Does it hurt?

Walking against the flow of the crowd to exit the airport, most of the time had already slipped away. Ye Mian knew that the moment of parting was fast approaching.

The two walked onto the concourse. Beside a pillar stood a person holding a long-lens camera, wearing a black hat, who snapped a few shots of the scene. The shutter’s click was loud, piercing into Ye Mian’s ears. Jiang Chen went over to negotiate for a moment before returning. She stood there, at a loss, watching the hour hand on her watch tick toward eleven, and asked Jiang Chen with hesitation, "Shouldn't you be heading in now?"

Jiang Chen lifted his eyes, a low laugh escaping him. "Mm, let me see you to your car first."

"Alright." Ye Mian wanted to face him with a smile, but no matter how she tried, it felt forced. She was accustomed to partings, but that did not mean she enjoyed them. At a time like this, how could her smile be genuine?

After a long while, Jiang Chen reached out and placed his hand on her head. Noticing her expression, he gently brushed his fingertips through her hair. "What’s wrong? Are you reluctant to let me go?"

Ye Mian gazed into his eyes and nodded. "Yes, I am."

Seemingly surprised by her earnest answer, Jiang Chen paused, the corner of his lips tugging upward. "I’ll be back soon."

"Can it really be soon?" Ye Mian knew Jiang Chen wouldn't make empty promises, but she also knew that studying abroad wasn't a vacation; it wasn't something one could just finish quickly.

"It can." Jiang Chen pinched her cheek, his voice gentle. "If anything happens, you must tell me. Don't think that just because I'm abroad, I can't help you, and don't be foolish enough to shoulder everything alone. Otherwise, I’d be a very poor boyfriend."

A breeze drifted past them. It was the first time Ye Mian had heard Jiang Chen acknowledge the title of "boyfriend." Compared to the time before they were together, their interactions following his confession had been harmonious, though they were really just chatting more frequently. She had occasionally thought that Jiang Chen might have forgotten about that confession. The sadness of their departure was stirred away by this sentence. She thought to herself that he was right; the coming year would surely keep her busy, and as she busied herself, time would fly, and they would see each other again soon.

Thinking this, she never expected that their next meeting would come so quickly—in the depths of a snowy midwinter.

***

After boarding the taxi, Ye Mian felt her heart racing and her face flushing. She looked back through the rear window repeatedly until Jiang Chen’s figure vanished from sight. Only then did she turn around. The tip of her nose still lingered with the scent of Jiang Chen’s cool, calm body heat.

Just before she got into the car... she felt as if she had been pulled into his arms for a hug. As they parted, feeling slightly dazed, his lips had brushed against her forehead. It was cold, completely devoid of the lingering heat of early autumn.

Just as she was thinking this, her phone chimed. Ye Mian hurriedly unlocked it to check. There was a little red dot on Jiang Chen’s profile picture, indicating an image message. She tapped it open. The zoomed-out photo was small, but she could clearly make out her and Jiang Chen. In the picture, both their faces were bathed in the sunlight, with the vast terminal building as a backdrop, capturing the moment of their parting.

Ye Mian’s fingers touched the screen. Suddenly, she felt a sense of relief. She was glad that today, she had worn a dress she liked and had been careful to apply lipstick. She looked her best.

Once summer vacation ended and school resumed, Ye Mian would be a junior, with only half a semester of coursework left. She didn't know how the workload was for others, but for her, it was quite light. She even had enough time to manage her studio, leaving the Ye Changlin family in the United States far behind in her mind.

...Until one day, she heard her father on the phone, saying that Ye Changlin was in trouble again and had called to borrow money.

Ye Mian frowned and advised, "Dad, don't lend it to him."

Ye Haisheng sounded conflicted on the line. "We are family, after all."

"Even if we are family, don't lend it." Ye Mian was firm. Glancing at the friends around her, she said softly, "I'll explain why when I get back."

In the end, she wasn't sure if Ye Haisheng had listened to her; he only said he would consider it further.

***

In the United States, Ye Changlin was gritting his teeth in hatred every day, constantly making a scene at the hospital to be discharged—though it was all noise, without any real action. His business was suffering heavy losses, his medical expenses were high, and his wife and children had always been accustomed to the finest things in life. If he didn't get out of the hospital soon, his family would truly be unable to make ends meet. He grew increasingly anxious.

Taking advantage of the absence of others, he snuck out of his ward, hoping to smoke a cigarette to satisfy his craving. Just as he turned into a deserted stairwell, his heavy body suddenly lurched forward, tumbling from the top step all the way down to the first floor. Blood gushed from his nose and mouth on the spot.

"Ah!" he screamed in terror.

But then, he saw a man walking down the stairs. The man was smoking with measured composure. Even seeing the gruesome sight on the ground, his gaze remained calm as he stepped toward the fallen Ye Changlin. His eyes were like a stagnant, dead sea; there was no panic at seeing an injured patient, only the look one might give a lump of rotting meat.

Ye Changlin’s teeth had been knocked out in a row. As he pleaded for help, his voice whistled through the gaps: "Please... help me... call a doctor, and lift me up."

Jiang Chen said indifferently, "Just lie there. Don't move around when you're hurt."

Even though the floor was damp and hard, his posture was wretched and twisted. Seeing Jiang Chen press the emergency call button nearby, Ye Changlin breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he could endure it until help arrived. The alarm blared urgently, piercing and grating like a death knell.

Jiang Chen straightened Ye Changlin’s head, his cold, pale fingertips slightly stained with blood. In just this short time, Ye Changlin was nearly fainting from the pain, his consciousness slipping away. Jiang Chen took out a sanitizing wipe to clean his fingers with an expression of disgust, asking in a low voice, "Is it that painful already, Mr. Ye Changlin?"

Ye Changlin shivered all over. Jiang Chen let out a low laugh. Then, he stepped on the fingers that had not yet healed.

*Crunch.*

"I’m in a lot of pain, too," he said while reaching for another tissue to wipe his hands. "So you’ll probably have to keep feeling this pain—even if you run away to the United States, it’s useless."

When the doctors arrived in a rush, Jiang Chen was already standing aside, his expression gentle and refined, accepting the medical staff's words of gratitude. Meanwhile, the unconscious Ye Changlin was carried away on a stretcher, his gauze-wrapped fingers dangling limply off the side.

Jiang Chen’s gaze lingered on them. Closing his eyes, he could recall that rainy night: the trembling girl, and her red, mud-stained fingers. When he opened his eyes again, he tossed the soiled tissue onto the bloodstain Ye Changlin had left behind. The white tissue turned a vivid, brilliant red.

***

After Ye Changlin regained consciousness, he learned that this fall had re-injured his hand, accompanied by a fractured elbow, three broken teeth, and a damaged nasal bone. Ye Qingqing hugged her father and wailed, while his wife accused him of being a hopeless chain-smoker who deserved it. Ye Changlin had no words to defend himself; he truly couldn't remember how he had suddenly fallen, yet it wasn't his legs that were hurt, so how could he have lost his balance?

He couldn't blame anyone for this; he could only accept his bad luck. Fortunately, he still had the large sum of medical fees he had extorted earlier, so even if he stayed in the hospital longer, it wouldn't be a major issue. Still, a faint, lingering dread remained in his heart. Could it be that heaven thought he had asked for too much, and was now making him spend all that money right here in the hospital?