Chapter Sixty-Eight — Relentless Pursuit

After eight o’clock, the hospital grew lively. Patients in their hospital gowns and well-dressed visitors moved through the corridors and passageways. Out front, cars were parked in neat rows across the open square. More vehicles arrived, slowly circling the lot in search of vacant spots.

Yishu glanced at the time—half past eight. She quickened her steps, heading toward the bus stop at the hospital entrance.

“Wait!” Tang Chao called out, breathless. “I called you, didn’t you hear? No one has ever dared ignore me like this!”

“Then go find someone who cares,” Yishu tugged at the strap of her shoulder bag. “I won’t entertain you!”

“It doesn’t matter if you won’t keep me company,” Tang Chao replied. “I’ll keep you company.”

When two people are together, it hardly matters who accompanies whom. If two cannot be proactive, one will suffice.

“I truly don’t understand,” Yishu finally released the questions she’d been holding in, her voice measured and calm.

“What don’t you understand?” Tang Chao responded.

“You came back to Yun City to see your sister, didn’t you?” Yishu spoke steadily, her words clear and orderly. “Now she’s lying in a hospital bed. Instead of visiting her, you persist in tangling with me here.”

Tang Chao laughed—a poetic, infectious laugh that, paired with his youthful countenance and upright posture, seemed like a ray of morning sunlight, warm and gentle, melting into the heart.

“My main purpose in returning was to see my sister, that’s true.” He suddenly took a long stride forward, locking eyes with her. “But now that she has Shixi by her side, my presence makes little difference. I know her well; at this moment, leaving discreetly will please her far more than playing the unwanted third wheel.”

“So, you’re sacrificing yourself for your sister?” Yishu arched her brows high, her forehead wrinkling into three lines. “What virtue or ability do I possess to warrant such elaborate scheming—selling my charm?”

They gazed at each other’s reflections in each other's eyes. Why is it one can see another self in someone’s gaze? Clearly, the two are unrelated, disconnected. What does that prove?

Isn’t it said that the eyes are windows to the soul? Are the mini films played within them the desires harbored deep within?

Yishu shook her drowsy head, dispersing Tang Chao’s image, breaking it apart.

“I’m offering my sincerity.” Tang Chao spoke earnestly. “Can’t you feel my genuine heart?”

Yishu’s gaze became unfocused and hollow; she didn’t want to concentrate for a womanizing scoundrel spouting nonsense. His tricks for wooing young girls were childish when used on a woman in her twenties. Yishu shook her head with disdain; he underestimated her and overestimated himself.

If their ages were reversed—Tang Chao at twenty-five and Su Yishu at nineteen—one naive, the other seasoned. If he orchestrated a handsome-man scheme, she’d have no choice but to surrender or face ruin.

There was no need to forsake one’s life just to reject love.

Yishu’s focus was not on whether his words were true or false, but when he would abandon his foolish behavior. This was the twenty-first century, a society of gender equality; it was no longer fashionable to compromise for unrequited love, bending to someone who doesn’t return your affection. If you can’t have them, simply part ways, live freely and independently—why not?

“Go back,” Yishu stepped back, preparing to leave. “I’ve heard enough, and said enough. If you have time and energy to waste on me, you’d be better off relieving Shixi—he hasn’t rested all night. If you don’t care about him, I do. Let him go home and sleep.”

Yishu felt forlorn; she couldn’t say these words directly to Xu Shixi, for fear of being labeled jealous. She was just an ordinary woman, with joy, anger, sorrow, greed, desire, and resentment—all in varying degrees.

She hoped Tang Chao would change and relay her words to Shixi, word for word, striking his heart.

Whether he would or not hardly mattered, didn’t it?

“I’ll tell him,” Tang Chao replied obediently. “Are you heading to work now? Let me drive you. Wait a moment, I’ll bring the car around.”

“No need!” Yishu stood dazed in the open lot, watching his retreating figure, unable to call him back. A black Hyundai behind her honked three times impatiently. Startled, she shrank and moved aside in fright. If it were Yan Lu, she might have climbed onto the hood, pointing at the driver and cursing them out.

Luckily, Yan Lu wasn’t here.

Would she still act so crazily? Yishu couldn’t tell. After months apart, everything had changed; it was like missing a semester and needing to cram to catch up, or else every subject would fail.

Yishu didn’t want to wait any longer. She skirted rows of parked cars and reached the main entrance. The sky began to drizzle, crooked drops falling on her hair and clothes. She took a folding umbrella from her bag and popped it open. This umbrella had served her four or five years; its once-purple canopy was faded, soaked to pale lavender by the rain. The ribs were unexpectedly sturdy, only slightly rusted, never broken.

