Chapter Seventy-One: Yearning for the Future

  Qin Keyi sat down on the empty bed beside her, lowering her head and reddening her face after sending away the middle-aged man. She fiddled with her bracelet, a habitual action she used to cover up her embarrassment, which made me want to laugh even more.

  "Take a lesson, young man! This thing tells us that success has no shortcuts! No matter what you do, you must be down-to-earth and have the right attitude... If you want to achieve something quickly, you will not succeed. Wanting to learn how to cook... You must have the spirit of Yu Gong moving mountains under the premise of being humble, pretending to be something you're not will eventually be exposed! Haha!" I said to Qin Ke with a serious face.

  "Is it over yet? Don't laugh!" Qin Ke said with a red face, staring at me.

  "Hey... porridge... haven't finished eating yet? Why aren't you feeding me anymore...?" I asked with a smile, being careful.

  "Aren't you capable of feeding yourself? Why don't you eat by yourself?"

  "Who was it that just tried to force-feed me to death?! How can you retreat after withstanding such a small blow? This doesn't match your usual style, Qin Da Mei Nu, of being fierce and decisive, not bothered by trivial matters!"

  "I don't want to feed you anymore......!"

  "I'm a patient now, can you show some compassion?" I said with a smile to Qin Ke.

  "You're not allowed to make fun of me again!"

  "Alright... alright! I won't laugh anymore!" After forcing myself to stop smiling, Qin Ke glared at me and continued feeding me from the rice bowl. When she handed the spoon in front of me again, remembering the ridiculous scene earlier, I couldn't hold back my laughter once more and burst out laughing again.

  "You're still smiling! If you smile again, I'll pour this entire bowl of porridge down your throat in one breath!!" Qin Ke threatened with a glare.

  "Hehe... okay... not laughing anymore..." Qin Ke Yi continued to feed me after I gradually stopped smiling, perhaps the warm scene stimulated my gastric mucosa. Adding that from yesterday afternoon till now, I hadn't eaten much, a box of porridge was quickly finished by me, and for the first time, I felt that porridge was so delicious.

  Qin Kaiyi bought me a copy of the daily life newspaper after finishing washing the rice bowl, and then leaned against the empty bed beside her to start reading her new comic book. The old news on the newspaper and the habitual praise and flattery took up more than half of the page with kidney-tonifying and yang-supplementing advertisements, which didn't arouse my interest at all. After hastily scanning it for a few glances, I helplessly put the newspaper aside, leaned against the bed to look at the ceiling for a while, and then turned my head to watch Qin Kaiyi who was reading her comic book with concentration, quietly experiencing a kind of "quiet" beauty...

  "What are you staring at me for instead of reading the newspaper?" Qin Ke Yi, who was intently reading a comic book, suddenly discovered that I had been staring at her for some time and asked in surprise.

  "Ke one... I want to hug you..." I said softly to Qin Ke one.

  "What do you want to do...? This is a hospital... Are you thinking of some disgusting and messy things again...?"

  "What was I thinking? Besides, what can I do to you now?! I just want a hug!" I explained to Qin Ke Yi with tears and laughter. Qin Ke Yi gave me a white eye after taking off her shoes, got on the bed and lay down beside me, so I took advantage of the situation and wrapped my arms around Qin Ke Yi.

  "Having a rich girl like you take care of me in the hospital, isn't that a bit beneath you?" I jokingly asked Qin Ke.

  "Of course it's a pity! But when life gives you bitter melon, you have to swallow it! Chinese women have always been like this since ancient times! If you end up with a boyfriend like him, you can only resign yourself to fate..." She said to me in a joking tone.

  "Ke Yī, have you thought about our future?" I suddenly asked Qin Ke Yī with a thoughtful expression.

  "Hmm? I've thought about it...” Qin Ke thought for a moment and nodded.

  "So what's on your mind?"

  "I think it's actually very simple... to work hard and be with you, no matter what the future holds, I'll get through it all with you. I believe... you will make me happy..." Qin Kaiyi said, his arms tightening around me even more, making me wonder if this was a naive and childish thought or the result of careful consideration.

  "You have so much confidence in me?" I asked with a smile.

  "Uh-huh!" Qin Ke nodded this time with great certainty.

  "Why?"

  "Although you often give people the feeling that you're not serious about your work and don't speak seriously, I can see that you're a very responsible and career-minded person...I remember saying before that being with you makes me feel at ease and secure, and after being with you, my dorm sisters reminded me to be careful, saying that good-looking guys are not safe, but I found it strange that I never had this feeling when I was with you...Moreover, what sets you apart from those guys who chased me is that they would all try to please me and wear a mask in front of me, whereas you, on the other hand, have never tried to hide anything from me, you dare to scold me, dare to tease me, dare to argue with me, and dare to lose your temper with me, which makes me feel very precious and real, and this is also one of the things that attracts me to you..."

