A Friend I've Loved for a Long Time - Chapter 19

Yun City Hospital, Inpatient Department.

In the ward, Jiang Yan’an’s leg was wrapped in bandages and propped high in a fixed position; she looked quite badly injured.

When Yun Zhi walked in, Jiang Yan’an’s manager, Cheng Jiao, was sitting nearby, handing her a bowl of hot porridge.

“An’an.” Yun Zhi walked to her side. Looking at the bandaged leg, her eyes couldn’t hide her heartache. “Are you okay?”

Jiang Yan’an was a ballet dancer; a leg injury was a devastating blow for her. Yun Zhi regretted not telling Zhu Qingmeng immediately. Even if Jiang Yan’an claimed she didn’t want Qingmeng to know, this was exactly the time she needed companionship.

“Waaaah, Zhizhi…” Hearing Yun Zhi’s voice, Jiang Yan’an stopped eating her porridge and burst into tears, pointing at her leg. “It hurts so much.”

Listening to her friend’s cries, Yun Zhi’s own eyes turned red. Jiang Yan’an had been afraid of pain since she was a child, but for the sake of dancing, her endurance had always been high. If she was crying this hard, the pain must be unbearable.

Knowing they were close, Cheng Jiao stood up to give Yun Zhi her seat, whispering, “I’ll leave her in your care,” before stepping out of the room.

Yun Zhi had a low crying threshold to begin with; seeing Jiang Yan’an cry made her start crying too. Forget comforting her; Yun Zhi was so choked up she couldn’t even speak clearly. The two of them looked like they were competing to see who could sob louder.

Once Jiang Yan’an had cried enough to stabilize her emotions, she let out a sudden chuckle. “Zhizhi, you look so ugly when you cry.”

“You’re not much better,” Yun Zhi replied while using a tissue to wipe her friend’s tears.

After a good cry, Jiang Yan’an’s mood brightened considerably. “I knew it. As long as you’re here, I won’t stay sad for long.” She tilted her head back to let Yun Zhi wipe her face.

Yun Zhi gave a soft “Mm,” her heart still heavy.

“I was lucky that falling off the stage only injured my leg,” Jiang Yan’an said with a smile, trying to prevent Yun Zhi from worrying further now that her emotions were spent.

Yun Zhi wanted to ask about the prognosis but was afraid of hurting her feelings. She decided to ask Cheng Jiao or the attending physician later. However, her hesitation was caught by Jiang Yan’an.

“The doctor said I need to rest properly. The bandages come off in half a month, I’ll be back on my feet in a month. But as for dancing… ‘breaking a bone takes a hundred days.’ It’ll be at least three months before I can dance again.”

Jiang Yan’an’s explanation was detailed and didn’t sound like a lie. Yun Zhi believed her. “That’s good, then.”

Jiang Yan’an glanced at the door. “You didn’t tell Zhu Qingmeng, did you?”

Over the years, Yun Zhi had learned a pattern: when Jiang Yan’an referred to Qingmeng by her full name, it meant they were fighting. Using nicknames meant they were in the “honey” phase.

“No, not yet.”

Yun Zhi watched her reaction. Jiang Yan’an gave a soft “Oh” and looked down. Even though she tried to hide it, her disappointment was obvious. Yun Zhi curved her lips knowingly.

When Yun Zhi didn’t say anything for a while, Jiang Yan’an looked up and saw her typing on her phone.

“Hey, Yun Zhi,” Jiang Yan’an pouted. “How can you ignore a major patient to play on your phone?”

“I’m not playing; I just sent a message.” Yun Zhi kept her head down.

Jiang Yan’an grew alert. “To whom?”

“Who do you think?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Jiang Yan’an snatched the phone just as Yun Zhi hit ‘send.’

“Recall it! Recall it now! You aren’t allowed to tell her!” Jiang Yan’an tried to find a recall button, but unfortunately, the screen showed a standard SMS interface, which didn’t have that option.

