Chapter 3-1
Chapter Three: Twin Cities: Missing You
1
Qiao Min looked at Qiao Ruo and Xu Mingyu sitting on the bench in the waiting area outside the operating room, unsure whether she should take this opportunity to call Qiao Ruo away and talk to her alone.
For the past few days, Qiao Min had been wanting to go back and visit Qiao Wei, but she was worried that if she met him, it would offend him and make him angry and harm his health. After thinking it over several times, she decided to give up and wait until he was wheeled into the operating room before coming over.
When Xu Mingyu saw her, she was very welcoming. She held her hand, stared at her face for a long time, and frowned with concern: "You haven't been resting well lately, have you? Your eyes are all dark."
Qiao Min had indeed been having trouble sleeping these past few days. Before going out, she deliberately put on slightly heavier makeup to cover her dark circles, but her mother still noticed it at a glance.
In a short period of time, several major events happened in her life. First, her marriage with He Qingyang came to an end. Then, her father was suspected of being seriously ill. After that, her sister told her that her "stepson" had been secretly in love with her for many years. Each of these events alone would be difficult to accept, let alone the fact that they happened one after another in such a dense manner. It would be strange if she didn't suffer from insomnia.
However, marital problems can be resolved through divorce, and tumors can be removed through medical means, but she has no confidence or foolproof way to help Qiao Ruo succeed in her thorny unrequited love.
She had hoped that her relationship with Qiao Ruo would improve after meeting her last Friday night, but unfortunately, things didn't turn out as she had hoped.
Despite knowing the secret Qiao Ruo had kept hidden for years, Qiao Ruo remained quite distant. After receiving He Yajun's phone number from her, Qiao Ruo didn't reply. She called, and Qiao Ruo answered, but clearly rejected her concern: "My affairs with He Yajun are none of your business."
If Qiao Ruo liked another man, she wouldn't care. But Qiao Ruo liked He Qingyang's son, and she started this secret crush even before she and He Qingyang officially announced their relationship. In other words, it was the marriage that she seized by all means that ruined Qiao Ruo's chances of having He Yajun.
She suppressed the urge to let out a long sigh, patted Xu Mingyu's hand, and offered the most readily available explanation: "Well, I went to bed a little late last night. It's probably because Dad is having surgery today, and he was a little worried."
Xu Mingyu had no doubts: "Sigh, your father always glares at you and puffs up his cheeks whenever he sees you. I don't know what he's up to. It's rare that you don't blame him and are so considerate."
She shook her head with a wry smile: "What can I do? I'm his daughter."
“Sigh, your father is stubborn and has always been a strong-willed person. If you ask me, as long as the whole family is healthy, what problem can't be solved?” Xu Mingyu smiled wryly. “After your father’s surgery, I’ll have Qiaoqiao talk to him and he’ll understand. Listen to your mother and relax, okay?”
Qiao Min could only nod: "Don't worry, Mom, I'm fine."
After comforting Xu Mingyu, Qiao Min looked up and saw Qiao Ruo staring at her expressionlessly. Their eyes met briefly, but Qiao Ruo then looked away without a word.
She smiled wryly again, but decided to talk to Qiao Ruo anyway.
She walked up to Qiao Ruo and said, "Qiao Qiao, it's a rare sunny day, let's go downstairs and soak up some sun."
Before Qiao Ruo could speak, she turned to Xu Mingyu: "Mom, Qiao Qiao and I are going for a walk. We'll be back in twenty minutes. Please call me anytime if you need anything."
Xu Mingyu was happy that the two sisters could do something together, and nodded, saying, "Go quickly, when the weather is nice, you should go out for a walk more often."
Qiao Min didn't care whether Qiao Ruo wanted to or not. She grabbed Qiao Ruo's wrist and walked towards the elevator. She didn't let go of Qiao Ruo's hand until they entered the elevator and the doors closed.
The two sisters didn't go far; they found a bench in the small square in front of the building and sat down.
The weather was indeed as sunny as Qiao Min had described. Although there was still a chill in the air, there was no wind, and the sun shone down freely, bringing a long-lost warmth to our bodies.
