His physiological preference

The courtyard gate was ajar. He pushed it open and went inside. Grandma Qin stood at the entrance to the main room, holding the shawl Yang Zhiyan had given her; she liked it very much.

She saw Qin Yuzheng walk in alone.

Qin Yuzheng had osmanthus flowers in his hair and on his shoulders, and his shirt was slightly wrinkled, a result of Yang Zhiyan's tugging at him earlier. Qin Yuzheng's eyes were dull and lifeless.

"Did they have a fight?" Grandma Qin knew perfectly well what was going on by looking at her grandson.

Qin Yuzheng walked over and sat down on the stone bench in the courtyard. The stone bench was cool, probably because of autumn; a chill seeped up from beneath him when he sat down, but he didn't move.

"Hmm," he said, "I don't know why she's angry."

Grandma Qin looked at him for a while, then put on the shawl she was holding and sat down opposite him.

The old woman moved slowly. When she sat down, she braced herself against the edge of the stone table with her hand. There was a sound when her knee bent down, but she didn't pay attention and stretched her legs.

"You're such a fool." Grandma Qin's tone was a mix of disappointment, heartache, and helplessness, as if she were worried sick about you all.

Qin Yuzheng looked up at her.

"Have you told Zhiyan that you were married?"

Qin Yuzheng shook his head.

Grandma Qin looked at him, her eyes filled with knowing understanding that this was how it would end. "Don't you understand yet?"

Qin Yuzheng looked at her and shook his head. He truly didn't understand.

That marriage held such a light weight in his life, as light as a used sticky note, which he could crumple up and throw away, and then forget about.

He never felt that marriage was "a part of him"; it was just a line on his resume, written there but without any meaning.

He had no emotional investment, no emotional attachments, and not even many memories.

So he never thought of mentioning it to Yang Zhiyan. It wasn't that he was deliberately hiding it; he simply didn't consider it something that needed to be discussed.

Grandma Qin really wanted to smash his head open. If he weren't her own grandson whom she had raised herself, she might have actually picked up the teacup on the stone table and smashed it down.

She took a deep breath and suppressed the anger that welled up inside her, thinking, "How could you be so stupid?"

"She's a beautiful young woman, isn't she being treated unfairly by dating a divorced man from China?"

Grandma Qin's voice wasn't loud, but every word was like a nail driven into Qin Yuzheng's chest.

"The important thing is, I was kept in the dark. They've already been very generous. If I were fooled like that, I would break up with you on the spot."

Qin Yuzheng placed his hands on his knees, his fingers slowly clenching. His nails dug into his palms, causing pain.

Divorced man. Those three words felt like a bucket of cold water poured over his head. He had never used those three words to define himself.

In his mind, that marriage was just a failed exchange of interests, a deal that the two families sat down to discuss, signed a contract, fulfilled for two years, and then terminated.

There was no emotion, no hurt, nothing worth remembering.

So after the divorce, he left cleanly, giving her all the marital property and leaving with nothing.

But others didn't see it that way. Grandma Qin didn't see it that way. Yang Zhiyan didn't see it that way either. In other people's eyes, he was just a divorced man whose marriage had failed.

It was her first relationship. She was young, innocent, and knew nothing. And he told her nothing.

Qin Yuzheng sat on the stone bench. The autumn wind blew, and osmanthus blossoms fell softly from the tree, landing on his hair, shoulders, and knees. He did not move.

He remembered. After Mo Yunyun said something to her, her expression changed.

Her rosy cheeks turned pale. When she answered the phone at the door, he thought it was just a call from home and didn't pay any attention.

He thought she would come back after she finished her phone call, return to the main room, sit next to him, eat mooncakes together, and go to the lantern festival together.

Qin Yuzheng buried his face in his hands. His fingers were long, with distinct knuckles and thin calluses on the pads. Those hands had signed countless documents and made countless decisions, never hesitating.

But his hands were trembling. Grandma Qin looked at him without saying a word. She stood up, walked to his side, and gently patted his shoulder.

That hand wasn't young; the skin was loose, and the veins were prominent, but the warmth of the palm was still there.

Then she turned and went into the main room. He was left alone in the courtyard. Osmanthus blossoms were still falling, small and golden, covering the bluestone ground with a thin layer.

A bird flew up from the osmanthus tree, flapping its wings, and flew over the courtyard wall into the September sky.

When Yang Zhiyan arrived at the hospital, it was already past seven o'clock.

All the lights in the corridor were on, and the bright fluorescent lights made the whole corridor as bright as day. The floor was light gray terrazzo, polished so shiny that it reflected people's shadows.

The air was filled with the smell of disinfectant, mixed with the aroma of food brought by the new mother's family, and a faint smell of iodine. The combination of these smells was not exactly unpleasant, but it was still a bit uncomfortable.

When she pushed open the ward door, Yang's mother and Li Fengxia turned around at the same time.

When Yang's mother and Li Fengxia saw Yang Zhiyan arrive, their anxious hearts finally settled down.

Yang Zhiyan stood at the door, carrying a bag in her hand, with a osmanthus petal still stuck to her shoulder.

When she came out of the old house, she was covered in fallen osmanthus blossoms. She brushed most of them off on the way, but this one got stuck in the seam of her collar and went unnoticed.

Her light purple shirt was made white by the corridor lights as she stood at the door.

"Why did it take so long?"

Yang's mother spoke first, her voice carrying a righteous reproach, as if Yang Zhiyan's lateness was some unforgivable sin.

"I've been waiting for you for ages."

Yang Zhiyan didn't reply. She walked in, placed her bag on the chair at the foot of the bed, and glanced at Li Fengxia.

Li Fengxia leaned against the pillow, her complexion much worse than the last time I saw her. Her lips were pale, and her hair was damp with sweat, sticking to her skin.

She took the time to catch her breath between contractions, her chest rising and falling.

But her eyes were bright. The moment she saw Yang Zhiyan, she was filled with anticipation; she probably thought to herself, "The money bag has finally arrived."

"Go and pay the fee right away."

Yang's mother had already gotten to the point, "These days everything is high-tech, and I don't know how to operate it. I also have to stay here to take care of your sister-in-law, so I can't leave."

Li Fengxia also spoke, her voice softer than usual, carrying a deliberate, just-right weakness.

"Yan Yan, thank you for your help. Your brother is away on a business trip and hasn't come back yet."

Yang Zhiyan looked at her sister-in-law. The contractions made her brows furrow, but when she spoke, every word was clear and her thoughts were sharp.

Yang Zhiyan thought to herself, "Why would Yang Yaohua, a factory worker, be on a business trip?"

"Okay," Yang Zhiyan said, "Have your brother transfer the money over, and I'll go pay the bill now."

There was a moment of silence in the ward. The screen of the cardiac monitor flickered, the green light flashing.

Li Fengxia's brows furrowed even more. It wasn't just the pain that was causing her pain; a new problem had arisen, and she hadn't had time to prepare an answer.

He's rushing back by train.

Her voice was still so soft, "His phone might be dead, so I can't reach him. You can pay for it first, and I'll have your brother transfer it to you when he gets back."

It was another one-way trip, a trick Yang Zhiyan had seen countless times since she was a child.

"I don't have any money either," Yang Zhiyan said. Anyone can play the victim. "You know how expensive my rent is, plus food and transportation costs, it's simply not enough to make ends meet."