The news of Chen Yi preparing to go abroad quickly spread within a small circle. Only then did Ruan Mian realize that the three boys who were close to him were all in the know.

Once when Ruan Mian accompanied Meng Xinglan to the liberal arts class to find Liang Yiran, Meng Xinglan brought up this matter, still somewhat surprised: “Isn’t Chen Yi preparing for the competition? How is he suddenly going abroad now?”

“The school he’s applying to needs this award for extra points.” Liang Yiran leaned against the railing and raised his hand to pinch Meng Xinglan’s face. “Why are you so concerned about him?”

Meng Xinglan pushed his hand away, wrinkling her brow and scrunching her nose. “I’m just curious, just asking.”

Liang Yiran smiled: “He’s been preparing to study abroad for a long time. I thought since you’re in the same class as him, you would know.”

“I’m not that familiar with him.” Having said this, Meng Xinglan nudged Ruan Mian’s arm, trying to prove her innocence. “If you don’t believe me, ask Ruan Mian.”

Liang Yiran’s gaze followed to the girl standing to the side. He didn’t know much about Ruan Mian, only that she was Meng Xinglan’s good friend and a science academic achiever even more formidable than Chen Yi.

At this moment, he looked at someone who had clearly just snapped back to attention. When their eyes met, he nodded with a smile, then said to Meng Xinglan: “I still have things to do. Wait for me tonight so we can go home together.”

Meng Xinglan pursed her lips. “Alright then, you go ahead with your business.”

He nodded at Ruan Mian again. As he brushed past them, he raised his hand and tousled Meng Xinglan’s hair, turning the bangs she had carefully clipped for half an hour into a mess.

Meng Xinglan completely exploded, shouting at his back: “Liang Yiran! What’s wrong with you!”

The boy’s footsteps didn’t stop. His figure was straight and tall, quickly disappearing at the end of the corridor. The evening breeze brushed his face but couldn’t disperse the gentle smile in his eyes.

……

Still standing at the door of Liberal Arts Class 1, Meng Xinglan cursed while fishing out a small mirror from her jacket pocket, working to fix her bangs.

Ruan Mian stood in the twilight. Among the coming and going figures, she finally awakened to the realization that all her painstaking efforts and pursuits were useless labor that others would never see.

No one would stop for her, cherish the girlish feelings she had nowhere to place, and then carefully arrange them in his world.

All she had was the heartache and sadness left after her full-hearted secret crush came to nothing.

During that time, Ruan Mian was not doing well. The composure she maintained during the day would be magnified countless times at night, as if densely packed needles were pricking her heart, causing waves of unbearable aching pain.

At the end of October, the competition class entered intensive training. Ruan Mian practically immersed herself in piles of test papers all day, trying to use this method to cover up those uncontrollable wild thoughts.

It was precisely because of this high-intensity studying that her grades in the competition class maintained first place with an almost unrivaled advantage.

The teachers praised her every time, classmates held her up as a role model, and even Chen Yi would occasionally cast toward her some of the attention she had once tried so hard to obtain.

Ruan Mian felt that heaven seemed to be playing a joke on her.

She had almost given up, yet because of his few words, ripples stirred in her heart. Those feelings she had buried with tears quietly sprouted tips again.

Persist or give up.

No matter which she chose, the sadness and heartache were equal. Ruan Mian fell into entanglement, wavering unsteadily on the scale that was Chen Yi.

That year truly couldn’t be counted as good memories for Ruan Mian. Even winter, which she usually disliked, came especially early.

Turning into November, Pingcheng welcomed a major temperature drop. Ruan Mian was unfortunately struck by a viral cold brought by the changing season and took three days off to get IV drips at the hospital.

It was also at this time that Fang Ruqing received a phone call from their hometown Xiping. That morning while washing clothes by the lake, Zhou Xiujun had slipped and accidentally fallen. She was seriously injured.

The treatment conditions at the town hospital were poor, and they advised family members to send the elderly woman to a big hospital in the city as soon as possible. However, because Ruan Mian’s cousin-in-law He Qin couldn’t contact Ruan Mingke, and all the men in the family were working away from home, and she didn’t know anyone in Pingcheng, after careful consideration, she could only call Fang Ruqing, hoping she could help arrange a hospital.

Fang Ruqing quickly asked friends to arrange a hospital, and Zhou Xiujun was sent over at noon.

An elderly person’s body was naturally different from a young adult’s. Having fallen so heavily, it wasn’t just the visible external injuries—the problems with her bones were most serious. After admission, Zhou Xiujun underwent a full body examination. Besides a leg fracture, the fall had also caused an L2 lumbar compression fracture. The situation was quite serious, and the hospital arranged surgery that afternoon.

Ruan Mian received her IV drip right outside the operating room. Physical discomfort combined with worry for her grandmother made her look especially weak.

Fang Ruqing helped pull up the thick jacket draped over her shoulders. “Why don’t you get your infusion in a hospital room instead? After Grandma’s surgery is finished, I’ll come get you.”

“It’s fine.” She tilted her head and coughed. “Let’s just sit here. There’s not much left anyway.”

Fang Ruqing didn’t try to persuade her further and turned to ask He Qin: “How is everything at home? Isn’t Ruan Jun taking the high school entrance exam this year? Are you planning to have him take the test to attend high school in Pingcheng?”

“Everything’s fine.” He Qin forced a smile: “With his grades, it would be good enough if he could get into the town’s high school. I’m not counting on him testing into schools elsewhere.”

