Part One: Can I Go Outside?
“She had spent eighteen years watching the world through glass.
Today, the door was finally open.”
After the medical examination, Yu Mingyue carried her report everywhere.
She brought it to lunch.
Placed it beside her bowl.
Checked it twice while eating.
Then carried it into the sitting room as though it were a certificate proving that she had won something important.
Gu Mengmeng stared at the report.
Then at Yu Mingyue.
“You know it won’t change if you stop looking at it, right?”
Yu Mingyue hugged the folder protectively.
“I’m making sure.”
“Making sure of what?”
“That it still says healthy.”
“It will.”
“What if the words disappear?”
Gu Mengmeng became silent.
The question had been spoken lightly.
But everyone in the room understood the fear hidden beneath it.
Yu Mingyue had known what it was like to have a healthy future for only one day.
It was natural that part of her still expected it to be taken away.
Gu Mengmeng reached across the sofa and tapped the folder.
“It won’t disappear.”
Yu Mingyue looked at her.
Gu Mengmeng lifted her chin.
“And if it does, Brother Mingzhe can print another copy.”
From across the room, Gu Mingzhe adjusted his glasses.
“That is not how health works.”
Gu Mengmeng waved dismissively.
“You know what I mean.”
Yu Mingyue laughed.
The tension passed.
Only Xiao Bai remained seated on top of the report, his tiny legs crossed.
He examined the medical conclusion with great seriousness.
“Host.”
“Hm?”
“I have confirmed it.”
“Confirmed what?”
“You are still healthy.”
Yu Mingyue narrowed her eyes.
“You cannot read half the medical terms.”
“I understand the important word.”
“Which one?”
“Normal.”
She smiled.
“That is my favorite word too.”
Outside the tall windows, sunlight covered the garden.
The wind moved gently through the phoenix trees.
Leaves shimmered beneath the afternoon light.
Yu Mingyue’s gaze drifted toward them.
She watched for a while.
Then she looked down at the medical report.
Healthy.
Normal.
Strong enough to exercise.
A small thought took shape.
It should have been ordinary.
Yet speaking it aloud felt strangely difficult.
She turned toward Lu Yanxi.
He sat in the armchair near the window, reviewing documents on a tablet.
“Brother Yanxi.”
His attention immediately left the screen.
“What is it?”
Yu Mingyue folded her hands over the report.
“Can I go outside?”
Silence settled over the room.
It happened too quickly.
One moment, everyone had been relaxed.
The next, every expression changed.
Gu Mingzhe looked toward the garden.
Xie Chengyi stopped turning the small metal part between his fingers.
Gu Mengmeng’s hand tightened around the cushion.
Lu Yanxi did not answer.
Yu Mingyue’s smile remained in place.
But she understood the silence.
She had asked that question many times before.
When she was seven and wanted to play in the snow.
When she was ten and heard children laughing in the garden.
When she was fourteen and wanted to attend a school festival.
When she was seventeen and asked to watch the sunrise from the hill outside the city.
The answer had almost always been the same.
Not today.
The weather was too cold.
Her condition was unstable.
She had just taken medicine.
She needed rest.
There would be another chance.
Except there had not been.
Yu Mingyue lowered her gaze.
“It’s fine.”
Her voice remained cheerful.
“I was only asking.”
She lightly tapped the report against her knees.
“I can stay inside.”
No one spoke.
The ease with which she accepted disappointment made the room feel heavier.
She was too practiced at it.
Too accustomed to hearing no.
Gu Mingzhe looked at the report in her hands.
Then at the girl waiting quietly on the sofa.
He had spent years telling her to be careful.
Sit down.
Rest.
Do not run.
Do not go outside.
Do not become excited.
Every warning had once been necessary.
Now those same words had become chains no one knew how to remove.
Gu Mingzhe closed the file beside him.
“Go.”
Yu Mingyue looked up.
“What?”
“You may go outside.”
Her eyes widened.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
She looked toward Lu Yanxi as though expecting him to disagree.
His gaze remained fixed on her.
The old fear was still there.
But after several seconds, he gave a slight nod.
“Stay in the garden.”
The smile that appeared on Yu Mingyue’s face was immediate.
Bright.
Almost childish.
“I will.”
Gu Mengmeng stood at once.
