TMISIU- Chapter 24

Before the club activities on Sunday, Wei Ying worriedly reminded Lan Zhan:

“At 6:30 tonight, Aode Square, Guangdong-Hong Kong Tea Restaurant, you must not let me wait! Otherwise I…”

Lan Zhan took out the music score and looked at him: “Or else what will you do?”

Wei Ying choked.

What could he do?

He would be disappointed, but he would still like this person so much.

So he hummed and said to Lan Zhan: “Not much, maybe I will ignore you tomorrow.”

After a pause, he added a little in a useless whisper, “Just one day.”

Wei Ying heard Lan Zhan laugh in a low voice. Before he could see Lan Zhan’s smile clearly, Lan Zhan left the classroom with the music score.

Wei Ying sat in a daze for a while before getting up and heading to the art club.

Before he started painting, Zhou Lusi found him and said, “Wei Ying, I showed my grandfather your painting last time. He wants to see you. Are you free this afternoon?”

Wei Ying was taken aback and looked at Zhou Lusi blankly.

Zhou Lusi smiled and said, “Oh, by the way, you probably don’t know who my grandfather is. My grandfather’s name is Zhou Wanghan. You should have heard of it, right?”

Wei Ying’s heart trembled. It was impossible for him to not know Zhou Wanghan, this old painter was a famous domestic oil painting master, once the director of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

He didn’t expect Zhou Lusi to be Zhou Wanghan’s granddaughter, let alone Zhou Wanghan would want to see him.

He was naturally excited to see Zhou Wanghan, but not today.

He said to Zhou Lusi: “I want to see Mr. Zhou very much, but I have an appointment for dinner tonight. Can I visit Mr. Zhou next week?”

Zhou Lusi’s eyes lit up and she asked in a gossiping tone: “Are you going on a date at night? That should be prepared well! It’s okay, my grandpa has nothing to do, just playing chess and teasing birds at home everyday. No problem, see you next week.”

Wei Ying knew that Zhou Lusi had misunderstood, but the word “date” made him feel sweet.

He didn’t refute, his eyes were shining, and the corners of his mouth couldn’t suppress a smile, he said thank you.

Zhou Lusi looked at the innocent look of the boy in front of her, feeling very similar to the white milk cat she had raised before.

She had some itchy hands and wanted to stroke Wei Ying’s hair, but after thinking about it, she held it back, and said leisurely:   “Dress up well and have fun on your date!”

Wei Ying nodded happily and said thank you again.

Zhou Lusi turned around and walked out of the studio.

She walked to the corner of the corridor before taking out her mobile phone and made a call.

As soon as the call was connected, she rattled: “You owe me a big favor again! I helped him connect with my grandfather, ah. But after seeing his paintings, my grandfather was really interested in him. Maybe he will accept a disciple in the future. You must know that my grandfather now doesn’t accept students except me.”

“I really don’t understand you. At first I thought you wanted to be in politics like your grandfather and uncle, so you support the country’s targeted poverty alleviation policy. But you are not helping the poor anymore, you are raising a child and daughters-in-law, Ok!”

“But he’s going on a date happily tonight. You don’t just raise it but in the end, you got nothing at all!”

When the opposite party hung up the phone without saying anything, Zhou Lusi looked at the phone screen angrily, wishing that this stuffy jar who didn’t say anything, would not own anything in the world.

After Wei Ying finished painting, he rushed back to the dormitory, picking and choosing clothes from his closet for half a day, but he couldn’t pick out any suitable clothes.

He didn’t have any clothes at all. Since coming to Gusu High School, he hadn’t bought a new dress because he wore a school uniform every day.

I still have to buy a set of clothes, he thought.

Wei Ying left school and went to the mall.

Seeing that Wei Ying was good-looking, the salesperson asked him to try and change clothes.

The clothes were really good and he was pressed to take a bunch of photos like a model, but when he saw that the price was over a thousand, he immediately withered.

Although the school gave a lot of money, he would never waste it on such expensive clothes.

