"I did, at first."

She gazed out the car window; the scenery along the street was shrouded in a fine mist, leaving only hazy outlines. "But, what reason do I have to hate you? Little Cheng is my brother. To you, he was nothing more than a stranger whose health mattered little. Your own well-being was paramount, and even if you had insisted on refusing me, I would have had no grounds to blame you."

"..." Ou Chen watched her. In the pale afternoon light, surrounded by the fine drizzle outside the window, she seemed impossibly distant, as if the rain separated them by an unbridgeable space, despite sitting right in front of him.

A sharp pain pierced his chest, and the words were slowly forced from his throat: "Or, perhaps we could postpone the wedding until Yin Cheng has had his surgery... until..." Until she could truly accept him... But how long would that take? He had been waiting since he was fourteen. How much longer must he wait? And would Luo Xi give him the chance to wait? Yin Xiamo paused, staring at him intently.

Noticing the gloom in his eyes and the tightening of his fingers, she quietly lowered her head. After a moment, she murmured, "Since the wedding date is set, there’s no need to change it. I hold no resentment; I agreed to this willingly. After marriage, I will strive to fulfill the duties of a wife."

Wife... It felt as if a needle had pricked Ou Chen’s heart! Then, gradually, a warmth surged from that spot, growing hotter and hotter... Just then, his phone rang.

Ou Chen fought to suppress the messy heat stirring within him and listened to the voice on the line—it was Simon, reminding him of his meeting with the HSBC executives at five o'clock. He responded briefly, and the call ended.

The extended Lincoln limousine also pulled up to the hospital entrance.

"Thank you for accompanying me to the bookstore."

Yin Xiamo told him, a faint smile touching the corners of her lips, her eyes as clear and transparent as glass marbles. Then, she firmly refused Ou Chen’s offer to escort her to Xiao Cheng’s room, clutching her newly bought art book, and stepped out into the fine drizzle.

Ou Chen watched her retreating figure silently from inside the car.

In the light rain.

Her silhouette appeared slender and fragile, yet her back remained rigidly straight. She walked quickly. She didn't even look back at him once. She didn't look back even upon entering the hospital lobby, vanishing into the ebb and flow of medical staff and patients.

Yin Xiamo squeezed her eyes shut. Standing in a corner of the hospital lobby, she only slowly relaxed her body once she could no longer feel the dark, anguished gaze fixed on her back. The smile faded from her lips, leaving them increasingly pale.

In front of him, she always felt an overwhelming sense of guilt that threatened to suffocate her. It was she who had asked him to donate the kidney to Xiao Cheng. It was she who had agreed to the exchange. Therefore, she ought to try her best to respond to him. That would be fair... But she couldn't manage it. She tried to mask it with her acting skills, but she knew it couldn't deceive Ou Chen's eyes; it would only deepen his sorrow. Had she hurt him again today... she thought vaguely as she walked down the hospital corridor.

The events of five years ago were fading from her memory—the hatred she felt for him under the cherry blossom tree that night, the vows she’d made in that dark place never to forgive him—now, all of it seemed to have dissipated like smoke. Perhaps, for him, her reappearance was the greater calamity... Unconsciously, she arrived at the door of Yin Cheng’s room.

Yin Xiamo took a deep breath, adjusting her mood, forcing a smile onto her face, making her eyes bright and joyful like stars. She tapped lightly on the door, then turned the knob and walked in.

Bubble Summer III