“I’m coming.”
“So am I,” Gu Mingzhe said.
Xie Chengyi rose without speaking.
Yu Mingyue looked around at all of them.
“I’m going to the garden, not crossing a battlefield.”
“No difference,” Gu Mengmeng said.
“There is a large difference.”
“Not to them.”
Yu Mingyue looked at the three men.
None denied it.
Xiao Bai floated beside her shoulder.
“Host, your protection detail has mobilized.”
“I noticed.”
“It appears excessive.”
“I also noticed.”
She carefully placed the medical report on the table.
Then hesitated.
She turned back and picked it up again.
Gu Mengmeng stared.
“You’re taking it outside?”
“For protection.”
“Against what?”
“Bad luck.”
Gu Mengmeng sighed.
“You have become superstitious.”
“I came back from the dead with a flying system.”
Only Yu Mingyue and Xiao Bai heard the last two words.
Xiao Bai straightened proudly.
“At least you acknowledge that I fly.”
Yu Mingyue walked toward the glass doors leading into the garden.
Her hand reached for the handle.
Then stopped.
For years, someone else had always opened doors for her.
Not because she was incapable.
Because even small efforts were carefully measured.
Today, Lu Yanxi stood only a step behind her.
He could have opened it.
He did not.
Yu Mingyue glanced back.
Their eyes met.
After a moment, she understood.
He was waiting.
Allowing her to choose.
Her fingers closed around the handle.
She pushed.
The doors opened.
Warm air entered the room.
The scent of grass and lilies drifted inside.
Yu Mingyue stood at the threshold.
Sunlight rested across the stone path.
Leaves rustled overhead.
Somewhere near the pond, a bird called.
She took one step outside.
Then another.
No one stopped her.
No one told her to be careful.
No one asked whether she was tired.
The wind moved across the garden and lifted the ends of her hair.
Yu Mingyue froze.
It was not the first time she had felt wind.
She had sat beside open windows.
Walked slowly beneath covered paths.
Ridden in cars with the windows lowered.
But she had never stood beneath the open sky without counting her breaths.
Never felt the wind without wondering whether it was too cold.
Never allowed herself to simply receive it.
She lifted one hand.
The breeze slipped between her fingers.
Warm.
Light.
Free.
Yu Mingyue closed her eyes.
For a few seconds, she did nothing.
Behind her, no one spoke.
Even Gu Mengmeng remained quiet.
The wind touched Yu Mingyue’s cheeks.
Moved through her hair.
Filled her lungs.
Her heart beat steadily in the sunlight.
When she opened her eyes again, they were shining.
“So this is what wind feels like.”
Gu Mengmeng’s lips trembled.
She quickly looked away.
Yu Mingyue turned toward the others.
A question had already formed.
She tried to hide it.
Failed.
Gu Mingzhe recognized the expression immediately.
“What do you want to do?”
Yu Mingyue clasped her hands behind her back.
“Nothing.”
“Mingyue.”
She smiled innocently.
“Can I run?”
The garden became still.
Old fear returned at once.
Lu Yanxi’s jaw tightened.
Gu Mingzhe looked at the report she was holding.
Xie Chengyi’s eyes moved toward her chest, as though he could see the healthy heart beating inside.
Gu Mengmeng opened her mouth.
No answer came.
Yu Mingyue waited.
Her smile became smaller.
“I don’t have to.”
That sentence made the decision for them.
Lu Yanxi’s gaze darkened.
Then, very slowly, he stepped aside from the path.
“Go.”
Yu Mingyue stared at him.
“Really?”
“Slowly.”
Her smile returned.
“Okay.”
She handed the medical report to Gu Mengmeng.
“Protect this.”
Gu Mengmeng clutched it against her chest.
“With my life.”
“That seems unnecessary.”
“Go before they change their minds.”
Yu Mingyue turned toward the long garden path.
It stretched beneath the trees.
Open.
Bright.
Waiting.
She took one step.
Then another.
At first, she only walked quickly.
Her body remembered caution even when it was no longer necessary.
She could almost hear the voices from her old life.
Slow down.
Do not become excited.
Your heart cannot handle it.
Yu Mingyue looked ahead.
The path continued beneath the sunlight.
She took a deep breath.
Then she ran.