Whenever such a situation occurred, Yin Huan's face would turn as black as ink. He would drive the others away in an extremely aggressive tone, saying, "Get out of here right now! She's still a minor!"
Generally, after he said this, most people would back off. However, some stubborn ones would retort defiantly:
"She'll be an adult in less than a year. Can't I prepare for love in advance? Who do you think you are to interfere with her? You're on the verge of death. Someone else will surely have to take care of her in the future."
Once such hot - heads showed up, Yin Huan would get into a fierce argument with them, and without any regard for anything, he would hurl everything within reach at them until the "intruder" was driven away.
Even after getting rid of them, he wouldn't feel happy. His mood would remain gloomy for the whole day.
But he couldn't say a word. He had no right to stop Savile from pursuing a better life, and every word those people said was true.
Yet, the truer the words were, the more they hurt.
He didn't even dare to admit that he had been tortured beyond recognition by these medications.
Yin Huan was too afraid to look at himself in the mirror. He couldn't believe that the monster in the mirror was actually him. Inferiority had taken root deep in his heart.
Savile had many suitors, but she had never behaved inappropriately with any of them. She always rejected them firmly.
The two of them had never said sweet words to each other, nor had they ever done anything improper.
But it seemed that they had already acknowledged each other and were used to each other's company. It was just that neither of them had the courage to break the ice.
Savile didn't dare to speak up. She thought she wasn't qualified to do so because all her living expenses were provided by Yin Huan's mother. She wanted to stand in front of Yin Huan uprightly and declare her love only after she was capable enough.
Yin Huan was too scared to take that step. He was a man with no future. He didn't want to drag Savile down. Enjoying the present happiness was his greatest wish.
However, for a cancer patient, time was extremely harsh. The passage of time on him seemed to be several times faster.
The most obvious change was in his appearance. From the moment he started losing his hair, there was no stopping it.
Within less than two months, Yin Huan had become so thin that his ribs were sticking out. Sometimes, the shapes of his internal organs could even be seen through his skin.
He had lost all his hair, his gums were bleeding, and his teeth were falling out.
Even his movement was restricted. His legs had lost their strength and were like useless appendages.
All these changes made Yin Huan scared and inferior. He didn't dare to look Savile in the eye, fearing that she would be disgusted by his ugly appearance.
In the past, he had been struggling to survive for Savile. She had given him a new hope for life.
If he lost Savile, he really didn't know what to do.
Fortunately, although he had lost his good looks, he had managed to prolong his life, which he thought was worth it.
But God always liked to play tricks on him.
Recently, Yin Huan had been feeling short of breath. With the heavy workload of senior year, Savile had much less time to visit him.
This made Yin Huan, who was already insecure, even more depressed.
Actually, when Savile was in her sophomore year of high school, she had blossomed like a pearl finally shining after being covered in dust.
While Yin Huan was happy and proud of her, he didn't want to stand beside her anymore.
He didn't want to hear the gossips about Savile from others behind their backs, nor did he want to face his own tortured and inhuman appearance.
When Savile was shining brightly, Yin Huan had sunk into the abyss of inferiority.
But without Savile's company, he often felt panicky.
This panic reached its peak during a surgery when Savile wasn't waiting outside the operating room.
As soon as Yin Huan woke up after the surgery, he frantically searched for Savile's figure.
But all he saw were a circle of doctors around him.
After not finding Savile, when Yin Huan saw the serious expressions on the doctors' faces, his heart skipped a beat. He thought, "It's over."
The attending doctor told Yin Huan about his current situation seriously:
"The cancer cells in your body have spread throughout. I've already talked to your mother about your specific condition, but I still think it's better to tell you."
The attending doctor had been treating Yin Huan for many years and naturally knew that his mother was unreliable.
She didn't care about her child's life or death at all. She was just going through the motions of being a mother. Apart from paying the bills, she wouldn't do anything else and would just turn around and leave.
The attending doctor didn't expect his mother to come and convey the progress of his condition in person.
The attending doctor took out a stack of documents and explained the meaning of each index one by one.
Yin Huan stared blankly out of the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Savile's figure and pretending not to care about what the doctor was saying.
But the doctor kept talking, and Savile didn't show up. Yin Huan couldn't bear it anymore and interrupted the doctor, saying:
"Uncle, could you just tell me how much longer I have to live?"
The doctor was stunned for a moment, then showed a look of pity on his face and still said, "One month, Yin Huan. Do whatever you want to do in the last month."
Yin Huan didn't move for a long time. He still stubbornly stared out of the window, hoping to see Savile, but there was no sign of her. She's not coming, is she? he thought pessimistically.
Yin Huan was silent for a long time before saying, "I see. Thank you, uncle."
He had always been mentally prepared, but he didn't expect this day to come so soon.
He only had one month left.
Just one month.
How could he tell Savile about this? If she knew, she would surely cry her eyes out. It's better not to make her sad.
It's time to let go. This light that never really belonged to him had been selfishly occupied by him for many years.
Yin Huan let out a long sigh and thought to himself, "If only I could still be by your side."
When he looked down, he saw his hands, as thin as skeletons and full of needle holes. Although he had already had a vague idea in his mind,
Yin Huan finally shed tears. He could only lick his wounds alone in the ward and murmured:
"Why? So many people are happy. Why can't I be one of them?"
The tears soaked the pillow and drowned Yin Huan's heart.
"Just let me have a little more warmth for the last time. I'm so scared. Soon I'll have to face the black - hole - like death alone." Yin Huan begged for this last wish.
In the following days, Yin Huan pretended to be normal and continued to live with Savile. Savile didn't notice anything strange.
***
But one night, Yin Huan suddenly woke up from a deep sleep. Immediately after that, his door was opened.
It was Savile.
Wasn't she living in the school dormitory? How did she manage to get out?
For some reason, Yin Huan closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
Savile, who was in senior year, had never come at this time. It was very strange today.
It seemed that Savile had run here. She was breathing slightly heavily as she approached Yin Huan. Her warm hand held Yin Huan's cold hand that had been receiving an IV drip, and she gently laid her head on Yin Huan's chest.
Yin Huan's heart skipped a beat. He felt something was wrong. Savile had never done anything so intimate before.
Savile quietly listened to Yin Huan's heartbeat.
"Thump, thump, thump."
This was the proof that Yin Huan was still alive. Savile, who had run all the way here, gradually calmed her breathing.
In the silent room, Savile's soft voice suddenly rang out: "Brother Yin Huan, I just had a nightmare. I dreamt that you left me. I was so scared."
"But it was just a nightmare. It's not real, right? Dreams are always the opposite. Brother Yin Huan will always be with me and protect me."
"Just like when I first came to your house as a little girl. I was so timid and was often bullied in the new environment."
"But you always showed up in front of me to protect me. You said you were a knight, specially here to protect the princess. At that time, I thought that the princess didn't have to marry the prince. She wanted to marry the knight."