Solitary Toss of Tenderness

Her love for you is genuine

One week later, Jiang Huaixi insisted that she was fine and wanted to be discharged from the hospital. Jiang Huaichuan had already returned to Linzhou due to company matters. Mother Jiang couldn’t convince Jiang Huaixi on her own, so she sought approval from Jiang Wang after glancing at her. Seeing Jiang Wang nodding to indicate it was okay, she reluctantly agreed.

On the morning of the discharge day, Xu Baihan arrived at the hospital early and helped Lu Zizheng pack her belongings. After that, she accompanied Lu Zizheng to meet Jiang Huaixi. When they were nearing Jiang Huaixi’s ward, Xu Baihan suddenly reached out and gently held Lu Zizheng’s wrist, which she was using to push the wheelchair, indicating her to come from behind to the front.

Lu Zizheng let go of the wheelchair’s handle and walked to Xu Baihan’s side, slightly bending over, looking at her with confusion.

Xu Baihan gently took one of Lu Zizheng’s hands, brought it to her lips, and lightly kissed it. She curved her eyebrows and smiled tenderly, speaking softly, “Zizheng, we don’t know when we’ll meet again after parting today. Promise me, from now on, take good care of yourself. No matter where you are, remember that I’m concerned about you. Be optimistic, positive, and stay healthy and happy.”

Upon hearing Xu Baihan’s words, especially the part about not knowing when they would meet again, Lu Zizheng’s eyes reddened instantly. She crouched down and rested her face on Xu Baihan’s thighs, looking up at her, gently shaking her head, “Sister, you have to take care of yourself too. Promise me not to do anything foolish. Wait for me to come back. I promise you I will find her for you. You have to believe me.”

Xu Baihan’s eyes were full of tenderness as she smiled and nodded, patting Lu Zizheng’s head to comfort her. “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine…”

Outside the room, Mother Jiang heard some noise and came out from Jiang Huaixi’s ward. She saw only Xu Baihan and Lu Zizheng, with Lu Zizheng still holding a small package in one hand and looking slightly disheveled while crouching in front of the wheelchair. Mother Jiang was surprised and asked, “Zizheng, where’s Little Wang? I told her I would help Huaixi, and she said she’d come over to help you pack together…”

Lu Zizheng stood up, suppressing her emotional feelings, and smiled kindly at Mother Jiang. “I haven’t seen Dr. Jiang this morning; maybe she got delayed by something. Auntie, don’t worry, I’m fine, and I don’t have much stuff left to pack.”

Mother Jiang took a few steps forward, disregarding Lu Zizheng’s embarrassment, and took the small package from her arm. As she walked toward Jiang Huaixi’s room, she said, “Little Wang is really something. Anyway, I’ll call her and ask…”

Inside the hospital room, Jiang Huaixi had already tidied up her appearance. She had taken off her hospital gown and now looked more lively and elegant than before. When she saw Lu Zizheng and Xu Baihan entering, she immediately stood up from the bedside and walked a few steps to Xu Baihan, naturally and casually taking the other package from Lu Zizheng’s hand. While slightly nodding, she bent her waist and sincerely thanked her, “Senior, thank you so much for your help during this time, really, I’m very grateful.” A rare and genuine warm smile appeared on her usually calm face.

Xu Baihan was somewhat surprised and chuckled, saying jokingly while looking at Jiang Huaixi’s serious face, “Huaixi, do you know, after knowing you for so many years, it’s the first time I’ve seen you bow your head to someone. For a moment, I really feel pleasantly surprised.”

Jiang Huaixi looked at Xu Baihan, lightly biting her lip, showing a rare hint of shyness.

Xu Baihan touched her elegant nose and glanced at Lu Zizheng by her side, blinked mischievously, and gestured playfully for Jiang Huaixi to come closer.

Jiang Huaixi approached and crouched down.

Xu Baihan lowered her head, getting close to Jiang Huaixi’s delicate and rosy ear, and whispered softly, “I’m entrusting Zizheng to you. You must, must take good care of her, consider it as the greatest gratitude to me.” Finishing her words, she moved back, smiling, and asked loudly, “Huaixi, alright?”

Jiang Huaixi looked up with a deep gaze and smiled faintly at the somewhat puzzled Lu Zizheng and Xu Baihan. She stood up and solemnly promised Xu Baihan, “Alright.”

Mother Jiang finished her call and came over from the window, explaining, “Zizheng, Huaixi, Little Wang said she’s feeling a bit sick with a fever today, so she accidentally overslept. She’s on her way here now. Let’s head downstairs first, and she’ll be here soon.”

Jiang Huaixi and Lu Zizheng exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement.

There were a few steps leading down to the entrance of the inpatient department. As Xu Baihan had difficulty walking, Jiang Huaixi and Lu Zizheng suggested that she could stop at the inpatient department entrance, and there was no need for her to take the detour down the stairs. So, Xu Baihan bid farewell to Jiang Huaixi and Lu Zizheng and watched them as they left.

Just as Jiang Huaixi and Lu Zizheng arrived at the hospital entrance, a black car timely drove in and came to a steady stop in front of them.

