As I was sitting in the chair lost in thought, Dingding, who was sitting next to me, suddenly nudged my arm gently.
"Yuanyuan, how has Dean Qu been lately?"
"...I...I don't know."
"What? You don't know? Aren't you his girlfriend? How can you say you don't know?"
"I really don't know, I can't find him anywhere."
"Ah—" Dingding gasped, "Yuanyuan, you don't know yet?"
"Know what?"
"Dean Qu's father, who is also Mayor Qu, has been placed under investigation for smuggling!"
"What?" I was so shocked I almost jumped out of my chair.
"Hey! Be gentle!" Dingding pressed me down hard. "Yuanyuan, calm down, don't panic. I heard the case is still under investigation, and some people say Mayor Qu was framed."
I suddenly felt like an idiot; the whole world knew about it, but I was the only one who didn't.
My family must have known, but none of them told me.
I can't blame anyone else; I can only blame myself for never reading newspapers or watching the news.
After the college meeting, the department held an evaluation meeting, and unsurprisingly, I received the worst attendance award.
This semester, I spent most of my time on sick leave. First, I had to stay home for medical check-ups, then I broke my leg, and a couple of days ago I had a persistent high fever. By the time I was able to come to work, it was already the last day of the semester. I definitely deserve the worst attendance award of the year.
It doesn't matter anymore. I just hope the meeting ends soon so I can go find Qu Ling.
So that's how it is! I finally understand why Qu Ling agreed to annul the engagement!
My heart was filled with mixed feelings of sadness and joy.
The good thing is that Qu Ling didn't want to break off the engagement because he didn't like me; the bad thing is that he actually thought I, Su Yuanyuan, was the kind of person who couldn't share hardships.
I rode my electric scooter all the way to the military compound. Without anyone from the Qu family to guide me, I was questioned at the gate for a long time.
When I told the soldier on guard that I was going to Commander Qu's house, he looked at me with a strange and pitying look and said, "No need to go, no one is home."
"Why?"
"Commander Qu suffered a sudden cerebral hemorrhage two days ago. He has not yet woken up after being rescued. His family members are all at the First Municipal Hospital."
My mind went blank for a moment, as if a heavy hammer had struck me.
Grandpa Qu, that Grandpa Qu with the booming voice! How could this be? How could this happen?
I turned and rode towards the First Hospital. Tears streamed down my face as I rode, slowly freezing into two sharp, piercing streaks of ice.
When I arrived at the hospital entrance, I ran into my mom. She was carrying a thermos and stared at me with wide eyes. "Yuanyuan? What are you doing here?"
"I'm asking you the same thing! What brings you here? Did you come to see Grandpa Qu? Why didn't you tell me something the whole family knows?" I asked angrily as I mounted my electric scooter.
"Well... you've been sick for the past few days, I was afraid you'd worry if you knew." Mom awkwardly brushed her hair aside.
"Hmph, it's wrong of you to keep such a big thing from me!"
"Who would intentionally try to hide this from you? Do you think this kind of thing can be kept secret?"
The two chattered as they entered the hospital. Luckily, they ran into Mom. Grandpa Qu lived deep inside the hospital, in a small building hidden behind a clump of holly trees. The entire building was painted a military-style beige, presumably for use by officers in their unit.
Upon entering the courtyard, I saw Aunt Lin hanging out the sheets to dry. She looked haggard, and deep wrinkles had appeared on her usually smiling face within just a few days.
"Aunt Lin!" I ran to her side and grabbed her cold hand.
"Yuanyuan!" Aunt Lin's eyes were bloodshot, she had spent countless sleepless nights.
We didn't say much, just a glance was enough for us to understand each other's feelings.
Aunt Lin led me into the ward. Inside, Grandpa Qu lay quietly on the snow-white sheets, wearing a respirator. His once ruddy cheeks were now deeply sunken. I realized how deep the marks of time were etched on his forehead; he was just an old man who had weathered countless storms, no longer as strong as he once was.
Sitting beside Grandpa Qu's bed was someone I never expected.
My grandfather.
Wearing reading glasses and holding a newspaper, he read it aloud word by word in slightly accented Mandarin.
Tears streamed down her face again; the scene was heartbreaking.
At the height of the Qu family's power and glory, Grandpa avoided them like the plague. But when the Qu family was at its most embarrassed and destitute, he stayed by his old friend's side, wearing his reading glasses, and laboriously read the newspaper to him as he lay unconscious in bed.
I thought love was the most difficult thing to understand in this world, but it turns out that friendship is even more difficult to understand.
Grandpa and Qu Ba, their long lives and all their intertwined past experiences in their youth, all solidified into golden light at this moment.
"Aunt Lin, where is Dean Qu?" I searched the whole building but couldn't find Qu Ling, so I had to grab Aunt Lin and ask her.
"Lingling went to Beijing, Yuanyuan, didn't you know?" Aunt Lin asked me, surprised.
"I...I don't know."
"That's strange. The night before he left, he clearly told me that he was going to your house to say goodbye. You should have just returned from southern Anhui that day."
"He... he did meet with me, but he didn't tell me he was going to Beijing." I didn't want to tell Aunt Lin that Qu Ling had agreed to annul the engagement, and besides, Aunt Lin and the others had no idea that Qu Ling and I had gone through this whole thing, so it was best not to bring it up. "Why does Qu Ling want to go to Beijing?"
"Sigh, it's all because of his father." Aunt Lin sighed deeply. "His father was framed for someone else this time. It's a complicated matter. Yuanyuan, your Uncle Qu isn't like what the newspapers say. He was harmed by his best friend!"