Lin Jiahui passed by from the side. Seeing Ruan Mian staring at a note in a daze, she came over. “What are you looking at? So absorbed.”

“Nothing much.” Ruan Mian’s eyes and hands were quick. She closed her hand in one motion, stuffed the note into her pocket, and walked outside holding the spray bottle.

“So mysterious.” Lin Jiahui muttered a sentence but didn’t pay much attention. Holding the medical record board, she walked toward the inner room.

Ruan Mian came out from the hall. The sunlight at seven o’clock in late spring didn’t have much warmth yet, but the thing in her palm seemed especially hot.

During those two years of high school, her private contact with Chen Yi couldn’t be considered much. Things related to him were few and far between, let alone things he had actively given her.

The most profound memory she had was near the competition in the first semester of senior year. She and Chen Yi came out of school after finishing competition class at night and ran into someone selling sweet potatoes at the school gate.

He bought several sweet potatoes and gave her one.

To this day, Ruan Mian still remembered the temperature of that sweet potato in her palm, as well as the surprise and excitement of receiving the sweet potato back then.

At that time, she had hidden her feelings very deep, almost undetectable to others. It was a reckless kind of fondness without the slightest complaint.

Now times had changed. Both of them had undergone changes. Ruan Mian looked at the thing in her hand with an indescribable feeling.

She stood there lost in thought until Meng Fuping called out. Only then did she come back to her senses, raised her hand to pat her face, and quickly ran over.

The medical teams in the disaster area were divided into two batches. One batch was from the military district, and the other was doctors from major provincial and municipal hospitals like them. Within the two batches, they were further divided into Groups A, B, and C, taking turns going to the scene with the rescue teams. Group B, where Ruan Mian was, went to the scene today.

This was already the eighth day of rescue. Actually, everyone was very clear that under such circumstances, with so much time having passed, it would be very difficult to find survivors. However, not a single person on site said to give up, and the rescue pace was invisibly quickened.

By noon, the medical team had recorded five deaths for the day, with zero survivors found. Ruan Mian watched Meng Fuping cover the last person with a white cloth. Even though she was accustomed to life and death, she still felt suffocated in her heart. With slightly reddened eyes, she turned her head to look elsewhere.

On the slope not far away, Chen Yi and the people from his team were still working tirelessly with their hands and feet searching through the rubble for any possible hope that might exist. Around one o’clock in the afternoon, an exclamation came from over there. “There’s someone here!”

The other members of the rescue team practically flew over. The medical team followed closely behind.

It was a public toilet built at the foot of the mountain. After the earthquake occurred, a mudslide erupted from the mountain, almost burying the place. The rescue team detected life signals from the gaps between several large rocks. They tried shouting inside a few times and vaguely heard a response, but it wasn’t very clear. When they shouted inside again, there was no response.

Chen Yi and Shen Yu urgently formulated a rescue plan. Meng Fuping contacted the medical center to prepare to receive the injured and transfer them out of the disaster area.

It took about half an hour. The stones pressing on top were moved away, revealing the situation below. It should have been a mother and child. The mother was sitting on the ground with the child sitting in her arms. On the side was a protruding, cracked concrete slab. A steel rod had pierced through from the right chest position and penetrated the child’s shoulder position—a non-penetrating wound. Due to the lighting, Meng Fuping was unable to judge the specific situation, but it appeared that both people had already fallen into a coma. No matter how the rescue personnel called out, there was no response.

It was uncertain whether there were support points nearby. Plus, the structure of the collapsed building was complex. Chen Yi was afraid of causing a secondary collapse, so he could only lead people to manually remove the surrounding stones with bare hands.

The surroundings were full of haze. Ruan Mian saw the man’s fingers slowly become stained with bright red from gray-black, then covered by dust again.

They only took a dozen minutes to manually dig out an opening that could allow one person to enter and exit. Chen Yi lay at the edge of the opening, probed half his body inside, and looked around. Inside was a space held up by various concrete slabs. Very narrow.

He stood up, turned back to speak to Shen Yu. “I’ll go down first to check on the mother and child’s condition. You lead people to continue expanding the opening.”

“Alright, be careful.” Shen Yu called for people from the team to bring rope equipment.

“No need, too troublesome. The space inside is very small.” Chen Yi withdrew his gaze and saw Ruan Mian standing to the side with slightly red eyes. His gaze paused but didn’t linger. His figure quickly disappeared from everyone’s sight.

