Tang Qinqin

Sitting on a simple red plastic stool, Tang Manman stared blankly at the exercise book spread open on the table, her pen hovering without making a mark. Her expression was vacant, her beautiful dark eyes unfocused, her mind wandering far away.

"Click."

The sharp metallic sound of a latch closing echoed through the wall, snapping Tang Manman back to reality. She turned her head and peered through the window, catching sight of her mother in the kitchen packing a thermal flask into a woven cloth bag.

At once, she knew what her mother was about to do—deliver chicken soup to Qinqin.

This was a weekly ritual, unshakable.

Qinqin was frail, and she needed the nourishment from the soup.

Once the sound faded, Tang Manman turned back to her desk. She exhaled in frustration at the pristine exercise book before her, the math problems that had once seemed straightforward now appearing tangled and incomprehensible.

After a brief hesitation, she decided to step out for some fresh air.

Standing up, she called to her mother, who was about to leave:

"Mom, let me take the soup to Qinqin."

Tang Yun paused mid-step and turned back, her youthful, delicate face registering surprise. But the expression quickly softened into a gentle smile.

"No need, I’ll go. You focus on your studies."

"I... I’ve been feeling a little stifled. I want to take a walk."

Tang Manman made the request hesitantly.

Her recent exam results had been poor, and she knew she ought to stay home and study harder.

But...

She just couldn’t concentrate.

"Oh... Alright, you can take it."

Seeing her daughter’s dispirited look, Tang Yun relented. As Tang Manman approached, she reached out and tenderly ruffled her hair, murmuring,

"Don’t pressure yourself too much. Just do your best—I believe in you."

"Mhm."

Tang Manman nodded obediently and took the thermal flask from her mother’s hands.

Leaving home, she walked along the familiar path to the bus stop.

The autumn wind was bleak, stripping the trees bare. A few withered leaves clung stubbornly to the skeletal branches, swaying and creaking with each gust—clearly not long for this world.

The late autumn scenery was dreary, but the wind itself was pleasant—cool without being cold, crisp and dry, as if it could sweep through her forehead and carry away the stifling heat and frustration clouding her mind.

Her gaze drifted aimlessly before settling on the entrance of a pharmacy that had just opened for business. Her eyes lingered there, as if glued in place.

In the depths of her melancholy dark eyes, she could still picture that ridiculous figure—a boy with his head wrapped in white bandages, half his face hidden behind messy blond hair.

Time slipped by unnoticed until a green bus pulled up in front of her, blocking her view entirely. Only then did she snap out of her daze and board the bus.

She got off at the hospital stop and entered the building.

Arriving at the elevator lobby on the first floor, she stood quietly at the edge of the crowd, waiting.

"Ding~"

The elevator chimed, and the heavy silver doors slid open. People streamed out, and among them was a fair-skinned, delicate-looking young man.

The moment Tang Manman saw him, he saw her too.

A flicker of delight crossed his refined features as he greeted her with a smile.

"Manman, you—"

His words were abruptly cut off, as if sliced by a sharp knife, because Tang Manman had already walked right past him. In response to his warm greeting, she offered only the faintest hum of acknowledgment and the slightest nod.

As if addressing a stranger—no, someone even more distant than a stranger.

The joy in the young man’s smile froze, then melted away like winter snow tossed into boiling water. He turned, his dark pupils reflecting Tang Manman’s indifferent face, feeling as though his heart had been shattered...

The elevator doors closed and reopened several times before Tang Manman finally stepped out. She navigated the halls with practiced ease until she reached a four-bed ward.

Standing at the doorway, she looked at Tang Qinqin lying on the hospital bed, engrossed in her phone. For the first time since leaving home, a soft, warm smile touched Tang Manman’s otherwise lifelessly beautiful face.

Approaching the bed, she set the thermal flask of chicken soup on the bedside table and teased,

"Good thing it’s me visiting today. If Mom had come, you’d be in for a scolding!"

"Hehe, I was bored," Tang Qinqin replied with a grin, swiftly pulling her phone back out from under the blanket where she’d hidden it.

"Bored or not, you shouldn’t be glued to your phone."

Tang Manman opened the thermal flask, then crouched to retrieve a bowl and spoon from the cabinet.

"You’ll be discharged soon. You should spend this time reviewing your textbooks so you don’t fall behind when you go back to school. Catching up later won’t be easy."

"Pfft."

Tang Qinqin waved a dismissive hand, her tone dripping with confidence.

"As if I’d fall behind?"

"I’ve already started studying high school material. Eighth-grade stuff is child’s play—easy peasy!"

She mimicked some odd accent she’d picked up, putting on an exaggeratedly smug act.

Tang Manman straightened up, bowl and spoon in hand, and walked toward the room’s water dispenser, her lips curving in amusement.

Though she had no doubt about Qinqin’s academic prowess, she couldn’t resist knocking her down a peg.

"That’s no excuse. Reviewing the basics is important. You should go over your eighth-grade books again."

"Or else when you bomb your exams, Mom will have your head."

After rinsing the bowl and spoon with hot water, Tang Manman returned to the bedside and began ladling out steaming chicken soup.

"I won’t bomb anything!"

Tang Qinqin declared, full of bravado.

"I could beat them with one hand tied behind my back!"

She raised one pale little hand for emphasis.

"And one eye closed!"

She shut one eye dramatically.

"I’d still leave them in the dust!"

With one eye still squeezed shut, she whipped her head toward her sister—only to be met not with Tang Manman’s face, but a bowl of golden chicken soup held inches from her nose.

"Enough boasting. Drink up."

Tang Manman smiled faintly.

Tang Qinqin’s youthful face instantly fell. Her lower lip jutted out in a pout as she fixed her sister with big, pitiful eyes.

"Sis~"

"Do I haaave to?"

"Yes."

Tang Manman’s eyes curved into crescents.