The Healing Sunshine (一厘米的阳光)

Chapter 20.3 - The Goodbye that I Owe You (3)

Because she was afraid of finding out answers that were even more unexpected.

In her subconscious mind, she was afraid of learning the exact details of those "many things" that Jì Chengyang had mentioned that he had experienced.

Jì Chengyang was seeing double, with overlapping images before his eyes. Forced, therefore, to remove his glasses, he held them in one hand while stretching out the other hand, wanting to take her shoulder in it.

Detecting his intention, she abruptly took two steps backwards. "Don't do this."

Jì Chengyang's arm froze. Slowly, he brought his hand back down and somewhat awkwardly slipped it into his pants pocket. "I just got back into the country the day before yesterday. I did not expect I'd be able to find you so soon. Please let me have some of your time. I want to talk to you."

She felt awkward as well.

This was because, in her peripheral vision, two or three girls who had walked out one by one from the dormitory building all could not refrain from looking over and eyeing them.

Jǐ Yi felt like she was a fish out of water, extremely uncomfortable.

She wanted to end this conversation as quickly as possible.

"I'll be really busy today..." Thousands upon thousands of thoughts came crashing over her. She felt that she could not breathe and she only wanted, as fast as possible, to bring an end to such a conversation. "It's really cold here... Why don't you leave first? I still have a lot of things I need to do. I'll be graduating soon, and I have my internship job. When I've got the time, we can talk then."

"I'll wait for you," Jì Chengyang said. "I only just came back to China the day before yesterday, and I haven't bought a mobile phone yet. I'm just using a friend's for now. When I buy a phone—"

"Don't ask my editor-in-chief for any of my information anymore." She slowly, one word, one sentence at a time, cut him off. "I know you've been in this field since really early. Those friends of yours are all my superiors or my peers who are very senior in experience. If you keep doing this and cause everyone to know about the relationship we used to have, I won't be able at all to continue working."

She lifted her head and looked at him. Since yesterday, she had been terribly nervous.

"I was the one who didn't think this whole thing through thoroughly." He once more conceded. "My apologies, Xixi."

For the wrong things he had done and the wrong choices he had made in the past that had hurt her, he would wholly admit his fault in all of them. And with all his remaining time, he would make it up to her.

All he desired was that she would give him another chance. He did not want to let her slip by again. Who broke his self-confidence and pride? It was the experiences of these years. No longer did he hold the extravagant wish that he could rely purely on his willful persistence in his own ways to request that she completely defer to him and once more accept him.

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She did not give him any answer and only made her escape in a manner that could almost be considered as fleeing from there.

Jì Chengyang continued standing in that same spot and smoked another two cigarettes. After forcing himself, with great difficulty, to recover some of his strength and energy, he finally went to the east gate of the university, hailed a taxi, and headed directly to the hospital. Upon returning to the country this time, he had not chosen to go to the 301 Military Hospital and instead, through his friend, had contacted another hospital. It was only at the beginning of this year that he had undergone surgery to remove a part of his liver, and he needed to have regular follow-up check-ups. Consequently, this time, he had arranged to meet the head of this hospital's department of hepatobiliary surgery. The other party was long aware that this patient's family background was very impressive and powerful. However, while he knew that the patient had once been a war correspondent, he had not expected that his physical condition would be so complicated.