Wei Ying finally found a relatively cheap underground shopping mall, and spent 300 yuan on a set of clothes that were on sale for the season last year, a beige knitted sweater, with two fluffy and soft braided strings hanging in front of it, and light-colored jeans lined a pair of legs that were long and slender.

He didn’t think this was handsome enough, but the salesperson was hyping it so much that he was stunned.

After buying new clothes, Wei Ying squatted by the bench in the rest area of ​​the shopping mall, fished out the papers from his school bag, and plopped down on the bench to do his homework.

The middle-aged uncle who was sitting by the side waiting for his wife to shop sighed: “Child, it is tiring to squat here. There is a coffee shop, it is more comfortable to go there to do homework.”

Wei Ying shook his head: “The coffee shop is too expensive.”

He paused and looked at the uncle and said seriously, “And I’m not a kid anymore, I’m in my second year of high school.”

The uncle smiled: “You look a lot like a middle school student. Besides, the second year of high school is also very young, not an adult yet.”

Wei Ying frowned and thought, this outfit was still not handsome enough.

The uncle sighed with emotion and said to himself: “If my kid is so obedient and sensible, I will definitely live to ninety-nine in one breath.”

Wei Ying did his homework until half past five. He stood up with numb legs and almost fell. He moved his legs on the spot for a while, packed his backpack and rushed to the place.

The rush hour in big cities was always overcrowded.

After the autumnal equinox, the sun set earlier and earlier, and the twilight was gradually engulfed by the night.

Wei Ying stood in front of the crowded Aode Mall, looking down at the WeChat chat box on his phone in a daze.

Should he ask where Lan Zhan was?

But now that it was not even six o’clock yet, would Lan Zhan be annoyed to be urged?

Wei Ying took out an English vocabulary booklet from his school bag. Standing in the crowd of people memorizing words, a lot of people passing by looked surprised.

But he couldn’t memorize it at all. The letters were grouped together in front of him, and then spread out in his mind, and finally they became the three words Lan Zhan.

A college boy standing waiting for his girlfriend couldn’t help but say to Wei Ying: “Are you also waiting for your girlfriend for a date? If she sees you on a date and is still studying, she will be angry.”

Wei Ying was startled, and asked in surprise, “Will really be angry?”

But if he didn’t study hard, Lan Zhan would also be angry.

“Of course, ah. It means you didn’t worry about her all the time.” The college boy seemed to be very experienced.

As soon as he finished his speech, he saw his girlfriend walk over so he hurriedly smiled and gave a hug, and the two went into the mall holding hands.

Wei Ying hurriedly put the vocabulary booklet back into his school bag, and stared at WeChat on the phone again in a daze.

It was already six o’clock, should it be okay to ask?

Wei Ying plucked up the courage to start typing on the phone:

“Where are you…”

Just halfway through the text, the interface suddenly turned into an incoming call reminder.

It was Lan Zhan’s call.

At that moment Wei Ying felt his stomach cramp. It was a surge of tension and excitement at the same time, his fingers panicked and picked up the phone, holding it hard and asking.

“Where are you? I’m right now at the entrance of Aode Mall, next to the lamp post on the left.”

When he made a sound, he realized that his voice was trembling with excitement, and his throat seemed to be blocked by a ball of wet cotton.

There seemed to be a bit noisy on the phone, but Lan Zhan’s deep voice was still clear:

“Wei Ying, sorry, I can’t come over tonight.” He paused and continued, “Sorry, something happened at home suddenly.”

Wei Ying’s heart sank quickly in the first half of the sentence, but immediately raised it in the second half.

He asked anxiously: “What’s the matter? Is it important?”

Lan Zhan said: “Jiang Cheng is sick. My family and I are on the way to take him to the hospital.”

Wei Ying finally heard clearly.

The noisy background sound was the sound of intermittent sobbing, and the old grandmother’s warm voice was soothing: “Don’t cry, dear grandson, we’re going to the hospital soon.”

The voice cried out again, “Zhan ge”, and then came Lan Zhan’s voice after the phone was taken away from him:

“Cheng, bear with it, it won’t hurt anymore after seeing the doctor.”

Wei Ying suddenly found that he couldn’t find the air to breathe.

