(1)
The sky gradually brightened, and the rain that had fallen all night seemed to be clearing up.
An Jing tilted her head to look out the window and could not help but yawn several times in a row.
Yu Minghui was slumped over her lap, while Wang Xinru, who was beside her, leaned slightly against her shoulder.
The Penicillin was dripping down drop by drop, creating tiny ripples in that cramped space.
Both of them had fallen asleep; only An Jing did not dare to drift off. She had to keep an eye on the slowly diminishing liquid to make sure no one missed it when the bag ran empty.
She held the lab report in her hands, having read it over and over again.
There were a bunch of numbers on it that she did not quite understand, but fortunately, there was a concise summary at the end: “Anemic and a high white blood cell count.”
“The doctor said it’s not a viral infection, but a bacterial one.” An Jing muttered as she put down the lab report and let out a long sigh.
“If the high fever doesn’t go down, there’s a risk of Myocarditis. But, it probably won’t get to that point.”
“Mmm… Feifei… your thighs are so firm.”
Yu Minghui mumbled incoherently in her sleep.
“I’ll make you some delicious Crab Shell Lychee Soup…”
“What kind of strange thing is that?”
An Jing could not help but press a hand to her forehead.
“Is that even edible?”
The sleeping Yu Minghui naturally did not answer her, but her mouth made smacking sounds as if she were actually eating in her dream.
A few drops of crystalline saliva even began to bead at the corner of her mouth.
“Eww—Sister Huihui is really something, she even drools in her sleep.”
An Jing held up the lab report with a look of disgust to keep it from getting wet.
She then pulled a pack of tissues from her pocket and helplessly wiped away the saliva that was about to overflow from the corner of the woman’s mouth.
Having been unable to sleep since they set out at midnight, An Jing felt as though her body was hollowed out.
It felt as if the marrow in her bones had been drained, leaving her with a light, floating sensation.
The period just before the first light appeared on the horizon had been quite difficult to endure; her eyelids had been fighting her constantly, making her wish she could use toothpicks to prop them open like Tom…
But by now, she no longer felt uncomfortable. Instead, she had a sense of ease, almost as if she were drunk—perhaps the words ‘drifting like an immortal’ could be used to describe it.
“Sunny Days will come. Hum hum hum… thump thump thump… Sunny Days will come….”
An Jing watched the sky as it brightened bit by bit and could not help but hum softly.
Perhaps only those who stay up all night can truly feel how warm the rising sun is.
And perhaps only those who have walked through that long, seemingly eternal, boundless dark night can feel joy for the bright dawn.
“Dawn…”
An Jing propped her chin on her hand, a faint smile on her lips.
“It really is a nice view.”
“Is it light out? Phew… An-An, what song were you humming just now?”
Wang Xinru’s voice was very soft.
The moist air exhaled from her small mouth tickled An Jing’s ear.
“Oh, you’re awake?”
“I’ve been… half-awake the whole time.”
Wang Xinru closed her eyes and seemed to struggle with her body for a moment before slowly moving her head away and sitting up straight.
“It’s a Japanese song, but I didn’t memorize the Japanese parts. I only remembered this one line of lyrics—since it’s in English, it was easier to remember.”
“What is it? It sounds both lively and… gentle.”
“Sunny Days will come~ hum hum.” An Jing swayed her head from side to side. “Is it this lyric?”
“Sunny day…”
“Sunny Days will come, that’s probably what it means.” An Jing laughed. “Look, the sun is coming out. It rained all night last night.”
“Mhm.”
“But I remember they said it would be light rain turning cloudy today, yet it looks like it’s going to be a clear day—well, it’s common for the weather forecast to be wrong!”
“An-An, sometimes you talk just like Yingying.” Wang Xinru pursed her lips and smiled weakly, shifting her body slightly further to the side.
“Uh… I feel that way sometimes too.” An Jing tapped her head. “Right, I have this song on my phone. Do you want to listen? Even if you don’t understand the lyrics, the upbeat melody can brighten your mood.”
“Okay…”
“Wait, let me find it.”
An Jing pulled out her phone.
There were only two bars of battery left, but she was not worried at all about it running out soon.
Even if she used it to listen to music, this much power would last at least seven or eight hours—which was why she did not think those phones made by Apple that could not even last eight hours on a full charge could ever be mainstream.
A phone should be sturdy and durable after all!
Wang Xinru watched An Jing pull the earphones out of her jacket pocket and listened to her excited muttering about ‘luckily I put them in my pocket instead of leaving them out.’ She could not help but ask softly: “Does Xiao Jing know what the lyrics of this song are?”
“The lyrics… for the Chinese lyrics, I only remember the first two lines.”
An Jing scratched her cheek lightly.
“Sunny Days will come, and then… between the clouds, a nimble airplane glides along the earth.”
“And then?”
“And then it’s another line of ‘Sunny Days will come,’ followed by… on the distant horizon, you are looking at the hazy future—uh, I really don’t remember what comes after that.”
“It doesn’t sound like it rhymes very well?”
“Because it’s a Chinese translation… and I guess the translation isn’t that great.” An Jing handed the earphones connected to the phone to Wang Xinru. “Here, want to listen?”
“Which one is the left side?”
