Duckweeds Also Have Their Day of Meeting

Su Cheng rode off on a bicycle.

"Why did he run away…"

Cornelia stared in the direction Su Cheng had disappeared, murmuring to herself with a dazed, pained look in her eyes.

"Is it because he doesn’t want to admit it? Is he afraid to face it?"

Tears slid down her cheeks as she whispered.

"Hey, wasn’t that kid in the hospital gown your friend?"

An old man nearby stood up, rubbing his buttocks with a frown. He glared at Cornelia and demanded loudly, "Your friend stole my bike. You should pay for it, shouldn’t you?"

"Oh, I’m sorry…" Cornelia turned to him, her face showing a hint of apology, then began digging through her pockets for money.

Just then, a nurse caught up to them, panting heavily. "Miss William, we sincerely apologize for our carelessness. We’re really sorry for the trouble this has caused you…"

"Don’t worry about it. If anything, I should be the one apologizing."

Cornelia shook her head. "I think he must have gone home. I’ll go look for him later. You should all get back to work."

"Uh… alright, we’ll head back then." The nurse nodded and led the others away.

Meanwhile, the old man grew impatient. "Quit stalling. Hand over the money already."

"Hey, you!"

Suddenly, a young female taxi driver with sunglasses leaned out of her window from the taxi zone and shouted, "Old man, are you shaking down a kid?!"

"What nonsense are you spouting, you hag?"

The old man flew into a rage, turning to glare at her. "What ‘shaking down’? Her friend stole my bike in broad daylight! She saw it herself!"

The sunglasses-wearing driver removed her shades, revealing a sharp, pretty face. She scoffed mockingly. "Since when did shared bikes become your personal property?"

Then, she turned to Cornelia with a gentler tone. "Kid, he’s just trying to scam you. Call the cops on him—guaranteed he’ll regret it."

But Cornelia didn’t want to waste time arguing. She shook her head, ready to pay and move on. "Thank you, but I have other things to deal with right now."

"Must be nice to have money to burn."

The driver put her sunglasses back on and muttered, "Your friend clearly took the bike because it was a shared one. And here you are, handing cash to this old fraud. You don’t get his intentions at all, do you? No wonder he ran."

"……"

Cornelia froze at those words. Her hand, which had been reaching for money, slowly lowered. She lifted her gaze to the old man.

He immediately defended himself. "Don’t listen to her! There’s no damn ‘shared bike’ label on it. I bought it secondhand—totally legal. Go ahead and call the cops! Like I care?!"

Cornelia realized that if Su Cheng found out about this, he’d insist on paying her back.

Wouldn’t that make all his efforts pointless?

With that thought, she clenched her teeth, pulled out her phone, and faced the old man with stubborn determination. "Fine. I’ll call the police. Whatever they say I owe you, I’ll pay—not a penny less!"

"Now that’s more like it!"

The taxi driver gave her a thumbs-up.

"You—you—!" The old man flushed red with anger. "Go ahead, call them! I’ve got all day. Let’s see who lasts longer!"

"Hey, old man, once the cops show up, this might turn into an international incident. Who knows? You could end up behind bars for a few days. After all, that bike’s stolen. And if the police check with the bike-sharing company, you’ll have to pay for every minute you’ve used it~"

The driver continued fanning the flames, seemingly enjoying the drama—or maybe just messing with the old man.

Hearing this, the old man stiffened. He took a closer look at Cornelia’s blond hair and blue eyes.

Then, with a furious but helpless glare, he spat on the ground and growled, "If I didn’t have my own business to deal with today, I’d make sure this wasn’t over!"

With that, he stormed off.

"Whew—"

Cornelia exhaled in relief as she watched the old man leave, her tense shoulders finally relaxing. She turned to the sunglasses-wearing driver with deep gratitude and bowed. "Thank you so much. Really, I can’t thank you enough. But… we’ve never met before. Why did you help me?"

"Standing up against injustice is just basic taxi driver etiquette."

The woman shrugged, her tone casual. Then, she jerked a thumb toward the backseat. "You’re trying to catch up with your friend, right? Hop in—we’ll talk on the way."

"Um… thank you." After a brief hesitation, Cornelia slid into the backseat.

The car carried a faint, pleasant fragrance, and the moment the door closed, the noise outside vanished. She noticed a few thick books in the compartment, one with a particularly eye-catching title:

The Fundamental Laws of Web Novel Protagonists

"May I ask how to address you…"

Cornelia started to speak, but suddenly, the engine roared to life. The screech of tires against pavement filled the air as the car lurched forward, sending her scrambling to grip the seat.

"Huh? What’d you say?"

The driver glanced back, confused.

"Watch the road! And slow down—I’m scared!" Cornelia hastily buckled her seatbelt, her face pale with terror. She was already regretting getting in.

"Relax, I could drive this route blindfolded—wait."

The driver paused mid-sentence and turned to study Cornelia’s expression. "You look like you don’t believe me?"

"I do, I do, I do!!" Cornelia’s voice trembled, on the verge of tears.

