Back Then, I Adored You

Wu Hao slowly lifted his hands to his eyes and looked at his palms as he reminisced about the 10 years that they had spent hand in hand.

 I had held onto her so tightly… How did she slip away from me as time went by?

 1Wu Hao, staring at his palms, suddenly felt as if his entire body was hollowed out. His strength was gone, causing him to stagger off the railing and fall onto the rooftop. He raised his hands and cupped them over his face as his shoulders began to tremble.

 That was the girl I loved. I spent my entire youth pursuing her with all that I could. How could I lose her?

 Anytime anyone said the name “Wu Hao,” it was always following the name “Xu Wennuan.” She was mine. How could she have ended up as someone else’s now?

 On the quiet rooftop in the pitch-black night, the wind bellowed as Wu Hao’s thoughts wandered and he began to sob softly.

 Nuannuan… Nuannuan…

 …

 When Lu Bancheng returned to his apartment after taking a stroll in his wheelchair outside, Guoguo was immediately alarmed by his carelessness.

 After she pushed him into the bathroom, he mistook her makeup remover for the liquid hand soap. When she pushed him to the dining table to eat, he held his chopsticks upside down. Then she noticed that his soup bowl was empty and, when she asked if he wanted another bowl of soup, he gave no response even after she called his name several times.

 After the meal, Lu Bancheng went into his study.

 When Guoguo took him a cup of coffee, he was in the middle of a video conference, so she left without disturbing him.

 At 11:00 p.m., Guoguo had just showered and was getting ready to go to bed when she heard Lu Bancheng’s phone ring from the living room. She went to get it, picked it up off the coffee table, and then walked to the study.

 Guoguo knocked on the door for some time and, hearing nothing from inside, she casually pushed the door open, but before she could even enter the room, she was choked by the pungent smell of cigarettes. She coughed violently and subconsciously backed away a few steps. After she recovered, she took a deep breath and pushed open the door once again to enter the study.

 Lu Bancheng was seated in front of the desk with his head lowered and puffing on his cigarette. Cigarette butts of varying lengths were piled on the table in front of him.

 “Brother Bancheng, why are you smoking so much?” Guoguo complained as she rushed over to the balcony and pushed open the window. She then walked back to Lu Bancheng and passed him the phone that was still ringing. “Brother Bancheng, your phone.”

 Lu Bancheng lifted his hand up and placed the cigarette back into his mouth, ignoring her.

 Before he could take a puff, Guoguo reached out her hand and pulled the cigarette out of his mouth. He frowned and slowly lifted his head to look at Guoguo. His eyes were bloodshot, and his lips were drained of color. He stared at her for some time before he asked slowly, “What’s up?”

 Guoguo felt her heart tighten. She wanted to lecture him about taking his health more seriously, but she stopped herself. Looking down, she pointed at his cell phone and said, “Your call.”

 “Oh,” Lu Bancheng uttered and, after a lapse in response, he looked at the phone. When he saw the caller ID on the screen, his expression stiffened, and he quickly said, “Answer the call for me and tell her that I’m taking a shower.” He then turned his head aside quickly without daring to look at his phone again.