Long time no see

"Miss Xiu, I'll push you back to your room now." The nurse stated as soon as Xiu Mei's tests and consultations were finally done. Sitting in the wheelchair, the two of them exited the physical therapy room. 

Xiu Mei examined her surroundings along the way. With her parents and Lu Qiang taking turns to watch over her, she wasn't able to step out of her room ever since the kidnapping incident occurred. So right now, she watched in fascination the wide and clean surroundings of the hospital. 

She got excited seeing the children and other people running around the hallways and the doctors and nurses running around here and there. Everyone seems to be busy with their own stuff as they went on their own way. She looked left and right, etching the scenery in her mind. 

Hmm… should she strategize a plan of temporary escape later? 

It's gotten so boring being cooped up in her room and now she's able to come outside, all she wanted to do now is stay outside. 

She really didn't want to go back that quickly at all. Since Lu Chen is watching over Lu Qiang, won't it be fine if she stays for a few minutes longer outside? 

"Can we go stroll around the garden first?" Xiu Mei suggested as she turned to look at the nurse pushing her. Her hand pointing at the window where one could see the wide green park on the first floor. 

The nurse wanted to reject her idea at first but after seeing the pleading look on her patient, added with the fact that this patient is also a VIP in their hospital, she surrendered. 

"Only for ten minutes." She strictly ordered, as she took a turn and pushed the wheelchair towards the elevator. 

"That's already enough. Thank you!" Beaming with joy and filled with excitement, Xiu Mei really wanted to stand up and run downstairs already but that would be impossible. The nurse might even take back her promise to bring her there if she dares to move recklessly. 

With her head injury still in the process of healing, it would be bad for her to do excessive actions like running and walking for a long time. 

The nurse stopped pushing her when they reached the tall tree located at the center of the park. Xiu Mei already felt contented with just watching the scenery from there so she just stayed there and watched everything unfold in front of her. 

She saw some kids running around the park, also some patients with other people who are strolling the place. She even saw some of them eating some packed lunch boxes there. Even if she couldn't see clearly what exactly they were eating, she felt envious about the fact that they could freely eat some food.

All the food she's been eating these past days are soup and vegetables. She could even smell the scent of Chinese medicine mixed in the soup. Xiu Mei had been eating too much of those that she was really craving for greasy foods riht now. She would probably cry from happiness if someone gives her a piece of chicken leg right now you know. 

"Waaaaaah!" A piercing loud cry echoed in the park making most of the people turn their heads towards the source including Xiu Mei. She caught sight of a kid lying on the ground with her knees bleeding. She probably fell from playing too hard since her clothes have gotten dirty too. 

The adults around the kid quickly approached the injured kid attempting to calm her down but the kid just continued to cry harder. Seeing that even the adults around her wasn't of help, Xiu Mei decided to step in. 

"Can you take a look at her?" Xiu Mei turned towards the nurse who was accompanying her. 

"I'm afraid I can't do that Miss Xiu. I can't leave you here alone." 

"I'll be fine. I promise I'll stay put right here while you take good care of the kid right there. It'll be bad if she won't stop crying right? Besides, it's not like I can really go anywhere with my current situation." 

"But…"

"It'll be fine. I promise. You can go." 

The nurse hesitantly looked at her and at the kid, before finally making up the decision to help the kid and calm her down. The nurse finally moved forward and ran towards the direction of the kid. 

Xiu Mei watched the nurse kneel down on the kid's eye level as she tried to coax her into calming down. She flashed a smile as she returned her sight on the clear blue sky and flowers just across from her. 

Her eyes stayed there for a few minutes and enjoyed the view when she felt someone tapping her arm. She looked at her left and saw a little kid smiling at her so she instantly beamed a smile at this little angel. 

"Hi, how may I help you?" Xiu Mei gently asked. 

The kid blinked innocently at her before she spoke up. "Sister, you're so pretty!" 

Xiu Mei chuckled at the child's simple remarks. "You're so sweet. But you look prettier than sister you know?" 

"Really?"

"Uhuh. You will definitely become more beautiful than me when you grow up too!" 

"Wow! Will I really become prettier if I grow up? The brother before also said I'll look better if I grow up too!" 

Xiu Mei just nodded and pinched her cheeks. "You will definitely be, I promise." 

The little girl's eyes sparkled innocently as an innocent and childish smile grew on her face. Then her expression changed as she remembered something. 

"Ah! I almost forgot. Sister, here you go." The little child reached out her arm and placed a crumpled paper on Xiu Mei's palm. 

Puzzled, Xiu Mei slowly unfolded the paper as she asked the little girl what it was. 

"The brother told me to give this to you after giving me candy. He said that he's your friend too!" 

Friend…? 

Xiu Mei's furrowed in confusion as she thought of her male friends. A lot of them have visited her in the hospital these past few weeks but she was pretty sure no one would be visiting her today except Lu Chen and her parents. 

Then who was it? What's even weirder is that the person didn't even approach her to say hi and even asked a little kid to deliver a piece of paper. Xiu Mei thought hard but she really couldn't think of anyone who'd have to be sneaky just to send her some paper. 

Xiu Mei returned her attention to the uncrumpled paper. She looked at it for a few more seconds before turning the paper over, revealing its contents.

Reading the printed sentence on the paper, Xiu Mei froze on the spot. Suddenly, she felt like the surroundings got colder and scarier. The paper got crumpled again in her hands, stopping herself from throwing it away.

"Can you tell me where's the brother who gave this to you?" Xiu Mie asked, her voice trembling a little bit after being shaken up after reading the paper.

"He already left!"

"Left?"

"Yep, he said he just wanted to say hello to sister. Oh, my mom is already calling me. I have to go now pretty sister, bye bye!!" The little kid innocently answered her question before she turned back and ran further away from her place.

The kid didn't even notice that Xiu Mei wasn't even paying attention anymore as her eyes froze on the door entrance of the hospital. Even if it was far, she was able to catch the silhouette of a tall man who was looking at her direction. What was even weirder is that before he left, he raised his hand and waved at her when Xiu Mei noticed his presence. 

After that, he quickly turned and disappeared from the door. 

Xiu Mei didn't know who it was. Her hands turned cold in nervousness as she read the contents of the paper once again.

"Long time no see. It's been a long 10 years isn't it, Miss Xiu?"