The weather didn’t warm up right after the new year; temperatures were still low.
After filming and the interview back-to-back, Ning Ke hadn’t rested well and was seriously sleep-deprived. The next day, she slept until noon.
She shuffled downstairs in her slippers and opened the fridge for a yogurt, but Sister Lu stopped her. “Miss Ning, you can’t drink something cold on an empty stomach! Let me heat you some milk.”
Sister Lu nagged, but her hands were quick, and soon she came out with a warmed glass of milk. “I was going to ask if you wanted breakfast, but Azhi said you were tired and needed rest, so I didn’t call you.”
“Oh, I slept a bit longer,” Ning Ke said, downing half the milk in one go. “She went out?”
Sister Lu checked the time. “She went back to the old manor. It sounded like the old gentleman wasn’t feeling well. It’s this late and she’s not back yet, so she probably won’t be home for lunch.”
Ning Ke had planned to eat out, but she didn’t want Sister Lu’s cooking to go to waste. “I’ll eat at home before I go out.”
Sister Lu beamed. “That’s wonderful!”
After the meal, Ning Ke changed and got ready to leave. As she was wrapping her scarf in the entryway, Sister Lu brought out a bowl of washed strawberries. “Have some fruit before you go?”
Ning Ke glanced back, then shook her head. “Not hungry. I’m going.”
“Don’t like them anymore…” Sister Lu heard the door close and muttered to herself, “But Azhi said she loves strawberries the most…”
–
“Ning Keke, over here!”
Ning Ke had barely gotten out of the car when she heard Lin Yun calling her. She adjusted her hat and sunglasses and walked over.
Tao Zhi blew out a white breath. “Big Star, you’re so hard to get a hold of.”
Ning Ke shot back without mercy. “Doctor Tao, if you’re this free, how do you find time to save lives?”
Lin Yun: “Alright, alright. In consideration of the fact that Tao Zhi and I waited for you in the freezing wind for half an hour, stop attacking him.”
Ning Ke glowered at Tao Zhi. “Who told him to always nitpick me? Always trying to bully me.”
Tao Zhi looked torn between laughing and crying. “How would I dare?”
Ning Ke: “Good, don’t.”
Lin Yun, long accustomed to their bickering, quickly changed the subject. “We’ll shop for a bit this afternoon. Want to catch a movie tonight? There’s a good one out—you know it, Keke, it’s directed by Director Zhang.”
Ning Ke: “I know. I was planning to see it anyway.”
Tao Zhi had no objections. “I’m game for anything.”
He lagged half a step behind them, gentlemanly carrying the ladies’ shopping bags.
The first two episodes of the show had excellent numbers, and to thank her best friend for her heavy support, Lin Yun had announced earlier that she’d foot the bill for today’s shopping. Ning Ke didn’t stand on ceremony, but she didn’t find much she liked. She picked out one cream-white hat.
Lin Yun, however, was in high spirits and insisted on buying her shoes. That got Ning Ke’s shopping bug going. She tried on several pairs, turning this way and that in front of the mirror.
Tao Zhi said to Lin Yun, “You really do know her.”
“Of course,” Lin Yun said with a lazy smile. “Everyone knows our Eldest Miss doesn’t care about much—but she loves high heels. Naturally, I cater to her tastes.”
Tao Zhi smiled and hummed. “I almost forgot what she likes.”
Lin Yun: “You’re not planning to leave again this time?”
Tao Zhi shook his head. “No. I’ve been away too long. I’ll be interning at Mingchuan First Hospital in a few days, officially joining in the summer.”
Lin Yun: “Tao Zhi…”
“Yun,” Tao Zhi suddenly interrupted her, “do you know why I chose to become a doctor?”
Lin Yun: “I don’t.”
But Tao Zhi didn’t go on. “Let’s go see if she’s picked something out.”
Lin Yun didn’t press. She went over to help Ning Ke choose between two pairs—black knee-high boots and silver diamond-studded stilettos. Both were beautiful, and it was genuinely hard to pick.
While Ning Ke was still agonizing, she heard someone call her name. “Ning Ke.”
She looked up and saw Yan Yunzhi. She wore a smoke-grey long coat over a white turtleneck, hair loosely tied at the nape of her neck. Her clothes were already muted, and with her recent pallor, she carried a certain cool, understated air.
Lin Yun was the first to turn and greet her. “Sister Azhi.”
Tao Zhi followed suit, using the same address. “Sister Azhi.”
Yan Yunzhi smiled at them, her gaze lingering on Tao Zhi for two extra seconds, her voice warm and soft. “Hello.”
Ning Ke: “What brings you here?”
Yan Yunzhi only stopped when she reached Ning Ke’s side. “I came to buy some things. I saw you on the escalator and came over.”
