Chapter 72
After returning home, Jiang Mu did indeed receive a medical report on Jin Chao’s condition. It was many pages long, and she found herself overwhelmed and confused by the medical jargon. It took her several days of searching online and calling an old classmate for help to finally make sense of the report.
She had assumed the accident had only taken one of Jin Chao’s legs, but after understanding the report, she realized that was merely the most visible injury. The incident had initially caused systemic damage throughout his body. Pressure on his brain tissue had led to a period of coma, which was why he had been unreachable after the accident.
In addition, he had suffered multiple fractures and dislocations. During his long recovery, he frequently experienced localized swelling and joint pain that limited his mobility. As time went on, his muscle strength began to decline, and he endured prolonged episodes of phantom limb pain.
“Based on his past condition, this man literally clawed his way back from the gates of hell. Living like a normal person again is extraordinarily difficult. From the state you describe, the fact that he’s recovered to where he is now means he’s fought with everything he has.”
Those were her classmate’s exact words, and none of it had ever crossed her mind. Far worse than losing a leg were the irreversible aftereffects he carried.
Since reuniting with Jin Chao, he had always acted perfectly normal around her, so much so that she could hardly tell he was any different. But when he fell ill after their hike in the windy weather, he hadn’t told her. He probably didn’t want her to know the full truth about his condition too soon.
The more she learned, the more suffocated Jiang Mu felt. Suddenly, she understood why Jin Chao had said he wanted her to take her time before he told her everything. Indeed, piece by piece, each revelation fell on her shoulders like a crushing weight, leaving her breathless, forcing her to see with new clarity the burdens the future would hold.
After urgently finishing her Subject One test that week, Jiang Mu immediately threw herself into practicing for Subject Two. On top of that, her team at work was overloaded with tasks, so she worked overtime for several days in a row. Between her job and her driving lessons, Jiang Mu’s schedule was suddenly packed to the brim.
She received a call from her classmate on Wednesday, and spent Thursday searching online for more information based on what her friend had told her. She thought to herself that once she made it through this hectic week, she would find time over the weekend to meet Jin Chao and properly discuss everything.
However, on Friday, Gu Zhijie needed to host a group of out-of-town visitors for a tour of the observatory. The leadership suggested selecting two presentable staff members to represent the institute’s image, and Gu Zhijie immediately thought of Jiang Mu. He went to her team to borrow her for the day, though her research lead was initially reluctant, until Gu Zhijie promised to treat everyone to dinner that evening.
After leaving the institute and getting into Gu Zhijie’s car, he grinned and said, “Pretty considerate of me, right? I know you’ve been swamped lately, so I got you out for a breather.”
Jiang Mu, already thinking about the piled-up work waiting for her return, couldn’t help but reply with clear exasperation, “Oh, thank you so much.”
Gu Zhijie laughed heartily. “You’re welcome!”
Unexpectedly, while still up on the mountain that afternoon, Jiang Mu received a call from Jin Chao. He asked her, “What time do you finish work?”
Jiang Mu glanced toward the group interacting with the tour guide in the distance and replied, “I’m currently assigned to a visiting group touring the observatory. It’ll be a little while before they leave.”
Jin Chao simply said, “Alright, focus on your work then,” and ended the call.
Jiang Mu stood on the open plaza in front of the meteorite exhibit hall, tilting her head to gaze at the distant sky, her expression becoming still and pensive. Gu Zhijie eventually walked out and said to her, “They have other plans later. We can leave as soon as we see them on their bus. Feel like hotpot for dinner?”
Noticing her fixed gaze upward, he also looked up at the sky and asked, puzzled, “What are you looking at?”
A sudden light sparked in Jiang Mu’s eyes, and a brilliant yet fleeting smile crossed her face before she schooled her expression, turning to Gu Zhijie and saying, “I’m fine with anything.”
Gu Zhijie glanced up at the sky again. The visibility was unusually clear today, the crisp autumn air refreshing, but he didn’t notice anything particularly remarkable. Shrugging, he turned and headed back inside.
