Chapter 52 Prologue
After the Against the Light Proposal was approved, the project officially entered the setup phase.
Wen Bairan and Ding Benxuan visited Shenjiang University Medical Center again.
Ye Zi was at death's door.
The girl who had spoken last time about wanting to return to school to listen to the campus radio was now reduced to a wasted shell.
The last thing she said to Ye Qian before losing consciousness was, “Mom, I want to go home.”
The head nurse mentioned that one night, Ye Qian had tried to sneak Ye Zi out, but the monitor alarm went off, and the medical staff rushed in. They didn’t succeed. When the doctor asked if she wanted to give up on resuscitation, Ye Qian fell to her knees, weeping as if her heart would break, unwilling to let go no matter what.
She was trapped in a desperate dilemma—one step forward was a cliff, one step back was an abyss. She wanted to take Ye Zi home, but Ye Zi’s condition was entirely being kept alive by machines. Removing them would give her at most a few more minutes.
It was unclear if Ye Qian felt even a hint of regret, allowing Ye Zi to spend her final time entirely in the hospital.
This cruel illness had already taken everything from this family, and now it was finally taking her daughter.
Wen Bairan brought donations, but no amount of money could alleviate Ye Qian’s pain in this situation.
Ding Benxuan left the recordings from this period in a Bluetooth speaker, encouraging Ye Zi to stay strong.
The day after they visited Ye Zi, she passed away.
Ye Qian, clutching her photo, jumped from the hospital room. Fortunately, there was a platform below the oncology ward. Falling from the sixth floor, she only suffered a broken leg.
She woke up helplessly in the hospital room, bewildered as to why she was still alive.
When Wen Bairan visited her, Ye Qian refused to speak to anyone. The pain of losing her daughter had stripped her of all emotion, leaving her so drained she couldn’t even cry. Wen Bairan contacted Shenjiang’s best psychologist through the company and immediately arranged for intervention and counseling.
Thus, Ye Qian became the first family member assisted by the Against the Light Project.
Before leaving, Wen Bairan left Ye Zi’s final recording for her: “She wanted you to live well.”
Pausing at the doorway, Wen Bairan glanced back. Inside the room, Ye Qian stared blankly out the window, unsure if the direction she was looking in still held any sign of Ye Zi.
That jump was likely Ye Zi’s final act of protection for her beloved mother.
/
Wen Bairan also visited Director Liu’s office.
Thanks to his strong support and assistance during this time, she would continue to rely on his help in the future.
The weather had turned colder. Director Liu walked Wen Bairan out and brought up Li Yuan.
He asked if she knew he had adopted two children abroad.
Wen Bairan was stunned and said she didn’t know.
Li Yuan had adopted a pair of two-year-old boy-girl twins overseas. On the day he passed away, his lawyer brought the children back to the Li family. At first, he didn’t mention they were adopted. After some time, Li Yuan’s mother noticed something was off—the children didn’t bear any resemblance to the Li family. When she asked where Li Yuan was, the lawyer finally informed them that he had already passed away.
Naturally, the Li family was thrown into turmoil, but it didn’t last as long as one might expect.
Having something to focus on, people no longer waste away and can recover from grief faster.
Director Liu said he admired Li Yuan greatly, adding that he himself likely wouldn’t have had such magnanimity.
Wen Bairan said she felt the same. When people are alive, they more or less fear death—not because of heaven or hell, but because they fear being forgotten. Once the body is gone, who can prove they ever lived?
She couldn’t be as at peace as Li Yuan, who had even arranged how he should be forgotten. If she were to die before Ms. Xie, she would both hope Ms. Xie remembered her and fear she might despair like Ye Qian.
Suddenly, she found herself trapped in a corner by this vast, seemingly close yet distant question, unable to make sense of it, feeling low all day.
She was stuck on this question that felt near yet far, her heart heavy all day.
After work, Ding Benxuan specifically treated her to ice cream.
Lately, temperatures had dropped to single digits both morning and night. Though the evening at past seven wasn’t fully dark yet, the streets were already cold.
Wen Bairan got an instant brain freeze.
Holding her forehead, she frowned and said, “That’s so cold.”
Ding Benxuan laughed heartily. “Cold days are meant for cold treats!”