“What was the fight about this time?” Yun Zhi asked.

“What do you mean ‘about what’? It’s because she won’t let me eat meat!” Jiang Yan’an said seriously, showing signs of anger.

Yun Zhi: “?”

“Is she hinting that I need to lose weight?” Jiang Yan’an continued.

Yun Zhi thought for a moment and whispered, “Based on my understanding, even if you turned into a little pig, Zhu Qingmeng would think you were the cutest little pig. So…”

“Yun Zhi!” Jiang Yan’an snapped.

“Present!” Yun Zhi sat up straight. “So, is it a misunderstanding? For example, you have a dance performance coming up and wanted to manage your physique, so you asked Zhu Qingmeng to supervise your diet?”

It wasn’t that Yun Zhi was biased toward Qingmeng; it was just that she knew Jiang Yan’an too well.

Sure enough, Jiang Yan’an froze. She said blankly, “Wait… wasn’t that something I said in a dream?”

Yun Zhi: “…”

Silence was her only answer.

“Then why didn’t she explain it to me?” Jiang Yan’an huffed, looking at her silent phone. “And she hasn’t even replied to the news that I’m in the hospital. Does she want to break up with me?”

“She’s definitely busy and hasn’t seen the message,” Yun Zhi soothed her. “An’an, don’t keep saying things like that. You clearly don’t want her to be sad, right?”

Jiang Yan’an bit her lip and gave a muffled “Mm.” In truth, beyond the anger, she was afraid of Qingmeng seeing her like this. Every time she got even a small scratch, Qingmeng was more upset than she was.

“Let’s not talk about that. Tell me about you,” Jiang Yan’an said after a while, regaining her energy and setting the phone aside.

“Me?” Yun Zhi looked at her and continued, “I ran into an old acquaintance while working with L&Y.”

Before Jiang Yan’an could speak, she added: “You’ve seen her too.”

Jiang Yan’an looked confused. Yun Zhi said “seen,” not “known,” which meant it wasn’t a mutual friend. After a few seconds, Jiang Yan’an gasped. “Is it the big beauty from the photo you sent me the other day?”

Yun Zhi nodded.

“Tsk,” Jiang Yan’an muttered. “Only I know you well enough to guess that.”

The “big beauty” had left a deep impression, and since it was a recent event, she was able to recall her. “What’s her name? What does she do?”

“Yu Mingxia. She’s the Chief Designer at L&Y.”

“Wow,” Jiang Yan’an exclaimed. “Chief Designer? That’s so cool.”

Yun Zhi chuckled.

“But why does that name sound so familiar?” Jiang Yan’an murmured after her initial excitement.

“You’ve been to Fashion Weeks, haven’t you? You must have heard it there.” Yun Zhi didn’t take the confusion to heart.

Is that it? Jiang Yan’an wondered. She felt like it wasn’t just because of her professional title. She had only seen the photo briefly before Yun Zhi recalled it, but even then, she felt a strange sense of familiarity—like she had seen her somewhere before.

With that in mind, Jiang Yan’an picked up her phone and typed “Yu Mingxia” into a search engine. Because she was famous, the system auto-filled the name as soon as she typed the pinyin. She also glanced at her notification bar. Still nothing from Zhu Qingmeng. She let out a small huff.

Yun Zhi didn’t know what she was doing. There was fresh fruit on the nightstand next to the porridge. She picked out a bright red apple and began to peel it gently with a fruit knife.

Halfway through, Jiang Yan’an suddenly let out a loud “Ah!”

Yun Zhi’s hand jerked. She didn’t cut herself, but the long, spiraling strip of apple peel she was carefully maintaining finally snapped. She tossed the fallen peel into the trash.

“She’s that Yu Mingxia!” Jiang Yan’an slapped the bed excitedly, which accidentally tugged at her wound, making her wince in pain.

“Be careful,” Yun Zhi said helplessly. “I just told you her name is Yu Mingxia.”

“Yu Mingxia! Don’t you remember?” Jiang Yan’an inhaled sharply.

