Cheng Shuo had arranged to meet Senior Sister outside the hospital. After waiting for half an hour, there was still no reply from her.

He was worried something had happened and anxiously made a call, but she didn't pick up.

Fortunately, five minutes later, Senior Sister replied, "I'm so sorry, can we meet at the hospital? I'll take you to the break room, but I only have half an hour. It's been too busy today, I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize. How do I find you?"

He walked through the corridor, and Senior Sister met him and led him to the break room.

Her face was weary, but her eyes were bright, looking like a very trustworthy doctor.

"Good thing no one's catching up on sleep in here right now." She smiled and cautiously locked the door. "Have a seat. Sorry, it's a bit messy."

Cheng Shuo, holding a coffee he had just bought, handed it to her and said, "This must be tough."

Senior Sister took it and had a sip.

"What is Zheng Yi worried about?"

"Li Aimin," Cheng Shuo answered. "She heard from you about what happened to Senior Brother, and after looking into it herself, she found out you're under him. My friend is too, so I'm also very worried."

"Is he like this with you guys too?"

Senior Sister raised her coffee halfway, then slowly put it down.

She was trembling slightly, yet she still had the energy to joke, "No wonder Zheng Yi had you come ask. You're much more direct than she is."

"Anxiety makes one reckless, I'm sorry."

She picked up the plastic cup again and took a sip. Then she sighed.

"I'm sorry..." she finally said. "I'm the one who asked you to make this trip, but I'm a bit... I don't know how to start."

"It's alright, Senior Sister..." Cheng Shuo nodded. "No need to apologize, it's not your fault."

He thought for a moment and said, "How about we talk about something else? Like, just how busy it was today. Just think of it as me coming to see you on behalf of Zheng Yi."

They made some rambling small talk: about the eight-year-old girl who woke up in pain in the middle of the night but stubbornly refused to speak, nearly biting her pillow to shreds;

the woman who had no one with her after giving birth and just silently stared out the window alone;

the 80-year-old patient who drank pesticide, fearing he had become a burden, and whose family cried their eyes out but couldn't save him. Then they talked about the farmer who, after having his medical fees reduced by a doctor, would punctually send dates every year with a thank-you note in his clumsy handwriting;

the child who traveled a great distance to present a silk banner, and the patient who shielded a doctor from a knife-wielding family member during a medical dispute.

At the end of their conversation, Senior Sister let out a light sigh.

"Li Aimin is terrible to all of us, and he practices collective punishment." She spoke quickly, her words mingling with the myriad tales of human life, as if her own suffering was nothing special.

"What happened to Senior Brother was not an isolated case."

It seemed that was all she could say. The rest of her words dissipated on her trembling shoulders.

Cheng Shuo considerately turned away.

A long while later, Senior Sister's voice returned to its gentle calm. "I'm sorry, I can't say any more."

'Don't apologize, why are you the ones apologizing?'

Cheng Shuo said, "It's okay, it's okay. It's not your fault, it's alright. If you ever want to talk to me or Zheng Yi, just let us know, okay? We will always be on your side."

Senior Sister nodded. "I'll think about it. I have to go do my rounds."

Cheng Shuo stood up, said, "You've worked hard," turned his head, and walked out the door, only to run straight into a familiar face.

Cen Zeng was holding a stack of files, his gaze sweeping over the two of them.

"What are you doing here?" he looked at Cheng Shuo.

Senior Sister smiled. "You two know each other?"

"My roommate," Cen Zeng replied. "I just spoke with the boss. He said he'll look for you later."

"Your roommate?" Senior Sister's expression changed slightly. "I..." Cheng Shuo didn't know what else he could say.

"What did he talk to you about?" Cen Zeng asked, however.

Senior Sister's face changed drastically; she could barely hold the pen in her hand steady.

Cen Zeng steadied it for her, returned it, and said to her, "Go on, get back to work."

Senior Sister left, leaving only the two of them.

