Chapter 67: Just in a Different Way, Continuing…

Back at school, Shen Jia Yan began preparing for her study abroad.

She cleared up her somewhat messy desk and replaced it with a new planner, densely filled with timelines for language exams, essay preparation, school applications, and material submissions.

She started waking up early to go to the library, memorizing vocabulary, doing practice questions, and listening to audio exercises. She began organizing her portfolio of past works and researching various music conservatories, repeatedly comparing their course offerings, faculty strength, and graduation tracks…

Everything felt like a flame reignited, faint yet burning steadily and resolutely.

She no longer kept her phone within easy reach, nor did she refresh the chat interface every so often.

She began learning to pull her attention back from that name, bit by bit, even if the process was slow and she still thought of it occasionally.

But she told herself, “I’m moving forward.”

Her roommates learned of her plans to go abroad but weren’t surprised and didn’t pry too much.

They simply watched quietly as she reorganized her life, as she sat at the computer for entire days, as she gradually extricated herself from the past.

Though they hated to see her go, they knew she needed a fresh start.

※

One day, right after morning classes ended, Shen Jia Yan received a call from Jiang Jing.

As the phone rang by her ear, she was packing her bag to head to the cafeteria. Sunlight streamed through the classroom windows onto the desk, everything peaceful.

But when she answered and heard that voice thick with suppressed emotion—“Jia Yan, we’re at Beicheng Hospital. Come here”—she froze instantly.

“Mom?” she called softly, unease in her voice. “What happened?”

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end before Jiang Jing’s low, restrained voice came through. “Don’t ask yet. Come first. Hurry.”

Shen Jia Yan’s heart plummeted.

She asked no more, just grabbed her bag and hurried out of the teaching building to hail a taxi.

“Sir, please hurry—to Beicheng Hospital.”

The car pulled out of campus, the sunlight still bright, but her heart had sunk into an abyss.

All the way, she wondered: Had Grandma’s condition worsened? But Grandma had told her the recent checkup was fine… Could it be…

She didn’t dare think further or confront the answer she feared most.

She just clutched her phone tightly.

In the car, she watched the familiar streets and buildings flash by outside the window, now shrouded in a hazy gray.

She finally understood that some moments, fate gave no preparation time. It simply thrust the heaviest burdens upon you suddenly, without warning.

For the first time, she felt so afraid to face her family.

Afraid to see the grief in their eyes, afraid to hear the words she dreaded most.

The taxi stopped at the hospital entrance, and she rushed inside.

She spotted Jiang Jing at the end of the corridor, back turned to her, shoulders trembling slightly.

Shen Jia Yan hurried over and called softly, “Mom.”

Jiang Jing turned, eyes red-rimmed, tear streaks still on her face.

Looking at Shen Jia Yan, her voice choked. “Grandma fainted two days ago. They took her to Xingcheng Hospital. The doctors said it wasn’t good. This morning, they transferred her to Beicheng Hospital. She’s very weak now.”

Shen Jia Yan swayed slightly.

How could this be? Things had been fine just recently. Grandma had even smiled and said, “I’ll listen to you and get checked at the hospital.” She had held her hand and said, “Our Jia Yan will be okay.”

She tried to steady her breathing, but her voice trembled. “How could it happen so suddenly? Wasn’t the last checkup fine?”

Jiang Jing looked down, clutching her tissue tightly, voice hoarse. “The last checkup… it was lung cancer.”

“What?” Shen Jia Yan’s voice was faint, hollow, as if drained of all strength.

Jiang Jing’s eyes brimmed red, her voice shaking. “The doctor said it’s late-stage, already metastasized. Discovered too late.”

“Grandma knows,” she paused, choking up so badly she could barely continue. “She didn’t want us to tell you—afraid it’d distract from your studies, afraid you’d worry.”

Shen Jia Yan stood rooted, as if struck hard, frozen in place.

Grandma had hidden it to spare her sadness, to keep her focused, to shield her from worry.

Afraid that before she recovered from that heartbreak, she’d face another heavy blow.

Shen Jia Yan’s eyes reddened instantly, her fingers trembling.

She said nothing more, just turned and ran toward the room number Jiang Jing had sent her earlier.

Jiang Jing tried to call her back, but the words stuck in her throat. She only watched her daughter’s figure vanish through the door.

Shen Jia Yan raced down the hospital’s long corridor, her footsteps echoing in the empty hallway like her chaotic heartbeat.

She pushed open the ward door gently, her hand shaking.

The room was quiet. Sunlight filtered through the curtain gaps, falling on that pale yet still gentle face.

Grandma lay on the bed, eyes closed, breathing faint and slow.

Shen Jia Yan stood at the door, heart gripped tightly, aching.

She hurried to the bedside and knelt, gently taking Grandma’s hand.

Those hands had once shelled sunflower seeds for her, wiped her tears, patted her back to sleep. Now they were skin over bones, icy cold, making her heart shudder.

“Grandma…” she called softly, voice choked and breaking.

Grandma slowly opened her eyes and, seeing her, curved her lips slightly, as if she’d known she’d come.

