She casually pushed the newspaper aside, leaving several creases on the table.
She stared out the window, lost in thought. The cicadas were still chirping, but she could no longer hear them clearly. Her heart felt filled with something, yet also empty and unsettling.
Chen Hede's seven-day vacation was over, and the turmoil in Xinhai City had come to an end. He wanted to rush back to Nanhu before anyone noticed him.
As night fell through the window, Chen Hede knocked on the door.
Xu Zhuohua was sitting by the window, gazing at the lotus leaves in the corner of the courtyard.
The moonlight spilled onto the water's surface, torn into pieces by the crowded lotus leaves. Each leaf raised its head, vying for that bit of radiance, while even the faint light that the fish swimming at the bottom of the water deserved was stingyly withheld.
She just sat there, like a stone statue frozen in the moonlight.
Chen Hede pushed open the door and entered, his footsteps extremely light, like a child who had done something wrong. His usual upright and composed demeanor was gone, replaced by a cautious and uneasy look.
The newspapers on the floor hadn't been cleaned up yet, and the smell of ink mixed with medicine lingered in the air. He couldn't see Xu Zhuohua's expression, but he felt that the silence in the room was like being soaked in ice, making him feel uneasy.
"Xu Zhuohua," he paused, his voice softening, "I'll take you back to the Xu family home to find Cheng Muyun..."
Xu Zhuohua slowly turned her head, her eyes were frighteningly empty, like a bottomless dry well.
She picked up a pen and drew a "no" heavily on the paper.
Chen Hede recognized this character.
The light in his eyes dimmed, and he advised again, "But Doctor Liu said that you have an inner knot that's been untied, and it's unlikely you'll recover if you just stay here and rest..."
The pen tip fell again: I'm not going anywhere.
Looking at the resolute handwriting, Chen Hede knew that saying anything now would be superfluous, so he stopped insisting.
“I’ll have Xinghua stay with you,” he said, lowering his voice further. “If you want anything, or want to know anything, just write to me. I… I’m leaving soon.”
Xu Zhuohua nodded, paused for a moment on the paper with her pen, and wrote a line: Go and see Hu Moli for me, and tell her that I will live well.
Chen Hede felt a sudden pang of sadness. His previously anxious heart felt a little more at ease. He nodded vigorously, "Okay, I will definitely deliver it."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Zhuohua's tears fell down her cheeks.
One drop after another fell onto the paper, spreading out into dark brown dots, like someone shattering stars on the paper.
An indescribable pain, like vines tightly binding my internal organs.
Unable to speak, her heart ached even more. She felt sorry for Hu Moli, lamenting her beauty, pitying her fate, and feeling ashamed for having risked her life to save her.
The tears flowed faster and faster, and she couldn't help but shake her head, flicking the tears away, a few of which landed on Chen Hede's wrist.
It was scalding hot, with a burning temperature, as if it wanted to seep into his skin and burn a mark on his bones.
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