Everyone could see that An Yi’s mental state was on the brink of collapse.

His sister was the only reason he kept going.

Lin Yuming specially applied for permission from the higher-ups, allowing An Yi to disinfect and protect himself to visit An Ya in the transplant ward.

An Ya lay weakly on the hospital bed, with tubes and monitors all over her body.

Beside her pillow was a photo of her and her brother taken at the zoo last year. Back then, An Ya still had long black hair, fair skin, and delicate features. The contrast with her current emaciated appearance was stark.

An Yi almost immediately burst into tears upon seeing it.

He turned away, wiped his tears, and gently tapped on the window twice.

The medication window was right next to the bed. An Ya turned her eyes to him, stunned for a moment. Lacking the strength to sit up properly, she merely craned her neck.

An Yi hurriedly waved to her and said through the glass, “Lie down and don’t move around.”

“Ge…” An Ya’s eyes reddened. “I miss you so much.”

“Don’t cry, don’t cry…” An Yi pressed his hands against the window, wishing he could enter and bear her suffering for her. “Does it hurt? How are you feeling now?”

An Ya shook her head gently and smiled at him. “When I see you, I’m not afraid of anything.”

An Yi felt a pang in his heart. Over the years, it seemed like he had been the one raising An Ya, but in reality, she was the beacon guiding him forward.

It wasn’t that An Ya couldn’t live without him; it was that he couldn’t bear to lose her.

“You behave yourself in there, cooperate with the doctors’ treatment. Once your fever goes down, you can come out, okay?” An Yi said softly.

“Yeah,” An Ya closed her eyes and rested before looking at him again. “I still want to go to the sea and climb snowy mountains with you, ge. Don’t back out on me.”

“I won’t. I’ll accompany you wherever you want to go,” An Yi looked at her tearfully. “I’ll always be with you.”

“…Ge, you look ugly when you cry.”

Before their laughter could fade, they found themselves locking eyes in tears once again.

After a long while, An Ya said, “Ge, I’m a bit tired. I want you to hug me, like you did when we were little.”

An Yi lowered his head, tears dripping onto his hand.

How he wished he could hug her right now.

The child who had always been afraid of pain, who should have been enjoying her youth, was now confined to this small, cramped hospital room day in and day out, battling loneliness and illness.

He wanted to take her outside to feel the wind and see the sun, to ruffle her hair like he used to when she was little, and tell her, “All the pain will go away.”

But he couldn’t.

The glass window in front of him separated them into two worlds.

So close, yet so far away.

An Yi felt overwhelmingly oppressed, his heart aching.

At this moment, Lin Yuming came over and patted his shoulder, reminding him that it was almost time. “An Ya still needs rest and can’t get too excited.”

An Yi nodded, holding onto the last thread of composure, giving An Ya a few words of advice before reluctantly leaving.

Once he stepped out of the transplant ward, he felt like he couldn’t hold on any longer.

He sat on the bench outside the ward, hands covering his face, he remained silent for a long time.

Lin Yuming accompanied him for a while, but due to work, he left first and was replaced by Qin Muye.

Qin Muye probably guessed the situation here and felt genuinely sorry from the bottom of his heart.

He didn’t ask anything, just silently kept him company.

As the sky darkened outside and the temperature dropped, Qin Muye took off his coat and draped it over An Yi, saying, “Let me take you home. Staying here any longer will make you sick.”

Only then did An Yi seem to come to his senses, shaking his head slightly. “You… don’t need to accompany me. I just need to take a breather.”

“No, I can’t let you go back alone in this state,” Qin Muye helped him stand up. “Do you have the strength? I can carry you.”

An Yi shook his head and returned the coat to him. “I’m not cold. You should wear it.”

Qin Muye didn’t take it and instead helped him carry the thermos lunch box, insisting on sending him home.

An Yi didn’t invite him upstairs, and Qin Muye didn’t ask. But when An Yi got out of the car, Qin Muye stopped him. “Um… I know you’re not in the mood to talk about other things right now, but I still want to apologize to you for my recklessness before. Believe me, I really didn’t mean any harm.”

An Yi nodded and walked towards the residential area alone.

His slender figure, like a drifting ghost.

Qin Muye looked at him deeply for a moment, then started the car and disappeared into the night.

Early the next morning, Qin Muye drove to the entrance of the residential area and waited.

When he saw An Yi coming out, he quickly called out to him.

An Yi’s expression was still not good. It seemed he had endured another night of torment. Qin Muye asked, “Have you had breakfast?”

An Yi shook his head and asked, “Why are you here?”

“I’ll take you to the hospital,” Qin Muye opened the car door for him and handed him a bag. “Inside are sandwiches made by my mom. They taste good, and I wrapped them in foil, so they should still be warm.”

An Yi didn’t move.

Qin Muye simply stuffed the things into his hands and then put the lunch box in the car.

An Yi sat in the passenger seat, took a bite of the warm breakfast, and softly said, “Thank you.”

“There’s no need for these words between friends,” Qin Muye glanced at An Yi’s profile as they waited at a traffic light. “Last month, I was grounded at home by my parents all the time. I didn’t expect you to have such a hard time during this period. Doesn’t Yan Chen know about this?”

An Yi lowered his head and said, “He’s busy.”

Moreover, what could Yan Chen do?

Qin Muye didn’t say anything else. After dropping An Yi off at the hospital gate, he drove away.

Two hours later, he appeared again outside the transplant ward, accompanied by a female scholar with glasses and graying hair.

“This is Professor Lin Qing, a well-known expert in this field. She has been giving academic lectures in Xiachuan recently. She can have a consultation to see if there is a better treatment plan.”

Relying on his family’s connections, Qin Muye invited her here, not only as a gesture of goodwill but also to bring a little more hope to An Yi.