Ruan Mian’s heart trembled with his jumping action. Her fingers were unconsciously pinched red.

The distance from the opening to the ground wasn’t high. Chen Yi’s voice quickly came from below. “The adult has no breathing or heartbeat. The child is still alive, breathing very weakly.”

Meng Fuping stepped on the rubble and approached the opening. Just listening to the description was too one-sided. He prepared to go down inside as well, but because of excessive fatigue during this period, his body was already in an overdraft state. It really wasn’t suitable for him to go down to such a dangerous place. Shen Yu held the rope, somewhat hesitant.

Ruan Mian saw his concern and stepped forward. “Let me do it. I’m Teacher Meng’s student. What he wants to know, I’ll understand a bit more clearly than others.”

Hearing this, Chen Yi, standing at the bottom of the rubble, raised his head to look up. The area was limited—he could only see a corner of a white coat.

At this time, time was life. Shen Yu outside the rubble didn’t hesitate anymore. He looped the rope around her waist and said gently, “Don’t be afraid. Chen Yi will catch you below. If there’s any situation, we’ll also pull you up.”

“Okay.” Ruan Mian walked to the opening. Through the weak light, she met Chen Yi’s gaze. Her heart suddenly calmed down. She supported the support point beside her and jumped inside.

Chen Yi took a step forward and gave her support when she landed. His chin brushed against her forehead—the warm touch fleeting.

Neither of them paid attention to this detail. Ruan Mian quickly crouched down to check the mother and child’s condition. Chen Yi stood up to receive the medical kit Shen Yu handed in.

The people outside didn’t stop their movements either. The opening was continuously being enlarged, and sunlight slowly leaked in.

Chen Yi held the flashlight for Ruan Mian. Both remained silent. After a few minutes, Ruan Mian stopped her movements, pressed the corners of her lips before saying, “The mother is already gone. Let’s save the child first.”

Chen Yi met Ruan Mian’s gaze and saw the red at the corners of her eyes. He raised his hand to turn off the flashlight, stood up, and said okay.

“Shen Yu, pull Ruan Mian up.” After saying this sentence, he crouched down to let Ruan Mian step on his shoulder to go up. The instant his palm gripped her ankle, both their heartbeats went chaotic for a moment, but neither knew.

Ruan Mian returned to the outside of the rubble and reported the situation to Meng Fuping. “The mother has a penetrating wound. She lost too much blood and has no breathing. The steel rod is inserted in the child’s right shoulder, hasn’t penetrated the chest cavity. There’s a large bruise on the chest, not much blood loss, no other external injuries. Vital signs are somewhat weak, in a comatose state.”

“Good, thank you for your hard work.” Meng Fuping patted Ruan Mian’s shoulder, then immediately threw himself into the subsequent rescue.

The child was rescued ten minutes later. The rescue team cut his last connection with his mother and sent him out, while his mother was left here forever.

No one knew how the mother and child had gotten through these eight days, but this child would forever remember that his mother gave him life twice.

…

After the child was rescued, the medical team urgently sent him to the medical center. Meng Fuping followed the team back. Ruan Mian and three other doctors continued to stay at the scene for rescue operations.

At the bottom of the rubble, Chen Yi and his teammates had just cut the steel rod between the mother and the concrete slab when they suddenly felt dust falling from overhead in waves, with sounds of collapse coming from around them.

Chen Yi reacted quickly, raising his hand to push the teammate closest to the outside out. Immediately after, this space was buried by rubble that collapsed unable to bear the weight.

At that time, Ruan Mian was nearby bandaging the wound of an injured soldier when she suddenly heard a burst of panicked shouting from behind.

“Chen Yi!”

“Team Leader!”

“Team Leader Chen!”

Before she could react, the soldier sitting on the ground suddenly stood up and ran toward the previous rubble site with flying feet.

The white bandage on his arm that hadn’t been tied yet fluttered in the wind.

It must have been several seconds before Ruan Mian stood up from the ground and looked back. Shen Yu and teammates were almost frantically digging the stones above with bare hands.

They say that before people die, they’ll replay their entire life like a passing parade. But Ruan Mian, in the mere dozen seconds of running toward the rubble, looked back over all those past events.

