Back at the hospital, Han Xi overheard the nurses gossiping, saying that the news of Shi Yu’s engagement to the Li Family’s heiress had already spread online.
These days Han Xi and Manman would video chat with Chu Ci every day, fearing she might overthink things alone. Now with Shi Yu’s engagement news, they could only imagine how heartbroken Chu Ci must be.
Han Xi called Chu Ci intending to comfort her, but unexpectedly, Chu Ci ended up comforting Han Xi instead.
She said that Shi Yu was already in the past. People must look forward; no matter how beautiful past memories are, they can only remain memories. Staying stuck in the past only results in more pain, and she’s past the age of being satisfied with love alone. She won’t be defeated by emotional setbacks, and she said she has moved on.
But Han Xi couldn’t quite believe her.
She knew Chu Ci’s nature, and that she was saying this just to preserve the last shred of her dignity.
To be so easily abandoned by someone she loved for so long, and to see him get engaged to another woman, made Chu Ci feel their love was so cheap and insignificant.
After hanging up the phone, Han Xi stood by the window, watching people come and go outside, feeling sorrow for Chu Ci.
Thankfully, due to Chu Ci’s work, their relationship had never been exposed all these years. Few people knew they were dating.
Otherwise, Chu Ci would have been thrust into the public eye, forced to endure societal scrutiny.
After work, Han Xi went home, took a warm shower, dried her hair, and changed into comfortable loungewear.
Tomorrow is Grandma Li’s birthday, so Manman should be at the Li Family’s old house. Being home alone, Han Xi wasn’t keen on cooking, so she grabbed a cup of instant noodles from the kitchen cabinet and went to the living room to watch TV.
Han Xi tossed herself onto the sofa, eating instant noodles while crying and watching the latest popular Korean idol drama "Descendants of the Sun." Ever since high school, Han Xi had particularly liked men in military uniforms, and now she was thoroughly charmed by the male lead.
After finishing the noodles and unsure of how long she stayed curled up on the sofa watching the drama, her stomach started to ache.
Han Xi has a chronic ailment of stomach aches, often forgetting to eat during her busy hospital shifts, especially during surgeries that go on for four or five hours, leaving no time to eat.
She searched the drawer under the TV cabinet for a long time but couldn’t find any stomach medicine. She planned to endure it, but the pain proved too sharp, so she decided to go to the nearby pharmacy downstairs.
Unable to change clothes on time, she hurriedly grabbed a jacket to slip on before heading downstairs.
She jogged to the pharmacy after exiting the elevator, found the type of stomach medicine she frequently took, got some water from the pharmacy girl, and took the medicine before leaving.
On the way back, a drunk man suddenly blocked Han Xi’s path. Han Xi, wary, tried to avoid him, but whenever she moved left or right, the man mirrored her movements.
"Sir, can you please step aside?" Han Xi said impatiently.
"Hey beautiful, going home so early? How about having a drink with me inside?"
The man staggered, blocking Han Xi’s path with his body, his breath reeking of alcohol.
Han Xi didn’t bother arguing with him, turning to walk towards a more crowded area, but her wrist was grabbed.
"Let go of me, release...!" Han Xi shouted, her eyebrows furrowing as she felt she was encountering thugs more often lately.