Seven days before the college entrance examination.
Thick orange and orange pigments seemed to have been spilled on the ground, spreading across most of the sky. The light of the fiery clouds gradually devoured the last bit of brightness in the classroom.
The pale lights flickered on, and the classroom suddenly brightened. The students who were having evening self - study looked out of the window in amazement at the breathtakingly beautiful fiery clouds.
Lin Jinran also looked up. They were truly beautiful.
But for some reason, since she got up this morning, her heart had been restless. It was as if an invisible hand was tightly clutching it, making it hard for her to breathe.
After the evening self - study, there was a five - minute break.
Lin Jinran opened the desk drawer and instinctively glanced at her phone. There were three missed calls on it. Looking closer, she found they were from Duan Dongwei.
If it weren't for an urgent matter, Duan Dongwei would never have called her.
And Duan Dongwei was closely connected to her mother.
Was there something wrong with her mother?
Her breathing suddenly became rapid and intense. It was as if someone had covered her mouth and nose with a towel, and she was desperately struggling to break free.
A low voice penetrated the thick clouds and woke her up from the distant horizon.
"Ranran, what's wrong with you?" Su Qinian asked. When he lowered his head to pick up a book, he noticed that she had been motionless, staring into the desk drawer. "There isn't a bug in your desk that's scaring you, is there?"
As he spoke, Su Qinian leaned closer to take a look.
Lin Jinran blinked, quickly took out her phone from the desk drawer and put it in her pocket, then stood up, which startled Su Qinian.
"You..."
"I'm fine. I'm just going to the restroom." Lin Jinran said in a hurry, leaving Su Qinian looking confused.
"What's going on?" Su Qinian murmured softly and shook his head helplessly.
Lin Jinran tightened her grip on the phone in her pocket. Instead of going to the restroom, she went downstairs to the first floor. She found an empty place, took a deep breath, and with a trembling hand, called back.
The phone was quickly answered.
"Lin Jinran, you finally answered the phone. Hurry to the hospital now and see your mother for the last time!" Duan Dongwei said urgently, his tone serious.
The, the last time?
Did she hear it right?
Lin Jinran looked down at the phone number. It was indeed Duan Dongwei's number, and the voice on the other end was also his.
"Doctor Duan, you... what did you just say? I didn't hear clearly."
Her voice trembled, like a stone suddenly thrown into a calm lake, causing ripples to spread one after another.
As the sky was on the verge of turning completely dark, a chill seeped in from the soles of her feet. Her blood seemed to freeze, and she shivered with cold. Her teeth couldn't help chattering.
Suddenly, the streetlights in the school came on, shining on Lin Jinran. She jumped to the side as if she had been burned, and then hid in the darkness again, away from the light.
"Lin Jinran, I know this is hard for you, but this is the truth. Hurry to the hospital. Maybe you still have a chance to see your mother for the last time."
Duan Dongwei urged on the other end of the phone, like a ghost gradually closing in on her.
"Come here as soon as possible." Without waiting for Lin Jinran to say anything, Duan Dongwei hung up the phone.
A tear fell to the ground without warning. Lin Jinran's legs went weak, and she slumped to the ground. Her hands fell limply.
No, no. Her mother was still waiting for her. She absolutely couldn't collapse at this moment. Her mother was still struggling on the hospital bed, longing to see her for the last time. She mustn't fall!
Lin Jinran struggled to get up and staggered towards the school gate. But the security guard saw that she had no leave slip, was in a mess, and looked absent - minded. He firmly refused to let her out and even tried to ask which class she was from.
What should she do? It was too late to go back and ask the head - teacher for a leave slip now. Every second was passing by, and her mother was waiting for her.
Oh, right. She could call the head - teacher.
With a trembling hand, Lin Jinran found the head - teacher's number and dialed it. The call was quickly answered.
"Teacher, this is Lin Jinran. There's something wrong with my mother. Can I ask for leave tonight? I'm at the security booth at the school gate now."
"Yes. Give the phone to the security guard. I'll talk to him." Zhou Ping quickly agreed.
Lin Jinran immediately handed the phone to the security guard. She didn't know what Zhou Ping said to the security guard, but he let her go.
The last bit of light on the horizon was swallowed by the boundless darkness, and the streetlights came on. Their dim yellow light was extremely weak.
Lin Jinran's steps were unsteady and weak. She walked fast and in a hurry, staggering several times. She managed to steady herself so as not to fall embarrassedly.
There was a motorcycle taxi driver soliciting customers at the school gate. Lin Jinran approached the nearest one and said urgently, "Uncle, please take me to the Rehabilitation Center Hospital as quickly as possible."
"Sure. Get on first. I'll take you there right away." The motorcycle driver readily agreed.
Lin Jinran swayed as she sat in the back. The howling wind blew against her face. She propped herself up with both hands to steady herself and remained silent.
Her clear glass - like eyes were now filled with thick darkness, calmly surging as if she was trying her best to suppress something.
In less than twenty minutes, the motorcycle driver took her to the hospital gate. She paid the fare and quickly walked in. A nurse was already waiting for her at the gate. As soon as Lin Jinran arrived, the nurse immediately took her to the ward and explained the situation on the way.
"Lin Jinran, actually, your mother started to show signs of organ failure more than a month ago. At that time, we tried our best to slow down the process, planning to tell you after your college entrance examination."
"Your mother definitely didn't want you to miss the college entrance examination because of her. But it was so sudden. Your mother's condition suddenly deteriorated yesterday. It happened very quickly. We've done our best to rescue her, but there was no effect at all. Now it's at the end of the road."
"So Doctor Duan urgently called you here, thinking that maybe you could see your mother for the last time..."
Lin Jinran followed closely behind the nurse. She listened as the nurse said that her mother had had problems more than a month ago and that it was all for her college entrance examination.
She calmly asked, "Did you all know about this?"
The nurse hesitated for a moment and replied, "Yes."
Lin Jinran calmly asked again, "Did the caregiver who took care of my mother also know about this?"
"Yes..." The nurse sensed something was wrong and quickly explained, "Don't think too much. Everyone did this for your own good. You're about to take the college entrance examination, and your grades are so good. No one wants you to do badly. If you have any questions, you can ask Doctor Duan later. It was all his arrangement."
His arrangement?
Lin Jinran twitched the corner of her mouth and said calmly, "Doctor Duan, right? Okay, I'll go and ask him for clarification later."