Su Yue returned to the bedside after washing her hands. Jiang Ling was still excitedly chatting with Su Minghua about her performance.
Seeing her approach, they both fell silent, smiling at her.
"Oh, Yueyue, your phone rang just now," Jiang Ling suddenly remembered something and handed her bag over.
Su Yue dried her hands, discarded the tissue, and took the bag with some confusion, pulling out her phone.
The moment she saw the missed call.
She froze.
"Are you alright, Yueyue?" Su Minghua was the first to notice her abnormality and asked with concern.
Su Yue felt her heart pounding. She raised a hand to press against her chest and slowly shook her head, saying:
"It's nothing… I'm going out to make a call!"
With that, she ran out of the room, suppressing the overwhelming joy in her heart, and hid in a quiet corner of the stairwell.
Her hands were trembling uncontrollably, but her longing for the caller gave her enough strength to operate the phone screen.
Her fair fingers finally managed to unlock the screen on the third attempt.
Then, she dialed the missed call.
It was answered almost instantly.
From the other end of the line, a familiar, warm voice that had given her immense courage to face life rang out.
With a hint of exhaustion, it softly called her name:
"Baby."
The single word "Baby" brought tears to her eyes.
Su Yue couldn't speak for a moment. She could only cover her mouth, trying her best not to let a sob escape.
Not hearing her response, the voice, with a smile, asked again:
"Baby, you don't remember me again?"
How could she possibly forget him?
She had been thinking of him constantly, for the two months he had been gone.
Day after day, night after night.
She hadn't slept well, waking up every morning just after midnight.
When she woke, all was still, and only her longing for him was the touch of beauty she wished to hold onto in this world.
[Others are trapped in the mountain mist, but I am trapped in you]
If she were to never hear from him again.
Or even worse, to ultimately hear of his permanent disappearance.
She would truly confine herself here for the rest of her life.
Confined to the romantic love they had shared.
Confined to her most beautiful twenties.
Su Yue finally couldn't hold back, letting her sobs be heard through the receiver.
On this end of the line, Chen Ziming's hand tightened on his phone, and the smile on his face gradually faded.
He lowered his eyes and said in a low voice, "Where are you, Baby? I'll come find you. Please don't cry anymore, okay?"
He paused, then added, "I'm fine, safe and sound."
The words "safe and sound" were the most beautiful declaration of love Su Yue had heard in a long time.
She stopped crying, looked around her surroundings, and finally, with a choked voice, asked:
"Can I come to your place now?"
Hearing her speak, Chen Ziming finally relaxed.
His voice softened even further as he replied, "Okay, but that's our home."
"Next week, I'll take you to the property registry to add your name to the house, and then to the notary office to certify your ownership of the property."
Su Yue was clearly surprised, but at that moment, all she wanted was to be by his side, with no time to discuss such matters.
Instead, she hastily hung up the phone, bid farewell to the two in the room, and rushed out of the hospital, hailing a taxi.
As the taxi drove into the residential area, getting closer and closer to his home, Su Yue's heart beat faster and faster.
When she saw the familiar tall figure standing downstairs, she immediately told the driver to stop.
It turned out he had arrived earlier and had been waiting for her downstairs.
Su Yue got out of the car, and Chen Ziming looked over.
The moment their eyes met, she couldn't help but tear up. All the longing of the past days converged into tears, gushing forth.
And the instant he saw Su Yue, an expression of extreme tenderness appeared on Chen Ziming's face.
Although the distance wasn't long.
It felt like a galaxy of unfulfilled longing spanning two months.
It was late autumn, already November.
The man wore a dark sweater and a long trench coat. He was a little thinner, a little more haggard than before, but it still didn't conceal his unparalleled handsomeness.
Seeing the girl in front of him start to cry, he felt a pang of concern and strode towards her.
Unexpectedly, she also ran towards him.
A mutual rush, she collided into his embrace, and he naturally pulled her close.
An embrace is the warmest confession in the world.
Using one person's warmth to warm another's, merging one soul with another.
It was the broad chest Su Yue had curled into countless times.
It was the human warmth she had secretly cherished on so many nights.
And now, it had finally appeared before her, tangible and real.