Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem

  Qiao Anhao followed the sound of the ringtone to find Lu Jinnian smoking, as he leaned against a column.

  Her eyebrows creased for a moment, and she hung up the phone. She complained, "Why aren’t you picking up the phone?"

  Lu Jinnian snapped out of it when he heard Qiao Anhao’s words. A little flustered, he put out the cigarette in his hand and asked in response, "How’s Jiamu?"

  "He’s asleep," Qiao Anhao replied. "How come you’re down here on your own? I called and you didn’t even pick up."

  Lu Jinnian pulled out his phone to find three missed calls. His lips quivered, and he replied Qiao Anhao’s first question, "The habit kicked in, so I came down for a smoke."

  He paused for a moment before explaining, "I didn’t hear my phone ring just now, sorry."

  Qiao Anhao was a little angry at Lu Jinnian at first for not picking up or showing up, but the moment she saw him, her anger completely disappeared. Now, hearing his apology, she immediately smiled with curved eyes and lowered her head. She saw a lot of cigarette butts on the bin by the column, and her brows furrowed once more. "You just smoked that many?"

  Lu Jinnian didn’t make a sound.

  Qiao Anhao’s next words were fairly angry and worried. "Smoking is bad for the body. It’s better if you stop smoking. Quit it."

  Lu Jinnian gave a nod, then strode over to the car. He pulled the front passenger seat door and waited for Qiao Anhao to get in, then he closed the door and got in himself.

  Lu Jinnian’s focus whilst driving was far worse than before. He would have even driven through a red light if it weren’t for Qiao Anhao, who reminded him just in time for him to step on the brake.

  With Lu Jinnian’s birthday present and Xu Jiamu waking up, Qiao Anhao arched her brows, for she was in particularly high spirits.

  Lu Jinnian saw Qiao Anhao’s smile through the rear view mirror, which made his mood hit rock bottom. Xu Jiamu being awake, did it really make her this happy?

  During the summer in Beijing, artificial rain was always scheduled to go off deep in the night. The car hadn’t left the hospital for long when the heavy rain came pouring down. It lasted for only ten minutes before it stopped.

  Lu Jinnian stared at the occasional drops of rain on the window and asked the question that was on his mind all night, "Did the doctor mention how long it would take Jiamu to recover completely?"

  "Fastest would be one month, slowest perhaps three," Qiao Anhao honestly relayed the information.

  "Mm," replied Lu Jinnian, then didn’t speak more. His thoughts became a little erratic.

  If it’s fast, then one month, slow, then it’s two to three months……

  Did this mean that they had at most two to three months together, or as few as thirty days?

  Construction work on the streets of Beijing always took place at night.

  The road to Mian Xiu Garden was coincidentally closed off for construction tonight.

  Lu Jinnian wanted to reverse the car and take a detour, but Qiao Anhao was afraid it would take half an hour to drive around it, so she suggested to just walk over, as it would only take ten minutes.

  Lu Jinnian didn’t have an opinion on it, so he stopped the car by the road and the two of them walked towards Mian Xiu Garden.

  As it had just rained, there were puddles everywhere. Lu Jinnian was afraid Qiao Anhao would get her feet wet and cold, so he bent down in front of her and said, "I’ll piggyback you."