Meng Yao couldn't recall when or why she had written so many of Hong Jiaxi's names, nor could she refute his guess.
She gave an embarrassed smile and said, "I can't remember, perhaps it's as you say."
They stayed at the ruins until sunset before returning to the hotel. Meng Yao kept rereading the medical record in her room.
Hong Jiaxi stayed in the room next to hers, not disturbing her, thinking that perhaps she might remember their past. He lay on his bed, his heart filled with excitement at the thought that the page was filled with his name, handwritten by Meng Yao.
Meng Yao loved him; even though she had left without a word back then, she had still thought of him after arriving here.
He felt it was all worth it, having accompanied Meng Yao through so much hardship to reach this place.
After looking until she was tired, Huangfu Meng Yao drifted off to sleep, dreaming of fragmented scenes from her time here.
At the dawn, just before the sun was about to rise, she sat alone on the hospital rooftop, continuously writing Hong Jiaxi's name at the end of the medical record she was responsible for.
In this war-torn city, only at this time was there a brief moment of peace, allowing her longing to overflow.
Someone walked up to her and greeted her in the familiar Lan Cheng dialect, "Hi, you shouldn't be here, it's not safe."
As he spoke, the person glanced at the paper and pen in her hand, then said, "You still love him, why did you come here? Why not go back to him?"
"It's none of your business," Meng Yao covered the medical record and prepared to leave.
But the person stopped her, looking towards the horizon and saying, "Don't be in a hurry to leave, wait a few more seconds. Don't miss the sunrise."
Just as Meng Yao was about to retort, she saw a fiery red sun slowly rising in the distance, its light piercing through the clouds with immense brilliance.
The faint sound of artillery fire could be heard from afar.
This scene and setting struck her as both awe-inspiring and tragic, unlike the sunrises she had seen by the sea or on mountains.
When you are immersed in it, you realize how insignificant personal love and hate truly are, and you only wish for an end to the war here.
"Humans are so insignificant in the face of nature. If the warring parties here could, after sunrise, think about how many innocent lives will be lost on this new day, perhaps this damned war could end sooner," the person mused.
Meng Yao turned her head to look at his profile. In her dream, she suddenly saw clearly that it was Song Jiaping.
The scene in her dream shifted. In the desert, their ambulance was hit by artillery fire and overturned.
She and several doctors were trapped inside the vehicle, all trying to break open the doors or windows.
The familiar figure was the first to smash open a car window. As he climbed out, he was cut on the leg by the glass.
From outside, he worked to open the door and rescued them one by one.
The fuel tank at the rear of the ambulance had begun to leak, and everyone could hear the faint dripping sound.
Two doctors who escaped the ambulance supported each other and quickly moved away from the scene. Only she, having suffered a head injury during the rollover, was in a daze and unable to walk on her own.
Without hesitation, he picked her up. Despite his severe leg injury and continuous bleeding, he didn't care.
He desperately carried her to safety, then collapsed to the ground with her, unable to support himself any longer.
She heard a violent explosion and struggled to open her eyes, seeing the fiery red glow in the distance. Glancing back, she saw that face again – it was him, it was indeed Song Jiaping!
...
Several more fragments shifted in her dream. When she woke up with a start, she felt as if lightning bolts were colliding in her mind, her head throbbing with pain, and she remembered everything.
She remembered everything she and Song Jiaping had been through!
She loved him, had loved him to the bone even before losing her memory, and had long decided that he was the only one she would spend her life with.
But he had been avoiding her, drawing a line between them with the term "friend."
She had already planned that she wouldn't let him be a coward for too long.
After they returned to Lan Cheng from here, they would still meet often for meals and coffee.
At that time, she would find the best opportunity to confess her feelings to him, leaving him no room to refuse.
However, before she could find the right moment, she had a car accident and lost her memory.
She remembered everything that happened after losing her memory. When she stayed at Song Jiaping's home, his behavior clearly indicated that he liked her.
She hadn't misunderstood, nor had she misjudged. But why did Song Jiaping divorce her later and abandon her, she still couldn't understand.
In the morning, Hong Jiaxi woke up in a good mood and went to knock on Meng Yao's door, wanting to ask her to have breakfast together.
But after knocking for a while, there was no response from inside. He thought Meng Yao wouldn't still be asleep at this hour and asked a hotel staff member who was passing by.
The staff member, who was supposed to clean each room early, said, "Sir, the lady staying in this room left as soon as it was dawn."
Hong Jiaxi was surprised and found it unbelievable. It would be very dangerous for her to go out alone so early.
Although there was no longer war here, social order was still unstable.
He hurriedly asked, "Do you know which way she went?"
The staff member shook her head and said, "I only saw her leave the room. You might want to ask at the front desk on the first floor; perhaps they'll know."
"Okay," Hong Jiaxi rushed downstairs and asked the front desk staff.
The answer he received surprised him even more.
The front desk staff said that Meng Yao had not only left the hotel but had also checked out, taking all her luggage and calling for a car.
Hong Jiaxi couldn't understand why she had left him like this without saying a word.
He tried calling her mobile, but he couldn't reach her.
The telecommunications network in this country was still not well-developed. Even though they had both obtained local SIM cards, the signal was intermittent.
They had tried a few times before, and occasionally managed to get through.
He wondered if Meng Yao had gone to the airport herself, to return to Lan Cheng.
He quickly contacted a friend in Lan Cheng and asked them to check the times of the nearest international flights and whether Meng Yao had booked a ticket.
After waiting anxiously at the hotel for half an hour, his friend from Lan Cheng finally replied.
The earliest international flight to leave here and return to Lan Cheng was three days later, and Meng Yao's name was not on the list of booked passengers.
Knowing that she hadn't gone to the airport, Hong Jiaxi became even more worried. In such a chaotic place, where could a young woman like her go?
He really couldn't just sit in the hotel and wait. He asked the front desk staff which direction the car she called had gone and decided to follow that direction to search for her.
Meng Yao remembered everything. When she was in school, she and Hong Jiaxi had indeed been a couple.
They were childhood sweethearts, and at that time, Hong Jiaxi was the only one she liked.
They were inseparable on campus, showering each other with affection. In her heart, she believed that after graduating from university, they would get married smoothly and live happily ever after.
However, in their senior year, a girl named Zhou Ran appeared, shattering her feelings for Hong Jiaxi.
Hong Jiaxi, as a student union cadre, met a girl named Zhou Ran while receiving freshmen.
Zhou Ran, knowing full well that Hong Jiaxi had a girlfriend, still pestered him.