Chapter 45 "Teacher Zhou, are you childish?"

The distance from Uncle Li's house to the health center is not far. The two walked side by side, but neither of them took the initiative to speak.

Silence spread in the fresh air after the rain. Unlike the natural air on the way here, the silence at this moment is mixed with too many unresolved emotions and tacit secrets.

The sound of footsteps and the occasional greetings from passing villagers only served to highlight the silence between the two.

Chu Yi walked forward carelessly, looking straight ahead, trying to focus on the grass and trees on the roadside and the terraced fields in the distance.

But the presence of someone next to me was so strong that even without looking, I could feel his presence walking beside me and his occasional glances at me.

Zhou Ai walked side by side with Chu Yi, following his pace, taking one deep step and one shallow step.

From time to time, he would glance at Chu Yi's slightly red ears and tightly pursed lips, and his heart felt like a cat's paw was gently scratching it.

He enjoyed this secret tension known only to the two of them, but was also a little anxious about Chu Yi's silence.

In this delicate and torturous atmosphere, the wooden door of the health station was right in front of us.

Just at this moment, Dr. Li came hurriedly from another path carrying a medicine box, apparently having just returned from a medical consultation.

He saw Chu Yi and Zhou Ai at a glance, and immediately a warm and simple smile appeared on his face, and he greeted them loudly from a distance.

"Teacher Chu! Teacher Zhou! How did you get here? Oh, it rained so hard just now. Did you get wet?"

Chu Yi breathed a sigh of relief almost immediately and met Doctor Li's gaze. "Teacher Li, you just got back? We came to see if there's anything you can help with." He raised the medicine box in his hand and said, "Bring some medicine over."

Zhou Ai also calmed down and resumed his usual slightly distant and polite attitude in front of outsiders, nodding slightly to Dr. Li.

Doctor Li walked over quickly, looked at the two "distinguished guests," and greeted them warmly, "Come in! It just rained outside, and the ground is very slippery! I just came back from Gawa's house, and his grandmother's cold legs have recurred, so I went to give her a few acupuncture needles..."

As Dr. Li spoke, he pushed open the door of the health center and led the two in. With Dr. Li's natural and enthusiastic presence, the suffocating silence and awkwardness on the road just now were instantly diluted a lot.

Chu Yi and Zhou Ai looked at each other, then quickly separated and followed Dr. Li into the health station.

"Come, come, sit anywhere. I'll pour you some water." Doctor Li warmly invited the two to sit down while busying himself to boil water.

Chu Yi's eyes swept over Dr. Li's rain-soaked trouser legs, which were dotted with mud. "Don't be busy, Teacher Li. Go change your clothes first. Be careful not to catch a cold."

"Oh, then wait for me for two minutes." Doctor Li followed Chu Yi's gaze and glanced at his soaked trouser legs. He touched his hair embarrassedly and walked into the inner room.

After Dr. Li went in to change his clothes, Zhou Ai and Chu Yi were the only ones left in the small health station again.

The subtle silence that had just been dispelled by Dr. Li quietly returned again, permeating the air filled with the smell of disinfectant.

The two of them sat on an old wooden bench, their eyes occasionally meeting briefly before quickly looking away. Neither of them spoke first.

Just when the silence was about to become unbearable, the half-closed door of the health center was pushed open, and an old lady with gray hair and a slightly unsteady gait hurried in, pulling a little boy about seven or eight years old.

The little boy covered his head with his hands, bright red blood seeping out from between his fingers, covering half of his face, looking quite scary.

"Is Teacher Li in the house?" the old lady shouted anxiously. The thick Guizhou accent made it difficult for Chu Yi to understand, but the blood on the child's face made him stand up instantly, and he didn't care about the embarrassment.

"What's going on?" Chu Yi stepped forward quickly.

The old woman saw Chu Yi and was like seeing a savior. She quickly explained in Mandarin mixed with dialect: "Oh, this unlucky guy ran to play on the edge of the field, fell, and his head is bleeding! Doctor, please help!"

At this moment, Doctor Li also heard the noise and hurried out from the inner room while putting on his coat. "What's wrong, Granny Zhang?" He was shocked when he saw the child's face covered in blood. "Oh my! What happened? Is the wound deep?"

He leaned in closer to take a closer look, his brows furrowed. "Grandma Zhang, the wound is quite deep. I'm afraid he needs to go to the town clinic for stitches. My facilities here are limited..."

