26
It was not until dark that Xu Xiao left the back mountain.
Chen Nan and Xu Xi had already prepared the meal and were talking to the other two people.
The educated youth's settlement had a large courtyard surrounding two low bungalows. The main gate was a rusty iron gate that made a dull creaking sound when moved.
Hearing the sound, the four of them turned to look at the door. It was Xu Xiao who had returned, carrying a bag in her hand.
Xu Xi came forward in a fawning manner: "Sister Xu, give me the things. Brother Fang said he wants to talk to you about something!"
"..." Xu Xiao glanced sideways. From the moment she walked in, there was a pair of eyes fixed on her.
Following his gaze, Fang Hui saw a blond, blue-eyed foreign man wearing a white coat standing next to him.
No doctor here would wear such clothes. They are too clean and don't look like someone who saves lives and deals with herbs all day.
Xu Xiao had already guessed the man's identity; it was the senior brother Fang Hui had mentioned earlier. She hummed, handed the item to Xu Xi, and said to the foreigner, "Will we start now?"
Her words were so incoherent that the three of them looked puzzled. Only the foreign brother had a look of surprise on his face. He replied, "Fang, this person is very worth studying."
The senior brother used English, but everyone present had learned English. Fang Hui's mouth twitched, and he whispered a reminder: "Senior brother, A Xiao is not a guinea pig, let alone an experimental subject for your research."
The senior brother nodded casually, bowed in a gentlemanly manner, and spoke haltingly in Chinese: "Beautiful lady, it is an honor. I am..."
Xu Xiao waved her hand and walked towards her and Chen Nan's room: "Come here." She spoke in English.
The senior brother realized something was wrong. He looked at Fang Hui, surprised and bewildered, and shouted in Chinese: "Fang! Why didn't you tell me?"
Xu Xi interrupted at the right time: "Brother, that's called telling, not suing."
"Sorry to bother you, senior brother." Instead of calling out a long list of names, they prefer to just call him "senior brother", and Chen Nan is no exception.
Xu Xi and Chen Nan spoke in English one after another. Fang Hui shrugged his shoulders, half leaning lazily against Chen Nan, and said with a helpless smile: "Brother, I told you, you don't have to hide your words here."
Perhaps, even if they spoke English, my senior brother might not be able to understand. Language can be encrypted, and so can grammar.
Chinese characters are profound and extensive, and there are thousands of grammars in them. If they are used in English, there will be countless idiots who cannot understand them.
So what if it is ungrammatical, as long as it can express the meaning. One of the functions of language is social function. If it can convey information, then it is good language.
After all, Fang Hui didn't provoke his senior brother in English because he was his brother, but his words were still very hurtful.
The senior brother changed his previous enthusiasm and did not move for a long time. I don’t know what he was hesitating about.
Fang Hui urged him: "Brother, A Xiao is the person I told you about in the letter. Don't worry, A Xiao won't hit anyone casually."
Rather than Fang Hui's words, the senior brother was more concerned about the fact that as a doctor, his identity had been exposed by a patient in advance. To him, this was a failure.
But he couldn't say that. The senior brother looked at Chen Nan with a smile: "Dear Chen, can you do me a favor?"
The senior student had only studied Chinese for a week, so he naturally used English. In fact, he still felt a little resentful of Fang Hui. Knowing that the young apprentice needed help, the master had found a lot of books for him to learn Chinese overnight.
What else could it be?! It was just so he could communicate with them, but… they could understand English, but he couldn’t understand their Chinese.
Senior Brother: Human hearts are so treacherous that even a junior brother cannot be fully trusted (unfair).
Both men showed sympathetic expressions towards their senior brother.
If anyone was the least likely to betray Xu Xiao, it would be Chen Nan. Coupled with the previous incident, Chen Nan felt even more guilty towards Xu Xiao.
Ask her to betray Xu Xiao? You're dreaming.
But they didn't say it. Xu Xi was not familiar with his senior brother, while Fang Hui felt that his senior brother had no sense of boundaries.
And dear Chen, he has known Nan Nan for more than ten years, but he has never called her like that!
When you talk to him about foreign etiquette, he can understand it, but he can't accept it.
