Chapter 18: 18 Chapter 18

◎Her Miss Alps◎

Dinner time.

Ji Xiruan kept staring at Ji Qingyou, even forgetting to eat the chicken drumstick. Her usually lazy eyes were now sharp and piercing, as if trying to bore a hole through Ji Qingyou.

Ji Qingyou’s expression was indifferent. She didn’t intend to acknowledge her.

But the resident doctor eating with them couldn’t stand it anymore, so she picked up her tray and moved to another table.

When only Ji Xiruan and Ji Qingyou were left at the table, and it looked like Ji Qingyou was about to finish her dinner, Ji Xiruan finally couldn’t hold back. “Hey, that woman who came to see Little Jiu just now, she’s your Alps, isn’t she?”

Ji Qingyou looked up at her. “The Alps do not belong to any country, and certainly not to me.”

“Don’t change the subject.” Ji Xiruan finally took a bite of the drumstick. “When have I ever seen you care about the difference between ‘Dr. Ji’ and ‘Doctor Ji’? And besides, she came specially to pick you up from work, and said you have a good temper…”

Ji Qingyou put down her chopsticks. “Do I have a bad temper?”

Ji Xiruan choked. She managed to swallow the mouthful of chicken, took a few gulps of water, then explained, “I didn’t say your temper was bad. It’s just that you usually walk around with a cold face, not even cracking a smile. No one would actively say you have a good temper.”

Ji Qingyou didn’t say anything.

“You two made plans to go to the Alps together, right?” Ji Xiruan had many questions. “Then why haven’t you gone all these years? Was it you who didn’t have time, or she who didn’t have time?”

Ji Qingyou didn’t intend to answer, but felt she needed to refute the rumor she was trying to spread. “We didn’t make any plans to go together.”

“Huh?” Ji Xiruan’s eyes widened. “Then what’s with the Alps?”

“It’s completely your imagination.” Ji Qingyou was ruthless, lowering her eyelashes. “I just thought the snow there was beautiful. It would be a good place to build a snowman.”

“What’s the difference between that and a promise?” Ji Xiruan finished the drumstick and tossed the bone onto her tray.

Ji Qingyou wanted to deny it, but deep down, she felt Ji Xiruan was right. Even though they hadn’t actually agreed to go. She silently picked up her tray. Before leaving, she overheard Ji Xiruan muttering to herself.

“But you were right about one thing. Miss Alps is really beautiful. And not in an ordinary way. At first glance, she looks like the beautiful, vibrant female lead from one of those youth films.”

“No wonder you’ve been thinking about her for so long.”

–

The early night shift ended, but she was delayed a bit in the ward.

It was nearly two in the morning when Ji Qingyou left the hospital. The night wind was biting cold, seeping through the gaps in her clothes, chilling her to the bone.

She hailed a taxi. As the warmth enveloped her the moment she got in, Ji Qingyou realized she had forgotten to wear her scarf. She rubbed her hands together, leaning back tiredly in the back seat. But for some reason, she recalled Ji Xiruan’s nickname for Yu Qinjiu.

Miss Alps.

Truly special. It sounded like a bright, vivid symbol.

Thinking this, she couldn’t help but take out her phone, open WeChat, find her conversation with Yu Qinjiu, click on her profile picture, and observe the Alps in her avatar.

The bright light from her phone reflected on the taxi window, revealing her slightly pursed lips and her fingers, which were hesitant but eventually landed on the keyboard.

Acting on a whim.

She changed the note to 【Miss Alps】.

After realizing what she had done, she wanted to change it back. She stared at the line of text. She also felt that this note somehow matched Yu Qinjiu’s profile picture.

So she left it as is.

She looked at it a little longer. The time on the upper right corner showed 02:12.

Just as she was about to put her phone away.

It vibrated with a buzz, sending a tingle through her palm.

Perhaps there really was some kind of telepathy, because Miss Alps had sent her a WeChat message.

【Ji Qingyou, are you there?】

She was stunned for a few seconds. She replied, “On my way home.” There was no response from the other side. She pursed her lips, a thought flashing through her mind. A WeChat message sent at this hour was impossible to ignore, so she dialed her number.

It took a long time for the call to connect. The taxi driver made two turns at traffic lights.

It wasn’t until she got out of the car and arrived at the entrance of her residential area that Yu Qinjiu finally answered. The other end was very quiet, so quiet it made one feel uneasy. She quickened her pace. As she was swiping her access card to enter the complex, she fumbled and hit her leg against the railing, a sharp pain shooting through her.

She panted, swiped the card again, and walked in. The moment she did, a sobbing sound came from the phone, followed by a loud crash, as if something had fallen to the floor, or Yu Qinjiu herself had fallen.

“Yu Qinjiu!”

She shouted, ran to the bottom of her building, breathless. Still, she forced herself to slow down, to soften her voice. “I’ll be right there.”

On the other end, Yu Qinjiu couldn’t speak. She could only make indistinct whimpering sounds.

Ji Qingyou’s fingers trembled as she pressed the elevator button. The elevator was taking forever. Even though it was already two in the morning, it was taking an abnormally long time to come down.

The whimpering and gasping on the phone continued.

She didn’t wait for the elevator anymore. She quickly found the stairwell and started climbing the steps, one by one, laboriously shouting Yu Qinjiu’s name, repeating it over and over again.

“I’m coming right now, Yu Qinjiu.”

“Don’t be scared.”

22 floors. In less than five minutes, she arrived at Yu Qinjiu’s doorstep. Sweat dripped from her forehead. She didn’t bother to wipe it off. She just bent over to ease the intense pain in her chest and lightly pounded on the door.

“Yu Qinjiu, open the door!”

There was a loud noise from inside, along with Yu Qinjiu’s agonized sobbing and crying, but the door didn’t open. She kept pounding on it. Her icy hands were numb and stiff. Her voice, wet with sweat, was laced with pleading.

“Yu Qinjiu, can you tell me the password?”

The sobbing inside quieted down a little, but it still showed the person’s panic and fear. Then, her phone, which she was still holding, vibrated with a message.

Ji Qingyou took out her phone. Her sweaty, sticky fingers couldn’t unlock the screen. She forced herself to calm down and wiped her fingers on her coat over and over again.

Finally, she unlocked the screen.

The password came up: 2202YQJ

She didn’t have time to think about anything else. She entered the password with trembling fingers. It took her two tries to get it right. The lock clicked.

The moment the door opened.

An ice-cold, almost stiff body threw itself into her arms. A pitch-black darkness covered her vision. A cold, stiff palm was pressed over her eyes. Yu Qinjiu’s messy, sad sobs were truly close to her ears.

She held the trembling Yu Qinjiu, immediately transferring her own body heat to her. The sweat from her forehead dripped into her eyes, reaching the corners, causing a stinging, subtle pain.

She could barely open her eyes.

Yu Qinjiu didn’t speak. She couldn’t speak. She was like a fish that had jumped out of water, breathing with difficulty, her words slurred and indistinct.

Ji Qingyou couldn’t see her. She couldn’t understand what Yu Qinjiu was saying. But she knew why Yu Qinjiu had covered her eyes. She knew what she wanted to say.

Her Miss Alps covered her eyes and sobbed,

“Don’t look at me. I’m not pretty anymore.”