Chapter 97: He Came, Then Left

Because she had lost so much blood, Fan Xiaoyou slept deeply through the night, so deeply that she never knew Wang Guocheng had come in haste and left in haste.

When she woke, the one sitting by her bedside was He Lu.

Fan Xiaoyou sat up in bed, rubbed her still-dazed head, and looked at him. "Officer He... why are you here?"

In fact, since Wang Guocheng had left in the early hours of the morning, He Lu had remained silently beside her bed.

He knew he could never compare with the remarkable man who had just been here, but he still hoped that one day he might enter Fan Xiaoyou's life.

He Lu forced a smile. "Xiaoyou... you're awake."

The unguarded use of her given name embarrassed not only He Lu, but Fan Xiaoyou as well.

He scratched his head, a little awkwardly. "I'm sorry, I... I thought 'Miss Fan' sounded too distant, so I wanted to call you by your name. I hope you don't mind."

His professional instincts made Fan Xiaoyou feel that his change in address was surely not without reason. As for the reason, she did not need to think long to guess it.

She brushed her long hair back over her shoulder. "Officer He, we are neither friends nor relatives. You'd better still call me Miss Fan. And I already have a fiancé. I don't want to mislead you, and I certainly don't want to mislead him."

He Lu looked rather discouraged. He had not expected his feelings to have been seen through so clearly.

After hesitating a moment, he awkwardly confessed his heart.

"By the riverbank, the ospreys call. A gentleman seeks the lady he admires. You're unmarried, and I'm not married either. I have the right to pursue you."

Avoiding his fervent gaze, Fan Xiaoyou was preparing to get out of bed when she noticed a beautifully wrapped box beside her pillow.

Thinking it was from He Lu, she hurriedly held it out to him. "I can't accept this gift."

He Lu looked at the box she was holding, bewildered. "This isn't from me..."

He was still debating whether to tell her that Wang Guocheng had come the night before when Fan Xiaoyou had already opened the box.

Just then, she had noticed a slip of paper peeking out from the edge of the lid. Whoever had closed the box must have missed it.

When she heard that the box was not from He Lu, she asked with some suspicion, "Did anyone else come last night?"

After a long silence, He Lu finally told the truth.

"Last night... your fiancé came. He stayed for a while, but he left before dawn."

The moment Fan Xiaoyou heard that Wang Guocheng had been here the night before, she understood immediately who had sent the box.

She opened it with great excitement, and what caught her eye first was an exquisite brooch. Beneath it lay a pink note folded into a heart.

Wang Guocheng had written the letter on the plane, and the brooch had been specially commissioned earlier, when he was still in Kang City, with the help of a friend who found a designer for him.

The dolphin, inlaid with blue diamonds and crafted with astonishing lifelike charm, was simply adorable.

As for the words in the letter, they brought tears streaming down Fan Xiaoyou's face.

"Xiaoyou, my darling, do you know? Ever since I returned to Bian City, I have dreamed of you night after night. You know how deeply I love you.

"It's been some time since I came back, yet not a moment has passed when I have not been thinking of you.

"Sometimes, hearing a voice on the street that sounded like yours, I would seize the woman's arm in excitement. When she turned around and I saw it was not you, I realized I had imagined it.

"Because you are in Kang City, you could never appear in Bian City.

"Xiaoyou, I love you. Do you know that?

"I heard that you fainted after giving blood to save Tang Ling, and I could not stay away for even a moment.

"I... do you know how frightened I was?

"This pink stationery was bought long ago. I had originally planned to mail you this brooch together with the pink note.

"But when I heard you were ill, I steeled myself and flew to Kang City on an overnight flight.

"Do you know how terrible you look when you're asleep? Do you know how deeply you sleep?

"I sat quietly beside your bed all night. Perhaps you were truly exhausted, perhaps your body was truly too weak, but you... you never once woke to look at me.

"Still, I had prepared for this. I brought the brooch and the pink note with me, hoping that when you opened your eyes, the first thing you would see was the gift I gave you.

"The heart folded from the paper may not be very beautiful, but I specially asked my female students for advice. They taught me how to make it...

"I spent nearly three whole nights learning how to fold a heart from stationery...

"Xiaoyou, I hope you'll like this brooch when you wake. I know you love dolphins, so I asked my friend to help design it.

"It is not especially valuable, but it carries all my feelings.

"And finally, please do not blame me for coming and going in such a hurry. I believe that when we meet again, we will never be separated.

"Take care, my love.

"Your fiancé, Wang Guocheng."

Tears blurred Fan Xiaoyou's eyes as she murmured, "Guocheng, why didn't you wake me? Why?"

Seeing her cry, He Lu grew increasingly flustered.

He hurriedly tried to comfort her. "Xiaoyou, don't cry. It was he who told me not to wake you. He said he wanted you to sleep a little longer.

"Before he left, he also told me to take good care of you, and to make sure you never do anything so dangerous again."

Fan Xiaoyou raised her eyes to him. "What time did he leave this morning? And what time did he come?"

He Lu counted on his fingers and answered seriously, "He arrived around half past three in the middle of the night, and left before six in the morning. He stayed here for about two and a half hours."

Fan Xiaoyou's heart grew even heavier. Wang Guocheng had flown over just to see her, only to stay for two and a half hours.

She could no longer fall back asleep. Rising from the bed, she walked to the window and gazed outside, tears drying on her face only to be wet again, falling one by one.

Seeing her so desolate, He Lu could not help feeling a bitter ache in his heart.

They had met too late.

He Lu realized that this was exactly what they were: people who had met too late. He had never expected that Fan Xiaoyou and that remarkable man would already share such deep feelings.

That morning, he had still been thinking of competing fairly, of winning her favor.

But remembering the valuable brooch and the heart-shaped note, He Lu understood the distance between himself and Wang Guocheng.

He knew he could never be as thoughtful or as considerate. He did not possess Wang Guocheng's depth of devotion, nor his meticulous tenderness.

Once he understood this, he could no longer remain in the room. Quietly, he withdrew from Fan Xiaoyou's bedroom, his face streaked with tears.

Before leaving, he forced a smile up toward the sky, then wiped away his tears and went out.