Chapter 33: Moving Forward

Tang Shi woke up slowly the next day. Looking at the light on the ceiling, she knew that she was probably not dead.

She felt someone holding her hand and thought it was Chi Jinjin, but when she looked over, she found it was Song Ci.

She tried to pull her hand out of his, but her hand was too weak and it took a lot of effort to pull it out of his hand.

But this also awakened Song Ci.

Seeing Tang Shi wake up, Song Ci immediately became excited and asked hurriedly, "You're awake, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

"Why are you here?" Tang Shi asked weakly.

Song Ci said, "If I'm not here, where else can I be?"

Tang Shi looked around and asked, "Where is this? Why is it different from my previous ward?"

"I've transferred you to the VIP ward." Song Ci replied.

Tang Shi wanted to sit up from the bed and said, "I don't want to stay here. I want to go back to where I came from."

"Impossible." Song Ci stood up and pressed her shoulders, making her unable to move, and said unchangeably, "I've already brought you here. You have to stay here even if you don't want to."

Tang Shi looked at his unreasonable behavior and for the first time felt that he was not so annoying.

"You are just bullying me because I don't have the energy to argue with you." Tang Shi said weakly.

Song Ci covered her with the quilt and said, "It's good that you know, so if you still want to fight me, get well soon."

"Get better..." Tang Shi smiled bitterly, looking at his legs, muttering, "I won't get better again, I'll never be able to run again..."

"No, I will help you find a better doctor. He will definitely find a way. Aren't you athletes the ones who are least likely to give up easily?" Song Ci said, his eyes full of concern.

Chi Jinjin sat on a bench beside the flower bed, her elbows resting on her knees and her wrists supporting her forehead, her whole body feeling heavy.

She couldn't bear to see Tang Shi in pain, but she could do nothing, and had no way to share her burden, or even comfort her.

Chi Jinjin suddenly felt that she was really useless. In the past, Tang Shi had always protected her and stood up for her, but now that she was injured, she had no way to protect her. Moreover, because of her carelessness, she gave her the opportunity to hurt herself.

Thinking of this, Chi Jinjin couldn't help but cry out of self-blame.

Suddenly, she felt someone sitting down next to her. She turned around and saw that it was Nan Xuqiu.

Seeing that it was Nan Xuqiu, Chi Jinjin quickly wiped the tears from her face before daring to look at him.

"Were you crying just now?" Nan Xuqiu asked.

Chi Jinjin shook her head, "No."

Nan Xuqiu smiled faintly and said, "Xiao Chi, has anyone ever told you that you're a terrible liar?"

The lie was exposed and Chi Jinjin lowered her head in embarrassment.

Nan Xuqiu asked gently again, "Are you crying because of Tang Xuemei?"

Chi Jinjin agreed.

Nan Xuqiu suddenly reached out and touched her head, and Chi Jinjin was stunned.

He said soothingly, "What Tang Xuemei needs right now isn't self-blame or guilt, but the courage to accompany her through this difficult time. You're her closest friend. If you're not brave, how can she possibly be brave?"

Chi Jinjin slowly clenched the corners of her sleeves and thought carefully about his words. It seemed that he was right. No matter how much she blamed herself or felt guilty, it would be useless. If she just kept crying when encountering difficulties, things would not change.

What I should do is to encourage her, accompany her, and face it with her bravely.

"Senior, I think I understand." Chi Jinjin looked at him and said gratefully.

Nan Xuqiu said, "Stretch out your hand."

Chi Jinjin obediently stretched out her hands.

Nan Xuqiu placed a candy in her palm and said with a smile, "I heard that sweets can make people feel better."

"Thank you, senior." Chi Jinjin held the candy in her hand, and her tired body seemed to be suddenly full of strength. Even before she put it in her mouth, she could already feel its sweetness.

Later, Song Ci found a foreign doctor for Tang Shi, but unfortunately the foreign doctor still said that Tang Shi could no longer participate in competitions because her ligaments and bones could no longer be repaired.

"I've already said it, I'm useless and there's no hope for me." Tang Shi said with a wry smile.

"What do you mean there's no hope?" Song Ci asked anxiously. "Didn't the doctor say that even if you can't run anymore, if you cooperate with rehabilitation treatment, you'll still be able to stand up and walk in the future? Can you please stop talking nonsense?"