The person before him stood there and asked very calmly, "You know?"

'Hasn't anyone ever told Cen Zeng? Questions shouldn't be phrased like statements, otherwise, it makes everyone feel awkward.'

"I didn't mean anything by it." Cheng Shuo stood his ground. The light hit Cen Zeng's face; he was still very handsome.

A white coat over a shirt, handsome like a rich, handsome doctor from an idol drama who never has to work overtime.

So handsome it seemed he could escape all suffering. So handsome he seemed like God's favorite child, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, destined for a life of brocade and flowers, surrounded by roses.

"You want to help?" Cen Zeng continued to ask.

He was so quiet, so composed, as if nothing had ever happened.

"I know I'm being naive..." Cheng Shuo answered, "but I can't just stand by and watch."

"There's nothing to not be able to stand." Cen Zeng replied thusly. "No one can stand to look at my life. And basically, no outsider can stand to look at the life of a medical student."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pried around without your permission."

"I was wondering before..." Cen Zeng narrowed his eyes. "Why you suddenly became interested in me. I'm a very boring person, I know that very well. You approached me because I look like your White Moonlight, and my face is the only thing about me that's eye-catching.

I just felt that life was too hopeless, and you seemed to love life so much. You have a beautiful smile, you're so confident, as if you've never experienced any setbacks, and your biggest problem is just not being able to get your White Moonlight. So it's okay, even if it's just to borrow a little bit of light. It's okay."

It was rare for him to speak at such length, and this was what he had to say.

"We don't get along. You find me uninteresting, and I don't understand what you're so happy about. Later, I thought that you probably approached me so suddenly because no one has ever really cooked for you.

You have money, but no companionship. That's why you came over at the very beginning and asked if I wanted to hang out with you. Later, you asked if I wanted to have dinner together. Actually, no one has ever cooked for me either. My mom often wished I would just die with her. But I want to live."

"Don't say any more."

"I have to..." Cen Zeng smiled. "It's rare for me to be this talkative, so just bear with me. Sorry, it's all clichés."

"Living is hard. No matter how hard I try, it's hard. I wanted to die in my last year of high school. I know you were staring at my neck. Most people wouldn't know what happened, but the truth is, during my second mock exam, I was notified that my mom had attempted suicide."

He continued, "It was hard. I didn't have money for her medical bills. I didn't know what to do. I tried to hang myself, but a nurse found me. She was crying, the doctor was crying too, and they said things would get better."

"Actually, I think they were wrong. Things don't get better. My mom has lived for so many years, and she hasn't gotten better. But they helped pay for my medical expenses and applied for a reduction. Luckily, my mom didn't even know sleeping pills can't kill you, so she lived. She told me she was sorry, that she had originally planned to kill herself after I finished my college entrance exams, but she just couldn't hold it in."

"I asked her why she didn't take me with her to jump off a building when I was too young to remember. She said she didn't know, that maybe it was a mother's curse, she just couldn't bring herself to do it."

"So, the college entrance exams..." He smiled. "And then I chose the School of Medicine. I've never received much kindness; the nurses and doctors were an exception. When I got my acceptance letter, I told them I was going to school up north.

I wanted to take my mom with me. I did well on my exams, and the school gave me a decent scholarship. For the first time, someone was willing to spend money to snatch me up."

"I thought things would really get better this time," he said. "I thought, it's okay, everything will be okay."

"And then there's now." He smiled. "What do you want to know? Are you pitying me, sympathizing with me?"

"I..."

Cheng Shuo couldn't continue. He wanted to say no, of course not. 'I just don't understand, you're just too terrifying. There's nothing I can do, I don't know what to do with you, Cen Zeng, I really don't.'

"It's okay." Cen Zeng looked at him. "I don't have that much pride. I'm not going to get angry at you and tell you to stay out of it."

"I just want to know, did you suddenly get close to me because you stumbled upon my situation for some weird reason, or was it just that you suddenly felt you really wanted to get to know me?"

