Chapter 15
◎Refused to leave.◎
Qiao Xiaoxiao’s gaze fell blankly on Chu Xinrou’s bloodless lips. She shook her head, her throat tightening. “Have you eaten?”
Chu Xinrou slowly shook her head, her wet hair clinging to her cheeks, her eyes vacant.
“I’m a little tired…” Her voice was almost inaudible. “I’ll go rest first. You should go to bed early.”
Before she could finish, she was already dragging her heavy feet inside. Water dripped from the hem of her clothes, leaving tear-like trails on the floor.
Just from her back, one could feel how exhausted she was, as if her entire being had been hollowed out.
Qiao Xiaoxiao was usually able to focus on her studies no matter what, but now, Chu Xinrou’s pale face, dazed expression, and unusual silence were like tiny thorns, making her restless.
The downpour outside had, at some point, turned into a drizzle. The sound of the rain tapping lightly on the glass was particularly clear in the dead of night. The clock hand at eleven-thirty moved slowly in the silence. Qiao Xiaoxiao finally couldn’t hold back and gently knocked on the bedroom door.
“Jiejie?”
Her voice sounded particularly clear in the darkness. In the few seconds she waited for a response, all she could hear was her own increasingly rapid heartbeat. When she knocked on the door for the third time and still got no response, Qiao Xiaoxiao could no longer care about propriety.
The door hinges creaked softly as she cautiously poked half her body in. In the dim room, only the faint light from the streetlamp outside filtered in, outlining the furniture in blurry silhouettes.
Chu Xinrou lay quietly at the intersection of light and shadow, her dark hair spread out like a waterfall, making her cheeks look unnaturally flushed. Her rapid breathing stirred the air, and the damp strands of hair on her forehead clung to her feverishly flushed skin.
Qiao Xiaoxiao held her breath and approached, noticing that her eyelashes were trembling restlessly. The moment her fingertips touched her forehead, the searing heat made her heart tremble. “Jiejie!”
In her muddled consciousness, Chu Xinrou heard Qiao Xiaoxiao’s tearful call. She tried to open her eyes, but she couldn’t even make her eyelashes tremble.
…
The sound of the rain outside was still lingering, tapping against the windowpane, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. Chu Xinrou slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a piercing white—the stark white ceiling, the pale lights, and the medical tape on the back of her hand, connected to an IV tube.
She struggled to move her eyes. As her gaze shifted downwards, she saw Qiao Xiaoxiao resting her head on her arms, sleeping fitfully by the bedside, her brows tightly furrowed.
The smell of disinfectant lingered in her nose. Only then did Chu Xinrou belatedly realize that she was in a hospital.
“Oh my god, my dear ancestor, you’re finally awake.”
Yang Feitang pushed the door open with a bowl of washed cherries. Her usually exquisite dress was now hopelessly wrinkled, and there were faint dark circles under her eyes.
“How did I get here?” Chu Xinrou’s voice was hoarse, her gaze fixed on the sleeping Qiao Xiaoxiao. “Why didn’t she go home?”
“You’re asking me?!” Yang Feitang was so angry she almost threw the cherries in Chu Xinrou’s face. She lowered her voice. “You had a fever of 39.5 degrees last night. You were already unconscious when Xiaoxiao called! You’re a grown woman, how can you not know how to take care of yourself!”
Chu Xinrou sensitively caught the change in her tone. “Xiaoxiao?”
Yang Feitang had always been scrutinizing and distant with Qiao Xiaoxiao. Why was she suddenly so close to her now?
Yang Feitang shook her head helplessly, her heart aching a little as she looked at Qiao Xiaoxiao’s furrowed brows. “This child… must have been terrified.”
To this day, Yang Feitang still remembered the heart-wrenching sounds on the phone—Qiao Xiaoxiao’s rapid gasps and stumbling footsteps mixed with the torrential rain, and the fine pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the phone.
“Sister Yang, my sister has a high fever. I’ve been calling her for a long time, but she’s not responding.” Qiao Xiaoxiao’s voice was trembling uncontrollably, but she still forced herself to enunciate every word clearly. “I’m carrying my sister to the hospital now… The rain is too heavy… I can’t get a taxi… I only found my sister’s ID card. Can you come…”
She had only ever been to the village clinic before. Qiao Xiaoxiao had never set foot in a top-tier hospital in a big city.
In the past, Qiao Xiaoxiao would never say an extra word if she could avoid asking for help. But now, every word she spoke was a sincere plea.
