He spoke quite earnestly, but the night was too ambiguous, forcing Melody to overthink.
“What, eating your meal requires me to repay you in other ways?”
“What are you thinking? I did go out and earn some money these past few days, so I should spend it when it's time to spend it.”
“Aren’t you feeling unwell? I’ll take you to the hospital tomorrow.”
This surprised her. A stranger she met by chance was suddenly being so kind to her, even offering to take her to a doctor.
Melody didn't look, and besides, this small hospital couldn't cure her.
So she tried to change the subject.
“You really went out to make money? How much can you earn in five days? Are you going to cure my cancer? Do you even know what the word cancer means?”
“Don’t talk like that,” Long Yifei frowned.
“If you think our hospital isn't good enough, we can go to the city tonight.”
“Forget it. I appreciate your kindness, but I don’t need it.”
She reached for the car door to get in, but Long Yifei locked it.
“Miss Mai, tell me honestly, did you run away from home without your family’s knowledge?”
Melody sneered again, “So in the end, you’re just worried about me dying silently at your place and causing you trouble, aren’t you?”
Perhaps because she had eaten and regained her strength, she felt inexplicably emboldened.
With no money, no identification, and not even knowing where she was, she possessed a solitary courage.
“Fine, you don’t have to try to drive me away in different ways. I’ll leave on my own, right now.”
She walked a couple of steps, and Long Yifei rushed forward to stop her.
“How many times do I have to say it, that’s not what I meant. Do you know where I went these past two days?”
“How the hell would I know? I don’t have a GPS on you.”
“I went to Sucheng.”
“So?”
“I saw your missing person notice.”
Long Yifei unlocked his phone and found a missing person notice to show her.
“This isn’t a public poster. Only people within our organization can see it. The fact that your family posted your information here indicates you come from an unusual background.”
From the moment Melody ran away from home, she knew she would be found.
So her focus wasn't there; her focus was on the "internal" aspect.
“What do you mean ‘internal’? Which department are you in? Who are the ‘internal people’? Long Yifei, what exactly do you do?”
This time, Long Yifei began to evade, locking his phone.
“Miss Mai, since your family is so well-off, I checked when we were eating. Breast cancer isn’t exactly a formidable illness. Why are you doing this?”
Melody asked for his phone, “Let me see how much money you get for sending me back, as stated on the missing person notice.”
“So that’s what you’ve been doing these past few days? Are you a bounty hunter, or do you specialize in finding people? Is this how you make money?”
Long Yifei was about to be driven mad by her. He explained again, “Miss Mai, I just want to…”
“I don’t want to go back,” Melody’s tone suddenly became serious.
“I’m not unaware of the logic you’re presenting, but I simply don’t want to go back. Don’t worry, before I die, I’ll leave a message for my family. You can take my belongings to them then, and they’ll repay you for the money I’ve spent.”
“Do you have to put it like that?” Long Yifei was exasperated.
“Although I, Long Yifei, am not wealthy, I wouldn’t value money that much. Must you speak like this?”
Actually, Melody could see it. Long Yifei wasn’t someone who placed a high value on money.
He had a sense of chivalry, of loyalty, which was why she had chosen to come with him in the first place.
“If that’s the case, then there’s no need for more pointless talk. You have your difficulties, I have mine. We won’t ask about each other. Can you just let me live my remaining days in peace?”
On the way back, Melody felt drowsy from being too full.
Long Yifei watched her beautiful profile and seemed to understand her a little.
Wealthy families looked glamorous, but only those within them knew how lonely it was.
Perhaps with few genuine people around, she must have truly detested it to want to run away.
Then he wouldn't try to persuade her. She was already so ill, and it wasn't easy.
The two got along well in the following days.
Melody spent her days eating, sleeping, daydreaming, and taking walks. Long Yifei occasionally took on clients, sometimes went on business trips, and sometimes stayed home idle. Neither bothered the other.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Her sister was brought back on the weekend. In the evening, the three of them sat down for dinner. Long Yifei said he had arranged an appointment with the hospital to take his sister for surgery tomorrow and asked Melody to come along.
Because the supply of donated corneas was not abundant, while the demand was immense, medical advancements in recent years had led to the development of artificial corneas, though they were slightly expensive.
However, as long as the surgery was successful, there was a considerable hope of seeing the light.
Despite the inn’s poor business, Long Yifei could afford surgery for his sister, indicating that his side income was doing well.
Melody joked, “Not bad for you. How much did the surgery cost? You just saved up enough?”
The sister also expressed some concern, “Yes, brother. You said you were still short before, how did you manage to save enough? Did you mortgage our house?”
Long Yifei glared at them, “No. Recently, I met a benefactor who introduced me to two business deals with considerable compensation. Anyway, it’s enough.”
“I’ve made all the arrangements with the hospital, so you can go with peace of mind. You don’t need to worry about anything else.”
Melody asked him, “If you two are going, why do I need to? You could just lock me up at home.”
“No. I locked the door before because I didn’t know you were unwell. What if something happened to you when I wasn’t here… Didn’t you promise me you wouldn’t be a burden to me? I need to watch you to feel at ease.”
Melody said, “Long Yifei, are you planning to sell me off?”
“If I wanted to sell you, I would have done it long ago. Why wait until today? It’s settled then. Pack your clothes later, and we’ll leave early tomorrow morning.”
That night, Melody sat on the bed watching her blind sister fumble with packing her clothes. She asked her sister,
“Nervous?”
“Not nervous. My brother has taken me to many hospitals, had my body checked many times, and undergone matching tests. I’m numb to it.”
“Are you looking forward to it?”
“I am looking forward to it. I really want to see what this colorful world looks like, to see my brother, to see our teacher, and to see you too.”
However, Melody didn’t see much anticipation on her face.
She felt that the girl was calm from head to toe, possessing the potential for great things.
“Sister, can you ask my brother how much the surgery will cost?”
“Why? When your eyes are healed, will you give the money back to your brother?”
The sister said, “My brother has had it tough. He dropped out of high school to work, doing all sorts of dirty and tiring jobs to support me.
He originally wanted to take me to see my eyes first, but I really wanted a home of my own, so he built this house two years ago.”