Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Aren’t you supposed to be at the hospital, Lin Hanyan?”

I stared at the elegant, lavishly decorated villa, my left hand clenched so tightly around the Japanese takeout box that it hurt.

It was forty degrees out, yet I was trembling as if I’d been thrown into an ice cellar.

I had only ever seen places like this in idol dramas.

“I’m sorry, Luoluo. Listen, let me explain. Dr. Liu suddenly had something come up this afternoon…”

“I only came here to hang out with a friend.”

Caught off guard by being exposed, Lin Hanyan lost his composure for a moment and grabbed my sleeve.

That was his usual way of apologizing.

It had worked every time before. But now, it failed.

I coldly slapped Lin Hanyan’s hand away.

I couldn’t even name the designer brand of the custom shirt he was wearing, but the irony was clear enough. It suited his rich young master air far better than all those basic clothes ever had.

I lowered my eyes, took out my phone, and opened the appointment page for Qingcheng Hospital.

When I saw that there were still open slots for Dr. Liu in the psychiatry department today, I didn’t even have the desire to expose his lie.

Taking a deep breath, I sorted through my thoughts, forced my face into calmness, and said in a low voice,

“Lin Hanyan, was it fun?”

“Pretending to be a poor, depressed boy down on his luck by my side, acting like you couldn’t even bear to buy a cup of milk tea… when in reality, you’re a rich heir who spends eighteen thousand yuan on a single meal!”

My lips trembled. I stared at the man in front of me with resentment, not even realizing when tears had filled my eyes.

“You really… lied to me like I was an idiot…”

“Eighteen thousand yuan! I’d have to deliver six thousand orders for that. I’d have to run around for two whole months…”

The most ridiculous part was the only app I hadn’t closed in the background of my phone.

It was still the message I had sent Lin Hanyan half an hour ago.

I told him we were having something extra tonight, that I was planning to make the lotus root soup he loved most.

Because the customer in the rich district had been generous and tipped me one hundred yuan.

I just never imagined that the tip had come from Lin Hanyan himself.

Lin Hanyan used to hold me late at night and tell me that in this world, my love was the only thing he would never doubt.

That even his parents’ love for him was not as pure as mine.

Those whispered words had once made me feel lucky, like I had somehow won a prize in a world where sincerity had become a rare commodity.

But looking back now, of course no one else would be stupid enough to risk heatstroke for a five-yuan high-temperature subsidy, just to save up his medical fees for the month a little faster.

“I haven’t slept a full five hours in so long. Even in my dreams, I was wishing you could recover one day sooner.”

“You knew all of that better than anyone, didn’t you?”

My questioning voice gradually choked with sobs.

A crack finally appeared in Lin Hanyan’s otherwise calm expression. His eyes reddened slightly, and he nodded.

In that cramped, old, run-down one-bedroom apartment, it took half an hour just to walk to the subway station.

He watched me struggle. Watched me stretch every yuan in half.

Watched me, poor and embarrassed, desperately pay the price for his hypocritical little role-playing game, all to treat the depression he had written into his act.

From beginning to end, he had stood above it all like a creator, watching coldly from the sidelines.

“I’ll transfer a sum of money to your bank card. Consider it compensation.”

“This was my fault. I’m sorry.”

Lin Hanyan lowered his head slightly, guilt and a trace of helplessness in his eyes. He realized there was no way to smooth this over anymore, so he simply gave up.

With stiff fingers, I pulled the crumpled order slip from my pocket. It was a full half meter long, covered on one side with the most expensive cuts of meat.

Then I balled it up and hurled it at him with all my strength.

Lin Hanyan did not dodge. His expression was sorrowful, tinged with remorse.

The cool air from inside the villa brought a faint chill. Under the droning of cicadas, footsteps approached from not far away.

Then a woman’s coy voice reached my ears.

“Hanyan, haven’t you gotten the takeout yet? I’m starving!”