2 Chapter 2 Part 1

◎Yu Qinjiu, don’t cry◎

The world went quiet, even breathing seemed to stop.

Actually, the picture hadn’t lit up.

Or rather, the fog on her glasses hadn’t cleared yet. The chaotic, crowded traffic was still compressed into countless tiny dots in her vision.

Ji Qingyou was frozen in this snowstorm, the snow on her shoulders piling up.

The noise and bustle surrounded her. Once again, the sound of footsteps crunching in the snow came from behind her.

The person moved to stand in front of Ji Qingyou. Her breathing was light, but after looking at her for a moment, she slowly took off the thick, fleece scarf from around her own neck.

She leaned in, her voice very soft,

“Why are you always not wearing enough in this cold weather?”

A shadow fell in front of her, carrying a subtle yet not cloying rose scent. The exposed skin of her neck was wrapped in the warm, cozy scarf, still holding the soft warmth of someone else’s body.

So close, but her vision was still blurry.

The scarf was wound around her neck again and again, finally tied into a knot at her chest. The movements were gentle.

The fingers that accidentally brushed against Ji Qingyou’s jaw were cold. The moment they touched, the person’s fingers trembled, then quickly curled back. She laughed softly as she straightened the scarf.

“It’s snowing again this Christmas Eve. How nice.”

Her tone was slightly raised, her voice soft and familiar.

Ji Qingyou suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe, as if buried in a soft, spongy mass, with only tiny, dense gaps to survive on.

The person in front of her leaned in with a worried look, then gently pulled down the mask from Ji Qingyou’s face.

The warmth of her breath was released. The fog on her glasses slowly receded.

The face so close was breathtakingly beautiful. Ji Qingyou’s eyes trembled at that moment.

The person before her curved her crescent-shaped eyes in a smile. Her pupils seemed to hold a burning layer of shimmering light.

“You didn’t say anything. I thought I had mistaken you for someone else.”

Ji Qingyou’s dry lips moved. Finally, she made a sound.

“Yu… Qinjiu.”

A name she had called countless times before, yet saying it now felt unfamiliar.

Yu Qinjiu sighed in relief and shoved her hands into her coat pockets, as if about to say something.

But Ji Qingyou’s vision was only clear for that one second before it was covered by a foggy veil again.

The world spun, and she fell into a soft, delicate embrace, smelling the same rose scent as the scarf tied around her neck.

The lingering, clinging rose fragrance was intoxicating. Yu Qinjiu’s urgent voice reached her ears, sounding somewhat muffled.

But Ji Qingyou could hear her clearly.

Yu Qinjiu was calling her name, over and over again.

Ji Qingyou.

Those three syllables, spoken in Yu Qinjiu’s voice, seemed to become something special. Something particularly strange, something earth-shattering.

–

“Ji Qingyou! Ji Qingyou! Ji Qingyou!”

Someone was crying and shouting her name. Ji Qingyou opened her eyes wearily, feeling nauseous from being jostled. In the dappled sunlight, she saw Yu Qinjiu wearing their middle school uniform, her forehead sweaty, her neck slender and delicate.

Ji Qingyou was gasping for air. Her chest felt compressed, stifling, leaving only a thin layer of space for air to flow.

The world was spinning. Yu Qinjiu was crying, wailing so hard it made the world spin even faster, turning into a dizzying kaleidoscope.

Yu Qinjiu was sobbing and carrying her on her back, not knowing where to go.

Ji Qingyou couldn’t speak, but she really wanted to say:

Yu Qinjiu, you’re so noisy.

–

Ji Qingyou’s eyes snapped open. Her confused vision slowly focused. She saw someone sitting by her bed, with the same face as the Yu Qinjiu in her dream. She was pursing her lips slightly, looking not very happy.

Her thoughts still seemed stuck in the dream. She heard herself say,

“Yu Qinjiu, don’t cry.”

The person by the bed was startled by her sudden voice. After a moment, she waved a hand in front of Ji Qingyou’s face.

“Ji Qingyou, how many fingers am I holding up?”

Ji Qingyou didn’t answer. She just blinked slowly. When she opened her eyes again, she smelled the familiar disinfectant, saw the painfully familiar layout and decor of the hospital room.

And Yu Qinjiu, wearing a beige coat, not the middle school uniform with its ugly cut that Yu Qinjiu had modified herself by taking in the waist and legs.

It was a not-crying Yu Qinjiu.

Ji Qingyou blinked, as if the gears in her mind were starting to turn again, slowly.

Only then did she hear the rustling sound near her ear. The next second, her lips touched something cold, with a cloying strawberry scent.

“Am I having a hypoglycemic episode?” she quickly assessed the situation, then looked down at the lollipop that was already pressed against her lips.

“You think?”

Yu Qinjiu poked the lollipop a little closer to her lips. “The doctor gave you glucose. I found this lollipop in your coat.”

Ji Qingyou remained silent.

