Yu Lele was taken aback, only then realizing that the policeman was actually from Changchunqiao Police Station. He turned his head and happened to see her, nodding to her: "Teacher Yu, could you please explain to the student's parents that we need to take this student home? It shouldn't take long."
Yu Lele finally met Zhuang Yuewei's mother's gaze.
The middle-aged woman's gaze suddenly froze.
In that instant, memories of the past flowed back like a river. That person, that face, that plea she would never forget echoed in her mind—"Only you, for his own good, are willing to give him up."
I thought we would never see each other again.
But fate is cruel, and we were forced to meet, in such a frightened and awkward situation.
The two of them just looked at each other without saying a word, their gazes seemingly piercing through two years, still sharp and intense.
Xu Jianping's gaze was terrifyingly cold, as if a single glance could freeze Yu Lele. Yu Lele's gaze, on the other hand, was empty and numb, as if she had lost her focus, lost in her memories of the past, bewildered and helpless.
Just then, the emergency room door opened, and a nurse rushed out, quickly running to the service station across the corridor. She said to a doctor, "Major bleeding, we don't have enough type B blood. We need to get blood from the city blood center. Send an ambulance immediately."
Upon hearing this, Meng Xiaoyu's mother screamed and collapsed. Cheng Kai quickly caught her, and the group erupted into chaos. Yu Lele, however, seemed to suddenly snap out of her daze and ran towards the service station, asking the nurse, "Is it type B? I'm type B, please draw my blood first."
The nurse glanced at Yu Lele and shook her head: "No, you're too thin."
Yu Lele panicked: "What time is it? Just keep smoking! It won't kill you!"
Cheng Kai rushed over and stopped Yu Lele: "Stop messing around, the doctor said it's not good, so it's not good. Are you trying to kill yourself?"
Yu Lele completely ignored Cheng Kai and kept pestering the nurse: "Draw mine first, while we wait for someone to get the blood from the blood center, otherwise we won't have enough time!"
These words touched the doctor standing to the side. He looked at Yu Lele and said to the nurse, "Draw 600cc first, and have someone get the rest right away."
Before she could finish speaking, Yu Lele grabbed the nurse's hand: "Let's go!"
The nurse finally led Yu Lele away. Zhuang Yuewei looked at Cheng Kai nervously and asked, "Will Teacher Yu be alright?"
Before Cheng Kai could answer, the little girl burst into tears: "Teacher Yu is a good person, she should be well."
Pang Yi, who had been silent all along, couldn't stand it any longer and said to Cheng Kai, "I'll go take a look."
Seeing Cheng Kai nod, Pang Yi took off chasing after the two who had walked away.
Xu Jianping looked down at her daughter, who was anxiously watching in the distance, then turned to look at the emergency room door behind her, unsure of what to say.
As the blood gushed into the blood bag, Yu Lele felt something else flowing out of her body along with it.
She sat there blankly, as if her soul had drifted away, floating in mid-air, looking down upon those people and events of the past. She finally understood why seeing Zhuang Yuewei was like seeing Xu Chen—siblings with similar eyes, similar noses, similar facial contours, and even a gentle smile that evoked the same expression.
Suddenly, she heard Pang Yi's voice: "Teacher, don't be sad. Meng Xiaoyu will be alright, and you will be alright too."
She turned her head and saw Pang Yi take a tissue out of his pocket and hand it to her. Only then did she realize her face was covered in tears—Pang Yi had misunderstood; he thought she was afraid. Yes, no one knew how many unspeakable secrets were contained in the mere exchange of glances between her and Xu Jianping.
Those secrets, like winding vines, grew wildly, entwining her heart, suffocating her breath, forcing her to give up, forcing her to forget, and leaving behind purplish-red bruises on her heart.
The tears continued to flow uncontrollably.
Compared to the unrestrained tears, the blood in the tube flowed very slowly. The nurse drawing blood frowned as she looked at Yu Lele's arm and muttered to herself, "Why is it flowing so slowly?"
She reached out and took Yu Lele's hand, instructing her: "Clench your fist, loosen your fist, clench your fist again, loosen your fist again..."
