Yu Hao left the hospital without anyone knowing.

Lu Huaizheng had sat in the car all night. When he came to his senses, he rubbed his eyes. Outside the window, the sky was beginning to show a fish-belly white, like a clear crack opening up, letting in a faint glow of dawn that dimly illuminated the hospital building.

He went home, took a shower, changed his clothes, and returned to the hospital. When he entered carrying breakfast, the nurse told him that Yu Hao had been discharged in the morning.

He was stunned, asking the nurse: “Alone?”

The nurse nodded, looking at him suspiciously, seeming to recognize him. As she was about to speak, Lu Huaizheng politely said thank you, turned around, threw all the breakfast bags in his hand into the garbage bin, and hurriedly went downstairs.

He remembered that he had taken her home before. He hadn’t gone out much in recent years and wasn’t very familiar with Beijing’s layout, but he still vaguely remembered the way to her home. When he drove there, he found he couldn’t even enter the residential compound.

With no choice, he called Professor Han.

“This is Huaizheng. I’m very sorry to disturb you so early. Yu Hao has been discharged, and I’m a bit worried about her.”

“I called her phone, but it’s off.”

“Alright, I’ll wait for your call.”

Three minutes later, Professor Han called back, telling him that Yu Hao was at the research institute. Lu Huaizheng thanked him, hung up, and hurried to the institute without delay. As soon as the car stopped, he discovered that Yu Hao was already standing at the entrance waiting for him.

The morning temperature was a bit cool. She seemed very cold, hunching her shoulders, gently rubbing her arms.

Lu Huaizheng turned off the engine, got out of the car, took off his jacket, and walked towards her.

From a distance, Yu Hao saw the handsome and tall man walking towards her. As he walked, he took off his jacket. The wind ruffled his hair, brushing against his sharply defined face, just like that day at the parade ground in the military compound. He had approached her in the same way after scolding her, except that time he had taken off his military uniform.

At that moment, Yu Hao felt as if she had taken on all his responsibilities, making it feel particularly heavy.

“Why did you come out?”

Lu Huaizheng draped his jacket over her. It still had his warmth and carried the clean, refreshing scent of a man.

Yu Hao looked up and said in a muffled voice: “Professor Han said you were looking for me. Is there something you need?”

She asked cautiously, afraid that Lu Huaizheng might think she was overthinking.

His heart turned sour. Looking down at her, he shook his head and said, “No, I went to see you this morning, and heard you were discharged. I called you, but your phone was off. Didn’t you say you wouldn’t be discharged?”

Yu Hao gave a smile that made him feel even more bitter when he saw it.

She said: “I still have to work, after all.” Then, looking at him, she said lightly: “I’m already better. You don’t need to come see me anymore.”

She smiled, rubbing her arms, speaking casually.

But Lu Huaizheng stared at her without moving, his gaze as deep as a pond as if he had turned to stone.

Yu Hao looked at him in confusion and asked: “What’s wrong with you?”

His gaze remained fixed, like a flame amidst a burning thicket, blazing into her eyes with overwhelming force. Lu Huaizheng held both sides of her collar, gently wrapping her tighter, and said softly:

“From now on, can I protect you?”

His voice was low but firm, suddenly stirring ripples in her calm heart.

“Even if I get that disease in half a year and we can’t get married, even if you marry someone else, I will still protect you, only protect you.”

She looked at him quietly. The man in front of her was gentler than usual. She seemed to see the once carefree young man, but now the tenderness in his eyes made her sink deeper.

Yu Hao knew well that his sense of responsibility and sentiment couldn’t allow him to protect her alone. But such words, which woman wouldn’t be moved by them?

Her head felt dizzy as she asked in a daze: “What about you?”

He tightened her clothes again and said casually: “Me, I’ll just continue as is. I can live alone.”

Yu Hao looked at him in a spiritual trance, her mind in a fog. She thought, if this was a dream, let her sleep a little longer.

In the days that followed, Lu Huaizheng acted like a bodyguard, sticking to her side. When she went to work, he would stay in the car, and then send her home after work before returning to his place. Sometimes, after Yu Hao went upstairs, she would discover that his car was still parked below her building. Sometimes it stayed for an hour, sometimes for two hours, and sometimes for the entire night, not leaving until midnight.

Yu Hao was concerned about his health and didn’t want him to follow her to and from work, but he was there, rain or shine, punctually picking her up and dropping her off every day.

He wouldn’t listen to reason, so Yu Hao tried coercion and inducement: “This way, I don’t have any free time for myself.”

Lu Huaizheng leaned against the car door, arms crossed, looking down at her. “Whatever you want to do, I’ll take you there.”

Yu Hao: “If I want to go on a date, will you take me there too?”

Lu Huaizheng was silent for a while, then asked: “With a man?”

“A matchmaking prospect.”

He was silent, but finally nodded: “I’ll take you. After I return to the military, I won’t have time.”

Yu Hao said: “Fine!”

Lu Huaizheng drove her to the couples’ restaurant where they had eaten before, without saying a word. Before getting out of the car, Yu Hao asked him, “Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

Lu Huaizheng turned off the engine, looked out the window, and didn’t speak for a long time.

“No.”

Finally, he squeezed out these two words.

Yu Hao nodded and decisively got out of the car. She chose a seat by the window, and ordered the same set meal for couples as last time, along with beef tongue. Lu Huaizheng sat quietly in the car, watching her. He sat there alone for nearly two hours as she deliberately ate everything on the table at a leisurely pace, occasionally casting casual glances through the window.

Lu Huaizheng sat in the car, shaking his head, licking the corner of his mouth, and smiling.

This kind of “matchmaking date.”

It was repeated every few days, and each time, she would order beef tongue.

Lu Huaizheng let her have her way. The days passed smoothly and quickly. Yet he felt that the happiness before him was also the happiest time in the past twelve years of his life. At least he could see her every day, and that was enough.

April in the human world, the eyes form a picture, and joy is confined to these few moments.

Small bonus chapter: After Marriage:

After they got married.

Yu Hao couldn’t sleep with others, so they decided to have separate rooms. On their wedding night, Lu Huaizheng slept in the guest room. In the middle of the night, he heard a sound. Always alert, he opened his eyes to see Yu Hao standing at his bedside, holding a pillow. She wasn’t wearing socks, and her toes were curled as if very cold. Instinctively, he pulled her into the bed. With sleepy eyes, he comforted her in a low voice: “What’s wrong? Hmm?”

Yu Hao said: “Let’s sleep together after all. Separate rooms on the wedding night doesn’t seem right.”

“Can you handle it?”

In the dim room, she said softly: “I’ve never slept with anyone. Let’s try.”

Lu Huaizheng smiled, “Okay.”

With the lights off, the young woman slept soundly. He looked at the thing beneath him, unable to sleep all night.

On the second night, Yu Hao came again.

Hugging her small pillow, looking at him pitifully, “Last night seemed to be alright? Let’s sleep together again tonight.”

Lu Huaizheng: “Okay.”

He spent another sleepless night, with dark circles bigger than a panda’s.

On the third night, Yu Hao came again.

This time, Lu Huaizheng buried his head in the pillow and muttered: “Please spare me.”