After Abandoning Her, She Discovered That Her Partner Was a Paranoid - Chapter 19

In the autumn of Jing Feizuo’s sophomore year, the rain seemed relentless.

Wearing a black hoodie and earbuds, she wandered aimlessly along the roadside near school. The lights from the evening study hall spilled through the classroom windows, casting watery yellow reflections on the damp pavement.

She had brazenly skipped evening study hall, Lin Xin’s commuter card proving remarkably useful. Her homeroom teacher had long grown accustomed to her frequent absences; even if caught, the worst she’d face was writing a self-criticism essay the next day.

The rain-soaked road was pocked with puddles of varying sizes. Each step sent muddy water splashing against her pant legs, yet she seemed oblivious to the dampness.

She glanced down at her phone, its screen still buzzing with endless notifications about recent trivial news.

Jing Feizuo quickly cleared the notifications. Her finger hovered over the screen for a long moment before she finally turned it off and slipped the phone back into her pocket.

Pulling the hoodie’s hood over her head, she shielded most of her face. Just as she was about to turn the corner, a muffled thud echoed from deep within the nearby alleyway, sounding like someone had fallen.

Jing Feizuo frowned.

This alley was usually deserted, especially on rainy nights like this. After a moment’s hesitation, she removed her headphones and stepped through the puddles toward the sound.

The alley was dimly lit. A woman sat slumped against the wall, her long hair disheveled and her suit jacket draped over her arm, revealing a rain-soaked shirt beneath. Her head was bowed, and several empty wine bottles lay scattered beside her, their glass refracting the warm-toned streetlights into cold, sharp glares.

Jing Feizuo crouched down and poked the woman’s shoulder with two fingers. “Hey, still alive?”

The woman slowly lifted her head.

Jing Feizuo froze.

It was a face of striking, almost fierce beauty. Even through her drunken haze, the sharp edge between her brows remained undiminished. Water droplets clung to her lashes, and her lips were unnaturally flushed from the alcohol.

“Get lost…” the woman mumbled, her voice slurred, as if the angry retort were a habitual reflex rather than a rebuke directed at Jing Feizuo.

She tried to stand, but stumbled, nearly collapsing into Jing Feizuo’s arms.

The collision sent Jing Feizuo staggering as well. Instinctively, she reached out to steady the woman, her palm brushing against scorching skin.

“You have a fever,” Jing Feizuo said.

The woman didn’t reply, only frowned and pushed Jing Feizuo away, staggering forward. After just a few steps, she leaned against the wall and began retching.

Jing Feizuo stood rooted to the spot, her mind torn between staying and leaving. Finally, as if struck by a sudden thought, she sighed and pulled out her phone.

“Hello, this is the 110 emergency service…”

“There’s a drunk woman here,” Jing Feizuo said, glancing at the woman slumped against the wall. “She looks like she’s about to pass out.”

A brief silence followed. “Could you provide the exact address?”

Jing Feizuo gave the alley’s location.

“Understood. We’ll dispatch officers as soon as possible. However, our resources are stretched thin right now, so it may take some time…”

Jing Feizuo hung up and returned to the woman’s side.

The woman had slid to the ground, her head resting against the wall, eyes half-closed, and breathing labored.

“The police said they’re busy,” Jing Feizuo said, removing her hat and crouching down. She poked the woman’s cheek. “Can you get home on your own?”

The woman’s eyes fluttered open, her gaze unfocused as she stared at Jing Feizuo for a moment. Suddenly, she smiled and murmured to herself, “Go home?” Her voice was barely audible. “Which home?”

Jing Feizuo remained silent.

The rain began to fall again, relentless and unending. Her clothes were already soaked, her hair plastered against her neck, both cold and itchy.

The woman suddenly gripped Jing Feizuo’s wrist with astonishing force, muttering, “Uncomfortable…”

Her palm burned with fever. Jing Feizuo touched her forehead and confirmed that her fever had worsened.

