Shi Xinxin wanted to refuse him outright, but as soon as she opened her mouth, Yue Ran’s face flashed in her mind.
The pain and twisted expression of his face when he was injured and bleeding while protecting her; the joyful, sunflower-like face when he ate what she brought; the sad, wronged face like a child’s when she rejected him.
That Yue Ran! He was truly like a child!
“Alright,” Shi Xinxin sighed, hung up the phone, hailed a taxi, and headed for Qi An Road. Unexpectedly, just as she finished buying milk tea on Qi An Road, she received another call from Yue Ran, asking her to buy tangerines.
And they had to be from the fruit shop next to Xue Yuan Road.
Shi Xinxin initially refused, but Yue Ran called three times in a row, noisy and stubborn. Helpless, Shi Xinxin took another taxi to Xue Yuan Road to buy tangerines for Yue Ran.
There was nothing she could do; he was the patient.
Fortunately, Xue Yuan Road was very close to the hospital. After buying the tangerines, Shi Xinxin walked towards the hospital. As she walked, she carefully recalled what Yue Ran had said that day.
The more she thought about it, the more uneasy Shi Xinxin felt. Yue Ran was too strange today, wasn’t he? His bizarre words and actions seemed like he was stalling for something.
Puzzled, Shi Xinxin quickened her pace towards the hospital. When she pushed open the door to the ward, she was stunned by the scene before her. The milk tea and tangerines in her hands dropped with a clatter due to her extreme shock.
The snow-white ward was flooded with a vibrant, bright red. Shi Xinxin stared dumbfoundedly at everything before her, feeling as if she had entered another world—
Like Alice in the fairy tale, she pushed open a door and entered another space.
Of course, Shi Xinxin was not Alice. And this ward was not another "world."
The red filling the ward was actually one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine roses meticulously prepared by Yue Ran! Each of the one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine roses was lush, blooming brilliantly, and exuding a rich fragrance.
Yue Ran, dressed in a blue and white striped hospital gown, sat solemnly amidst the roses, gazing at her with a beaming smile. His gentle eyes seemed to be able to wring out water.
“Do you… like it?” After a long pause, Yue Ran finally uttered softly.
His voice was light and gentle, as if a hand was gently plucking a string in Shi Xinxin’s heart.
Shi Xinxin stood at the ward door, dumbfounded, and after a long while, finally managed to ask, “Why did you do this? Yue Ran.”
Yue Ran found Shi Xinxin’s stunned expression amusing, but he maintained a serious demeanor. “Of course, I want you to be happy, you idiot! You’ve worked hard taking care of me these past few days. These roses are both a surprise and a thank you.”
A surprise? A thank you? Shi Xinxin looked at Yue Ran by the hospital bed, shocked, feeling a mix of laughter and tears.
He was hospitalized because of her, and now he was thanking her?
Seeing Shi Xinxin’s silence, Yue Ran’s smile instantly froze. He asked nervously, “What’s wrong? Don’t you like roses? I stayed up all night preparing them!”
Hearing this, a pang of sadness surged through Shi Xinxin. Everything this guy had done was for her. He was seriously injured yet wouldn’t rest properly, insisting on creating these so-called surprises for her.
So, he truly liked her…
Shi Xinxin couldn’t hold back any longer. She pursed her lips, walked to Yue Ran’s side, and said softly, “Thank you, Yue Ran. I really like this surprise you prepared for me, and I’m very touched.”
Upon hearing her words, Yue Ran’s face lit up. He stood up cheerfully and declared loudly, “So, you mean you can accept me. Right?”
A prolonged silence filled the ward. After a long time, Yue Ran heard Shi Xinxin sigh heavily and say, “I’m sorry, Yue Ran. Although you’ve given me your sincere heart and moved me, I still cannot accept you.”
As she spoke, she gently wiped away tears from the corners of her eyes. Beads of tears rolled down her smooth, clean cheeks like pearls that had fallen from a broken string, sparkling and crystal clear, evoking pity.
Yue Ran’s smile froze. When she uttered those words, he felt as if his skull had been split open by something sharp. The immense force almost tore him apart.
He moved his lips and trembled, asking, “Why? Did I not do enough? Or do you still not believe that I like you!?”
Shi Xinxin gave a wry smile and choked out, “Yue Ran, I’m sure you know that I lived in China for more than twenty years before coming to America. I am a native Chinese. In that distant land, I fell in love with a boy. A boy who was incredibly easy-going, gentle, and kind, but uniquely impatient with me. From a long, long time ago, I fell for him irrevocably, with no way back and no choice.
She closed her eyes slightly.
At this moment, Sheng Chenjin’s face appeared in her mind. His sharp features were carved like a blade, his clear, indifferent eyes, his deep brown pupils held a radiant light, as if a single glance could draw in the other person’s soul.
Pausing, Shi Xinxin continued, “Perhaps, I am too stubborn and dull-witted, or perhaps, I am too obsessed and persistent. Even now, I cannot completely let him go or forget him. It’s like your feelings for me; they cannot be easily severed or abandoned. Yue Ran, we are actually the same! When it comes to love, you and I are both deeply mired in it, unable to extricate ourselves.”
Shi Xinxin’s tears fell one after another, like a torrential downpour in July, unstoppable. But she was oblivious, letting the crystal-clear tears stream down her face.
She spoke intermittently, as if time in the ward had completely frozen. And in this world, only she and Sheng Chenjin’s memories remained.
It wasn’t until Yue Ran gently rubbed Shi Xinxin’s head that she snapped back from the vortex of her memories.
She was shocked to find that she was already in tears.
And Yue Ran, standing opposite her, was not much better—his eyes were red, and his eyes were brimming with tears.
However, the most prominent expression on Yue Ran’s face was surprise.
Oh God… did I say too much? Seeing Yue Ran’s utterly stunned face, Shi Xinxin couldn’t help but blame herself inwardly. What a thoughtless chatterbox I am!