Only after Meng Ting fell asleep did Jiang Ren call Gao Yi.

Gao Yi was very pleased. For nearly two years, he had been constantly looking for top doctors both domestically and internationally, hoping to cure Jiang Ren’s leg injury. Not only was he searching, but Jiang Jixian was also looking.

This foreign doctor was found by Jiang Jixian. Since Jiang Ren wouldn’t return to the Jiang family, Jiang Jixian had no choice. He and Gao Yi had a past employer-employee relationship, so he coughed and said, “Tell him to go. If it can be cured, try to cure it.”

Gao Yi had told him, but unexpectedly, Jiang Ren said he would consider it.

Then in the evening, Jiang Ren called back and said, “Cancel the appointment.”

Gao Yi thought he had misheard: “Mr. Jiang, you’re not going to treat your foot injury?”

“Not for now.”

Forget about how to respond to Jiang Jixian; even Gao Yi couldn’t understand! Jiang Ren cared so much about his leg, how could he suddenly not want to treat it?

Gao Yi said, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on things at the company. The surgery won’t take long, and you can recuperate back in China. This doctor is very reliable. Two years ago, someone with shattered leg bones was treated and recovered almost completely.”

Jiang Ren said calmly, “All right, that’s it then.”

Gao Yi frowned. It wasn’t about the company for Jiang Ren.

If he wouldn’t even treat his leg injury, there must be something more important than his leg.

It was Meng Ting.

When Meng Ting left for school in the morning, Jiang Ren put her hat on for her. It was very cold in the snow. The apartment was close to the school, so he didn’t need to drive her.

Jiang Ren kissed her fair cheek and whispered in her ear, making her giggle.

Jiang Ren smiled too.

This year, she would soon turn twenty, with only him by her side.

He was quite content.

Sometimes it’s unnecessary to dwell on whether it’s love or sympathy. He wanted to be with her, to love her for a lifetime, regardless of the process. He wanted that best ending.

Meng Ting had just stepped through the school gates when she received a call from Gao Yi.

“Miss Meng, do you have time to talk?”

It was almost time for class, but Gao Yi rarely contacted her. Usually, when he did, it was about Jiang Ren’s matters. Meng Ting responded softly and, instead of entering the classroom, walked downstairs with her phone.

“There’s a famous orthopedic surgeon in Country M who reportedly cured a patient with severe bone injuries this year.”

Meng Ting’s eyes sparkled brightly.

“But last night, Mr. Jiang refused to go for treatment.”

Meng Ting looked up: “Why?”

Gao Yi didn’t know why either. It was because he didn’t know that he felt puzzled. If there was a chance to be cured, who wouldn’t want to be a normal person?

“I’m not sure either, so I hope you can persuade him.”

“I understand. Uncle Gao, please take the trouble to contact them again. Thank you for your efforts.”

Meng Ting hung up the phone. She couldn’t go to class now. She asked Song Huanhuan to help her ask for leave and headed towards the apartment.

Jiang Ren had already gone to work; he was very diligent.

But he always liked to see her off before going about his business.

Meng Ting knew his company’s address, so she went to find him there.

The receptionist was very polite. Almost everyone in the company knew that their young CEO had a girlfriend he loved very much. Seeing the beautiful Meng Ting, the receptionist’s eyes brightened, immediately guessing her identity.

“Mr. Jiang is in a meeting in his office upstairs. You can go up and wait for him.”

“Thank you.”

As soon as Meng Ting left, the receptionist immediately posted in the work group chat: I saw Mr. Jiang’s girlfriend!

Colleagues who weren’t in meetings replied: Where? What does she look like?

The receptionist said: Very beautiful, even prettier than a celebrity! I’m going to make her tea now!

The colleagues were all envious.

Out of curiosity, they wanted to see Mr. Jiang’s sweetheart.

Meng Ting accepted the hot tea and thanked her.

The office was soundproof; she couldn’t hear what they were saying. While quietly waiting for Jiang Ren to come out, she was looking at a cactus on the desk. Meng Ting stared at it blankly, not understanding why Jiang Ren wouldn’t go for treatment for his leg injury.

Just last year, he had been very upset when faced with the looks of her classmates.

She was very smart and could easily figure out logical things. Gao Yi said Jiang Ren had decided not to go for treatment last night. The problem arose yesterday, and in fact, Meng Ting also felt that Jiang Ren had been acting strange yesterday.

From the moment he saw her standing on tiptoe to reach for that bird that was almost frozen to death, his smile had faded considerably.

Then Jiang Ren asked her, are you very sympathetic?

He wanted her to kiss him on her initiative.

He even wanted that kind of passionate, intertwining kiss.

But later he suddenly became normal again, coaxing her, cooking for her, and taking her to the movies.

Sympathy, love, desire.

She was stunned. This was what Jiang Ren cared about. He felt that her sympathy for him far outweighed her love and desire. He hoped Meng Ting could have the same desire for him as he had for her.

Meng Ting understood and was so angry she wanted to smash the cactus into his chest. Yet she also felt sorry for him.

What did he think of himself as? That bird that didn’t fly south for the winter in time?

No one knew that she was self-studying psychology in college.

She didn’t have time to understand Jiang Ren from her past life, so she secretly worked hard to understand this life’s version of him. From birth, probably only his now senile grandmother Jiang had ever loved Jiang Ren, but Grandmother Jiang had only cared for him for a few years when he was little.

When he reached his rebellious teenage years, he was sent to a military academy.

Later, Grandmother Jiang grew old and fell ill.