An Yi no longer rejected Qin Muye’s closeness. His only concern now was An Ya’s safety, and nothing else mattered.

Qin Muye also behaved appropriately.

He acted as a friend, driving An Yi to and from the hospital, and they got along very harmoniously.

It was raining mixed with snow outside again that day. When the car entered the old town area, the slippery road made it difficult to drive. Qin Muye turned the steering wheel a bit too forcefully, and the car hit the municipal railing by the roadside.

Fortunately, no one was injured.

An Yi felt guilty about this. “The roads around here have always been difficult to navigate. I should have taken the bus back, instead of causing you trouble.”

“It’s nothing,” Qin Muye didn’t mind, but he glanced at the time, “It’s not easy to get a car during rush hour now. Can I come up to have a cup of hot water?”

An Yi nodded repeatedly and led him upstairs.

Little did anyone know that about five minutes after they entered the community, Yan Chen’s conspicuous 911 turned into this narrow and dilapidated old street.

An Yi, who had just been exposed to the wind and rain outside, made ginger tea for the two.

After they finished drinking, he started preparing vegetables in the kitchen for tomorrow morning. Qin Muye noticed and came to help.

“I heard that there was a slight adjustment in medication after the consultation. Has your sister’s fever gone down?” Qin Muye asked.

“It’s still a low-grade fever, not as high as before,” An Yi said. “Yuming said the diarrhea situation has improved slightly.”

Qin Muye nodded and asked again, “Is her mental state okay?”

“It’s still the same. She hangs up the video call after a few words,” An Yi said with concern. He didn’t notice his finger bleeding while chopping vegetables. It was Qin Muye who first noticed the blood on the knife blade.

“Why are you so careless?!” Qin Muye grabbed his hand and rinsed off the blood. “Do you have a medical kit at home?”

“No need to bother,” An Yi tried to retract his hand. “I can handle it myself.”

“No, there are a lot of bacteria on the kitchen knife,” Qin Muye frowned. “Where’s the iodine?”

“…It’s in that drawer over there. I don’t know if it’s expired,” An Yi pointed to the low table in the living room.

Qin Muye led him over, found the disinfectant and cotton swabs, made sure they weren’t expired, and then disinfected his hand.

That night, An Yi was wearing a loose-fitting pajamas with wide cuffs. As Qin Muye applied medicine to his hand, the sleeve slipped down inadvertently, revealing his scarred wrist.

Qin Muye noticed it immediately.

“What happened here?”

An Yi tried to pull his sleeve back, but it was too late. Qin Muye forcibly held his hand and examined both his arms.

There were scratches from blunt knives, some deep and some shallow, distributed on the inner sides of both forearms. The sight was quite shocking.

Qin Muye was distressed. “When did this start? Did you do this to yourself?”

An Yi tried to break free from his grip, lowered his head to fix his sleeve, and whispered, “I don’t remember.”

“How can you not remember?” Qin Muye was shaken. “Doesn’t it hurt at all? When Dr. Lin mentioned withdrawal symptoms the other day, were you taking any medication before?”

He couldn’t understand, let alone imagine, under what mental state a person would lift a sharp knife against themselves.

An Yi couldn’t explain either.

Seeing Qin Muye’s worried expression, he smiled weakly. “Don’t make that face. I won’t commit suicide.”

“You still have the mood to smile?” Qin Muye felt it was a big deal. “Has Dr. Lin seen these wounds?”

An Yi shook his head. “I was very anxious before, but I’ve gotten used to it recently. There’s no need to trouble others.”

“…Alright, I won’t trouble him,” Qin Muye said. “I’ll keep an eye on you in the future. You’re not allowed to do such foolish things again. If you’re under pressure or have something on your mind, come to me. I’ll do my best to help you.”

An Yi paused for a moment and whispered, “You don’t have to be so good to me. Last time Yan Chen misunderstood…”

“You’re still worried about his misunderstanding at this time?” Qin Muye was indignant. “He keeps saying you’re his person, but where was he when you were suffering the most? I’ve told you I like you. If you don’t accept me, it’s okay. I know you’ve been busy lately. I can wait for you, I can be a regular friend by your side. Please don’t push me away. Can you let me help you at this time? I mean it.”

An Yi didn’t know how to respond.

Seeing An Yi’s fingertips trembling, Qin Muye couldn’t help but worry. “What’s wrong? Are you cold or in pain? Is this some kind of withdrawal symptom?”

An Yi wrapped himself in a blanket and smiled at him. “I’m a bit cold. Don’t worry.”

Qin Muye had witnessed his numerous scars. How could he not worry?

After a while, seeing that An Yi hadn’t improved, Qin Muye reached out and touched his forehead. Frowning, he said, “You have a fever.”

After checking his temperature, it was 38.5 degrees Celsius.

There were no fever-reducing medicines at home, so Qin Muye wrung out a wet towel and used it to cool his neck and forehead. After a long time, his temperature didn’t decrease but instead rose. Qin Muye decided he needed to go downstairs to buy medicine.

An Yi had no strength left. Lying on the sofa, his face was flushed, and his eyes were filled with mist.

“Thank you.” If it weren’t for Qin Muye bringing him back, no one would have noticed if he fainted at home today.

“I’ve already said we’re friends, so don’t be polite. I’ll go to the pharmacy downstairs and be right back. I have the keys.” Qin Muye covered him with a blanket, grabbed his coat and keys, and said as he walked out.

Little did he know that when he opened the door, he saw a tall figure shrouded in darkness, not knowing how long he had been standing outside the door.

The faint orange light emanating from the living room fell on Yan Chen’s handsome and cold face, but it couldn’t penetrate the chilling coldness in his eyes.