“Jia Yan.” Her voice was faint. “Why are you here? Is class over?”

Tears flooded Shen Jia Yan’s eyes. She gripped Grandma’s hand tightly, afraid to let go lest she vanish.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Her voice shook.

Grandma smiled faintly, raised her hand slowly, and stroked her cheek.

“Silly child…” Her voice was weak but warm with a smile. “Grandma didn’t not want to tell you.”

“It was just… you’d just emerged from such deep sadness. Grandma didn’t want you sad over me too.”

Shen Jia Yan shook her head, tears streaming. “But I’m your granddaughter. You love me, and I want to love you too. You told me to take good care of myself, but I haven’t had the chance to take good care of you yet…”

She finally sobbed aloud, collapsing by the bed, shoulders heaving.

Grandma patted her hand gently, voice barely audible. “You’ve been good, Jia Yan. Grandma feels your love.” She gasped, as if using her last strength, yet her lips held that gentle smile. “Our Jia Yan has always been such a filial, good child.”

Sensing Grandma’s effort to speak, Shen Jia Yan’s tears surged anew. She clasped her hand firmly, voice trembling but firm. “Okay, Grandma, no more talking. Rest. I’ll stay right here with you.”

She wanted Grandma to conserve energy, to sleep more, to stop worrying about her.

But Grandma just smiled faintly, eyes still tender, as if not hearing, and continued. “Jia Yan, Grandma might not be able to help convince your parents anymore.”

She gasped, striving to voice her deepest concern. “I haven’t had time to sound out their feelings. Grandma’s worried.”

“If they can’t understand you, what will our Jia Yan do?” She sighed deeply, voice fading but full of care. “Who will you rely on…”

Shen Jia Yan’s heart twisted painfully, stealing her breath.

She gripped Grandma’s hand tighter, tears falling endlessly. “Grandma, don’t say any more.”

She choked, pleading with her and fate alike. “You’ll get better. The doctor said there’s still a chance. We can treat it, we can…”

She couldn’t finish.

Because she saw Grandma’s gaze drifting, as if she already knew where she stood.

Grandma smiled faintly, the wrinkles at her eyes holding the tenderness Shen Jia Yan had known since childhood.

“Jia Yan…”

She slowly raised her hand, gently wiping the tears from Shen Jia Yan’s face, just like when she’d run crying into her arms as a child.

“Don’t be afraid. You have the courage Grandma taught you, and that gentle heart inside. Even if Grandma’s gone, you’re not alone. You have your parents, your friends. Follow your heart, walk the path you want.”

Her voice broke intermittently but she spoke earnestly, word by word. “Remember what Grandma told you?”

“Eat well, sleep well. Don’t make Grandma worry.”

Shen Jia Yan’s tears flowed like a breached dam, unstoppable.

She hugged Grandma tightly, burying her face in her embrace. “Grandma…”

Shen Yan and Jiang Jing entered, standing by the bed.

Shen Yan saw his daughter’s swollen, red eyes and approached, patting her shoulder gently, heart aching. “Okay, Jia Yan. Let Grandma rest. She’s tired.”

Just then—

Beep—beep—beep—

The monitor by the bed suddenly blared a sharp, urgent alarm!

The sound shattered the room’s brief calm, piercing every heart like a blade.

Shen Jia Yan jerked her head up, pupils contracting.

On the monitor, the once-steady green heartbeat line spiked wildly, then flattened into a cold, straight, merciless line.

“Grandma?!” Shen Jia Yan cried out, lunging to the bedside, clutching her hand. “Grandma! Don’t sleep! Don’t go…”

Jiang Jing’s eyes reddened instantly. She covered her mouth, tears spilling.

Shen Yan hit the call button at once, voice trembling but steady. “Nurse! Doctor! Hurry!”

Footsteps, cart wheels, urgent intercom voices flooded the room.

Doctors and nurses rushed in, starting resuscitation.

“Prepare defibrillator!”

“Everyone back!”

A nurse gently pulled Shen Jia Yan aside. She stood in the corner, watching the doctors bustle, the defibrillator pads pressing down again and again, Grandma’s body jolting faintly with each shock.

But that line never jumped again.

Time seemed frozen.

Five minutes later, the doctor stopped, glanced at his watch, and shook his head gently.

The room fell into a terrifying silence.

Shen Jia Yan stood there, chilled to the bone, tears falling silently.

She gazed at Grandma’s serene face, those gentle eyes closed forever.

She would never call her “Jia Yan” again, never stroke her head, never pat her back in sorrow and say, “With Grandma here, don’t be afraid.”

She was gone.

Shen Jia Yan slowly returned to the bedside, took Grandma’s cooling hand gently, and pressed her face to its back.

She didn’t wail, just murmured softly, “Grandma, I’ll eat well, sleep well… I won’t make you worry…”

Outside, the sunset sank slowly, golden rays spilling into the room, bathing that peaceful face.

Shen Jia Yan looked up at the light and gently closed her eyes.

She knew Grandma hadn’t gone far.

She had just found another way to stay by her side.