VI
On his way back from the studio, Lu Shiyan encountered a stranger in the corridor.
The man was wearing a well-tailored dark gray suit and gold-rimmed glasses. His demeanor was gentle and refined—clearly well-educated.
He stood outside Su Tang's office, holding a bouquet of white roses.
"Excuse me, is Su Tang here?" the man asked Lu Shiyan.
"No," Lu Shiyan said coldly.
"Where did she go?"
"I don't know."
The man seemed surprised by the curt response, paused, then smiled politely. "I'll wait for her then."
He sat down in a chair in the corridor and placed the flowers beside him.
Lu Shiyan didn't leave. He stood at the other end of the corridor.
The two of them stayed there, silent, at a distance from each other.
After a while, Su Tang came up from downstairs. When she saw the man, she paused.
"Gu Yanbai? What are you doing here?"
The man stood up, picked up the flowers, and walked toward her. "I came to see you. It's been a while."
Su Tang took the flowers and gave a polite smile. "Thank you. Come in."
They went into the office, leaving the door open.
Lu Shiyan stood in the corridor, watching the half-open door, feeling something he couldn't quite name.
The man's smile was gentle, his voice soft, his gaze at Su Tang focused.
What was their relationship?
Friends? Classmates? Or…
"That man," Uncle Wang had appeared beside him, "is Xiao Su's ex."
Lu Shiyan turned to look at him. "Ex?"
"Yeah. He's some kind of doctor, returned from abroad, good background. Xiao Su's mother really liked him, always trying to set them up." Uncle Wang lowered his voice. "But Xiao Su didn't like him, so they broke up."
Lu Shiyan said nothing, just looked at the door.
"What, jealous?" Uncle Wang asked, grinning.
"No." Lu Shiyan's face was expressionless.
"Then why are you standing here?"
"Passing by."
"You've been standing here for five minutes."
"…." Lu Shiyan turned and walked away.
Behind him, Uncle Wang laughed and slapped his thigh.
VII
In the office, Gu Yanbai sat on the sofa, looking around.
"Your conditions here really aren't good," he said, a hint of concern in his voice. "Aunt Su is something else, sending you to a place like this."
"I think it's fine." Su Tang poured him a glass of water. "It's rundown, but it's free."
"Free?" Gu Yanbai smiled wryly. "You've always been like this, willing to give up anything for freedom."
"It's not that I give up anything. It's that what I want, others can't give me."
Gu Yanbai looked at her, paused. "Su Tang, I came back this time to tell you—"
"Gu Yanbai." Su Tang interrupted him. "If you're here to catch up, you're welcome. But if you're here to say something else, then don't."
Gu Yanbai paused, then smiled. "You're still so direct."
"I've always been this way."
"Alright." He sighed. "Then I won't say anything else. I just wanted to let you know I'm back in the country, working at First People's Hospital. We're colleagues now. We can keep in touch."
Su Tang nodded. "Welcome back."
Gu Yanbai stood up and walked to the door, then turned back. "By the way, who was that person in the corridor just now?"
"My patient."
"Patient?" Gu Yanbai frowned. "He doesn't look like a patient."
"Insomnia. Too much stress." Su Tang said simply.
Gu Yanbai nodded, didn't ask further. "I'll go then. Let's have dinner sometime."
"Alright."
After seeing Gu Yanbai off, Su Tang returned to her office and looked at the bouquet of white roses on her desk. She thought for a moment, picked them up, and placed them on the windowsill.
White roses were pretty, but she preferred sunflowers.
Always facing the sun, always full of hope.
VIII
At dinner, Lu Shiyan dropped his chopsticks three times.
Not because his hands were shaking, but because his mind was elsewhere.
He kept thinking about that man—Gu Yanbai, doctor, returnee, the one Su Tang's mother liked.
They seemed well-matched.
Both from medical families, both well-educated, both with respectable careers.
And what was he? An insomniac patient. Someone who couldn't even sleep well. Someone who needed to be taken care of.
What right did he have to…
Wait.
What was he thinking?
"Well-matched"? "What right"? Why was he comparing himself to that man?
Lu Shiyan was startled by his own thoughts, and dropped his chopsticks again.
"Mr. Lu, what's wrong with you today?" Su Tang came over and placed a bowl of soup in front of him. "You seem unsettled."
"Nothing." He picked up the chopsticks and continued eating.
"Is it because of the visitor this afternoon?" Su Tang asked.
Lu Shiyan's movements stopped. "No."
"He's my ex-boyfriend, but we broke up a long time ago." Su Tang said calmly. "He just came to catch up. Nothing more."
Lu Shiyan looked up at her. "You don't need to explain to me."
"I know." Su Tang smiled. "But I saw you were upset, so I thought I'd let you know."
"I'm not upset."
"You are." Su Tang pointed at his eyebrows. "Your eyebrows are twisted into a knot."
Lu Shiyan instinctively touched his eyebrows and realized they were indeed furrowed.
He quickly relaxed them and put on a stern face. "That's from the sun."
"Oh, from the sun." Su Tang held back a laugh. "That sun is really something, twisting your eyebrows into knots."
"…." Lu Shiyan lowered his head and ate, not speaking.
Su Tang sat down beside him and picked up her bowl.
They ate in silence for a while. Then Lu Shiyan spoke. "Why didn't you stay with him?"
Su Tang paused. "What?"
"Gu Yanbai. He has good credentials. Your mother likes him. Why didn't you stay with him?"
Su Tang put down her bowl and looked at him. "Do you really want to know?"
Lu Shiyan didn't answer, but his expression gave him away.
Su Tang thought for a moment. "Because he's not what I want."
"What do you want?"
"Someone who makes me laugh." Su Tang said. "Someone who makes every day feel worth looking forward to. Someone who can grow vegetables with me, paint with me, do exercises with me."
She looked at him and smiled. "Is that too much to ask?"
Lu Shiyan looked at her and didn't speak.
But his heartbeat suddenly quickened.