As he spoke, he performed a feat of finishing a cone in three bites, then clapped his hands and held them out to show her.
“......”
Wen Bairan offered no comment; just watching made her shiver from the cold, and she didn’t dare eat the rest of what she held.
Ding Benxuan said it couldn’t go to waste, grabbed it from her, and stuffed it all into his mouth before she could protest.
...Young people, full of vitality, they can handle anything. When he left the hospital, he had looked troubled, but now he seemed to have forgotten all about it, perked up again.
Ding Benxuan insisted on waiting with her for her ride.
Wen Bairan felt awkward mentioning someone was coming to pick her up, so the two stood by the roadside pretending to wait for an unfamiliar car.
The street was bustling with traffic; headlights resembled pairs of eyes growing in the night, endlessly sifting through everyone’s secrets hidden in the dark.
After a moment of silence.
Ding Benxuan suddenly said, “Sister Ran, I’m returning to school at the end of the month.”
The lab upgrades were nearly done, and he had papers due by the end of the semester.
Moreover, compared to working behind closed doors on experiments, he found he preferred application and practical work.
He said, “I’ve learned a lot during my time at the company, especially from Ye Zi’s situation, which moved me deeply. Life is too short—you close your eyes today unsure if you’ll see tomorrow’s sun. You have to seize the things you want to do.”
Ding Benxuan’s student mindset hadn’t changed; he still idealized things, but the clarity in his eyes was growing steadier.
Wen Bairan encouraged him to turn that idealism into motivation. He was only in his early twenties, with plenty of good days ahead to create.
Her smiling eyes glowed, gently embracing everything in these autumn days.
Ding Benxuan felt his unruly heart beginning to stir again.
“Sister Ran, can I ask you a question?”
“Go ahead.”
“Was that... President Song who sent you flowers that day?”
Wen Bairan paused slightly, looked up, and said no.
Ding Benxuan’s face instantly dimmed by two shades. Of course, someone as beautiful and outstanding as her—how could she have only one or two admirers? Among them were successful figures like Song Xu, and even mysterious individuals who spent extravagantly for her. In terms of capability and wealth, how could a college student like him compare?
Apart from his age being his only advantage, what else does he have to offer?
If Wen Bairan were someone who valued age, that would be one thing, but she’s not that superficial at all.
He felt a little deflated but unwilling to accept it, asking her if she really didn’t want to give them a shot? Maybe there was something about him that could satisfy her.
His childish tone made Wen Bairan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Xiao Ding, you’re actually really cute," she said.
"But?"
Ding Benxuan already sensed the rejection and dropped his head gloomily. "I don’t want to hear you say 'but.'"
His hangdog expression looked especially like a golden retriever that hadn’t gotten a bone.
Wen Bairan couldn’t suppress a smile. "Alright, I won’t say 'but,' but—" She paused and laughed.
Just then, headlights flashed a couple times not far away.
She looked past Ding Benxuan’s shoulder and narrowed her eyes.
The black DBX gleamed under the night sky, as if responding to her gaze. The car crossed the intersection, made a U-turn, and headed toward them.
Ding Benxuan was still waiting for Wen Bairan to finish her sentence when he suddenly saw an all-too-familiar car slowly pull up beside them and stop.
The window rolled down, and in the driver’s seat, the man revealed only half his body and a chiseled, unsmiling jawline. The watch on his right hand, which gripped the steering wheel, had been the topic of conversation among the female colleagues at the company for a week.
Ding Benxuan didn’t know exactly how expensive a Patek Philippe was, but no matter the price, only when worn on his wrist did such a luxury item truly live up to its name.
—Wasn’t this CEO Song’s car?
Wen Bairan leaned down and said to the person inside, "Wait for me a moment."
There was no sound from the car, not even an expression.
The next second, the hazards came on.
Waiting in silence.
Ding Benxuan suddenly understood something.
He was speechless as Wen Bairan turned back to look at him.
She said life is like a novel—some people are short stories, while others are sweeping epics. And you, your life has only just turned to the preface. No matter how beautiful the preface is, you can’t stop reading there.
The young man on the curb was stunned into silence.