When the old lady heard this, she became extremely anxious, tears welling up in her eyes: "What should I do? My mother and father (my parents) are both working away from home. How can an old woman like me afford to go to town? My feet hurt so much that I can't walk far..."

Seeing that the old lady was about to burst into tears, Chu Yi said calmly: "Teacher Li, let me do it. I have a suture kit in my medicine box, which should be able to handle it."

Doctor Li slapped his forehead suddenly, and suddenly realized: "Oh! My brain! How could I have forgotten you, Teacher Chu!"

He quickly turned to the anxious old woman and soothed her, "Grandma Zhang, don't worry! This is Teacher Chu, a doctor from a major hospital in Beijing! He's very skilled! He'll definitely be able to help Erwa! Don't worry!"

Chu Yi had already neatly opened the medicine box he brought with him, took out sterile gloves and a mask and put them on.

He motioned the little boy to sit down, gently pulled away his hand that was covering the wound, and with the help of the light from Zhou Ai's mobile phone, he carefully examined the wound - a cut about two centimeters long on his forehead, not too long, but a bit deep, with some dirt and grass on the edge.

"The wound is a bit dirty and needs to be cleaned thoroughly. It may be a bit painful." Chu Yi said to Erwa who was biting his lips while preparing hydrogen peroxide and saline solution.

Although Erwa's face turned pale from the pain, he was extremely strong. He bit his lower lip hard, shook his head, and said in a small but firm voice: "It doesn't hurt."

Chu Yi looked at him trying to endure the pain, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly under the mask, and he said with admiration: "Quite impressive."

After saying that, he subconsciously raised his head and glanced at Zhou Ai, who was holding the mobile phone steadily to provide him with light.

The light shone from above, casting deep shadows on Zhou Ai's well-defined face. His peach blossom eyes were watching him operate intently.

Chu Yi's eyes met his for a moment, and somehow, through the mask, he added in a low voice, with a hint of almost inaudible ridicule: "Better than you."

Zhou Ai: “…”

Hearing Chu Yi's rare teasing, Zhou Ai's hand holding the phone trembled almost imperceptibly, the light swayed slightly, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

How could he not be better than a kid?!

Chu Yi withdrew his gaze, lowered his head, and began to operate intently. He repeatedly rinsed the wound with hydrogen peroxide and saline, carefully removing any contaminants, his movements skillful and gentle. Erwa trembled slightly in pain, but he remained silent.

After the debridement, Chu Yi deftly inserted the suture needle and thread. The wound was short, but deep, requiring subcutaneous sutures to stop the bleeding and then epidermal apposition.

His technique was precise and smooth. He inserted the needle, removed the needle, and tied the knot with smooth movements. He quickly sewed three stitches and finally applied sterile dressing.

"Okay, we're done." Chu Yi cut the stitches and breathed a sigh of relief.

Doctor Li, who was watching from the side, praised: "Teacher Chu, your skills are amazing! The stitches are so fast and so good! It's like embroidery!"

Chu Yi took off his gloves, his tone still calm: "It's just a small favor. Teacher Li, can you tell Grandma about the precautions from now on, such as keeping her away from water, changing the dressing on time, and when to remove the stitches."

"Of course, of course!" Doctor Li agreed quickly and took the grateful Granny Zhang aside to explain in detail.

Chu Yi began to pack up the equipment and dispose of the medical waste.

Zhou Ai, who had been silently holding his mobile phone as a human shadowless light, finally found an opportunity.

He approached Chu Yi who was washing his hands, lowered his head slightly, and asked in a low voice, with a sense of grievance and competition that was hard to ignore, word by word:

"Then why don't you praise me?"

“…”

Chu Yi paused while wiping his hands, almost thinking that he had misheard.

He turned his head and looked at Zhou Ai, the tall and handsome man beside him, who looked like a child who couldn't get any candy at the moment, and was speechless.

He sighed helplessly, shook off the water droplets on his hands, looked at Zhou Ai, and said with a rare hint of amusement and teasing, "Teacher Zhou, are you childish?"

Chu Yi's word "childish" with obvious teasing and the faint smile that overflowed from those always cold eyes instantly caused ripples in Zhou Ai's heart.

He had not expected Chu Yi to react like this at all—not a cold avoidance, not a businesslike alienation, but this kind of... teasing that was a bit helpless, yet mixed with a hint of freshness.

