A doctor walked in. He spent a long moment going over Yan Huan’s medical history, and then finally looked at his patient. When he saw who it was, he froze in place.
“Huh, it’s her.”
“Oh, you know her too, Dr. He?” The nurse covered her mouth as she giggled. “It’s Yan Huan, the actress. She’s actually prettier in person than on TV! She’s asleep now, but once she’s awake I’m going to ask her for an autograph. If it weren’t for the hospital dean’s orders to keep this a secret, I’m sure everyone in the hospital would have squeezed in here to gawk at her by now.””
“Oh, really?”
The doctor adjusted his glasses. He was not interested in celebrities; he was so busy with work he barely had time to go home, much less watch TV. In his opinion, celebrity news and gossip were best left to young women—he was just too old to keep up with the latest trends now.
He was interested in Yan Huan because he had been looking for her for a long time. Lu Yi had asked him to help look for her, and he had spent nearly half a year doing exactly that, to no avail. Now, she had finally reappeared before him, and he was 100% sure that this was Lu Yi’s anonymous blood donor. He recognized the small beauty mark in one of her eyebrows; most people would not have noticed it, not unless they knew what they were looking for.
He was therefore absolutely certain that this was the woman Lu Yi had been looking for. She had the same rare blood type, after all.
He had been a doctor for many years, but had only seen this particular blood type a handful of times. That was how rare it was. He had paid extra attention to this specific blood type whenever he came across it because his good friend, Lu Yi, was of the same blood type. As a friend and doctor, he wanted to make sure Lu Yi would always have a blood donor whenever he needed one.
But it was so rare it was always a surprise whenever he met a patient with the same blood type.
He went out of the room and took out his phone to call Lu Yi.
At that very moment, Lu Yi was in the middle of reviewing documents for work. His face was entirely devoid of expression; everything about him screamed “go away, I’m busy.”
“Lu Yi, it’s me, He Yibin. I found the person you’re looking for.”
A few hours later, Lu Yi arrived at the hospital. He had rushed over to the hospital as soon as he was able to because He Yibin had told him that his anonymous blood donor was there.
He had to know for sure: was it Yan Huan?
“In there.” He Yibin pointed to one of the rooms. “I’ve asked the lady who came in with her to step outside for a minute.”
“What happened to her?” Lu Yi asked as he entered the room. His face remained impassive when he saw the woman lying on the bed; he had already guessed that it was Yan Huan, and his guess had turned out to be correct.
He wondered what had happened. She had been perfectly fine a few days ago; he had watched her walk in his footprints to buy steamed buns for breakfast. Why was she back in the hospital now?
“It’s nothing serious, just a case of fatigue. I hear she’s a somewhat famous actress.”
Lu Yi walked over to the bed. After a moment’s hesitation, he reached out and placed his hand on her forehead. Her temperature was normal; she was only fast asleep. He noted that she had lost weight again, and wondered if she was not eating properly.
“Hang on a second,” He Yibin rubbed his chin. “Lu Yi, do you actually know her?”
“Yeah, we live in the same community,” Lu Yi replied honestly. “I had a feeling it was her, but I wasn’t sure.”
“What? Why didn’t you ask me to identify her? I spent so much time looking for her!” He Yibin felt as though he had been played.
“You didn’t ask me about it.” Lu Yi had not thought to ask He Yibin because he had more or less guessed the truth already. Still, he was grateful to have He Yibin finally confirm his suspicions. Now he knew for sure that Yan Huan remembered him, but did not want anything to do with him. He wondered if she hated him.
He did not understand it. It made no sense for her to have donated over 1000cc of her blood to him if she hated him. Normal people with common blood types would not have donated that much blood for a stranger, let alone someone with blood as rare as hers.
Lu Yi straightened himself and placed his hands into his pockets. “Give her the best medical care available. I’ll pay her medical fees.” He thought about it, and added, “But don’t let her know.”
“Why?” He Yibin was puzzled. “What, is this some kind of game where the two of you try to do good things for each other anonymously? She saved your life, you know. I don’t think paying her medical fees would be enough to repay your debt to her. It is my scientific opinion that you should repay her with your body.”
Lu Yi gave him a frosty sidelong glance. The message was obvious: “shut up.”
“Fine.” He Yibin raised his hands in mock surrender. “I won’t ask or bring it up again.”
Lu Yi turned around to take one last look at Yan Huan—who was still fast asleep—before moving towards the door.
“Leaving already?” He Yibin asked, surprised.
“Yeah.” Lu Yi opened the door. “I still have work to do.”
He Yibin shrugged his shoulders. “There you go again. I don’t understand what that Fang Zhu sees in you. She must be blind. Any normal woman would have dumped you for your robotic, insensitive personality by now.”
Lu Yi said nothing. He did not know whether Fang Zhu was blind. All he knew was that they were supposed to be in a romantic relationship.
He shut the door firmly behind him as he left, sealing the barrier between his world and Yan Huan’s.
They were from opposite ends of the spectrum. They were as different as light and darkness.
Their lives ran in parallel, never to intersect. They would gradually drift apart from each other, the distance between them widening as they went their separate ways. This was fate. This was reincarnation.
They would find the right person to love this time.
Yan Huan woke up the next day. She opened her eyes, and recognized the way her body ached all over. She knew then that she had overextended herself.
She sat up. There was a faint smell of disinfectant in the clean, cool air.
Her body was warm, but her heart was cold.
This was a hospital.
She hated hospitals.
Yi Ling was asleep, draped over the side of the bed. Yan Huan did not wake her; instead, she slipped out of the bed and dressed herself. She would go to the hospital reception and ask to be discharged. She did not have the luxury of staying in the hospital.
She was an actress. She had a movie to finish. This was her job, her responsibility.
But when she arrived at the reception, the hospital staff told her that all the paperwork had already been dealt with. Her bill had already been paid for, and she was free to leave at any time.
Yan Huan assumed that the Director Huang’s production team had done all that for her. She returned to her room; Yi Ling was still asleep.
Yan Huan felt her cheek. It was still sore from the vicious slap. She pouted; she knew she could not blame the actor because she had specifically asked him not to hold back, but she had not expected him to literally take her word for it and go all out on a young, frail woman.
“Huanhuan…”
Yi Ling rubbed her eyes as she sat up. She saw Yan Huan sitting in the chair beside the hospital bed, seemingly staring into space. Yi Ling was suddenly afraid; she wondered whether the slap had somehow left Yan Huan mentally impaired.
“Yeah, I’m here.” Yan Huan turned to look at Yi Ling. “I’ve completed the discharge procedures, I can leave now.”
“Oh…” Yi Ling was still groggy from sleep. She rubbed her eyes again. “Okay, you’ve been discharged. Wait, discharged?” She leapt to her feet as her brain finally caught up with what Yan Huan had just told her.
“Huanhuan, you want to leave? Now? You’re not going to stay here in the hospital?”
“Yeah. I’m not staying here. I’m fine, I still have to finish the rest of my scenes.” Yan Huan was telling the truth: she was feeling perfectly fine. It had only been a momentary loss of control, triggered by past nightmares.
