Yibo lifted the water bottle to his lips for the third time and this time he didn't set it down until he had emptied it completely. He placed it on the bedside drawer where several other empty bottles already stood. Without thinking, he pulled a fourth bottle closer and held it in his hand. He didn't open it....he just stared at it.
Then he slowly raised his eyes to the door of his bedroom.
The place where, in his dream, he had just seen him standing.
The nurse he had met at the hospital earlier that day… Zhan. He hadn't forgotten the name. He wouldn't forget it. One of the very first things he had learned about himself was that he didn't forget things. Once something lodged itself in his mind, it stayed there.
His eyes stayed on the door as his mind replayed the image again. It wasn't just the fact that Zhan had appeared in his dream that unsettled him....that shock came later. What truly shook him was the clothes he'd seen him wearing in the dream.
It was that shirt.
The same shirt that had once belonged to Banxia....the one soaked in blood on the day he had held her in his arms.
Something slid down his throat. His Adam's apple moved visibly as he stared harder at the door.
What did this boy have to do with Banxia?
Why was he wearing her clothes in his dream?
Why did he appear at all?
His fingers tightened around the bottle without him realizing it. If not for the strength of the cap, it would have cracked and spilled. But it held firm.
Slowly, he closed his eyes and let out a long breath.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't push the rising memories away. That night returned to him....as it always did.
It always began the same way.
With A Bo opening the bedroom door.
The moment their eyes met, he saw something in A Bo's face he had never seen before....and never saw again in anyone else.
Panic.
Fear.
Confusion.
Desperation.
They were both struggling, both trying to outpace the other emotionally, until A Bo finally spoke just two words....words Yibo felt no human being should ever have to hear in a lifetime. And in that instant, the same terror crawled into Yibo's chest.
The difference was this: his own eyes did not carry fear or helplessness.
He remembered gripping A Bo tightly by the shoulders and telling him he knew a way out.
He could see a solution forming in his mind.
At the time, he hadn't imagined the long line of consequences that would follow....because that "solution" had become the source of everything that came after.
Yibo opened his eyes and sat up.
Behind the bedroom, past the bathroom door, was a wide sliding glass door that opened onto a narrow balcony. He pushed it open and stepped out. The balcony was enclosed by short glass panels, barely reaching his thighs, overlooking the compound below....the car shed, the neatly trimmed plants, and the front gate.
The cool night breeze brushed across his skin as he stepped forward. He felt as if it could pass straight into his chest and ease the heaviness weighing him down.
He didn't walk to the edge of the balcony. He leaned back against the sliding glass door instead, pressing his full weight against it.
He closed his eyes.
His thoughts slowed. His breathing steadied. His mind settled into a familiar rhythm....the one it always followed in moments like this.
Not a prayer.
Just a quiet, inward request for calm, clarity, strength, and relief.
Unknown to Yibo, this moment....this exact stretch of time....was one in which something shifted quietly, like doors opening in unseen corners of the world.
And somewhere else, another truth was beginning to move.
:-*:-*:-*:-
Saint June's Hospital, Zhenyang
02:15 PM
The soft, steady beeping of the bedside monitor broke the silence of the private hospital room.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Cold air from the running air conditioner cooled everything in the room, even the thick cotton fabrics....the curtains and the heavy blanket wrapped around the patient.
The blanket was thick enough to show its weight at a glance. The pillow beneath her head was a clean, bright white.
A single look around the room was enough to tell anyone: this was a high-end hospital. Money lived here. Cleanliness, precision, newness.... everything reflected quality.
Modern medical equipment surrounded the bed. Screens glowed faintly, displaying vitals in neat digital lines. Machines hummed quietly, each one polished and new.
On the bed lay Qiaoxi.
At first glance, she looked like she was asleep....peaceful, unaware of anything around her.
But she was wide awake.
Her eyes were closed, not because she was resting, but because she was lost inside her own thoughts.
Since waking up in this hospital, she had done nothing but think, that's all what.....
She ate.
She drank.
She simply existed.
Even when she tried to focus, her mind wandered back to the same images over and over. Even when she sat still on the bed, even when she forced her thoughts to quiet, her memories kept replaying....clear and unrelenting.
The moment the door of the house opened before her eyes, her heart slammed violently in her chest.
Standing there was a woman dressed in simple work clothes.....it was immediately obvious that she was a house worker. The woman calmly explained that she was the maid and that the family wasn't home. They had traveled to another country.....where, she couldn't even remember now.
What she did remember was the way her heart had raced uncontrollably and how the place had begun to spin around her.
Then came the sharp crack.....the sound and pain of her body hitting the floor.
Before everything went dark, she heard Yamata calling out her name.
When she woke up, the man beside her was Yamata. He told her she hadn't regained consciousness until the next day. After she was rushed to the hospital, they had given her heavy sedatives that kept her asleep longer.
The following day, Duan....her husband's eldest son.....arrived with his younger sister, her daughter Qile.
