Solitary Toss of Tenderness

Love was originally a bubble, if one can see through it, there is nothing to be sad about

The driver followed Xu Baihan’s instructions, and with a slight surprise, he turned the car around at a nearby intersection and headed back.

On the way, Xu Baihan clasped her hands tightly in front of her chest, her teeth clenched tightly, restraining the trembling impulse caused by anticipation and nervousness.

That year, Yun Bo said she believed she wouldn’t let her wait in vain.

Now, should she also have the courage to believe that Yun Bo, who once loved her so deeply, wouldn’t really bear to let her wait in vain?

When they arrived at the hospital’s entrance, the driver got out of the car and opened the door. After helping her into the wheelchair, Xu Baihan couldn’t wait any longer. She turned the wheelchair’s wheels and rushed into the rain, heading into the hospital. She didn’t even wait for the driver to hold the umbrella for her, lock the car, and catch up. She had already disappeared into the hazy drizzle…

With the courage and anticipation filling her heart, she rushed to Yun Bo’s office without any hesitation, unwilling to linger for a moment. But what awaited her was nothing but a tightly closed white wooden door and darkness peeking through the gap, silently declaring her own wishful thinking.

A passing nurse asked her curiously, “Are you looking for Dr. Jiang? Dr. Jiang left work and went home a long time ago.”

Xu Baihan forced a faint smile and politely thanked the nurse for the well-intentioned reminder. Pretending everything was fine, she slowly wheeled herself away, one turn after another…

Amidst the rough and muffled friction sounds of the wheelchair, she softly questioned herself, “Xu Baihan, should you go back? Can’t hold on any longer, can you?”

However, no matter what, she found herself unable to respond with that one word, “Yes”…

Finally, she arrived at the hospital’s entrance again. However, she couldn’t grip the wheelchair handles with strength anymore. Looking into the distance at the scattered lights and figures, she closed her eyes as if she could envision her Yun Bo in the next second, just like back in the days, holding a dainty little umbrella, walking toward her with a smile…

She released her grip on the wheelchair’s handles, folding her hands on her lap. Her upper body on the wheelchair remained straight, and her gentle and watery eyes gazed firmly ahead, suddenly displaying a serene and determined expression.

The driver saw Xu Baihan from the car and quickly opened the door, hurrying to her side. He looked at her slightly damp and disheveled hair and the partially wet clothes, expressing concern, “Miss, aren’t you going back home? Your clothes are all wet, and it’s windy here…”

Xu Baihan gently shook her head, declining in a warm tone, “Uncle Zhao, it’s okay.” She paused for a moment, pondering, and considerately added, “Uncle Zhao, you’ve been waiting with me since noon until now. You probably haven’t eaten yet. I’ll wait here for a while; you go have your meal first and come back to pick me up later.”

The experienced driver had watched Xu Baihan grow up and had some affection for her, how could he remain indifferent? He felt a bit anxious and said, “Uncle Zhao is not hungry, Miss. Since noon, you’ve let me accompany you to buy groceries, and neither of us has eaten anything. Let Uncle Zhao buy you something to eat, okay?” As he spoke, he was about to take off his coat and give it to Xu Baihan. However, she reached out and held his arm, shaking her head gently and saying, “Uncle Zhao, there’s no need. I’m not cold, but I am a little hungry. You go eat first, and when you come back, you can just bring me something to eat.”

The driver couldn’t convince Xu Baihan, so in the end, he reluctantly left, glancing back three times as he walked away.

After Jiang Wang left Li Liwen’s car, she walked a distance, holding an umbrella. After much contemplation and struggle, she finally decided to take a taxi back to the hospital.

Just like when Xu Baihan’s birthday was approaching, she never mentioned whether she would come to see Jiang Wang, but Jiang Wang was so certain that Xu Baihan would come and waited day and night at the bus station. Now, she didn’t know where this certainty came from, believing that Xu Baihan must be waiting for her at the hospital.

Is it true that people who love each other can truly sense each other’s thoughts?

However, between her and Xu Baihan, can it really be considered as love?

Ah…

The night was too deep, and the fine rain was too hazy. With one umbrella after another propped up, it obstructed Jiang Wang’s view. As a result, when she arrived at the hospital entrance, opened the car door, and extended one foot, she suddenly saw Xu Baihan sitting straight in the wheelchair, conspicuously placed at the entrance. Out of reflex, she quickly withdrew her foot back into the car, accidentally hitting her elbow against the door, causing a loud noise that almost made Jiang Wang cry out in pain.

