Jiang Ye helped Su Yunjin put on the other one of the high heels, and then he said at leisure, “One day I saw you stare at them for more than 10 seconds when you were reading a magazine.”
“It’s natural for a woman to stare at bags and shoes.” Su Yunjin said, “Maybe I was just studying the style of this pair of shoes.”
Jiang Ye shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
Su Yunjin asked with curiosity, “Why?”
“Because—” Jiang Ye said with a smile, “Your eyes were saying ‘I love you’ when you were staring at the shoes. You looked the same as when you first met me.”
“…” Su Yunjin didn’t know what to say.
She couldn’t deny that Jiang Ye was right. She did like the pair of shoes, and she could afford them. However, she didn’t dare to buy them because of Jiang Ye’s disease.
She wanted to save the money so that she could pay for better treatment when Jiang Ye was sent to the hospital.
She had never expected that Jiang Ye would see through her and buy her the shoes.
Su Yunjin had to admit that she felt extremely satisfied and happy at that moment.
Jiang Ye put Su Yunjin’s old shoes into the box and he reached out his hand to her. “Get up, let’s go home.”
Su Yunjin held Jiang Ye’s hand and stood up. She took two careful steps with the new shoes on her feet. She looked up at him and asked, “They’re not cheap, are they?”
Jiang Ye said at leisure, “The most important thing is that you look good in them.”
Su Yunjin held Jiang Ye’s hand with her other hand and turned around to face him. “How do I look?” she asked as she stepped backward.
She was born with beautiful feet, and she had taken good care of them from a young age. She had alabaster insteps, and her toes were as round and smooth as pearls. Her toenails that were painted with bright red nail polish poked through the peep-toe heels, looking exquisite and sexy.
Jiang Ye said, “You look perfect.”
Su Yunjin raised her chin with pride. She turned around gracefully and returned to Jiang Ye, shoulder to shoulder with him. “You said it because I’m wearing them! The shoes are a little expensive for us, but we’ll make more money in the future!”
Jiang Ye gave a smile and left the mall with Su Yunjin while holding her around the waist.
The two worked more than 11 hours and spent the rest of the day together from then on. Sometimes they went jogging together; other times they cleaned up the house and cooked dinner together. They would always cuddle up to each other watching an old movie after dinner and kiss while the movie was still on.
Jiang Ye felt dizzy occasionally, but he never told Su Yunjin about it to save her from worrying.
However, Su Yunjin had kept his disease in her mind. She would ask Jiang Ye how he was feeling frequently.
Jiang Ye didn’t lie to Su Yunjin because he knew that she was smart enough to see through him. He simply told her, “Sometimes I felt dizzy, but I get better soon. It’s no big deal.”
The two lived as usual as if their lives had never been affected by Jiang Ye’s disease, apart from the time when Su Yunjin was frightened into crying by his sudden dizziness.
June ended, which meant that half a year had passed. Su Yunjin put away the pair of high heels that Jiang Ye had bought her and took out her ankle boots from the shoe cabinet when the first chilly autumn wind came.
“If autumn comes, can winter be far behind?” Su Yunjin said with a hopeful look, “I like snowing days. Winter, could you please come quickly? We want to make a tall snowman like last year and wrap a green scarf around its neck!”
“Let’s wait for another three months.” Jiang Ye put on his suit jacket and touched Su Yunjin’s head. “Then you can see the snow and make a snowman.”
Su Yunjin nodded and held Jiang Ye’s arm. “Let’s go to work.”
Jiang Ye suddenly felt dizzy before he could utter a word. He lost consciousness without warning and passed out at the door of their house.
“Jiang Ye!” Su Yunjin thought that Jiang Ye had lost his footing before she realized what had happened. Seeing him lying on the ground, she screamed and kept patting his face while calling, “Jiang Ye!”
“…”
Jiang Ye didn’t answer at all. It seemed that he couldn’t hear her. Su Yunjin wondered whether she could wake him up again.
Su Yunjin had once dreamed of the same scene. She had never expected that the nightmare would suddenly become a reality on a peaceful morning.
Su Yunjin knew that she should stay calm. She managed to calm herself down and called an ambulance; she also called Jiang Ye’s doctor.
The doctor said, “Don’t worry. Bring Jiang Ye to the hospital. Let’s see what’s going on first.”
It was the second time Jiang Ye had received a thorough examination. However, the results this time weren’t optimistic.
The doctor told Su Yunjin that Jiang Ye was in the third stage of his disease. It wouldn’t be long before the disease would reach the fourth stage. Jiang Ye would have to stay in the hospital soon.
Su Yunjin looked at the doctor, frightened. “Will he wake up?”