Yu Qinjiu’s eyelashes fell, as she looked at the wrapper she’d just torn open. She added, “This is right, isn’t it? Isn’t this your favorite strawberry flavor?”

She said it so seriously that even the person in the next bed couldn’t help but chuckle.

Ji Qingyou pursed her lips, lowered her eyes, and bit down on the lollipop. After a long moment, she said, “I don’t like strawberry flavor anymore.”

The air was silent for a moment. The laughter from the next bed grew louder.

They were probably laughing at her for still liking strawberry flavor at her age, or maybe they found the whole conversation amusing.

The sickly sweet taste of the strawberry candy began to spread in her mouth. Ji Qingyou heard Yu Qinjiu utter a slow, drawling “Oh,” her tone languid and casual.

Ji Qingyou looked up at her.

Yu Qinjiu flipped her hair that fell over her pale neck. Her dark brown curls were woven with a few strands of light grey highlights, giving her a casual yet charming look.

“The air conditioning is a bit warm in here,” Yu Qinjiu said casually.

Ji Qingyou was silent for a moment. “Maybe you should go first?”

Yu Qinjiu paused in her movements. The hair she had just flipped aside cascaded back down over her neck, like a lush, soft thicket.

After a few seconds, she tucked the blanket tighter around Ji Qingyou, her voice inexplicably soft.

“I just want to be with you, okay?”

–

After the glucose drip finished, Ji Qingyou walked out of the ward and saw Qian Li from the Emergency Department. Qian Li had been her supervising teacher during her rotation in the Emergency Department.

Qian Li sized her up, frowning slightly.

“Been a doctor this long, and you’re still letting yourself get hypoglycemic?”

Ji Qingyou looked down. “Long night shift. Got busy. Didn’t have time to eat.”

Qian Li stared at her, his tone still stern. “No matter how busy you are, you need to make time to eat.”

Ji Qingyou nodded slightly. Qian Li nodded slightly too.

The two of them were like spies exchanging code, not wanting to waste a single word.

But Yu Qinjiu’s energy seemed particularly out of place. Before they parted, she waved enthusiastically at Qian Li, her eyes curving into beautiful crescent moons, her voice soft as she said,

“Bye-bye, Dr. Qian~”

She was always like this. Even in front of strangers and old friends she hadn’t seen for ten years, she could express her emotions with such vivid intensity.

Ji Qingyou wasn’t surprised by this.

What was surprising was that Qian Li, who had always been stern and unsmiling, actually responded to Yu Qinjiu. He nodded slightly and said, “Goodbye.”

When she stepped out of the hospital again, the snow was still falling. Ji Qingyou felt a bit dazed. Too many things had happened today. She had crossed this threshold three times already.

Ten years without seeing Yu Qinjiu.

There were so many questions she wanted to ask. So many things she wanted to say.

But she didn’t know where to start.

The night grew deeper, making the swirling snowflakes seem to blend in more deeply. Ji Qingyou trudged through the thick snow, head down, walking. When they reached a convenience store by the street, Yu Qinjiu suddenly tugged at her sleeve.

“Wait for me here.”

As soon as she said it, the wind chime on the door jingled. Yu Qinjiu, with snowflakes landing on her, entered the convenience store.

Through the clear glass door, her figure looked tall and slender, her pale neck seeming bare.

Ji Qingyou suddenly realized that Yu Qinjiu’s scarf was still around her own neck.

The thick fleece scarf was covered in snow. Ji Qingyou brushed the cold snowflakes off, took the scarf off, and a gust of cold wind immediately rushed into her body, sending a chill through her.

She folded the scarf neatly. As Yu Qinjiu pushed the door open and came out, she handed it over.

“Thank you for the scarf.”

Yu Qinjiu was stunned for a few seconds. She lowered her eyelashes, then smiled and took it. She rubbed the scarf with her fingers, and said with unusual formality, “You’re welcome.”

She said “Thank you.”

Then she said “You’re welcome.”

This exchange was far too polite. At least Ji Qingyou had never imagined such a conversation between herself and Yu Qinjiu. But looking at the Yu Qinjiu before her, the face was so familiar, yet there was indeed a sense of strangeness.

Ji Qingyou thought about this gloomily.

Then the rustling sound of a wrapper being torn came again. She looked over. Yu Qinjiu was opening another lollipop. She brought it to Ji Qingyou’s lips. Her lighter-colored pupils seemed to shimmer with a watery light.

“Eat this one too. I’ll watch you finish it before I go.”

It’s not like I’m a child who needs to be coaxed into eating candy.

Ji Qingyou thought this, but she still hesitated, then parted her tightly pressed lips. Meeting Yu Qinjiu’s stubborn gaze, she bit down on the lollipop.

It was strawberry flavor again. She realized this belatedly and pressed her tongue against the candy in her mouth.

Yu Qinjiu’s eyes danced with light. A snowflake landed on the tear mole at the corner of her eye. She stared at Ji Qingyou, as if relieved. Her light laugh was very soft.

“Liar. You still like strawberry flavor the most.”