Chapter 140: That Secret

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Hearing the unfamiliar term, Tang Yu froze, as though suddenly realizing something. “That little girl just now—she…”

The doctor disinfected the sink and the surrounding area with alcohol, then nodded. “She has AIDS. You came into contact with her blood. Even if you don’t have any open wounds, it’s safer to take the medication, just in case. Come back in two weeks for another blood test, to make absolutely certain you’re fine.”

Tang Yu accepted the bottle of mineral water the doctor handed her and swallowed the pills.

“You may experience nausea or dry heaving as a side effect. If you feel unwell, come back and see me.”

Tang Yu nodded. She remembered the person the little girl had mentioned and asked, “Who is the Auntie Qi she was talking about?”

The doctor’s hand paused as she gathered up the instruments. “She’s our deputy director,” she said quietly. “And my mentor.”

Tang Yu suddenly understood. Her lips trembled. “Her name is… Qi Mingwan?”

The doctor gave a faint hum of acknowledgment.

She looked up at Tang Yu. “If there’s nothing else, you can go now.”

Tang Yu rose slowly. After taking two steps, she turned back. “Was the man who took the little girl away her father?”

The doctor glanced at her strangely. Most ordinary people, after coming into contact with the blood of someone with AIDS, would have panicked and recoiled in fear. Yet Tang Yu still had the presence of mind to worry about the little girl who had nearly infected her.

Even so, the doctor answered her question. “Yes, he’s her father. He has AIDS as well, so try to keep your distance from them if you see them again.”

Tang Yu nodded. After a moment’s hesitation, she continued, “Was the little girl being cared for by Director Qi before? She kept calling for her just now.”

“You’ve already taken the post-exposure medication. You don’t need to know anything else.”

The doctor was clearly telling her to leave.

Tang Yu pressed her lips together and asked no more questions. She walked out.

Through the gap in the door, she saw that the female doctor’s hand, braced against the desk, was trembling slightly.

Standing in the hospital lobby, Tang Yu saw the photograph at the very top of the hospital’s wall of honor. The name beneath it was Qi Mingwan.

The woman had clear, delicate features and a radiant, spotless beauty. Her long hair was coiled neatly at the back of her head, and her eyes, gazing into the camera, were like transparent crystal, reflecting all the light and warmth in the world and casting them into the darkness.

Tang Yu looked up at her, dazed for a long time.

She looked very much like Bian Yang, especially around the eyes. Yet beneath her brilliance lay a softness like spring water, along with a deeper compassion for all living things.

It was as though an evergreen tree had grown within her eyes.

Whoever met that gaze, even with a heart buried beneath ice and snow, might instantly find it transformed into a misty spring rain falling over apricot blossoms.

That power to steady the human heart—whether it was something she had been born with or something unique to her alone—

had now vanished without a trace.

Tang Yu’s eyes suddenly felt dry.

A nurse nearby noticed her standing there, staring at the photograph, and came over. “Did you know Director Qi?”

Tang Yu pressed the corners of her lips together and gave a soft hum.

“Then you must have been one of Director Qi’s patients. Several people like you have stood here for a long time looking at that photograph this month.” The nurse’s voice held no small amount of regret. “But Director Qi isn’t coming back. You should mourn her properly.”

Tang Yu said nothing. Her eyes dimmed. Perhaps the medicine was taking effect; she began to dry-heave.

She stood in the garden to get some air and saw the middle-aged man sitting on a bench in the distance.

He was the man who had carried the little girl away.

His shirt had yellowed and lost its shape, its original color impossible to make out.

Hunched over, he stared blankly at the ground. He might not even have realized that tears had begun to stream down his face.

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Tang Yu handed him a tissue. The man stared at her blankly for a moment, then lifted his head from the tissue.

Tang Yu pointed to her own face, gesturing for him to wipe his tears.

The man accepted the tissue. His palms were covered in calluses. He quickly wiped away his tears and murmured, barely audibly, “Thank you.”

When he saw her sit down on the bench as well, he silently moved to the far end, keeping his distance from her.

Concerned, Tang Yu asked, “Is your daughter all right? I saw that she was crying terribly.”

The lines on the man’s face were deeply etched, his skin rough and dark from years spent beneath the sun.

He was not good at socializing and seemed awkward whenever he spoke. “My daughter told me what happened. I’m sorry about earlier. She didn’t mean to get blood on you. The doctor should have given you the post-exposure medication, right?”

“Yes,” she replied. “Actually, I didn’t have any open wounds. Washing the blood away with soapy water would have been enough. The doctor only gave me the medication because she was worried I might have touched my eyes with my hands.”

The man glanced at her. Tang Yu’s gaze was open and sincere, without the slightest trace of disdain or disgust.

