Fu Haoyan slammed on the brakes without hesitation, not caring that the car was still in the middle of the road.
The moment the car stopped, Lei Shaoxin pushed the door open and stepped out. The closer she got, the stronger the smell of paint became.
She stood there, staring blankly at the red paint on the ground. In her mind, a painful memory surfaced—her mother’s tragic accident years ago right outside their home.
The red paint looked disturbingly similar to blood.
Her stomach churned instantly. She staggered toward the nearby steps and threw up, nearly collapsing.
Fu Haoyan quickly parked the car by the roadside and rushed over.
Seeing her like this, he frowned deeply and hurried to her side without a second thought. He gently patted her back, trying to help her feel better.
Lei Shaoxin gasped for breath and slowly crouched down. Ignoring the mess around them, Fu Haoyan crouched beside her and pulled her into his arms to comfort her.
He could feel her body trembling uncontrollably—far from normal.
“Shaoxin, I’ll take you to the hospital,” he said urgently.
He took her hand and tried to lead her back to the car.
But she pulled her hand away and stood still.
“I… I don’t want to go…” she said, her voice shaking, unable to finish her sentence.
Remembering what A-Le had told him, Fu Haoyan didn’t push her. Instead, he chose to follow her lead.
He raised his hands slightly in a calming gesture. “Alright, alright, we won’t go. Let’s go to my place instead, okay?”
Lei Shaoxin nodded faintly, her eyes unfocused.
He gently took her hand again, guided her into the passenger seat, and fastened her seatbelt.
Instead of taking her back to the Fu residence—worried it might alarm Chen Jenny—he brought her to another home, the Jialishan Villa.
In the bedroom, Fu Haoyan stood by the bed, looking down at her.
She lay there silently, staring at the ceiling, completely withdrawn.
Seeing her in this state, not saying a word, made his heart ache.
Thinking about how she had just been sick, he figured she must be hungry.
He crouched beside her and gently stroked her hair. “Are you hungry?”
She didn’t respond.
He stood up and said softly, “Rest for a while.”
He left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar.
Realizing she didn’t have a change of clothes, he called Ah Feng. “Buy a set of women’s pajamas and some plain porridge. Bring them to Jialishan.”
Ah Feng, upon receiving the call, reported something he had learned earlier that day. “Brother Yan, Miss Lei saw a psychologist once in May, but didn’t continue the follow-up visits.”
“I understand.”
After hanging up, Fu Haoyan stood there, his expression heavy with concern.
May—that was when she had just returned to Hong Kong.
Had she recovered back then? Or had things gotten worse now? How had he not noticed sooner?
He snapped back to his thoughts and glanced through the slightly open door. Warm light spilled out, but his gaze lowered, filled with guilt and self-blame.
He didn’t go back inside, only quietly closing the door.
After settling her in, he noticed his clothes were dirty. He went downstairs to clean up.
When he finished, Ah Feng had just arrived with the porridge and clothes.
“Bring them upstairs,” Fu Haoyan said.
Ah Feng followed him up, stopping a few steps away from the bedroom out of consideration.
Fu Haoyan opened the door—and immediately sensed something was wrong. He rushed forward.
In the dim light, he saw that Lei Shaoxin was lying still, with signs that she had seriously hurt herself. Nearby, there were clear indications of what had happened.
Realizing the situation, Fu Haoyan snapped out of his shock.
He quickly lifted her into his arms and rushed out. “Ah Feng, get the car!”
Holding her tightly, he hurried to get help as fast as possible.
Ah Feng, stunned by the scene, fumbled and dropped the things he was carrying, too shaken to react immediately.
Fu Haoyan stepped over the scattered items on the floor and hurried downstairs.
Drops of blood continued to fall from her fingertips, leaving a trail behind them.
Lei Shaoxin had already lost consciousness.
By the time Fu Haoyan reached downstairs, the car was waiting at the entrance. Ah Feng had opened the rear door wide, carefully shielding her head as he helped them into the back seat before rushing to the driver’s side.
As he drove, Ah Feng handed over a towel he had grabbed on the way.
Fu Haoyan took it and gently pressed it against her wrist. The bright red quickly soaked through the white fabric.
The air inside the car felt heavy and tense. Fu Haoyan forced himself to stay calm—one hand holding the towel in place, the other lightly tapping her face, trying to keep her conscious.
“Shaoxin, don’t fall asleep… we’re almost at the hospital.”
“There are still so many places we haven’t been.”
“I haven’t heard enough of you playing the electric guitar yet…”
The person in his arms suddenly began to tremble, her body turning cold. Panic rose in him.
Just then, they arrived at the hospital.
Ah Feng had already contacted them in advance and explained the situation. The hospital director was waiting at the entrance.
Fu Haoyan carried Lei Shaoxin out of the car.
Nurses quickly wheeled a stretcher toward the operating room. Fu Haoyan followed closely, afraid that if he looked away, she might disappear from his sight. He only stopped when the operating room doors closed.
He sat silently on a bench in the empty hallway.
Ah Feng stood near the operating room, occasionally glancing up at the red “In Surgery” light.
Fu Haoyan lowered his gaze to the dried blood on his hands, an uneasy feeling rising in his chest.
It reminded him of two years ago—when his father had been in a serious car accident. After entering the operating room, he never woke up again.
That year, Fu Haoyan had returned home full of excitement after graduation. But just as he stepped out of the airport, he received a call from Chen Jenny, urgently telling him to go to the hospital.
Only then did he learn that his father had already been in surgery for more than three hours.
He couldn’t remember how long he had waited outside.
He only remembered his father being wheeled out, covered, and his mother collapsing in grief in the hallway before being taken away by doctors.
After settling his mother, he walked in a daze to the morgue.
Only when he got closer did he notice how much his father had aged—his hair now streaked with white.
He reached out and held his father’s cold, unmoving hand. “Dad… I’m back.”
With his other hand, he took out his graduation certificate and held it up. “Look, Dad… I kept my promise. I graduated and came back to help with the family business.”
“We’re not playing anymore… Dad, wake up…”
He tried to pull his father’s hand, but it slipped from his grasp, hanging lifelessly by the bedside.
He stared at that once-strong hand—the one that had always protected him.
His strength gave out. The certificate slipped from his hand and fell to the floor.
He sank down, at a loss, resting his forehead against the cold metal frame, eyes tightly shut.
No tears came. He could only whisper over and over,
“It’s my fault…”
“I’m sorry, Dad…”
That day had been unbearably cold.
“Brother Yan, should I go get you a change of clothes?”
Ah Feng’s voice pulled him back to the present.
Ah Feng noticed the bloodstains on Fu Haoyan’s dark silk pajamas—hard to see, but impossible to ignore because of the lingering smell.
Fu Haoyan nodded.
As Ah Feng took a few steps away, a trembling voice called out from behind him. “Do you have a cigarette?”
Ah Feng took out a lighter and a nearly full pack from his pocket and handed them over before continuing on.
Fu Haoyan accepted them, ignoring the “No Smoking” sign on the wall.
He lit a cigarette, turning his head slightly. In his own hospital, no nurse dared to stop him.
The hallway was just as silent as it had been back then.
He hadn’t expected that two years later, the same sense of dread would return.
Fu Haoyan took a deep drag, tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and slowly exhaled.