The blood flow seemed to have quickened slightly, but Yu Lele had always been very sensitive to pain, so every time she clenched her fist, she felt a dull ache at the injection site in her elbow. But time was of the essence, so she frowned and continued clenching and unclenching her fist.
When the 600cc of blood collection was completed, Yu Lele felt as if an eternity had passed. She stood up and walked out with slightly unsteady steps. Pang Yi followed closely beside her, constantly saying, "Teacher, you should rest for a while. We'll take care of Meng Xiaoyu."
But Yu Lele wouldn't listen. She felt that she would only feel at ease when she returned to the emergency room and stood by Meng Xiaoyu's side.
However, since that serious illness that year, her health had ultimately deteriorated. At the corner just before reaching the emergency room, she watched helplessly as her vision went from clear to blurry, then a persistent green rippled through her, turning from green to black, before finally crashing into a pedestrian in front of her and collapsing with a thud.
Before losing consciousness, she remembered feeling like a cloud, light and airy, having lost all her strength…
She had been exhausted for a long time.
She felt as if she were floating in darkness, unable to see the light, with soft ground beneath her feet, and she could feel the springiness with every step.
She stretched out her hand, and a cool breeze blew in, but she didn't know which direction the wind was blowing.
I don't even know where I'm going.
She stood in the silent darkness, calmly looking around, her mind blank.
She didn't want to leave, didn't want to take a step, didn't want to move even a little bit closer to any unknown future. She wanted to escape; perhaps it was her body's instinctive choice—not to move, not to walk, not to leave.
They didn't even want to breathe anymore.
However, she could still feel the darkness around her gradually dissipating, turning into a blurry white. When the light shone through her eyelids into her eyes, even with her eyes closed, she could still feel a warm, slightly reddish sensation.
I can smell Lysol again.
She wanted to frown, but she didn't even have the strength to do so. This wasn't the first time she'd fainted; perhaps she was quite adept at it—she knew she was about to faint before she did, and she wouldn't be surprised or bewildered when she woke up. She even knew clearly how many anxious eyes she would be greeted when she awoke, and the fervent anticipation in their eyes would make her want to cry.
Her senses gradually returned.
She remained motionless with her eyes closed, her breathing even, but gradually she felt the blankets on her body become heavy. Her left hand was a little cold, presumably from an IV drip—glucose solution, which wasn't the first time it had been administered to her. She even vaguely felt someone holding her hand, warm, soft, and gently.
Is that Mom?
She was startled: How did she know?
It must have been Cheng Kai who called home, right? I have my home phone number saved in my phone, but won't my mom be scared?
Her heart clenched slightly, a faint ache rising within her. She always caused her family so much trouble, making them worry and fear. She could never do her best, and this time she'd made a huge blunder. Besides her home, she couldn't think of anywhere else she could find refuge, anywhere she could escape the whispers and gossip.
She could no longer run away. She finally thought: No matter how much she tried to escape, the world would still keep turning, and no matter how much she tried to escape, this event would still have to be resolved. She had always been used to being "unlucky," and she had gotten through so many unpleasant things, hadn't she?
Moreover, since I was in the wrong this time, I should be brave enough to take responsibility!
Thinking of this, she finally mustered up the courage to open her eyes, but her gaze froze the moment she saw the person beside her!
Yu Lele's eyes widened, revealing undisguised surprise, doubt, hesitation, and trepidation!
Xu Chen?!
Perhaps because her eyes opened so quickly, so unlike a patient who had just woken up from a coma, Xu Chen, who was sitting to the side, was completely frightened.
After a long while, he coughed softly, released Yu Lele's hand, bent down to tuck the blanket around her, then looked up at the IV drip, concealing the warm emotions in his eyes that Yu Lele had already taken in. He stood up, and Yu Lele stared at him intently, at his white doctor's coat and the small name tag on his chest.
The sign read: Name: Xu Chen (Intern), Department: Emergency Room.
The unexpected reunion filled her heart with indescribable bitterness, happiness, sorrow, and satisfaction... These mixed feelings made her want to cry.
As I thought this, tears silently streamed down my face, forming a wet and itchy line that fell directly onto my pillow.
Her voice choked, and she didn't know what to say. She just wanted to stare at him, to keep staring until she couldn't look at him anymore or could no longer see him.
