chapter 4

Perhaps the atmosphere had become a little strange, so I took the hot water kettle and excused myself from the hospital room.

As soon as I closed the door, I received several long voice messages from my mom on WeChat.

Between the lines, she alternated between persuasion and pressure.

The gist was that I should take good care of Gu Zhan and seize the opportunity.

I leaned helplessly against the cold wall outside the hospital room, feeling a bit dazed.

Ever since she divorced my dad, my mom changed.

She rarely smiled, became forceful and irritable, and developed a strong need to control me, always afraid I would leave her like my dad did.

I hadn’t even left the province growing up, except for going to college.

As for Gu Zhan…

From kindergarten to high school, more than ten years as childhood friends-I’d always followed behind him. How could I not fall for him?

But he didn’t like me.

The year we graduated, I mustered up the courage to hand Gu Zhan a love letter.

He read it silently, word by word, very seriously and honestly said to me, “He Lu, I only see you as a sister.”

Gu Zhan was born with a face that attracted attention. He was always frivolous, lazy, and casual.

Rejecting my confession was the most serious thing he’d ever done to me.

Later, Gu Zhan told me he liked another girl, someone he met at a physics competition. He planned to follow her abroad to study.

How did I feel back then?

I can’t remember.

I only remember that before Gu Zhan left, he sent me a text message:

“I know you want to go to Beijing Medical University, Lulu. Never let yourself down.”

So I changed my application behind my mom’s back and went to Beijing.

That’s how I met Jiang Jiang.

When I mentioned Jiang Jiang’s name to Gu Zhan across the ocean, time and again, it wasn’t just Gu Zhan who realized something-I did too.

During that period, Gu Zhan lost contact for a long time. By the time he messaged me again, I was already with Jiang Jiang.