On An Ya’s 14th birthday, her second chemotherapy session had just begun.

An Yi bought her a birthday cake. When she blew out the candles, several patients from neighboring wards came to sing her a birthday song, mostly seven or eight-year-old children, making a lively scene.

When they all returned to their beds and the ward quieted down again, An Ya sighed, a hint of loneliness in her eyebrows.

An Yi cut a small piece of cake and handed it to her with a plastic fork, “You were so happy just now, why the sigh?”

An Ya said regretfully, “I can only spend my birthday in the ward, it’s so boring.”

“When you’re better, I’ll take you out to play. Wherever you want to go, we’ll go,” An Yi said.

“Really?” An Ya’s eyes lit up.

“Of course, when have I ever lied to you?”

“Great!” An Ya counted on her fingers, “Then let’s go to the beach first, then to the grasslands to ride horses, I also want to climb snow mountains… I don’t know if I can go with my condition.”

“Okay, we’ll go to all those places,” An Yi promised.

An Ya finally smiled contentedly, took out pen and paper, and insisted that An Yi write down these promises.

An Yi had no choice but to write them down.

An Ya was satisfied and put the note into a hardcover book, her eyes smiling: “Ge, help me comb my hair again.”

In her memory, it had always been her brother who combed her hair when she was a child.

Different from most clumsy men, her brother’s hands were beautiful and skillful, always able to weave various types of multi-strand braids for her.

“The last time you tied my hair was when I was in second grade.”

An Ya sat on a plastic stool while An Yi stood behind her, gathering her sparse strands of hair between his fingers.

An Yi corrected her: “First grade.”

“Oh, right, that’s when Mom left. To cheer me up, you would style my hair differently every day. My desk mate was so envious,” An Ya laughed. “She would always complain about her mom being clumsy, and then I proudly told her it was my brother who did my hair. After that, she would complain about her brother every day.”

An Yi pursed his lips and chuckled. As he laughed, his eyes turned red.

An Ya held a small round mirror in her hand and saw her hair, which was almost covering her scalp. She grinned, “Ge, have your skills deteriorated? It looks really ugly.”

“…Uh,” An Yi turned his head away, choking up, “I can’t take compliments.”

Although she teased him, An Ya still dragged him into taking many photos together. Then she pretended to be relaxed, “Shave it all off for me, this style looks like Qiu Qianren.”

The person who should be the saddest was still trying to cheer herself up. An Yi’s chest felt tight, and he couldn’t force a smile.

He borrowed a hair clipper and first tried it on his own head.

“What are you doing, ge?”

“I’m with you,” An Yi held her hand, “By next spring, your hair will grow back, and then I’ll braid it for you again. You can go back to school, wear your favorite dresses and school uniform, and study with your classmates.”

An Ya finally couldn’t hold back her tears, and they poured out.

“…I’m scared.”

“Don’t be afraid, you have me,” An Yi gently hugged her, “Winter will pass.”

There was always a gentle and firm strength in him, and An Ya felt at ease just leaning on him.

The siblings shaved each other’s heads. An Ya was amused by her brother’s appearance, and the emotions of sadness and melancholy were quickly smoothed over.

In the afternoon, when An Ya underwent lumbar puncture, she lay on the bed in discomfort, quietly crying. An Yi watched, feeling heartbroken, wishing he could endure the suffering for her.

After the lumbar puncture, she needed to lie still for six hours. An Yi stayed with her for a while, then went out and bought two cold caps, one for himself and one for his sister.

The weather was getting colder, and wearing hats was just right for keeping warm.

Considering that little girls loved to look pretty, An Yi looked at his phone balance and decided to buy her a high-quality wig.

After searching for a long time, he finally found a suitable one. On his way back, he encountered the doctors doing their rounds.

Seven or eight young doctors followed the big shot, listening attentively to the on-site teaching, occasionally asking questions. The atmosphere was tense, and the academic atmosphere was extremely strong.

An Yi listened carefully to their discussion while staying by the bedside.

