Chapter 143: She Isn’t a Good Person!

The ward for AIDS patients is a place apart. Aside from the medical staff, almost no one ever visits.

After a long day of manual labor, the man returned to the hospital covered in sweat. In the past, the sounds drifting from his daughter's room were either the crash of objects or the sharp stabs of sobbing. But today, the clear, light laughter of a young girl echoed down the hall.

He pushed the door open to find his daughter lying contentedly on the bed, playing happily with a red string. The string danced between her fingers, shifting into intricate, ever-changing patterns. Seeing her father, her eyes lit up. "Daddy!"

The man stepped inside, set the food he had bought on the table, and stroked her head. Her hair was just beginning to grow back, and his mood seemed to lift slightly. "Yingying, it’s time to eat."

"Okay!" Yingying ate her meal in small, delicate bites, so well-behaved that the man felt a sense of unease. She finished her dinner, bathed, and went to sleep without a single tear or tantrum.

From the red string on the first day to a small cupcake on the second, and then a set of chess that seemed to appear out of thin air... the man could no longer hold back. He asked his daughter, "Yingying, while I’m at work, has someone been coming to see you?"

Yingying nodded vigorously. "Yes, a beautiful big sister!"

"She taught me how to weave string. She’s so talented! She knows how to make every kind of pattern!"

"The little cakes she brings are so sweet!"

"She even taught me how to play Gomoku and Chinese chess."

As she spoke, the little girl let her head droop. "I can never beat her. I even begged her to let me win, but she told me that if I want to win a game, I have to rely on myself, not on someone else’s charity. She encouraged me, saying that if I just focus on recovering and get discharged early, I’ll be able to go to school. Then, I’ll be able to beat her. Daddy, can I really go to school? I want to beat her on my own!"

Looking at the hope in his daughter’s eyes, the man felt a sharp pain in his heart. There was no school in this world that would accept a child with AIDS.

"Yingying," he asked, "what does this sister look like?"

Yingying gestured with her hands. "She’s this tall, with long hair, and she’s very beautiful. Especially her eyes—it’s like there are stars inside them." She touched her own head. "Daddy, I want to grow my hair long, too, just like her!"

The man suddenly fell silent. All the nurses and doctors in the hospital wore their hair in buns. Only the girl who had once handed him a tissue matched Yingying’s description.

"Yingying, you are not allowed to let her in anymore. Do you understand?"

Yingying froze, looking distressed. "Why?!"

The man’s face turned cold. "Just because! She isn't a good person! She’ll get us kicked out of this hospital!"

"The big sister isn't like that at all! You’re lying!" Yingying’s eyes welled up with tears. "Everyone else hides from me, but the big sister doesn't. Everyone else refused to tell me where Mother Qi went, but she told me. She isn't what you say she is! Daddy, why are you lying?"

The man’s expression faltered, his voice trembling. "What else did she tell you..."

"She said Mother Qi didn't pass away. She just took a leave of absence to go to a concert and an art exhibition with her husband! Mother Qi is very happy. She even said they are planning a birthday party for Mother Qi’s son. The big sister showed me a photo of the big brother—he’s so handsome, and he looks just like Mother Qi!"

The man stood frozen in place.

Yingying continued happily, "Daddy, Mother Qi wasn't lying to me. She used to brag about having a very handsome son and said that maybe I’d meet him one day. Daddy, I really did see him." She looked disappointed. "But I only saw a photo. The big sister told me he’s even more handsome in person. I really want to meet him."

The room was filled only with the sound of his daughter’s chatter. He stood there, stunned for a long time. From his daughter, he had learned that Director Qi had a loving husband and a handsome son. She had supposedly taken a vacation to attend concerts and art shows with her husband and was preparing to celebrate their son's birthday. But Director Qi... was already dead.

The man didn't know how he made it out of the ward. His daughter was asleep, and the hospital corridor was deathly quiet. He leaned against the wall, exhausted, staring blankly at the white light above. The harsh light made his sun-damaged skin look stark and raw. He pulled a cigarette from his pocket, holding it in his trembling, calloused fingers.

A voice spoke from behind him: "You can't smoke here."

He turned his head to see the young woman standing quietly nearby, holding a bouquet of freshly cut roses.

"It was you."

He straightened up immediately, his body tensing with wariness.

Tang Yu stood still. "These are fresh. Yingying said she likes roses. I removed all the thorns and leaves; there are only the flowers left, so they won't hurt her."

The man didn't speak. She tentatively stepped forward and held the flowers out to him. He stared at the bouquet for a long time before taking it, his voice barely a tremor. "...Thank you."

As Tang Yu turned to leave, the man suddenly called out, "What exactly do you want?!"

Tang Yu stopped and looked back at him, her tone calm. "I am simply doing what Director Qi left unfinished."

The man’s eyes reddened. As if realizing something, he threw the flowers to the ground. "I knew you had bad intentions!"

Tang Yu shook her head gently, her clear eyes tranquil. "Sir, I understand your fear." The white light illuminated her fair face with a soft glow. "Actually, I envy Yingying. She has a good father—a father who never once thought of abandoning her while she was ill, who goes to construction sites every day in the wind and sun, trying his best to carry the weight of a family..."

The man’s rage slowly dissipated under her gentle voice. He felt no aggression from her.

"I don't have any illness. When my parents divorced, neither of them wanted me. They thought I was a girl, a burden." She tugged at the corner of her lips. She spoke calmly, as if she could peel back her own scars without pain. Because she had already clawed her way out of the mire, those past events could no longer break her.

"When they first divorced, I secretly went to find them. I was so hungry then, and I truly had no money for food. But when I arrived, I realized they had a new child. He held the baby, calling it 'my treasure' with such joy and affection. He had never called me that. I had never seen them smile at me. That was when I realized—they didn't dislike children; they just disliked me."

Tang Yu continued, "I studied hard, I was always at the top of my class." She shook her head. "They still didn't like me. I fell into self-denial, unable to pull myself out. I was isolated and bullied at school. I even had thoughts of ending it all. I thought, perhaps if I died, they would finally remember I existed..."

The man tightened his jaw, looking at the thin, frail young woman before him; it was hard to imagine she had endured such things.

"But then, I met someone very good."

Whenever she mentioned that person, her face lit up, her eyes curving into crescents like a moon bathed in sunlight. "He told me to protect myself. He told me I was wonderful, and he praised me for... taking such good care of myself."

Tang Yu walked over, picked up the flowers from the floor, and carefully straightened each stem before handing them back to him. "You are the same."

She said, "You take good care of Yingying. No matter what mistakes you may have made in the past, you are, without a doubt, a good father."

The man stared at the flowers, his clenched fists trembling. A moment later, his eyes welled up. He covered his face with his hands, saying nothing as his shoulders began to heave. Tears streamed through his fingers.

The silent corridor was so quiet that a pin dropping could be heard, broken only by the man’s bleak, suppressed sobs.