On the very day everything happened, Yamata realized he had no choice but to inform her family.
At first, Duan had clearly doubted him. He didn't trust Yamata. They didn't know him, and suspicion filled their thoughts.
Everyone knew she had traveled to Zhenyang. She had told them she was only attending a friend's daughter's wedding, and they believed she was still there. So when Yamata made the call to tell them that she had collapsed and was in the hospital, it planted deep mistrust in their hearts.
It wasn't until they arrived and saw her themselves....and the doctors explained that her blood pressure had risen dangerously....that their suspicion softened.
But by then, the secret she had hidden for years had already been dragged into the light.
Yamata had to tell them where they had gone… and what they had gone there to do.
She remembered the day Wang Haozhi married her.
Back then, when she met his two sons, Duan and Tao, she had immediately decided they were the calmest, most disciplined children she had ever seen. Even among her own relatives' children, she had never seen boys as steady and mature as they were.
As the years passed, even after she had her own children, she never once had conflict with Duan or Tao. They never showed jealousy, never treated her children badly.....even Yibo, whom many struggled to get along with.
They maintained respect. They maintained brotherhood.
If a stranger saw them, they would never believe any of them weren't born of the same mother.
Yamata had called her husband, Wang Haozhi, and told him everything.
As he later told her, Haozhi had been the first person he called. He explained the situation. Wang Haozhi only replied with a quiet, indifferent "Take care," and ended the call.
He hasn't called them since.
Yamata then called Qile, and Qile called her brother Duan. Both of them panicked instantly. That same day, they booked a flight and traveled together.
And that was what made Qiaoxi's heart ache as she lay on the hospital bed, silently wiping away tears.
The man she had served, supported, and cared for, for years had shown no concern for her.... not even the kind of concern expected if she had died. And no one would have blamed him.
She understood why.
Deep down, she had prepared herself for this kind of response long ago.
From the day she started searching desperately for Yibo, she had known this day would come. She had walked up to Wang Haozhi countless times over the years, begging him to forgive Yibo.....even if he refused to bring him back home.
He never answered her.
He simply let her speak, then walked away.
So she had always known that the day he discovered what she had been doing, she would be ready to accept whatever punishment came.
She heard the door open.
Her daughter, Qile, greeted softly as she walked in. Qiaoxi didn't open her eyes, but from the footsteps she already knew that Huotu had come with her.....her close friend in Zhenyang.
Qile had been staying at Huotu's house since they arrived in the city. Huotu had taken charge of everything....cooking, hospital trips, arrangements.....the moment she heard what had happened.
They spoke quietly between themselves. Qiaoxi didn't try to listen. Her heart was too busy drowning inside the ruins of her long-held dream of finding Yibo.
Yamata had told her the man had sworn heavily that Yibo had lived in that house, and that the lack of movement in the home afterward convinced him that he must have left not long before.
She heard Duan and Yamata walk in.
Duan was on the phone with his mother. She could tell he was telling her that she was asleep, speaking in their native language. Her husband first wife children were gentle, respectful people....Just like their mother.
Even in pain, she felt no worry about them.
When she finally opened her eyes, Duan was standing by the bed, telling her:
She would be discharged that day.
And the next day they would all travel back home to Nanjing.
After the discharge, they all went to Huotu's house instead of a hotel. Huotu wouldn't allow Duan or Yamata to book one....she insisted they stay. Her husband was a senator in the city, and their home was large enough to host everyone comfortably.
Everyone was given their own room.
That night, around ten o'clock, everything fell silent.
Qiaoxi had eaten. She had bathed.
Qile helped her change into sleeping clothes.
She closed her eyes again.....because sleep was the only place she ever found the peace she was desperately searching for.
"Mom…"
Inside the dimly lit room, Qile's voice called out.
She was lying on the bed, facing her.
Qiaoxi already knew this moment would come. From the instant she opened her eyes and met Qile's, she had seen it....that familiar movement inside her eyes.
Since she was a child, Qile had never been able to hide her feelings. Her eyes always betrayed whatever lived inside her heart. That was why, whenever she did something wrong, she never had to explain....just one look at her and you would know. If she wasn't at fault, you would know that too.
So she had been waiting.
Waiting for this very moment.....when she would finally open her mouth to ask her.
She didn't answer when she spoke again.
"Why are you looking for him, Mom? Why are you still searching for him after you were the one who told him to leave…?" Qile asked confused.
¦
¦
Primecare Hospital
"And yesterday, wasn't the duty extremely busy?"
A petite nurse who introduced herself as Nurse Suchue asked, staring at Zhan, who was seated at the desk, writing.
They were four of them standing in front of his table, along with a few other nurses who had come to view the area where the SRRI program had first been introduced. Six of them had come in total. Two had already left after saying their duty hours were about to begin. The remaining ones stayed behind, observing everything carefully.
Later, their attention turned fully to Zhan.....and the questions started.
From the way the questions kept coming, Zhan understood that they hadn't truly come to see the facility at all. This was their real goal.