Chu Xinrou’s entire weight was on Qiao Xiaoxiao’s back. Her canvas shoes were already soaked through, making a dull sound in the puddles with every step. One hand held tightly onto the person on her back, while the other had to fight against the raging wind. The umbrella, which was on the verge of collapsing, had its ribs broken three times by the wind, yet it still stubbornly shielded Chu Xinrou’s head.
When Yang Feitang rushed over, Qiao Xiaoxiao had not only accurately found the emergency building but had even gotten Chu Xinrou’s blood tested. Even though it was her first time seeing a self-service registration machine and her first time in a large hospital, not understanding anything, she had managed to arrange everything with the help of the staff after repeated pleas.
Qiao Xiaoxiao’s eyes were bloodshot, and her body was trembling. She hadn’t even realized it herself. It wasn’t until Yang Feitang arrived and Chu Xinrou was on an IV that she felt her whole body go weak, and she almost collapsed on the ground.
Yang Feitang quickly supported her. “What’s wrong? Sit down!”
Qiao Xiaoxiao was drenched from the rain. She hadn’t felt it while she was anxiously handling the procedures, but now that she had relaxed a little, the chill of the air conditioning shot up her spine, draining all her strength.
Yang Feitang glanced at the clock. It was almost three. “Go home and take a hot shower and change your clothes. I’ll watch her here.”
She couldn’t imagine how such a thin and weak girl had managed to get Chu Xinrou to the hospital alone in the middle of a stormy night, in an unfamiliar place.
Even in such a hurry, Qiao Xiaoxiao had wrapped Chu Xinrou in clothes, brought her ID card, and even brought all her savings of over nine hundred yuan from the milk powder can.
Of course, Qiao Xiaoxiao refused to leave.
When the nurse called for payment, Qiao Xiaoxiao shot up from her chair like a reflex. Even with Yang Feitang by her side, she frantically pulled out all the money in her pocket. With a forceful movement of her trembling fingers, the rain-soaked bills and coins scattered on the floor with a clatter. There were neatly folded hundred-yuan bills, crumpled small change, and a few coins that spun on the floor, making a crisp sound.
Qiao Xiaoxiao hurriedly squatted down to pick them up, her fingertips trembling as they touched the wet bills. This money was all she had, saved up bit by bit by scrimping and saving. Now, she couldn’t care about anything else. As long as her sister could get better, she would do anything.
Thinking of that scene, Yang Feitang turned her face away, her voice a little choked. “This child… it’s really not easy. From now on, she’s my own sister.”
Chu Xinrou’s gaze fell on the fluffy little head by the bed. Qiao Xiaoxiao’s brows were tightly furrowed, and a few strands of long hair clung to her pale cheeks. As she watched, Chu Xinrou felt a sourness rise in her nose.
“Her,” Yang Feitang shook her head. “She’s so stubborn. From the moment she brought you to the hospital, she’s been busy running around, not even bothering to change her wet clothes. I told her to go, but she just wouldn’t. She insisted on waiting for you to wake up.”
Such a small, thin person, shivering herself, yet so stubbornly refusing to leave.
A warm current surged into her eyes. Chu Xinrou raised a trembling hand and gently stroked the top of Qiao Xiaoxiao’s head.
The moment her fingertips touched her hair, the sleeping Qiao Xiaoxiao was startled awake. She opened her red-rimmed eyes. “Jiejie?”
God knows how scared she had been these past two days.
That year, when her sister Nuonuo had a high fever that wouldn’t go down and it damaged her throat, Qiao Xiaoxiao was only a ten-year-old child.
She would never forget her sister’s last hoarse “Jiejie,” like a dull knife, torturing her heart day and night.
She was afraid that something would happen to Chu Xinrou too.
Chu Xinrou nodded, her gaze weak but gentle. But Qiao Xiaoxiao was still uneasy and called out again, staring intently at Chu Xinrou. “Jiejie?”
Her voice was full of panic and uncertainty.
Chu Xinrou knew Qiao Xiaoxiao’s past. She gently stroked her cheek. “I’m here. It’s okay. It’s alright, Xiaoxiao, I’m fine, okay?”
These words finally made Qiao Xiaoxiao’s tense shoulders suddenly slump. She bit her lip, and large tears burst from her eyes, falling heavily onto Chu Xinrou’s palm.
【Author’s Note】
Those tears also fell into Chu Xinrou’s heart. She never let go again.
