Retire
Yu Xiao was dozing against the glass of the ICU when the monitor's alarm pierced the three-a-morning silence. He jolted awake, his forehead smacking against the cold glass with a dull thud, but he paid no mind to the pain. The waveform on the screen undulated violently like a frightened snake, its steady beeping transforming into a long, sharp whine.
The bell at the nurses' station rang immediately, and hurried footsteps filled the hallway. Yu Xiao, held outside the yellow line by the nurses, could only watch as the doctor pushed open the ICU door, watched as they gathered around Yun Heng's bed, watched as someone lifted the blanket to adjust the electrodes, and watched as someone hurried to the IV stand with a syringe. His fingers gripped the edge of the glass, his knuckles turning white. It wasn't until he heard the nurse whisper, "Heart rate's picking up," that he realized he'd been holding his breath.
"Don't worry, family members. This is a stress response to the patient regaining consciousness." The head nurse patted his shoulder, her tone unusually gentle. "This is a good thing. It means he's moving in the right direction."
Yu Xiao nodded, but his throat seemed blocked and he couldn't make any sound. He watched the doctor take off his mask, say something to the nurse, and then turn and walk towards the door.
"The patient is awake." The doctor's voice was tired, but it could not hide a hint of relief. "He's still not fully conscious. You can go in and take a look. Don't spend more than ten minutes."
The heavy lead door slowly opened, and the smell of disinfectant, mixed with a faint medicinal aroma, filled his face. Yu Xiao paused at the door, suddenly feeling a sense of panic, a sense of homesickness. Over the past seven days, he had imagined countless times the scene of Yun Heng waking up, perhaps angry accusations, perhaps cold silence, or even a resolute refusal to see him. But when this moment finally arrived, he didn't even have the courage to take a step.
"Come in." The nurse gently pushed him from behind.
Yu Xiao took a deep breath and walked into the ward. Yun Heng lay on the bed, his eyes open, his pupils reflecting the pale light from the ceiling, hollow as a deep well. His lips were chapped and peeling, and a few strands of sweat-soaked hair stuck to his forehead. The lines of his profile looked particularly fragile under the light.
Hearing the footsteps, Yun Heng's eyes moved and slowly turned towards him.
The moment their eyes met, Yu Xiao's heart suddenly stopped beating.
Yun Heng's eyes held no anger, no resentment, not even the intense emotion he'd expected. Instead, there was a quiet exhaustion, like a beach after the tide recedes, leaving only the smooth marks of repeated waves. It was the calmness of someone who had exhausted all their strength in struggle, ultimately choosing to let go completely. It unnerved him more than any accusation could have.
"Yunheng..." Yu Xiao's voice was choked in his throat. Thousands of words came to his lips, but in the end, they only turned into these two words, trembling with a tremor that he himself did not even notice.
Yun Heng looked at him for a long time, so long that Yu Xiao thought he was about to fall asleep again. Then, he saw his lips move, and a faint stream of air escaped from between his lips, forming a few words that were as hoarse as sandpaper:
"I want to quit."
Those three words, like three icy stones, hit Yu Xiao's heart hard. He opened his mouth, wanting to say "OK," "You can do whatever you want," "Even if you quit, I'll stay with you," but the words stuck in his throat, unable to come out.
Yun Heng's gaze slowly swept across his face, past his red eyes, past the bruise still lingering on his chin, and past the seawater-inflamed wound at the collar of his hospital gown—a cut he'd made last night by a reef while dragging him along the beach. Then, he slowly raised his hand, his cold fingertips gently grasping Yu Xiao's wrist.
The force was very light, like a feather on the skin, but it made Yu Xiao's heart tremble violently. He subconsciously wanted to shake it back, but the other party had already loosened his grip, and his fingertips fell back to the bed sheet, the movement was so light that it seemed as if he had never moved.
"We're even now."
This sentence was even softer than before, but it was like an ice-hardened awl, piercing Yu Xiao's heart. He watched Yun Heng close her eyes, her long eyelashes casting a light gray shadow under her eyes, covering up all emotions, as if the previous words had exhausted his remaining strength.
"It's not clear..." Yu Xiao finally found his voice and said anxiously, "Yun Heng, we are not clear... I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong... I can make up for it, I can..."
"Yu Xiao." Yun Heng interrupted him without opening her eyes, her voice as calm as a pool of stagnant water. "You saved me, and I'm grateful. But this can't undo what you've done."
His breathing was a little rapid, and he had to pause after every few words, as if he was fighting against physical weakness. "You threatened me with the wheat field to make my debut, used my grandmother's medical expenses to force me to stay, and used drunkenness to destroy my last bit of dignity... You had reporters blocking the hospital corridor, caused my grandmother to be cyberbullied, made me a laughing stock on the Internet, and made me feel tired of even living..."
"These things can't be erased with just a simple 'I'm sorry'."
"I know..." Yu Xiao's voice was choked with sobs. Tears fell without warning, hitting the hospital gown and leaving a small dark mark. "I know... That's why I want to make amends. I can give up Yu's... No, I can give up everything. I can accompany you back to the wheat field, I can..."
"No need." Yun Heng opened her eyes and fixed her gaze on his face. There was no hatred in her eyes, only a complete, almost pity-like alienation. "You have your capital empire, and I have my wheat fields. We are not on the same path, never have been, and never will be."