Every time he answered one thing, they fired back two or three more questions. Especially Nurse Suchue, who kept interrupting him and preventing him from finishing the report he was compiling from the male nurses who had stayed overnight with the patients..... information he needed to organize before reporting to Dr Yibo, who had promised to do patient rounds that day.
Zhan had begun to realize that all their questions weren't really for him.
They were about Dr Yibo.
Their faces and voices carried an obvious hunger....a desperate need to get information about him.
From what Aji had told him, the nurses were upset that they weren't included in the program, especially because of Dr Yibo. But Zhan never imagined it had grown to this level.... that they would corner him like this and almost tear him apart with questions about Dr Yibo.
Where was Aji anyway?
He really wished she were there. Not because of her words, but simply because they knew her..... and wouldn't dare act carelessly in front of her.
"Hey....are we talking to the air? Can you even hear people?"
One of them snapped.
"Or just because you found us in a place like this, you now think we're new hires like you?"
Another voice jumped in before Zhan could speak:
"Leave this type alone. These fresh graduates come out of school with hot heads, claiming they're nurses. And this one here already thinks he'll start collecting huge salaries at once."
Zhan quietly closed his mouth. He didn't say what he had intended to say.
Nurse Suchue stared at him intensely and spoke again:
"Don't think we were some weak people in this hospital. Ask your coworker Aji and she'll tell you. We can easily make you lose this job for good. So be careful how you speak to us."
Zhan only nodded slowly, eyes lowered, silently showing he understood. He said nothing.
They continued talking among themselves.
"I'm not even happy with how this country handles things. This kind of work needs experienced nurses.... not kids like this."
Suchue said.
"Exactly. And to even choose a skilled doctor like Dr Yibo.....only to pair him with a fresher like this."
"He's the kind of man who doesn't take nonsense. You know, even doctors like Dr Khamis consult him when things get complicated. I'm sure if he hadn't left the program, he would've forced a change of.…"
"Please, is Nurse Zhan here?"
A voice interrupted the conversation abruptly, filling the space with its sound.
When Zhan quickly lifted his head, he realized he was the last to react. The other nurses had already turned toward the door, completely blocking his view of who was speaking, since their height and position in front of his desk obstructed him.
He stood up quickly and looked in the same direction.
It was a man, dark-skinned, wearing cleaner's clothing, holding a long mop in his hand.
So Zhan quickly said,
"I'm here."
"Dr Yibo is calling for you. He said he's waiting in his office."
Before Zhan could hear whatever Nurse Suchue and the rest were about to say, he nodded in acknowledgment and began gathering his documents.
Just then, Aji walked in. The nurses stopped talking and started greeting her. By the time he finished arranging his papers, he walked out.
The office door was already open when Zhan arrived, so there was no need to knock. He still tapped lightly before entering.
One of the male nurses was standing in front of Dr Yibo's desk, already speaking to him. He was seated behind the desk with a laptop open in front of him.
And if Zhan realized anything the moment his eyes landed on the man, it was this....His full attention turned to the way Dr Yibo's was dressed.
He wore a white fabric outfit, finely embroidered with thin brown thread. A matching brown cap sat snugly on his head as if it were made just for him.
For the first time, Zhan thought maybe Nurse Suchue and her Co.... wasn't completely wrong to feel bitter about him working under this man.
Zhan stood quietly at the side while the male nurse finished delivering a message from Matron Tanga, explaining that she wouldn't be able to come in that day.
When the nurse turned to leave, they exchanged greetings. The door closed behind him, and only then did Zhan speak.
"Good morning, sir."
Dr Yibo nodded once and replied briefly, his eyes still on the computer as he typed something.
"Morning."
Silence followed.
Zhan swallowed hard and carefully opened the files in his hands.
"We had three new admissions yesterday. Can I brief you on them before you see them?"
No response.
Zhan lifted his eyes to look at him.
To his surprise, Dr Yibo's eyes were already on him this time, staring from where he sat.
Something trembled in Zhan's chest without warning.
He quickly looked away, dropping his gaze back to the documents without saying a word.
Zhan heard the chair shift.....then footsteps.
He realized the Dr had stood up and was walking toward him.
Even though Zhan's eyes were lowered as Dr Yibo approached, his heart stopped.
Where was he coming to?
Not toward me… right? He thought.
Zhan's breath caught painfully in his chest when Dr Yibo stopped right in front of him.
He forced himself to breathe again only when the scent of Dr Yibo's cologne filled his senses, overwhelming everything.
Only then did Zhan realize something inside his chest was growing heavier....because when he tried to lift his eyes, he failed. It felt like if he looked up, he would collide with the Dr's own.
Before Zhan could fully process what Dr Yibo intended to do, his long fingers slid over the papers in his hands and gripped them firmly, pulling them from his grasp.
Shock widened Zhan's eyes as he looked up just as Dr Yibo said:
"I don't like these papers. I don't like them at all…"
Zhanxianyibo💚❤️💛