After entering the elevator, I pressed the down button and then gently put Leyao down. I glanced at my watch—it was already 2 a.m., deep into the night.
Leyao leaned against one corner of the elevator and said to me, “Zhaoyang, I just have a fever, yet you came all the way from Suzhou overnight. I’m really touched!”
I smiled indifferently and replied, “Thanks to the discounted flight prices at night, I could fly from Shanghai to Beijing for only 306 yuan at 11:30.”
“If there were no discounted tickets, you wouldn’t have come?”
“Of course I would come, as long as you reimburse me for the ticket.”
Leyao smiled and didn’t say anything else. I adjusted the blanket wrapped around her once more.
The elevator was still descending. I leaned against one corner as well, lost in my thoughts: Perhaps to others, rushing to Beijing in the middle of the night to visit Leyao might seem absurd, but I don’t think so myself. Because there are certain feelings that people who lack emotional depth cannot understand. I, Zhaoyang, have always lived by my emotions, not logic.
Moreover, deep down, once Leyao had asked me to come, I felt I should. Over the years, through mutual care, we had developed a bond akin to family. Therefore, my emotions should guide my actions, honoring this hard-won familial connection.
…
Inside a 24-hour clinic, Leyao lay on a sickbed receiving an IV drip, while I had called the doctor outside and asked with some concern, “Doctor, why does she have a fever and catch colds so often?”
The doctor replied, “The fever is due to high work intensity and irregular lifestyle habits, which have weakened her immune system. She should pay more attention to regular exercise and diet.”
I nodded slightly, feeling somewhat relieved.
The doctor then asked me, “Does she have any significant medical history?”
I thought for a moment and answered, “I don’t think so.”
“Has she ever had any serious colds or chills before?”
Suddenly, I recalled something: back when Leyao was filming in Hengdian, she had jumped into icy river water less than a month after having an abortion.
My heart tightened immediately, and I finally told the doctor, “Can you strictly keep this patient’s privacy confidential?”
“We have professional ethics.”
I finally said, “She once had an abortion, and less than a month after the surgery, she jumped into a river for filming, and it was early winter!”
The doctor’s expression turned serious. He said to me, “Her body must have suffered serious damage… Are you her family member or boyfriend?”
“Just family… Doctor, please speak frankly, okay? I’m really worried!”
“You don’t need to be too nervous, but I do suggest you pay close attention to her daily life from now on. She can also take some warm-natured traditional Chinese medicine to help restore her physical condition.”
I nodded, then looked at Leyao, who was already asleep on the sickbed, filled with sympathy: Perhaps in others’ eyes, her path to stardom seems smooth, but the sacrifices behind are unimaginable to ordinary people.
After finishing the IV drip, I helped Leyao up from the bed, put her shoes on for her, and looked out the window—dawn had already begun to break in the east.
I asked Leyao for her opinion, “Let’s find a hotel to rest for a while first. Then I’ll send you home after the locksmith opens the door.”
“The apartment is rented by my agent. He also has the room card. Just call him.”
“Do you remember his phone number?”
Leyao nodded, then stretched out her hand to ask for my phone.
I handed her the phone. She quickly dialed a string of numbers and made the call.
A short while later, she returned the phone to me with a smile, “We can go back now.”
I nodded and walked out of the clinic with her.
…
When we returned to Leyao’s apartment, I didn’t go upstairs with her immediately but waited downstairs for her call, worried about unnecessary misunderstandings from her agent.
About fifteen minutes later, I saw a fashionably dressed man, clearly exuding the vibe of the entertainment industry, walk out of the apartment elevator and get into a black Mercedes-Benz sedan, soon disappearing from my sight. At the same time, Leyao called me immediately.
I returned to Leyao’s apartment again, boiled some hot water for her, and watched her take her medicine before feeling relieved again.
…
The sky outside had brightened further. I checked the time—it was already five in the morning. Indeed, the sky starts to brighten at five. Spring must be gradually coming to an end.
I rubbed my face to relieve some fatigue and said to Leyao, “You should rest well. I’m going back now.”
“You haven’t closed your eyes all night. Why don’t you sleep for a while before leaving?”
“No problem. I can sleep on the plane later.”
But Leyao firmly insisted I stay.
I really didn’t want to waste another day in Beijing because the deadline for paying rent was approaching. I said to Leyao again, “The inn is really busy. Please don’t keep me here, okay?”
“But it hasn’t had any business lately. How busy can it be?”
“Exactly because there’s no business, I need to work harder.”
Leyao frowned and said, “Okay, stop pretending… I know your inn is having some trouble lately. You sleep first, and when you wake up, I’ll help you solve it.”
“Did Tongzi tell you this?”
Leyao nodded, “If he can get my phone number from you, why can’t he tell me about your problems?”
I was speechless for a while, guessing that Tongzi must have secretly checked my phone contacts without my knowledge.
Leyao softened her tone and said to me, “Zhaoyang, why didn’t you tell me when your inn was in trouble?”
“I can’t keep borrowing money from you… You have your own life too.”
Leyao smiled and said, “I recently got a commercial endorsement, a seven-digit payment!”
Her earning power made me feel ashamed. After a while, I said, “If you’re so capable, why rent? Buy a house in Beijing’s second ring road right now.”
Leyao looked at me speechlessly, and after a while, she replied, “Why are you so stubborn?”
I stared at Leyao, suddenly realizing something, and pointed at her, “Oh… You made me come to Beijing under the pretense of being sick. This was your plan all along, right?”
Leyao replied half-jokingly, half-seriously, “If you hadn’t come to Beijing, I wouldn’t have mentioned lending you money… Because I’m not some rich, foolish woman with nothing better to do with her money!”
I still didn’t respond.
“Zhaoyang, only with sincerity can you earn someone else’s sincerity… You came from Shanghai to Beijing in the middle of the night to take care of me. Can’t that kind of feeling outweigh a mere 70,000 yuan? We’ve known each other for many years. The first time, after we drank at a bar and couldn’t pay the bill, you and Luoben paid for me. Later, you recommended me to your department store, where I did a promotional poster shoot and got some money to help with my living expenses. After that, you were with me when I had an abortion. When problems arose at the bar, it was still you, despite your poverty, who stood in front of me to protect me…”
Leyao’s voice was already choked up, and she didn’t continue.
After a long silence, I finally said, “Perhaps over these years… I had already unconsciously come to regard you as my own younger sister.”
Tears streamed down Leyao’s face, “I know… That’s why my biggest regret in this life is letting you sleep with me when you were drunk!”
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