A little while later, when the visitors decided to head in to take photos, Gu Zhijie and Jiang Mu stepped outside, intending to wait for them at the main gate.
As they walked, Gu Zhijie teased Jiang Mu, “Don’t spend all your time cramming for the driving test. You’re not getting any younger. You should think about finding a boyfriend.”
Jiang Mu shot back, “You’re a few years older than me. If you’re not anxious, how do you have the nerve to lecture me?”
They were still bantering when a figure caught Jiang Mu’s attention beneath the distant red maple trees. Dressed in a dark overcoat that accentuated his lean, steady presence, he seemed to have been standing there for a while, his gaze fixed intently on them.
Jiang Mu’s steps faltered. Her smile vanished instantly, replaced by a pale, anxious expression. She hurried toward him, anxious. “Why are you here?”
Jin Chao’s eyes briefly shifted to the man following behind her before returning to Jiang Mu, “I came to see you.”
Jiang Mu’s emotions surged. “Why couldn’t you wait for me at the bottom of the mountain? How did you even make it up here?”
Jin Chao kept both hands in his coat pockets, his tone calm. “Cable car.”
Hearing Jiang Mu’s startled tone, Gu Zhijie immediately laughed. “Why are you so nervous about him coming up the mountain?”
Jiang Mu cast him a glance and didn’t continue the topic. Jin Chao turned his eyes and asked, “And this is?”
Gu Zhijie introduced himself. “Gu Zhijie.”
Then he leaned closer to Jiang Mu and quietly asked, “Who is he?”
Jiang Mu tilted her head and mouthed quickly, “A week-long ex-boyfriend.”
Gu Zhijie instantly gave a look of sudden realization. He looked Jin Chao up and down and remarked with a tone of exaggerated respect, “I’ve heard so much about you.”
To Jin Chao, he was completely unfamiliar, so he only asked, “Half-colleague, meaning…?”
Gu Zhijie explained, “I’m Jiang Mu’s senior from the institute. We don’t work in the same department, but you could say I tricked her into coming to Nanjing. We’re in the same broad field, so you could say we’re half-colleagues.”
Jin Chao didn’t respond. His gaze drifted to Jiang Mu’s face, carrying that hard-to-define pressure. Suddenly, Jiang Mu thought back to the day Jin Chao had returned her fountain pen, when she’d half-joked in the café, making up a story about coming to Nanjing for him.
That he had been entirely made up, but now, paired with Gu Zhijie’s words now made that lie feel strangely real.
Jiang Mu suddenly understood the meaning behind his gaze, lowering her head with a quiet laugh.
Sensing the silence between them, Gu Zhijie felt himself somewhat out of place. He turned to Jiang Mu and said, “No need for you to come over later. Xiao Qin and I will handle the send-off. Are you joining us for dinner tonight?”
Jiang Mu replied, “I’ll let you know by phone later.”
“All right.” Gu Zhijie agreed, then turned to Jin Chao with a polite farewell. “I’ve still got guests to tend to. I’ll head over first.”
Jin Chao gave him a slight nod.
After Gu Zhijie left, Jiang Mu walked over to Jin Chao and asked, “Have you ever been up here before? I mean, taken the cable car up before?”
“No.”
Jin Chao lowered his eyes to her. She was dressed in beige high-waisted trousers and a pale blue blouse, her long hair falling over her shoulders, graceful and captivating.
The wind teased her hair, carrying a faint fragrance. He instinctively reached out to tidy the strands brushed behind her by the breeze.
By the time Jiang Mu turned, he had already withdrawn his hand back into his coat pocket. She asked him, “Since you’ve never been up here before, do you want to look around?”
“If it’s convenient for you,” Jin Chao replied.
“And if it isn’t convenient? What if I’m still on duty… then wouldn’t you have come all the way up here for nothing?”
Jin Chao repeated softly, “I told you, I only came up here to see you.”
“Just to see me? Why?”
Jin Chao’s gaze settled on the blue-glazed tiles in the distance, his eyes deep and unreadable. “To see if I’d scared you away.”
Jiang Mu paused, then asked, “And what did you see?”
