Dawn broke.
The long-absent sun pierced Nanhua's thick winter clouds, spilling golden light into the hospital room and illuminating the dust drifting through the air.
The hospital corridors began to bustle as doctors made their rounds and nurses changed dressings.
"Knock, knock."
Someone tapped gently on the door.
The young nurse on duty pushed it open, holding a thermometer and a chart.
She glanced at Yuan Su, who had kept vigil all night without a moment's sleep, then at Pu Yu on the bed, and smiled.
"You're awake? You seem to be recovering pretty well."
As she took Pu Yu's temperature, she turned toward Yuan Su as though she had suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right, you're her family, aren't you? A police officer came by the nurses' station just now. He said he was handling your case. When he saw the patient wasn't awake yet, he didn't come in to disturb you."
Yuan Su's hands stilled. "Is something wrong?" he asked quietly.
"No, nothing." The nurse waved a hand. "He's checking the injury assessment report with the doctor. He asked me to pass along a message and tell you to get ready."
Recalling the officer's words, the nurse cleared her throat and addressed Yuan Su in an unusually precise, businesslike tone.
"He said his name was Li Youlin, from the local police station here in South Hua City, and that you should go see him as soon as possible."
Boom-
Those words were like a beam of light that had traveled across three years, illuminating Pu Yu on the hospital bed without warning, yet with unerring precision.
Her whole body went rigid for a moment, and her still-foggy mind instantly cleared.
Everything around her seemed to lose its color in that instant, leaving only those strangely familiar words echoing in