Her head was instantly filled with those fleeting fragments. When she ran to the rubble site, her whole person seemed unable to bear the weight. She bent over, breathing heavily. Her hands placed on her knees tightly gripped her clothes, using force as if grasping a life-saving plank in the ocean.

Since their reunion, she had thought she was calm enough. But in the face of life and death, that calmness was all just a bluff.

Shen Yu and the others quickly cleaned off the rubble on top. The original opening was re-exposed a bit. He shouted inside almost heart-wrenchingly. “Chen Yi! Chen Yi! Can you hear me?”

The surroundings all went quiet. Only the sound of wind could be heard.

Ruan Mian stood in the crowd, holding her breath for fear of missing any possible sound. One minute, one second passed.

From inside the rubble came the faint sound of stones being knocked.

Shen Yu was still lying at the opening. His hands and face were covered in messy, filthy bloodstains. Sweat slid down from his temples and forehead, dripping inside.

In the corner, Chen Yi struggled to move out from the crevice of the broken concrete slab, sat on the ground leaning against the stones, and responded, “I heard…”

The instant she heard his voice, Ruan Mian’s heart felt like someone had pinched it—both sour and painful. Tears immediately welled up. She raised her hand and quickly wiped them away.

Shen Yu was still lying at the opening, his voice already somewhat hoarse. “Can you fucking do it or not? Are you injured? Give me your location.”

Chen Yi coughed lightly and laughed. “Not injured. I’m at 45 degrees to your southeast.”

“Stay there and don’t move.” Shen Yu stood up, his eyes also red. “Four people from the first team stay down here with me to rescue Team Leader Chen. Everyone else continue searching and rescuing elsewhere.”

“Yes, sir!”

The group dispersed again. Ruan Mian walked down from the rubble, her hands and feet weak, a layer of sweat on her back. She lowered her head and took several deep breaths, then picked up the medical kit and followed the rescue team forward.

They met again in the evening.

After Chen Yi pushed his teammate out at that time, he rolled to the side in time, hiding in the gap pressed out between two overlapping slabs.

That place was already a dead angle for weight-bearing, a very stable structure. Although he hid in time and didn’t suffer major injuries, the leadership side knew he had almost encountered danger and issued a death order for him to stay at base camp and rest well for the night.

When Ruan Mian came back, he was receiving an IV in the infusion hall, still sitting in last night’s position, except there was an extra person beside him.

It was Song Yangling.

Yesterday it was she who changed his dressing and gave him the IV. Today it was still her. At this moment, the two of them—one standing, one sitting—were both people with outstanding appearances. Looking at them was quite pleasing to the eye.

Ruan Mian came back, put down her things, then hurriedly left the center with quick steps. Lin Jiahui chased after her. Sitting to the side, Chen Yi turned his head to glance at the door, then withdrew his gaze to look at the person speaking in front of him. His tone was indifferent. “I’m sorry, Doctor Song. I’d like to rest for a bit.”

Song Yangling’s words caught in her throat. She had just stood over for less than two minutes and hadn’t gotten to the main point yet. But seeing that the person truly looked exhausted, she couldn’t very well stay longer. She only said softly, “Then call me if you need anything.”

“Mm, thank you.” After Chen Yi waited for the person to leave, he turned his head to glance at the center’s entrance. There, people came and went, the night vast.

He raised his hand to rub his temples, leaned back in the chair, and closed his eyes. Occasionally hearing footsteps, he would open his eyes to look.

Outside the center, Ruan Mian washed her face with cold water. Just as she was about to leave, Lin Jiahui, who had chased out, grabbed her arm. “Where are you going?”

“To see Xiaohu.” The Luolin local government had already found a suitable welfare institution in the neighboring city. Early tomorrow morning, this batch of children would be evacuated from the disaster area. Ruan Mian had been so busy these past few days she was dizzy. Every time she went over, Xiaohu was already asleep. Today she happened to come back early, so she planned to go take a look.

Lin Jiahui withdrew her hand, jerking her chin backward. “You’re just going to ignore this?”

Ruan Mian wiped the water droplets off her face and asked, “What?”

“Are you really foolish or pretending to be foolish?” Lin Jiahui put both hands in her pockets. “Didn’t you see Song Yangling’s obvious purpose?”

Ruan Mian scratched her eyebrow, responding half-heartedly. “I saw it.”

