Chapter 51

"How long have I slept?"

Xia Lanzheng's voice was hoarse. She wanted to raise the back of her hand, but Chu Linchuan held it down.

"Exactly 31 days," Chu Linchuan pressed the call bell while pressing him, then turned to the wooden stakes and said, "Either go out or stand further away. The air is turbid."

So the three wooden stakes were moved away, and they moved little by little with their soles touching the ground. One was moved to the window, one to the foot of the bed, and the other was moved to the other end to open the door for the doctor.

Xia Lanzheng regained consciousness a week ago, so she'd been listening to them bicker for a week. Chu Linchuan was the only one making the noises, with someone occasionally mumbling a "hmm" and he couldn't tell who it was.

There was quite a noise just now, and Xia Lanzheng woke up while listening to it.

He had been dreaming for more than half a month, probably recounting everything that happened in this life and the previous one, but the dream was very quiet, and it had been so lively for a long time.

"Brother." Xia Lanzheng said in a hoarse voice.

Chu Linchuan was talking to the doctor and didn't hear. The doctor came forward with a look of disbelief on his face. All the indicators on the equipment were normal. He took Xia Lanzheng's temperature and it was also normal.

When Xia Lanzheng was asked if she felt unwell, everyone in the room broke into a sweat. Then, the person on the bed slowly said, "I'm a little hungry. I want some pork rib soup."

The doctor couldn't explain anything. He patted his forehead and fell into a brief moment of thought. He turned to Chu Linchuan and said, "Everything is normal. He is very healthy. Let's observe for two more days. If there is no problem, you can be discharged from the hospital."

The doctors left one by one, and the men in the room finally had a chance to step forward.

This time Chu Linchuan didn't stop him, but his brows were still furrowed, so he simply called the family to inform them.

Xia Lanzheng glanced at his brother, then looked at the person beside the bed.

Lu Yanqing's face was bruised, and the first thing he said was "I'm sorry." Once someone started, Cheng Lan and Su Cheng followed suit.

Xia Lanzheng laughed when she heard this, and Lu Yanqing also laughed, but it was a little forced.

Cheng Lan's face was covered in stubble, and he looked very haggard. Looking at Su Cheng again, he saw that his hair had grown a lot longer, and there was paint on his clothes.

At this point, Xia Lanzheng has finished all the plots in this melodramatic novel. Looking at these protagonists again, the feeling is completely different.

You can even joke with others easily: "Cheng Lan, how long have you not washed your face? Don't you want to do it anymore?"

Cheng Lan pursed his lips and wanted to touch Xia Lanzheng's hand, but Xia Lanzheng pulled her hand back into the quilt.

Lu Yanqing poured a cup of warm water on the bedside, turned around and looked at Chu Linchuan, then said to Xia Lanzheng, "Zhengzheng, have a good rest. I'm leaving first."

"Okay." Xia Lanzheng said.

Su Cheng waited for Lu Yanqing to leave, walked to the bedside, and put a straw in the cup: "When you are discharged from the hospital, can we go to the flower exhibition together?"

Without waiting for Xia Lanzheng to agree or refuse, Su Cheng continued, "Zhengzheng, I'm leaving now. See you next time."

Chu Linchuan watched Su Cheng leave and glanced at Cheng Lan: "What about you? Aren't you leaving yet?"

Cheng Lan sat down beside the bed and didn't move. Xia Lanzheng actually wanted to be alone with Chu Linchuan for a while, but she was embarrassed to chase him away.

But soon Cheng Lan's phone rang. He picked it up and listened for a while. Then he looked at Chu Linchuan and hung up the phone: "Brother Chu, you are really something. You tried every possible way to get me into the group, right?"

Cheng Lan left without looking back, walked out of the ward, poked his head in and waved: "Zheng Zheng, I'll come to your house to see you next time!"