He felt his heart hurt so much, so much.

It hurt too much.

It hurt so much that his vision began to blur.

The voice on the other end of the phone sounded close again, Lan Zhan’s voice was very low and soft:

“Sorry, I will invite you to dinner next time. You can eat whatever you want, okay?”

Wei Ying squeezed his palm with his fingers.

He blinked his eyes hard, but the neon lights of the tall buildings rising from the ground and the endless stream of car tail lights were still blurred into gorgeous patches in front of his eyes.

He murmured: “But, but…”

He was stubbornly reluctant to agree, but could not give a reason.

Lan Zhan asked him patiently, “But what?”

Wei Ying closed his eyes and said in a stagnant voice: “But I want to see you.”

There is no reason, I just want to see you.   Very much, very much, very very much.

These words seemed to have consumed all his courage, Wei Ying closed his eyes tightly, as if he could not hear all the voices in the world.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. It was only three seconds, but it also seemed like it was a long time.

He heard Lan Zhan say to him in the sound of his own effort to suppress his inhalation:

“You stand there obediently and don’t move, I’ll send someone to pick you up, okay?”

The voice was gentle like the evening breeze in October, and it gave him the illusion that Lan Zhan was coaxing him, just like him coaxing Jiang Cheng.

Wei Ying breathed, he said, “Okay.”

After speaking, he realized that he could not make a sound at all. He took a deep breath, and his astringent throat only made a sound again:

“Okay.”

After hanging up the phone, Wei Ying reached out and touched his wet face.

He held the phone and stared blankly at the bustling crowd.

White-collar workers coming home from work, couples holding hands on dates, friends shopping together, parents with children…

Everyone was playing their part in the lively neon night, but what role was he playing tonight?

Wei Ying didn’t have to wait long, a black car he didn’t recognize but was frequently gawking at pulled up not far away.

The young man in a suit got out of the car and soon found him at the entrance of the mall and asked:

“Hello, you are Wei Ying, aren’t you? I’m Song Zichen, the driver of the Lan family.”

Wei Ying nodded, and followed Song Zichen into the car.

Soon he was sent to Hospital, and Song Zichen led him into the hospital.

Wei Ying began to regret the moment he entered the elevator of the hospital.

Why did he come here?

Jiang Cheng was ill, what was he doing with a sullen expression?

See? Visit? Concern?

Acting as one of the many caring family members and friends surrounding Jiang Cheng?

He could only find himself unhappy.

There were a lot of people in the elevator, and there was a pungent smell of disinfectant. Wei Ying was squeezed in the corner with his backpack.

An old man with a lunchbox next to him looked at the corner.

This child seemed to be covered in dark shadows, so obviously sad that he thought he was sad about a sick relative, and asked him kindly.

“Do you come to visit your family after school?”

Wei Ying shook his head silently.

He just wanted to see Lan Zhan.

Just a glance, and leave after seeing him. He said to himself.

When the elevator reached the fifth floor, it opened again, and Song Zichen said softly to him: “Here.”

Many people in the elevator started to walk outside. Wei Ying followed the others and was the last to get out of the elevator.

The crowd dispersed and his vision became wider. He saw Lan Zhan standing not far from the elevator entrance, looking at him.

Suddenly Wei Ying couldn’t walk anymore, standing still looking at Lan Zhan, the elevator door behind him closed again with a “ding”.

He thought, this glance was enough.

He should go back after saying a word.

Lan Zhan walked up to him. As he took the backpack in his arms and carried it in his hand, he asked him in a low voice:   “Hungry? Do you want to eat something first?”

Wei Ying didn’t speak, but just looked at Lan Zhan. The long eyelashes were clearly illuminated by the overhead light, and there was only this person in his pupils.

It seemed that there was only this one person in the world.

Lan Zhan looked down at those wet eyes for a while, then suddenly raised his hand to touch Wei Ying’s soft hair.

But his fingers paused before he touched the hair and turned to twist the woven string of Wei Ying’s sweater that was thrown behind him and gently put it on his chest, moving gently like pinning a rose on his chest.

