For the first time, Ye collapsed outside, falling heavily onto the ground as blood slowly spread beneath him. From the replay's perspective, everyone could see his lips moving faintly, as though he was trying to say something. In the end, however, all that remained was a weary shake of his head.
The fierce image that had always defined him was gone.
The stubborn determination that had carried him this far was gone.
Before death, everyone was equal.
On the program stage, Quan, the former director of the People's Hospital, slowly rose from his seat. His expression was heavy as he spoke. "He gave up receiving ordinary experimental medication. At that time, the trial drugs available simply couldn't save him. I don't know where he went afterward, but I know the road he chose was unimaginably difficult."
As a doctor, he understood far better than anyone what patients endured behind every so-called medical miracle.
The replay continued.
Inside the Intensive Care Unit, a doctor looked at the newly awakened Ye with concern. "What about your parents? We have to notify your family in a situation like this."
"No. I'm an orphan." Ye stared blankly at the ceiling, his pupils unfocused, his voice so hoarse it was almost impossible to hear.
"Do you have children? We can contact them instead."
"My daughter is still just a child. She's only in elementary school."
"What about friends?"
"...None."
Silence filled the room as the doctors and nurses exchanged helpless glances. After a long pause, Ye slowly raised a trembling hand and pointed toward his own head. "Please tell me... how far has it spread?"
He tilted his head slightly and smiled. It was an incredibly calm smile. Almost innocent and childlike.
"The malignant growth has spread locally," the doctor answered quietly. "Your memory and personality may gradually change. You'll likely become more irritable, more forgetful. You may experience sudden sadness, emotional instability... and you could die without warning. We strongly recommend immediate chemotherapy."
"No, thank you." Ye refused without hesitation. "I heard the Medical Research Institute is conducting early-stage brain cancer experimental research."
He looked directly at the doctor. "Are you still looking for volunteers?"
The room fell silent once again. Early-stage clinical trials were normally reserved for terminal patients or conducted overseas because the risks were simply too high.
"No." The doctor immediately shook his head. "The risks are far too dangerous..."
Ye struggled upright, pulled the IV needle from his arm, and looked at everyone with unexpectedly bright eyes. "I want to try."
He smiled faintly. "I want to see... just how much longer I can live."
At that moment, on the program stage, Quan let out a deep sigh. He knew that the treatment Ye eventually received belonged to the second phase of experimental research. Ordinary hospital medication had never stood a chance of saving him.
"What a cruel life..." Quan's eyes turned red.
As a doctor, he knew exactly what those experimental drugs represented. Most had only been tested on animals, but some were administered to terminal patients with virtually no hope of survival. Others relied entirely on volunteers willing to gamble the remainder of their lives against impossible odds.
"This is madness... It's absolute madness! This is the brain, not some ordinary organ!" Quan nearly shouted.
He could no longer remember every statistic from the research reports he had once studied; he only remembered one horrifying conclusion. Among that group, only three patients had successfully prolonged their lives. Yet none of them remained truly normal.
One constantly heard hallucinations.
Another gradually lost all memory.
The other developed severe dementia resembling Alzheimer's disease.
Their bodies survived, but their minds did not. What difference was there between such a life and death itself?
Quan swallowed the final sentence before speaking it aloud. Instead, he stared silently at the replay. He wanted to know. What right did Shuying have to despise this man? Why? With a willpower this terrifying... Could Ye truly have failed? Never.
Quan, whose personality had always been blunt and straightforward, looked directly at Shuying and declared each word with absolute certainty. "A man like him... as long as he never admits defeat, he will never truly lose."
Shuying glanced sideways. Her expression was complicated, impossible to understand.
The Commentators and contestants remained quietly skeptical. After all, many of them had never lived through that kind of suffering. To them, he was merely an insignificant man buried beneath the dust of history. How could someone so ordinary possibly deserve comparison with a star who shone so brilliantly?
The replay split into two scenes.
On one side, Shuying stood proudly upon the poetry performance stage. After reciting the poem, she instantly became the brightest young literary prodigy.
On the other side, inside the medical ward, Ye lay surrounded by countless tubes and monitoring devices. From microscopic vascular incision procedures to experimental FWAF injections, every step proceeded with meticulous precision.
Ironically, the doctors appeared far more nervous than the patient himself. It was the first time they had encountered someone like him.
The attending physician, Alejandro, watched every heartbeat with intense concentration. Years later, Alejandro would become internationally renowned. Originally an exchange professor from Australia, he had participated three separate times in the research project on suppressing brain cancer proliferation.
Twelve years later, those studies finally achieved a historic breakthrough. He eventually accepted honorary appointments, remained in the nation permanently, and became one of the world's foremost authorities on brain cancer research.
But twelve years ago, he was merely a young attending physician participating in his very first Phase One clinical trial.
"Why is he different from every other patient?" Alejandro asked in somewhat awkward English.
"What's different, Alex?" A nurse looked over curiously.
Alejandro stared at Ye for several seconds before answering quietly. "His will to survive. I've never seen anything like it."
Even now, he struggled to explain it. Patients suffering from advanced brain cancer, especially after widespread progression, inevitably lost hope as both body and mind deteriorated.
Yet this man was different. His desire to live burned with astonishing intensity; it was almost unbelievable.
Back on the program stage, the lights slowly brightened.
Quan knew today's production team had invited Alejandro himself. An elderly white-haired man, now in his sixties, walked onto the stage wearing a perfectly tailored suit.
Before even taking his seat, he muttered with obvious dissatisfaction, "If that man hadn't been involved, I wouldn't have wasted my time coming here."
He glanced coldly across the audience. "A group of people who know nothing... How dare they judge him? Do any of you even understand how much he endured?"
Only then did Alejandro sit down in the guest seat. Then, Quan immediately stood and warmly shook his hand.
But at this moment, almost no one cared about Yu Ye anymore because this was Shuying's shining moment. Her brilliance was destined to illuminate the entire stage and every spotlight belonged to her.
The replay continued.
In the footage, Guochang could barely contain his excitement. "Please welcome Yu Shuying!"
The reporters surged forward with cameras raised high and the roaring crowd stretched endlessly like an ocean.
Standing alone beneath the dazzling lights, Yu Shuying softly began to recite.
"The Roche limit..."
"Using a broken body..."
"To embrace the universe..."
Then her voice grew gentler.
"Actually, separation isn't that frightening."
"After six hundred and fifty thousand hours, when we finally oxidize into the wind..."
"...perhaps we'll become two neighboring bubbles floating in the same glass of beer."
"...or two tiny grains of dust resting together beneath the same streetlamp."
"Do you know? The atoms that make up this universe never truly disappear."
"So..."
"In the end..."
"We'll still find each other again."
At that instant, the entire audience froze in stunned silence. Moments later, thunderous cheers erupted throughout the venue. The fans' eyes filled with excitement as deafening chants echoed across the stage.
"It's starting!"
"The moment is finally here!"
"She's still exactly the same!"
"As radiant as the stars and as brilliant as the moon!"
"From this very moment, she began the era of modern poetry!"