“It doesn’t matter, right? I always just stick them in randomly anyway… Oh, right, your hand on that side is hard to move—” An Jing straightened up slightly. Her arm, holding the earphones, lightly brushed against the tip of Wang Xinru’s nose, causing her to blink.
When she opened her eyes again, the earphones were already in place on both sides.
An Jing pressed the play button and then looked at her with an expectant face.
“How is it?”
“A bit… noisy.”
“Uh… maybe it’s because you’re still not feeling well. Let’s listen to something quiet then…”
“An-An, can you just sing it for me?”
“Huh? Me, sing? Uh… I can’t be too loud… What song do you want to hear?”
“Teresa Teng’s…?”
“Sure, which song? Small Town Story or Walking the Road of Life, or something else?” An Jing cleared her throat. “But I might not be able to mimic that kind of voice…”
“I only… mhm…”
Wang Xinru swallowed the rest of her words and shook her head with a smile. “Small Town Story, then.”
“Okay, let me think of the tune…”
An Jing cleared her throat again.
“Small town stories are many, full of joy and happiness—”
(2)
The sky was finally fully bright.
Wang Xinru had fallen asleep again.
An Jing looked at her, noting she had turned her head to the other side this time. She let out a large yawn, walked to the front desk, and spoke softly to the nurse who looked like she was about to collapse onto the desk from exhaustion: “Hello, nurse, the IV over here is about to finish…”
“What’s the name?”
“Wang Xinru.”
“There’s one last bag of Saline Solution.”
“Okay.”
An Jing waited for the nurse to come out from behind the service desk to switch Wang Xinru to a bag of Saline Solution. The latter showed no reaction, appearing to have fallen into a deep sleep.
Yu Minghui, who had been moved from An Jing’s lap to the side earlier, was also awake by now. Dressed in her pajamas, she rubbed her eyes dazedly, looking as sluggish as a big, fluffy cat.
“Is it light out?”
“Why are your lines exactly the same as Wangwang’s?” An Jing’s lips twitched. “Ah, there’s school today. Sister Huihui, what should we do?”
“Xiao Jing, you go to school. How about I stay and take care of her?”
“Uh… speaking of which, Sister Huihui, you remember her, right? The Wangwang who often came over to play during kindergarten and elementary school, the one you took out to play a few times.”
“Mhm, I remember. She’s grown up now, she’s turned into quite the beauty.”
“But Sister Huihui, you didn’t sleep last night either. Besides, once this IV is done, she should be… fine, right?”
“It’s not that fast. If it’s serious, she might need to continue with the Saline Solution.” Yu Minghui shook her head. “In any case, she needs to rest well at home. I’ll take her back later…”
“If she goes back, she’ll be home alone.”
“Speaking of which, where are her parents?”
“Something happened. Her dad is abroad and can’t come back, and her mom… is gone.”
“Gone?”
“Gone.”
“Oh… I see.” Yu Minghui felt the car keys in her pocket. “I’ll take care of her today.”
“Is that okay, Sister Huihui?”
“It’s fine. At worst, I’ll just take another nap later.” As Yu Minghui said this, she covered her mouth and yawned several times.
“What about Xiao Jing? Can you still go to class today? You must be exhausted, right? You haven’t slept at all.”
“I feel okay for now.” An Jing stretched her limbs. “I’m a bit hungry though. I’ll go get some breakfast in a bit.”
“Mhm. When her Saline Solution is finished, I’ll take you home first.”
“Ahem… if I wanted to ask for a day off today…”
“Of course you can.”
“Actually, never mind. If I start taking days off whenever I feel like it, I’ll become lazy. I should push through if I can.” An Jing shook her head vigorously.
(3)
It was a morning just like any other. The ground was wet; the puddles from last night’s rain had not yet dried.
The sun had just risen, dispelling the damp chill.
Zhu Ying lightly tapped the ground with the toe of her right foot, keeping time to a beat that felt familiar but whose song she could not name. She was thinking about the inner voice she had heard this morning and could not help but space out. She only reacted when a girl with a beauty mark under each eye leaned her small face in front of her, almost touching her: “Huh… Xiao Jing!”
“Morning. What’s wrong with you? You’re so distracted.”
“Nothing, I was just daydreaming.” Zhu Ying lightly poked the other girl’s cheek. “Strange, Xiao Jing, you don’t look very well today. Your skin doesn’t have much elasticity.”
“Is it because I stayed up all night?”
“Mhm, you stayed up all night? You’re not planning to sleep in class again today, are you?”
“You think I want to…?” An Jing tapped her head; she felt like she was walking on air. “Wangwang had a very severe fever in the middle of the night. When we checked, it was over thirty-nine degrees. We had to rush her to get an IV.”
“Huh? How did you know? And how did you get there?”
“Sister Huihui drove us.” An Jing sighed. “She called me in the middle of the night. You could tell just by the sound of her voice that something was wrong, so I quickly called Sister Huihui.”
“So that’s how it was.”
“If…”
“Mhm?” An Jing waited for a long time but heard nothing more. “If what?”
“Mmm—” Zhu Ying suddenly ran in front of An Jing, then turned around to give her a sweet smile. “Nothing. Has Xiao Jing had breakfast yet?”
“No… I have to eat out today.”
“What do you want to eat?”
“I don’t know. I have a bit of an appetite, but not a huge one.”
“How about Drawer Wonton?”
“We won’t get to the school gate that early, will we…?”
“You never know!”