Yun Zhi: “?”

“I know she’s Yu Mingxia. And?”

“I’m not just introducing her name,” Jiang Yan’an bit her lip and said in one breath, “Yu Mingxia, the Top Science Scorer of our year. Do you remember now?”

“Wow, she was the top science scorer? How impressive.” Yun Zhi knew Mingxia was talented, but she was still amazed. Making a friend like that… I’m really moving up in the world.

After a moment, under Jiang Yan’an’s intense stare, Yun Zhi frowned and murmured, “Wait, that’s not right. Our year’s top scorer was from our school?”

“She graduated from Yun High? So we were alumni in the same year?” Yun Zhi exclaimed. “It seems we really do have a lot of fate.”

Jiang Yan’an rolled her eyes inwardly. Seeing Yun Zhi’s reaction, it was clear she had forgotten everything from back then. To be fair, Jiang Yan’an had only remembered after seeing the profile.

Back then, Yu Mingxia and Zhu Qingmeng were seatmates. Jiang Yan’an often went to see Qingmeng; although her “romantic feelings” hadn’t blossomed yet, she instinctively observed the people around the person she liked.

As for the incident in the basketball gym, Zhu Qingmeng hadn’t talked about it much, but Jiang Yan’an could tell she had been silent for a while afterward. If she had to guess, Qingmeng had felt guilty about that day.

“Your ‘fate’ is more than just that,” Jiang Yan’an whispered. “Senior year… the basketball gym… Yu Mingxia. Can you remember anything?”

Yun Zhi frowned. “What?”

Seeing her expression, Jiang Yan’an knew Yun Zhi had completely wiped that day from her memory. She sighed. “How did you meet Yu Mingxia recently?”

Earlier, she was happy Yun Zhi made a new friend, but now… had Yu Mingxia forgotten such a long-standing grudge? Or was there a possibility of intentional revenge?

“The day the photography exhibition ended, I accidentally took a photo of her and we started chatting,” Yun Zhi said, becoming curious at Jiang Yan’an’s expression. “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Yan’an bit her lip. She decided to tell Yun Zhi. After all, Yu Mingxia had been present and definitely heard what Yun Zhi said back then. Even after all these years, Jiang Yan’an still remembered the look in Yu Mingxia’s eyes as she watched Yun Zhi walk away. It was so lost and pained.

Though she didn’t quite understand why Yu Mingxia looked at Yun Zhi like that, she had heard from Zhu Qingmeng that Mingxia was quiet and introverted. Someone like that is usually sensitive. To be disliked for no reason… it was natural for her to feel aggrieved.

“Why did you hate Yu Mingxia in high school?” Jiang Yan’an finally asked.

“What hate?” Yun Zhi was bewildered. Did she even know Yu Mingxia in high school?

Jiang Yan’an let out a long sigh. “So you didn’t even know who she was back then.”

The confusion was starting to dissipate; Yun Zhi knew An’an wouldn’t say this without a reason.

“During the first semester of senior year, we were resting in the basketball gym. Qingmeng said she wanted to introduce Yu Mingxia to be your math tutor. She was the best in the grade. But you rejected her flat-out. You said you didn’t need a tutor, and your tone was… well, you sounded like you didn’t want to know her at all. It was a very disgusted, cold tone. I don’t know how else to put it, but I imagine she was quite heartbroken hearing that.”

Jiang Yan’an paused and added, “Later, when Qingmeng asked why you said that, you said… ‘Don’t mention Yu Mingxia to me, I have no interest in knowing her’.”

For a few days after that, Zhu Qingmeng had been quite cold toward Yun Zhi. Jiang Yan’an had spent a lot of effort mediating, which was why she remembered it so clearly.

“When did I…” say those things?

Before she could finish, Yun Zhi stopped. A blurry memory flashed through her mind.

But the scene in her memory wasn’t the basketball gym Jiang Yan’an described. It was…

Nan Qiao.