The Supporting Male Characters Who Died Alone All Those Years Later

Meanwhile, He Dongchen drove home and, upon entering the elevator, brushed past a hurried delivery person. As he opened his door, a distinct click sounded behind him in the quiet hallway.

He looked back and saw a sliver of warm light spilling out from a slightly open door. A delicate white hand slowly reached out into the air, groping a few times before finally grasping a bag of takeout near the door. The hand then slowly retreated.

The hand’s owner seemed to cough softly.

Just as the door was about to close, an orange cat squeezed out through the gap.

“Fatty!”

The door swung wide open. Wen Hanxiao lunged forward, grabbing the orange cat by its hind legs. Feeling a gaze from above, she slowly looked up.

Their eyes met, and Wen Hanxiao’s expression shifted from shock to annoyance.

He Dongchen’s gaze swept over her pink pajamas and paused on her slightly flushed face. He smiled down at her, “Long time no see, Miss Wen.”

“Meow~”

The orange cat, tugged at its leg, voiced its displeasure, breaking the silence.

Wen Hanxiao pulled the cat into her arms, stood up slowly, and spoke dryly, “Long time no see, Dr. He. You live here too? What a coincidence.”

In reality, as a single woman, Wen Hanxiao had long researched her surroundings and knew that a young man lived across the hall, who, according to the landlord, was a vet.

At that time, Wen Hanxiao had been startled and had observed the situation from behind the security door.

The world was indeed small. The man living opposite was Dr. He from the pet hospital, the same Dr. He who was cold and aloof, yet gentlemanly, always protecting her, gently blocking her view, and carrying a handkerchief in his pocket.

If she hadn’t gone back to get the receipt and heard that woman’s words, Wen Hanxiao might have thought her love had arrived.

However, the reality was that Dr. He had a childhood sweetheart with whom he was having a spat. Adding her on WeChat was just to make his sweetheart jealous.

Wen Hanxiao had put on a nonchalant appearance at the time. After returning home and feeling discontent, she knew that Dr. He lived across the hall, so she purposely adjusted her schedule to avoid encountering him. Being a freelancer with her webcomic, she had flexible hours.

Unexpectedly, while buying medicine for a cold, feeling dizzy, she still ran into him.

Wen Hanxiao, holding the cat at the door, felt a gust of wind and couldn’t help but sneeze, quickly covering her mouth.

He Dongchen, concerned, asked, “Have you taken your medicine?”

“I just bought it and was about to take it,” Wen Hanxiao replied, her nose sounding stuffy.

“But the takeout you just brought back should be porridge, if I’m not mistaken,” He Dongchen pointed out. The delivery person he had passed in the elevator seemed to be carrying medicine.

Wen Hanxiao slowly formed a question mark with her expression, looked back at the takeout on the floor, and indeed saw the name of a porridge shop written in big letters.

“What about my medicine?” she asked, confused.

“It seems it was delivered incorrectly. The delivery person left just as I came upstairs. Do you want to call and check? They probably haven’t gone far.”

Feeling dizzy from her cold, Wen Hanxiao immediately put the cat down and rushed into the house to call, completely forgetting her usual vigilance. It was very unsafe to leave the door open while a stranger stood outside.

Fortunately, He Dongchen was a good person. He looked down at the orange cat tugging at his pants, bent down to pick it up, and held it in front of him. Watching its short legs flail around was adorably silly.

“Meow, meow, meow!” The orange cat continued its performance, batting at the air.

He Dongchen’s lips curled into a smile, his eyes softening.

After a moment, Wen Hanxiao emerged from the house, holding her phone and looking conflicted with a flushed face.

He Dongchen spoke first, “Fatty has recovered well; the tear marks are almost gone.”

Wen Hanxiao instinctively replied, “It must be because of the medicine you prescribed.”

“It’s my duty,” He Dongchen said with a smile, handing the cat back to her.

Taking the cat, Wen Hanxiao took a deep breath and said quietly, gripping Fatty’s paw, “The delivery person agreed to come back and exchange the order after I called, but his attitude was a bit rude. Could you help me out, Dr. He? I’m afraid he might think I’m an easy target just because I’m a woman.”

He Dongchen raised an eyebrow and said, “No problem.”

“Thank you!” Wen Hanxiao smiled sincerely this time.

As a single woman living alone, she felt particularly insecure. Even the slightest noise in the corridor would make her jump, and she always waited until the delivery person had left before opening the door to retrieve her order.

When Wen Hanxiao had called earlier, the delivery person had been impatient. She feared that he might hold a grudge and make future deliveries unsafe, so she wanted Dr. He to help by providing a bit of authority.

Although this behavior might seem overly cautious and might invite ridicule online as paranoia, Wen Hanxiao felt that safety and her own life were her responsibility. If something did go wrong, those typing away on their keyboards would criticize her for lacking awareness.

The two of them chatted at the door, mostly about the orange cat, and the atmosphere was relatively harmonious.

5 minutes later, the delivery person returned, panting. Initially annoyed, he quickly changed his demeanor upon seeing the tall, stern young man standing at the door. He promptly handed the medicine to Wen Hanxiao with a forced smile and said, “Sorry for the mix-up. Could you return the porridge?”

Wen Hanxiao checked the medicine to make sure it was correct before returning the porridge. She also told He Dongchen, “You should go in now, don’t just stand at the door.”

