Chapter Text
After staying in the hospital for more than half a month, Orm was finally able to leave.
On the day she was discharged, several friends and relatives came to pick her up, so the room was quite lively.
When Ying walked in, Orm was standing beside the bed packing her things. Two suitcases were beside her.
The moment she saw Ying, Orm immediately put down what she was doing and walked over.
That day she was wearing a blue-and-white sweater. Her hair was tied into two low ponytails, and several small crystal hairpins decorated her head.
She looked very young and pretty.
During those days in the hospital, Ying had almost always seen her wearing a patient’s uniform. For a moment, seeing her like this made Ying feel as if she was looking at the high school girl who used to follow her during freshman year.
“Sister Ying, you came!”
Orm was genuinely surprised. Her doctor had told her that the dental clinic would be very busy that day and that Ying would have many patients.
She didn’t expect Ying to still find time to come say goodbye.
Ying snapped out of her thoughts, gently patted Orm’s head, and smiled.
“Today you’re being discharged. How could I not come to see you off?”
On the side, Love discreetly nudged Milk and whispered:
“Is it really okay to let her touch her like that?”
Milk’s eyes were fixed on Ying’s hand.
Hearing the question, she gritted her teeth and replied in a low voice:
“Of course there’s a problem! But… what can we do now?”
Love glanced sideways at Milk and saw her eyes narrowed with a slightly fierce expression.
Love: “…”
Suddenly she remembered that the afternoon before, Milk had sent her another message asking for help.
She was worried about leaving Orm with other people.
Love had thought about it for a long time before agreeing.
Milk might be a bit clumsy, but she truly cared about Orm.
This time, she would do everything she could to help her.
“Orm, it’s time to go,” Love suddenly said.
At that moment Orm and Ying were talking.
Love stepped between them and interrupted what Ying was about to say.
“Already leaving?”
Orm turned her head and looked at the bedside table.
On top of it was an enormous stack of books.
That was why she had two suitcases—one of them was almost entirely filled with books.
Thinking about it, she looked at Love helplessly.
Her gaze seemed to say: Look at all the books you bought me that I haven’t finished reading yet. And you say it’s time to leave?
Orm had known Love and Milk for many years. She knew they meant well, so she wasn’t angry about the phone incident.
Love scratched her head awkwardly.
She had asked old high school classmates to send books to help Orm… but she hadn’t expected there to be so many.
Besides, her house wasn’t close to the hospital.
Transporting them would be troublesome.
“Milk’s car is in the garage. It shouldn’t be a big problem,” Love said.
Orm sighed and looked at Ying again.
But after thinking for a moment, she couldn’t remember what she had wanted to say.
Ying seemed to notice.
Before Orm could speak, she smiled and said:
“Orm won’t forget about me after going home, right?”
“Of course not!” Orm replied immediately.
How could she forget her?
In fact, she had been thinking about inviting her to dinner.
Love looked at Milk and whispered:
“Talk now. Take the chance.”
Milk reacted instantly.
“Orm, how are you going to pack these books? Directly into the suitcase? Or do you need boxes? Should we separate them by category?”
Her interruption made Orm stop looking at Ying.
She began seriously thinking about how to organize all those books.
At the moment Orm turned around, Ying’s expression became much colder.
If she couldn’t tell that the two of them were deliberately interrupting her conversation with Orm… she would be far too naïve.
Love also noticed her gaze.
She remembered something Orm had told her before, and her heart skipped slightly.
During the first year of high school, there had been a day when she couldn’t contact Orm.
Her number was blocked, her messages didn’t go through, and all social media accounts were closed.
At first she thought she had somehow made Orm angry.
But when she thought about it carefully…
The day before, Orm had been happily telling her she had a date with “Sister Ying.”
How could she suddenly get angry?
That night Orm finally sent her a message.
It was just a crying emoji.
No matter how much Love asked what happened, Orm never explained.
Later, when Love and Milk asked how the date with Ying went, Orm said sadly:
“We almost started dating… but Sister Ying seems a bit controlling. I can’t accept it.”
How strong was that controlling nature?
Love and Milk never found out.
After so many years, Love didn’t know if Ying had changed.
But seeing the look in her eyes now made her uneasy.
After thinking for a long time, she reached a conclusion.
Maybe Milk or Miu would be more suitable for Orm.
It was a pity that Miu didn’t come that day.
Love ignored Ying’s gaze and asked:
“Didn’t Miu come today?”
“She’s filming a commercial, so she couldn’t come,” Orm replied.
