Why is it him again?
Cheng Xiaorui's eyelids felt like they were filled with lead, and he struggled three times before finally opening them. He was greeted by an unfamiliar white ceiling, and the sting of disinfectant made his temples throb. He instinctively raised his hand to rub his eyes, but found an IV needle stuck in the back of his hand, dripping droplets of transparent liquid.
"woke up?"
The voice made Cheng Xiaorui stiffen. He whipped his head around and saw Lu Ziyi leaning against the window, the twilight casting a gilded edge on him. The papers he was holding rustled, and Cheng Xiaorui squinted to make out the bold words at the top: "Gastroscopy Report."
"Damn it, why are you here again?" Cheng Xiaorui's voice was a bit speechless, and his throat felt like it had been rubbed by sandpaper. He looked down and saw his blue and white striped hospital gown, the collar was open and exposed his bony collarbone. His blood immediately drained away. "Where is this?"
Lu Ziyi folded the report into four. "City Central Hospital Emergency Department." He paused, then suddenly let out a sarcastic laugh. "Why, you don't even remember that you almost died on the road?"
Memories flooded back. The screeching brakes of a black car in the middle of the road, and...
"It's you?" Cheng Xiaorui clutched the bed sheet tightly. What bad luck had happened to him? He would rather it was someone else who got out of the car instead of Lu Ziyi.
"What else?" Lu Ziyi took a step forward, his leather shoes making a crisp sound on the floor. "Waiting to be run over?" He suddenly leaned over and pinched Cheng Xiaorui's chin with his fingers. "Or are you trying to scam me?"
“…”
"Go away." Cheng Xiaorui said lightly.
Lu Ziyihao didn't care and changed the subject, "So you have stomach problems, why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Cheng Xiaorui slapped his hand away, and the IV tube shook violently: "It's none of your business. Even if I tell you, will you stop bothering me?" His voice was hoarse but sharp, "Where's my mom? What time is it now?"
The clock on the wall read 6:30 PM, and Cheng Xiaorui's face turned pale. He tried to pull out the needle, but Lu Ziyi pushed it back.
"Are you crazy?" Lu Ziyi grabbed his wrist with such force that it almost broke his bones. "Lie back down."
"Let go! Who is the crazy one?" Cheng Xiaorui struggled violently, the collar of his hospital gown sliding down to his shoulders, revealing a purple patch below his collarbone. "Don't you want to kill me? What are you doing now?"
Lu Ziyi swallowed back the swear words that were about to burst out of his mouth. He felt an annoying confusion about himself - why did it have to be Cheng Xiaorui? He couldn't figure out why he felt itchy when he saw Cheng Xiaorui, wanted to go up to him and provoke him, wanted to use clumsy words to hurt him.
The urge to grab his collar, to corner him, to see his eyes turn red, surged through his chest like a wild animal. This sheer desire to bully someone upset him, and what was even more annoying was that he couldn't even come up with a decent excuse for this asshole's behavior.
Lu Zi couldn't understand why this almost despicable desire would arise from just one person. This wasn't kindness at all, more like an out-of-control gravitational pull, a jerk instinct specifically directed at Cheng Xiaorui that wanted to get close but could only express itself through bullying.
"If my mother doesn't see me when she goes back."
Lu Ziyi suddenly let go of his hand and took out his phone from his pocket: "Name."
"What?"
"Your mother's name." Lu Ziyi had already opened the address book. "I'll have someone pick her up."
Cheng Xiaorui fell silent. He looked at the man who had once pinned him against the toilet wall, now frowning and waiting for his answer. The dusk outside the window grew thicker.
"Cheng Zhixu." He finally whispered, "In the convenience store..."
"I know." Lu Ziyi interrupted him, sliding his finger across the screen quickly. "That store around the corner, I saw her organizing the shelves a few days ago."
Cheng Xiaorui's pupils suddenly shrank: "Are you following me?"
"Who's following you? Can't I just go shopping?" Lu Ziyi pressed the call button and walked towards the window. "Uncle Chen, go pick someone up..."
Cheng Xiaorui fell into a state of wild thoughts again. What if he saw me helping in the store that day... What if my mother found out... Cheng Xiaorui looked at his back and suddenly noticed that there was a wrinkle on the back of Lu Ziyi's shirt, as if someone had once held it tightly.
"Yes." Lu Ziyi hung up the phone and turned around to see Cheng Xiaorui staring at his hands in a daze. "What's wrong? Is your stomach hurting again?"