"Alright then, I’ll slow down."

With that, the driver floored the gas, speeding off in the direction Su Cheng had gone.

"Please, just slow down a little…"

Cornelia clutched the seatbelt, looking utterly helpless. She was genuinely terrified the driver would crash into something—or someone.

At the red light, the car finally stopped.

"So, what’s the deal with your friend?"

The driver glanced at Cornelia through the rearview mirror. "Why’d he bolt out of the hospital like that?"

Cornelia snapped out of her daze, her expression dimming. "It’s… nothing. He just forgot something at home and rushed back to get it."

She didn’t want to share their personal matters with a stranger, so she brushed it off with a lie.

"Wow, that was half-hearted. Might as well have ‘lying’ written on your forehead. Is that how you treat your savior?"

The driver hit the gas again, the sudden acceleration nearly making Cornelia scream.

"Slow down! Fine, I’ll tell you!"

Cornelia thought to herself that if a car accident happened, there’d be no one left to take care of Su Cheng, so she had no choice but to relent: "Actually, my boyfriend was diagnosed with a severe heart condition. He couldn’t accept it and just ran away."

"Is that so? He’s still young—shouldn’t it be treatable? Besides, you two don’t seem like you’d lack the funds for treatment."

This time, after the female driver asked, she drove slowly enough for Cornelia to steady her emotions and pace her words.

"I don’t know. After he got angry with me, he suddenly ran off."

Cornelia sighed, her voice tinged with sorrow: "Of course, I know that’s just how he is. Now I realize I can’t convince him to get treatment at all."

"Ha, sounds like a familiar plotline."

The female driver chuckled, her tone laced with curiosity: "Is your boyfriend’s family background pretty poor?"

"How did you know?" Cornelia was taken aback. "Do you… know him?"

"Nope."

The sunglasses-wearing driver grinned. "Also, did he say something about breaking up with you?"

Hearing this, Cornelia froze, recalling how Su Cheng had repeatedly insisted in the hospital room that he wasn’t her husband.

She grew restless, her voice urgent: "How… how do you know all this?"

"Isn’t this how it always goes in dramas? Once someone gets cancer or a terminal illness, they use ‘not wanting to burden the other person’ as an excuse to break up, just to cut ties and avoid dragging them down." The driver’s tone was mocking. "Of course, in real life, it’s pretty wild. His first thought wasn’t about survival but about cutting ties—not wanting to burden someone he loves. That kind of man actually has integrity."

Listening to her, Cornelia felt as though the clouds had parted, and the world suddenly became dazzlingly clear.

No wonder the first thing Su Cheng did after waking up was use some bizarre logic to prove he wasn’t her husband.

She’d found it baffling at the time, but now she realized… Su Cheng had been thinking so far ahead.

No—Su Cheng had always been thinking far ahead.

"Which way at the next intersection?"

"Turn left. Then stop at the entrance of XX Apartments."

"Honestly, I don’t think this is a great approach. Normally, breaking up just makes both people suffer more. The sick one thinks they’re doing the other a favor, but it just ends up hurting everyone."

The driver shook her head and continued, "Facing it together is actually the right way to handle an illness. Don’t you think a couple overcoming a disease side by side is the most beautiful, romantic thing?"

"Yes, exactly—that’s what I think too."

Cornelia nodded emphatically. Then, suddenly remembering something, her expression fell. Because she recalled that, at this point in time, Su Cheng didn’t actually like her.

So the idea of mutual regret didn’t apply.

She’d be heartbroken, but Su Cheng wouldn’t. He’d just be relieved to be rid of her as a nuisance, facing his illness alone.

For Su Cheng, this was the smartest decision.

No debts, no burdens, leaving cleanly without a trace—that was Su Cheng’s way. He never changed.

"Yeah, but instead, he ends up hurting the people who genuinely care about him, leaving regrets on both sides. I really don’t like that kind of behavior."

As she spoke, the driver slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a smooth stop. She turned to look at Cornelia in the back seat and said, "We’re here. Oh, and if you run into trouble convincing him, I can give you some advice. But only if you’re honest with me—no lies."

"Uh, you…"

Cornelia hesitated, her face conflicted, but in the end, she looked at the driver with tearful gratitude. "Thank you so much, but… why are you being so kind to me?"

"Look at me—I’m stuck in this tiny space all day, and as a female driver, hardly anyone rides with me."

The driver gestured to the cramped interior of the car and said earnestly, "Helping people and watching drama are the only ways I have to ease the loneliness and frustration in my life."

"You could always change jobs."

"I’ve thought about it, but haven’t found the right one yet."

"I see. Thank you."

"Here’s my card. Call me anytime."

The driver handed Cornelia a business card from the driver’s seat, reaching back to pass it to her.

Cornelia took it, opened the door, and stepped out, about to offer generous payment.

But just as she pulled out her wallet, the driver had already hit the gas, speeding off into the distance.

Left standing there, Cornelia felt a pang of disappointment. She instinctively looked down at the card in her hand, which bore a phone number and the driver’s name.

—Ye Ruiqin