Back Then, I Adored You

He’d frightened her with his harshness. She looked scared as her lips trembled, and she slowly dropped her head as she let go of his hand, but as soon as he began to pull it back she grabbed it again and held it even tighter than before.

“Let my hand go!” When she didn’t release her grip, he then said, “Don’t make me hit you.”

Xu Wennuan was now double frightened by his anger. She looked down, daring not to meet his eyes, but she continued tightly gripping his hand while stuttering, “Please. Can you help me? Please help him.”

Lu Bancheng did not even ask about who she was talking about. He lifted his other hand up and broke her grip off him one finger at a time, causing her to wince as he pulled back her soft, long fingers. She continued resisting and desperately tried to hang onto him.

There was no way she could fight with him if he was serious about fighting with her. After struggling for several minutes, he pushed her hard against the staircase. Her back knocked against the door as she fell backward, but she bit her tongue to avoid moaning from the pain. Barely able to speak, she said, “It’s my dad. He’s in trouble. Only you can help him.”

With his back facing her, Lu Bancheng was about to slam the door behind him but stopped when he heard “dad.”

“He was diagnosed with dyshematopoiesis at his annual checkup two weeks ago, and he needs a hematopoietic stem cell transplant. The hospital searched the entire stem cell pool and found you are the only match for him.”

The hallway was silent, and he could only hear Xu Wennuan’s soft voice explaining her father’s situation. She sounded so helpless, and he felt bad enough for her that bothersome waves began rolling through his chest.

“They’ve searched ever since he’s been diagnosed, and only you can help him. I have no other option. I have no choice but to ask you.”

Does that mean she would have come to see me if she had any other options? That sounds about right. No other options, so here she is.

And even though she considers herself forced to see me, I can’t help but notice that I still want to help her.

Lu Bancheng was feeling sorry for himself, while Xu Wennuan watched his back for some kind of reaction after she’d explained everything. She took his lack of response as not wanting to help, so she added, “If you help my dad, I’ll do anything for you. I’ll agree to any terms.”

She offers to agree to any terms, even though she doesn’t know what I might ask her for, and she has never thought it possible I could do something nice for her.

“What can you offer?” Lu Bancheng had a wry look on his face. He turned to her just as she began to speak and coldly interrupted her. “Or, what do you have that you can offer me?”