Fifteen minutes after Xiao Yunhua left the hospital, she was sitting at the nearby park, contemplating on her next move . She didn't expect to receive a phone call, but without looking at the name, she picked up .

"Yunhua—"

"Ling Qiu, if this is another one of your stunts, I will block your number . " Xiao Yunhua was in no mood to deal with Ling Qiu's antics . She was already angry due to the old man's shamelessness in denying his faults, but Ling Qiu's voice carried a sense of legitimate urgency .

"Yunhua, he's gone!"

"Huh?"

"Qiang Yue's father . . . " she choked, like she was sobbing too hard . "He's gone!"

Advertis.e.m.e.nt"You're lying . " Xiao Yunhua scoffed, no longer willing to allow herself to be manipulated by Ling Qiu . She had caused her to blurt out her real ident.i.ty in the heat, so Xiao Yunhua didn't want to deal with her any longer .

"You . . . You will see if I am lying or not!" Ling Qiu hung up, not letting Xiao Yunhua retort .

Xiao Yunhua was sure that it was another plot, but the curiosity was beginning to nag away in her mind . She really wanted to go and see if Ling Qiu had the dignity to say the truth, but there was also a fifty percent possibility that the nurse was lying again .

In the end, she decided to go . Not to fuel Ling Qiu's ploys, but to check up on Qiang Yue . And to bring him the food that she couldn't bring earlier .

The poor man had probably decided to skip out on lunch from being so busy .

So with more orders, from the same restaurant earlier, she walked in the direction of the hospital with haste .

When she arrived at Qiang Yue's office, she was shocked to find it empty . Qiang Yue wanted to ask a nurse there if they had seen Qiang Yue, but it seemed like everyone was too busy .

She finally decided to check in Qiang Luo's private room to see if Qiang Yue was there after looking everywhere .

When she finally arrived, she was shocked to see many nurses and doctors gathered . What caught her eye was that Ling Qiu was actually crying .

She had thought that Ling Qiu was merely pretending to get her to go to the hospital, but seeing the nurse actually sobbing, she felt anxiety and dread fill her .

Xiao Yunhua quickly rushed inside of the hospital room despite the people telling her to not go in there .

She slammed the door shut, locking it .

She saw a lifeless Qiang Luo on the bed, breathless and his electrocardiogram monitor indicating nothing .

Her eyes turned to a man sitting next to the bed, his arms on his knees and his hands covering his face . His shoulders were slumped and an air of sadness loomed above him .

The more she edged closer, the more that she could see who the man was with his white coat .

"Qiang Yue?" She softly called out, trying to get his attention . The man didn't answer nor move, so she walked closer and closer until she stood in front of his hunched self .

Gently, she called out again, "Qiang Yue?"

The man finally responded as he looked up .

Xiao Yunhua was frozen to find that his face was abnormally pale and around his eyes were dark circles, while his actual eyes were red from crying . What really shocked her were the emotions that his eyes seemed to carry: dull and lifeless, like he couldn't see or feel anything .

Slowly raising her hands, she cupped his face and brought her face down . Their foreheads touched and his dark eyes met with her honey colored ones .

"Qiang Yue?"

"He's gone . . . " Qiang Yue whispered hoa.r.s.ely . "He's really gone . " Tears streamed down the sides of his face as he uttered those heartbreaking words . He hadn't cried when he found out that his mother was dead, but as his father had raised him, he couldn't endure the tears .

Silence followed his words and Xiao Yunhua could only use her thumbs to softly wipe his tears .

Suddenly, Qiang Yue's arms wrapped around her waist, causing her to almost fall . She balanced herself, but was startled when she heard him say his next eight words: "You're the only one I have left now . . . "

And then she heard the same noise that she hadn't heard in a while:

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