Chapter 72

December, late autumn.

In the afternoon, Xu Ze went to the cardiac ICU at Capital City Second Hospital to visit Ye Yunhua. Ten days earlier he had received a message from Zhou Zhen telling him a suitable lung donor might have appeared.

After the matching workup, the hospital confirmed the transplant was viable, with Li Zhan still performing the surgery. Post-op, Ye Yunhua was admitted to the ICU; barring complications, she could be transferred to a regular ward or back to the Sanatorium in another week.

Before Ye Yunhua was rushed to Capital City Second Hospital for emergency treatment that day, Xu Ze had already decided to sell the house at the broker-suppressed price to raise the surgery fee as soon as possible. But after the emergency rescue was over, Zhou Zhen told him it was no longer necessary.

'Someone opened new accounts at the Sanatorium and Capital City Second Hospital for your grandmother. The combined balance is roughly over 2.3 million.'

The Sanatorium was where Ye Yunhua stayed day to day, and Capital City Second Hospital was the most specialized cardiovascular hospital in the entire Alliance. Xu Ze looked at the transaction records Zhou Zhen had given him, but his mind wasn't processing anything — it was blank.

After a long while, he asked, 'When?'

Was it before Lu Heyang learned the truth about Xu Ming's sacrifice, or after.

'Look at the date on it. A sum was deposited a long time ago. The later two million came in after you signed to confirm the lung transplant.'

The account name was Gu**. Xu Ze remembered He Wei once saying that whenever he and Lu Heyang had any large expenses, they would route them through Gu Yun Chi's account to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Xu Ze put on the isolation gown, the transparent face shield, and medical gloves, and walked into the ICU. Ye Yunhua was surrounded by various instruments, lying quietly with her eyes closed on the hospital bed. Through his gloves, Xu Ze carefully touched the back of her hand, watched her for a while, then left.

Coming out of Capital City Second Hospital, Xu Ze went to the subway station. Over an hour later he got off and walked for ten-plus minutes, arriving outside a Private Hospital.

It was the hospital Lu Heyang had brought him to for the fake pregnancy checkup. Xu Ze stepped across the grass and stood by the fence, from where he could see the main building's front door.

He stood there motionless. Before long, security saw him on the monitors and came over to ask what was going on. Xu Ze was scrutinized warily. He knew he looked too suspicious, but still said, 'A friend of mine might be discharged today, so I came to have a look.'

The guards asked him to show his ID. Xu Ze handed over his digital ID and Preparatory School student ID from his phone. After comparing his face, they returned his phone and didn't make things too difficult for him.

Evening was approaching, the wind picked up, and leaves kept falling and landing on Xu Ze.

About an hour and a half — roughly that long later — a black Bodyguard car drove into the hospital and stopped below the front steps. Xu Ze finally moved, taking a step forward, closer to the fence, looking inside more intently.

Another twenty-plus minutes passed. The main building's revolving door turned, and the Bodyguards beside the car immediately went up the steps. Including the doctors and nurses, over a dozen people stood at the entrance. Xu Ze rubbed his eyes, his hands unconsciously gripping the railing as he searched for a gap in the crowd, but no matter how hard he tried, he could only vaguely make out a wheelchair, unable to see clearly who was sitting in it.

Only when they reached the steps did the Bodyguards and nurses spread out a little, leaving two omegas talking with the doctor — presumably Lu Heyang's Father and sister. Xu Ze had met Lu Heyang's sister before; he had once mistaken her for his girlfriend, only now realizing the sister resembled the omega father, while Lu Heyang's looks were a bit closer to his alpha father's.

He finally saw Lu Heyang.

Lu Heyang sat in the wheelchair wearing a dark gray sweater, looking thinner, his hair cut a little shorter. His gaze rested on the ground, his expression somewhat cold, as if he didn't care what the people beside him were saying.

Xu Ze stood outside the fence, like that seven-year-old alpha from many years ago, quietly watching Lu Heyang, his gaze unwavering. His heart was unexpectedly calm, not sad — because he had originally thought he wouldn't get to see Lu Heyang again.

He had to thank He Wei — for being willing to tell him which hospital Lu Heyang was in. For telling him that aside from Lu Heyang's Father and sister, no one else was permitted to visit him. For telling him that Lu Heyang's pheromones had been affected by medication, causing a grade fluctuation, and he needed rest. For telling him Lu Heyang hadn't been seriously injured, only that his brain had developed some memory issues from the electric shock and pheromone disorder, and there was hope of recovery with treatment.

He also told Xu Ze that Lu Heyang would be leaving the Capital City tonight, no one knew when he'd return, and perhaps he never would.

So Xu Ze had to come, to see what might be the last time they would meet. He had already prepared himself to wait until evening.

Lu Heyang's hair was a little mussed by the wind. He suddenly lifted his head slightly, looking toward where the wind was coming from.

Across a distance that wasn't exactly close, their gazes unexpectedly met. But Xu Ze would rather Lu Heyang hadn't looked at him — it was a very unfamiliar gaze. He couldn't tell whether Lu Heyang's eyes were more unfamiliar, or whether he himself was more unfamiliar with a Lu Heyang like this. In this contrast, Xu Ze belatedly realized that the way Lu Heyang used to look at him had always been different from how he looked at others.