Jin Chao responded with a faint, enigmatic smile instead of words, stopping before a bronze armillary sphere, studying the inscription beside it as if genuinely interested.
Though Jiang Mu hadn’t been in Nanjing long, this wasn’t her first time at the observatory. She could more or less play half a tour guide. She explained to him that the 1,449 copper studs represented the stars visible to the naked eye, described the instrument’s operating principles, and explained how it calculated the relative coordinates between stars.
What surprised her was how quickly Jin Chao grasped it. He even asked if the framework was composed of the meridian circle and the horizon circle, which caught Jiang Mu off guard.
She had only casually asked if he wanted to look around, but he was seriously touring the place.
As they came down the steps, Jin Chao asked her, “What’s the focus of your work now?”
Jiang Mu told him, “Where I work, the main research is on the dynamics of multiple celestial systems.”
Then she glanced sideways at him and added, “To be precise, you were my first teacher in all this.”
Jin Chao couldn’t help but think of how much she had struggled with physics back in her senior year of high school. A soft laugh escaped him. Then he turned his gaze toward her, eyes so deep they seemed to hold countless twists and turns, and asked, “Have you been very busy lately?”
Jiang Mu’s heart tightened. She really had been swamped these past few days and only just yesterday had she finally managed to make sense of the medical report. She hadn’t expected that in such a short time, Jin Chao would already feel uneasy.
Instead of answering directly, she posed a question of her own, “Let me ask you something. If I really did have a fiancé who spends his time gaming and chasing women, like I joked before, what would you do?”
Jin Chao’s eyes held a faint smile as he looked straight into hers. “Do you want the truth?”
“Of course.”
I’d make sure you willingly kicked that man to the side before you married him.”
“And then what? Make me willingly choose you instead?”
Jin Chao didn’t answer, but the smile in his eyes deepened, more intense.
Jiang Mu pressed further, “And if that report really did scare me, if I felt like backing out?”
Jin Chao’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, and a trace of self-mockery curved at his lips. “Then I suppose I’d still have time to catch the last cable car down the mountain.”
Jiang Mu shot him a fierce glare, then stepped down the stairs ahead of him. But after a couple of steps, she remembered that she would worry if he couldn’t keep up. She stopped, standing against the stonework backdrop of the steps, her figure outlined slim and graceful. He walked toward her against the light, tall and upright, and asked, “So, have you made up your mind?”
A flicker of an elusive smile crossed Jiang Mu’s eyes. “I’ll take you somewhere.”
They followed the heavy cobblestone wall and stepped onto the wooden walkway. Jiang Mu led Jin Chao all the way to the innermost end, where she stopped before a staircase. Dusk was falling, the crowds of tourists thinning. She told him, “My answer is up there.”
Jin Chao gazed into her brilliant eyes, then slowly began to climb.
At the final step, the view opened wide into a grand observation deck. The entirety of Jinling City lay spread beneath them. The majestic landscape, the ancient capital that had cradled six dynasties, all lay at their feet.
Jiang Mu came to stand beside him, shoulder to shoulder. The evening glow poured across the horizon, painting the whole city red. Tilting her head toward the sky, a smile touched her lips. “Do you see it?”
Jin Chao followed her gaze. On the far edge of the sky, opposite the sinking sun, hung the faint silhouette of the moon, clear like a polished mirror.
She told him, “Every year around this time, the Earth’s orbit around the sun and the moon’s orbit around the Earth shift in their cycles. The sun and moon both appear on the horizon at once—that’s when this phenomenon of sun and moon in the same sky occurs.
Day and night, sun and moon. They alternate, but even the laws of nature are not absolute. How much more true is that for people?”
“Do you know what this is called?”
Jin Chao turned his gaze toward her.
Her gentle face shone with a light of unshakable resolve as she told him, “Chao is the sun, Mu is the moon. When sun and moon shine together, it means day after day, and night after night, always together.”
The radiance of sun and moon fell into Jin Chao’s eyes at once, blooming into the most moving brilliance in the world.
He reached out his hand and clasped hers tightly.