Ning Ke hummed, changing back into her own boots. “Is Grandpa doing okay?”
Yan Yunzhi said he was fine. “He felt dizzy this morning. The doctor came by and said there’s no major problem.”
Ning Ke nodded, saying she understood.
Yan Yunzhi looked at the two pairs of shoes she’d picked out. “Which do you like? I’ll buy them for you.”
“No need,” Ning Ke shook her head immediately. “I don’t really like either. I’ll pass. Let’s go.”
Lin Yun widened her eyes in surprise, but held back her words. “…Okay, let’s go.”
As they left the store, Yan Yunzhi asked, “I’m going to pick out a cup for Grandpa. Want to look around downstairs together?”
Ning Ke knew that Grandpa Yan liked tea and collected quite a few porcelain cups at home. After a moment’s thought, she nodded. “Let’s go.”
Lin Yun and Tao Zhi didn’t say more and followed along.
The mall’s first floor had several long-established teaware shops. They wandered in and out of many. In the end, Yan Yunzhi stopped at an antique shop and picked out two designs. She chatted idly with the shopkeeper while Ning Ke waited by the roadside. Lin Yun had stepped aside to take a work call, and Tao Zhi had been sent off by Ning Ke to buy two coffees.
Ning Ke was zoning out at the white contrail of a plane in the sky when she heard footsteps. She turned. “All bought?”
Yan Yunzhi walked over to her. “Done. I’ll have the shop send them over. I’m not going back to that side today.”
Ning Ke remembered tonight’s plans. “We’re going to watch a movie later. You can…”
Yan Yunzhi tilted her head as if listening, and reached out to gently rest her hand on Ning Ke’s shoulder.
Ning Ke: “Mm?”
Yan Yunzhi: “I’m a little tired.”
As she spoke, she did put a bit of weight into her touch, as if she needed someone to lean on to stay steady.
Ning Ke knew that the show schedule had been a burden for her lately. She thought about it, but didn’t push her hand away. She only said, “If your body isn’t well, don’t run around outside.”
Yan Yunzhi: “I know. I’ll go to Doctor Xie’s clinic later.”
Ning Ke: “…What for?”
Yan Yunzhi: “Routine checkup.”
Ning Ke made a soft sound of acknowledgment and said nothing more.
She lowered her eyes, lashes fluttering lightly, as if lost in thought.
Not far away, among the crowd.
Tao Zhi stood frozen, holding the hot coffees.
Lin Yun returned from her call and noticed him. “What are you standing there for?”
“Nothing,” he said, smiling at her. “Let’s go over.”
Yan Yunzhi still had her hand on Ning Ke’s shoulder—not just that, but her palm seemed to draw slightly inward, as if pulling Ning Ke a little closer to her.
The gesture had an awkward intimacy to it. Ning Ke endured it for a while before she couldn’t take it anymore and stepped back. “Do you want to find somewhere to sit?”
“No need,” Yan Yunzhi said, withdrawing her hand very naturally. She looked around. “They’re back.”
Lin Yun sipped her hot coffee. “Sister Azhi, they didn’t have your cappuccino.”
Tao Zhi held out the other cup to Ning Ke. “Your green grape latte.”
Ning Ke didn’t take it. “No thanks, I’m heading back. You finish it.”
“Not seeing the movie?”
“She didn’t drive. She has somewhere to go. I’m giving her a ride.”
Ning Ke didn’t explain further to her friends. She said to Yan Yunzhi, “Come on, I drove.”
Yan Yunzhi smiled. She tilted her head slightly, still that gentle, delicate image, her gaze resting on the latte in Tao Zhi’s hand. She said softly, “Have fun, you two.”
Ning Ke’s car was parked right by the road.
Soon, the engine started, and they drove off.
Lin Yun sighed into her coffee. “We finally dragged Ning Keke out, and she’s gone. Our Big Star is just too busy.”
Tao Zhi stood in place, holding his coffee.
The usually handsome, genial young man had lost the light in his eyes. “She’s not busy. It’s just… she’s getting farther and farther away.”
He watched the car disappear at the end of the street.
The words he hadn’t finished with Lin Yun earlier floated back up.
He chose to become a doctor… because he’d promised Ning Ke.
Back then, when Ning Ke’s parents died in the plane crash, and the elderly grandparents at home fell ill from the shock, Ning Ke had stayed by their bedsides every night, powerless to do anything.
He had gone back to his hometown then. When he returned two weeks later and saw her in the hospital, Ning Ke had lost half her weight. He didn’t know what he could do, so he’d said softly to her, I’ll become a doctor.
Maybe then… if something like this ever happened again, he wouldn’t have to stand by and watch the girl he loved cry, powerless.
