9 Chapter 9

Perhaps everything was foreshadowed on the day of the junior high school graduation photo, but no one noticed it at the time.

On the day of taking graduation photos, Zeng Yun looked left and right but could not find Gu Yue.

Finally, it was Gu Yue’s class teacher who told him that Gu Yue had a fever and did not come today.

At that time, everyone thought it was just an ordinary fever. Because they were worried about infecting others after going out, Gu Yue just went to the hospital to get an anti-inflammatory injection.

Thinking of this, Zeng Yun smiled bitterly.

God had given us a warning long ago, but no one paid attention at the time.

It wasn't until we entered high school, when everyone thought life would continue smoothly and unchanged, that something unexpected happened.

Military training is always the most difficult thing when going to college. Just as Zeng Yun was standing at attention under the scorching sun, he suddenly heard exclamations from the class next to him.

"Someone fainted! She even had a nosebleed!"

Gu Yue's class was next door, and Zeng Yun subconsciously looked over there worriedly. Before he could see who had fainted, Zeng Yun was caught red-handed by the instructor.

As a result, Zeng Yun not only did not see the person who fainted, but was also punished by the instructor to stand at attention for an extra ten minutes.

After finally making it to break time, Zeng Yun hurried to the next class. There was also a classmate of Zeng Yun in the opposite class. After seeing Zeng Yun, the classmate knew who Zeng Yun was looking for and quickly said, "It's Gu Yue. Don't worry, he's been sent to the hospital."

Zeng Yun nodded, but he still felt uneasy. He was anxious and absent-minded the whole afternoon.

But the final examination results were worse than they had expected.

When Zeng Yun saw Gu Yue waiting for the diagnosis report in the hospital, his mind went blank.

The worst result occurred. Zeng Yun stayed at home for a long time and couldn't figure out why Gu Yue fell ill.

Zeng Yun looked up so much information, but at this moment he felt extremely powerless.

He couldn't understand the words full of terminology, so he could only go to the doctor to ask questions.

The more he listened, the dimmer the light in Zeng Yun's eyes became.

Zeng Yun stood at the door for a long time before finally mustering up the courage to push it open and go in.

Zeng Yun couldn't remember exactly what they said that day, but he probably just comforted each other and said everything would be fine.

Zeng Yun only remembered that the two of them chatted and laughed for a long time, so long that he felt his cheeks starting to feel sore, and then he said he wanted to go home.

It was only when they were about to leave that Zeng Yun's smile suddenly fell.

Gu Yue was able to come to school at first, but her body couldn't take it anymore before the end of her first year of high school.

Doctors say that if the disease can be prevented from getting worse in the early stages, there's a chance of recovery. But now her condition has taken a turn for the worse, and attending school has become a luxury.

On the weekend, Zeng Yun finally found time to go to the hospital.

It was early spring now, and the flowers and plants were beginning to bloom. When Zeng Yun passed by Gu Yue's garden, he happened to see the newly blooming camellias.

He carefully broke off one and brought it to Gu Yue.

Gu Yue seemed to have lost a lot of weight, but when he saw someone coming, he would still smile subconsciously.

When she saw the blossoms, Gu Yue's eyes lit up. "When I went out a few days ago, the camellias at home hadn't bloomed yet, but now they're blooming."

Zeng Yun inserted the flower branches into a bottle of water and placed it on the windowsill.

"If you like flowers, I'll bring you some next time I come."

The camellia branches grew roots over time, and Zeng Yun still came to see Gu Yue every week.

However, both of them found that what they could say and were willing to say now was much less.

Perhaps it was because both of them cared about each other's feelings, and now there was a slight sense of distance between them.

During Gu Yue's third month in the hospital, she asked, "Why have you only come in the afternoons these past two weeks? Have you gone to the institution to learn painting?"

Zeng Yun shook his head. Gu Yue frowned slightly and asked, "Not going?"

Gu Yue remembered that Zeng Yun said at the beginning of the school year that he wanted to work in the design industry in the future, so how could he not learn painting?

"I'm so good at academics, wouldn't it be a waste for me to learn painting?"

"So what do you want to learn?"

Zeng Yun was silent for a moment, then looked up at Gu Yue and said softly, "I want to study medicine."

There was silence in the room for a few seconds, and Gu Yue slowly said, "Actually, you don't have to do this."

"No," Zeng Yun explained, "I just think that studying medicine is actually quite good. It can help the dying and the wounded..."

“That’s enough!”

Gu Yue suddenly roared, and his eyes were filled with tears in an instant.

Apart from the time when they first met, this was the second time Zeng Yun saw Gu Yue crying.

"Ever since I got sick, all of you seem afraid of hurting me. You speak to me with caution and treat me like a porcelain doll."

Gu Yue saw a piece of clothing flash by the door, and she knew it was her parents at the door.

"I casually told my mother that the leaves on the trees had fallen, and after that I never saw the flowers you brought me again. She was afraid that I would feel bad if I saw the flowers wither."

"Every time Dad talks to the doctor about his condition, he has to quietly go outside the door, for fear that I would hear him."

"And you, your classmates and teachers, you're always so cautious when you come to see me. I want to talk to someone, but in the end I always see your sad faces."

"I know you're scared, but I'm not stupid. Your ability to cover up your mistakes is really poor, and it only makes me feel worse."

She couldn't control her physical decline, but she was more afraid of the gradually changing attitudes and perspectives of the people around her.

Gu Yue clearly expressed his thoughts, which also gave Zeng Yun a great shock.

"I don't feel sorry for you, I just..."

Perhaps it was because they were more afraid than Gu Yue that this was the case.

Gu Yue wiped the tears from her face, tried her best to smile and said, "I know."

