After those words left Xia Wennan’s mouth, he stared at Ming Luchuan under the dim lights and waited for his response. And yet Ming Luchuan merely said, “I see.” After Xia Wennan left the hospital, his mind was solely occupied with the thought of going home, and that home was still a place where someone was always waiting for his return. It was only then did he realise that his house key wasn’t in his possession. He didn’t even know where it was kept. Ming Luchuan stared at him in silence, then asked, “Now what?” In the past, the university was his go-to destination whenever he couldn’t go back home, but that was completely out of the question now, wasn’t it? Out of ideas, Xia Wennan looked towards Ming Luchuan mutely.
Ming Luchuan suddenly turned and headed downstairs. Xia Wennan subconsciously took half a step towards him before coming to a halt, watching Ming Luchuan go down the stairs step by step until his back disappeared round the corner. In the empty corridor, he could hear the footsteps Ming Luchuan’s unstopping descent; he eventually couldn’t resist the urge to lean forward and shout between the gaps of the banister, “Are you leaving?” He never thought that Ming Luchuan would just leave like this. There were still so many murky things they hadn’t resolved, but there was no way of resolving them all right this second, and he could only yell out, “Is there any way we could get divorced? Would we need to divide up our assets?” Ming Luchuan’s footsteps seemed to have frozen for two seconds before they resumed their descent.
Xia Wennan leaned against the railings. After two or three minutes of dazed stillness, he heard footsteps going up the stairs. It was the tread of leather shoes. Even though Xia Wennan could in no way consider himself familiar with the man, he could clearly tell that those were the sound of his footsteps.