For the past week, the weather has been either drizzling or overcast, with occasional strong winds, making it inconvenient to go anywhere. Qiao Ruo was already feeling down because of He Yajun's departure and had little interest in anything. Coupled with such terrible weather, her mood inevitably plummeted.
Bathed in sunlight, Qiao Ruo looked up at the sky and couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, as if all her gloom could be swept away by the bright sunshine.
"Thank you for your hard work these past two days," Qiao Min, who had been sitting beside her observing her, couldn't help but speak first.
Qiao Ruo kept looking at the sky and didn't look at Qiao Min: "I am their daughter, it is my duty to take care of them, it's not hard work."
Qiao Min forced a smile, but it was still bitter: "Compared to you, I'm a terrible daughter. I don't know when Dad will be willing to accept me back."
Qiao Ruo didn't respond to that question. After a moment of silence, she turned to look at her and asked, "How has Xin Xin been lately?"
“I don’t know what she’s really thinking. After she found out about my divorce from her father, she had a couple of days of arguing, but overall she was relatively calm, at least she didn’t seem to be doing anything wrong. I told her not to tell her grandparents about it so they wouldn’t worry, and she very sensibly agreed.”
Qiao Ruo was stunned.
Qiao Min casually added, "You heard me right, He Qingyang and I have officially divorced. Legally, we have no relationship anymore."
Qiao Ruo didn't know what to say, and could only manage a weak "oh" from her throat.
"Let's stop talking about me and talk about you instead." Qiao Min was straightforward and didn't bother with beating around the bush. "Have you contacted He Yajun?"
Qiao Ruo smiled wryly: "I already told you, don't think about this anymore."
"No, I definitely have to get involved in this. I know you too well. You're a good person in every way, except sometimes you overthink things and are too considerate of other people's feelings. I won't say anything about other things. But if I don't push things out between you and He Yajun, you'll only have regrets later. Actually, in my opinion, even if I hadn't divorced his father, it wouldn't be a big deal for you to be with him. Everyone has their own life in this world. Who has time to keep an eye on who someone is dating or getting married?"
"That's just your personal opinion. It doesn't represent your parents, nor does it represent He Yajun's parents, or even Xin Xin. I can ignore the opinions of irrelevant people, but I can't do something without considering my family's feelings."
“We don’t need to argue about this for now, because I can’t convince you, and you can’t convince me.” Qiao Min stopped looking at Qiao Ruo and turned her gaze to an osmanthus tree in the center of the flowerbed. Even in the middle of winter, the osmanthus tree was still lush and green, showing no signs of desolation. “It’s not even certain whether you and He Yajun can officially establish a romantic relationship. It’s too early to consider the obstacles you might encounter in the future. I don’t deny that there might be people you care about who oppose you in the future, but the premise is that you can really be with him. Otherwise, all those worries are meaningless.”
Qiao Ruo was already a bit tired of talking about this topic with Qiao Min. If she hadn't promised He Yajun that she wouldn't tell anyone about her relationship with him, she would have already explained everything to Qiao Min.
She thought for a moment and decided to change her approach to completely dispel Qiao Min's idea: "Didn't you ask me if I had contacted He Yajun? I called him and told him I liked him, but he rejected me and warned me not to contact him again. When I called him again, he blocked me." Then she shrugged, looking helpless.
Qiao Min stared at her suspiciously, but seeing her listless expression, which indeed seemed like she had just broken up with her boyfriend, she put her question back.
"There's nothing strange about that. It would be abnormal if he accepted you immediately after one phone call. After all, he really dislikes me, and you're my sister. It would be strange if he gave you a friendly look."
Qiao Ruo remained silent.
Qiao Min patted her shoulder: "Don't be discouraged. Look at that girl he just went on a blind date with. Although he poured cold water on her as soon as they met, she didn't back down at all. She even thought about going to study in the United States for him. Be brave too."
Qiao Ruo remained silent.
"Whether you want to try again or not, remember that I support you going to America. I will cover all the expenses, so just go with confidence."
