Choice

In the afternoon, Hesta and Ding Yuqing sat on the stone bollards by the parking lot. Hesta ate a chicken wrap with a small bottle of newly bought mineral water, while Ding Yuqing still held the paper bag in her arms, staring blankly ahead.

"I'll take you to the children's hospital first," Hesta said softly. "Are you okay?"

Ding Yuqing came back from her thoughts and glanced at the person beside her. "...Do you have somewhere else to go this afternoon?"

"Yeah. I'm going to see Eleven, over at Hope Center... the place I took you to last week. I might stay there for two hours, then I'll come back and find you all, see if there's anything I can help with."

"Wouldn't that be too much trouble for you?"

"How is that any trouble..."

Hesta crumpled up the wrapper from her finished meal. After aiming a few times, she tossed it perfectly into a trash can some distance away.

"But now I know why Miaomiao wanted me to stay at the hospital." Hesta propped herself up with one hand. "I swear, she called it exactly—if I hadn't gone home yesterday, none of this would have happened."

A hint of a smile finally appeared on Ding Yuqing's indifferent face. She said quietly, "You believe her now, right? My sister called specifically to warn you. That should have told you how serious this was. But what happened today, when all was said and done, had nothing to do with you..."

"It did, though." Hesta turned to her. "Does Ms. Xu have some kind of leverage in your father's hands?"

"...No."

"Really? Are you sure?" Hesta turned back and glanced upward. "I feel like—"

"Maybe you think my dad is a terrible person—lazy, mean, uneducated, and always lecturing people... Well, he is