Chapter 22: N. Time Passes, Things Change

Ning Yixiao’s words carried a clear sense of aggression, leaving Su Hui feeling bewildered. He didn’t understand why Ning Yixiao had appeared, why he felt the need to intervene, and certainly not why he had spoken that way.

Seeing Liang Wen’s apologetic look and the way he tightened his grip on the paper bag, Su Hui didn’t want him to feel guilty, so he said in a low voice, “It’s okay. I like it now. Give it to me.”

His tone was gentle and soft, just as it had always been, talking about trivial matters. But Ning Yixiao, who hadn’t fully left yet, heard it clearly.

“Really? You don’t have to force yourself…”

“Tastes always change.”

These words, though spoken quietly, echoed endlessly in Ning Yixiao’s mind. Since Su Hui had reappeared in his life, he found himself unable to make rational or correct decisions. He kept doing things he shouldn’t and saying things he shouldn’t, driven by an extreme, groundless possessiveness. This was never going to end well.

The expected bad outcome occurred, and his excessive pride began to lash at his heart again.

Back in the car, the driver asked where to go, but Ning Yixiao didn’t answer for a long time. He took off his gloves and repeatedly washed his hands with sanitizer, until the driver intervened and took the bottle away.

“Shaw,” the driver asked with concern, “it seems you haven’t been for a follow-up visit in a long time. Should we go now? I’ll help you book it.”

In the end, Ning Yixiao didn’t take his advice. Instead, he had the driver take him to his usual swimming pool, where he stayed the entire night. When Carl returned after finishing his work at the hospital, Ning Yixiao was still swimming. Carl waited nearby and ordered some food for him.

Ning Yixiao’s swimming technique was professional, and it had sculpted a great physique. But Carl knew that he didn’t actually love swimming, nor did he like water. In the beginning, when he wasn’t yet familiar with him, he realized Ning Yixiao would decline all pool parties, beach activities, and yacht parties. He had assumed he was afraid of water, but later learned that he was actually a strong swimmer.

Ning Yixiao simply used swimming as an outlet when he was exhausted or anxious. This session was the longest he had swum in a long time.

This wasn’t the only contradiction in his life. For example, Ning Yixiao clearly didn’t like the sea and had never shown any fondness for the Bay Area’s ocean views, yet every property he purchased was by the coast, designed so that every room had a view of the sea. He liked to sit alone by the sea at night, doing nothing, letting the dark blue tides surround him, or tossing beach stones into the water without a second thought.

In his daily business life, Ning Yixiao rarely used fresh flowers; even if he received them, he wouldn’t care for them and would hand them over to Carl immediately. Yet, he would hire specialists to plant various flowers and herbs in his property’s yard, designing beautiful gardens he rarely spent time in.

No one else knew these strange quirks; only his personal assistant was aware.

Ning Yixiao didn’t like to talk, only projecting a capable, social image to the outside world. In reality, he could go an entire day without saying a single word—he was very reclusive. Carl had grown accustomed to reading his thoughts, even finding a sense of pleasure in it. But he hadn’t expected that Su Hui would also be reticent and maintain a stance of refusal. He quickly realized, though, that they were brothers—naturally, they were similar.

At first, Su Hui didn’t accept his help, repeatedly stating he could handle his own affairs. No matter how Carl tried to persuade him, it was useless—until Carl received a message from Ning Yixiao.

[Shaw: Tell him that if this isn’t handled, you might be fired.]

This was a total lie. Carl was very confident in his job security. But he followed the instructions Ning Yixiao provided, and to his surprise, it worked perfectly. Su Hui, after some consideration, finally agreed. As expected, they were brothers; how else would he understand him so well? His theory was verified once again.

To ensure Su Hui’s grandmother could be hospitalized as soon as possible and complete his superior’s task, Carl used many connections. Their previous relationships with hospitals and private clinics were mostly focused on psychiatric research, so this cross-departmental transfer took a lot of effort. Eventually, he helped contact a Manhattan hospital that housed the best liver cancer surgeons in New York.