Perhaps it was only at this moment that she realized: when the moment she had been running away and dodging for more than a year finally arrived, those loves and those unforgettable past experiences were still as clear as yesterday.
I have never forgotten.
Perhaps I will never forget it in this lifetime.
They looked at each other silently, amidst the dripping glucose solution and the strong smell of dissolving water in the ward. Through her tears, Yu Lele looked at the blurry figure and felt her heart tearing apart with pain.
If only I could live my life like this.
Even just watching is good.
20-1
Xu Chen, who had just finished his night shift, was on his way home to catch up on sleep, so he never expected to be bumped into by a girl on his way back to the office. Before he could even react, she collapsed, pale as a paper doll, like a lifeless piece of paper.
He didn't reach out and catch her as perfectly as in the TV series—in fact, it was only after she fell to the ground and he heard the boy behind her cry out in alarm, "Teacher Yu," that he saw the shadow of the girl from the past on that pale face.
At that moment, his heart almost stopped beating.
Now he finally knew what it felt like for his heart to stop working for a moment: it was like blood rushing rapidly through his brain while his heart was intermittently unable to supply enough blood, all his body language was frozen, his whole body stiffened, and his gaze became an unyielding block.
He had thought about seeing her. He'd been back in his hometown for three weeks doing his internship, and every day he'd tried to muster the courage to go to the teachers' college, but he always ended up giving up. He knew he didn't dare—he didn't dare see her happy smile, didn't dare see her walking hand-in-hand with someone else, didn't dare see her nonchalant expression when she greeted him.
He was even afraid to hear her introduce herself to the person next to her. How would she introduce herself? Perhaps she would say, "This is Xu Chen, my high school classmate," or perhaps, "Xu Chen, my friend"... But no matter what she said, he could tell that his heart was bleeding.
She should be happy, like all girls who have found love, radiant and full of life.
But the woman before me was not like that.
He couldn't remember how he frantically picked her up and ran back. He probably ran very fast, because when his consciousness returned, he saw her lying on the hospital bed, quietly receiving an IV drip. Her face was bloodless, she had lost a lot of weight, but her expression was peaceful.
He stayed by her side the whole time. Nurses came and went, giving and removing injections for patients in the neighboring beds. Many people stared at him with questioning eyes, but he ignored them all. He knew how curious they were, but at that moment, he could only see her.
Perhaps it was only after the breakup that he realized how much he cherished this long-suppressed affection, from the gentle care to the intense attachment!
But what about her? She must have already forgotten.
In fact, many times, he wanted to go home, back to her side, to tell her that he was still waiting for her, waiting for her to come back, even if he had to go around in circles, as long as he returned to the same place, he could still see her. But he didn't have the courage.
He had imagined many scenarios for their meeting, but because there would be another person by her side, all his imaginings turned into a bone-chilling coldness for him.
He simply hadn't expected them to meet in such a setting. He certainly hadn't expected to see that surprise, hesitation, doubt, and restraint in her eyes… When her tears rolled down her cheeks, it felt as if they were hitting his heart, causing a sharp, piercing pain.
He finally raised his hand and gently wiped away her tears, but new tears welled up again, as if the more he wiped, the more tears flowed.
He had to speak up: "Don't cry, you should be happy to see your old classmate."
"Old classmate!"
The title struck Yu Lele hard in the eardrums, her breath caught in her throat for a moment, and her heart was quickly squeezed into a hard little ball.
Is it an "old classmate"?
It turns out they really were just "old classmates".
There is no greater sorrow than a dead heart—when the heart is dead, there will naturally be no tears.
She reached out and wiped away the remaining tears on her face, trying to sit up under his gaze. He reached out to support her, propped up the pillow, and gently helped her sit up. In that instant, he was very close to her, as close as years ago when she stood before him, within arm's reach to embrace her.
Then he sat back down on her bedside, looked at her, and asked, "With your health, why are you donating blood?"
His voice was still so pleasant. She gazed at him, wondering where he had found out the whole story. She looked up at the doorway and suddenly realized that Pang Yi was standing there, quietly and silently watching them.
"Pang Yi, how is Meng Xiaoyu?" She shifted her gaze from Xu Chen and asked.