He withdrew his hand, and the fingers hanging down the side of his leg curled up slightly.

But Wei Ying grabbed the soft braided string and held it hard into his palm, he looked at Lan Zhan and suddenly said.

“Lan Zhan, I’m so hungry.”

He thought. One glance seemed not enough.

It was not enough.

“What do you want to eat?” Lan Zhan glanced at Wei Ying’s fingers holding the braided string and asked softly.

Wei Ying still looked at Lan Zhan and said, “I’m fine with anything.”

Lan Zhan looked at Song Zichen on the side, and Song Zichen asked clearly, “I’ll go down to buy food, do you and Madam need it?”

Lan Zhan said: “No, just buy him one.”

Song Zichen nodded and left.

When Lan Zhan saw Wei Ying still looking at himself, he bent down slightly, looked at Wei Ying’s eyes with a level gaze and asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong? Hungry and silly?”

Wei Ying lowered his eyelashes and shook his head.

Lan Zhan stood upright as his mobile phone rang, it was Gu Yihan’s call.

He asked Wei Ying before picking up the phone, “Do you want to come over with me?”

Wei Ying bit his inner lip and nodded silently.

He followed behind Lan Zhan, who answered the phone and said, “I’ll be there right over.”

The two of them walked in the direction of the ward and halfway they ran into Gu Yihan who was coming to look for Lan Zhan.

Gu Yihan looked anxious, she didn’t have time to see the person who suddenly appeared behind Lan Zhan, and said to Lan Zhan:

“The doctor is about to intubate A-Cheng. A-Cheng has been crying without cooperating. Grandpa and grandma couldn’t persuade him no matter what. Go and persuade him.”

In the afternoon, Gu Yihan and Lan Zhan went to visit Jiang Cheng’s grandparents.

Jiang Cheng couldn’t resist playing volleyball with some neighbor children, and suddenly had another pneumothorax attack in the evening. Lan Zhan, who was about to go out, had to send Jiang Cheng to the hospital with them.

Lan Zhan frowned upon hearing this.

Only then did Gu Yihan notice the boy following behind Lan Zhan.

The boy raised his head and looked at her.

She was slightly stunned when she saw those eyes, and her fast pace also stopped.

Lan Zhan introduced Wei Ying to her: “His name is Wei Ying, he is my tablemate.”

Wei Ying looked at the tall and short-haired woman in front of him, guessing that she should be Lan Zhan’s mother, so he obediently said, “Hello, Auntie.”

Gu Yihan returned to her senses and showed a haggard smile: “Hello, I heard Zhan and  A-Cheng talked about you, thank you for coming to see A-Cheng.”

She thought Wei Ying was here to visit Jiang Cheng, but she also felt a little strange. In her impression, Jiang Cheng didn’t like this classmate Wei Ying.

Wei Ying didn’t know what to say, but then Lan Zhan said to Gu Yihan: “Go to the ward first, alright.”

Before the three of them got to the ward, they heard the sound of Jiang Cheng’s crying and a pair of old people’s bitter and comforting voices from the ward.

Wei Ying’s footsteps were getting heavier and heavier, he knew that the old couple should be his grandparents.

Gu Yihan was anxious and went into the ward first.

Wei Ying gently tugged on Lan Zhan’s sleeve before he reached the door of the ward.

Lan Zhan looked at him and seemed to understand what he meant. He led Wei Ying to the bench in the corridor and said softly.

“You sit here and wait for me, okay?”

Wei Ying sat down on the bench and pretended to be calm and said okay.

He was the one who wanted to come, he had no right to be sad.

But he didn’t know that sadness and liking were the same, they couldn’t be hidden.

Lan Zhan looked down at Wei Ying, and from this angle he could see his drooping and trembling eyelashes.

He took out a candy from his pocket. It was given by the neighbor’s kid when he was at Sanren’s in the afternoon.

Squatting down, he held Wei Ying’s hand and put the candy with the smiley face in his palm, saying:

“I heard that all children will become happy after eating this candy.”

This was what the little girl who gave the candy told him.

