In the afternoon, members of the Youth Association discussed things and decided to visit Huang Xu in the hospital as a group.
"After all, Minister Huang is a nice guy. He's usually good to us. It's only right to visit him." Someone replied in the group chat.
Several more messages piled up. Suddenly, someone @ed Ye Qingli: "Are you going?" They had been tallying numbers for a while.
Huang Xu, as the group owner, hadn't replied. It was unclear if he'd seen the messages. Xiao Yu had never joined the group. Remembering her promise to him, Ye Qingli bit the inside of her cheek and replied.
"Yes."
In the end, about a dozen people agreed to go. Only a few made excuses not to. The group bought some fruit near the hospital and were about to head in when someone suggested they buy a bouquet of flowers. They nodded and hurried into the next shop.
Everyone went in except Ye Qingli. She thought flowers were just for show and useless anyway. Besides, she didn't think Huang Xu deserved them. So she waited outside while they shopped.
The shop owner, seeing business, cheerfully ran downstairs to serve them. They picked enthusiastically—some chose yellow roses, others sunflowers. The owner had to wrap each one individually, and it would take forever to finish.
Ye Qingli wanted to get back to school early, so she told them she'd go up first. After she walked away, someone curled their lips and whispered to the girl next to her, "Ye Qingli doesn't look that poor. Why can't she even spare a flower for the minister?"
Zhang Qian picked up two more eustomas without looking up. "Did you forget the posts on the forum? She's obviously on Xiao Yu's side. They're the same kind of people. What's so surprising that she didn't buy flowers?"
The girl nodded with a sneer. "True."
While they were talking, Huang Xu had been sleeping. He was awake now, and the room number had been sent to the group: the sixth floor.
It was a private room. When Ye Qingli pushed the door open, Huang Xu was drinking porridge. Beside his bed sat a gentle, intelligent woman, and a man in a suit leaned by the window smoking. They looked like Huang Xu's parents.
Huang Xu, who had been frowning, broke into a smile when he saw Ye Qingli. He hurriedly put down his porridge, nearly spilling it. "You're here so fast! Huh? Where are the others?"
"Hello, Uncle. Hello, Aunt." Ye Qingli greeted the adults politely before setting down the fruit and replying to Huang Xu: "They're behind me. They went to buy flowers and haven't come back yet."
The woman was about to say hello, but when she heard they'd gone to buy flowers while this girl only brought fruit, she looked Ye Qingli up and down, then sat there without saying a word.
Her foolish son, on the other hand, oblivious, kept smiling and saying, "You shouldn't have, you shouldn't have."
There were a few extra chairs by the bed. Ye Qingli pulled one over and sat down, glancing at his injuries. She pursed her lips and asked, "Minister Huang, how are you? Feeling any better?"
"Much better. I'm tough. I'll be discharged in no time."
Ye Qingli's words were just polite small talk, but Huang Xu acted as if his heart was filled with honey, responding with gusto. The woman watched for a while, and during a lull in the conversation, she cut in with a sigh.
"Our A-Xu is a good person with a good temper. He gets along with everyone. Why does he have to be at odds with that Xiao Yu?" She turned to look at the man by the window, as if lamenting. "People should act their age. There are two types of people I can't stand: those with bad tempers who like to fight, and those who can't read the room and don't know how to act."
When the woman mentioned the latter, she kept glancing at Ye Qingli intentionally. In the end, she directly asked her, "Don't you agree, little girl?"
Ye Qingli understood. She was unhappy that she hadn't brought flowers.
Actually, it wasn't just that. When Huang Xu got into trouble, the village head, worried about involving others, had recorded a video as evidence. The video later fell into the woman's hands. She saw her son lying on the ground groaning in pain, saw the worried faces of the crowd, and when the camera panned, she saw the girl standing at the back—different from the others, her eyes full of confusion.
That girl was Ye Qingli.
Regardless of her motives, she didn't care about Huang Xu. She didn't take him seriously.
Maybe she came to the hospital today just because everyone else was coming, and it would look bad if she didn't.
Huang Xu, perhaps not understanding, kept laughing and didn't comment. The humiliation made Ye Qingli feel awkward, but she could only smile. "Yes, Auntie."
The woman muttered a few more things. This time, Ye Qingli just listened without speaking. Huang Xu did the same, playing with his phone, occasionally lifting it to look. After what felt like a long time, the others finally returned from buying flowers. Ye Qingli stood up, smoothed her clothes, and said, "Uncle, Auntie, Minister Huang, I'll be going now."
"Why leave so soon? Can't you stay a little longer?"
Pretty face, sharp tongue. She had been suffocating for so long. Ye Qingli shook her head, still smiling. "It's getting late. I have things to do at school."
She left, closing the door behind her. Instead of leaving directly, she went downstairs and sat on a chair in the lobby for a long time. Ye Qingli kept her legs together, back straight. Her eyes were downcast, shadowed, as passersby changed in waves. Some glanced at her for a few seconds before looking away.
After a while, she took out her phone and sent Huang Xu a message, saying she wanted to withdraw from the Youth Association. He was probably on his phone and replied quickly.
"Why suddenly say that? Is it because of what my mom said?"
So he had understood all along.
Ye Qingli was a bit dazed. She pressed her lips together, neither confirming nor denying. "I've been thinking about quitting for a while. I came to see you to tell you in person, but you didn't give me the chance."
After replying, she put her phone back in her pocket. It buzzed a few times, but she didn't take it out again. It was a bit late, and a cool wind had picked up. Ye Qingli put on her hood and headed back to school.
Passing by a street, she saw a guy squatting there feeding cats. The kittens seemed to like him; their tails stood straight up like long sticks. The scene was heartwarming. Ye Qingli smiled briefly, glanced twice, and looked away. She had taken two steps forward when a hoarse voice came from behind her.
"Where did you go?"