The sunlight from outside the window shone on her cheeks, creating a glow like an oil painting.

Recalling this, Zeng Yun couldn't bear to think about it anymore.

Because later on, Gu Yue's condition became worse and worse.

In the photo, the girl lying on the bed no longer looks like she used to.

Time did not bring miracles. The torture of illness on people was far greater than anyone expected. That was also the first time Zeng Yun faced the cruelty of illness.

The persistent high fever damaged her body, her face became emaciated to a terrifying degree, and her originally long black hair began to fall out during the treatment.

Two years of treatment cost a lot, even with the help of classmates. Last year, Gu Yue's parents sold their house to pay for the treatment.

It was spring again, and when Zeng Yun passed by the garden again, the lush flowers and plants were gone.

Not everyone likes flowers and plants. When Zeng Yun saw the small garden being covered with cement and floor tiles, he stood there in a daze for a long time.

Zeng Yun felt like a heavy stone was pressing on his chest, making it hard for him to breathe.

Now it is March, and the college entrance examination is approaching, and he has less and less time to see Gu Yue.

During the rare times they met, Zeng Yun mentioned the garden and felt it was a pity.

"But it doesn't matter. Flowers and plants can always be planted. When you get better, I'll go and help you."

Gu Yue nodded gently. She was now so thin that it seemed as if only a layer of skin was left. Her former vigorous energy was gone, and even talking became a consumption.

Despite this, Gu Yue slowly said to Zeng Yun, "I've heard before that the vast majority of horticultural species come from the same mother plant, cultivated from its branches or tissues."

Gu Yue spoke very slowly, and Zeng Yun listened quietly beside him.

“So, if you go to the market and buy a pot of the same kind of flower, it will be the same one we’ve seen before.”

After Gu Yue finished speaking, she looked at Zeng Yun deeply again. She was not sure how much time she had left, so she always felt that she had to say more when they met.

"Are you still planning on studying medicine?"

Zeng Yun nodded: "Yes."

In the past two years, every time Zeng Yun saw Gu Yue, he would become more determined in his choice.

"My mother told me that you want to go to W City?"

"Yes, the school is really good. Didn't you say before that you wanted to go to W City to see the cherry blossoms?"

Zeng Yun said gently: "I will go and check out the spots for you when the time comes, so you won't make mistakes next time you go."

Although both of them knew in their hearts that this "later" could only appear in their imagination, they still fantasized about the future just like they had done a hundred years ago.

In case, even if the possibility is one in ten thousand or one in a billion, no one is willing to give up easily.

There was a small bump under the photo.

Zeng Yun pulled out the photo, and a small packet of seeds fell out of the album.

The species isn't listed, but judging by the shape and size, it's probably a daisy growing on the roadside.

The photo ends here, but that was not the last time they met.

The last time we met was a week before Zeng Yun’s college entrance examination.

There was no concealment like in those idol dramas. When the doctor said that time was running out, Gu Yue still wanted to see Zeng Yun.

She was always frank and trusted Zeng Yun, so she would not presume to think that hiding things was a good thing.

It's just that at this time, they didn't have much time to spend together, so Yue talked more with her parents.

Gu Yue looked at her mother with some heartache. Although her vision was not very clear now, she knew how much her mother, who had never suffered much, had paid for her in the past two years.

She acted coquettishly in her mother's arms, just like when she was a child begging her mother for candy.

She said she wanted to see the flowers her mother grew, eat the food her mother cooked, and travel with her family.

It was not until the end that she said something to Zeng Yun.

"You should study hard in college."

Zeng Yun didn't cry, he accepted everything calmly.

From Gu Yue's death to her funeral, he didn't shed a single tear.

It’s not sadness, but I feel a little annoyed when I think of Gu Yue.

They have known each other for twelve years and have long been integrated into each other's lives. Each other's shadow is hidden in every aspect of their lives.

So he decided to hide those things, out of sight and out of mind.

When he put the small items related to Gu Yue into the box, Zeng's mother was by his side comforting him.

He simply said calmly, "Actually, I'm not very sad. It's already great that she has managed to survive her illness until now."

After Zeng Yun finished speaking, he was a little surprised at his own indifference, but then he turned around and felt that birth, old age, sickness and death are the normal state of the world.

But for some reason, when Zeng Yun looked at those photos, he always felt that it was all ridiculous and unreal.

Many people were worried that he would be affected by this incident, but he didn't seem to care. He took the exam, took holidays, and learned to drive smoothly, just like an ordinary college entrance examination candidate. It seemed that nothing had ever affected him.

Life passed quietly day by day, and everyone thought he had really moved on until the day he packed his bags and prepared to go to college.

As he was about to enter the next stage of his life, Zeng Yun suddenly thought of Gu Yue uncontrollably.

He begged himself not to think about it, but his brain seemed not to listen to him and tried desperately to revisit the previous agreement for him.

It was not until this moment that he truly realized that the other person had left, and there was no way for him to see the admission letter like him, and no way for him to look forward to the future like him.

How can I describe the feeling at that moment?

It was like a bolt of lightning struck him, causing his heart to ache so much that he couldn't breathe.

At this moment, memories become knives, stabbing into the body uncontrollably, leaving people with wounds.

He was so painful that he let out an extreme wail. Such a sound disturbed Zeng's mother. When Zeng's mother entered the room, she saw Zeng Yun lying on the ground curled up with tears in his eyes.

Zeng Yun didn't know how much time had passed, nor did he know who had come to be with him, until he finally fell into a deep sleep from exhaustion.

After waking up from that sleep, perhaps because of his subconscious escape from the pain, he forgot everything that had happened before.