But looking at it now… she didn’t need him anymore.
Maybe there was no such thing as first come, first served in life.
Even… showing up earlier didn’t matter.
The promises in those old days, he hadn’t forgotten.
Ning Ke had.
–
This time, Ning Ke drove.
Before, it had always been Yan Yunzhi chauffeuring her around. This time, Ning Ke wouldn’t let her; she insisted on driving herself.
Yan Yunzhi gave her an address. “Do you know the way?”
Ning Ke hummed. “Yes.”
She seemed to have been here before—she drove smoothly even without navigation.
Midway, the engine stalled once. Ning Ke got out to check, found nothing wrong, and quickly got back in.
But she was a little uneasy and glanced back again.
Yan Yunzhi: “What’s wrong?”
Ning Ke shook her head. “Just now, I got out and thought I saw someone taking photos. Might be paparazzi.”
Yan Yunzhi: “Want to stop and check?”
Ning Ke: “No… probably just my imagination.”
Yan Yunzhi’s appointment was a routine checkup—since doctors couldn’t carry equipment to house calls, she came to the clinic regularly.
The car stopped. Yan Yunzhi said, “Do you want to head home first?”
Ning Ke was silent for two seconds. “I’ve got nothing on today. No rush.”
Yan Yunzhi looked at her with some surprise. “Then I’ll be quick.”
Ning Ke hummed and said nothing more.
She parked the car, and carrying her purse, walked a few laps by the roadside. She was getting bored by the time she finally went into the clinic—and ran right into Doctor Xie.
Doctor Xie raised an eyebrow. “Miss Ning, you came along today too?”
Ning Ke: “She didn’t drive. I gave her a ride.”
Doctor Xie adjusted his glasses. “No wonder Miss Yan said to hurry the moment she came in. I’ll head in now. If you need anything, you can ask my assistant, Doctor Song.”
The person she indicated, Doctor Song, looked to be in her early thirties, with a low ponytail. She looked up at the mention. “Hello.”
Ning Ke nodded to her. “Hello.”
Doctor Song looked at her for a moment, then suddenly said, “I’ve seen you before, haven’t I?”
Ning Ke smiled. “You must be mistaken.”
Doctor Song: “Oh… maybe I am. Sorry about that.”
Ning Ke shook her head. “No problem.”
Doctor Song was warm and hospitable. She poured Ning Ke some black tea and sat down to chat. “Miss Yan hasn’t been here in a while. I was supposed to ask her to come right after the new year, but she said she had work commitments and couldn’t get away.”
Ning Ke watched the tea leaves bobbing in the cup, unfocused. “How often does she usually come?”
Doctor Song thought for a moment. “It varies. She and Doctor Xie have known each other for years. Though she was abroad for a long time in between. She only came back to the country two years ago. I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’d thought she’d take better care of her health abroad. I didn’t expect her to still be so… Ah.”
Ning Ke said nothing.
Her fingers on the teacup tightened silently.
Doctor Song kept chatting about this and that, but Ning Ke’s thoughts had quietly drifted away.
She remembered that day.
After years apart, she’d seen Yan Yunzhi again.
The person she hadn’t seen in so many years was still that frail, thin figure, the same sickly pallor. All those years abroad… she clearly hadn’t done well either.
It was a snowy day.
Ning Ke remembered clearly pushing open the door of the private room. The person standing by the window turned around, smiled at her—her cheeks barely warmer than the snow outside—and said softly, “Ning Ke, hello.”
Such a polite, courteous greeting.
The most common greeting between adults. A calm, deliberate aloofness.
Ning Ke stood still.
Every word she might have said died in her throat.
Having left her homeland across thousands of mountains and rivers—how could she end up like this?
Ning Ke kept her face cold and said nothing. She listened to her uncle exchange pleasantries with Grandpa Yan, listened to her uncle speak with Yan Yunzhi, until her name was finally mentioned. She looked up, gave a faint nod, and didn’t say another word the rest of the time.
Doctor Song saw her spacing out and called, “Miss Ning?”
“Mm…” Ning Ke snapped back. “She’s been getting tired easily lately and lacks energy. How should she take care of herself?”
Doctor Song: “I’m not familiar with the specifics of her case.”
Ning Ke: “…I know patient information is private and can’t be discussed. Forget I asked.”
She wouldn’t ask, and she certainly wouldn’t pry into Yan Yunzhi’s privacy.
Ning Ke turned her head away, looking uninterested in pursuing it.
The door at the end of the hallway opened, and a muffled conversation came through—probably Doctor Xie giving instructions.
Doctor Song picked up the earlier thread. “Ah? You can tell family.”
Ning Ke stood up. “It’s fine. I won’t ask.”