After the brief exchange of gazes, Lu Heyang calmly turned his head back and stood up from the wheelchair. A Bodyguard beside him lightly steadied him. Lu Heyang slowly walked down the steps and got into the car. Then the rest also got in, and the medical staff returned to the main building.

Xu Ze's gaze followed the moving car. He walked off the grass onto the road. The Bodyguard car sped past him, windows tightly shut, pitch black, nothing visible inside, only his own blurred reflection flashing on the glass.

He started walking after the car, but his steps were too slow, he couldn't catch up from a distance, so Xu Ze began to run. He ran fast, falling leaves brushing his face. No matter how fast he ran, he couldn't catch up, only watching the car drive away down an endless avenue, kicking up dead leaves everywhere. The late autumn sunset spread vast and wide, like yellow sand scattered across the sky. Wind poured down his throat. Xu Ze finally stopped, feeling unable to stay standing, and collapsed, lying on the ground depleted of strength.

It was the last time. Real parting, it turned out, didn't give you the chance to say a proper goodbye, because there was no chance to meet again. No one knew on which day they would part. Lu Heyang had arranged everything for him in advance — perhaps because deep down he understood they would part ways eventually.

This was for the best. Xu Ze lay on the empty road, thinking this with a sense of release. His heart, pounding violently from the sudden intense exertion, felt like it was about to burst through his chest. Xu Ze gasped for air, his eyes dry and rough like rusted gears, unable to close, just staring blankly at the sky. The sword he'd seen overhead every day had finally fallen, striking him. It turned out it didn't really hurt that much — Xu Ze had long prepared himself for this.

Perhaps it couldn't be called preparation, but rather his long-held mentality — having things never made him feel happy or at ease; only the inability to obtain, the complete loss, felt reasonable; only then did he feel truly settled.

Rather than living in constant dread of when he'd lose things, better to truly lose them.

Xu Ze had always gone along with this pattern of fate, and this time was no exception.

In mid-January, Xu Ze received his acceptance letter from the Alliance Army Medical University. He made a copy of the letter, went to Xu Ming and Qiao Yuan's graves, and lit a lighter to burn the copy.

In the two black-and-white photos on the gravestone, Xu Ming and Qiao Yuan both wore faint smiles, like in the faded memories of childhood. Xu Ze had so much he wanted to say. He knelt at the grave for over ten minutes but couldn't speak, only saying at the end, 'Goodbye, Mom and Dad.'

Ye Yunhua had been transferred back to the Sanatorium. Her recovery was decent; although she still didn't remember Xu Ze, her mental state was much more stable.

The Bodyguards Lu Heyang had arranged stayed with Xu Ze for another month. When they left, one of them told Xu Ze that on the day of the incident, Lu Heyang's wristband contained a wiretap and a satellite positioning system that ordinary shielding couldn't disable. From the moment he was kidnapped, all sounds were being transmitted in real time to Lu Chengyu and Lin Yumen's earpieces. The special forces the chairman had sent intercepted Jiang Wen and his group, stalling in the woods ten meters from the warehouse. As long as Lu Heyang would lower his head and say 'Save me' to his father, everyone would have acted immediately.

But Lu Heyang said nothing, falling silent calmly until the end.

'If he'd really asked the chairman for help, everything he'd done would have been meaningless.' The Bodyguard told Xu Ze, 'He'd injected himself with suppressants in advance, minimizing the medication's effect on his pheromones as much as possible. Don't worry too much.'

Tang Feiyi was shot in the chest and calf by Jiang Wen while fleeing. Two alphas drove him away — people sent by Wei Lingzhou. Afterward, the Alliance Bureau issued a warrant for Tang Feiyi, and as expected, it was discovered that Wei Lingzhou and Tang Feiyi had been collaborating for a long time, trafficking large quantities of drugs, pharmaceuticals, and arms.

The Wei Family's conglomerate was thoroughly investigated. Even if it survived, it would be converted to Alliance ownership, becoming government property. Officials connected to Tang Feiyi and Wei Lingzhou were interrogated and dealt with, not one left out.

Tang Feiyi disappeared, Wei Lingzhou went to prison, and He Yu had an accident while being pursued — his car plunged off a cliff into the sea below, and his body has yet to be found. This was what Chi Jiahán told Xu Ze.

'I think He Yu is the one who least deserved to die,' Chi Jiahán said.

Xu Ze didn't know how He Wei faced this news. He only heard that He Wei had been admitted to the Best Police Academy in the Alliance, while Gu Yun Chi had entered the Alliance Army Military University.

A thousand masts in shifting winds; fate turns its palm, building new footholds for everyone.

At the end of January, Xu Ze was notified to enter school early and begin studying.

The afternoon he moved from home to the medical school dormitory, Xu Ze stood at the window of his room and listened for a long time. He heard the wind, birdsong, rustling leaves, and children playing and laughing downstairs.

Finally, Xu Ze walked out with his meager belongings — barely filling half a suitcase — and went down the stairs step by step, leaving this old place that held so many memories.

Passing under a tree, Xu Ze looked up. A beam of pale gold, not harsh sunlight, filtered through the branches and fell on his face. Xu Ze looked up, seeing the window of his own room, remembering a night long ago when Lu Heyang had looked at him upstairs just like this.

Everything, along with the little notebook where he'd long stopped drawing tally marks, was carefully locked away by Xu Ze in his desk drawer. No one else would ever know.

He had been forgotten by Lu Heyang twice, but it didn't matter — as long as he himself kept remembering, that was enough.