Only then did he look away and say quietly, “I have AIDS too. We’d better keep our distance.”

With that, he stood and prepared to leave.

From behind him, Tang Yu said, “Can we sit and talk?”

“AIDS isn’t as frightening as people think,” she continued. “Normal social contact won’t spread it.”

The man came to an abrupt halt.

Those were the same words he had heard only from the doctor who had operated on his daughter.

“Your daughter was very close to the Auntie Qi she spoke of. Director Qi was someone I knew as well.” Tang Yu’s hair fluttered in the wind as she spoke.

The man seemed to have been struck by something. His expression changed at once.

“I already told you—I can’t take responsibility for this. Don’t come looking for me again, and don’t come looking for my daughter!”

“Our lives are already miserable enough. What more do you want from me? Do you think I wanted to kill her?”

“Do you have to drive us all the way to the edge?”

“Do you really have to make me… die right here?”

He shouted until his strength was nearly spent, then lowered his head, choking so badly on his sobs that he could barely speak.

The man was beside himself. Quite a few people nearby turned to look.

With disordered steps and a panicked gait, he hurried away. Tang Yu remained rooted to the spot.

She could not understand which of her words had provoked him.

What did he mean by saying he could not take responsibility?

And whom had he killed?

It was only when someone called her name that Tang Yu came back to herself. She raised her head and saw Bian Yang standing beside her.

“What are you standing here spacing out for?”

She followed his gaze, but there was nothing there.

After a moment, Tang Yu’s lips moved faintly before she shook her head. “Nothing.”

She glanced once more at the building the man had entered, then withdrew her gaze and took Bian Yang’s hand.

“Let’s go.”

—

Qi Mingzhou had heard that someone had come looking for him several times, and that the person was a young girl who still seemed rather inexperienced.

He searched his memory for a long while but could not recall anyone.

Until he saw Tang Yu.

She was dressed in a white shirt and jeans, sitting obediently with the cup of water his assistant had given her cradled in both hands.

The moment she saw him, she set down the cup and stood. Her eyes were bright.

“Uncle Qi.”

Qi Mingzhou had not expected Tang Yu to be the one looking for him. He offered her a warm smile. “So it’s you, Tang Yu.”

Tang Yu answered obediently, “I’m sorry to disturb you.”

Qi Mingzhou had given her a business card before, with the address of his company’s headquarters in the Imperial Capital.

Tang Yu had come several times in the past, but he had always been away on business. This time, at last, she had found him there.

“Come to my office. We can talk there.”

Qi Mingzhou led her into his office and instructed his assistant to bring her a glass of fruit juice.

Adjusting his glasses with one fingertip, he smiled gently. “You’re here because of Bian Yang, aren’t you? Has Bian Yang been bullying you?”

Tang Yu immediately shook her head. “No. Bian Yang is very good to me.”

She looked up at Qi Mingzhou and hesitated for a long time before saying, “I came to ask you about Aunt Qi.”

The smile on Qi Mingzhou’s face stiffened.

Amid the heavy silence, Tang Yu spoke. “Last time, you said that you had promised Aunt Qi to keep a secret. Was that secret related to an operation?”

Qi Mingzhou’s fingers twitched. She noticed.

Over the past few days, Tang Yu had made discreet inquiries among the nurses and doctors and learned that Qi Mingwan had been the little girl’s primary surgeon.

That operation had been her final surgery.

Yet the matter was like a secret locked inside a box. Whenever Tang Yu tried to ask more, the doctors and nurses avoided the subject, and no one would say another word.

That was all she had been able to find out.

So Tang Yu had come to Qi Mingzhou.

“My sister died of a serious illness,” he said.

Tang Yu looked at him. “The patient in Aunt Qi’s final operation had AIDS.”

Qi Mingzhou’s fingers clenched tightly. After a long silence, he said, “You should leave. It’s all in the past now, and I don’t want to discuss it anymore.”

Tang Yu continued, “After the little girl’s operation, Aunt Qi fell ill. Her condition grew worse day by day, and it became impossible to control.”

Qi Mingzhou’s voice began to tremble. “Stop. And don’t keep probing.”

Tang Yu fell silent for a moment. The fingers resting on her knees tightened, then slowly relaxed. “I’m sorry for bringing up your painful memories. I only want to know the truth.”

Qi Mingzhou removed his glasses and tiredly pressed his fingertips against his eye sockets. “I’ll have someone take you home.”

He pressed the intercom and summoned his assistant.

Seeing that she was about to be thrown out, Tang Yu grew anxious and suddenly blurted out, “Aunt Qi’s illness was connected to that little girl.”

Qi Mingzhou’s body stiffened.

He turned away and instructed his assistant, “See our guest out.”

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