Of course, Cheng Shuo should have said something pleasant, delivered some perfect line, employed the well-worn tactics he was so used to.

But Cen Zeng just looked at him like that, his expression calm, his eyes wide open.

"Both," he said. "Both. Cen Zeng, both. Both. I don't pity you, I don't sympathize with you. I'm curious about you, I want to help you, I..."

He could only keep making things up. "I just... discovered it while I was being curious. A friend told me your advisor isn't very good, and I got scared."

Cen Zeng smiled. He said, "Cheng Shuo, you can't lie."

"I don't know how you found out, and I don't want to dig into it." He sighed. "Let's go home. Since you've gotten involved, then see it through to the end. Welcome, the third person after the doctors and nurses to show me goodwill."

They were silent. Cen Zeng changed back into his light down jacket and sat in the passenger seat.

Cheng Shuo turned on the stereo. A pop love song was playing, singing, "Newton said there's a thing called universal gravitation, because of you I'm starting to believe."

Amidst the sweet, chocolate-like melody, Cen Zeng leaned against the window, turning his head to watch the traffic outside.

"Did Senior Sister tell you? Did you manage to persuade her?"

Cheng Shuo stopped at a red light. "She..."

"She doesn't dare," Cen Zeng answered. "Actually, I don't dare either."

"But we can't let it go on like this..." Cheng Shuo said. "I'm afraid you guys..."

"She won't commit suicide." Cen Zeng actually replied just like that. "She's very strong. Stronger than me."

"What about you?"

Cheng Shuo was finally able to ask, his voice completely hoarse, "What about you?"

"I don't know," Cen Zeng answered this way. "My mom answered me the same way. When I was little, I thought she was so weak, but now I realize she was just being honest."

Cheng Shuo would rather he wasn't so honest.

But he was still alive. Cheng Shuo looked at his face, feeling utterly powerless, and yet, also incredibly fortunate. 'Cen Zeng is still alive.'

"Don't die, okay?" He was practically begging, like a child looking at a remote control car that had stopped moving, helpless and at a complete loss.

"Mm..." Cen Zeng finally answered. His voice was so soft that Cheng Shuo could barely hear if he was saying yes or no.

Cheng Shuo ordered takeout, not letting Cen Zeng cook.

"Then don't worry about your advisor for now, okay? Take a week off, let's go somewhere. I want to see the sea," Cheng Shuo said.

Cen Zeng ate his meal, chewed a few times, paused, took a sip of water, and paused again.

"You come with me. Just bring yourself, I'll arrange everything else. I was planning on getting away for a bit anyway."

"You look so sad." Cen Zeng was still, surprisingly, calm and gentle.

"I just am really sad." He truly couldn't lie. Compared to Cen Zeng, who had been pretending everything was fine and fooling everyone, there was no comparison.

"Let me do something. You should give yourself a break too, okay? It's not a complete vacation. Just, the thing with Senior Sister, and the other things that bastard Li Aimin has done.

If you're willing, we can discuss how to make it public.

I... did some digging, and I also know a friend of one of his former students. I can also help you ask my friends if it's possible to switch advisors. If that's not an option, you're so smart, you could even change your major. You'd definitely be better at finance than Chen Ziheng." His chopsticks were about to fall, slipping from his fingertips.

Cen Zeng supported his hand. "Okay."

In contrast, Cheng Shuo seemed to be the one whose life was a mess.

"Don't be sad," Cen Zeng said. "Smile a little."

So he tried very hard to pull up the corners of his mouth. He didn't know what kind of expression he was making, but it actually made Cen Zeng laugh.

Lively and warm, like a wisteria in full summer bloom.

In that instant, he was almost bewitched. Such a dazzling beauty fell into his heart, and his first reaction was, surprisingly, a strong, dull ache.

It was like being torn apart by a million insects, yet also like fireworks exploding in his heart.

The pain was so intense that he had to squint and grip Cen Zeng's hand tightly.