“That’s your reaction?” Lin Jiahui was silent for quite a while before saying, “Your senior, speaking as someone who’s been there, I’ll advise you one last time. For some people, just meeting them is already great luck, let alone having the chance to reunite and see them again. If you don’t seize it, there will always be someone to take your place.”

Ruan Mian lowered her eyes without speaking.

Lin Jiahui sighed, saying with frustration, “Forget it. I’ll hold it for you first. We’ll talk again when you’ve figured it out.”

“…”

Lin Jiahui didn’t give Ruan Mian a chance to refute. She turned and walked inside. Ruan Mian raised her hand to rub her face. Today plus many things from the past made her heart feel like a tangled mess that couldn’t be untied. A breath was stuck there—couldn’t go up, couldn’t go down. Her whole person felt dizzy and muddled.

She stood there thinking for a long time. In the end, she still walked in the direction opposite to the center.

After visiting Xiaohu, Ruan Mian came out from the tent area. She hadn’t walked a few steps when she suddenly bent over and vomited. She hadn’t eaten much during the day, so what came out was only a pool of clear water.

Doctor Luo, who had come out with Ruan Mian, hurried over to support her. “What’s wrong? Where don’t you feel well?”

“It’s nothing. Just a bit dizzy and nauseous.” Ruan Mian went to the nearby faucet to scoop up some cold water to rinse her mouth. She still felt heavy-headed and light-footed, very uncomfortable.

“I see you haven’t rested much these past few days, right? Your complexion isn’t very good.” Doctor Luo said, “Let me help you to the center to rest for a bit first.”

Ruan Mian rubbed her temples, her smile somewhat pale. “No need to trouble yourself. You go about your business. I can go over by myself.”

“Are you sure you can manage?”

Ruan Mian hummed in acknowledgment. Watching the person walk away, she lowered her head and scooped another handful of cold water on her face. After recovering for quite a while, she continued walking forward.

It was already eleven o’clock at night. There weren’t many people at the center entrance. Chen Yi finished his IV and came out from inside talking with Shen Yu as they walked.

The three of them came face to face. Shen Yu had just opened his mouth to say the character “Ruan” when he saw the person standing before them sway and fall straight backward. Before he could react, Chen Yi beside him had already rushed over with quick steps.

Shen Yu was stunned for two beats before coming to his senses. Watching Chen Yi pick up the person, he hurriedly turned and ran inside to call a doctor. Several doctors standing at the consultation desk hurried over.

Ruan Mian was quickly pushed into the temporary emergency room. The nurse pulled the curtain. The people standing outside couldn’t see anything and could only hear people inside saying this and that.

Shen Yu sat on a plastic stool to the side. He glanced at the figure standing by the window, then looked inside again. A bold idea slowly emerged in his mind.

After quite a while, Lin Jiahui lifted the curtain and came out. Shen Yu stood up and asked, “How is Ruan Mian? Is she alright?”

“It’s nothing serious. Just overexertion.” Lin Jiahui had been startled when she saw earlier that the person Chen Yi carried in was Ruan Mian. Now that she had recovered, she seemed to remember something and glanced at Chen Yi standing to the side in silence.

The two people’s gazes met. She nodded with a light smile, withdrew her gaze, and said, “Ruan Mian doesn’t have any major problems now. You don’t all need to wait here.”

Shen Yu said, “Alright then, thank you for your trouble.”

“It’s part of the job.” Lin Jiahui looked at Chen Yi one more time, turned and walked back inside. Between the lifting and falling of the curtain, Chen Yi only saw the corner of a white coat hanging at the bedside.

Shen Yu put his arm around his shoulder and walked outside. He had words in his heart but didn’t ask. He just occasionally looked at Chen Yi thoughtfully twice, smiling meaningfully.

Chen Yi’s mind was also in chaos. Being smiled at by him was annoying. He jerked his shoulder back to shake off the man’s arm, said “What’s wrong with you,” then quickly walked to the water basin to wash his face.

Shen Yu slowly followed over. “Nothing’s wrong with me. What could be wrong? I just suddenly learned something incredible and find it a bit hard to believe.”

Chen Yi straightened up, his dripping wet face angular and chiseled, his eyes deep, his expression somewhat casual. “What did you learn?”

Shen Yu smiled, looking very punchable. “Can’t say. I haven’t confirmed it yet.”