It was midnight by the time of the transfer. Carl had suggested many times that Su Hui go back to rest, but he was rejected every time. Su Hui followed them until his grandmother was admitted to the new hospital. The environment here was much better than the previous one; they had arranged a spacious, clean, and bright single room, even the bed was comfortable.

Su Hui felt tormented inside. If this help had come from anyone else, he wouldn’t have felt this way, but it had to be Ning Yixiao. He didn’t know in what capacity he was accepting this help—as a classmate? Or as someone employed by his fiancée? Regardless, he had already received the benefits brought by Ning Yixiao and had taken advantage of his convenience.

Su Hui understood that everything in this world had a price. If Ning Yixiao wanted something back, he would do his best to pay it.

Seeing that Su Hui didn’t seem satisfied and looked worried, Carl tried to ease his concerns. “This hospital is great. Shaw was once…” He stopped halfway, remembering his boss’s previous instructions, and swallowed the rest of the sentence.

Su Hui seemed to want to say something, but couldn’t bring himself to speak. The atmosphere became awkward. Carl quickly asked, “Are you tired? Let me buy you a cup of coffee.”

“No, thank you.” Su Hui glanced at the smoking room in the hallway. “I’m going to have a cigarette.”

He took the cigarette case out of his pocket. Carl suddenly remarked, “You two are really alike.”

“What?” Su Hui was stunned.

Carl immediately shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just that Shaw also likes to smoke when he’s tired.” He glanced down at the cigarette case in Su Hui’s hand. “But he likes Marlboro double-burst auroras. Isn’t that out of character for his appearance? It’s like a child’s flavor.”

He shared this as an interesting anecdote, as others were always surprised to learn that Ning Yixiao liked such mild, gentle cigarettes. But Su Hui didn’t seem to find it interesting. He looked distracted, gripping the cigarette case tightly.

“What’s wrong?”

Su Hui asked, “Does he smoke often?”

“Very rarely,” Carl said. “He’s been quitting smoking recently; it’s been a while.”

Su Hui nodded, said nothing, and walked quietly into the smoking room. When he came out, he proposed to Carl that he wanted to bear the hospital expenses independently. Carl beat around the bush, saying, “Let’s wait until tomorrow. Isn’t there a meeting with the attending physician to discuss the treatment plan for the patient? You should rest first, and we’ll touch base during the day.”

Su Hui knew that he wouldn’t agree to his request right away, so he had to temporarily accept. “Thank you, Carl.”

Carl smiled. “It’s my job, don’t mention it.”

When Carl returned to Ning Yixiao, he wanted to report, but Ning Yixiao looked exhausted, so he said nothing and had the driver take him home to rest. Ning Yixiao knew Carl had been busy all day; he didn’t say anything, but he didn’t let him go back to his rented apartment, arranging for him to sleep in the guest room on the first floor instead.

Perhaps because he had drunk too much coffee during the day, Carl couldn’t sleep. He left the room to get a glass of water and noticed the lights upstairs were still on. He walked up quietly; the blinds of the glass door were not drawn, and a floor lamp was on inside. In the warm, soft light, Ning Yixiao sat at his desk, the little cat doll placed in front of him again. He would gently grab the cat’s paw, pinch it, then stroke the patterns on its forehead, and finally, the lightbulb heart.

Carl thought, The little lightbulb inside probably needs a battery change again.

The little cat accidentally toppled over, and Ning Yixiao straightened it up again, leaning back in his chair to watch it quietly.

Carl returned downstairs without a sound, and after thinking, he opened his laptop and booked a follow-up appointment for Ning Yixiao.

Perhaps by some unspoken connection, Su Hui, far away at the hospital, also tried to book an online consultation. Since seeing Ning Yixiao, he felt his mental state was sliding downhill; the medication didn’t seem to be controlling it well. He still had to take care of his grandmother; he had to be normal and strong again.