"Does this have anything to do with you?" Tang Shi said uncomfortably, "You're not an athlete. Do you know how important running is to me? It's my future! Besides, my affairs have nothing to do with you. Why do you care about me?"

"Because I'm your boyfriend!" Song Ci said.

Tang Shi scolded, "You are not in your right mind, when did I ever admit that you are my boyfriend?"

"You're the one who's not thinking straight!" Song Ci suddenly stood up from the chair beside the bed and said, "Tang Shi, look at you now. I used to think you were a very brave person. You were the first one in the whole school to dare to attack me. But now it seems that you are such a coward. Isn't it just because you can't run? There are so many roads in this world, and there is more than one future. A deaf person can become a famous pianist, and a stutterer can become an orator. Just because of this, you want to die and refuse to eat or drink. I really look down on you!"

Seeing the two quarreling, Chi Jinjin opened her mouth to try to stop them, but Nan Xuqiu suddenly grabbed her wrist through her clothes and pulled her out of the ward.

"Senior, they... are arguing... Is it really okay to just ignore it?" Chi Jinjin asked worriedly.

Nan Xu Qiuyan said, "Perhaps only Song Ci can conquer someone like Tang Xuemei. Don't worry, Song Ci is not completely unreliable. He still has a sense of propriety. What's more, he really likes Tang Xuemei."

"Let's just stand aside and wait and see what happens, giving them two some space." Nan Xuqiu sat down on a chair beside the aisle.

Chi Jinjin thought about her observations over the past few days. Song Ci had indeed been doing his best to take care of Tang Shi. Tang Shi couldn't listen to anything now, but after Song Ci came, she was willing to talk a lot. Although most of the words were irritating, it was better than being lifeless at the beginning.

Maybe she would listen to Song Ci's words a little. She was also desperate to find a cure.

Chi Jinjin had no choice but to sit down slowly beside Nan Xuqiu, praying that Tang Shi could get out of the predicament as soon as possible.

Tang Shi and Song Ci were arguing when Tang Shi's cell phone rang, but she was too weak to reach it.

Song Ci answered the call for her and turned on the speakerphone for her.

Zhou Jingyi's voice came from the other end. "Tang Shi, I heard you committed suicide in the hospital? I advise you to stop and stop going crazy in the hospital. It's causing me trouble. When will you be able to be more obedient like Yaoyao? If it weren't for the law, I wouldn't bother to care about you!"

Before Zhou Jingyi could say anything else, Song Ci hung up the phone.

"What's the point of hanging up?" Tang Shi said with a bitter smile, "Look, my mother is so good to me."

Song Ci suddenly reached out and covered her eyes.

"What for?" Tang Shi asked in confusion.

Song Ciyan said, "If you want to cry, just cry. I will pretend I didn't see it."

Tang Shi suddenly became quiet, and all the grievances that had been suppressed in his heart suddenly burst out like a flood. Tears fell from the corners of his eyes and slowly spread out on the pillow behind his head.

Song Ci's palms were wet, and Tang Shi's warm tears directly burned through the young man's heart.

Chi Jinjin leaned her head against the wall, closed her eyes and was drowsy. She hadn't slept for a moment in these days, especially after Tang Shi's suicide attempt. She was so scared that she woke up almost every ten minutes. Even though she knew that Song Ci was guarding Tang Shi, she still couldn't sleep well.

But people always need to rest. No matter how hard she tries, she will fail in the end.

Chi Jinjinzhao was about to fall down while staggering.

Nan Xuqiu immediately held her head with one hand, but she still did not wake up.

Nan Xuqiu slowly placed her head on his shoulder and let her lean against him to sleep for a while.

Tang Shi slept for almost an hour and woke up again, only to find himself leaning against Nan Xuqiu.

"I'm sorry, Senior Xuexue!" Chi Jinjin quickly apologized to him.

"It's okay." Nan Xuqiu didn't mind and smiled at her...

Tang Shi's mood was still bad, but much better than before. She started talking and eating well, but she ate very little.

But Chi Jinjin also felt very happy, at least this was a good start.

"Today..."

When Chi Jinjin helped her change clothes that night, Tang Shi felt guilty and said to her, "I shouldn't have been so mean to you that day. I'm sorry. I'm such a jerk."

"It's okay. Next time, I will fight back." Chi Jinjin said with a smile.

