Chapter 120 I Will Not Die

The next morning, the month-long home quarantine in Lin Yu's community was finally lifted.

She couldn't wait for Zhang Hengyuan's message, so she dialed that familiar number again. This time, instead of the cold busy tone, the call connected miraculously.

“Banban…” Jiang Chuan’s hoarse voice came from the other end of the phone, sounding visibly tired.

"How are you?" Lin Yu's voice choked with emotion, tears welling in her eyes. "Why didn't you answer the phone? Do you know how worried I've been these past two days?"

"I can't bring my phone for the checkup..." Jiang Chuan's voice was intermittent, likely due to signal issues, and filled with static, making each word difficult to understand. "You already knew?"

"Yes! I went to find Zhang Hengyuan."

Lin Yu walked to the window and opened it a crack. The cool morning breeze rushed in, making her shiver. Unconsciously, she picked at a stubborn stain on the glass with her fingertips, using it to vent her anxiety.

"Luckily, I got infected at the hotel." He coughed, his voice tinged with a helpless laugh. "Otherwise, I probably wouldn't be able to explain it to you."

"Do you think I'm that cold-blooded?" Even at this point, he was still thankful that she hadn't put her family in danger.

"You went to Hubei because of me, and now I'm just scared... scared..." Jiang Chuan's violent coughing interrupted his words.

"Are you feeling very uncomfortable?" Lin Yu's heart clenched, and images of patients coughing painfully and having persistent high fevers in the news uncontrollably flashed through his mind. It felt like an invisible hand was squeezing his chest, making him feel suffocated.

"Don't worry, the doctor said it's a mild case, and you'll be able to leave in a few days." Jiang Chuan's voice came through the radio waves, his tone unexpectedly calm, and he even had the energy to comfort Lin Yu.

"If anything happens during this time, go to Zhang Hengyuan first, and he will help you solve it."

"Where are you?" Lin Yu's voice trembled. Back in Hong Kong, her remaining rationality allowed her to calmly assess the risks and objectively examine their relationship.

But now that Jiang Chuan is willing to risk his life to bet on their future, all the misunderstandings of the past seem insignificant.

I could hear his deep breathing on the other end of the phone, mixed with the rhythmic ticking of the medical equipment. "Negative pressure ward."

Can we video chat?

The thought that he used to be such a well-dressed and well-mannered person, but now he can only wear overwashed hospital gowns and oxygen masks all day long, lying alone in the ward, makes Lin Yu's heart ache.

A moment later, she heard a familiar, slightly weak, teasing voice. "No clothes on, want to see?"

"Where haven't I seen you before?" Lin Yu knew he didn't want her to see him in such a disheveled state, but she didn't care; she just wanted to confirm his safety with her own eyes.

"Don't rush, I'll show you when we get out." Jiang Chuan chuckled softly over the phone. "Be a good girl and wait for me at home, okay?"

"But I...want to see you right now."

......

After hanging up the phone, Lin Yu sat restlessly in the room. After thinking it over, he took out his driver's license from the bottom of the drawer, grabbed his car keys, and went out.

The moment she pushed open the apartment door, the long-awaited sunlight made her squint. The brand-new S3 was still parked there quietly, as if it were standing guard beside her in place of its owner.

She opened the car door, got into the driver's seat, entered the address of the CDC into the navigation system, gripped the steering wheel tightly, steadied herself, and started the car.

Just then, there was a knock on the car window.

Lin Yu was recalling the key points of side-parking when he was startled by the sudden commotion. He turned his head and saw Chen Guang standing outside the car door, backlit, as if he might melt into the air at any moment.

She rolled down the car window, squinted slightly, and frowned as she looked at him. He was wearing a mask, his face half-hidden in shadow, but even so, Lin Yu could still see his dejection at a glance.

"Are you going out?" He asked, his palm pressed against the open window frame, his tone slightly unnatural.

"Yeah, I'm going to see someone." Lin Yu didn't want to say much, his finger already on the car window button. But Chen Guang pressed it down.

"I'll take you," he said firmly. "Driving is too dangerous for you in your current condition."

Traffic moved slowly along the city streets after the lockdown was lifted. There were many more cars on the road than during the quarantine period, and occasionally you could see pedestrians wearing masks, hunching their shoulders and hurrying past the car windows.

Lin Yu stared blankly out the window, secretly glad that Chen Guang was with her. Otherwise, in her current dazed state, driving alone would probably have resulted in at least a minor scratch.

Time ticked by, each second feeling like an eternity, making her heart feel as if it were being roasted on both sides of a hot oil pan.

Chen Guang silently gripped the steering wheel, his gaze fixed on the congested traffic ahead. He neither inquired about the reason for her sudden departure nor asked who she was going to see.

The carriage was unusually quiet, broken only occasionally by the mechanical female voice of the navigation system, reminding them that they were getting closer and closer to the destination that might change everything.

Two hours later, the gray buildings of the CDC finally came into view. From a distance, the entire area was cordoned off by temporary fences, and staff in white protective suits were going in and out, creating a somber atmosphere.

Their car couldn't even get close to the gate. Chen Guang drove around the area twice before finally parking on the side of the road where he could barely see the side of the building.

He turned off the engine, took out a cigarette case from his pocket, got out of the car, walked to the corner of the wall, lit a cigarette, and tactfully gave the two of them a chance to be alone.

Lin Yu called Jiang Chuan again, and this time the call went through very smoothly.

"Banban?" Perhaps because the physical distance had decreased, Jiang Chuan's voice was still hoarse, but clearer than before.

She took a deep breath and opened the car door. The early spring wind, carrying a strong smell of disinfectant, hit her in the face, making her eyes sting.