The delivery person realized that the intimidating man was likely her spouse.

Once the delivery person left, Wen Hanxiao breathed a sigh of relief and thanked He Dongchen repeatedly, “I really appreciate it.”

He Dongchen nodded, his hands in his pockets, his expression unreadable as he said, “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

Wen Hanxiao widened her eyes, taking a step back and swallowing nervously, “That was just a figure of speech.”

Seeing her startled expression, He Dongchen rubbed his nose and stopped teasing her. “It’s getting late. Take your medicine and rest early.”

With that, he turned and prepared to open the door to leave.

Wen Hanxiao watched his tall, slender figure, the dark green trench coat making his neck appear very white.

“By the way, about what you heard at the hospital,” He Dongchen turned to look at her and said seriously, “Adding you on WeChat wasn’t about trying to upset someone else.”

With a click, the door closed, leaving Wen Hanxiao standing there, recalling his words. It wasn’t until Fatty pawed at her pajama pants that she slowly came back to her senses, opened WeChat, and saw an unread message on the screen.

She tapped on the message after spinning her finger around the screen, finally seeing the text.

Behind the blank profile picture was a message; [I just received the handkerchief.]

Wen Hanxiao frowned involuntarily. She had placed the order on the day she returned; why had it only arrived today? It’s been over a week, and she wondered if Dr. He thought she had taken the handkerchief for herself.

Wen Hanxiao was troubled, her eyebrows knitting together in a cute expression.

The next day, He Dongchen left for work and saw a box by the door with a note; ‘Thanks for last night, a small gift.’

Inside the box were neatly arranged cookies shaped like orange cats, with a faint orange scent.

He Dongchen chuckled, took the box to work, and had a cookie during a break. It tasted good, indeed with a hint of orange.

A passing nurse noticed the box of cookies on his desk and, assuming they were homemade, asked curiously, “Did Miss Tao send these?”

He Dongchen’s smile faded slightly. “No.”

The nurse, sensing an unspoken pressure, quickly left, avoiding further questioning.

***

By 7 PM., when Jiang Shiguang hurriedly returned home, skipping a social event to lie down, he learned from the nurse’s gossip that the cookies on Dr. He’s desk weren’t from Miss Tao.

Jiang Shiguang, a venerable figure in the subway, stared at his phone.

Was everyone at the hospital so idle? A box of cookies had become common knowledge, and now even he, as a dog, knew about it.

Ugh! I’m not a dog!

Jiang Shiguang had learned from previous lessons and planned to recuperate properly at the hospital, then buy a house near the hospital, and hire a 24-hour dog nanny to wait at the community entrance.

When he was discharged, he would seize the opportunity to run; 10 minutes would be enough to reach the community and rendezvous with the nanny using a code!

The only concern was whether Tao Tao would catch him and have him neutered.

Jiang Shiguang meticulously planned, lying in his designated kennel, observing other pets looking fierce and dignified, their superiority seemingly radiating from them.

Every time a passing nurse saw the Husky, she couldn’t help but remark on it. The Husky was quite the character, being goofy and gluttonous during the day, but elegant and fastidious at night; so strange and peculiar.

Tao Tao finished the task assigned by her boss and rushed to the hospital, suddenly realizing that people around her were looking at her with expressions that seemed to want to say something but held back, their eyes filled with unspoken sympathy.

When she learned that Dr. He’s desk had a box of homemade cookies from a girl, it was like a bolt from the blue!

Dr. He Dongchen was off duty today and had left for home by 6 o’clock. Unable to confront him, Tao Tao could only wander disconsolately to Xiao Ha’s side, murmuring to herself, and eventually covered her face and cried, “Back in school, so many girls gave him gifts, and he never accepted any…”

Tao Tao had thought that He Dongchen was just being stubborn, but recently, both He Dongchen and the He family had been very distant. Tao Tao started to panic, fearing that she might have really lost him.

Jiang Shiguang watched the scene with discomfort and decided that the next day he would give Tao Tao more work. In love or career, one had to cling to one or the other; otherwise, life would be miserable.

***

In the following days, He Dongchen noticed that Tao Tao rarely came to the hospital and didn’t think much of it, continuing with his routine life; working, coming home, and spending weekends with his parents.

That weekend, as he took out a bag of trash, he ran into the weary Tao Tao.

Tao Tao instinctively began to explain, “My boss has been going crazy lately, piling up tasks and making me work overtime, so I haven’t had time to come to the hospital. By the way… how is Xiao Ha?”

He Dongchen thought to himself, the ‘crazy’ boss you’re talking about is the same as the “Xiao Ha” you mentioned.

He replied professionally, “He’s recovering well. He should be able to be discharged in a couple of days.”

“Oh.” Tao Tao responded curtly. The two, who used to talk about everything, now faced each other in silence. Tao Tao, exhausted from overtime and emotionally drained, couldn’t bring herself to speak, even though the words were on the tip of her tongue.

Ding! The elevator arrived.

He Dongchen entered, and Tao Tao turned abruptly, about to say something. But she saw He Dongchen answer a phone call, his cold expression instantly softening with a smile.

“Dr. He, Fatty isn’t eating again. Is he sick…” A soft, indistinct female voice came from the phone, and the rest of the conversation was carried away by the closing elevator doors.

Tao Tao stood alone by the elevator door, staring at the cold, impassive door, suddenly feeling very cold and on the verge of tears.