She glanced down at her reddened wrist, then at the woman’s knuckles, which had turned white from the strain.

“Forget it,” Jing Feizuo gritted her teeth and pulled out her phone again. “Hello, 120?”

The ambulance arrived quickly. As paramedics lifted the woman onto the stretcher, she suddenly struggled, her fingers unconsciously clutching the corner of Jing Feizuo’s coat.

The doctor accompanying the ambulance asked, “Is a family member coming along?”

Jing Feizuo wanted to refuse, but seeing that hand clinging desperately to her coat, she sighed. “Yes.”

The hospital lights were blindingly white.

Jing Feizuo sat on a plastic chair in the emergency room, idly swinging her legs. The rain had stained her hoodie in two shades of black. A nurse approached and handed her a cup of hot water. “Young lady, are you a relative of hers?”

“No,” Jing Feizuo replied, accepting the cup. She immediately regretted her impulsive decision to accompany the girl. “I just picked her up on the street.”

The nurse gave her a hesitant look before turning and walking away.

Rustling sounds came from behind the curtain, followed by the doctor’s questions and the girl’s mumbled replies.

After a while, the doctor emerged. “Alcohol poisoning and a high fever. We’ve already started an IV drip. Are you her friend?”

Jing Feizuo shook her head. “Just a passerby.”

The doctor hesitated. “Then the medical expenses…”

Without hesitation, Jing Feizuo reached into her pocket, pulled out her wallet, counted the bills, and handed them over. “Is this enough?”

The doctor nodded, glancing at her again. “How old are you?”

“Seventeen.”

“Go home early,” the doctor said, turning to leave.

Jing Feizuo pulled back the curtain and looked at the woman in the hospital bed. The woman had changed into a hospital gown, her face pale as she lay in a deep sleep. An IV drip was inserted into the back of her hand, making her look even more fragile than before.

There’s nothing more for me to do here, Jing Feizuo told herself, yet she couldn’t help but glance at the woman a few more times.

To her own surprise, she eventually pulled up a chair, grabbed some paper and a pen from nearby, and began to draw.

By two in the morning, the IV drip had finally finished.

The woman woke up as the nurse came to remove the needle. Her eyes were initially dazed, but they quickly cleared.

Her voice was hoarse with anxiety. “Where am I?”

“The hospital,” Jing Feizuo replied, folding the paper and tucking it into her pocket. “You drank too much and collapsed in an alley.”

“You…” The woman stared at her for a few seconds, her expression clearly suspicious. “What’s your name?”

“I thought your first words would be ‘thank you’,” Jing Feizuo said, suddenly sounding a little aggrieved. Instead of answering the woman’s question, she pulled the woman’s phone from a plastic bag on the bedside table. “Your things are here. I’ve already paid the medical bill.”

The woman took the phone. “Can I add your contact information? I’ll transfer the money to you.”

Jing Feizuo didn’t reply. She stood up. “Don’t worry about the money. Consider it an act of kindness.”

The woman frowned. “Wait.”

Jing Feizuo had already reached the door. She turned back. “What is it?”

The woman’s lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she only said, “Thank you.”

Jing Feizuo smiled and waved. “Next time, don’t drink so much.”

By the time she left the hospital, the rain had stopped. A few stars shone in the night sky, bright as if they had been freshly polished.

Jing Feizuo took a deep breath and started walking back toward school.

Unbeknownst to her, the 24-year-old Wen Jin stood at the hospital window, watching her silhouette disappear into the night.

Memories rushed toward Jing Feizuo with the force of an avalanche. One falling snowflake triggered the collapse of the entire mass, burying her beneath its weight. Though the place and weather were worlds apart, Wen Jin’s face now overlapped relentlessly with the image of the drunken woman from her memory.

The resurfacing of this memory froze Jing Feizuo in place, her mind reeling for an eternity. Only when the bell rang for evening study hall, and students began trickling back to their classrooms, transforming the chaotic surroundings into a hushed stillness, did she snap out of her daze. “So it was you…”