Ru Yin Yue couldn't help but feel self-conscious when she stepped out of the limousine. The long, luxurious vehicle was drawing a load of stares from visitors and patients alike, most of them wondering why anyone who could afford to ride in a limousine would ever come to this hospital.
"Thank you, uncle Bai," Ru Yin Yue told the butler. He smiled and inclined his head slightly to acknowledge her gratitude.
"Shall I wait here until you are done with your visit?"
"No, no!" Ru Yin Yue waved her hands, flustered. "Please go home! Don't worry about me!"
"But I intend to send you back home after you are finished with your appointment here…"
"Please don't!" Ru Yin Yue was already on the verge of falling apart from embarrassment. She was trying to ignore the stares, her desperate gaze riveted on the butler. She couldn't handle the same pressure and weight of attention from curious onlookers if she was to board the limousine again. She also didn't want people thinking she was from a rich household when she wasn't. Taking a deep breath, she waved uncle Bai away. "I intend to hang out with my friend afterward. I'll go home myself. It's not convenient for you to wait at the hospital, and I don't know how long the visit will take. Please return to the villa. I will go home with my friend later."
Uncle Bai watched her for a moment, then he reluctantly nodded. "If you're sure."
"I'm sure." Ru Yin Yue smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry about me, uncle Bai. I appreciate your kindness, really, but my friend might have other ideas."
"Okay."
After the limousine drove off, Ru Yin Yue finally breathed a sigh of relief. She went to the main lobby, which was packed full of people, whether it was patients in blue hospital gowns, visitors in a range of fashion, and doctors in white laboratory coats. Ru Yin Yue hurried past them, hoping she wouldn't draw too much attention. Fortunately, most of the people inside hadn't seen her alight from a limousine. She hurried toward the waiting area. Already Xia Ning Xue was waiting for her in one of those hard, plastic chairs. The agent brightened up when she caught sight of Ru Yin Yue approaching and jumped to her feet.
"Yin Yue! You're finally here!"
"Yes. Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Geez, it's fine if you're aware of it!" Xia Ning Xue pouted. She then frowned, her expression turning serious. "What happened last night? Weren't the Si family supposed to send you home?"
"Yeah, well…"
"But I just saw you come out of a limousine! That's the same limousine the Si family used to send you home!" Xia Ning Yue scrutinized Ru Yin Yue suspiciously. "Look, you're still wearing the same dress as the one you did for the concert last night! You're not going to hide it from me! You didn't go home at all last night, did you?"
Knowing that it was useless to lie, Ru Yin Yue simply nodded.
"Eh? The Si family didn't send you home? They brought you back to their home and had you stay overnight?"
"That's…" Ru Yin Yue trailed off. Then she nodded again. "Yes."
"Oh! Nice! But why would they do that?" Xia Ning Xue was confused. "They seem to know you well. Like, you have a close relationship with them or something."
"I've known them since I was in high school," Ru Yin Yue admitted, but she didn't elaborate. She couldn't possibly tell her agent what had transpired last night and this morning. How she was set up and somehow ended up in Si Zha Nan's bed…and how his mother begged her to marry him in place of Zhou Ni Yao.
And how Si Zha Nan hated her and blamed her for causing Zhou Ni Yao to break up with him. There was no need to tell Xia Xing Yue any of that. Even if her agent believed her – which she doubted, because even she couldn't believe what had occurred in the past few hours herself – she didn't want her friend to worry unnecessarily.
Her own matters, she would deal with them herself.
"Let's go. Mom is waiting for us."
Before Xia Ning Xue could ask for more details, Ru Yin Yue moved away from the waiting area at a brisk pace. Her agent stared at her in shock before hurrying after her. They both took the elevator up to the fourth floor and headed to the ward where Ru Yin Yue's mother was currently being hospitalized in.
"Mom, how are you doing?"
"Good, good." Ru Yin Xing sat up in her bed, delighted to see her daughter and daughter's friend. She waved her smartphone, and Ru Yin Yue could hear some music playing faintly in the background.
That song…it was Moonlight Sonata. But the distinct manner in which it was being played…
Her mother was listening to a recording of her performance, the one from last night.
"Mom…"
"Well done. I enjoyed your performance yesterday. That was great." Ru Yin Xing was smiling in joy, looking proud of her daughter. "And the applause you received at the end…I can tell that everyone loved your music."
"I was only…doing what I practiced."
"So modest." Ru Yin Xing laughed and then waved Ru Yin Yue over. "Come here, my good daughter."
"Mom." Ru Yin Yue sat at her mother's bedside, reaching out and clasping her hands. She had to fight back tears when she saw how pale her mother was, how…emaciated. She had lost even more weight over the last week.