The two of them were surprisingly tacitly in sync at this moment, and tacitly watched their senior brother continue to make a blunder.
Chen Nan didn't know what they were thinking. She only knew that her senior brother was a doctor who specialized in treating Xu Xiao.
Therefore, she treated her senior brother very well, even pushing Fang Hui away from her and said cooperatively: "Senior brother, just tell me what you need."
As expected, the senior brother was courting death. He said, "I heard that Xu was hypnotized by a certain plant, and Fang said you dug that plant up. I need you to bring it into Xu's room—"
Before he could finish, Chen Nan's attitude had changed. Her eyes were filled with suspicion. "Aren't you treating Sister Xiao?"
Puzzled, the senior brother turned to look at Fang Hui: "Fang, didn't you say that was your sister? How did she become Chen's sister?"
Foreigners are such a nuisance. This thought occurred to the three of them simultaneously.
Chen Nan raised his chin slightly and said to Fang Hui as if giving an order: "Fang Hui, explain to him. Also, I need a reason."
Xu Xi took the opportunity to run into the room and put Xu Xiao's things in a public place. The bag was not chained, and small items such as a knife and a lighter could be seen inside.
He deliberately found a clean and conspicuous place to put it.
As soon as he put it down, he rushed out. Based on his experience over the past year, he could often hear a lot of gossip at this time.
There are no entertainment venues in the countryside. If you want to relax, you can just run into the fields and howl for a while after work, or just stroll around the village.
"Brother, Axiao is my sister, and she is also Nannan's sister, but we are not related by blood." Fang Hui could only explain it carefully to his brother. He was so dry-mouthed by the end, but his brother still didn't understand.
But the senior brother didn't want to find out about this; he was just curious. But after hearing Fang Hui's list of people, he felt it was unimportant.
Fang Hui conveyed Chen Nan's words. The senior brother was very excited and said with excitement: "Xu, she is an absolute treasure."
As soon as the word "baby" came out, Xu Xi stopped running, even the smile on Chen Nan's face froze, and Fang Hui subconsciously covered his senior brother's mouth.
He hurriedly said, "Brother's point is that Ah Xiao is worth observing. This is definitely not what you understand! Don't worry, Brother won't have any second thoughts about Ah Xiao!"
Fang Hui really couldn't express the medical fanatic's obsession with research, so he had no choice but to use his senior brother's words.
Xu Xi quickly recovered, even holding a half-pack of defective plants—a gift from Chen Bei. He was the first to notice something was amiss in the yard, and after he informed Xu Xiao, Xu Xiao and Chen Nan destroyed the plants overnight.
He handed it to Chen Nan: "This is what Brother Chen gave me. He said you might need it."
Chen Nan snatched it away and put it in her pocket. She said coldly, "Fang Hui, he's here to treat Sister Xiao, not to let you do so-called research!"
Fang Hui scratched his head in pain, which gave his senior brother an opening. He pushed Fang Hui away and said sincerely, "Dear Chen, I absolutely did not intend to use Xu as a test subject. She is so beautiful, so..."
Chen Nan's eyebrows twitched. Even if she disliked Chen Bei, since Sister Xiao liked Chen Bei, she had to support him. She interrupted her senior brother again: "Why do you want me to do that?"
Knowing that the thing would affect Sister Xiao, you still want her to hurt her?
The senior brother looked like a doctor now. He coughed twice and smiled gently, "Fang said Xu had finally broken free from hypnosis, but what if he hadn't?"
He saw a contradiction and escape in Xu Xiao.
He is a doctor, and this will never change. Since Xu Xiao walked in, he has been observing his patients.
This patient is very special. It is said that she is very strong in fighting and even has a way of observing human nature. But she is sick, and the patient cannot defeat the doctor.
Chen Nan slowly took the things out and said in a hoarse voice, "What else did you see?"
She believed her senior brother's words. She had known Sister Xiao for many years and could clearly sense that something was wrong with her, but she could only pretend not to know. Only then would Sister Xiao trust her.
In fact, Xu Xiao has never been her sister. More often than not, she is the older sister of the two.
So, from the very beginning, she realized that something was wrong. She told Chen Bei to call a doctor, but she was afraid that Xu Xiao would not trust her, so she could only leave everything to Chen Bei and push the responsibility to Chen Bei.