Qiao Ruo hesitated for a moment, sighed, and finally smiled, but the smile was very forced: "Please, don't mention this anymore, okay?"
Hearing her weary tone, Qiao Min sighed as well. After a while, she said, "Okay, if you say you don't want to talk about it, then you don't. There's one more thing I need to make clear to you. No matter how much it is, I have to cover Dad's surgery and medical expenses. I'll transfer 100,000 yuan to you later. If Mom and Dad ask, just say it's from you. If it's not enough, just tell me. If there's any left over, you can keep it or give it to Mom for living expenses. It's all up to you."
Qiao Ruo remained silent, turning her head to look at Qiao Min. She noticed that under the sunlight, Qiao Min's skin did not look as good as it had looked at the restaurant that night. Although she was wearing makeup, her crow's feet and nasolabial folds were very obvious, and the purplish-blue marks under her eyes were also quite striking. Even though only a week had passed, she seemed to have aged several years in an instant.
Suddenly, Qiao Ruo's heart softened uncontrollably. Years ago, the image of Qiao Min holding her when she had a fever and squeezing onto the same bed with her resurfaced from the depths of her memory. That warmth and intimacy now seemed as distant as a past life.
Before Qiao Ruo could refuse, Qiao Min spoke up first: "Qiao Qiao, I am also Dad's daughter. Over the years, I have missed many opportunities to care for him and be filial to him. Don't argue with me this time, okay?"
Qiao Ruo felt a mix of emotions, but nodded in agreement.
After sitting for a few minutes, they returned to the operating room in silence and sat down on either side of Xu Mingyu.
Qiao Ruo glanced at the closed operating room door, her body, which had relaxed slightly after being in the sun, tensed up again. Her phone beeped; she took it out and saw a WeChat message from He Yajun.
She put her phone back in her bag, turned to Xu Mingyu and said she needed to go to the restroom. She quickly walked to a door opposite the restroom, pushed it open, and sure enough, there was a staircase inside. She went in, stopped by a handrail, and took her phone out of her bag again.
He Yajun asked about her father's surgery: "Your father's surgery has started, right?"
A warm feeling welled up inside her: Yes, it's been an hour and a half, it should be almost over.
He replied very quickly: Okay, let me know when you're done. Don't worry, everything will definitely go smoothly.
She pursed her lips, her eyes unconsciously welling up with tears: Okay, you should go to sleep early.
He sent a "hug" emoji: I'm not sleepy. I'll sleep after your dad comes out of the operating room.
Tears finally streamed down her face. She covered her eyes with her hands and finally decided to stop suppressing her longing for him: Ya Jun, I miss you so much.
After a moment, he made a voice call to her. She glanced up and down the stairs and answered.
“I have complete faith in my uncle’s abilities; your father will be fine.”
"Yes, I know, but I'm still worried about what if something unexpected happens..."
“It’s normal for you to be worried. Relax. Even though I’m not by your side, I’ll be with you waiting for your dad to come out.”
She nodded, her voice choked with emotion, "Thank you, Ya Jun."
He laughed: "We're boyfriend and girlfriend, not just an ordinary relationship, so there's no need to thank me for this."
“Hmm,” she changed the subject, “Ya Jun, it’s sunny here today, the sun is shining brightly, how about where you are?”
"I envy you. It's cloudy and cold here. Luckily, it's the weekend, so I don't have to go out."
"Hmph, I don't believe you're not going anywhere."
"...A couple of years ago, I was indeed a bit playful, but now, I'm too old to do that anymore."
She asked half-jokingly, "Isn't it because you're with me that you're planning to settle down and come back to me?"
"I've never been a prodigal son, so there's no question of turning back. I'm very naive, so please don't try to trap me."
After chatting aimlessly for two or three minutes, Qiao Ruo felt much better: "Ya Jun, you don't have to keep waiting. Go to sleep early. I'm going to keep my mother company."
“Go quickly,” he said after a brief silence, “I miss you too, Jo.”
"Then I hope you dream of me later."
She put down her phone, took a tissue to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes, patted her cheeks a few times, took several deep breaths, and waited for her expression to return to normal before walking out.
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