The Devoted Lover
Hospital.
Mu Qingxi walked over to the nurse on duty on the first floor and asked, “Excuse me, could you help me check which ward Bai Fanhao is in?”
The nurse glanced up at her, didn’t even check, and replied, “Bai Fanhao, right? He’s in the internal medicine ward on the third floor, Room 308.”
“Don’t you need to check?” She was worried the nurse might be mistaken and asked again.
“Bai Fanhao was admitted on Saturday. I know him. There’s no mistake,” the nurse said, sounding a bit irritated.
Mu Qingxi shot the nurse a glare but kept her manners, “Oh, thank you!”
Politeness is essential—that’s her principle. After all, no one blames a courteous person.
Outside the ward.
The door was half open. Through the clear window, Mu Qingxi saw two beds inside, but only Bai Fanhao was present. Just as she pushed the door, voices drifted out from the room, “Fanhao, have you fallen for her?”
She recognized the voice—it was Wang Feiyan. Didn’t she have college classes? Why was she here? Why did they all show up so unexpectedly?
She heard Bai Fanhao’s reply, “Is it not allowed? Didn’t you tell me to pursue her? Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Fanhao, I only told you to chase her, not to fall for her. Fanhao, do you really like her?” Wang Feiyan asked, as if unwilling to give up.
“Feiyan, I’ve known you since middle school, seven years now.”
“Yes, back then I had just come from the countryside to study in the city. No one wanted to play with me. Whether boys or girls, they bullied me, called me a country bumpkin. I hated it then. Every time I was bullied, only you stood by my side, shielded me, told them not to pick on me,” said Wang Feiyan.
Mu Qingxi could hear the bitterness in Wang Feiyan’s words. Wang Feiyan resented those who had bullied her, or perhaps the fact of being a girl from the countryside.
“You were pure and sweet back then, and considerate. I liked playing with you. Since everyone bullied you, I always fought with them. Because they outnumbered me, I ended up battered and bruised. And you?”
She heard Bai Fanhao questioning her.
“I don’t know,” Wang Feiyan replied anxiously.
“Don’t know? Haha, you hid around the corner. You didn’t come to help me up, just glared at me and left. I saw the dislike, even disgust, in your eyes.”
“Fanhao, I didn’t, I didn’t. I only wanted to find someone to help you.”
Bai Fanhao’s tone turned mocking, “Help me? In middle school, who helped you? If they didn’t bully you, that was already good enough. Who would help you?”
Wang Feiyan’s sobs rang out, “Fanhao, sob… I’m sorry…”
“Do you not know why I repeated a grade in ninth? I didn’t see you for a whole year. In high school, you explained you were busy, and I believed you. I foolishly trusted you, simply because you were my girlfriend and I cared for you.”
Mu Qingxi found it hard to believe such a truth existed between Bai Fanhao and Wang Feiyan. It was unimaginable—gentle, lovely Wang Feiyan was actually like this. She could hardly think of words, she couldn’t even curse!
Hearing Wang Feiyan’s crying now, Mu Qingxi felt nothing but dislike, wishing she could slap her, kick her a few times…
No matter what, even if Wang Feiyan was a country girl, she shouldn’t have acted this way, Mu Qingxi thought angrily.
“Leave now. You’ll still be my friend, just as before, but I won’t care for you anymore.”
“Fanhao, Mu Qingxi…”
“Go,” Bai Fanhao shouted.
“Alright, take care of yourself,” Wang Feiyan picked up her bag and walked out.
Mu Qingxi heard Wang Feiyan coming, startled, quickly ducked into a nearby ward. Her heart thudded wildly as she waited, listening until Bai Fanhao’s door closed and Wang Feiyan’s footsteps faded down the corridor before coming out.
The ancients said, “Devoted women are betrayed by heartless men,” but that’s not always true. Just like Bai Fanhao and Wang Feiyan—here, it could just as well be, “Devoted men, ruthless women.”
Mu Qingxi stood in the corridor, torn. Should she go see Bai Fanhao now? Or return to school for evening self-study?