The VIP single room on the top floor of Sacred Heart International Hospital is finally no longer the suffocating pure white and cold.
The huge floor-to-ceiling windows let in abundant sunlight, and the smell of disinfectant in the air was neutralized by the almost inaudible fragrance of flowers.
Ye Qingliu was half leaning on the rocking hospital bed, wearing soft and comfortable dark gray silk pajamas, which made his face, which had lost too much blood, look even paler and more transparent, yet also added a sense of fragile delicacy.
The thin-rimmed silver glasses were put back on his tall nose bridge, and the gray-blue eyes behind the lenses were as calm as before, but the usual sharp luster in the depths of his eyes, like a precision instrument, was replaced by a layer of fatigue and subtle confusion that came from recovering from a serious illness.
The heavy plaster had been removed, but the left leg was still fixed and could not be moved.
The bandage on his chest was replaced with a thinner dressing, but every breath still brought a dull, pulling pain.
He quietly looked at the sycamore tree outside the window, the sunlight dancing on his handsome profile, and his long eyelashes casting a small shadow under his eyelids.
The whole person looked like a quiet glass doll that had temporarily restrained all its sharpness.
The ward door was gently pushed open a crack.
A hunched figure moved in extremely slowly, like a cautious little animal afraid of disturbing something.
———Sun Guixiang.
Her graying hair was combed more neatly than before, tied back with the familiar black hairband. In her bony hands, she still tightly held the faded blue print package.
Her steps were light and slow, and each step was taken with an almost pious caution.
His cloudy eyes first quickly swept over Ye Qingliu lying on the hospital bed, confirming that he was awake. A huge, undisguised light of joy instantly burst out in his eyes, and then he immediately lowered his eyes, looking a little uneasy.
"Little...little friend..." She stopped when she was a few steps away from the bed. Her voice was dry and hoarse with a thick accent.
She asked cautiously, "Are you...feeling better today?"
She didn't dare get too close, as if the dust on her body would pollute this clean space.
Ye Qingliu turned his head, and his gray-blue eyes fell calmly on her through the lenses.
There was no ripple in that gaze, no scrutiny, just a quiet look.
He saw the pure, almost overflowing joy in her eyes, but he also saw the shabby look of her old thin jacket, which had been converted into a coat, and the suppressed embarrassment she was wearing.
"Yeah." He responded very softly, his voice a little hoarse.
This simple syllable was like a pardon, instantly brightening Sun Guixiang's face.
Her cloudy eyes narrowed and the wrinkles on her face smoothed out a little.
She hurriedly took a small step forward, her movements still cautious, but a little more anxious than before.
She untied the blue printed cloth package in her arms, revealing the familiar, washed-out old aluminum lunch box.
"I...I made some...bamboo leaf cake..."
She held the lunch box in both hands and handed it to Ye Qingliu with slight trembling. Her cloudy eyes were filled with anticipation and a hint of imperceptible nervousness.
"Yes...it's how it's done in my hometown...would you like to try it?"
When the lid of the lunch box was opened, a sweet, warm fragrance with a unique plant aroma instantly filled the ward, diluting the last trace of the smell of medicine.
Several square pastries with a soft color like tender bamboo in early spring lay quietly inside, and the tiny veins of bamboo leaves could be vaguely seen on the cake.
Ye Qingliu's eyes fell on the simple snack in the lunch box that he had never seen before.
Deep within the gray-blue eyes behind the lenses, a very subtle ripple of pure observation flashed across.
He was silent for a few seconds, like a precision instrument analyzing an unknown sample.
Just when the anticipation in Sun Guixiang's eyes was about to be replaced by uneasiness, Ye Qingliu slowly raised the hand that was not receiving the IV.
That slender hand, with distinct joints and paleness that was almost transparent, moved with the weakness of someone who had just recovered from a serious illness, but still maintained an elegant demeanor that was engraved in the bones.
He stretched out the tips of his index finger and thumb, as if picking up a rare work of art, and with almost the strength of pinching a snowflake, he picked up the smallest piece of bamboo leaf cake on the edge of the lunch box.
His movements were slow and focused, his fingertips steady without a trace of trembling.
He held the small dessert up to his eyes, and his gray-blue eyes looked through the lenses at the unique green color and texture almost scrutinizingly, as if reading the information in it.
After a moment, he brought the bamboo leaf cake to his lips. His beautifully shaped lips opened slightly, and he precisely bit off a piece the size of a grain of rice.
A little bit of the bamboo green cake crumbs stained his light-colored lips.
He closed his lips and began to chew slowly.
His gray-blue eyes were lowered, and his long eyelashes cast fan-shaped shadows under his eyes. His expression was focused and calm, like a taster analyzing some new flavor.
His cheeks moved minutely and very regularly, and the chewing sound was so soft that it was almost drowned out by the ticking of the instrument.
Sun Guixiang held her breath, her cloudy eyes watching his every subtle movement without blinking, her skinny fingers unconsciously clenched the edge of the blue print package.
She watched him eat so attentively, taking small bites, his cheeks slightly puffed up, his eyelashes drooping, and his lips, which were stained with a little cake crumbs, unconsciously pursed... Sun Guixiang's heart melted.
This child usually looks so cold and unapproachable, but why is he so well-behaved and endearing when eating? Like a little baby who has just learned to eat!
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