The forest of intravenous drips and cables that connected her to the machine at the side stung her heart even more. She couldn't remember when they had hooked her mother up. It had been so long that those tubes and devices had become a part of her mother.
Closing her eyes briefly, she recalled a time when her mother was free of such contraptions. A healthy, strong woman who raised her all by herself, sometimes working two jobs at a time. Ru Yin Yue didn't know who her father was. Ru Yin Xing would often speak fondly of the man she loved, but she wouldn't tell her daughter his true identity. She wouldn't even confirm whether he was still alive.
"Alas, my poor daughter," Ru Yin Xing had said once. "It's not that your father doesn't love us. But his status is…a bit special. His family will never accept us. It's best if you don't know who he is. All you need to know is that he loves us very, very much."
Despite not knowing who he was, his presence was still felt. Ru Yin Yue remembered how her mother received a big sum of money from a mysterious donor. She used that fortune to sponsor Ru Yin Yue's education overseas, allowing her to fulfil her dream of becoming a musician.
Even though her mother was never specific, Ru Yin Yue could tell from her delighted expression that the money was a gift from her father.
"But where is he now?" she asked quietly. Now, when her mother was seriously ill and needed him the most, he wasn't present. Was he still alive? Did he even know about mom's condition?
"Yin Yue?" Ru Yin Xing watched her daughter, concerned. Ru Yin Yue snapped out of her thoughts and forced a smile.
"How are you feeling? Are they making you uncomfortable?" Her question was directed at the horde of tubes and vessels attached to her mother's arm. Ru Yin Xing followed her daughter's gaze and then laughed hollowly.
"What can I do, even if they make me uncomfortable? They are the only thing keeping me alive right now."
"…I see." Ru Yin Yue hung her head. Her mother frowned, perhaps sensing several of her dark thoughts.
"He doesn't know, and I don't want him to know. So don't blame him. If his family finds out and he tries to help me…the both of us will be in deep trouble."
"As if you aren't already in trouble," Ru Yin Yue said bitterly.
"It's nothing I can't handle," Ru Yin Xing replied dismissively. She gave her daughter a hard stare. "I'm more worried about you. You've been pushing yourself too hard."
"Don't worry. I have Ning Xue to take care of me."
"Yes." Xia Ning Xue smiled, standing next to her. "No matter how many times Yin Yue demands for a new recital or concert, I make sure she doesn't overexert herself. Her next recital is next month. I'm making sure she has enough rest between each one. And I watch over her practices to make sure she doesn't go overboard and hurt herself."
Sometimes pianists practiced excessively to the point they hurt their wrists or fingers, and often these could prove to be career-ending injuries. Xia Ning Xue was careful to ensure that her friend didn't suffer from that.
"I trust you." Ru Yin Xing nodded. "I'm entrusting my darling daughter to you."
"Please don't worry! You can trust me!"
Ru Yin Yue bit her lip, but didn't say anything. The fact of the matter was that the hospitalization fees weren't cheap and she needed to find a way to pay them. Right now, she was only a second-rate musician. Most people didn't know who she was. But she had to earn money to pay for her mother's treatment.
At this rate, she would go into debt.
However, she didn't want her mother to worry. If Ru Yin Xing heard that her daughter was having trouble paying the hospital bills, she would personally yanked out all those cables and tubes and walk home. Ru Yin Yue knew her mother's personality. She would rather die than be a burden to her daughter.
So she maintained her silence and smiled reassuringly.
Given her fragile condition, Ru Yin Xing couldn't stay awake for too long. She got tired easily. Ru Yin Yue and Xia Ning Xue left her to rest. Taking one last look at her mother, who had fallen asleep, Ru Yin Yue rose from her chair and nodded at her agent. The both of them left the room silently, entrusting the care of the elderly lady to the nurses.
Despite what she told uncle Bai, Ru Yin Yue was in no mood to hang out. After they left the hospital, the two ladies went their separate ways. Ru Yin Yue headed home, took a shower and changed into something casual. Drying her long hair with a towel, she stopped midway between the bathroom and her bedroom to look at the old piano that rested against the wall in the living room.
Approaching it, she flipped open the lid and stroked the keys. A soft melody hummed and she smiled. Playing the piano brought her a measure of relief…allowed her to relax and forget all her troubles.
Or it was supposed to. The impromptu tune that she played was cut off by the doorbell. Surprised, Ru Yin Yue stopped, wondering if she had misheard. When the doorbell rang a second time, she rose from the piano and headed toward the door. Was Xia Ning Xue paying her a visit? Other than her, nobody else knew she lived here.
To her complete surprise, she found Mom Si waiting for her outside the door. The elderly lady smiled politely and tilted her head slightly, a request on her lips.
"May I come in?"