A few streaks of lightning ripped across the horizon in unison, their white light momentarily tearing a gash through the thick black clouds. The rain began to pour down in torrents, an overwhelming deluge.
Accompanied by a rumble of thunder, Tiantian came running in with a shriek. "Oh my god, Shijie, something huge happened!"
"Look!" she exclaimed, shoving her phone forward excitedly. "That fake news article from the reporter has been deleted! It's so satisfying! And..." The little assistant paused for effect. "If I searched online for 'S City People's Hospital Doctor Assaults Patient' right now, Shijie, what do you think would happen?"
"The content you are looking for does not exist," Mei Ran said.
"Ah!" The assistant's face fell immediately. "How did you know?"
Mei Ran pointed at her still-lit phone screen. Tiantian, seeing the large text displayed, felt momentarily speechless at her own lapse in intelligence, but she quickly got excited again. "Not only that, all the related comments have been deleted too. In short, compared to before, the internet is now absolutely calm and clean..."
Such a dramatic turn of events in this storm had been beyond Mei Ran's expectations. Since her father had explicitly stated he wouldn't intervene, then among the people she knew, there was only one person with the means, the connections, and the willingness to help her.
Mei Ran opened her social media and just happened to see a new post from Yu Sheng:
—Argh! Bad luck going out, actually ran into a psycho!
Her bout of anger this time seemed to be lasting longer than usual. Mei Ran sent her a message:
—Sheng Sheng.
No reply.
Mei Ran called her name persistently, message after message, until she finally managed to flush Yu Sheng out.
Yu Sheng: What the heck? 99+ new messages, you scared the hell out of me!
Mei Ran: Sheng Sheng, thank you.
Yu Sheng: That sounds sarcastic. Spit it out, what conspiracy are you cooking up now?
After hearing Mei Ran briefly explain the situation, Yu Sheng immediately jumped to her feet.
—I can't take credit for that! It wasn't me, though I was planning on doing it...
Mei Ran sank into deep confusion. If it wasn't her, then who could it be?
The conversation window had long been flooded by Yu Sheng's messages.
Yu Sheng: Since the matter's over, just let it go. Maybe someone secretly admires you and helped out behind the scenes. After all, your situation is special. Next time you encounter something like this, just tell me. I'll handle it!
Yu Sheng: Oh right, I bumped into a total psycho yesterday! It was just a careless bump, I knocked off his license plate! But the guy acted all high and mighty, saying, 'Little girl, this is an imported car, a limited edition worldwide. If you can't afford to pay for it, you'd better slip away before it gets dark!' As if! Am I, Yu Sheng, someone so irresponsible?
Surprised she still remembered her diva status, claiming she'd handle it, Mei Ran wasn't sure how to reply. She just asked, "And then?"
Yu Sheng: I wrote him a check, threw it in his face, and walked away.
Mei Ran: [Shocked] He didn't recognize you?
Yu Sheng: Probably not. I was wearing a mask at the time. [Sharp as a tack, me]
Mei Ran: But you signed the check with your name...
Yu Sheng: ...Argh!
Neither of them mentioned the previous "unpleasantness." This was the tacit understanding they had cultivated for over a decade; a friendship that was more like sisters than just close friends.
Yu Sheng was, in fact, the first to know that Mei Ran was MR, because that song had leaked through her hands. That it would cause a stir was expected, but triggering an earthquake in the music scene? No one had ever imagined that—there was no precedent.
Yu Sheng had studied under the famous classical musician Mu Rong since childhood. Mei Ran was the most musically talented person she had ever met. She had once considered this person a rival, but Mei Ran was just too good, making it impossible to truly be jealous of her.
She had thought they would walk this musical path side by side. But after their teacher passed away, her friend seemed to lose all interest in music. To provoke her, Yu Sheng deliberately uploaded the previously recorded track online. This later became the stunning song "Encounter" that shook the music world, establishing MR as an object of countless people's adoration. If only that unfortunate accident hadn't happened later...
Therefore, Yu Sheng's current anger also had its roots. And the fact that it was Mei Mengran—the person she despised most—riding on MR's coattails to gain fame made Yu Sheng gnash her teeth in fury!
After ending the conversation with her friend, Mei Ran put away her phone and looked outside. The thunder, lightning, wind, and rain hadn't ceased; the accumulating water on the roads seemed to be converging into streams of pale, murky flows.
"Never seen rain this heavy before," her assistant muttered beside her. "This looks like it's trying to destroy heaven and earth. They said a strong typhoon would make landfall in the past two days. Looks like 'unreliable weather reporting' deserves its name after all."
"Yeah," Mei Ran sighed softly. "I hope the rain eases up by the time we get off work."
