Chapter 131: Have You Lost Your Mind?

"I've had a fight with my family." Looking at Xu Fei, who was holding her, Lin Fang's eyes welled up with tears. She looked so aggrieved that Xu Fei really wanted to comfort her.

However, Xu Fei still slowly pushed her away.

Lin Fang’s hands gripped his sleeves tightly, but Xu Fei was much stronger than her, and she was eventually pushed back.

"Brother Xu, you... don't you care about me either?"

"I..."

Xu Fei felt that Lin Fang's attitude toward him seemed to exceed what was appropriate for a young girl.

"It's not that I don't care about you. It's just that if you fought with your family because of me, I find that unacceptable."

"What's wrong with that? I couldn't accept how they treated you, so I argued with them. And now, I’ve run away from home."

Seeing the seriousness in Lin Fang's expression, Xu Fei felt both angry and fearful. To put it bluntly, he bore a certain responsibility for this situation.

"Come back with me."

Xu Fei knew he had to give Lin Fang a clear stance.

When he pulled Lin Fang toward the hospital exit, she struggled and broke free from his grip.

"No, I won't! Why should I listen to you? Am I a child? I am nineteen years old; I have my own rights, and I can choose my own life."

Xu Fei looked at Lin Fang in astonishment. If these words had come from a young person in the 21st century, he could understand them. But the girl before him was just a university student in the 1980s. Shouldn't university students of this era be very traditional?

"You can choose, but you also need to obtain your parents' consent."

"Why?"

Xu Fei frowned, his face looking somewhat unpleasant. He was angry, though he felt a slight pang of pain in his heart as he said it.

"Because... because you are currently living on your parents' money. Everything you have is provided by them. What right do you have to talk about living the life you want?"

Xu Fei’s words were harsh. At the very least, to Lin Fang, her fragile self-esteem was completely shattered by his remarks.

Lin Fang stared blankly at Xu Fei. "Brother... Brother Xu, why... why would you say that to me?"

Xu Fei knew his words had been too heavy, but since he had already said them, he might as well extinguish that tiny spark of hope in her heart.

"What do you want me to say? It's the truth. You live off your parents' money while loudly demanding freedom. If you really want freedom, go achieve financial independence first."

Without looking at Lin Fang again, Xu Fei turned and headed back into the hospital. He could not give her any hope.

"Why!?"

Lin Fang’s cry came from behind him. Although to Xu Fei, that shout sounded sorrowful, he gritted his teeth and refused to turn back.

When he returned to the ward, An Laosan, who was standing by the window, asked, "Hey, what’s that girl doing here?"

"She... she’s someone I met back at the Art Institute."

"Oh, looks like she’s quite fond of you, doesn't it?" An Laosan was a man of the world; he had seen through Lin Fang's feelings at a glance.

Xu Fei nodded. "She just had a fight with her family and ran away. She’s claiming she’s left home for good."

An Laosan gave a thumbs-up. "Not bad, Fei, you’re quite something."

"What are you talking about?" Xu Fei glared at him. "Brother San, can you stop teasing me? My heart is actually..."

"Feeling uncomfortable, right?" An Laosan patted his shoulder. "Actually, I’ve felt that way before, too."

"Really?" Xu Fei looked at him in surprise.

"Of course. Back then, the girl chasing after me was a high school student..."

"What!" Xu Fei’s eyes widened. "Brother San, that’s underage..."

"Alright, alright, she was a senior repeating her year; she was eighteen that year."

Xu Fei laughed and nudged An Laosan. "Good for you. And then?"

An Laosan looked up at the ceiling and sighed deeply. "Don't ask. Her father found out about us. The old man gathered a group of people, chased me for ten blocks, and finally cornered me in an alleyway where they gave me a sound beating!"

Xu Fei chuckled, "You... that’s quite miserable, isn't it?"

"Yeah. After that, I really didn't dare to contact her again. She tried to reach me a few times, but I knew we weren't from the same world. Her grades were always good; it was only because of our relationship that she..."

Xu Fei saw a flash of regret in An Laosan's eyes for the first time.

"What happened to her later?"

"She got into the best university in the provincial capital. Rumor has it she stayed there."

"Is that so!" Xu Fei nodded. "No contact?"

An Laosan shook his head. "Since it was already over, why bother her?"

"You, you could have waited until she graduated from university and tried again."

An Laosan turned to look at Xu Fei. "Yeah, why didn't I think of that back then?"

"That’s why you’re still a bachelor; there’s a reason for it."

An Laosan glared at him. "Hey, you ungrateful brat, I’m trying to comfort you, and you use it to annoy me?" He waved his hand, "I’m done with your business, I’m going to get food."

Xu Fei nodded with a smile. As An Laosan left the ward with the lunch box, Xu Fei prepared a stool and fed Zhang Ze some water. Zhang Ze had been able to take a little water for the past few days. Although he hadn't woken up yet, he could swallow water and soft food.

It seemed that it was only a matter of time before Zhang Ze woke up. This gave both Xu Fei and An Laosan a glimmer of hope.

Just as Xu Fei finished tidying up, An Laosan ran back in, out of breath. "Xu Fei, you... you’d better go out and take a look. That university student, she hasn't left, she..."

"She hasn't left?!"

Xu Fei stepped forward and grabbed An Laosan. "Brother San, don't rush, tell me slowly. What exactly is she doing?"

An Laosan swallowed hard and took a few breaths to steady himself. "You have to see it for yourself. That student is quite the character. She’s outside, and she used paper to draw a large portrait of you, and then wrote some words next to it."

"What words?"

"'I love Xu Fei.'"

Upon hearing those four words, Xu Fei was completely stunned. He stood frozen for three seconds before turning and running toward the stairs.

"What a disaster!" An Laosan muttered as he watched Xu Fei run off.

At the hospital entrance, a large crowd had gathered to watch the commotion.

"I've seen that guy before, he seems to be from the neurosurgery department."

"Yes, yes, the two guys from Donghai."

"The young girl is quite pretty, too."

Xu Fei reached the gate and saw the people pointing at the portrait and whispering. He pushed his way through the crowd.

"Lin Fang, have you lost your mind?!"