The taxi driver turned around in surprise to see Jiang Wang’s strange movements. Clutching her arm in pain, Jiang Wang ignored the driver’s curiosity. Taking a deep breath and pausing for a moment, she instructed, “Could you please turn around to the corner at the front of the street? I’ll get off there.”

The driver, still puzzled, complied and turned the car around.

When they reached the corner of the street, Jiang Wang paid the fare and calmly got out of the car. With one hand in her coat pocket and the other holding the umbrella, she stood at the bustling intersection, motionless, silently gazing at the distant figure sitting upright.

The distance was too far, and she could only see Xu Baihan’s determined silhouette. But every time she blinked her eyes, in her mind, Xu Baihan’s image appeared so vividly – biting her lip, lowering her gaze, displaying a calm, serene, yet fiercely proud expression.

Jiang Wang couldn’t help but burst into laughter. She laughed at Xu Baihan – who gave her the courage and confidence to believe and be certain that Xu Baihan would not let her go and would turn back?

She also laughed at herself. Yun Bo, are you trying to die again?

The rain grew heavier, and time passed second by second. Xu Baihan remained at the hospital entrance, standing tall and resolute as ever. Jiang Wang was standing too far away to see Xu Baihan unintentionally shivering in the wind. At the intersection, Jiang Wang held the umbrella, her posture of gazing from afar unchanged.

She didn’t know if Xu Baihan’s heart had begun to waver, but as she looked at Xu Baihan’s fragile and vulnerable figure standing alone in the cold night, she heard the sound of the ice in her own heart slowly melting…

From afternoon until now, did she eat? Is she hungry? It’s late at night, and the weather is cold. She is dressed so lightly; can she withstand it? Her… her legs, will they ache in such dampness?

Jiang Wang’s lips tightened into a thin line, pale without a trace of color. She was gambling with Xu Baihan, or perhaps, gambling with the fate of their lives. She was betting on who was more stubborn between her and Xu Baihan, who had more patience, who would surrender earlier, or perhaps, who cared more…

A black sedan rushed past the intersection, splashing Jiang Wang’s trousers, but she didn’t move an inch, her eyes still fixedly gazing into the distance.

The car appeared again in Jiang Wang’s view. It steadily stopped at the hospital entrance, and a tall and upright man stepped out of the car with an umbrella. He quickly walked a few steps to Xu Baihan’s side.

Jiang Wang could only see him slightly bending down, saying a few words to Xu Baihan. Then, he took off his coat and draped it over Xu Baihan. Xu Baihan hugged his waist, burying her face in his abdomen. After a moment, she let go of him, lowered her head, and allowed him to push her into the car before leaving…

Jiang Wang kept watching expressionlessly until the car rushed past her again, splashing water and wetting her trousers. She lowered her head, looking at the muddy and wet patches on her pants, and then slowly, coldly started to smile. Her laughter gradually grew, bending her waist, and tears accompanied her laughter…

In the end, she had still lost.

The rain continued to fall.

Jiang Wang stood up straight, tightly clenching her five fingers around the umbrella handle, the knuckles turning blue. She closed her eyes faintly, expressionless, turned around, step by step, steadily treading through the rainwater, all alone…

Let it be like this, Yun Bo, just like this, don’t look back, don’t…

*****

Lu Zizheng and Jiang Huaixi shared a pillow, and Lu Zizheng gazed at Jiang Huaixi’s cold and distant expression, hesitating for a while before suddenly speaking with some regret, “Huaixi, last night… I’m sorry, I was too impulsive…”

Jiang Huaixi’s slightly amused expression froze for a moment as she stared at Lu Zizheng. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, and after a moment, she coldly asked, “So, do you regret it now?”

Lu Zizheng looked at Jiang Huaixi, whose face had clearly become colder, blinked her eyes, and then embraced her, shaking her head, “How could I? Huaixi, this is the best thing I’ve ever done in my life, and I have no regrets.” She looked at the slight softening of Jiang Huaixi’s expression and paused before whispering, “I’m just afraid that I’ve caused you trouble.”

Jiang Huaixi quietly looked at Lu Zizheng, meeting the gentle gaze that was fixated on her. She silently waited for Lu Zizheng to continue.

