After discussion, the Jiang family decided to schedule the patient's admission to the hospital at the end of April.
The day Jiang Zhuo was admitted to the hospital, it happened to be the school's routine physical examination for high school students. There was no class in the morning, and the teenagers were all very energetic, laughing and playing carefree. After having their blood drawn, they were still full of energy and could even go to the playground with a basketball to play a game of basketball. They were full of energy.
The only exception was Shen Xu. His face was pale. He looked at the line in front of him getting shorter and shorter. He wanted to cry but had no tears. He hunched his thin shoulders, looking pitiful and helpless.
Jiang Chen stood behind him, holding a black-covered book in his hand, reading while waiting in line, leisurely and calm.
"Brother Jiang, why do they draw such a big tube of blood?" Shen Xu stretched his head to watch the person in front of him draw blood, and then he leaned against Jiang Chen tremblingly, his baby face pale, "I won't faint from too much blood loss, right?"
"You said this every time you drew blood. Have you ever fainted?" Jiang Chen glanced at him and lowered his eyes to read.
"You are destroying the bridge after crossing it!" Chen Xu was not comforted and instantly became dissatisfied. He became more energetic and said, "You want to change the test tube? I will change it if I say so. I just need a little comfort from you at such a tense moment. You actually ignored me like this. My body will be hurt later. Now you actually hurt my heart first. Do you have a conscience? Are you really my brother?"
Jiang Chen sighed in his heart, missing the time when Huo Bo was around. If Huo Bo was around, he could make Shen Xu shut up with just a look.
"How do you want me to comfort you?"
"Spend time with me for at least three days on May Day!" Chen Xu stood up straight immediately, counting on his fingers, and said, "One day to play ball, one day to play games, and one day for us..."
Jiang Chen didn't wait for him to finish and continued: "Go to the library to read."
"Why go to the library!" Chen Xu was dissatisfied: "Seven days off! It's a hard-earned short vacation! Who would go to the library! And how can there be seats in the library?"
"You'll go if there's a seat?"
"I..." Chen Xu pouted, knowing that Jiang Chen was determined to go, so he could only reluctantly say: "Let's go, my parents are at home during the holiday. Although they know that I'm playing with you, they won't say anything to me, but if they know that we are going to the library, I might get more pocket money next month."
Jiang Chen patted his shoulder and raised his chin slightly: "It's your turn."
The blood drawing here has basically been completed. Most of the boys rushed to the front and left after the blood was drawn. Most of the girls lined up behind the boys, but they also knew that they had to have the blood drawn sooner or later. Although they were at the end of the line, they did not dawdle and just rolled up their sleeves to get the blood drawn. Only Chen Xu was afraid of needles and blood, and he insisted on dragging Jiang Chen to the end until only the two of them were left in the entire arranged office.
However, this is exactly what Jiang Chen needs.
Shen Xu stepped forward, and the nurse looked up at him and asked, "Jiang Chen?"
Shen Xu paused and nodded.
"Put your hands down. When I tell you to make a fist, you do it. When I tell you to loosen your hands, you do it." Perhaps because Chen Xu looked so unhappy and it was the last two students, the nurse smiled and comforted him, "Student Jiang Chen, don't be afraid. This will be done in no time."
The fake Jiang Chen nodded, grabbed the real Jiang Chen's arm with one hand, put the other hand on the cushion, stiffened his neck and closed his eyes as if he was being tortured.
Jiang Chen sighed, covered Shen Xu's eyes, and whispered to the nurse: "Please be gentle."
"Don't worry." The nurse smiled and said, "It's just an ant bite, no..."
“Ahhhhh——”
Before the nurse finished saying it didn't hurt, Shen Xu's shout scared her so much that her hands almost shook. Fortunately, she still had her professionalism and quickly pulled out the needle, completing the procedure.
But he was really frightened, and said in a funny and angry tone: "How can it hurt so much, classmate Jiang Chen, you are a grown man, and you are drawing blood like a child."
Chen Xu covered his arm, looking fragile but confident: "I, Jiang Chen, am afraid of injections. I have been afraid of them since I was a child. Not only am I afraid of injections, but also..."
Jiang Chen rolled up his sleeves and glanced at him calmly as he stretched out his hand, and Shen Xu immediately shut up.
The nurse quickly drew Jiang Chen's blood, and after that she said to Shen Xu, "Look at classmate 'Shen Xu', he's not afraid at all. You are friends, so learn from him."
Chen Xu laughed so hard that he held his stomach and doubled over. Without waiting for Jiang Chen to speak, he nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay, I will definitely learn from classmate 'Chen Xu'."
After the physical examination comes the May Day holiday.
The school was on holiday yesterday, and Jiang Zhuo was officially admitted to the hospital to prepare for surgery. Yang Si went to the hospital early in the morning with the spare clothes and breakfast that he had not brought yesterday. Jiang Chen went there at noon, and after taking shifts with Yang Si to deliver lunch to Jiang Zhuo, he sat with him for a while before being driven away.