Xia Lanzheng also waved to him, turned around and saw Chu Linchuan still looking at him, grinning, and the dry skin on his mouth hurt so much that he hissed, "It feels so lively."

Chu Linchuan took out a lipstick from her bag, pinched his chin, and helped him apply it naturally. She raised her eyes and looked at him: "It's quite lively."

Xia Lanzheng pushed Chu Linchuan, smacked her lips, sat up and stepped on the ground: "I'm going to the bathroom."

"Okay," Chu Linchuan put away the lipstick, put his hands behind his back and looked at him, "Do you want my help?"

Xia Lanzheng shook her head repeatedly, and without even putting on her slippers, she went straight to the bathroom: "No, I can do it myself!"

After closing the door, I heard Chu Linchuan say outside: "Why are you shy? I've been helping you all this month."

"..." Xia Lanzheng patted the door and looked down at herself. "Thank you, but I won't need you anymore!"

"I've informed my parents and Chu Linyu." Chu Linchuan said through the door.

"Got it," Xia Lanzheng held her breath, "Can you please stay away from the door?"

He was afraid that Chu Linchuan would hear the noise.

After lingering in the bathroom for a long time, I found that my nails had just been trimmed when I washed my hands. I guess it was Chu Linchuan who helped me.

"Alright?" Chu Linchuan closed the half-open door. "Have you put on your pants?"

"I'm completely fine now," Xia Lanzheng rubbed her hungry stomach and suddenly asked, "Brother, how are Song Xinghuai and Lu Yanqing?"

Hearing the name, Chu Linchuan raised his eyes, and under Xia Lanzheng's urging gaze, he had to speak.

"They are not related."

"ah?"

Xia Lanzheng didn't believe it, and his stomach growled. He asked again, "Then Lu Yanqing and I..."

"No, you two have nothing to do with each other," Chu Linchuan interrupted firmly. "I see you know a lot. How come you don't know you're in danger?"

Xia Lanzheng stared at her fingernails, avoiding Chu Linchuan's gaze.

"There are some things I can't control. I can't just watch Song Xinghuai fall into the water... Forget it, there won't be a next time anyway."

Chu Linchuan also looked at his hands. In the past month, he was so familiar with these hands that he could remember every palm line.

"You won't leave again, will you?" Chu Linchuan said.

Speaking of this, Xia Lanzheng became happy again, her cheeks immediately raised, and she expressed her joy with one word: "Yes!"

Chu Linchuan laughed, stood up and opened the curtains in the ward, and sunlight immediately filled the entire room.

He stood by the window and looked at the shadows of the trees outside. The swaying light fell on the back of his hand that was resting on the window frame.

Xia Lanzheng looked at him quietly and realized that he seemed to want to say something.

Just then, Chu Linchuan turned his head, removed his hand, and let it hang beside his leg: "Can I tell you something?"

Xia Lanzheng blinked, put her knees together, and uttered only a few syllables: "Hmm?"

Chu Linchuan took off his glasses and stopped looking at him through the lenses: "Xia Lanzheng, I like you."

His gaze was so direct that Xia Lanzheng suddenly wanted to step forward and help him put on his glasses.

The words hit the floor, fragments falling everywhere.

It was as if someone had injected Xia Lanzheng with something, forcibly waking up his body that had been dormant for a long time.

He immediately smelled disinfectant, and couldn't tell whether it came from his body. Then the scent of early autumn rushed into his nostrils. It was not as complex as the summer air, and was quieter than summer.

It was so quiet that Xia Lanzheng could still hear the echo of Chu Linchuan's words a minute after he finished speaking.

He was speechless, not knowing what to say, and finally uttered a short syllable slowly again.

"ah?"

Chu Linchuan stopped talking and gave him time to think.

Xia Lanzheng cleared her throat, her hospital gown tightly clutched in his hand: "Brother, I like you too."

Chu Linchuan laughed, as if feeling a little helpless: "Don't pretend, Zhengzheng, you now fully understand what the word 'like' means."

