My Darling (我的曼达林)

Untitled Part 7

Her mom, in passing, also took the key to the Jians' home and went in to gather some things for them. They had been relatively rushed to head to the hospital and had not had the chance to pack any items that Jian Bianlin's father would need for a hospital stay. After helping her mother pack for a little while, Chu Jian brought in the laundry that had been hanging out on the balcony, folded it, and set it on the bed in the master bedroom.

She discovered a photograph placed near the head of the bed. It was a picture of Chu Jian and Jian Bianlin together, taken around the time of their graduation from high school.

The two people inside that picture were wearing school uniforms. That was the day they had received the letters of acceptance from their universities, and in front of the school, Jian Bianlin's dad had requested that they take a photograph together standing by the main entrance.

Blue school uniforms, very characteristically Chinese. As Chu Jian stood beside him, the top of her head barely came to his shoulders. His eyes were dark and bright, and on his nose was a pair of rimless glasses. Chu Jian, her eyes large and her nose petite, was smiling, revealing a crooked little canine tooth, and her black hair was short with blunt-cut bangs.

Because his dad had requested it, Jian Bianlin was even hugging her shoulders.

She could still remember, back then, in that high school key class, his grades had been especially good. He had not liked talking to people, and so, with his glasses, the girls in the other classes had always described him as Class No. 1's "cultured scoundrel." Why was the word "scoundrel" in there? She truly had been curious and had privately asked people about it. The answer: purely because he was too good-looking, to the point that he did not look like a good person...

"Why are you staring into space?" Carrying a bag stuffed full with Jian Bianlin's dad's clean clothing and toiletries, Chu Jian's mother stepped into the room. When she saw the photograph, she smiled. "Your dad printed this picture for him and deliberately bought a frame to put it here. The two of you were so close when you were young. It's too bad you guys weren't in university together; otherwise, you might have been even closer."

Uttering an "mm," Chu Jian turned and walked out the room.

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The surgery was originally scheduled for the next day, but at three o'clock in the morning, Chu Jian was suddenly roused and told that Jian Bianlin's dad was not doing good and that they needed to hurry to the hospital. She felt around for some clothes, slipped them on, and then went with her parents straight to the hospital. With hair that was completely mussed, she jogged up to the operating room.

Jian Bianlin's father had already gone inside and was undergoing surgery, so they could only wait outside.

Outside of the operating room, Jian Bianlin sat alone. For fear that he would attract spectators even during such a time, he was not wearing that eye-catching, black face mask and, instead, had pulled up the hood of his hoodie, concealing more than half his face.

Chu Jian stepped up to him. Hesitating for a few seconds, she bent down and asked softly, "You haven't slept this whole time? Are you hungry?"

This was the first dialogue between the two of them since he had said that one "sorry."

Raising his eyes, Jian Bianlin took in the sight of Chu Jian with a track jacket thrown over her pajamas. After a little while, he said in a low voice, "Let me hold you."