Qian Wang, for the umpteenth time, forcibly dragged Lao Wang to the bar for drinks. Even though Lao Wang had been indifferent to him lately, it didn’t seem to affect him at all.

In truth, he wasn’t someone who could get drunk easily, but recently, he found himself feigning drunkenness more and more often. Every time he acted on impulse, he would completely cast aside his image as a professor.

Lao Wang was also a professor, but he had a family and a career. He didn’t have the nerve to indulge in these drunken antics with Qian Wang. Besides, Lao Wang knew full well that despite how intoxicated Qian Wang seemed, his real intention was just to use the pretense of being drunk as an excuse to vent.

Today was no different. Qian Wang, with a gloomy expression, kept forcing drinks down Lao Wang’s throat. After seven or eight glasses, right on cue, he started swaying, muttering nonsense that didn’t quite sound like nonsense.

Lao Wang had accompanied Qian Wang through this drunken haze for several days, and he felt he had done more than enough. If he helped any longer, his wife would kick him out of the house. In fact, ever since she had heard about Qian Wang’s situation, she had been sarcastically mocking him at every opportunity.

After dragging and pulling the man out of the bar, Lao Wang, panting and resting a hand on his beer belly to catch his breath, glanced down at the large man lying on the ground. Deciding to completely wash his hands of the matter, he flagged down a taxi and left without a second thought.

Qian Wang sat all alone at the bar entrance, watching as groups of people came and went, not one paying him any attention.

He raised and lowered his phone repeatedly, staring at the familiar number he could recite backwards from memory. Yet, every time his finger hovered over the call button, his hand trembled uncontrollably. He was terrified of hearing the same heartless words as last time.

It was nearly summer now, so unlike last time, his hands weren’t frozen stiff.

As he mumbled to himself, the sound of screeching brakes echoed just inches from his face. Pretending to be in a daze, he lifted his head slightly, and the sight of a pair of high heels came into view.

Qian Wang smirked, straightened up, and exhaled. After tidying his clothes, there was no trace of his earlier disheveled state. His sister stared directly into his eyes for a while. Only after seeing the long-lost loneliness and unwillingness in her brother’s gaze did she finally concede.

“Get in the car.”

Like an obedient schoolboy, Qian Wang quietly walked to the other side and got in. The car started, and the scenery around them quickly blurred as it sped past.

Qian Wang assumed Lao Wang had told his sister about his whereabouts and that she came to take him home. Without asking anything, he closed his eyes and leaned back in the seat, pretending to doze off.

The woman glanced at her brother in the backseat through the rearview mirror, her emotions deeply conflicted.

Back then, when Qian Wang came out, she had only blamed the other person. She had always been fiercely protective of her family.

Over the years, just when she thought her brother could finally settle down, another incident arose. While she could rationally argue that it was almost entirely Qian Wang’s fault, her emotions didn’t allow her to feel that way.

Her interactions with Zhao Ziqiang had been limited, but she struck him as a contradiction—both old-fashioned and surprisingly innocent.

She had always thought that Qian Wang’s bargaining chip was Zhao Ziqiang’s unwavering love, but after a few months, she was also perplexed.

That person, who transformed from a boy into a man and from a student into a white-collar worker, always appeared introverted and deeply affectionate, was now so resolutely unwilling to compromise.

The car slowly came to a stop. Qian Wang, who had been in a daze, had actually fallen asleep. It wasn’t until the scent of the cigarette his sister lit drifted into his nose that he woke up. Instinctively, he looked out the car window and was surprised to see the entrance of the hospital.

“Jie？”

The woman didn’t explain anything and simply stared intently at the rearview mirror.

“With matters like this, you either cut ties completely or don’t get discouraged at every turn. If you don’t persist and you don’t cling on, that stone won’t be worn away by the dripping water.”

She exhaled a puff of smoke and seriously looked at the dazed man, then added:

“Besides, he isn’t heartless.”

Qian Wang vaguely shaped his lips into an “I” but swallowed the sound back down.

The woman smiled slightly.

“Actually, I can understand him quite well. When your brother-in-law’s affair with that someone led to our breakup, I felt the same way. I thought that even if I died, I would never forgive him in my next life. Just imagining his betrayal made me feel sick. But after two or three years of grinding through it, all that resentment faded away. Of course, we now have a daughter, right? Now we’re back together, and life goes on as it should. When he goes out for social events and comes home late, he always lets me know. My focus has shifted to our daughter and my work, and he understands that. He’s also much more considerate than before. So, do you think he changed, or do you think I changed?”

The woman paused, turning her head to look at her brother, who was frowning with his head down.

“Even though Zhao Ziqiang isn’t a woman, if you persist in admitting your mistakes and sincerely try to make amends, he might soften his heart. In matters of emotion, there isn’t much difference between men and women.”

She glanced at her brother, who was lost in thought while gazing out the car window, sighed, and with a tone suggesting she had said enough, she took a moment before adding one more sentence.

“If you keep being the same as before, think about what he would forgive you for. Do you want to drag him with you through the hassle? If you really want to be with him, think carefully about what you can do for him.”

At this point, Qian Wang’s sister stopped speaking and silently opened the car door.

Qian Wang unconsciously got out of the car, turned back to give the woman a deep look, and then walked into the hospital without looking back

The night was already deep, and the corridor was silent. The motion-activated lights flickered on and off as he walked past, almost as if testing a person’s heart.

Upon reaching his destination, he let out a deep breath and, looking through the window, saw the vague outline of someone on the bed with their brows furrowed slightly.

Zhao Ziqiang’s body healed fairly quickly; simple movements like turning over or walking were manageable as long as he took it slow, though sharp, biting pains still struck from time to time.

Qian Wang understood this kind of physical pain all too well.

But right at this very moment, for the first time, seeing that person in pain, he felt the emotional agony as well—that sharp, stabbing ache in the corner of his heart, as if it were being twisted and crushed under relentless pressure.