"Did Ji Hong and Zhao Ling bully you? Or was it your stepmother? Stupid! I told you before..."
"Nannan, I didn't mean to dirty you."
"What happened? Can you tell me?"
"Nannan, they won't succeed."
Chen Nan recalled the conversation between her and Xu Xiao under the mulberry tree, as well as the sentence "Come here, sister give you a hug" a few days ago. She didn't know what Xu Xiao had been through, but she could feel that something was wrong with Xu Xiao.
The senior brother smiled and avoided answering: "Chen, this is the patient's privacy, I can't tell you."
Xu Xi ran to Chen Nan and said in a low voice with a mysterious look on his face, "Sister Chen, do you really want to give it to him? What if Brother Chen doesn't mean this is the right time? You have to think it over carefully."
As someone with connections to both sides, Fang Hui couldn't get involved. As soon as he arrived at the educated youth site, he pulled Xu Xi aside for a few words of advice, saying nothing more than "persuading Nan Nan" and "thinking things over carefully"...
As the last disciple, Fang Hui knew all too well his master's research direction. It was an unspeakable field, yet it also involved countless sacrifices and deaths. Only in this way could truth emerge.
Emotionally and logically, he hoped Xu Xiao was normal, so that he wouldn't need his senior brother. But Chen Bei insisted that he ask his senior brother to come back, leaving him with no other choice. His last hope lay with Chen Nan.
But from the current perspective, his worries have come true. Once something happens to Xu Xiao, neither Chen Bei nor Chen Nan can remain calm.
Fang Hui raised his head: "Brother, Xiao is also my sister, thank you for your help."
He was reminding the other party not to go too far. He could see the surprise in his brother's eyes, a surprise and joy at something unexpected. But there was no other way, he had to let his brother come.
The senior brother inherited the master's mantle, and his research direction is also the spiritual aspect of human beings. The master cannot move around easily, so he can only let the senior brother do it.
After comforting himself, Fang Hui walked to the other side of Chen Nan. He took Chen Nan's left hand with one hand and clasped his fingers together: "Nan Nan, don't worry, nothing will happen to Ah Xiao."
Chen Nan nodded, her face a little pale, and she asked softly: "How much do you want?"
The senior brother looked a little stunned. He had never seen the plant that could affect people's minds, so he didn't know what dosage to use. After thinking for a while, he said boldly: "Chen, use all of it."
Xu Xiao is a special patient. He thinks that perhaps only in this way can he see the patient's inner world.
It's true that he's a psychiatrist, but he relies on skills and experience. This is the first time he's encountered a patient like Xu Xiao.
When his experience is useless, he can only try boldly.
After a few minutes, Chen Nan and Xu Xiao came out one after the other. Chen Nan spoke first, "Let's eat. There's still time to watch after eating. Xu Xi, serve the dishes!"
"Okay!" Xu Xi responded quickly, leaving Fang Hui and his senior brother standing in the yard.
The food was kept warm in a big pot, and there was a faint fire burning in the earthen stove to prevent the food from getting completely cold.
Xu Xiao sat on a small wooden stool in front of the stove, looking up slightly as Chen Nan and Xu Xi brought the food into the next room. The kitchen was an additional small room, and next door was the main room where everyone ate together.
Normally, everyone preferred to have their meals brought into their own rooms. Since those people left, the three of them ate directly in the small hall next door to avoid trouble.
The conversation between two people outside came in:
"Brother, this is not a research institute! You can't use your previous habits here!" Fang Hui always subconsciously lowered his voice when speaking English, but even so it did not affect the laziness and casualness of his voice.
"Oh no! Fang, you can't think that! I'm so serious about my research, you can't look at me like that!"
"Brother, Ah Xiao is my sister. I asked you to come here to ask for your help and to show you—"
Xu Xiao suddenly stood up, and Chen Nan turned around and called her: "Sister Xiao? Where are you going?"
The noise outside suddenly died down. Xu Xiao bit into an unlit cigarette, his lips moving slightly: "Let's take a look first."
Otherwise, everyone would look so frightened that how could they have a good meal?
She walked out and met her senior brother's gaze, curious and tentative: "You check first."
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