Cheng Xiaorui didn't answer, suddenly feeling incredibly tired. The drug was starting to take effect, and his eyelids were starting to feel heavy again. In a daze, he saw Lu Ziyi walk back to the bed and reach out to pull the quilt over him.
The hand paused as it touched his shoulder. It had originally intended to touch the faint bruise on Cheng Xiaorui's neck, but ultimately withdrew its hand. When the ward door opened, Cheng Zhixu's work apron fell to the ground, and his eyes flickered between his son on the hospital bed and the strange young man by the window.
"Mom?" Cheng Xiaorui subconsciously wanted to sit up straight, but the pain in his stomach forced him to groan.
Cheng Zhixu rushed to the bedside in two steps, and stroked his son's pale cheek with trembling fingers: "What's going on? Cheng Cheng..."
Lu Ziyi moved calmly toward the door, then paused. "Hello, Auntie." His voice was an octave lower than usual. "I'm Xiaorui's friend. My name is Lu Ziyi."
Cheng Xiaorui had nothing to say and could only clench his fists under the quilt.
Cheng Zhixu turned to the tall boy and bowed deeply: "Thank you for taking care of Cheng Cheng."
Lu Ziyi's Adam's apple rolled. This bowing angle reminded him of his mother bowing to others in the same way when he was a child, but he had never done that before.
"Mom...I made you worry..." Cheng Xiaorui's voice was as light as a feather.
Cheng Zhixu suddenly hugged her son tightly, and a half-eaten rice ball fell out of her apron pocket. Lu Ziyi saw her tired eyes, her slender wrists that matched Cheng Xiaorui's, and her shoulders trembling slightly as they hugged.
"What happened?" Cheng Zhixu held his son's face, "Why did it happen so suddenly?"
"It's like this, classmate Cheng has a stomach--" Lu Ziyi's words stopped abruptly.
"Heatstroke!" Cheng Xiaorui suddenly raised his voice, the IV tube shaking violently with his movements. "The weather is too hot... Classmate Lu just happened to be passing by..."
Lu Ziyi's brows knitted together. Cheng Zhixu turned to look out the window. A drizzle was falling over the dusky city. She opened her mouth, but ultimately just gently grasped her son's cold fingers.
"Student Lu," her voice was like warm honey, making the smell of disinfectant in the ward fade a little. "Thank you so much for taking care of Cheng Cheng today." She paused, a small smile appearing at the corners of her eyes. "Can you show me the bill?"
Lu Ziyi's eyes passed over her white nails, and he suddenly thought of Cheng Xiaorui's hands with the same well-defined joints, but they were less weathered.
"No need, Auntie, I've already paid..." He heard his voice unconsciously become softer, as if he was afraid of disturbing something.
Cheng Zhixu shook his head stubbornly and took out a neatly folded banknote from his old wallet: "How can this be possible?"
"It's nothing. Cheng has helped me a lot at school." Lu Ziyi interrupted her.
He suddenly understood who Cheng Xiaorui's eyes, which always contained stubbornness, looked like - at this moment, these similar eyes were looking at him gently, with light lines at the corners of his eyes, like the traces of a gentle kiss from time.
Cheng Xiaorui looked up suddenly. Lu Ziyi stood in the backlight, his outline outlined by the corridor light. The earrings on his earlobes shone faintly, just like his dark eyes.
The raindrops outside the window hit the glass obliquely. Cheng Zhixu's back as he turned around to tuck the corner of the quilt for his son reminded Lu Ziyi of an old movie he had watched when he was a child.
Cheng Zhixu turned around and saw the boy's stern features softening in a rare moment. Little did she know that this seemingly pampered boy was actually inhaling the lingering scent of her—a scent he had never experienced before, the scent of home.
"You..." Lu Ziyi's voice suddenly became hoarse, "You are a very good mother..."
This sentence plunged the ward into a strange silence. Cheng Zhixu froze for a moment, then suddenly reached out to straighten Lu Ziyi's crooked collar. "Good boy... do you want to have dinner together?"
Lu Ziyi took a half step back. "Next time." He turned and tried to leave. "I wish your son a speedy recovery."
The door closed quietly, and Cheng Xiaorui could sense a change in Lu Ziyi's expression.
Outside the window, Lu Ziyi's figure passed through the rain and finally disappeared at the corner of the neon-lit street.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