Wen Bairan’s gaze was as soft as the night air. She smiled and said, "Xiao Ding, your story isn’t me."
//
The car’s heat was on, and the temperature was just right.
Wen Bairan loved the scent in Song Xu’s car—perfectly balanced and serene, grounded and subtle, like a gentleman of profound depth, neither showy nor offensive, with a gentleness that seemed to radiate from within.
She had asked him many times what the scent was. Song Xu said he didn’t know—a friend had given it to him, and he’d been using it for a long time.
"Specially blended, no name."
He shot her a glance. "Why don’t you name it?"
Wen Bairan had a hunch the person who gave him this perfume was a woman.
She pursed her lips and parroted his tone: "I’m not used to appreciating another woman through a man."
Song Xu laughed. Whether it was because of her perceptiveness or her cheekiness, she wasn’t sure.
Wen Bairan flipped through his music collection and found that he mostly listened to old songs, with even jazz from 1995 right there in the mix.
Curious, she tapped to play it.
"I’m Just a Lucky So and So."
An upbeat melody, cheerful lyrics.
Yet it carried a hint of sadness.
She couldn’t help but look over at Song Xu.
"I heard something today."
"What?"
Wen Bairan pursed her lips, wondering whether to mention that she had bumped into Xiang Sun during lunch.
She had originally planned to meet Qiao Yi, but Qiao Yi had recently been deep in their own world with Ye Zhe—the two were all wrapped up in each other that they couldn’t spare any time for her. Coincidentally, Xiang Sun had come down to buy a quick lunch for Song Xu and ran into Wen Bairan eating alone. He teased her, saying that this kind of lunch delivery duty should really fall to her, as his girlfriend. But to avoid gossip at the company, he had to step in instead.
Wen Bairan muttered under her breath, "Who said I’m his girlfriend?"
Xiang Sun’s eyes went wide. "Still denying it?! You’re even staying at his place! I saw the two of you coming to work together this morning with my own eyes!"
"..."
Actually, he’s living at my place.
Wen Bairan didn’t say anything and instead asked if he was done shopping. If so, he should hurry back upstairs.
Lately, office romances were rampant in the company. Whenever a man and a woman were seen together, gossip would spread. Let alone if they were eating together.
She wasn’t afraid of the chatter, but wasn’t Xiang Sun afraid of Song Xu?
Song Xu was narrow-minded and scheming—sabotaging a few business deals would be effortless for him.
Everyone knew that in this company, only Director Xiang was solely focused on money.
—Xiang Sun felt a chill down his spine, thinking this was exactly the kind of thing Song Xu would do. He was about to make a quick exit when he suddenly sensed something was up. He sat back down, narrowed his eyes, and said, "You’re threatening me? Tsk, tsk, tsk. It’s true what they say—close to vermilion, one gets stained red. Look at the bad habits you’ve picked up from Song Xu."
Wen Bairan shrugged. "Not all of them are bad habits."
Enough was enough.
It was one thing for Xiang Sun to be wrapped around Song Xu’s finger, but now even Wen Bairan knew how to push his buttons. If the company grew bigger in the future, wouldn’t these two end up running right over him?
A thought occurred to him, and he asked if she wanted to know about Song Xu’s school days.
Wen Bairan said too quickly, "No," but then bit her lip. She remembered his two college romances—hadn’t they happened during university? Since Xiang Sun was his classmate, he probably knew some inside scoop.
She realized that the longer she knew Song Xu, the more she wanted to know about him.
Isn't curiosity where love always begins?
Wen Bairan didn’t quite believe this.
Can’t I just gossip a little about her boss’s private life?
In the car, Song Xu looked over upon hearing this remark.
His gaze was so cold it made you want to shiver.
Wen Bairan’s heart was pounding, but she maintained a calm facade and said, “I swear I didn’t ask anything—Xiang Sun was the one who told me.”
The implication was clear: if you’re going to take it out on someone, don’t come after me.
Her guilty conscience made her look like a mouse that had stolen oil. Song Xu gave a faint scoff. “What exactly did he tell you?”
Wen Bairan hesitated before finally meeting his eyes and saying, “He told me that when Zhu Qiwei got married, you were alone in your dorm, getting drunk all night.”
…