He simply turned his hand over, palm up, and placed it there.

Waiting for me to decide for myself.

After a long time, I placed my hand into his palm.

Our fingers intertwined.

In the evening, the two of us sat on the hotel balcony, watching the night view of Kunming.

I took out the bank card and looked at it over and over again.

"Eight thousand six hundred yuan. How long did she have to save for this..."

"It means she loved you very much," He Jingyun said.

I said nothing and put the bank card away.

"He Jingyun."

"Yes."

"You said before to let you come back and you would have something to say to me. What was it?"

He Jingyun turned his head to look at me, moonlight falling on his face.

"I wanted to say, come back to Beijing with me. Not to meet my family, but to let you see that I am not Ethan, and my home is not the Shen family."

I was silent for a long time.

"I'm not ready."

"I'm not ready to be with you, and I'm not ready to have a little home with you."

"I know," He Jingyun’s voice was very soft. "So, I will wait."

Just then, my phone rang.

I answered, and it was Teacher Zhang, her voice very urgent: "Teacher Clara, it's bad! Ya has gone missing!"

"She ran out of the village school this afternoon and hasn't returned yet! Someone said they saw her running toward the mountains, and there was a landslide there just a few days ago..."

Chapter 25

Ya was their student.

A sensitive child with low self-esteem.

I stood up abruptly.

"When did this happen?"

"A little after three this afternoon. It's already nine o'clock now; we've been searching for six hours!"

Teacher Zhang began to cry on the other end of the line, "They are searching in the mountains, but the area is too big, and we don't have enough manpower..."

He Jingyun had already picked up the car keys: "I'll drive, we can talk on the way."

We drove through the night back to the camp.

The mountain road was difficult to traverse, but He Jingyun drove very fast, and I didn't stop him.

The three-hour journey took only two and a half hours.

The search and rescue team at the camp was preparing to head up the mountain for the second time.

The path up the mountain was treacherous, littered with debris and fallen trees left by the landslide.

My left arm hadn't fully healed, so I held the flashlight in my right hand, walking with deep and shallow steps.

"Ya—" I shouted.

Only an echo returned.

After walking for more than an hour, my flashlight swept behind a rock, and there was a small figure curled up there.

"Ya!"

The little girl was covered in mud, with blood on her legs; she had already lost consciousness.

I rushed over and crouched down to touch her forehead; it was scalding hot.

He Jingyun shouted into his walkie-talkie: "We found her, on the mountainside in the northwest direction, we need medical support."

Ethan’s voice came through the walkie-talkie: "I'm close, I'll be there in ten minutes."

I held Ya in my arms, not daring to move.

The little girl’s leg was injured by falling rocks, the bone might be broken, so she couldn't be moved haphazardly.

Ethan ran over.

He was panting heavily, crouched down to check Ya’s leg, and skillfully applied a splint.

"We need to get her to the hospital immediately. The leg bone is fractured, and there might be internal bleeding."

The search and rescue team’s stretcher arrived, and they carefully lifted Ya onto it.

The path down the mountain was even harder to walk than the one up; Ethan walked beside the stretcher, one hand supporting it, the other holding a flashlight to light the way.

I walked behind, my foot slipped, and He Jingyun reached out to steady me.

"Careful."

I nodded and kept walking.

After reaching the bottom, the ambulance drove directly to the town health center.

Ethan got into the ambulance, and I wanted to go up too, but he stopped me.

"You follow in Teacher He’s car."

I froze for a moment.

Ethan closed the ambulance door, and it drove away.

I stood there, the taillights of the ambulance moving further and further away.

He Jingyun walked over and draped his coat over my shoulders.

"Let's go."

By the time we reached the health center, Ya had already been pushed into the operating room.

Ethan was the lead surgeon.

I sat on the plastic chair in the hallway, hands clasped, nails digging into the back of my hands.

He Jingyun sat next to me, pried my hands open, and held them in his own.

"It will be okay."

The surgery lasted two hours. Ethan pushed the door open and came out, removing his mask, his face covered in sweat.

"The surgery was successful. The leg is saved, and there was no internal bleeding." He looked at me, "She is alright now."

I stood up and walked to him.

"Thank you," I said.

Ethan looked at me, his lips moved, and in the end, he only said two words: "It was my duty."

He looked at me and He Jingyun by my side, thinking.

You used to say that you were most afraid of something happening to the people around you, and every time you had to carry it alone.

Now you don't have to anymore; there is someone to help you carry the burden.

He thought.

As long as you are happy.

It doesn't matter if the person by your side is not me.

...

The next day, Ya’s parents returned from out of town and knelt before me, kowtowing.

I helped them up: "Ya is my student; it was the right thing to do."

After Ya woke up, she held my hand and wouldn't let go: "Teacher Clara, please don't leave, okay?"

I looked into her eyes and was silent for a long time.

"Ya, teacher will come back to see you."

I showed Sophie’s bank card to He Jingyun.

"I want to use the money Sophie saved to build a library for the village school. Let's call it 'Sophie's Library'."

He Jingyun said: "I'll cover the rest of the cost."

"No need, I'll do it myself."

"Okay."

He Jingyun said: "Whatever you want to do, I will support you."

A month later.

He Jingyun and I stood at the gate of the village school, looking at the newly completed library.

The plaque read "Sophie's Library," and the sunlight shining on it made it glitter gold.

Teacher Zhang and the children surrounded us, chattering away.

In the distance, a figure stood under a tree, watching this scene.

Ethan was wearing casual clothes, carrying a suitcase.

He was leaving.

His transfer request had been resubmitted; this time, it was to a health center in a remote township in Guizhou.

He wanted to stay further away from her, far enough so he wouldn't be unable to stop himself from going to see her.

He turned and walked a few steps.

From behind came the children's voices: "Thank you, Teacher Clara! Thank you, Teacher He!"

He did not look back.

His phone vibrated; it was a text message from Clara.

It only had one sentence: "Ethan, goodbye, never see you again."

This time, there was no date for a return.

He looked back at the two people behind him.

Standing in the wind, embracing tightly.

She now possessed a happiness that belonged to her.

And he felt happy for her happiness.

Everything was enough.

[The End]