Mr. and Mrs. Jiang Zhuo both felt that after the incident at home, Jiang Chen's personality became much more serious than before. Although he seemed more sensible to others, they felt distressed. Before, the child would often go out to play ball and have fun with friends during the holidays, but now he always stays at home, either reading or helping out. A child of this age doesn't need this, they just hope he is happy.
So, when Jiang Zhuo saw Jiang Chen sitting next to him, picking up the book he brought and opening it, as if he was going to read for the whole afternoon, he took the book out of his hand without hesitation and drove him out. Before that, he stuffed fifty yuan into his hand and told him to go find Chen Xu and Huo Bo, and tell him where to go and what to eat, and not to stay stuck at home or in the hospital all the time.
Jiang Chen had no choice but to leave the hospital with the money.
Today is the first day of May Day. Shen Xu and his parents went to visit relatives. Huo Bo is not in Yan City now, so he had planned to read books and take care of his father in the hospital today. Now his plan was disrupted and he didn't know where to go.
Walking to the hospital entrance, Jiang Chen paused and his eyes fell on the bustling and quaint old street two blocks away.
It is an antique street, which is quite famous in Yan City. A few years ago, someone bought a long-necked gourd bottle from the Qianlong period for thirty yuan at a street stall. The bottle was later auctioned for nearly three million yuan. He became rich overnight. Since then, the antique street has become more famous, and people come here to shop for treasures in an endless stream, and it has attracted many tourists to visit.
Although Jiang Chen has always lived in Yan City, he only passed by there in his first life and never went in. The same was true in this life. Now he had nothing to do, so he turned around and walked towards the Antique Street.
The Antique Street is bustling with people, and now that it is a holiday, there are even more tourists.
Jiang Chen had just walked a few steps inside and was ready to turn around and walk back, but the crowded crowd pushed him forward, and it was difficult to turn back, so he had to choose to go out from the other end of the Antique Street.
Most of the shops on both sides are decorated in retro style. There are large shops with red doors and stone lions, and small shops with wooden beams and carved windows. If it weren't for the crowded crowds in modern attire, at first glance it would look like a realistic ancient scene.
Jiang Chen stopped in front of a wooden door, his eyes fixed on a copper basin placed casually at the door. The basin was full of round ancient coins, some clean, some mottled, and of varying sizes.
"Sir, would you like to buy some copper coins?" Perhaps because he had been standing there for a long time, the clerk, who was dressed in retro style, came over and said something that was neither ancient nor modern: "If you want to buy, our Gu Yun Zhai will definitely meet your needs. Which era do you want? I'll show it to you."
Jiang Chen came back to his senses, politely declined the clerk's sales pitch, and turned to leave the store.
After standing at the door for a few seconds, he pursed his lips and walked in the opposite direction of the crowd.
After leaving the Antique Street, Jiang Chen sat down at the bus stop nearby, lowering his eyes and thinking about what he had just suddenly remembered.
In his first life, when the company he co-founded with Huo Bochen Xu was just starting out, they finally negotiated a cooperation that was extremely important to them at the time. In order to express their respect for their future partners, the three of them attended the banquet held by that partner.
He never liked to attend these banquets and had only been to a few in total. That banquet was one that had a profound impact on him, because after a few drinks, their future partner grabbed the hand of Jiang Chen, who was sitting next to him, and told him his story of how he made his fortune.
"On Labor Day in 2004, I had an idea and decided to visit my relatives in the suburbs of Yan City. Who knew that I actually picked up a Hubei Official Money Bureau silver note on the way. Do you know what a Hubei Official Money Bureau silver note is? Have you seen it? Let me tell you... On that silver note it was written 'Present the note to obtain an estimated amount of 10 taels of silver'. I still remember it clearly, not a single word missing! When I saw the silver note, my heart skipped a beat and I knew that my chance to make a fortune had come, so I immediately hid it and took it home. Facts have proved that I was indeed as good as a god. At the Hong Kong auction in 2006, do you know how much that silver note was sold for? One million and three hundred thousand! One million and three hundred thousand! That's how I made my first pot of gold, hahahaha..."
Although he only said this once, Jiang Chen had an excellent memory. In addition, the experience of being held by the hand by a drunk man and telling him the story of his rags to riches while dancing the yangge was too special. He was unable to erase this incident and the out-of-tune singing he had sung at the top of his voice from his memory even after two lifetimes.
However, this incident has never occupied an important part in his memory. It is a kind of memory garbage that is so impressive that it is difficult to erase. Therefore, before seeing the basin of copper coins just now, he had no recollection of it at all. But after seeing those copper coins, the memory naturally emerged.
Now is the first day of Labor Day in 2004. Although it is not known on which day of the holiday the man picked up the banknote, it is also within this period of time. After thinking for a while, Jiang Chen decided to go and take a look in front of the antique shop.
If he picked up the silver note today, he would keep the money, if not, he would not go a second time.
The No. 213 bus stopped in front of him. Jiang Chen stood up and got on the bus.
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