She only remembered him as the little Jiang Ren from childhood.

That sickly little boy who was rejected by everyone at school.

He had ADHD as a child, and from the start of school, he couldn’t sit still. Staying in the classroom was very uncomfortable for him.

Nobody liked him; everyone was afraid of him.

So Jiang Ren had gotten used to no one liking him.

In Jiang Ren’s heart, he felt that people’s emotional world was very complex. They might treat a person out of responsibility, sympathy, or desire for money.

She pondered for a long time.

Somehow, she remembered their first kiss. Jiang Ren had beaten Chen Shuo at the hospital. It was raining heavily that day, and Meng Ting saw him hitting someone during an episode.

She had never encountered someone like this before. Jiang Ren had not only frightened the people at the hospital but also scared her.

At that moment, the young man turned back, his eyes looking at her were fierce, cold, sharp, and finally, something else slowly shattered.

He kissed her desperately and recklessly, with music playing in the record store.

The rain was pouring down.

His lips were trembling.

Meng Ting was lost in thought.

He was sick, and this illness had never really healed.

Now, he was mature and responsible. But his love for her had always been frozen in that rain. He wanted to possess her, but she had seen him hit someone and knew that normal people wouldn’t like a mentally ill young man.

He was trying hard to recover.

She covered her eyes, her fingers a bit wet.

He hadn’t gotten better, but he was trying hard to make everyone think he had.

Jiang Ren wanted more and more, but he also suppressed it. He was afraid she would see that crazy side of him again, so he was gentle and smiled often. He didn’t like to smile.

Meng Ting wiped her eyes clean and quietly waited for him to come out.

Sure enough, after the meeting, Jiang Ren pushed open the office door. The man’s face was cold.

He saw her, his eyes paused for a moment, quickly showing a smile: “Why didn’t you go to class?”

Meng Ting said, “I was going to, but then I remembered I didn’t say good morning to you, so I came back.”

He laughed.

Meng Ting had already run to his side, imitating him, trying to stand on tiptoe to give the man’s cheek a gentle, loving kiss.

The young woman was soft and fragrant.

His smile almost broke: “What’s wrong with you?”

Meng Ting said, “Don’t you like me kissing you?”

Jiang Ren held her chin: “Be good, tell me what’s wrong. Did someone say something to you?”

Meng Ting felt that this man’s brain worked well at any time except when studying. He looked into her eyes, and Meng Ting said seriously, “I just suddenly felt that you’re super handsome.”

Jiang Ren’s dark eyes looked at her.

Meng Ting could barely stand his gaze. She blinked, “It’s true.”

Jiang Ren smiled: “Then kiss me a few more times.”

He bent down.

Meng Ting hooked her arms around his neck and gently kissed him several times, from the man’s sharp brows and eyes to his delicate chin.

He touched his face, as if he could still feel the soft sensation, and said, “Alright, if you want to say something, just say it directly.”

Meng Ting angrily punched his chest.

He just smiled: “You say it, I’ll agree.”

Meng Ting looked up: “Let’s go treat your leg, Jiang Ren. I’ll go with you.”

Jiang Ren was silent for a moment: “Okay.”

Under her delighted gaze, he gently stroked her hair: “I’ll go by myself. You stay in B City and study well. Gao Yi said the surgery won’t take long, just half a month. I’ll be back soon.”

“I want to go with you.”

“I don’t want you to see me lying in a hospital bed unable to move. Once was enough, not a second time.”

When he said this, his eyes carried a coldness more profound and calm than the November snow.

A man who had rarely been loved, with a thin stubbornness and self-esteem.

No matter how many years passed, he was still that boy riding a mountain motorbike, taking off his helmet and smiling at her casually and freely, at his most proud and strong.

Meng Ting hugged him and softly said okay.

The night before Jiang Ren was to leave for Country M, Meng Ting was even more nervous than him. She flipped through books and searched online, checking if it would hurt and what the chances of recovery were.

In the end, she almost pleaded in a low voice: “Let me go with you.”

Jiang Ren said, “Not going to study?”

Meng Ting nodded.

She could study anytime, but there was only one best Jiang Ren in the whole world. Besides, she didn’t love studying as much as he imagined. Poor students all have a misconception that top students love studying.

Jiang Ren didn’t speak for a while, then finally said, “All right, what are you worried about? I’m a man, I’m not afraid of pain.”

Meng Ting buried her head in his chest and mumbled, “But I’m afraid of you being in pain.”

She had experienced pain and had recovered. She knew that every kind of pain had to be endured slowly. Especially pain that went deep into the bone.

She wanted to stay with him tonight, and Jiang Ren had no objections.

He gave her half the bed, then pressed her down tightly with the blanket: “Don’t cross the line, go to sleep now.” He wrapped himself in another blanket and went to the edge of the bed. Meng Ting was stunned for a moment, almost laughing out loud.

That night, Jiang Ren fell asleep before her.

She couldn’t fall asleep for a long time.

She thought about him as a youth, and him now.

Jiang Ren was very handsome in any form.

She crawled over quietly. There was no moonlight on this November night, only heavy snow that wouldn’t melt, faintly illuminating the dim world.

She imitated his manner, very cherishing and gentle, and kissed the man’s face with its hard contours.

Then Meng Ting pressed her rapidly beating heart and lay back down. She wrapped herself in the blanket.

Jiang Ren’s lower body was aroused, his heart beating violently. He opened his eyes and cursed inwardly.

He had said not to cross the line, couldn’t she listen a bit?