"Have you changed?" Shen Hui asked.
Zhao Xuning nodded: "Mm."
She looked up at the road ahead, but couldn't see the end of it.
Shen Hui said, "You've achieved your goal, you don't need to kneel anymore."
"You're too soft-hearted," Zhao Xuning said with a smile, his tone affectionate. "Didn't you promise to get revenge on me?"
Shen Hui pursed her lips: "We've already taken our revenge."
“But I haven’t gone up yet.” Zhao Xuning laughed: “You have to keep your promise.”
Shen Hui's voice choked with emotion, "How many things have you promised me but failed to keep?"
"Which one?" Zhao Xuning asked in return.
"In my junior year of college, you said you wanted to watch the sunrise together." Shen Hui sniffed and began to recount the story.
"In our senior year of college, you said you'd help me lose weight until I reached 100 pounds. That same year, you promised to fold a thousand origami cranes for me. In my first year abroad, you said you'd knit me a scarf..." Shen Hui looked at her: "Want to continue?"
"Hmm?" Zhao Xuning lightly licked his chapped lips.
Shen Hui gently closed her eyes, tears falling: "The last thing you said was that you would stay with me until the end and never break up with me."
“So, I’m still trying.” Zhao Xuning chuckled lightly, her eyes reddening. “The day we watched the sunrise was your period. You were in pain until 2 a.m. before you went to sleep, and I didn’t wake you up.”
“You clearly love eating so much, but I just wanted to see you do what you love, so I kept buying you food, but I still lost weight.”
"The origami cranes I folded were destroyed when you were drunk, and you used them as a trash can to vomit into. They were all thrown into the garbage dump."
"The scarf I knitted for you... was too ugly. I put it at the very bottom of the closet. You didn't take it with you when you went abroad, and you didn't even see it."
Zhao Xuning spoke weakly, but still tried to hold on.
She looked up at Shen Hui and blinked. "Hui, just the last one... I'm still trying it on."
After a long while, Shen Hui turned around.
Zhao Xuning tried to pull her hand, but only managed to grab the hem of her clothes.
Shen Hui said, "I'll do the rest."
As soon as she finished speaking, she bent her knees and knelt on the stone steps.
The cold stone steps sent a chill down her spine through her knees. Shen Hui placed her hands on the steps, bent over, and her forehead hit the steps with a muffled thud.
"Second sister." Shen Siyan came over to help her, but Shen Hui said, "Don't stop me."
Chen Siyan was speechless for a moment.
Liang Shi was originally supporting the weak Zhao Xuning.
Although she usually exercises and is in good health, she was trembling with fear as she climbed up the mountain, taking each step with perfect form, and her legs felt like they didn't belong to her anymore.
How can we possibly make it through all 999 stone steps?
But Zhao Xuning shook his head at her, continued to kneel, kowtow, and then stand up again.
Shen Hui and Zhao Xuning were only a few steps apart, and they were both devoutly walking up and forward.
Each step forward is a step towards forgetting.
They are all atoning for their sins.
They are all being reborn.
Liang Shi and Shen Siyan could only watch from behind.
It wasn't until nearly dawn that a cold wind began to blow through the mountains.
Zhao Xuning's movements became slower and slower, taking a long time to kneel down and then stand up again.
The pants were already worn out.
Liang Shi, who has climbed this ladder, feels exhausted and can't even imagine how Zhao Xuning managed to do it.
Shen Hui actually knelt down more than nine hundred steps.
As they were about to climb up, they saw Shen Fenghe and Gu Yixue standing on the mountaintop.
Shen Siyan was already heartbroken and felt wronged, so she called out softly, "Big sister."
His voice sounded soft and sweet, but he tried his best to control his behavior and voice, so it sounded awkward.
Shen Fenghe lowered her eyes to look at Shen Hui, who was taking one step at a time, but ultimately said nothing.
Shen Hui went up first, but when she actually stood up, her legs went weak and she almost fell. Shen Siyan caught her.
