Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 709 - 708: Didn’t Say Goodbye

Chapter 709: Chapter 708: Didn’t Say Goodbye

Sie Yufei felt that Guan Manling had changed.

In the past, she would kick him, glare at him, and even curse at him with "Get lost!"

Now, she had become gentle, yet pale.

The once passionate and wilful Guan Family’s eldest daughter was confined to the sickbed, consumed by illness.

If possible, he would rather have her always cursing at him, glaring at him, and kicking him.

She could dislike him, could always dislike him, if only she could be healthy.

Guan Manling looked somewhat tired, slowly leaning against the wall.

"Ah, the wall is cold," Sie Yufei instinctively stretched out his hand again, "Go sit over there."

His hand paused mid-air, feeling somewhat presumptuous and wanting to retract, but Guan Manling grabbed his wrist.

"Could you help me a moment?"

"Of, of course."

Sie Yufei’s mind went blank, and dazedly he helped Guan Manling to the bench in the corridor.

Looking at the cold bench, he took off his own wool coat, folded it neatly and placed it on the bench, then let her sit.

Guan Manling looked at the neatly folded coat and suddenly remembered, a few years ago, Sie Yufei took her to a cinema, and he did the same, using his outer jacket as a cushion for her.

That time, she didn’t sit, not even watching the long-awaited movie.

She had always known that she and Sie Yufei were different. Her father also had a wool coat, inherited from her grandfather, which he hardly wore unless going to a wedding banquet.

That coat, last spring, had been sold by her father to pay for three months’ worth of her medicine.

Now, facing a similar scenario in a different place, Guan Manling pursed her lips and softly said, "Such a good coat, don’t ruin it."

Sie Yufei, unlike that time, did not let her have her way, saying, "It’s still chilly, you can’t catch cold, should I take you back to the ward?"

Guan Manling unconsciously bit her lip and slowly sat down.

Sie Yufei got a nurse to bring a glass medicine bottle filled with hot water and handed it to her before sitting at the other end of the bench.

There was a two-person space between them.

Guan Manling looked down at the medicine bottle in her hands, the label pasted on it read ’glucose solution’, the liquid inside unknown whose blood it would merge into, killing what virus.

"Sie Yufei, thank you."

After a long while, Guan Manling repeated the sentence.

Sie Yufei tugged at the corner of his mouth: "Don’t thank me, I... feel quite sorry for your husband, is he doing well?"

"He’s doing quite well, nothing much," Guan Manling replied, "Nianhe helped him find a job to transcribe articles for the newspaper office, he went to submit his work."

Sie Yufei hadn’t heard Lin Nianhe mention this, he hummed in acknowledgment then didn’t know what else to say.

Guan Manling unconsciously scratched at the label on the bottle, the glaring white somewhat annoying, it made her feel pain just by looking at it.

She asked, "Nianhe got engaged yesterday, she must be very happy, right?"

"Yes, everyone is quite happy."

"That’s good... I heard that now restrictions to return to Beijing have loosened, many educated youth have returned, you wouldn’t need to go to the Northeast anymore, right?"

"No, I’m leaving in a few days."

"Is it because of me?"

"No, I’m going there to study."

"In the past, when I was in the battalion, Yafei always mentioned how great Ten Miles Team was, sometimes I couldn’t help but want to visit."

"Yes, the villagers there are indeed very nice."

Previously, when Sie Yufei and Guan Manling were together, it was always him who talked incessantly, now the roles had reversed.

Sie Yufei leaned forward, elbows propped on his knees, fingers interlocked, yet still cold.

He had clearly come to visit Guan Manling, now so close, yet he dared not turn his head to look at her.

"You... good luck on your college entrance exams, hope you get into a good university."

After a while, Guan Manling probably did not know what to say next, gathered her clothes, and slowly stood up, supporting herself with her knees.

Sie Yufei clearly wasn’t looking at her, but the moment she stood up, he immediately reached out his hand to help her.

Guan Manling stood firm without relying on his strength.

She put down the medicine bottle, picked up the wool coat on the chair, smoothed out the wrinkles, and handed it to him with both hands.

Finally deciding, as if by taking the wool coat, Sie Yufei naturally looked up at her.

"Thank you," she said, "I’m sorry."

Sie Yufei slowly shook his head, his eyes slightly reddening.

He wanted to say, no need to thank, and no need to apologize.

Liking her was his unregrettable, one-sided desire.

Guan Manling handed the wool coat to him; the smile on her lips was brilliant.

For a brief moment, Sie Yufei felt she no longer looked sickly and worn, but was the radiant and spirited girl under the sun again.

She waved at him, saying, "Sie Yufei, you will meet many girls better than me in the future... and she will surely like you a lot, I wish you happiness."

Sie Yufei opened his mouth, unable to make a sound, just as he never knew how to keep her.

He wanted to say, no, there will be no one else, she was the best girl he had ever met, and there wouldn’t be anyone else who could compare to her.

He wanted to say, he had learned to like her on his own, and could not possibly like anyone else.

He wanted to say...

He had so much to say...

But by the time he found his voice again, all that was left in front of him was a distant silhouette almost overwhelmed by the military coat.

She turned around the corridor and disappeared from his sight.

They didn’t say goodbye.

...

Sie Yufei never visited the hospital again.

As he boarded the train heading to the north, he silently said "goodbye" towards the direction of the hospital from afar.

...

Sie Yufei left before Aunt Wen could respond; jokingly, he said Xiao He had swindled so many foreigners, a single movie should be a piece of cake for her.

The Sie Family was eager for him to leave and hastily booked a sleeper ticket for him.

Before he left, Lin Nianhe asked him to write a power of attorney concerning the film’s release, then sent him on the train with two big boxes of Beijing specialties.

Coincidentally, right after Sie Yufei left, Aunt Wen gave her reply—the movie "Forest" could be released.

If Sie Yufei had left even a day later, he could have signed the release agreement for his son himself.

Currently, all distributed films were produced and released by various local movie studios, and "Forest," being entirely filmed and produced by an individual, was an exception, and thus involved profit sharing issues.

The film studio originally intended to buy out the rights with three thousand yuan one-time payment, but Lin Nianhe, with a cunning smile, decisively refused.

"Aunt Wen, I know you are suggesting this method for our own good, but I really can’t let you bear the risk and loss."

Lin Nianhe with an utterly sincere, well-meaning expression:

"Five cents per ticket, even without considering any costs, you would need sixty thousand people to buy tickets to break even. With Sie Yufei as a new director and not filming a popular topic, it’s too risky."

"I think a profit-sharing agreement would be better, whether it’s more or less, we’ll bear it together."

Aunt Wen felt something was off: "This... doesn’t seem right..."

"We’re already using the name and channels of the film factory to release the movie, we already feel quite embarrassed, how can we still let you bear the risk?"

Lin Nianhe held Aunt Wen’s hand, his tone extremely earnest: "Running a cinema has its costs, after giving them half, we can split the rest evenly, how does that sound?"

Aunt Wen: "This... is not impossible..."

But still felt something odd.