Chapter 6: Returning to the Country
It hurt.
In a blurred phantom, Ruan Zhimian opened his eyes with a splitting headache.
He didn’t know how many times he had returned to school from the hospital. The beautiful, pale youth sat in the chair in the teacher’s office, looking out at the trees with a quiet and obedient expression.
A light breeze blew by, ruffling the hem of his school uniform.
The teacher sighed, unable to bear it. “Zhimian, when you fainted last time, the parents of several students came to me and said…”
Ruan Zhimian looked up and smiled. “Teacher, I came today to tell you that I won’t be coming to school for the rest of this semester.”
He was too sensible.
“Zhimian, you will definitely recover.”
“Thank you, Teacher.”
Recover?
Every day was a day lived in addition.
The youth returned to the classroom. Right now, it was time for PE class, so the classroom was empty. He packed his things, putting on his backpack first, then holding a thick pile of books. He had too many things and walked very slowly.
Someone stopped at the door and lifted his backpack from behind.
“Ruan Zhimian, are you leaving school?”
He couldn’t see clearly, and he couldn’t remember who it was.
Ruan Zhimian dazed for a moment and found himself standing at the door of a hospital ward. In the crowded and bustling emergency room, the nineteen-year-old Ruan Zhimian lay at the very back, looking quiet and still.
With his back to the crowd, he shed tears silently.
This was probably the only time he had cried in public.
He had just been preparing to return to school when this month’s checkup brought news of his condition worsening.
He murmured softly, Mom, Dad, I’ve finally reached this day.
The scene shifted slowly. It was as if Ruan Zhimian were standing on the progress bar of his life; he had reached the end.
At the entrance of the palliative care ward in the nursing home, many people stood in the room.
On the corner bed, Ruan Zhimian, dressed in a hospital gown and long since reduced to skin and bones, stopped breathing. He was pronounced dead.
In the hallway not far away, relatives of his parents arrived one after another. The expressions on everyone’s faces were urgent, but not out of concern.
“Is he dead?”
“Should the inheritance be given to us now?”
“Of course it should be given to us. How much money has been spent on his treatment all these years?”
The lawyer had been waiting at the door for a long time. He blocked them indifferently and took out a voice recorder and a power of attorney.
“Hello, everyone. By the time you hear this, I have already left this world. I only want to tell you one thing: my dear relatives, my entire estate has been entrusted to a lawyer to handle. It has nothing to do with any of you. How does it feel to have your dream of sucking blood from the ashes of me and my parents shattered?”
The recording finished playing. Everyone’s expressions were various, and all were equally unsightly.
“So vicious. No wonder he didn’t live long.”
“Their family is gone. If he doesn’t treat us well, who will go to offer sacrifices in the future?”
“I even took care of him for a few years when he was little. Before he left, he didn’t even think of our kindness.”
Ruan Zhimian bowed his body. He started to laugh.
Truly laughable.
He had imagined his death countless times so that when death came, it would no longer be so painful.
Fortunately, it wasn’t very painful.
Whether anyone missed him wasn’t important.
At the end of life, besides death, what else was there?
He walked forward. A vast, boundless mountain range surrounded Ruan Zhimian. Only the pale moonlight shone down, full of a somber atmosphere.
A chilling wind blew, and a coolness set in.
He turned his head and saw a field of tombstones.
It wasn’t a wasteland; it was the resting place he had chosen for himself.
Ruan Zhimian looked at the photo on the tombstone to the left. His parents in the photo were still young, looking at the camera gently. In contrast, even with makeup on, his own photo couldn’t hide the sickly state caused by long-term illness.
Buried in this tombstone was he himself, with his parents on the left.
Ruan Zhimian lowered his head. Tears fell uncontrollably, wetting his cheeks. “Mom, Dad, I miss you very much. I never told you that I am doing very well. Now, I am also very lucky to be able to live again.”
“I love you.”
…
Ruan Zhimian slept for a very long time. Yesterday afternoon, he was sent back to the Ruan residence by Teng Yu. He didn’t eat dinner; after receiving a message from Shi He saying he was busy and didn’t have time to call, he buried himself in the quilt and slept. His consciousness was groggy.
At 3:00 AM, Ruan Zhimian woke up. He leaned against the pillow, his eyes rimmed with red. He sat motionless for nearly three minutes. His breathing gradually became stable, and his cold fingertips, which had been clutching the corner of the quilt, slowly loosened.
He put on a coat and got up. Beside him, the phone screen lit up.
Country M, Osk Airport.
Having just gotten off the plane to transfer, the Alpha, who was waiting for his flight in the VIP lounge, stood up. His dark phoenix eyes showed no signs of fatigue. He walked out the door with his phone, gazing at the rolling cat emojis on the chat page.
In just an instant, tender ripples surfaced in the bottomless pond of his eyes.
“Baby, I was a bit busy today and didn’t say goodnight.”
“I want to say, I miss you very much.”
In another ten hours, he would be back in the country.
On the balcony of the bedroom on the third floor of the Ruan residence, the Alpha’s voice note played repeatedly in his ear. Ruan Zhimian lowered his head. His snowy-white fingertips touched his heart. His thick, curled eyelashes trembled slightly, and a tear fell.
For some reason, the trance-like state caused by being deep in the dream slowly disappeared.
At this moment, Ruan Zhimian’s heart seemed to be becoming quiet because of another feeling.
This feeling seemed to be brought by Shi He, and it carried a hint of indescribable grievance.
Do I… miss you too?
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