Tang Shi looked at her nonchalant expression and blamed herself even more towards Chi Jinjin. She said, "You are so stubborn. I scolded you so much, but you still didn't leave."

Chi Jinjin suddenly hugged Tang Shi and said, "Didn't we agree that no matter what happens, we will never quarrel or leave each other."

"Jinjin..." Tang Shi couldn't hold back the tears in her eyes again and they fell down.

Chi Jinjin wiped away her tears and said, "Tang Shi, I know it's painful and cruel for you to be forced to give up the race, but things have come to this, so let's not stay here any longer. As long as we can move forward, we have to move forward even if we have to crawl. Just like the Song Dynasty poem said, there is more than one future. We can choose another one. I will always be with you."

Tang Shi nodded while sobbing.

From then on, Tang Shi began to slowly accept reality and cooperate with the doctor's rehabilitation treatment.

Her legs also started to get better and she could lift them on her own, but not for long.

"Tang Shi, it's sunny outside today. Why don't we go out and bask in the sun?" Chi Jinjin suggested.

Tang Shi looked out the window and saw that the sky was indeed very nice. Thinking that she hadn't been out for a long time, she nodded and agreed to Chi Jinjin.

Chi Jinjin pushed a wheelchair over, helped Tang Shi sit on it, and put a sun hat on her.

Then he pushed her out of the ward.

Tang Shi thought Chi Jinjin would take her for a walk in the hospital garden, but Chi Jinjin pushed her out of the hospital.

"Jinjin, where are we going?" Tang Shi asked.

Chi Jinjin replied, "Just relax."

"Oh." Tang Shi didn't ask any more questions, thinking that she might want to go out for a walk, also for her own sake. Chi Jinjin hadn't left the hospital for a long time.

But the further Tang Shi went, the more he felt something was wrong. There were more and more people in front of him, and there were small blue flags on the trees on the roadside.

Chi Jinjin pushed her to the sidewalk. In front of her stood a group of people in sportswear, doing exercises to warm up their bodies. There was a red line drawn on the ground.

"Jinjin, is there any competition here?" Tang Shi asked.

Chi Jinjin replied, "Yeah, Marathon, didn't you tell me about it?"

Tang Shi remembered that today was the annual marathon held in City A. She had really wanted to participate in it before and had mentioned it to Chi Jinjin many times, but her legs were broken and she no longer thought about it.

Tang Shi looked at the people preparing in front with envy in her eyes, but she could only say to Chi Jinjin with disappointment, "Then let's get out of the way quickly and stop blocking others here."

"We can't give in. We are also contestants." Chi Jinjin said.

Tang Shi said jokingly, "Jinjin, stop joking with me. I'm in this state, how can I still participate in the competition?"

"Who said we can't participate?" Chi Jinjin said.

Just at this moment, the command gun sounded, and Chi Jinjin pushed Tang Shi and many others and headed forward together.

"Chi Jinjin, are you crazy?" Tang Shi was shocked. She thought she was just joking, but she didn't expect Chi Jinjin to be serious. No wonder she was wearing a sports suit today.

"Tang Shi." Chi Jinjin pushed her and said, "Look, even if you don't have legs, you can still run. You can gallop on the track that belongs to you. As long as you have a track in your heart, anywhere is your home field!"

My home turf...

Tang Shi looked ahead, the wind passed by his ears, the warm sunshine sprinkled on his body, and all around him were athletes running hard and constant applause.

At this moment, she seemed like a normal person, running on the track she had been away from for a long time.

She looked back at Chi Jinjin. She was already sweating profusely, but still smiling brightly at her, pushing herself forward with all her might.

She obviously hates running, but now she is running on the marathon track for herself.

Tang Shi's heart was filled with warmth, but that was not the warmth from the sun, but the warmth from Chi Jinjin.

She has always been the second sun in this world...

Chi Jinjin ran forward with all her might, even though she was out of breath, her feet felt heavy as if they were hanging on two pieces of iron, and she was sweating profusely, she didn't want to stop. She didn't guarantee that Tang Shi would get first place, but she would accompany her to run the entire track.

But Chi Jinjin's physical strength was limited after all. Halfway through the run, she couldn't hold on any longer and her legs went limp, causing her to sit down on the ground.

"Jinjin, don't run away. I'm already very happy." Tang Shi saw her unhappy face and advised her worriedly.

Chi Jinjin shook her head and insisted, "No, I must take you to run the entire track!"