My Little Pink Crocodile - Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Could You Heal a Little Slower?

The sky grew dark. Under a moonless night, streetlights flickered to life, their warm yellow glow attempting to add a touch of tenderness to the bustling world.

“Don’t worry too much. Maybe Jiang Yu will just come back once she gets hungry.”

Grace, driving the car, spoke to comfort the person in the passenger seat.

Qi Yan had not fully recovered, and her frantic exit from the hospital had been too sudden. Having searched until evening without rest, a faint weariness clung to her features, yet her eyes remained filled with gnawing anxiety for Jiang Yu. She looked at the receding scenery outside; the window reflected her slightly haggard face—a far cry from her usual calm and stable self.

A flicker of something unreadable passed through her eyes. She raised a hand to rub her temples, trying to alleviate a dizzy spell. “Can you ask President Jiang if there’s any news?” she asked Grace.

Grace glanced at her phone and then turned it off, sighing helplessly. “I asked a few minutes ago. Nothing.”

Hearing this, Qi Yan’s brow furrowed, and a sharp pain of worry pricked her heart. Looking at the hurried crowds and the fast-moving traffic, she subconsciously summoned the image of Jiang Yu—every move and gesture the girl made had the power to pull at her heartstrings.

However, when that face, usually as bright as the sun, appeared in her mind, it was filled with uncontrollable sadness, calling her a liar over and over. Qi Yan snapped awake from her thoughts, cold sweat sliding down her forehead, making her face appear even paler.

“She doesn’t even know the directions. Where could she be?” Qi Yan murmured, almost to herself.

Grace felt a pang of pity seeing her like this and suggested, “What if she went back to your apartment? We’ve searched everywhere else, but we haven’t checked your place yet.”

Of course, it was just a guess. Jiang Yu had cried so bitterly; she surely resented Qi Yan’s coldness. Why would she voluntarily return to Qi Yan’s home? Still, at this point, they had to check every possibility.

“Let’s go look,” Qi Yan agreed, exhausted.

After taking Jiang Yu in, Grandma Zhang saw that she remained listless and barely ate. Feeling sorry for the girl, she suggested they go out to walk the dog.

Jiang Yu was a sentient spirit; ordinary pets usually avoided her at all costs. The Teddy dog she was currently leading was trembling in terror, its four short legs wishing they could run miles away, but the leash held it back.

“It seems Little Yan really upset you this time. I’ll give her a piece of my mind later,” Grandma Zhang said, looking at her with motherly affection.

Jiang Yu tightened her grip on the leash, her eyes lowered and her mood still gloomy. “Don’t bother. She doesn’t want me anymore.”

Grandma Zhang smiled and comforted her. “I don’t know what happened between you two, but love is a process of adjustment. It’s often rocky at the start, and quarrels are unavoidable.”

Hearing this, Jiang Yu thought seriously, her brow tightly knit. She muttered, “This time, it’s really over.” Not only had they fought, but she was about to be taken back home. The thought made her even more frustrated.

“What if she’s frantically looking for you right now?” Grandma Zhang chuckled.

Jiang Yu involuntarily imagined a worried, frantic Qi Yan, but after a moment, she shook her head to dismiss the thought. “I don’t think so.” After all, Qi Yan was still lying in a hospital bed.

In a nearby car, the window rolled up slowly, hiding the expression of the person inside.

“Send a message to President Jiang. Tell her Jiang Yu has been found,” Qi Yan said calmly to Grace after steadying her emotions.

“Aren’t you going down to see her? You discharged yourself so recklessly; you’re definitely going to have to stay in the hospital a few more days now,” Grace said, typing on her phone without noticing the desolation in Qi Yan’s eyes.

“No. She finally believed the lie.” Qi Yan looked at the figure outside the window. Just seeing the girl’s silhouette made it hard for her to breathe.

Grace finished the message and sighed, unable to understand. “Why do you two do this to yourselves?”

A look of confusion passed through Qi Yan’s eyes. Her heart felt as though it were blocked. “I don’t know either.”

Yes, why? Why be sad? Letting her go should be the right thing to do.

“Let’s go.” Qi Yan forced herself to retract her gaze. Her eyes returned to their usual calm state, appearing as if nothing were wrong.

Jiang Yu seemed to sense something. When she turned back, she only saw a car driving away. She placed her hand over her chest, feeling her heart racing. Every beat seemed to tell her that that person had been there.

“I think I saw her,” Jiang Yu murmured, staring blankly at the receding car. The Teddy dog in her arms gave a small yelp of pain, snapping her back to reality. “As expected, she doesn’t even want to see me.”

Jiang Yu looked into the distance, her eyes filled with a rare sense of lostness. “I want to know… is it because we are different that she doesn’t want me?”

Grandma Zhang patted her shoulder, bringing her back to the present. Her voice remained kind. “No matter what kind of ‘different’ it is, you like each other. That is the only fundamental requirement for two people to be together.”

Later, thanks to Qi Yan’s tip, Jiang Yao successfully located Jiang Yu. When found, Jiang Yu’s eyes were red from crying under the covers. She looked like a pitiful little rabbit as she faced the cold-faced Jiang Yao.

“I’ll go back, but on one condition,” Jiang Yu said, realizing she couldn’t hide forever.

“Speak,” Jiang Yao said, looking at the girl’s swollen eyes.