Before, she had rejected many jobs in order to take care of Orm.
But after all, she was a star and needed to work.
Her agency had required her to attend that shoot.
Yesterday she came to visit Orm and explained the situation.
She felt very guilty for not being able to pick her up when she left the hospital.
But Orm didn’t mind.
After all, she was only leaving the hospital.
There was no need for so many people to accompany her.
Ying leaned against the wall, slightly tilting her head as she watched Orm checking the books.
She remembered something she had heard from former classmates.
That Orm and Lingling had attended Yuncheng University together.
And that Orm had even been chasing her.
Once, while passing by the university with some friends, Ying stopped in front of the café near the entrance.
Just as she was about to leave, she saw someone familiar.
Orm was walking behind Lingling, complaining that math class had been too boring.
“How can you stay awake in class?” she asked.
“I’ll go buy coffee with you, and then you come with me to buy milk tea.”
While Lingling was placing her order, Orm kept chatting behind her.
“Aren’t we leaving?” one of Ying’s friends asked.
But Ying stayed there watching.
Orm’s entire attention was on Lingling.
She didn’t even notice Ying nearby.
Ying watched them leave the café and enter the milk tea shop next door.
Perhaps because Ying had stared for too long, Lingling turned her head while entering the shop.
But her gaze was quick and distant.
The typical look someone gives a stranger.
When they met again years later, Ying hadn’t expected that Orm—who once paid so much attention to Lingling—would now ignore her completely.
At that moment she understood that some things…
could not happen twice.
“Knock, knock.”
A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.
A woman stood there holding a bouquet of red roses.
“My sister has class today, so she asked me to come see you.”
Eunji walked into the room and handed the bouquet to Orm.
Orm smiled and thanked her.
She looked at the bouquet curiously.
There were eleven roses.
But remembering that Eunji said Yinyin asked her to bring them, she didn’t think much about it.
Over the past few days, Yinyin had kept asking her:
“What do you think about my sister?”
“Do you think she’s pretty?”
“Would you like to have another sister like her?”
“Yinyin probably prepared the roses too,” Orm thought.
Orm could think that way.
But the others couldn’t.
When Milk saw the red roses and then looked at Eunji, her eyes almost popped out.
At that moment Ying spoke:
“I just remembered I didn’t bring any gift for Luo Luo. How about I treat you to dinner for a week?”
Orm blinked in surprise.
Did such a good thing really exist?
So she nodded quickly.
“Yes! Yes! That’s fine!”
Hearing that, Milk couldn’t sit still.
“I didn’t bring anything either! Then I’ll treat you to lunch for a week!”
Orm pursed her lips.
“At noon I’ll return the favor. You’ll probably still be sleeping.”
After returning home, she planned to sleep well for several days.
Feeling the unfair treatment, Milk looked at Love with a pleading expression.
Love quickly stepped in to smooth things over.
“Orm, where do you want to go? Milk and I can take you. What do you think?”
Hearing that, Orm immediately straightened up and looked at them with shining eyes.
“How about a bar? The ST Bar.”
That bar only admitted adults.
Before, Orm had always wanted to go, but she couldn’t enter.
Now that her ID finally showed she was over eighteen, she finally had the chance.
Love fell silent for a few seconds.
She remembered something from years ago.
When they had just turned eighteen, Orm had desperately wanted to go to the ST Bar.
Back then Milk had said:
“Let’s go.”
But Orm replied:
“Lingling isn’t going. Lingling doesn’t like noisy places.”
At the time Love didn’t understand.
She even said they could go without Lingling.
But Orm explained that when they had talked about it before, Lingling said she didn’t like places that were too loud.
Orm always adjusted her plans according to Lingling’s preferences.
Love had known this for a long time.
Love: “…”
“Is that okay?” Orm asked again.
Love and Milk looked at each other.
They both clearly remembered that conversation.
Finally Love nodded.
“But the ST Bar is more fun at night. Will you be able to go after dinner with Doctor Ying?”
Then she added:
“You’ll have to choose one.”
Milk secretly gave Love a thumbs-up.
She really knew how to handle the situation.
Orm thought about it for a moment.
It wasn’t like she could go to the bar every day.
So in reality there wasn’t much conflict.
Ying looked at Orm, who seemed deep in thought.
She thought Orm was in a dilemma, so she said gently:
“It’s fine. You can cancel dinner anytime you want.”
Then she added with a smile:
“Or you can bring me with you.”
Where else would she find such a beautiful, gentle, and understanding older sister?
But… wait.