At the end of the rounds, a young doctor with rimless glasses kept turning back. An Yi met his gaze, feeling a little dazed. When he came to his senses, the other person had already left.

“What’s wrong?” An Ya reached out and tugged at his sleeve.

An Yi shook his head and smiled at her, “Nothing, just lie down and don’t move.”

An Ya looked at the black cold cap on his head and laughed, “You look so cool like this.”

“You’re cool too,” An Yi showed her the hat and wig he bought, “When you can sit up tomorrow, try them on. If you don’t like it, I’ll get you a different one.”

“No problem, my brother’s taste must be impeccable.”

“You have such a sweet mouth.”

An Yi went to fetch hot water, and on his way back, he saw the young doctor standing at the door of the ward. He hesitated for a moment, and the other person also saw him, immediately stepping forward to greet him.

“An Yi? It’s really you!” The doctor was a bit excited. “I thought I got the wrong person.”

An Yi subconsciously tugged at his hat, and seeing the name “Lin Yuming” written on his chest badge, he smiled slightly, “Long time no see.”

“It really has been a long time. It’s been ten years since we graduated from high school,” Lin Yuming asked, “Do you have time to chat?”

The corridor was bustling with people, not suitable for catching up. An Yi put down the kettle and the two of them walked and talked by the garden downstairs.

Lin Yuming sighed, “Back before the college entrance examination, you suddenly transferred schools. I thought you went to another city. I didn’t expect to meet you here.”

“Yeah,” An Yi said softly, hands in the pockets of his hoodie, “I didn’t expect it either.”

“Is the one who’s sick… your sister?”

“Yeah,” An Yi didn’t want to talk about it much and asked him instead, “Are you just coming to this hospital? I didn’t see you during rounds before.”

“Yeah, I just rotated here. Your attending physician is my mentor. I’ll probably stay at the Hematology Center in the future.”

“Oh,” An Yi lowered his head again.

Lin Yuming walked alongside him for a short distance and asked again, “After graduation, I tried to find you a few times, but no one knew where you were. Were you still studying?”

An Yi’s fingertips suddenly tingled as if his recently healed burn had been broken open again.

He said softly, “I didn’t take the college entrance exam.”

Lin Yuming was taken aback, thinking he had misheard. An Yi was undoubtedly the top student of their year.

Seeing An Yi continuing to walk forward without stopping, his head still bowed, his thin and tall figure seemed especially lonely in the late autumn.

He hurriedly caught up, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know about this… Is it because of your family?”

At that time, An Yi was often harassed by debt collectors, and classmates had some knowledge of his family’s situation.

“It’s okay, it’s all in the past.” An Yi smiled at him, “I’ll count on you to take care of my sister in the future. Her condition… isn’t very optimistic.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll do my best.” Lin Yuming took out his phone, “Let’s exchange contacts. Feel free to contact me anytime in the future.”

After hesitating for a moment, An Yi added him on WeChat.

Lin Yuming sent his phone number, and as An Yi bowed his head to save it in his contacts, Lin Yuming suddenly reached out and hugged him lightly and quickly.

“I’m really happy to see you today.”

An Yi was slightly stunned, and Lin Yuming had already retreated to a social distance.

“I’ll go on duty now. I’ll treat you to a meal another day, and we’ll continue chatting.”

“…Yeah.”

An Yi watched him leave. Lin Yuming, dressed in a white coat, seemed to carry a breeze under his feet, even his departing figure exuded vigor and vitality.

He couldn’t help but lose himself in thought.

If—

If he had been admitted to his desired university back then, would his fate be different?

Unfortunately, there are no “ifs.”

“People have gone and disappeared, why are you still looking?”

Suddenly, Yan Chen’s voice came from behind. An Yi turned around and saw the man leaning against the corridor pillar, arms folded, calmly looking at him.

That gaze, no different from the one he had in the rain ten years ago.

An Yi restrained his thoughts and walked towards him.

“Have you checked on Xiao Ya upstairs? Why are you here?”