Carl wouldn’t give him the bills, so Su Hui could only look them up using his grandmother’s ID, writing down every expense and wondering if he should take out a bank loan.

In the single room, Su Hui had originally laid out a mattress on the floor. After waking up the next day and meeting with the surgeon as agreed, he returned to find a new small bed in the room, right next to his grandmother’s. The bedding was light blue and smelled new, but looked very familiar.

In an instant, he was transported back six years, to the scene of living in a tiny rented room with Ning Yixiao—even the white fine-grid pattern on the sheets was very similar.

Su Hui asked if Carl had prepared it. Carl replied quickly, saying yes, and told him that if anything was inconvenient, he must tell him immediately, and he would prepare it as soon as possible.

Sitting on that small bed, Su Hui drifted off into a daze for a while, so much so that he didn’t notice his phone vibrating. It wasn’t until he sneezed that he snapped back to reality, discovering a missed call from ten minutes ago.

He had saved this number; it was the contact method Bella Jones had specifically emailed him earlier. Realizing it was his employer, Su Hui’s consciousness quickly cleared, thinking she might have some requirements, and he called back.

But Miss Jones didn’t pick up right away. After a long while, just as Su Hui was planning to try again later, the call connected.

Before he could speak, a familiar voice came from the other side—very low, with a magnetic resonance he once teased sounded like an English listening comprehension recording. Su Hui recognized it almost immediately.

“Sorry, Jones isn’t here right now. Is there something you need?”

Su Hui froze, forgetting for a moment what he was supposed to say. Hearing his voice, for the first time, Su Hui actually felt the reality of the relationship between Ning Yixiao and Bella Jones. He was about to become a husband—for some reason, the feeling of this moment seemed even more intense than when they had stood together in front of him.

He couldn’t help but uncontrollably speculate on where they were right now. The hotel where they planned to get engaged? Or their new home?

The silence stretched too long, and Ning Yixiao on the other end seemed to lose his patience, his tone cold.

“If there’s nothing important, you can call again in half an hour. If it is important, call her assistant.”

Ning Yixiao intended to hang up on this strange number, but just as he moved the phone away, he paused.

“I don’t have her assistant’s number.”

He thought he had misheard, looked at the phone number again, and then brought the receiver back to his ear. “Su Hui?”

“Yes.” Su Hui’s monosyllables were always soft, his enunciation blurred, with a gentle, sticky quality, like a child’s. If he kept answering like this, it would give Ning Yixiao the illusion that they hadn’t broken up yet.

For no reason, Ning Yixiao felt a stomachache. He lowered his head, took his own phone out of his pocket, input Su Hui’s number, and saved it.

He said, “I’ll text you her assistant’s contact information.”

Su Hui’s voice was very soft. “Thank you. I’m hanging up then.”

But Ning Yixiao wouldn’t let him hang up. “She might be back in a while. I just gave her a ride, and I didn’t expect she’d leave her phone in my car.” He said this, then lowered the car window; the sound of sirens from the road outside cut through the silence between them.

It was very cold outside. The driver glanced into the rearview mirror and saw Ning Yixiao’s coat collar blowing in the wind.

“I mean, if you still need to contact her, you can wait.”

Feeling as though he was only making things worse, as if everything he said was strange, Su Hui offered him no feedback.

“How is your grandmother?” Ning Yixiao changed the subject stiffly.

Su Hui opened his mouth, his voice becoming distant and illusory through the electromagnetic medium. “The transfer was successful. Surgery is on Wednesday. Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome.” Ning Yixiao lowered his eyes. “I said some unnecessary things yesterday. Don’t take it to heart.”

“Yeah.” Su Hui was silent for a moment, wanting to end the call, but he didn’t say goodbye, nor did he suggest talking again.

After a long time of thinking, he decided to replace a farewell with a blessing.

“Forgot to say, congratulations on your upcoming wedding.”