Fang Ruqing chatted while watching Ruan Mian’s IV bag, and during this time had to constantly pay attention to the situation in the operating room, keeping busy nonstop.

The surgery ended at seven-ten in the evening. The doctor came out and said: “The surgery was very successful. Now we just wait for the anesthesia to wear off, then send her to the ward.”

Ruan Mian let out a long breath of relief. Fang Ruqing had her take her cousin-in-law downstairs to get something to eat while she stayed to wait for Zhou Xiujun to come out.

Across from the hospital were all places to eat. Ruan Mian took He Qin to a small restaurant, ordered a few hot dishes, and after eating also packed a portion for Fang Ruqing.

That night it was He Qin who stayed at the hospital to keep watch. Ruan Mian also wanted to stay, but the ward only allowed one family member to remain. Since her health still hadn’t fully recovered, she could only go home with Fang Ruqing.

Early the next morning before seven o’clock, Ruan Mian and Fang Ruqing left home for the hospital. But Zhou Xiujun had been in pain from her injuries during the latter half of the night and only fell asleep in the morning. Ruan Mian wasn’t able to speak with her.

Afterward, Fang Ruqing opened a room for He Qin across from the hospital. She went to the company to request leave, and Ruan Mian stayed alone in the ward. Midway, the doctor came to do rounds, giving a few instructions about post-surgery recovery. Ruan Mian listened and took mental notes. After the rounds were done, she sat by the bed again.

Zhou Xiujun didn’t wake from this sleep until noon. Seeing her granddaughter keeping watch by the bed, she showed a weak smile: “How come you look thinner again.”

“Really? It’s probably because I haven’t been feeling well lately and my appetite hasn’t been good.” Ruan Mian held Zhou Xiujun’s hand and called out: “Grandma…”

Zhou Xiujun knew she was worried and comforted her: “Grandma is fine, don’t worry. I just accidentally took a fall. I’ll be fine after some rest.”

Ruan Mian held the old lady’s hand, unable to speak.

Zhou Xiujun looked around the hospital room. It was a double room. Besides her, there was another old lady lying in the next bed, also sleeping soundly at the moment.

After a moment, she asked: “I heard from your cousin-in-law that your mother fronted the surgery fee, right?”

“Yes.” Ruan Mian said: “The situation was quite urgent at the time. Cousin-in-law didn’t have that much cash on her, so Mom advanced it first.”

“We need to pay that back.” Zhou Xiujun sighed: “This matter has troubled your mother as well.”

Fang Ruqing had divorced Ruan Mingke and had nothing to do with the Ruan family. She had no obligation to support Zhou Xiujun. If it weren’t for Ruan Mian, today’s matter would never have found its way to her.

So that night after returning home, Ruan Mian went to an ATM near home and withdrew thirty thousand yuan. The next day she brought it to the hospital and gave it to He Qin to return to Fang Ruqing.

Fang Ruqing didn’t accept it. For subsequent expenses, Zhou Xiujun didn’t let her pay anymore. It was all money Ruan Mian swiped using the card Ruan Mingke had given her.

Zhou Xiujun stayed in the hospital for over half a month. After discharge, she moved into the house at Nanhu Garden. He Qin couldn’t stay to care for her, so Fang Ruqing hired a care assistant to be at the house.

After Ruan Mian recovered from her illness, school matters took up most of her time. Only on weekends could she spare time to spend a day at Nanhu Garden.

Her busy life left her no time to think about other things.

The last month of 2009 arrived before her eyes just like that, quietly and without fanfare.

Pingcheng had cold winters and hot summers. The long rainy season and winter’s bone-piercing severity really didn’t make it a city where one could live comfortably.

Monday morning, Ruan Mian dragged her exhausted body through the not-yet-dispersed mist and walked slowly into campus. Meng Xinglan ran over from behind, leaning half her weight on Ruan Mian, her voice full of energy: “So cold, so cold, so cold! For university I definitely have to go to a city without winter.”

Ruan Mian smiled lazily: “You should go to Haicheng. It’s summer there all year round.”

“That won’t work either. Too hot is no good either.” Meng Xinglan pulled her hands back and shoved them in her pockets. Her exhaled breath formed clouds. “Don’t you guys take your exam next month?”

“Yes, on the tenth of next month.” Ruan Mian lowered her head and yawned, looking extremely tired.

“What time have you been going to sleep lately?”

“After two in the morning.”

“Working so hard.” Meng Xinglan clicked her tongue: “If you and Chen Yi don’t bring back awards this time, you’ll be letting down all the effort you’re putting in now.”

Ruan Mian’s eyelid twitched, and her smile diminished somewhat.

She and Chen Yi in the competition class almost always took first and second place. This had also made them both the teachers’ key cultivation targets.

Whether it was psychological counseling sessions or other matters, the teachers would automatically pair the two of them together. The previously limited interactions between them had inexplicably increased.

If this were before, before Ruan Mian knew Chen Yi was preparing to go abroad, this would undoubtedly have been a delightful thing for her.

But now there was more heartache than anything else.

For his sake, Ruan Mian had entered the competition class and chosen physics, imagining that one day she could be seen by him. But the Ruan Mian of that time had never imagined that when this day truly came, it would be so sad and full of regret.

She had been blinded, thinking he was a fish in the pond, never expecting that he was actually an eagle soaring through heaven and earth. After she had recklessly charged in without regard for anything else, he spread his wings and flew away from the world she could see, going to places even farther away.

—

**Author’s Note:** There’s still some content at the end I haven’t finished writing, but I’m too tired and need to sleep first. I’ll try to have a second update tonight [/OK/]