The rain made the temperature drop, leaving a chilly atmosphere.

Cheng Wanyue hadn’t gotten wet, but Qing Hang was soaked from the knees down, dripping water as he changed shoes at the entrance.

She ran to get a towel for him to dry off.

Qing Hang removed his glasses and placed them on the shoe cabinet, then put the towel over Cheng Wanyue’s head. While she couldn’t see clearly, he picked her up and carried her to the bathroom for a shower.

Cheng Wanyue thought he wanted to make love, but he only bathed her, taking care of even each finger, as if trying to wash something away.

Her body only smelled of cream.

She didn’t particularly enjoy sweets; even when she occasionally craved them, she only ate a few specific kinds. After spending several hours in the dessert shop surrounded by overly sweet scents, she had no appetite for a late-night snack. Only after washing did she feel refreshed.

Qing Hang brewed ginger tea, adding brown sugar to her cup.

Cheng Wanyue cradled the cup and drank it in a few gulps. “Chi Yue was in a bad mood because of his parents’ situation. It wasn’t intentional. It’s just a meal—we can treat him when he’s feeling better.”

Qing Hang lowered his head as he helped apply body lotion to her skin. The light cast shadows on his face. “Are you making excuses for him?”

“Excuses for what?” She hadn’t taken it to heart, her mind elsewhere. “You won’t work overtime tomorrow, right?”

“I can’t say for sure. There’s a patient in critical condition.”

“I’m off tomorrow. I’ll wait for you to come home for dinner, no matter how late,” Cheng Wanyue pulled the man’s hand out from under her nightgown. “No need to apply it there.”

Qing Hang had pink lotion with a faint cherry blossom scent in his hand. “I’ve already squeezed it out. It would be wasteful not to use it.”

“Put it on your legs then.”

“I don’t need this.”

“…Hurry up, you’re tickling me.”

“Mm,” he unbuttoned her nightgown and applied the body lotion to her skin, slowly massaging to help absorption.

His rough palm occasionally brushed against her nipples, sending tingling sensations like electric currents along her nerves straight to her brain.

He was attentive to everything he did. Though his eyes showed no desire, nothing about his actions seemed proper. Cheng Wanyue, who rarely blushed, felt her ears growing hot.

She turned her head away. Meiqiu was sitting on the chair where he usually read, licking his paws.

He reached up to turn off the light, darkening the room.

One hand reached around from behind to her chest, fumbling to button up her nightgown. Gentle kisses were pressed against her neck, soothingly hypnotic. If he had buttoned up her nightgown a little faster, she might have already fallen asleep.

His warm breath fell on her ear. “You smell nice.”

She drowsily turned toward him, pressing into his embrace. Her forehead bumped against his chin. After a couple of soft moans, she fell asleep.

Qing Hang didn’t dare to sleep deeply. Not wanting to wake her, he set his phone to vibrate. As soon as he heard the call, he immediately reached for his phone, carefully removing her arm wrapped around his waist, lifting the blanket to get out of bed, and walking out of the room.

After finishing the call, he checked the time—it was only 4 AM.

He left a note on the coffee table before hurriedly leaving.

Cheng Wanyue only realized Qing Hang had gone to the hospital before dawn when she woke up in the morning. She quickly prepared her breakfast, watched Meiqiu finish drinking water, and then went out.

Today’s cake was the best-looking one she had made in days. She was quite satisfied with it. In the taxi, she started buying groceries, wanting to buy everything she saw, but since she didn’t know how to cook, she eventually gave up and decided to order takeout.

She reheated the food in the microwave three times, but Qing Hang still hadn’t returned. He wasn’t responding to calls or WeChat messages.

No matter how busy, surely he would have time to check his phone at least once in an entire day.

The rain had stopped. Cheng Wanyue put on her coat and went out. After arriving at the hospital, she first called Qing Hang, but he didn’t answer, so she went to his office.

Cheng Wanyue stood at the door of the doctors’ office and knocked. “Hello, is Qing Hang here?”

Only one doctor was on duty in the office. He had seen Cheng Wanyue’s photos on Qing Hang’s phone and had also met her in person. She didn’t come to the hospital often, but she had a face that was hard to forget.

Qing Hang should be downstairs. His phone keeps vibrating. Could you take it down to him?”

“Thank you,” Cheng Wanyue looked at the white coat draped over the back of the chair and murmured, “How could he not take his phone…”

The doctor said, “He’s in a bad mood today.”

“What happened?”

“His patient passed away. A sixty-nine-year-old scavenger was brought to our hospital by a kind passerby after falling ill. He died around 3 PM. No children, quite pitiful.”

A scavenger…

Cheng Wanyue remembered this patient. The first time Qing Hang mentioned him, he said the man reminded him of his grandfather, not in appearance, but in the feeling he gave him.

The elevator was slow, stopping at almost every floor.

After reaching the ground floor, Cheng Wanyue walked toward the small garden. There weren’t many people in the garden at night, and all the street lamps were lit. She didn’t know which clothes Qing Hang was wearing when he left, but she could recognize his silhouette.

He wasn’t sitting under the streetlight but on a bench in the furthest corner.

The first thing she noticed was the faint glow between his fingers—he was smoking.

One day, when he was troubled, he smoked afterward. She hated the smell and wouldn’t let him smoke at home, so he threw away all his cigarettes. That day, she asked him when he had started smoking. At first, he remained silent, but when she pretended to be angry, he told her that he had started after his grandfather passed away.

When loved ones were alive, they kept him in check.

After his last relative died, he was all alone—no one to manage him, no one to care.

Cheng Wanyue looked at Qing Hang’s defeated, lonely figure with his head lowered, and felt a pang in her heart. She left the hospital and went to a toy store.

It wasn’t until Qing Hang pulled out his fourth cigarette that he came back to his senses, suddenly remembering someone was waiting for him to come home for dinner. He sniffed his collar, knowing that if the smoke smell was too strong, a simple wash wouldn’t remove it.

As he was about to stand up, he saw someone in a bulky mascot costume walking toward him.

The person walked with fierce determination, taking large strides with hands on hips, and came directly to him. From behind, the mascot pulled out a box of sparklers and handed it to him, gesticulating wildly.

Qing Hang understood. She wanted him to light the sparklers.

He found the lighter on the bench and lit one. She shook her head, indicating it wasn’t enough. He lit another, but it still wasn’t enough—the first one had already gone out.

And so, one by one, he lit the entire box.

As the last sparkle fell into darkness, she too seemed exhausted from all the effort. Qing Hang removed the wobbling mascot head to find her hair damp with sweat, plastered to her face.

There wasn’t the slightest hint of surprise in his eyes, though some intense emotion ran deep. Cheng Wanyue guessed he had known all along that she was the person in the mascot costume.

She sighed with frustration, “I went to all this trouble, how could you still recognize me?”

Qing Hang pulled her out of the mascot suit and into his arms. His voice was somewhat hoarse. “Cheng Wanyue, even if you turned to ashes, I would still know you.”

Cheng Wanyue leaned against his shoulder and laughed softly. “That sounds a bit strange…”

She wrapped her arms around his waist and patted his back gently. “Qing Hang, it’s alright now. It’s already dark. Let’s go home.”