“I want to wait until her injury is healed before I leave. Is that okay?” It was the first time Jiang Yu had ever pleaded for something.

Jiang Yao frowned and thought for a moment before answering somewhat ruthlessly, “I can agree to that, but there’s a catch: you cannot go to see her.”

For these two, the less they see and speak to each other, the better.

Jiang Yu’s eyes dimmed. She nodded dejectedly. “Mhm. Anyway, she doesn’t want to see me either.” The thought made her heart ache as if it were being twisted by a knife.

“That remains to be seen,” Jiang Yao said cryptically. Without explaining further, she greeted Grandma Zhang and led Jiang Yu away.

Qi Yan’s injury had worsened because of her search for Jiang Yu, forcing her to stay hospitalized for several more days. At some point, she began to spend all her solitary hours staring out the window. Grace, who came to deliver food, caught her many times and worried she was losing her grip.

“Don’t be so gloomy all day. Once you’re better, I’ll find you someone else. If you like pink hair, I’ll make them all dye it pink.”

Qi Yan opened the food container but had no appetite. She looked up at Grace and warned calmly, “Stop it. She wouldn’t be happy to hear that.”

Grace sat down. “She’s not even here. You can’t just stare at the sky waiting forever.”

Qi Yan looked back out the window. The wind blew through falling leaves; the desolation of autumn brought a chill that made her feel cold. She forced herself to regain her composure and asked Grace, “How about you?”

Grace froze, then looked down and laughed carelessly. “From my observations, she doesn’t like me.”

Qi Yan was about to comfort her, but Grace interrupted with a smile that showed no sign of sadness. “But I like her.” Qi Yan studied her, and seeing no other hidden emotions, she felt relieved.

Grace looked at the time and stood up. “I ordered something; I’m going to go pick it up.”

“Go slowly,” Qi Yan told her.

Grace understood the hidden meaning and smiled. “I know. I won’t disturb you.”

Left alone, Qi Yan looked at the untouched food. Her long eyelashes cast shadows that hid the shifting emotions in her eyes.

As night fell, Qi Yan lay in bed and drifted off to sleep. The ward door opened silently. Someone tiptoed in, barely daring to breathe for fear of waking the person inside. The room was dark, illuminated only by moonlight, allowing the intruder to see the figure on the bed. Seeing no sign of her waking, Jiang Yu let out a sigh of relief.

Jiang Yao had forbidden Jiang Yu from seeing Qi Yan, but Jiang Yu snuck out every night, dodging guards to reach the hospital. Once she was sure Qi Yan was asleep, she would quietly appear in the room.

Jiang Yu leaned against the edge of the bed as usual. By the cool moonlight, she watched the other’s quiet, beautiful sleeping face and whispered a barely audible complaint.

“I heard everything. Grace really is a bad woman; she actually wants to give you a ‘green hat’ (cheat on me).” Then, she buried half her face in the crook of her arm, her beautiful eyes watery and pitiful. “But since you don’t want me anymore, I guess it wouldn’t be cheating… but what if I still don’t want you to like anyone else?”

She talked to herself, not considering that she might wake the patient. On the bed, Qi Yan’s eyelashes trembled slightly. She wanted to open her eyes and comfort the girl, but she clenched her fists, using the pain of her nails digging into her palms to stay awake and stay still.

Qi Yan knew Jiang Yu would come. She came every night. The first night, she had complained about being abandoned, her constant chattering waking Qi Yan up, though Qi Yan hadn’t dared to open her eyes.

Jiang Yu seemed to tire of talking. She looked at Qi Yan’s face again, her eyes filled with sorrow. She whispered, “Could you heal a little slower?”

If you heal slowly, I can stay with you for a few more days.

Qi Yan couldn’t answer. Every word Jiang Yu spoke made her feel an unbearable sense of suffocation.

Outside in the hallway, Jiang Yao stood leaning against the wall in a grey trench coat, looking cold and sharp. She listened to the movements inside, her lips pursed in thought.

Suddenly, a faint fragrance hit her. A bouquet of bright roses appeared before her eyes, as passionate as the person presenting them.

“The flowers in my garden bloomed. I wanted to give these to you,” Grace said.

Jiang Yao didn’t take them. Her gaze landed on Grace’s hands, which were marked with scratches. Against her fair skin, the injuries looked jarring. The indifference in Jiang Yao’s eyes flickered with a different emotion, but her voice remained cold.

“Miss Grace, please don’t overthink things.”

Grace recognized the clear rejection, but her look of disappointment lasted only a second. She quickly flashed a smile again. “President Jiang, you’ve misunderstood. I just wanted to thank you. If it weren’t for you, Qi Yan and Jiang Yu might be dead somewhere.”

Before Jiang Yao could speak, the flowers were shoved into her hands. Grace glanced toward the ward. “It’s late. You should take Jiang Yu back to rest.” With a smile, she walked away.

Jiang Yao watched her back, her mouth opening as if to say something, but she remained silent. The bouquet felt heavy. Suddenly, a sharp pain pricked her finger. She looked down and saw she had been scratched by a rose thorn that hadn’t been properly removed.

The side Grace had been holding was fine; the thorn was on the side she handed over. It felt like a deliberate little act of revenge. At the thought, a flicker of a smile—one she didn’t even realize was there—appeared in the depths of Jiang Yao’s eyes.