Xu Baihan’s heart inexplicably skipped a beat. Finally, she had a chance to see that doctor named Jiang Wang. Since their encounter at the stairwell that time, sometimes she couldn’t help but imitate Jiang Wang’s actions, covering her own eyes and recalling the feeling at that moment. It seemed that she couldn’t help but feel concerned about her. She saw a tall, slender woman with waist-length hair getting out of the car. As soon as she stepped out, she took the luggage from Jiang Huaixi and Lu Zizheng’s hands and headed towards the trunk. Although the distance wasn’t far, Xu Baihan couldn’t see her facial expression clearly because Jiang Wang’s face was covered with a large mask, almost hiding her entire face.

Xu Baihan let out a soft sigh, feeling a bit disappointed.

Jiang Huaixi naturally opened the car door for Lu Zizheng first. She leaned slightly, lifting her hand to hold it a bit higher than the car door to prevent Lu Zizheng from bumping her head while getting in. She gestured for Lu Zizheng to get in. Lu Zizheng felt a bit embarrassed, glancing at Mother Jiang, who stood beside her with a surprised expression. Mother Jiang noticed Lu Zizheng’s gaze and kindly said, “It’s alright, I’ll sit in the front. You and Huaixi can sit in the back.” As she spoke, she opened the passenger seat and sat up front, muttering softly, “After so many years, I never knew you could be so attentive.”

Lu Zizheng held the car door, and her face blushed instantly. She looked at Jiang Huaixi in front of her and protested softly, “I can do these things myself from now on.”

Jiang Huaixi frowned, looking at Lu Zizheng with a somewhat displeased expression.

Lu Zizheng was afraid that Jiang Huaixi might misunderstand something, so she hastily blurted out an explanation, “What I mean is, from now on, I’ll take care of these things, I’ll help you. Didn’t we agree that I’ll look after you?” After speaking, Lu Zizheng realized what she had said. In an instant, feeling embarrassed, she couldn’t dare to look at Jiang Huaixi’s expression and avoided her gaze. She waved to Xu Baihan to say goodbye and quickly got into the car.

Outside the car, Jiang Huaixi couldn’t help but curve her lips, her eyes filled with amusement. What a silly fool. She also turned her body, nodded again to Xu Baihan, then waved farewell. After receiving Xu Baihan’s wave in response, she got into the car and closed the door.

Once inside the car, Jiang Huaixi turned her face and stared intently at Lu Zizheng, who had been bowing her head, not daring to look at her. After a while, Jiang Huaixi spoke in a soft tone, “Taking care of me isn’t that easy.”

Lu Zizheng immediately lifted her head, her warm eyes instantly brightening. She cautiously said, “I will try my best…”

Jiang Huaixi gently chuckled, closed her eyes, and leaned back against the car seat. Her voice carried a faint sense of humor as she said, “Well, we’ll see how you perform…”

Sitting in the front seat, Mother Jiang decided to assert her presence and spoke up to reprimand Jiang Huaixi, “Huaixi, you must not bully Zizheng.”

Before Jiang Huaixi could say anything, Lu Zizheng eagerly defended her, “Auntie, Huaixi didn’t bully me…”

Mother Jiang: “…”

With her eyes still closed, Jiang Huaixi’s lips curved upward, showing an increasingly upward trend.

Jiang Wang placed the luggage properly and then returned to the driver’s seat, opened the door, and bent down, ready to get into the car…

Xu Baihan watched as Jiang Wang smoothly bent down to open the car door. Her soft black hair cascaded to the right side as she moved, revealing a porcelain-like fair and beautiful neck. Unexpectedly, in that moment, Xu Baihan seemed to catch sight of a small butterfly-like red mark amidst Jiang Wang’s fair skin. She couldn’t help but tremble, gripping the wheelchair’s handles tightly.

Jiang Wang had already leaned half of her body into the car, but at the moment when she was about to lift her foot inside, she suddenly hesitated and withdrew. She composed herself and finally turned her head to take a deep and distant look at the woman sitting in the wheelchair, as beautiful and gentle as she was years ago. In that glance, there was pain, longing, love, and hatred, a medley of emotions.

In her heart, she silently recited: “This is the last time, the last glance. From now on, let all the love and hatred drift away with the wind. If we can’t be together, why not forget each other in this world? Xu Baihan, goodbye, from now on, truly goodbye.”

Jiang Wang turned away, and this time, she didn’t hesitate at all. She got into the car, closed the door, started the engine, and drove away into the distance.

Xu Baihan had been keeping an eye on them and naturally noticed Jiang Wang deliberately looking back at her. Though she couldn’t see Jiang Wang’s face clearly, in that moment when their eyes met, Xu Baihan felt as if she had been struck by an electric shock. Suddenly, she lost all sense, and then an indescribable sense of pain surged up within her. Just as the car was about to leave her line of sight, Xu Baihan finally grabbed the wheelchair, and disregarding everything else, she frantically turned it forward and shouted loudly, “Yun Bo! Yun Bo, is it you…”

In the next moment, Xu Baihan rolled down from the steps and fell from the wheelchair, hitting her head and causing a gash. As she lifted her head, she could only see that graceful and beautiful face now covered with bright red bloodstains, causing people around to gasp in shock. However, she seemed oblivious to it all, struggling to use her hands to drag her numb legs forward, fixated on the direction the car had left, and continuously calling out in a trance-like state, “Yun Bo, Yun Bo, don’t go, please…”

“Please, don’t go…”