"If you have no further questions, please sign this document."

Ou Chen placed the divorce agreement on the bedside table beside Yin Cheng’s hospital bed, then produced another document and handed it to Yin Cheng.

Yin Cheng saw the bold, black characters topping the document—Consent Form for Kidney Transplant... "No—!" Yin Cheng shook his head in distress.

"What else do you require?" Ou Chen gazed at him. "Tell me. As long as you agree to the surgery, anything you ask for is yours."

"...Why?" Yin Cheng stared at him blankly. "Everything you've done—it was all because you wanted to be with my sister, wasn't it? Why sign the divorce papers? Why insist on giving me your kidney even under these circumstances?" Ou Chen remained silent.

"No, I won't agree to the surgery."

After a pause, Yin Cheng murmured, "I can’t take your kidney and let you lose my sister too; that’s too unfair to you. If my sister found out... she would be worried sick..."

"Then, you intend to watch her die?"

"My sister won't die!" As if struck hard, Yin Cheng gasped, "She just has a cold and a fever. Soon... she’ll be much better!"

"You know exactly what you mean to her! You know exactly why she suddenly fell so ill!" The hoarse voice betrayed the agony within Ou Chen; his body was taut, like a bowstring stretched to its breaking point. "If you truly care about her, the only thing you can do is accept the surgery! Become healthy, and remain healthy by her side forever! You don't need to concern yourself with those irrelevant matters!"

"Sign it!" Forcing the pen into Yin Cheng's hand, Ou Chen pressed his lips together, the fire of suppressed anger in his eyes making him look incredibly dangerous.

"No..." Guilt and unease still prevented Yin Cheng from making up his mind; he set the pen aside.

"..." Watching the indecisive Yin Cheng, Ou Chen took a deep breath, fighting to control his emotions, and spoke with firm, measured slowness: "Even if I have to beg you, please sign. Please accept my kidney. Please... save Xia Mo."

"Ou Chen..." The undisguised pain in his voice stunned Yin Cheng into silence. All his life, the Ou Chen he knew had been aloof and arrogant. Was this person bowing his head and pleading truly Ou Chen?

"All her suffering was caused by me, and the only thing I can do now is this kidney transplant." Ou Chen closed his eyes, his voice rough. "As for you, I’m not asking for your forgiveness; that means nothing to me. But I hope you can give me a chance to atone to her."

A long silence settled over the room.

Ou Chen once again placed the pen into Yin Cheng’s hand, the pressure carrying a determined finality. As if compelled by some force, Yin Cheng blankly scrawled his name across the surgical consent form.

"Thank you!" A flicker of relief crossed Ou Chen’s tightly drawn face. As if afraid he might change his mind, he snatched the consent form away and strode quickly toward the door.

That single "Thank you" tore painfully through Yin Cheng's heart! Shouldn't he be the one saying thank you to Ou Chen? How had everything been inverted? Watching Ou Chen's tall but haggard silhouette vanish outside, Yin Cheng whispered to himself, "Brother-in-law, you truly, deeply love Sister, don't you?"

The morning sun cast a quiet glow upon Luo Xi’s pale face.

His eyes fluttered open.

His gaze was distant and unfocused as he stared at the ceiling, as if he had just awakened from a very, very long dream—unsure if he was still immersed in that dream, or if the events of the past were the true, thick, misty dream.

Summer of Foam III