Lu Zizheng hesitated slightly, bit her lip, and lowered her gaze. Finally, she asked the lingering uneasiness that had been haunting her since waking up in the midnight, “Huaixi, before, you were unwilling to accept me, but yesterday, you didn’t reject me.”

She asked, “Huaixi, did you accept me because of love, or because of pity?”

As soon as the words fell, Lu Zizheng suddenly felt the light dim before her. Jiang Huaixi propped herself up and leaned towards Lu Zizheng, sealing her lips with a kiss.

Jiang Huaixi’s expression was cold and clear, her voice icy. However, in that cold tone, Lu Zizheng heard tenderness and sincerity, and her heart gradually immersed in this different kind of gentleness.

Jiang Huaixi gently kissed her lips and asked softly, “Zizheng, would I kiss the lips of someone I don’t love out of pity?”

She softly kissed Lu Zizheng’s neck and asked in a gentle tone, “Zizheng, would I develop feelings for someone I don’t love out of pity?”

She continued downward, her teeth gently grazing and nibbling on Lu Zizheng’s delicate collarbone, gently licking and asking her, “Would I willingly give myself to someone I don’t love out of pity?”

She lifted her head, gazing at Lu Zizheng with a cold smile. “Zizheng, I’ve said it before, I’d rather waste than settle. You don’t have to think of me as too noble. I, Jiang Huaixi, am not a benevolent person. I don’t have such noble sympathy that would make me willing to compromise myself.”

Lu Zizheng looked up at Jiang Huaixi, seeing her slightly displeased expression, and gently smiled. She blinked her eyes, a satisfied smile forming at the corners of her mouth. With a slight push of her hands downward, she swiftly flipped Jiang Huaixi onto the bed.

She lowered her head and kissed Jiang Huaixi’s forehead, softly apologizing, “Huaixi, I trust you. I was too suspicious.” She straightened up, gazing at Jiang Huaixi, and asked her seriously, word by word, “So, Huaixi, let’s date.”

Jiang Huaixi’s eyes remained fixed on the smiling Lu Zizheng, slightly surprised. In an instant, her pupils contracted, and she even felt her heartbeat accelerate, nervously and unconsciously biting her lips.

Lu Zizheng reached behind her, and as if performing magic, produced two pure black rings woven with fine threads and presented them before Jiang Huaixi, saying, “Huaixi, I didn’t have any preparations. After waking up in the middle of the night, I couldn’t fall asleep. In the darkness, I used my hair and yours to weave these two rings. I offer them as a pledge, hoping that we can become a couple, deeply in love and never doubting each other, just like the ancients said. Huaixi, will you be my girlfriend?”

Jiang Huaixi also sat up, her exquisite face showing no emotions, earnestly gazing at Lu Zizheng and the two unique rings. After a moment, she smiled gently but coolly and said, “No.”

Lu Zizheng’s expression changed slightly, and her smile froze a bit.

Jiang Huaixi’s smile became even shallower but gradually deepened. Her expression remained calm yet carried a unique charm. “Zizheng, I thought this kind of thing should be done by me, the one playing the dominant role. How could you snatch it away from me?”

Lu Zizheng opened her mouth but was left speechless for a moment. Unconsciously, she lightly rotated her still-sore wrist. Just as she was about to retort, she saw Jiang Huaixi raise an eyebrow with a knowing look that carried a hint of warning. Lu Zizheng bit her lip and gave in, saying, “Huaixi, then, are you willing to let me be your girlfriend?”

Jiang Huaixi looked at Lu Zizheng’s somewhat distressed and nervous appearance and finally curved her brows, a smile appearing at the corner of her lips as she replied, “I’m willing.”

She reached out her hand and watched as Lu Zizheng nervously slid the ring onto her ring finger. Then, she took the other ring, bit by bit, and slowly pushed it onto Lu Zizheng’s ring finger, her lips curling up with a playful smile. “Zizheng, as the dominant one, I promise to make you happy in the future.” It was a pun with a double meaning.

Lu Zizheng’s hand trembled slightly as she raised her head to look at Jiang Huaixi, who was clearly pleased and had a radiant smile. She softly asked in confusion, “Huaixi, why do you have to be the dominant one?”

Jiang Huaixi extended her hands, embracing Lu Zizheng tightly in her arms, and rested her chin on Lu Zizheng’s shoulder. She gently whispered into her ear, “Silly, as the dominant one, I’ll always pamper the submissive one, protect her, and love her.” It was a tender confession.