when dishes began arriving one after another. The two also stopped talking and focused on eating.

After finishing, it was about eight-thirty. When Ruan Mian went to settle the bill, she was told Chen Yi had already paid in advance. She put her card back in her bag. “When did you pay?”

“When you went to the restroom.” Chen Yi walked on her left side. A child ran over from ahead. He unobtrusively moved to the right side.

Ruan Mian didn’t notice these things. She said hesitantly, “You found my phone. I should have been the one to treat you to dinner.”

Hearing this, Chen Yi laughed lightly. “Next time then. When there’s another chance next time, I’ll let you treat.”

Ruan Mian raised her eyes to meet his gaze looking over. Her heart pounded. She inexplicably had new expectations for this “next time” he mentioned. She nodded and said okay.

…

After leaving the mall, Chen Yi drove Ruan Mian home. The usually forty-plus-minute drive took nearly over an hour because of traffic.

Past ten o’clock, the car stopped at the entrance to the residential complex. Ruan Mian didn’t say much to Chen Yi. It was still a polite farewell. When she returned home, Lin Jiahui was still out on her date with her boyfriend and hadn’t returned.

She tidied up a bit and sat in the living room to call her parents back. She chatted with each for over half an hour. Later she also received a call from He Zechuan.

The two talked for a few sentences. After hanging up, Ruan Mian returned to her room to prepare to rest. When she lay in bed, she received a WeChat message from Song Yangling.

[Affiliated Hospital Song Yangling]: Dr. Ruan, are you there?

She was somewhat surprised that Song Yangling was looking for her at this time, but since she’d already seen it, she couldn’t not reply. She typed a few words.

[Ruan Mian]: Yes, is something the matter?

[Affiliated Hospital Song Yangling]: I wanted to ask you, could you send me Chen Yi’s WeChat? You’re classmates with him, so you should have his WeChat, right? /please/ /please/

Looking at this message, Ruan Mian inexplicably found it funny. She had only just added him on WeChat today. What a coincidence to run right into this.

After serious consideration, she typed a few words back.

[Ruan Mian]: I’m sorry, I have to ask him first before I can do this. Is that okay with you?

[Affiliated Hospital Song Yangling]: …

[Affiliated Hospital Song Yangling]: Alright then, thank you for your trouble. /flying kiss/

Ruan Mian didn’t reply to her message again. She opened the chat window with Chen Yi. After hesitating for a long time, she sent “Are you there?” with a question mark.

Chen Yi took ten minutes before replying.

[CY]: What’s wrong? I was driving just now.

[Ruan Mian]: It’s just that I have a colleague. She just asked me for your WeChat. Can I give it to her?

[CY]: ?

[Ruan Mian]: …

[Ruan Mian]: You also know this person. It’s Dr. Song Yangling.

After sending this, it was like a stone sinking into the sea. It took so long that Song Yangling had sent Ruan Mian several messages. Ruan Mian could only tell her that Chen Yi hadn’t replied yet.

She sat at the desk holding her phone, one head becoming two.

After a while, Meng Fuping called Ruan Mian to ask for materials for this departmental research project paper. She had to put this matter aside and busy herself with the research project.

Close to midnight, she ended the voice call with Meng Fuping. Picking up her phone, she discovered Chen Yi had replied ten minutes ago.

[CY]: WeChat is quite private. I don’t want to give it to other people casually.

Ruan Mian stared at this message for over ten seconds before replying with an okay. After that, she conveyed Chen Yi’s meaning to Song Yangling.

After finishing with all this, she put down her phone to go brush her teeth in the bathroom. Incidentally raising her head, she saw her own appearance in the mirror and was startled.

The smile on her face froze at her lips with this movement.

Ruan Mian lowered her head to spit out the foam, washed her face clean, and raised her head again. The bathroom light was bright, illuminating everything clearly.

Even the smile in her eyes that wouldn’t dissipate.

…

…

January 4, 2009, Ruan Mian learned from Sheng Huan that Chen Yi had accepted her QQ friend request.

July 16, 2009, Ruan Mian watched “More Than Blue” at the cinema.

March 23, 2019, Ruan Mian and Chen Yi watched “More Than Blue” together. Chen Yi took the initiative to add her on WeChat and refused other people’s friend requests.

Those sorrows and regrets she once had were being made up for one by one today.

—

*Author’s note:*

*/Changed a small detail at the end of Mei You Ren Xiang Ni – Chapter 37/*