Liang Jin went to find Wu Lin.
She had asked Shen Keye to tell Li Yibo not to break up, but Shen Keye had replied, “It’s just a suggestion. Whether he listens or not is up to him.”
Liang Jin desperately wanted to drop everything and say, “Screw it all,” but the words died on her lips, leaving only, “I’m heading out first.”
At the entrance to the Hong Kong University dormitory building, Wu Lin splashed some water on her face, steeling herself to head out.
She looked like she’d been sobbing her heart out—her eyes were puffy, and adrenaline coursed through her, making her tremble uncontrollably.
Spotting Liang Jin, Wu Lin scrubbed at her face fiercely, but her voice came out soft and broken. “Liang Jin, Li Yibo says he wants to break up. He can’t refuse Shen Keye’s demands.”
In the hush of the night, Wu Lin stood there in the short skirt her ex-boyfriend had always loved. Liang Jin could guess what she had in mind. “Are you going to find him now?”
Wu Lin gritted her teeth. “I can’t accept a breakup out of nowhere like this.”
She had bet everything on Li Yibo—leaving home at eighteen to study in this unfamiliar city, enduring hardship after hardship, all so her dream could come true and they could finally date.
Liang Jin said, “I’ll go with you.”
Wu Lin stared at her in disbelief. “You’ll go with me?”
“It’s late.”
Wu Lin froze for a moment, then fired back, “Liang Jin, haven’t you ruined my life enough already? We’re supposed to be good friends. I’ve helped you out so many times. You knew I liked Li Yibo, and now with one word from Shen Keye, he’s set on destroying everything I have. What are you doing here? Bragging about landing such an amazing boyfriend?”
Liang Jin stepped forward to grab Wu Lin’s hand, but the other girl yanked it away.
“Calm down, Wu Lin,” Liang Jin said. “You know that’s not what I mean. Romance has always been just between the two of you. If Li Yibo can’t live without you, there’s no way you’d break up.”
Those words filled Wu Lin’s eyes with tears in an instant. “Liang Jin, do you have to twist the knife? You know he doesn’t love me that much…” Her lips quivered, and two streams of clear tears slid down her cheeks. She let out a bitter laugh. “I just don’t get it. Didn’t you say you didn’t like Shen Keye? So why are you speaking up for him now?”
Her voice rose as she challenged her. “Tell me this—there are so many guys out there. Why him? Why Shen Keye? Is he even a good person?”
The dormitory building wasn’t well-insulated; faint rustling sounds drifted from inside. Wu Lin’s reddened eyes flicked toward them. Remembering she still needed to keep Liang Jin’s relationship under wraps, her face twisted in agony. “Just go.”
Liang Jin gripped her arm. Wu Lin tried to shove her away.
“But Wu Lin,” Liang Jin said, “you don’t like walking alone at night.”
Wu Lin went still.
“You don’t like taking a cab by yourself in the middle of the night, either.”
Li Yibo had messaged Wu Lin: Fine, we can meet. At that little bar next to the villa in Mong Kok.
Li Yibo sat alone in the corner.
Even after steeling herself a thousand times over, the moment Wu Lin’s gaze landed on her boyfriend, her eyes welled up red again.
“Why’d you bring Liang Jin?” Li Yibo’s tone dripped with impatience.
Wu Lin’s resolve crumbled. Liang Jin tugged her lips into a wry smile. “I’ll step out. You two talk.”
Liang Jin slipped outside and lingered by the glass door, tilting her head to gaze at the sky.
It was deep into the night now. Even the garish, bustling streets had their moments of desolation. The lonely city sprawled so vast it felt like it could swallow a person whole.
She finished her smoke and headed to the twenty-four-hour convenience store for a pack of Xuanhemen. Fishing in her pocket, she realized her lighter was gone.
It was back at Shen Keye’s place.
The clerk was dozing off, yawning hugely without a care. “Miss, lighter’s seven HKD.”
The small TV beside her was playing a promo for Hong Kong Ballet.
Liang Jin wore a black face mask and was about to pull out some cash when a faint meow caught her ear.
A drizzle was starting outside. Her eyes drifted to the glass door, where a wounded gray Maine Coon cat huddled by the trash bin, helplessly licking at its broken leg.
Liang Jin stuffed the bill back into her Hello Kitty wallet. “Just the smokes, then. Never mind the lighter.”
She stepped outside and crouched on the concrete steps, snapping a photo and sending it to Shen Keye.
【Can I keep a cat if I’m living with you?】
Liang Jin tore open the cat treats she’d bought. The Maine Coon was a tiny, huddled ball at first—wary and skittish in its filthy corner, not daring to approach. But soon the scent drew it over, and it tentatively licked at a couple of bites.
A moment later, a reply came through.
【What do you mean?】
Liang Jin gazed toward the tavern window in the distance. She wasn’t optimistic about Wu Lin’s romance, but people had to learn the hard way.
Liang Jin typed: 【Take back what I said. Don’t let Wu Lin break up with Li Yibo.】
【I’ll go home with you.】
~~~
Zeng Zhi’s previous surgery hadn’t been entirely successful. The doctor had said that without a new treatment plan, they recommended sticking to more conservative care going forward.
As they stepped out of the taxi, a doctor from the hospital called. He explained that Zeng Zhi’s condition hadn’t been good lately—likely due to all the worry and stress over Liang Wei’s situation. She’d just suffered sudden cardiac arrest and barely made it through emergency resuscitation.