“I don’t do sudden attacks, how could I not run into you flirting with a male doctor?”

An Yi defended himself, “He’s a high school classmate. We haven’t seen each other in ten years.”

“So, you meet and immediately start hugging?” Yan Chen smirked, “When you were bullied in school, why didn’t this good friend of yours step up to help you?”

An Yi knew his temper. Whatever he said now would be wrong.

He didn’t want to argue with him in the cold wind.

“It’s getting windy. Let’s go upstairs first.” An Yi lifted his foot to leave but was pulled back by Yan Chen, grabbing the collar of his clothes.

His big hand warned him with a squeeze on the back of his neck, then he tried to pull An Yi’s hat off.

“What’s with this thing? It looks ugly as hell.”

“Don’t!” An Yi hurriedly pressed his hand, “I, I shaved my head.”

“Shave it if you want. I’ve seen it before.”

“I shaved it all off!” An Yi was afraid of making him angry and quickly explained, “Xiao Ya lost her hair from chemotherapy, so I shaved mine to accompany her.”

Yan Chen’s face did darken, but upon hearing the explanation, he suppressed his anger.

An Yi adjusted his hat and carefully observed Yan Chen’s expression. “It will grow back soon.”

Yan Chen snorted and turned around without saying a word, heading upstairs.

An Yi followed behind him, matching his pace.

In the hospital room, the bedside was piled with beautifully wrapped gift boxes, the countertop of the cabinet had a bouquet of fresh flowers, and there was a message book similar to a yearbook next to it.

Although An Ya was lying in bed unable to move, her excitement was visible. “Ge! These are all brought by Yan Chen ge, and there are messages from my classmates and teachers too!”

An Yi was very surprised. “Did you specifically go to the school?”

“It was on the way,” Yan Chen replied coldly to him, but when he turned to An Ya, his tone softened significantly, “When you can get out of bed tomorrow, slowly open these gifts.”

“But Yan Chen ge, you gave me too much, it’s a bit too much,” An Ya smiled shyly, “I’ll just keep one, and you can take the rest back.”

“Once a gift is given, there’s no reason to take it back,” Yan Chen said, “Consider it me making up for all the birthday presents I missed.”

An Ya exclaimed in surprise, looking at An Yi.

Before An Yi could speak, Yan Chen waved goodbye to An Ya. “I’ll come to see you again in a while.”

An Ya nodded understandingly and blinked at her brother. “Ge, you should go back too. I’m sleepy, and I’ll go to bed later.”

“…Okay, I’ll come back tomorrow morning.”

An Yi tucked her into bed, placed the call bell within reach, and made sure everything was in order before leaving.

Yan Chen didn’t wait for him and had already left in the elevator.

The hospital elevator was slow, stopping at almost every floor. An Yi didn’t want to waste time, so he ran directly from the stairwell to the underground parking lot.

A black Porsche 911 with its tail lights on was parked at the entrance of the elevator hall. The powerful engine hummed softly, as if a beast was growling low before its rage.

Yan Chen lowered the passenger window and tilted his head at him.

An Yi got into the car, and Yan Chen turned on the car’s music, clearly not wanting to talk to him.

An Yi looked at Yan Chen’s profile reflected on the car window and thought about how to cheer him up all the way. When he saw the familiar street scene, he finally came back to his senses.

The car stopped by the side of the street, the car lock popped up, and Yan Chen tapped the steering wheel with his finger, then turned off the music.

An Yi got out of the car, seeing that Yan Chen showed no intention of turning off the engine, he bent down to look into the car window and asked, “Aren’t you coming upstairs?”

Yan Chen said bluntly, “I can do you downstairs when you’re shaved, but I can’t get it up when you’re bald upstairs.”

An Yi’s face drained of color, and he stiffly stepped back.

The 911’s engine roared, and it surged forward before instantly braking again. Yan Chen honked the horn, and the passenger window was fully lowered.

An Yi looked over.

Yan Chen held the steering wheel with one hand and reminded him coldly, “Stay away from that doctor, don’t forget our three rules.”