Xia Lanzheng was speechless. He did know it, but it was precisely because he knew it that it was so unbelievable.

Isn't this bloody story finished?

So what now!

Chu Linchuan was his brother. Even though they were not related by blood, he was still his brother.

Xia Lanzheng's clothes were torn into wrinkles, just like his complicated emotions at the moment, one layer upon another, in a mess.

When he had straightened out the center line and let go, all the wrinkles suddenly disappeared.

There was only one sentence left in my mind.

Chu Linchuan is his brother, this is not right.

The door of the ward slammed shut, and Chu Linyu rushed in, shouting Xia Lanzheng's name.

Xia Lanzheng suddenly came back to his senses. Chu Linyu flew over and tried to hug him, but was grabbed by Chu Linchuan and thrown back.

"Keep your voice down, this is a ward." Chu Linchuan crossed one leg in the middle to prevent the emotional Chu Linyu from getting close.

Yang Yuxiao came over wiping her tears, hugged Xia Lanzheng, and held back all the tears.

"Zhengzheng, you scared me to death," Yang Yuxiao smoothed Xia Lanzheng's hair. "Are you still feeling unwell? What did the doctor say? When can you go home?"

Xia Lanzheng's nose felt sore, but she rubbed it to avoid crying. She answered each question one by one, "I feel good everywhere. The doctor said there's nothing wrong. I can go home in two days."

Yang Yuxiao and Chu Linyu were relieved, and talked about holding another birthday for him, celebrating it at home, and buying him a big birthday cake.

Chu Lang entered the ward and placed the lunch box on the table: "Arrange a psychiatrist first."

Everyone was stunned. They were so anxious just now that no one thought of this.

Xia Lanzheng laughed and refused, but Chu Linchuan had already retreated to the window and called a friend to arrange for the best psychologist.

So he stopped worrying about it, didn't dare to look at Chu Linchuan's expression, and focused on filling his stomach.

Everyone stayed in the ward until evening. Chu Lang and Chu Linyu left first to handle work. The doctor came over, and Yang Yuxiao took the memo and went to communicate with him.

Xia Lanzheng and Chu Linchuan were the only ones left in the room. It was so quiet that they could hear each other's breathing.

This is not a solution. Xia Lanzheng knows that it is absolutely impossible not to make things clear.

Chu Linchuan stepped forward to cover him with the quilt, pinched the tip of his hair and asked, "Do you want to take a shower? I asked the doctor, and he said you can touch the water."

Xia Lanzheng grabbed his hand, nodded and shook her head, as if she had made up her mind: "Brother, do you know what you are talking about?"

He pointed at himself, then at Chu Linchuan: "We, uh..."

"Your last name isn't Chu," Chu Linchuan recalled the conversation he had with Xia Lanzheng that night in the bathroom. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "It's a good thing your last name isn't Chu."

Xia Lanzheng thought Chu Linchuan was crazy.

"Brother, you have no idea."

Chu Linchuan pulled his hand away, expressionless: "Stop talking about tongue twisters. How should I know if you don't tell me clearly what you know?"

Xia Lanzheng glared at him, deflated, and shrank back into the quilt, hiding her hands and feet inside, leaving only her face exposed.

He glanced outside the ward, hoping that Yang Yuxiao would come back soon.

He was stunned when he saw this. The figure outside was familiar. Xia Lanzheng quickly crawled out from under the quilt and pushed Chu Linchuan: "Get out."

Chu Linchuan paused while peeling an apple.

Xia Lanzheng repeated, "Brother, get out."

Chu Linchuan put the apple on the table, glanced towards the door, and his face suddenly turned ugly.

Song Xinghuai knocked on the door and stood there without moving.

Xia Lanzheng had already stood up from the bed and sat on the edge of it. She said to Chu Linchuan, "Brother, go out and wait. I want to talk to him alone for a while."