“Mom… is she okay?” Liang Jin’s mind went blank in an instant. Her lips trembled, and for a moment, she forgot how to speak.
The doctor chuckled softly. “Don’t worry—they caught it in time.”
“Has she woken up?”
“Not yet, but she’s out of immediate danger.”
Liang Jin clutched the cat in her arms and tilted her head back to gaze at the sky. The pitch-black night was empty of stars.
The female doctor in charge had stayed late for overtime and was finally heading home. She gave Liang Jin the nurse station’s number, her tone full of concern. “Miss Liang, if you’re still worried, feel free to call the attending physician or the nurses. They’re keeping a close eye on your mother’s condition around the clock.”
After a moment of silence, Liang Jin replied, “Okay. Thank you.”
She had left the injured Maine Coon cat at the nearby Pet Hospital.
The address Shen Keye had given her wasn’t the villa from before—it was a modest flat near the school. The door code was 20071114.
The TV in the living room was still playing recordings of matches.
Shen Keye wasn’t home, but Liang Jin spotted a stack of documents on the coffee table. The cover read “Yanghe Hospital”—the ones he hadn’t given her.
It was a brief overview report.
Recalling the doctor’s earlier words, Liang Jin didn’t hesitate. She strode over, flipped it open, skimmed the contents, and froze on the spot.
There was a treatment option, but it wasn’t fully developed yet.
It was akin to those life-extending injections for cancer patients—one shot every twenty-eight days to three months. Standard cancer treatments like that ran 600,000 to 800,000 apiece, and her mom and sister’s conditions would cost even more.
“I don’t recall giving you permission to touch that.”
Shen Keye had just returned from the Convenience Store and found the girl sitting on the sofa.
Liang Jin looked up at him, dazed. After a long pause, a complicated smile crossed her face.
“I’ve read it all,” she said. Her eyes were distant, fearless as she met the boy’s gaze. “What are you going to do about it?”
It was a hole too vast for her to fill.
Liang Jin’s phone buzzed with a message from Wu Lin: 【Li Yibo and I aren’t breaking up.】
Followed by: 【Jinjin, I… I’m not coming back tonight. You’ll have to head home on your own.】
Liang Jin’s head swam. She’d seen the estimated costs in those documents. She just wanted some peace and quiet.
Right in front of Shen Keye, she typed back to Wu Lin.
【Congratulations. Glad you’re okay.】
After a moment’s thought, she added: 【Take good care of yourself.】
Liang Jin gathered her things to leave when someone suddenly grabbed her arm.
The boy stood just half a step away. “You’re leaving?” Shen Keye asked.
The girl turned her eyes to him, and only then did Shen Keye notice the red rims around Liang Jin’s eyes.
She parted her lips and stared at him. “So you didn’t want to show me this because you knew it’d snap me out of my delusions? Because you knew some lives and deaths are just inevitable?”
An annual eight-figure budget. Unpredictable total treatment costs. It was all far beyond anything Liang Jin could scrape together in a lifetime.
In the instant her hope crumbled, Liang Jin felt a despair beyond death itself. She glared at him coldly. “Let me go.”
Shen Keye shot back, “Who said you could leave?”
Liang Jin sneered. “I’m not just leaving—I’m going home.”
She tried to wrench free from Shen Keye and storm out the door, but his grip held firm. Furious, she snapped, “Let go of me!”
The boy yanked her straight into his arms. “You want to leave Hong Kong District?”
Liang Jin blinked in shock, then laughed. “Yeah. What’s it to you?”
Shen Keye’s voice held a chilling detachment. “And what about me?”
“What happens to you is none of my business,” Liang Jin said coldly. “Shen Keye, I’ll come back to shoot the movie. You can see me then—one month, two months, or even half a year from now.”
Right now, she had only one thought: go see her mom.
The doctor had said her mom had three to six months left. Liang Jin had money now—not enough to pull Zeng Zhi back from the edge, but enough to stay by her side until the very end.
Shen Keye scoffed, lowering his gaze. “Liang Jin, you might as well not come back at all.”
The girl stared at him coldly. “Fine by me. If you want to break up, that’s perfect. Shen Keye—I don’t like you anyway.”
Her words had barely faded when she was suddenly shoved against the wall. Those pitch-black eyes bored into her, and Shen Keye narrowed his own as he demanded, “What did you say?”
Liang Jin’s jaw was clamped in his iron grip, the pressure sending sharp pain through her.
“Not giving me the materials, forcing me, making my best friend break up with the guy she likes, letting Jiang Manyu split the role’s scenes with me, backing me into a corner until I had no choice but to beg you—is toying with me that much fun?” Liang Jin repeated, her voice icy cold. “Shen Keye, let me tell you something: I hate you.”
The girl’s delicate face bore those cold, distant eyes, brimming with barely suppressed fury.
Shen Keye seemed wounded by that gaze. Just ten minutes earlier, he had gone downstairs to buy daily necessities for Liang Jin. Now those words came spilling from her lips, and he surged forward, capturing her mouth in a fierce kiss.
Liang Jin clamped her lips shut as if startled into paralysis. She fought back with all her strength, but her skin was warm and yielding, her breath a scorching, chaotic rush of heat. She gritted her teeth, yet the insistent pressure forced her mouth open. Her eyes reddened once more as she glared at him, helpless and utterly frigid.
It was as though she carried within her a ridiculous absurdity mingled with inescapable humiliation.
The kiss broke at last, and in that instant, the girl lashed out, slapping him hard across the face.