Chen Yi stared at him for two glances, then unexpectedly swept at his feet. He couldn’t react in time. His body swayed, his hand bumped into a water basin someone had left on the sink counter, and a basin of water poured onto his feet.

He shook his feet, raised his head to shout at Chen Yi’s departing back, “You’re the one with the fucking problem!”

Chen Yi, hearing this voice, laughed lazily. Without turning his head back, he continued walking. He first went to the leadership’s place. A few minutes later, Shen Yu also came over.

He sat at the table edge, glanced at the man’s feet—still wet.

Shen Yu walked over with a dark face. Seeing someone half-covering their face and laughing, anger rose. He lifted his foot wanting to launch a sneak attack, but the big leader raised his head. The movement stopped so abruptly that the person even staggered.

The leader thought Shen Yu was tired and showed concern with a couple sentences before starting on the theme of this meeting. At this stage of the rescue, their batch of advance troops needed to start preparing to withdraw. The remaining matters would all be handed over to the rear troops to handle.

The meeting lasted over an hour. After it ended, Chen Yi came out from the tent. He didn’t follow the main troop but walked toward the medical center.

Walking behind, the third team leader Wu Mu bumped Shen Yu’s shoulder and asked, “Where is Team Leader Chen going so late? Not resting?”

Shen Yu scratched his eyebrow and smiled. “How can rest compare to the importance of a person?”

He spoke incoherently. Wu Mu didn’t understand anything, but he didn’t ask more questions either. He patted his hands, yawned a few times, and sighed, “Finally coming to an end.”

…

Chen Yi arrived at the medical center and stood at the entrance for a while before going in. Lin Jiahui, who had long since spotted him with sharp eyes, stopped her conversation with a colleague and came over to greet him.

“Coming to see Ruan Mian?” she asked.

Chen Yi hummed. “Has she woken up?”

“Not yet. This sleep will probably last a while.” Lin Jiahui raised her hand to point behind her. “She’s in the treatment room, first bed by the door. Go by yourself.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Lin Jiahui watched him walk a few steps, then called out, “Team Leader Chen.”

Chen Yi stopped and turned his head.

“There are other patients resting in the treatment room. Please don’t make too much noise.” Lin Jiahui smiled. “Please bear with us.”

He nodded in acknowledgment, withdrew his gaze, and walked forward.

There was a doctor on duty in the treatment room at night. Today it happened to be Song Yangling. Seeing Chen Yi come in, she was just about to stand up when she saw the man raise his hand to his lips to gesture, then lifted the curtain beside him and walked in.

Ruan Mian was inside. When the person was sent in, she was the one who arranged the bed.

Song Yangling picked up her water cup, pretending to go outside. She stood at the doorway for a minute or two. Aside from the initial sound of moving a stool, she didn’t hear anything after that.

A doctor came from outside. She couldn’t very well stand there longer, so she walked out to get some water.

Inside the room, Ruan Mian slept deeply, completely unaware. Chen Yi sat at the bedside, his elbow resting on the chair armrest supporting his cheek, his head tilted. His gaze fell on her face for a very long time.

He thought of high school, when she was called to the office by Chinese teacher Old Zhao after the first monthly exam because of serious subject bias. Later he passed by there and was called in by Zhao Qi.

The girl probably felt embarrassed. She lowered her head without speaking. Only when Old Zhao said to let him look at the essay she wrote did she have some reaction, her peripheral vision constantly watching his movements.

Chen Yi no longer had any impression of what that essay was about. He only remembered when he agreed to teach her how to write essays, her astonished expression.

Later, when Chen Yi came out of the office and recalled that scene, he still felt somewhat puzzled. Was he really that unwilling to help others?

Afterward, through gradual contact, Chen Yi discovered that Ruan Mian really did seem a bit afraid of him. However, at that time his heart wasn’t there and he didn’t pay attention to such details. Now recalling it, he found it strange.

He hadn’t done anything unpardonably evil back then. In class, he was also considered amiable. Why exactly was she so afraid of him?

Moreover, Chen Yi thought of what she had said to Yu Zhou before—that they weren’t familiar. His fingertip scraped across the end of his eyebrow, and he suddenly snorted with laughter.

Really heartless.

Author’s note: Today it got longer and sweeter (stubbornly). Please praise me =3=