A Chan – CH 090

Chapter 90: The Remaining People (1)

July 14, 2014.

The morning after the young girl Li Weiyi was admitted to the hospital for emergency treatment.

Her head was still wrapped in bandages. She sat on the bed, pale and thin.

Ding Chenmo sat opposite her with his apprentice, his expression grave, his brows furrowed.

The girl lowered her head, her fingers resting on the blanket, almost dripping wet. She said, “I don’t remember. I don’t remember anything that happened last night.”

A tear slid down her cheek.

Ding Chenmo and his apprentice exchanged a glance, ultimately at a loss, and left at the doctor’s urging.

Li Xiaoyi, the older sister, walked in carrying a lunchbox. Seeing her younger sister’s restless expression, she sighed and said softly, “Eat something. Mom got up early this morning to make you some soup. They worked on it all night; I told them to get some sleep before coming over.”

“I can’t eat.”

Li Xiaoyi touched her forehead. “The doctor said it’s a post-concussion symptom; it’ll be fine in a few days.”

Li Weiyi said, “It’s not because of that.”

I just…I just…

She felt like she had forgotten something very important. She knew “she” and “he” must have done something, but this feeling of complete ignorance and panic was awful.

Li Xiaoyi remained silent for a long time, finally making up her mind. She took a folded piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to her: “These are his words to you before he fell unconscious. Neither of us opened them. But…it’s good for you to read them. Don’t do anything foolish.”

Li Weiyi took the note, unfolded it, and stared at it for a long time without moving.

It only contained three sentences, but she read each word carefully for a long time, as if only then understanding them.

“Don’t be with anyone else.

Zhang Jingchan is the one you’re meant to wait for in this life.

Don’t hurt him again.”

“Are you… okay?” Li Xiaoyi looked at her worriedly.

Li Weiyi lowered her head, folded the note again, carefully put it in her pocket, looked up at her sister, and smiled gently: “I’m fine.”

Li Xiaoyi looked at the tears welling up in her sister’s eyes and at her calm gaze and felt a sharp pain in her heart. She had a strange feeling that perhaps from this moment on, something about her sister had changed.

“You really… don’t do anything foolish,” her sister said.

“I won’t be foolish,” Li Weiyi nodded obediently. “Sister, where is he?”

This one question brought tears to Li Xiaoyi’s eyes. She bit her lip and said, “Yesterday morning, when you woke up, Ah Chan fell into a coma and is still in the intensive care unit. You can’t get in.”

“Did the doctor say when he would wake up?”

“The doctor said…he’s in a vegetative state. Nobody knows why; even the doctors don’t understand.”

Li Weiyi was stunned. After a while, she nodded: “I understand.”

Li Weiyi didn’t complain about not having an appetite anymore and obediently ate all the food her sister had brought. The doctor came to check on her again and said that she could be discharged in another week, provided the wound on the back of her head had healed, and there were no other symptoms.

Around noon, Li Xiaoyi went to pay the bills, leaving Li Weiyi alone in her private room, where another guest arrived.

Xu Yi, dressed in a suit and tie, travel-worn and covered in sweat, stood at the door, looking at the pale, frail girl on the hospital bed.

His voice was dry: “I… I was supposed to come back with the chairman last night, but I had to handle some outstanding matters and just flew back this morning… Are you alright? Does your wound hurt? I heard you had an accident; I couldn’t sleep all night…”

Li Weiyi smiled, her eyes bright and gentle, just as always. She said, “Brother Xu Yi, thank you for your concern; please sit down.”

Just one sentence made the 26-year-old man’s heart skip a beat. Xu Yi sat down calmly, knowing in his heart that his girl had returned.

Three days passed.

However, Li Weiyi’s next words shook Xu Yi to his core.

She said, “Don’t waste any more time on me, because I will never accept you.”

From then on, no matter how Xu Yi tried to coax her, how he expressed his feelings, she was no longer like before, shy, confused, or unable to cope; she remained calm and resolute.

Then Xu Yi understood that it wasn’t that the girl had grown up overnight to be able to handle a man like him, but that she had truly made up her mind.

A girl as pure and radiant as her, once she set her mind on something, nothing could stop her from shining brightly for it.

Xu Yi went to Zhang Jingchan’s place again, but visits weren’t allowed in the intensive care unit, so he only looked at him from the outside. Zhang Moyun and Wu Xinhui didn’t bother with him either.

Xu Yi left the hospital with a somber face.

Actually, for him, Li Weiyi was nothing more than a fleeting infatuation, a source of amusement, and a girl who stirred a strong possessive desire in him. He felt a strong liking for her, but it wasn’t love yet.

But why, after she pronounced his death sentence, did his heart feel as heavy as if a thousand-pound boulder was pressing down on it?

Even breathing became difficult and indescribable.

He walked hurriedly, not even knowing what he was running away from or what he was trying to hide. He walked down the elevator to the parking lot, and as he pressed the car key and gripped the door handle, he stopped.

The afternoon sun cast a clear reflection of his face on the car window.

That was a version of himself he had never seen before.

His eyes were red-rimmed, and tears fell.

In Xu Yi’s memory, he hadn’t cried since he was about ten years old. No one could make him cry anymore.

Xu Yi closed his eyes, lowered his head, his right hand still gripping the doorknob, and buried his face in his left palm. After a moment, he raised his head again; the tears were gone, but the corners of his eyes were still red.

He suddenly smiled.

When did it begin?

He loved a little girl so deeply that it pierced his heart, yet even he himself had only just realized it.

His soul was not in control of his body; his love was not his own.

What was that secret buried in the soul exchange between those two people, buried in the tiny fragments of time’s cycle, and buried in his love?

Xu Yi slowly raised his head, gazing at the slightly dizzying sunlight in the sky.

Was it… time?

—

Intensive Care Unit.

Wu Xinhui sat by the bed, sobbing softly, overwhelmed with grief.

Zhang Moyun stood before the glass partition, his face ashen, his eyes red-rimmed and filled with gloom.

It was clearly Li Weiyi who suffered the brain injury, yet after midnight last night, Li Weiyi awoke, while Zhang Jingchan fell into a coma, becoming a vegetable. Even the doctors were baffled, but Zhang Moyun had a smattering of speculation.

The human brain was the most complex thing imaginable. There were visible brain structures, but also invisible brainwaves, neurons, and the subconscious… These two had swapped not only bodies but also consciousness. Perhaps the visible brain damage was less, but the invisible functional damage was far greater.

Zhang Moyun even had a ridiculous thought—maybe that kid didn’t want to wake up and was taking her place. That kid was capable of such a thing.

Thinking about it, Zhang Moyun laughed bitterly. Wasn’t his son’s deep sense of loyalty and affection just like his? That self-deprecating smile slowly faded. He glanced back at his son on the hospital bed and his weeping wife, then turned and left for another ward.

Although Li Yunmo was badly beaten yesterday, he only suffered superficial injuries and one or two fractures. Surgery wasn’t necessary; however, his entire body was wrapped up like a rice dumpling, requiring some time to recover.