Zhou Ai stood there in a daze, looking at Chu Yi's slightly curved eyes above the mask. His heart skipped a beat without warning. He swallowed subconsciously, and his Adam's apple rolled up and down clearly.

He had indeed prepared a lot of twisted reasons, and planned to pester Chu Yi regardless of the consequences, and insisted on asking him "How am I inferior to the child?" and "Why do you praise him and not me?"

But Chu Yi's sudden smile was like a soft light, instantly dispelling the childish grievance and resentment in his heart, and replacing it with a more subtle and tickling feeling.

Chu Yi was already prepared to deal with Zhou Ai's unreasonable demands, and even slightly tensed his nerves.

But to his surprise, Zhou Ai did not continue to ask questions or play tricks as he expected.

He just stood there, staring at Chu Yi for a few seconds, and then the grievance and competitiveness in his peach blossom eyes slowly faded away, and were replaced by a kind of...inexplicable, slightly silly smile.

Zhou Ai suddenly curled his lips and smiled at Chu Yi, the smile was a little stunned, as if the person who was nitpicking just now was not him.

Then, without saying anything, he turned around and walked away as if nothing had happened. He wandered to the medicine cabinet and looked at the bottles and jars with pretended curiosity, as if the childish conversation had never happened.

Chu Yi was stunned for a moment when he saw his sudden change.

Then, he shook his head with a smile.

This... is quite consistent with the legendary moody and capricious personality of Young Master Zhou.

Emotions come and go quickly, like a gust of wind, leaving people confused.

However, this was also good. It saved him from having to worry about how to respond to those embarrassing and heart-pounding questions that he couldn't answer.

Chu Yi collected his thoughts and stopped pondering Zhou Ai's unpredictable mind. He turned and walked towards Dr. Li, and began to help organize the medicines and instruments that had just been used, and put his attention back to his work.

On the other side, Zhou Ai, who seemed to be studying the label of the medicine bottle carefully, noticed from the corner of his eye that Chu Yi was no longer paying attention to him.

Then he quietly leaned against a corner of the medicine cabinet and took a deep breath. Then he raised his hand and lightly touched the corner of his mouth with his fingers - the corner had been raised uncontrollably for a long time.

The inexplicable sweetness and joy in my heart are like spring grass after the rain, which can't be suppressed from bursting out.

It seems... being called "childish" is not a bad thing?

At least, Chu Yi smiled at him.

It wasn't a polite and distant smile, but a smile that had a bit of... well, lifelike energy.

Young Master Zhou's mood instantly turned from cloudy to sunny, and he even began to find this small health station filled with the smell of medicine pleasing to the eye.

Doctor Li came out of the inner room with the boiled water. He rummaged through the boxes and cupboards and found the tea leaves that he usually didn't want to use. He made a cup for both of them. "Teacher Chu, Teacher Zhou, come here and have some hot tea to warm your body."

Doctor Li rubbed his hands together, a simple smile on his face. He sat down on a nearby stool and asked with concern, "You've been in our mountain village for so many days. Are you adjusting well? The conditions here are poor, not comparable to your big cities."

Chu Yi picked up the teacup, and the warmth came through the wall of the cup, dispelling the last trace of coldness from his fingertips.

He smiled slightly, his tone sincere, "It's fine, Teacher Li. The air is good, and the folks are very welcoming. It's just..." He paused, glancing at the obviously understocked medicine cabinet next to him, "I just feel like there's still too little we can do. A lot of the equipment and medicines aren't up to par."

Doctor Li's expression became more emotional. "Thanks so much to you all. Not only for your help today, but also for the medicine you brought, Teacher Chu, and the first aid and care you taught me. They're all so helpful! And Teacher Zhou, you big stars coming here will let more people know about us. That's the biggest help!"

Dr. Li's gratitude was simple and sincere.

Chu Yi listened quietly and gently blew the tea leaves floating in the teacup.

Zhou Ai leaned lazily on the back of the chair, his fingers tapping the wall of the cup unconsciously, but his eyes drifted from time to time to Chu Yi who was listening attentively to what Dr. Li said next to him.

The health station was suddenly filled with a warm and peaceful atmosphere.

The sunlight outside the window became brighter, shining through the wooden window lattices, casting mottled shadows on the ground.

"Teacher Li, you are not a local, right?" Chu Yi took a sip of tea and asked the question he had always wanted to ask.

Doctor Li paused while pouring the tea and smiled sheepishly, "Teacher Chu saw through it. I thought my Guizhou dialect was authentic."