Wei Ying looked at the candy in the palm of his hand, then looked at Lan Zhan. He raised the corner of his mouth and smiled, saying:

“But I’m not a kid anymore.”

Lan Zhan looked at Wei Ying’s eyes, he was silent for a moment and said in a voice Wei Ying could not hear:

“You are.”

Then he stood up and walked into the ward after Gu Yihan came out and urged him.

Wei Ying looked at the candy and squeezed it into his palm.

He thought, what could he be sad about?

He had a healthy body that Jiang Cheng did not have, he would earn a lot of money in the future, he would buy a very big house, he would go to many places in the world, and he would have a very good life.

His good life was only missing one Lan Zhan.

But he still couldn’t help but quietly walk to the door of the ward and look inside in the dim light on the other side of the door to see what the person who should have belonged to him looked like.

Gu Yihan apologized to the doctors and nurses, then walked to Jiang Cheng’s grandmother, Hong Shu, who was wiping her tears, and handed her a tissue.

Grandpa Sanren Xinzhi, who was sitting on a chair, was silent and had red eyes.

This old professor who had been strong for most of his life only loved this grandson, that no matter how capricious he was, he had never said any heavy words to him.

Wei Ying quietly looked at the two old persons with tears and red eyes.

He thought, it turned out that this was his maternal grandparents.

It turned out that when relatives feel sorry for a child, they would feel so painful that they cry for him.

Then he saw Lan Zhan walk to Jiang Cheng’s bed and asked him:

“Why don’t you cooperate with the doctor?” The voice was serious, but tender.

Jiang Cheng’s face was pale, and his face was full of tears. He had undergone this operation before and knew how painful it was, but he had never dared to disobey Lan Zhan. He desperately said:

“Zhan ge, I feel so painful, I feel like I can’t live anymore, it’s so painful to live like this.”

Gu Yihan looked at him slightly when she heard the words. With red eyes, Hong Shu crouched down and wept, and Sanren Xinzhi held his wife in his arms.

Lan Zhan’s voice deepened: “Cheng, don’t say such things, don’t make your loved ones feel sorry for you.”

Jiang Cheng flattened his mouth angrily and did not speak, only tears dripping from the corners of his eyes.

Lan Zhan gently held Jiang Cheng’s right hand.

There was an obvious red round birthmark on the wrist of that hand, and a red peace knot with gold beads.

When Jiang Cheng didn’t want to take medicine when he was a child, Lan Zhan would hold his hand to persuade him like this.

And that string of red peace knots was the last gift Cangse Sanren left for Jiang Cheng.

Lan Zhan softened his voice and slowly said to Jiang Cheng:

“Remember the letter for the eighteen-year-old you that your mother gave you? I think she hoped that when you open the letter, you have grown into a strong and optimistic adult.”

Gu Yihan couldn’t hold back any more, and she shed tears.

Jiang Cheng was silent. He could be willful in front of all his relatives, but he couldn’t be willful to his mother because she had sacrificed her life for him.

He finally agreed to cooperate with the doctor.

After that, the doctor and nurse intubated Jiang Cheng with the medical devices and Jiang Cheng cried out in pain. Lan Zhan held his hand all the time, and Gu Yihan wiped her tears from the side.

Wei Ying left the ward’s door, returned to the bench and sat down.

He tore the candy paper from his hand that had been held warm, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed it hard.

It had a very sweet peach flavor, but he could not taste anything.

He thought, Lan Zhan would also be wrong.

He didn’t feel happy at all after eating this candy.

Not at all.

He quickly ate the candy.

Song Zichen walked up to him with a box of lunch and said, “I bought this at a nearby restaurant. I don’t know if you like it or not.”

Thanking him, Wei Ying took the lunch.

He opened the lunch box, buried his head and ate, eating faster and faster, gorging on the food like someone who had been starving for days.

Only in this way could he control himself from breaking into that ward and loudly said to them:

I am Cangse Sanren’s son.

You should all love me.

I am also very uncomfortable, my heart hurts, and I’m living in pain.

Why don’t you care about me?

How come no one has ever shed tears because of heartache for me?