Did she just say she could go with her?
Orm thought about it.
Wouldn’t that be a little strange?
What if Ying saw her craziest side and ended up disliking her?
Before she could think of a way to reject the idea, Milk quickly interrupted:
“Let’s talk about that later.”
Love finally felt relieved.
Milk had finally learned how to block a rival.
Meanwhile, Eunji had been silently listening the entire time.
Yinyin had already told her who all the people around Orm were.
While listening to their conversation, Eunji analyzed the situation in her mind.
1️⃣ Ying invited Orm to dinner for a week.
(Orm might use that as an excuse to get closer. Ying probably likes her.)
2️⃣ Orm wants to go to the ST Bar with Love and Milk.
(There are many attractive people in bars. Someone needs to keep an eye on her.)
3️⃣ Ying tried to go to the bar with Orm, but Milk interrupted.
(Milk’s attitude is suspicious. Is she just a friend… or something more?)
Eunji’s mind worked rapidly.
She tried to think of ways to help Lingling win Orm back.
But the more she thought about it, the harder it seemed.
Orm was too popular.
How could Lingling compete with so many people?
How could that stubborn woman succeed?
Eunji felt the pressure on her shoulders increase.
Then her gaze fell on the bouquet of red roses.
She thought for a moment.
Suddenly she remembered that the entire conversation had started because of those flowers.
Eunji gritted her teeth.
This was all Lingling’s fault.
Lingling had only told her to send flowers.
She never specified red roses.
Giving eleven red roses was far too suspicious.
Fortunately, Orm hadn’t questioned it.
After chatting for a while, everyone realized Eunji had been quiet the whole time.
Just as Love tried to shift the topic away from Orm and Ying, she turned it toward Eunji.
“We’re all friends here. You can’t ignore the new friend,” she said.
Only then did Orm react and start chatting with Eunji.
But Eunji didn’t feel like talking much.
She preferred to listen quietly.
The more she knew about Orm’s life, the better she could help Lingling.
After thinking for a moment, she said:
“Why don’t we add each other on WeChat?”
“Yinyin says she likes you very much. She wants to hang out with you in the future.”
That way she could also find out what Orm was doing later.
Orm agreed without hesitation.
Love and Milk knew that Orm had an apartment on West Street.
After leaving the hospital, she would return to live there.
Originally Love wanted Orm to stay at her house for a while.
But Orm insisted on living alone.
She said it would help her adapt faster.
Love couldn’t convince her.
She could only ask Orm to call if she needed anything.
Love suddenly remembered something Orm had told her before.
Lingling had never known that Orm bought the apartment on West Street.
When Love asked why, Orm replied:
“Because if she knows, she’ll want to move in with me.”
At that time Love almost wanted to reach through the screen and hit her.
But now she thought that not telling Lingling had actually been a good decision.
At noon, Love and Milk drove Orm back to West Street.
After organizing everything in the apartment, Love wanted to stay overnight.
But Orm refused.
When they were leaving, Love remembered that Orm had once mentioned her neighbor.
A very kind aunt.
So she went to knock on the door to greet her.
Milk stood behind her.
They waited for a while.
No one opened the door.
“Not home?” Love murmured.
She pressed her ear against the door to listen for any sound inside.
At that moment, a voice suddenly appeared behind her.
“Girl, what are you doing?”
Love jumped.
Instinctively grabbing Milk’s hand, she turned around.
Standing before them was a woman in her forties.
She had curly hair, a red hairpin on her head, a black padded jacket, and a floral skirt peeking out underneath.
She looked at them curiously.
Her voice was loud, but her expression seemed quite kind.
“We want to ask something about the aunt who lives here,” Love said.
The woman tilted her head.
“Aunt Li? She moved away last month. Didn’t you know?”
Love and Milk shook their heads.
They didn’t live in this building, so it was normal they didn’t know.
The woman nodded and continued:
“The house has already been bought by someone else, but it seems the new owner hasn’t moved in yet.”
Love frowned slightly.
Hadn’t moved in yet?
That meant they still didn’t know what kind of person the new neighbor would be.
“What kind of person is she?” Love asked curiously. “A man or a woman? Young or old?”
“Seems to be a woman. Quite young, but I don’t know much else,” the woman replied.
Hearing that, Love felt a little disappointed.
She didn’t know what the new neighbor would be like.
After saying goodbye to the neighbor, Zhang Ming, Love and Milk returned to Orm’s apartment to give her a few final reminders.
But under Orm’s insistence, they eventually left the apartment.