Yishu realized it was late; she’d left Qiao Siming’s ward at eight-thirty and had been sidetracked by Tang Chao’s inexplicable conversation. The bus was likely stuck somewhere at a traffic light or on a congested side street.

Anxiety was useless.

Yishu watched the rain dissolve into the river’s surface, leaving not a ripple. She couldn’t help but feel sentimental and pity the rain.

“Get in!” Tang Chao lowered his car window. “I told you to wait, but you left anyway. You really don’t care about me!”

“No need!” Yishu repeated firmly. “I don’t need a ride; the bus is about to arrive.”

“If you don’t get in, I’ll just park here and not move,” he insisted. “If I don’t drive, the cars behind can’t move either. I’ve got all the time in the world; if you’re willing to wait, so am I. I don’t mind spending the whole day here with you.”

As if on cue, two buses approached the intersection not far ahead, driving straight toward them. The bus drivers, seeing the car unmoving, began honking frantically. Passengers crowded under the awning erupted with all manner of foul language.

The sharpest weapon humans possess isn’t their fists, but their mouths. Bruises from fists fade with time, but gossip and harsh words can leave lifelong scars.

Unable to outmaneuver Tang Chao, Yishu opened the car door and got in, begrudgingly.

“See, after all your struggling, you ended up in my car!” Tang Chao took advantage, acting coy. “Next time, don’t be so polite.”

Yishu, livid, raised her brows and glared. These siblings were equally forceful, scheming endlessly to achieve their goals.

“Have you finished your antics?” Yishu demanded, her face stern. “Your presence is a disaster for us. First, trapped in Textile City; now, forced into your car to endure your mockery. And Yihui—the harm you caused him was devastating. Do you realize that the wounds suffered growing up will blend into one’s flesh and blood, marking a lifetime?”

Tang Chao was moved; Yishu’s words struck home, stirring memories from his childhood. Bullying Yihui was his way of transferring pain, grafting misfortune onto another unfortunate soul.

Misfortune is a contagious virus; those afflicted exhibit different symptoms.

“My brother is my brother,” Tang Chao’s brows relaxed, his face breaking into a wide smile. “Once he’s with me, I’ll make it up to him.”

“Fine, let’s not discuss anything else for now,” Yishu conceded, seeking a roundabout escape. “Will your sister agree? Your father, your mother—will they agree?”

“My life is my own. I love freedom. If they interfere, they’re not truly my parents or my sister.” Tang Chao’s tone was resolute, his gaze unwavering, his demeanor composed and certain. “If family becomes an obstacle to happiness, they don’t deserve to be called family.”

His words were weighty, each sentence striking Yishu’s heart. “But I’ve said it already—I have Shixi, and I love him dearly. Why waste your efforts? My sister’s feelings must be considered.”

“I’ve told you, unless you’re married, I still have a chance. Even if you do marry, you might divorce, and I’ll still have a chance.” Tang Chao gripped the steering wheel, seeing the road clear ahead, then turned to look at her. “As for my sister, I don’t think she has any reason to object. I’ve helped her resolve her rival, reunited her with her love after eight years. Would she turn her back on happiness right in front of her?”

The bond between Tang Chao and Tang Dai was unlike Yishu and Yihui’s close relationship. Tang Dai had always been that “model child” in their parents’ eyes, labeled as outstanding, clever, and perceptive. Tang Chao, on the other hand, was dismissed as idle, a playboy, lost to frivolity. With such stark contrast, one stood atop a podium, the other in a pit; the affection between them was marked by distance, not warmth. How deep could it be?

“Can I ask—what exactly do you like about me?” Yishu was stunned; his nonsensical words muddled her usual logic. “Why do you like me?”

“Because I like you, that’s all. I don’t need a reason to like someone!”

“If you can’t think of one, I’ll answer for you,” Yishu pondered briefly, putting herself in his place. “You like me as I am now—still young, though older. But in ten, fifteen years, when my beauty fades and you’re at your prime, you’ll realize that what you liked was just my youth.”

No, that’s not it! Tang Chao firmly denied it within himself. If all he wanted was youth, there were plenty of younger, prettier girls at school. Why not pursue them? Why lose his appetite and sleep over her?

All his words scattered into a jumble, and Tang Chao couldn’t voice what he wanted to say.

The car arrived at Textile City.

Before he could gather himself, Yishu slipped out the door, choosing escape over confrontation.