He turned his gaze to the window. The sky was already turning pale. A faint ray of light shone through the glass and fell on his pale face. "After I'm discharged from the hospital, I will take Grandma back to my hometown. I will never touch the entertainment industry again. Your apology, your compensation, your status as the crown prince, have nothing to do with me anymore."
After saying that, he closed his eyes again, turned sideways, and faced Yu Xiao with his back, as if silently announcing the end of this conversation.
Yu Xiao stood beside the bed, looking at his frail figure, and suddenly felt a huge panic sweep through his body. He wanted to reach out and touch him, but was afraid of disturbing him. He could only freeze in place, letting the emotion called "despair" gnaw at his heart bit by bit.
The nurse came in and patted his arm gently: "Time's up, sir."
As Yu Xiao was "asked" out of the ICU, he glanced back. Yun Heng remained motionless, her back to him, her shoulders as thin as a leaf ready to be blown away by the wind. The heavy lead door slowly closed behind him with a dull thud, as if an insurmountable barrier had fallen between him and Yun Heng.
The sunlight in the corridor grew brighter, shining through the windows onto the floor, casting long spots of light. Yu Xiao sat on the bench, looking at the closed door, and suddenly understood what Yun Heng meant by that sentence—"clearing the two" wasn't forgiveness, but a complete farewell, a most decisive distance, one too lazy to even offer hatred.
He took out his phone, and the screen was still stuck on the trending search page #太子爷疯為云恒#. The comments below had turned from mockery to curiosity. Some people dug up his early love history, some analyzed his "possessiveness" towards Yunheng, and some marketing accounts even wrote a "forced love novel" about the two of them.
Yu Xiao expressionlessly closed his Weibo account and clicked on the video his assistant had sent him. The video showed the fields of Yunheng's hometown. The newly planted wheat seedlings had already sprouted tender green shoots, swaying gently in the wind like a flowing sea of green. The caregiver nearby said the old lady was in good spirits today. She had spent the entire afternoon sitting on the edge of the field, basking in the sun. She was holding Yunheng's childhood drawing of wheat, looking at it for a moment and then smiling.
At the end of the video, the camera pans over an old locust tree at the edge of a field. Carved into its trunk are two crooked, small characters. They were carved by Yunheng as a child: "Ah Heng." Time has worn the handwriting down, but the childish strokes are still clearly visible, like a stubborn declaration.
Yu Xiao looked at those two words, suddenly covering his face and letting out a suppressed sob. He had always thought he was in control, that he could settle everything with money and keep the people he wanted with threats, but in the end, he couldn't even keep the boy who just wanted to guard the wheat fields.
At exactly 8 o'clock that evening, Yunheng Studio's official Weibo updated a post, which was also the last one.
There was no lengthy explanation, no tearful accusation, not even a mention of anyone or anything, just eight simple words:
"The road ahead is long, so be well on your own."
The accompanying image shows a lush green wheat field. Newly sprouted wheat seedlings unfurl their leaves in the evening breeze. The setting sun in the distance paints the sky a warm orange-red. On the ridge of the field stands the shadowy figure of an old man, bending over to water the wheat seedlings, his movements slow and steady.
This Weibo post was like a stone thrown into a lake, instantly causing a huge uproar on the Internet.
The comments section exploded:
[Really quitting? I'm so upset...]
[That's good. It's good to get away from this muddy water and return to the wheat fields.]
[Honestly, if the prince gets entangled with you, anyone would want to run away, right?]
[Those who have cursed him, don't they feel guilty? ]
[I suddenly feel so sad... He sings so beautifully...]
[The road ahead is long, so be well. I hope he can be truly happy in the wheat fields.]
The entry #云昅退圈# quickly became the number one hot search, followed by a gray word "tears".
Yu Xiao stared at the photo, his fingertips gently gliding across the screen, as if wanting to touch the dew-covered wheat seedlings. He knew Yun Heng had done it. He was truly returning to his own wheat fields, without any trace of the entertainment industry, or of himself.
My phone vibrated at that moment. It was a text message from an unfamiliar number. It contained only one sentence: "My grandma said thank you for replanting the wheat. But it's not necessary. We can plant it ourselves."
There was no signature, but Yu Xiao recognized it at a glance; it was Yun Heng's number.
He stared at the message for a long time, until the screen dimmed automatically, revealing his red eyes. He wanted to reply, but found he couldn't even type a single word.
Outside the window, the city lights lit up, neon lights flickering, glittering like a false sea of stars. Yu Xiao turned off his phone and lay on a bench in the hospital. For the first time, he felt how empty the world was without Yun Heng.
He remembered what Yun Heng said at the beach: "I just want to grow wheat."
He didn't understand it then, but now he understands it, but it's too late.
Thousands of miles away, in the wheat fields, the evening breeze rustled through the wheat seedlings, as if singing a quiet song for the young man who had finally found himself. An old woman sat on the edge of the field, looking at the newly sprouted wheat, and sighed softly, "Ah Heng, just go home."
The houses in the distance are lit up with lights, warm and peaceful.
The road ahead is long, so be well.
From now on, your capital empire and my wheat fields will no longer have any intersection.
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