Su Yunjin was afraid that Jiang Ye would sleep forever.
“We can still monitor his vital signs. He’ll wake up. Take it easy.” The doctor patted Su Yunjin on the shoulder. “But no one can guarantee that he will wake up if it happens again.”
The doctor meant that it was likely that he wouldn’t wake up as Jiang Ye’s condition worsened.
What Su Yunjin had been worried about the most finally happened.
After leaving the doctor’s office, Su Yunjin returned to the ward. She sat beside Jiang Ye’s sickbed while holding his hand tightly as if she were holding on to her last hope.
She was frightened into tears the first time Jiang Ye passed out in his sleep. After that, he had been comforting her. It had been more than half a year since then, and she had almost forgotten about it. However, his sudden dizziness for the second time arose panic in her and overwhelmed her again.
Jiang Ye was sick, and his health was becoming worse. It was the fact that they had to face no matter how they had comforted themselves, no matter how optimistic they had been those days.
Reality had never allowed them to be too optimistic ever since Jiang Ye fell sick.
Su Yunjin held Jiang Ye’s hand tighter. She gazed at him without blinking; she was afraid that she would miss anything.
Jiang Ye was in a coma throughout the morning. He felt that his hand was clutched by something as soon as he regained consciousness at noon.
He opened his eyes and looked over. Just as he had expected, Su Yunjin was sitting in the chair wondering, with her chin rested on her hand.
Jiang Ye stirred and called, “Yunjin?”
Su Yunjin, who had been lost in her thoughts, grabbed Jiang Ye’s hand in surprise as if she had woken up from a dream. “You’re awake!”
Jiang Ye touched Su Yunjin’s face. “Um, were you crying?”
Su Yunjin’s eyes immediately turned red. She turned her face and said, “No!”
“I’m sorry.” Jiang Ye held Su Yunjin’s hand and said apologetically, “I scared you again.”
Su Yunjin couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. She wiped away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks and stared at Jiang Ye. “You said it. Never do that again!”
Jiang Ye forced a smile. “Okay, I’ll try my best.”
He knew that he was getting worse. He could no longer promise Su Yunjin that nothing would happen to him in a short time like before.
Otherwise, he would be lying, and it was quite irresponsible of him to do it at that time.
Su Yunjin also knew that what she didn’t want to face the most was getting closer to them. She could only grit her teeth, hold back her tears, and face it with bare hands.
Jiang Ye’s doctor went to see him and talked with him after work in the afternoon.
“Jiang Ye, I think that you may consider hospital care now.” The doctor said in a serious voice, “It’s out of our expectations this time. It’s no longer as optimistic as it was at the beginning. Of course, it’s up to you whether to stay in the hospital or not. You may discuss it with your girlfriend.”
Su Yunjin stopped him when Jiang Ye was about to talk about it with her after the doctor left.
Su Yunjin suddenly stood up with a determined look. “There’s no need to discuss it. I’m going home to pack up for you. You just stay here!”
“Yunjin.” Jiang Ye took Su Yunjin’s hand. “I didn’t say that I wasn’t going to stay in the hospital. Give me a few more days to think about it, will you?”
Su Yunjin looked at Jiang Ye in suspicion. “What are you going to do?”
Jiang Ye shrugged helplessly. “I may lose consciousness at any time. What else can I do? I have to resign and hand over my work to the person who will take over my position. Yunjin, I’m responsible for that. Anyway, I’m not on the edge of death, right?”
Su Yunjin couldn’t refute his words. She was afraid that Jiang Ye would break his promise, so she said, “You must come back to the hospital as soon as you get it done!”
“Okay, I’ll do as you wish.” Jiang Ye touched Su Yunjin’s head. “Yunjin, I want to live.”
Jiang Ye was as afraid as Su Yunjin that he would sleep forever.
He knew that she was different from other girls when he had first met her in the bar. He had made up his mind to take care of her for the rest of his life when they were in love.
Su Yunjin had been used to living with him in the past two years. He couldn’t imagine how she would live in a big city if he left her alone in this world.
He couldn’t imagine how sad Su Yunjin would be if she lost him.
Therefore, for Su Yunjin’s sake, he had to stay in the hospital as he was getting worse even if he didn’t want to.
After all, he was more likely to survive there.
However, Jiang Ye’s words made Su Yunjin burst into tears. He said in a teasing tone, “I didn’t think you liked crying before. If I had known that…”
Su Yunjin jumped into his arms and held him tightly around his waist before Jiang Ye could finish his words. “Come on, Jiang Ye.”
It was her dearest wish all her life.
Jiang Ye hesitated for a moment and gave a determined nod of agreement.