Zhao Xuning was noticeably slower, and he looked pale and haggard, as if he might faint at any moment.
Liang Shi stood right next to the railing, very close to her, afraid that she might not be able to hold on and fall.
But her willpower was truly strong; she persevered until almost the end.
Just as he was stepping onto the last step, his head tilted to the side, and he shrank to the ground.
The rain came suddenly at night. After a muffled rumble of thunder, the rain began to fall in a drizzle, soaking Zhao Xuning from head to toe.
It also soaked everyone standing here.
Zhao's mother had already arrived and was waiting here.
She went to help Zhao Xuning the moment she saw her, but Zhao Xuning pushed her away, saying, "Don't worry about me."
Zhao's mother was so heartbroken that she couldn't speak.
At this moment, Zhao Xuning was huddled in the rain, looking like a homeless stray dog.
Liang Shi went to help her up, but Zhao Xuning raised her hand at her side, her fingers curled, indicating that she should not.
Then she slowly got up in the rain, stood up again, took a step with her two weak legs, and slowly knelt down.
The final tap was completed.
The rain was getting heavier.
Zhao Xuning, however, was oblivious to everything. Even when she finally lost consciousness, she was smiling.
Because she fulfilled her promise to Shen Hui.
This time, Shen Hui was not disappointed.
Many people were calling her name.
But she couldn't hear anything anymore.
Zhao Xuning thought that it was right to vow never to climb the three thousand steps back then.
Because once you've climbed the three thousand steps, you're not far from death; even your soul is adrift.
"Zhao Xuning!"
"Ningning!"
"Dr. Zhao!"
"..."
Despite the cacophony of voices, Zhao Xuning still managed to distinguish Shen Hui's voice.
Amidst the cacophony of voices, she called out her name anxiously: "Zhao Xuning."
//
Zhao Xuning really went crazy this time.
I climbed three thousand steps with a fever and a cold, bowing at each step, and then got caught in the rain.
He had a high fever when he came down the mountain and was taken directly to the hospital.
Everyone was terrified all night, but she was mostly unharmed except for severe damage to both legs, with her knees swollen and bruised.
Shen Hui wasn't much better off either.
When Zhao Xuning was taken to the hospital, she was so disheveled that she almost fainted.
However, Shen Fenghe didn't stop her this time and directly let Shen Hui and Zhao Xuning stay in the same hospital.
Liang Shi had been busy until after 4 a.m. when he returned home. Even though he made very little noise, he still woke up Xu Qingzhu.
To be precise, Xu Qingzhu had been in a semi-conscious state the whole time. After noticing her return, she turned over, reached out and turned on the bedside lamp, and asked in a soft voice, "How is Dr. Zhao?"
"It's nothing serious." Liang Shi crawled under the covers, reached out and took her hand, which was still cool to the touch.
Xu Qingzhu rolled into her arms, and Liang Shi gently kissed her forehead and patted her back, "Go to sleep peacefully."
"Mmm." Xu Qingzhu yawned, feeling safer in her arms, and drowsiness overcame her, and she soon fell asleep.
Liang Shi turned off the bedside lamp, plunging the bedroom into darkness.
But she just couldn't fall asleep.
The image of Zhao Xuning climbing three thousand steps, one step at a time, seemed to be etched into her mind.
She had played similar roles before.
In the play, she acted well enough and was empathetic enough.
But it's nowhere near as good as it is today.
That was a shock.
Staring at Zhao Xuning's back, I felt restless, my surging emotions eventually turning into sighs.
She didn't know how much time had passed before she finally came to her senses in a daze.
Because Zhao Xuning was too determined.
That kind of heartfelt determination can evoke empathy in others.
Liang Shi's sympathy for Zhao Xuning increased slightly.
Even though he went to bed late at night, Liang Shi didn't sleep in; he woke up naturally very early.
Xu Qingzhu had been awake for a while, but nestled in her arms without moving.
When Liang Shi opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was her staring intently at him. Liang Shi was momentarily stunned, then smiled slightly and said in a low voice, "Good morning, baby."