I picked up the wrong one; it was Ethan's.

The screen lit up, showing a photo of me during my college years as the wallpaper.

I was reading in the library, sunlight streaming through the window and landing on the side of my face.

I paused for a moment, then placed the phone back.

Ethan woke up.

Seeing that my eyes were open, he immediately sat up straight: "How do you feel? Is the fever still there?" He reached out, wanting to touch my forehead.

I turned my head away to avoid him.

"I'm fine. You should go back."

Ethan’s hand froze in mid-air before he pulled it back.

"I'll ask Teacher Zhang to come and take care of you." He stood up, the chair making a harsh screeching sound.

As he reached the door, I suddenly said: "Ethan, you don't need to do this. Things between us ended a long time ago."

Ethan stood with his back to me, his shoulders stiffening.

"I know." His voice was hoarse. "Being good to you is my business; not liking me is yours. I accept it all."

He pushed the door open and left.

In the hallway, he leaned against the wall.

His phone vibrated. It was a message from He Jingyun: "Dr. Ethan, I’ll be there tonight. Thank you for your hard work."

Ethan stared at the words, suddenly finding them so ironic.

When did he lose even the status to take care of her?

He put the phone down and looked up at the incandescent light on the ceiling, his eyes stinging with pain.

That evening, He Jingyun arrived at the health center.

When he pushed open the door to the ward, he was holding a bouquet of white tulips and a card.

"I passed by the nurse's station, and the nurse asked me to bring these to you."

I took the card, unfolded it, and my expression shifted.

It was written:

"Teacher Clara, I know you don't want to see me. But among Sophie’s belongings, there is a letter addressed to you, which I found at the place where she jumped. You can come to see it, or I will burn it. — Elena"

Chapter 19

I stared at the card, my fingers tightening.

He Jingyun noticed: "What’s wrong?"

"It's nothing."

I folded the card and tucked it under my pillow: "Elena says Sophie left some belongings with her."

There was a time when I was drunk that I had told He Jingyun about my past.

About Elena, about my shattered self, and also about Ethan.

He Jingyun frowned: "Do you want to go?"

I didn't answer.

I turned my head to look out the window. The sky had already turned dark, and the silhouettes of the mountains in the distance were blurred.

"I want to know what Sophie left for me."

"I'll go with you."

"No need. Don't you have things to take care of at home? Why did you come back?"

He Jingyun crouched down to be at eye level with me: "Teacher Clara, your business is my business. I can handle things at home."

I looked into his eyes.

Those eyes were clean and earnest; there was no testing, only sincerity.

"He Jingyun, why are you so good to me?"

He Jingyun was silent for two seconds: "Because you are Clara."

"I am good to you simply because you are Clara."

Outside the ward, Ethan was holding a bowl of porridge, his hand freezing on the doorknob.

He had heard it.

He placed the porridge at the door and turned to leave.

There was a window at the end of the hallway; he stood there, watching the night outside.

The night in the mountains was pitch black, with no streetlights—only a few flickers of light from the village in the distance.

His hands rested on the windowsill, his knuckles turning white.

He remembered seven years ago, when he was pursuing Clara, he had said similar things. He had said: "The only person I want to marry is you, Clara."

Back then, she had blushed and kicked him playfully, saying "Who wants to marry you."

Now, someone else was saying similar things to her.

And he—he didn't even have the qualification to stand in front of her.

...

Early the next morning, I was discharged.

Ethan stood at the entrance of the health center, watching me get into He Jingyun’s car.

The moment the door closed, he took a step forward, then retreated.

The engine started, and the exhaust pipe spat out a plume of white smoke.

Through the rearview mirror, I saw Ethan standing there, getting smaller and smaller until he finally became a speck.

I looked away.

He Jingyun asked: "Where to?"

"Kunming. To find Elena."

The drive took three hours to reach Kunming.

Elena was staying in a VIP ward at a private hospital, with two security guards standing at the door.

When I pushed the door open, Elena was sitting by the window in a hospital gown, her wrists wrapped in gauze.

She had lost so much weight; her cheekbones protruded, and her eyes were deeply sunken, looking like a paper doll.

When Elena saw me, her eyes immediately turned red.

"You came. I thought you wouldn't."

"Where are Sophie’s belongings?"

Elena took an envelope from under her pillow and handed it over.

The envelope was yellowed, with "Dear Big Sister" written on it in Sophie’s handwriting.

I took the envelope, my fingers gently stroking those four words.

"You can go now." I turned to leave.

"Clara!" Elena stood up, her voice trembling, "I know I don't deserve to beg for your forgiveness, but I truly know I was wrong. For these past two years, I’ve had nightmares every single day, dreaming of Sophie jumping from the building..."

"Shut up." I turned around, my gaze as cold as a blade, "You are not worthy of mentioning her name."

Elena’s tears fell: "I’m begging you, I’ll do anything you ask, as long as you forgive me!"

"Forgive you?" My voice was terrifyingly calm.

"Sophie was only fourteen years old. Even if you really detested me, you should have come at me."

"Why did you go and tell her that I was drinking until I had a stomach hemorrhage for her medical bills? Why did you tell her that I almost lost my innocence for her? Why did you tell her these things—what was your intention!"

"Now that you’re dying, you want to seek relief and salvation? On what grounds?"

"I will not take her place to forgive you."

"Because you are never worthy of being forgiven."

I pushed the door open and left. He Jingyun was waiting for me in the hallway. Seeing my expression, he didn't speak, just handed me a pack of tissues.

I didn't take them.

I tucked the envelope into my bag and took a deep breath.

"Let's go. Back to the camp."

He Jingyun watched my straight spine; it looked like a steel rod, supporting me so I wouldn't collapse. His heart suddenly ached.

As the car pulled out of the hospital, my phone rang.

It was an unfamiliar number. When I answered, it was Ash’s voice on the other end.

He was choked with sobs: "Clara, my wife is having a difficult labor, she’s hemorrhaging. We’re at the Kunming Maternal and Child Health Hospital. Can you come? She keeps calling your name..."

Chapter 20

When I rushed to the Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Ash was crouching outside the operating room, his hands holding his head.

"Ash."

Ash looked up, his eyes bloodshot: "Clara, you're here. My wife... the doctor said they might not be able to save her..."

"What should I do? She was so looking forward to this child..."

I crouched down and patted his shoulder: "Don't be afraid. Medicine is advanced now, it will be alright."

He Jingyun stood behind, glanced at the operating room light, and turned to go to the first floor.

Ten minutes later, he returned and said to Ash: "I've contacted the best obstetric expert in the province; they will be here in half an hour."

Ash froze: "Who... who are you?"

"Clara's friend."

"You have helped her before; I have heard Clara mention you."

"Your priority right now is to focus on the treatment; she will be safe."

After saying this, He Jingyun stood behind me.

The surgery lasted for four hours. Both mother and child were safe; it was a boy.

Ash stood outside the neonatal unit, looking through the glass at the wrinkled baby in the incubator, crying like a child.

He turned and hugged me: "Clara, thank you, thank you..."

I gently patted his back: "Take good care of your wife and child. I'm leaving."

"Clara." Ash called me back, wiping away his tears, "Is Ethan also in Yunnan?"

I didn't speak.

"He has been looking for you for two years, do you know that? To find out where you were, he knelt before Song Ci."

My fingers curled slightly.