The chat ended around the same time the checkup finished.
Yan Yunzhi walked out with Doctor Xie, smiling at Ning Ke. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Ning Ke said it was no trouble.
She went downstairs first, walking ahead. “I’ll get the car.”
Doctor Xie walked Yan Yunzhi out, chatting. “Don’t push yourself too hard recently. Control your workload. Come back in about two weeks.”
Yan Yunzhi nodded. “Okay.”
Doctor Xie saw the car idling by the roadside, its tail lights cutting two long beams through the winter fog. “This is the first time she’s come with you.”
Yan Yunzhi didn’t answer, only lowering her head with a small smile.
By the roadside.
Ning Ke watched her lower her head and smile softly under the streetlight.
She looked at this street, this lamp, and her fingers on the steering wheel tightened silently.
Scattered fragments of memory surged in, sharp and biting as the winter fog, like the chill of the night.
Doctor Xie accompanied Yan Yunzhi all the way to the car, smiled and waved at them, then turned back.
Ning Ke drove, glancing through the rearview mirror at the small building in the fog.
In the small building.
Doctor Song suddenly had a revelation. “I remember now! I really have met this Miss Ning before!”
The nurse beside her teased her. “You just remembered! She’s a big star!”
Ning Ke had been recognized the moment she walked in—Doctor Song had even wanted to rush over and ask for an autograph. But the medical staff at this high-end private clinic were well-educated and well-paid; they naturally wouldn’t say anything inappropriate.
Doctor Song shook her head. “No, no, no, it wasn’t on TV. I’ve seen her in person. I remember—about a year and a half ago, Miss Yan was hospitalized for something, maybe altitude sickness, it was serious enough to require admission. This Miss Ning came in and stood at the front desk talking to me. Then she got a phone call—it was Miss Yan calling, asking if it was the housekeeper who’d told her about the hospitalization, and saying that if she was busy with work, she didn’t need to come.”
The young nurse was stunned. “Huh? And then?”
Doctor Song also looked puzzled. “And then… she really just stood at the door of the hospital room for a long while. Without going in, she turned and left.”
“She came all that way and didn’t even go in?”
“Exactly. I remember thinking at the time, what an odd person…”
“Can’t understand rich people.”
“Ring, ring, ring.”
The young nurse wanted to dig for more gossip, but the busy phone rang, and no one had time for idle chatter anymore.
–
“Ring, ring.”
The phone rang, and Yan Yunzhi answered.
It was Sister Lu, asking if they’d be home for dinner.
Yan Yunzhi hummed. “We’ll be home for dinner, but a bit later.”
Sister Lu: “Just you and Miss Ning?”
Yan Yunzhi hummed again. “Yes.”
She hung up and turned to look at Ning Ke, who was driving. “Hungry?”
“Not really,” Ning Ke said, eyes fixed ahead. She seemed low and not in the mood to talk.
Worried about distracting her while driving, Yan Yunzhi let the matter drop.
Ning Ke drove steadily, much slower than she would have alone. The distance was long, and they didn’t arrive home until nearly eight-thirty.
She stopped the car outside the villa gates.
The car’s heater was on, the windows closed—warm and stuffy, deeply hypnotic.
She noticed Yan Yunzhi had fallen asleep, leaning against the seat, turned toward the window, exhaustion written across her delicate features even in sleep.
Ning Ke didn’t wake her.
She killed the engine and sat there without moving, unbuckling her own seatbelt.
Time ticked by, one minute at a time. Ning Ke shifted sideways and, unable to help herself, leaned in to look at her.
In her light sleep, Yan Yunzhi’s dark, thick hair half-covered her cheek, her pale, soft profile fading in and out of view. Ning Ke instinctively wanted to brush the hair aside. Her fingers were about to fall, then stopped midair.
Was she really that tired?
Then… why did she agree to do the show, to work so hard?
Ning Ke knew she couldn’t adapt to the intensity of the entertainment industry. Only two episodes had been filmed… What if she asked her to quit midway?
The thought surfaced, and Ning Ke decided she would bring it up with Lin Yun.
Her gaze drifted downward.
To Yan Yunzhi’s lips, which had lost some of their color.
A sleeping beauty.
Gentle, cool, beautiful, fragile.
Some indescribable emotion surged into her chest. It felt like someone had squeezed her heart—a dull, aching, inexplicable sensation.
Ning Ke stared at those bloodless lips.
She couldn’t understand, couldn’t articulate that feeling, and the suffocating restlessness in her chest only grew.
Ning Ke lowered her head, as if possessed, slowly inching closer to Yan Yunzhi.
Closer.
Closer.
Ning Ke could hear her own… pounding heartbeat.
If she just lowered her head a little more, she could kiss her.