The afternoon at the Traditional Chinese Medicine department was quiet with no patients. Mei Ran attended a conference in the Cardiology Surgery department. Though she could no longer hold a scalpel, her theoretical knowledge in congenital heart disease research was extensive, and she had published numerous papers in renowned medical journals domestically and internationally, so Cardiology Surgery specialist meetings usually reserved a seat for her.
By the time the meeting ended, it was almost time to get off work, and luckily, the rain had stopped. Mei Ran first went to the supermarket, bought some ingredients and fruit, and while passing the feminine hygiene products section, picked up a couple of packs of sanitary pads.
Back home, after resting for a bit, she headed into the kitchen to cook. Living alone, apart from the occasional chill of solitude, offered much more freedom in many ways.
The large bundle of supplements her father had someone deliver was still on the table, its packaging unopened. Mei Ran rummaged through it, found a ginseng root, sliced it thinly into pieces, and used some to brew a small pot of ginseng soup. She sealed the rest in a jar for future use, perhaps for steeping in water.
After dinner, Mei Ran watched TV while browsing Weibo. Occasionally, she posted content about health and wellness, and had accumulated just over a hundred followers. Though the number was small, most of them were active.
She had tried registering with her real name before, but typing "Mei Ran" showed that the name was already taken. 'Mei Ranran' and 'Mei Xiangxiang' naturally met the same fate. Once her patience ran out, she simply chose a random name: "Think It Over Carefully." This one was unique, so she kept using it.
Refreshing the page, a new notification popped up. Mei Ran noticed her assistant had changed her username to "Mr's Little Sweetheart" at some point and had forwarded one of Mei Mengran's Weibo posts, filling the screen with red hearts.
She smiled faintly, but her thoughts drifted. She wondered if Mei Mengran's mother had managed to find her?
But then, what did it have to do with her anyway? Mei Ran put down her phone and prepared to go take a shower.
In the bathroom, steam was thick in the air.
It was a sight that would make anyone blush with fluster:
Warm water flowed from her hair to the ends, cascading like a black waterfall, then meandered down the lines of her graceful figure, tracing over stretches of smooth, fair skin, slipping from snowy peaks tipped with cherry blossoms, continuing downwards as shimmering rivulets outlined a slender waist that seemed narrow enough to span with two hands...
Mei Ran lowered her gaze to look at the tattoo on her chest. It was one of the few acts of rebellion from her youth, perhaps a whim born of curiosity, or maybe Yu Sheng's encouragement.
Yes, Yu Sheng was the mastermind behind this rebellion. The specific details were fuzzy, but the result was that Mei Ran ended up with a small plum blossom on her body, while Yu Sheng sported a golden microphone on her arm.
The crimson plum blossom resting against her heart now seemed to come alive. In tune with her heartbeat, its snowy petals began to slowly unfurl.
In the middle of the night, Mei Ran was jolted awake by thunder outside. A fierce wind swept in unchecked from the balcony, tossing the curtains into a chaotic, trembling dance.
She had forgotten to close the French windows before bed.
Mei Ran got up to shut the windows. Having drunk a small pot of soup earlier, she also made a trip to the bathroom. On her way out, she stumbled over the threshold.
Another terrifying bolt of lightning tore down, its flash of light illuminating everything as bright as day.
She lay on the floor, sucking in sharp breaths, before slowly crawling into the living room. Feeling around on the table, she found her phone and dialed a number.
The first call went unanswered. Mei Ran tried a second time. This time, it was picked up almost instantly. Before the person on the other end could speak, she said, "Ge, I just had a fall. I think I might have a concussion, and my foot hurts..."
"Wait for me. I'll be there right away."
On the other end of the line came rustling sounds, like someone getting dressed. Mei Ran's head felt dizzy and heavy. Just as she thought about closing her eyes, the deep voice spoke again, "Don't hang up. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
It took at least half an hour to get from his place to hers. How could he possibly arrive that fast?
Mei Ran felt dazed, her voice floating. "Ge, don't drive too fast. Be careful, stay safe."
A concussion wasn't a minor thing; otherwise, she wouldn't be troubling him in the middle of such a terrible night.
The sound of a car engine starting came through the phone, mingled with wind and rain. Mei Ran listened hazily until someone called her name from the other side, "I'm here..."
The words were cut into fragments by static, making Mei Ran's head ache even more. "Huh? No key? Didn't I give you one?"
Thinking he might have come in too much of a rush and forgotten it, she added, "There's a spare one under the doormat."
She lived in an upscale residential complex with high security. Since sometimes she was too busy and forgot her keys, she had come up with this solution.
Soon, there was the sound of a lock turning. The door opened, letting in a cool, damp gust of air, followed by increasingly clear, somewhat hurried footsteps.
Mei Ran looked up and gazed at the approaching figure. For a moment, her heart seemed to stop beating.
How... How could it be him?