Shi Yao gently swiped her finger across the screen and watched as the game character inside the phone moved in the direction she indicated. Her doe-like eyes blinked in surprise, as if she had just discovered something entirely new.
Seeing that the young girl was completely absorbed in playing with his phone, Xia Chen quietly pushed open the ward door, intending to step outside for a breath of fresh air.
Through the window, a slightly chilly autumn breeze brushed against Xia Chen’s face. Ever since graduating from university, he had never felt quite this relaxed.
"I knew it, office work is just not for me."
Looking at his reflection in the glass, he noticed that a spark—the kind he hadn't seen since his college days—had returned to his eyes.
After taking a short break to unwind, Xia Chen decided to head back inside and ask Shi Yao about her family situation, since she would be ready for discharge in about two days.
However, when he re-entered the room, he found that the little girl who had been having so much fun just moments before was now fast asleep.
Her sleeping posture was quite peculiar: her upper and lower body formed a right angle, her top half having clearly slid down the bed frame.
"Does this girl sleep like the dead or what?"
Xia Chen shook his head helplessly. He took hold of Shi Yao's dainty, fair feet, gently straightened her out, and then pulled the blanket up over her.
Even though the room had air conditioning, he could feel that the temperature was rather low.
Once tucked in, the girl on the bed flipped over like a little carp.
Watching the sleeping girl before him, Xia Chen couldn't help but walk over to her bedside and squat down.
Her pretty face was flushed like a big, tempting apple, making someone want to take a bite out of it, and her lips twitched from time to time in a deeply adorable manner.
Acting on a sudden impulse, the man reached out and pinched the girl's soft, rosy cheek.
"Damn, is her face filled with water or something? So soft."
After standing guard for another half hour, Xia Chen decided not to stay in the ward any longer. After all, he still needed to look for a job, and most importantly, he simply couldn't stand being in this place a second longer—it was the kind of environment that made him feel like he was about to explode.
As the door clicked shut, the girl on the bed, who had been pretending to be fast asleep, slowly opened her eyes. She reached up to touch her burning, flushed cheeks, her gaze filled with a mixture of surprise and sorrow.
In truth, she had long guessed that her discharge was imminent. To avoid this reality—or rather, because she didn't want this wonderful dream to end so soon—she had chosen to feign sleep as a way of escaping.
Shi Yao pressed her hand tightly against her chest, unshed tears shimmering in her eyes as she murmured, "If only that older sister who kidnapped me could let me sleep just a little longer."
Over the next few days, Xia Chen visited the hospital less and less because he spent most of his time at home preparing for job interviews.
And even when he did manage to spare the time to drop by, the little girl was either already asleep or drifting off.
Xia Chen didn't think much of the girl's unusual sleepiness, assuming the hospital medication had strong sedative side effects.
His own interviews, however, met with repeated rejections.
At first, he had assumed that with his educational background, finding a relatively relaxed job wouldn't be difficult, but things ultimately turned out contrary to his wishes.
"Damn it, a bunch of stubborn old fogies complaining that I lack work experience. Once I have enough experience, are they going to complain that I'm too old?!" Xia Chen angrily kicked a pebble on the ground.
"Capitalist scum, all of you, get lost."
Inside an office building in the downtown area.
"Achoo! Damn it." In his office, Xia Chen's father sneezed and cursed, "Which little bastard is cursing me out? If you've got the guts, show your face, and I'll beat some sense into you."
Time flew by, and soon the day of Shi Yao's discharge arrived.
Xia Chen first went to the inpatient department to complete the discharge paperwork before going to pick up Shi Yao, figuring that the girl was probably fast asleep and deciding to let her rest a bit longer.
Once he had the discharge slip in hand, however, a new problem arose.
"That girl still hasn't told me her home address. Oh well, I'll just go ask her now."
When Xia Chen reached Shi Yao's ward, he found the girl curled up in a ball on the bed like a little penguin, sleeping soundly.
Normally, Xia Chen wouldn't mind admiring the girl's peaceful sleeping face, but today was different—he had boundaries to maintain.
"Shi Yao, wake up. It's time for you to be discharged." Xia Chen shook Shi Yao's shoulder and called out softly.
The girl on the bed rolled over, trying to escape reality, but in the end, she didn't get her way.
"As expected, dreams always have to end. But I'm already satisfied."
Finally, urged on by Xia Chen's calls, Shi Yao struggled to sit up and rubbed her eyes, her eyelids red.
Noticing the redness around her eyes, Xia Chen assumed she had simply slept for too long, and gently brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead.
"Kiddo, do you remember your home address? I'll take you home."
Shi Yao bit her lip. After an intense internal struggle, she gave a reluctant nod.
Hearing this, Xia Chen smiled. "Good. Let's go, I'll take you home."
"Home?" Shi Yao bit down so hard on her lip that it broke, and a heavy taste of blood spread through her mouth.
To her, that place wasn't a home; it was a hell, a nightmare that tormented her every waking moment.
Yet, if Xia Chen was the one willing to take her back to the hell she had spent her whole life trying to escape, she suddenly didn't mind that place quite so much.
Because the weather outside was too cold and Shi Yao had just been discharged, Xia Chen decided to call a ride to prevent her from catching a cold. Just as he pulled out his phone to book the trip, the girl beside him tugged at his sleeve.
"What's wrong?" Xia Chen asked.
With her head lowered, Shi Yao's voice came out in broken fragments: "I'm... so hungry."
"Hungry?" Xia Chen reached out to ruffle her hair and laughed. "Alright, since it's your last day, order whatever you want—my treat."
Seeing that he agreed, Shi Yao breathed a quiet sigh of relief. In truth, her stomach wasn't hungry at all; if anything, she still felt a bit full. She only said that because she wanted to spend a little more time with Xia Chen.
The two of them went to a wonton shop, where Xia Chen ordered a bowl of wontons and a bowl of hot and sour soup to help warm her up.
They ate their meal very slowly. Shi Yao simply wanted to stay with him a little longer; she wouldn't consider a single extra second a waste—in fact, she cherished every moment.
At the same time, Xia Chen had an indescribable feeling in his heart. He had a premonition that once they parted ways today, it would be very difficult for them to ever meet again.
Through these few days of interaction, he had genuinely grown fond of the girl before him. Whenever he returned to the ward feeling dejected after being turned down by a company, just seeing the girl's peaceful sleeping face was enough to sweep away the gloom in his heart instantly.
Of course, it might also be because he had been overshadowed by his own older sister for so many years, breeding an unwillingness to accept defeat and an urgent desire to have a sweet, sensible little sister just like Shi Yao.