  "Ke Yi, have you ever thought that I'm already a junior and you're still a sophomore? In less than a year, I'll be graduating... after graduation, we might end up living in different places... I've seen many couples break up after graduation, and witnessed many examples of university sweethearts who were inseparable but ended up parting ways due to the distance. Can we overcome this hurdle?"

  "Do you have confidence?" Qin Ke suddenly raised his head and asked me very seriously.

  "I never make promises I don't intend to keep, but...I can tell you with certainty that I do!" I said just as seriously.

  "I also... you won't change... I won't change... you'll change... I still won't change... no matter where you are, I will go find you after graduation, even if I can't do it myself, my family will help me make it happen..." From Qin Ke Yi's serious gaze, I felt the sincerity in her words, a sincerity that made me somewhat disbelieving that this could be happening in today's society, where complex desires and mercenary love prevail, and before I could even distinguish between what was real or fake, warmth had already begun to flow from the bottom of my heart...

  "But I like you not because you're the young lady from a rich family, nor is it entirely because of your beauty. What I like is this complete person that you are - appearance, soul, personality... everything intertwined. I'd rather build our own world with my own two hands than rely on your family's wealth... This is also the backbone of a real man, do you understand?"

  "I understand... I'm so sleepy... it's so comfortable to hold you... when I got home, I was also very sleepy... but lying in bed, I couldn't hold you, and I just couldn't fall asleep..." Qin Ke Yi soon fell asleep after saying this, so I quietly held her, savoring every word of our conversation. After a while, the nurse came in with an IV drip, saw Qin Ke Yi sleeping in my arms, and was about to say something when I quickly put my finger to my lips, signaling her not to make a sound. The nurse smiled knowingly and began to administer the IV as quietly as possible...

  I've been holding Qin Ke in this position for a while, my hands have long since gone numb and lost all feeling, but I'm still enduring it, not wanting to break the warm atmosphere.

  "Kang Jian... I heard you're sick..." A classmate who works at a travel agency suddenly pushed open the door with a fruit basket in hand, and after seeing my gesture to be quiet, smiled and apologized. I slowly pulled out my arm that Qin Ke had been resting on, gently placed her on the bed, and carefully got out of bed.

  "I heard from your friend that you had an appendicitis surgery! I didn't quite believe it at first, but it's really true! So after work, I rushed over to see you!" he said in a low voice.

  "Don't even mention you! I don't believe it myself! Are the systems and websites I've built satisfactory?" I didn't have time to waste on idle chatter with him, so I hastily got straight to the point.

  "My uncle is very satisfied and added another 5,000 yuan for you. It will be transferred to your bank account tomorrow."

  "Thank my uncle for me! How about the procedures for my girlfriend and I going to Korea?"

  "Don't worry about it! It's not a big deal, just wait for my notice. In about a week or so, we'll have a team departing, and by then you'll be discharged from the hospital too. You can just follow along with them at that time! Oh, and in a few days, give me your ID card and your girlfriend's ID card, I'll take care of the formalities for you..."

  "Alright! Just give me a call whenever you need anything, thank you!" I said politely.

  "There's nothing to thank me for, this is what you deserve...... besides, we're old classmates. Haha! I still have things to do, so I won't disturb you guys...... let's grab a drink together sometime!"

  "Alright! Definitely! I won't keep you either, you go ahead with your things..." I said as I walked him to the door and watched him leave.

  "Who just came in?" I went back to the room and found Qin Ke Yi had opened her eyes, leaning against the headboard, asking me after seeing me enter.

  "Oh! A friend, heard from Song Wei that I had surgery, came to see me." I said, sitting on the empty bed beside him. Qin Kaiyi didn't show any expression after I finished speaking, but kept staring at me with an intense gaze, making me feel a bit at a loss.

  "What are you doing... staring at me like that?" I asked with a hint of guilt.

  "Don't you want to say something to me?"

  "What...what was that?" I asked curiously.

  "Kang Jian! What are your plans after you're discharged and have your stitches removed?" Qin Ke suddenly asked me.

  "What's up? Nothing... just that?" I started to suspect that Qin Ke had overheard my conversation with my classmate earlier.

  "Really? Weren't you planning on going to Korea?" Qin Ke suddenly said with a very confident smile. "You...you know everything!"

  "I woke up when you got out of bed, and unfortunately I heard your entire conversation! Why didn't"

  "Tell me earlier? Want to give me a surprise?"

  "Hehe...... I thought our daily life was too dull, wanted to find some exciting elements... didn't expect that man's plan can't beat heaven's plan!"

  "Wow! You're actually being romantic? I thought you always despised this kind of sentimental nonsense?"

  Is it a financial behavior?

  "Sometimes... sometimes life still needs a bit of romance... haha! Besides, this is wealth created by my own hands..."

  "Come here!" Qin Ke suddenly said to me in a commanding tone.

  "What... what's going on?"

  "Come over here! Come sit down!" Qin Ke made a gesture for me to sit next to her. I thought to myself that the possibility of her treating me like this was very small, but I sat down anyway. Before my butt even touched the bed, Qin Ke suddenly pounced on me, wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me wildly...