The glass window reflected a blinding white light in the sunlight, like countless cataract-filled eyes, coldly and hollowly looking down at me.

Lin Yu looked up and carefully examined the building. It had more than a dozen floors, and each floor had dozens of windows. She had no idea which window Jiang Chuan's ward was behind.

For safety's sake, she didn't dare get too close, so she simply climbed onto the roof of the car to make herself as conspicuous as possible.

“Come stand by the window, I’m downstairs.” She tilted her head back, her phone pressed tightly to her ear, her eyes searching back and forth between the cold windows.

Chen Guang leaned against the mottled wall, the cigarette between his fingers burning silently, the bluish-gray smoke rising slowly in the air and then quickly dissipating.

He watched silently as Lin Yu tiptoed, peering around from the roof of the car. The cigarette butt glowed intermittently in the cold wind.

He took a deep breath, the scorching smoke rolling down his throat, swirling in his lungs, and then he slowly exhaled it, as if the pent-up tension in his chest was being released along with it.

A moment later, he turned his back to Lin Yu and wiped his dry face. That indescribable feeling welled up inside him like a tide.

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone, followed by the rustling sound of clothes. "Did you drive here?"

The persistent low-grade fever and dry cough left Jiang Chuan feeling more exhausted than ever before, but whenever he encountered a problem related to Lin Yu, he would instantly perk up and remain extremely vigilant.

Lin Yu nodded subconsciously, then remembered that he couldn't see, and whispered into the phone, "Mm!"

Just then, a slender figure appeared in front of a window on the left side of the third floor. The person was wearing a blue and white striped hospital gown, which hung loosely on their body, and their expression was unclear due to the distance.

Lin Yu's heart felt like it was being clenched and released by an invisible hand, and in almost a fraction of a second, he was certain that it was Jiang Chuan.

He was tall and slender, and his slightly raised head exuded an innate arrogance. Even dressed in coarse linen clothes, he was exceptionally handsome, which allowed Lin Yu to recognize him at a glance among millions of people countless times.

The whole world was reduced to that small window. They gazed at each other silently across the height of three floors and the thick glass barrier, trying to fathom the longing and love that had accumulated in each other's eyes.

"How did you get so thin?" Lin Yu's voice choked with emotion.

"Have you been eating properly? Why are you so worried?"

"Is the food at the hospital not to your liking? Or are you so sick that you can't eat anything?"

She couldn't see his expression, but she could still feel his gaze, heavy and warm, falling on her.

The smell of disinfectant was pungent and cold, but something heavier lay between them—a regret that was so close yet untouchable.

"Nothing, I just really wanted to eat the porridge you cook." After a long while, Jiang Chuan replied with a light laugh.

Lin Yu suddenly remembered that morning when he cooked porridge for Jiang Chuan, who had a fever; it all seemed like it was just yesterday. "Okay... when you get out, I'll cook for you every day until you're sick of it."

Jiang Chuan held the phone in one hand, gazing at the figure standing on the car roof below. Her slender body was as fragile and easily broken as a dandelion, yet it contained an astonishing vitality, scattering countless seeds in the wind, endlessly regenerating.

"Don't stand so high," he said in a low, gentle voice. "It's dangerous."

Lin Yu simply shook his head, squinting against the glaring sunlight, his hair disheveled by the wind. "I want you... to see more clearly."

Jiang Chuan stood on high ground, gazing at her. His dark eyes were as calm as a deep pool. After a long while, he sighed softly. "I really can't do anything with you."

She knew what he was thinking. He was worried that she was taking a risk, that she was being reckless, and that her insistence at this moment was nothing more than pity and apology.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say sorry, wanting to say I miss you, wanting to say I don't want to continue this game of being friends with you anymore, and that we should sit down and talk things out now, and clear up all the unpleasantness.

But all the words got stuck in his throat, turning into a suppressed sob.

Jiang Chuan's fingertips lightly touched the cold glass, maintaining a distance. After a long while, he slowly spoke.

Happy Valentine's Day! (Banban)

Lin Yu was taken aback, suddenly realizing that today was February 14th. A year ago today, they had just confirmed their relationship.

All her stubbornness, misunderstandings, and grievances crumbled completely at this fateful moment. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she silently shed tears while holding her phone.

"Don't cry..." Jiang Chuan's voice was weaker than usual, but still reassuring. "Banban, I won't die."

He paused, as if gathering his strength, and then said clearly, word by word, "I want to keep this life so I can marry you."

These words struck like a thunderbolt, cleaving through the gloom that had accumulated in Lin Yu's heart. The cold wind dried the tears on her face, but the surging emotions in her heart grew even stronger, almost overwhelming her.

She seemed to suddenly realize that her feelings for Jiang Chuan were not simply due to being moved, but rather that under this life-or-death test, she suddenly saw that they were the irreplaceable people she could spend the rest of her life with.

"I'll make it up to you when you get out." Lin Yu's heart was filled with emotion.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a soft laugh. "Oh? How will you compensate me?"

"You must come out completely intact before I will tell you."

A moment later, she slowly put down her phone and looked at the window that was now empty.

There, it was as if an invisible thread pierced through the cold glass, the heavy protective suits, and the rampant epidemic, tightly binding them together again.

Chen Guang had already stubbed out his cigarette at some point and was standing by the car, silently watching her.

Lin Yu climbed off the car roof, his steps still a little unsteady. He took a step forward, intending to help her, but then withdrew his hand mid-air. "Let's go back," he said.

Lin Yu nodded, opened the car door, and sat in the passenger seat.

The car started slowly, and she looked back as the CDC building gradually shrank until it disappeared from sight.