Incurable Chapter 24 Part 2

Chapter 24 (2/2)

Mu Wan watched him go. It felt as though all the warmth in the house had been pulled away, together with him, leaving the place suddenly cold.

Just like her own apartment.

She finished the sandwich, cleaned up the kitchen, and did not linger any longer than that before leaving as well.

There was a morning meeting. In the afternoon, Liu Qianxiu went straight into surgery.

Once he began, it lasted eight full hours.

By the time it was over, his fingers curled involuntarily with numbness and stiffness. The anesthesiologist stopped the anesthesia, the assistant stripped off his surgical gown, and Liu Qianxiu sat down on the bench in the restroom, quietly flexing his hand.

Xiao Tan had been waiting for the operation to end so he could find him. He was initially told that Liu Qianxiu was in the restroom, so he went there.

The man on the bench still sat upright as always. His eyes were lowered, his expression calm, but tiredness showed faintly beneath it. Understandably so—an eight-hour surgery would exhaust anyone.

“Your hands are probably too numb to drive,” Xiao Tan said as he looked at Liu Qianxiu’s fingers, still almost unusable. “I’ll take you home.”

Liu Qianxiu lifted his eyes to him once, then opened and closed his hand again. His long fingers flexed, the joints distinct and elegant.

“No need. What time is it?”

Xiao Tan checked his watch and answered immediately.

“Seven-thirty.”

At the time, something in the man’s gaze shifted.

He stood quietly and began taking off his white coat. Without it, what remained underneath was a pale brown shirt and cream trousers. On his tall, long-limbed frame, even a simple cotton-linen outfit looked unusually refined. His sleeves were rolled to the forearms, revealing the clean lines of his wrist bones and the faint veins beneath cold white skin.

Liu Qianxiu gave people a very understated impression, but in truth, he was meticulous in every way—from his face to his temperament.

No wonder women liked him.

Thinking of that, Xiao Tan asked, “How come that Miss Mu hasn’t come looking for you lately?”

After hanging his white coat up, Liu Qianxiu fastened his watch. His tone stayed neutral.

“I’m going to look for her.”

“Huh?”

Xiao Tan looked at him, openly startled. He wanted to ask more. “Wait, are you two now—”

Liu Qianxiu clearly had no intention of elaborating.

“Wednesday afternoon, I’m taking leave,” he said instead. “I’ll be back Monday.”

Understanding the signal to stop digging, Xiao Tan let the subject go and followed the new thread instead.

“Going to Qingyuan Temple?”

“Mm.”

Liu Qianxiu answered and left.

Eight o’clock was peak hour at the cinema.

By the time Liu Qianxiu arrived, the lobby was full of people coming and going, all waiting to watch their movies. His gaze swept through the crowd and settled on Mu Wan, seated in the waiting area.

Her hair was braided into a fishtail braid over her left shoulder, with loose wisps around her hairline, making her look soft and a little fluffy. She wore a tiny floral camisole, her shoulders narrow and straight, her collarbones neat. Both hands were draped over the back of the chair, her chin resting on top. Under her white shorts, her legs stretched long and fair, relaxed and lazy.

Her beautiful eyes kept drifting toward the theater entrance.

Like a cat curled up behind the chair, waiting for the master who was certain to come take her home.

When her gaze swept over the entrance one more time, it did not move on.

It stopped on a tall, lean figure.

At once, her eyes lit up.

Like a puppy spotting its favorite treat, she sprang to her feet from behind the chair and came running toward him, bouncing as she went.

“You came.”

She ran through the crowd until she reached his side, then tipped her face up to him, eyes full of stars.

“Mm.” Liu Qianxiu lowered his gaze to her and said, “I’m sorry. I’m late.”

“You’re not.” Mu Wan shook her head. She smiled and said, “My scenes don’t come until later anyway. Come on.”

The two of them went into the screening hall.

Mu Wan had chosen seats in the middle of the back rows, where the view was open and clear. After sitting down, she glanced over at Liu Qianxiu. His attention was already on the screen.

City of Prayer was a modern romantic comedy.

Mu Wan played the male lead’s first love from high school, a pure white moonlight type. Her scenes only appeared later, once the male and female leads’ relationship had begun to deepen and the male lead started recalling the past.

Mu Wan had read the script. She already knew the general outline.

A truly good director could make a film far more compelling than the script alone. But the director of this one was only middling—good enough to tell a coherent story, nothing more.

She watched for a while, then turned to look at Liu Qianxiu.

The light from the screen shifted constantly over his face, outlining him in alternating bands of brightness and shadow.

He was leaning back in his seat.

His eyes were closed.

The light from the film carved his features into deeper angles, and between his brows Mu Wan saw a trace of fatigue.

The way she bit into the popcorn in her mouth slowed.

Even her heartbeat seemed to quiet down.

He had fallen asleep.

This morning, he had told her he had surgery tonight and that he might be late. At the entrance, she had only been happy that he came—she had not looked carefully enough. He must have been exhausted, but she had not noticed.

Thinking that, Mu Wan’s brows drew together slightly.

Suddenly, the screen brightened, and a low ripple of admiration passed through the audience.

Liu Qianxiu opened his eyes.

He looked at the screen.

There, on it, a woman in a white dress stood beneath cherry blossoms, smiling beautifully and cleanly.

The scent of popcorn spread in Mu Wan’s mouth. Looking at Liu Qianxiu’s sharply defined profile, she asked softly,

“Why did you wake up?”

Liu Qianxiu turned his head and looked at her.

She was leaning against the chair back, a huge tub of popcorn in her lap, looking up at him. The light from the screen dimmed gradually, shadows covering her features like a thin black veil.

“Mm,” Liu Qianxiu answered quietly.

Then he turned his eyes back to the Mu Wan on the screen and said,

“I woke up to look at you.”

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