drunk
The boss enthusiastically brought out two large bottles of beer, and Jiang Qing took the first sip.
As the cool liquid entered her throat, she sighed, "Great!"
"Drink it." Jiang Qing urged.
Chen Heng: "...I have to ride my bike to take you home."
Jiang Qing stood up and knocked the beer in front of Chen Heng. "Drink it, let's take a taxi back."
Facing the girl's burning gaze, Chen Heng finally stretched out his hand, raised his head, and his throat rolled.
Jiang Qing kept urging people to drink and fanning the flames.
Chen Heng drank bottle after bottle of beer. In the end, even the liquid tasted bitter, but he continued to swallow it in big gulps.
The wine spilled, wetting the white neck and shining under the light.
Jiang Qing was slumped on the table, holding a glass of beer, looking at the blush rising on the boy's face and his drunken eyes.
She asked, "Is it related to Chen Xu?"
Chen Heng paused, put down his wine glass heavily, and said self-deprecatingly: "Even you can see it."
Jiang Qing: "You were too obvious."
Ever since Chen Xu first appeared, Chen Heng became a little abnormal.
Chen Heng sneered. He hated himself so much. Why was he always upset by Chen Xu's affairs?
"Chen Xu is my brother."
Maybe it was because the girl's eyes were too bright, maybe it was because the alcohol had paralyzed his brain, or maybe it was because he had been suppressing his emotions for too long and was about to be driven crazy.
Chen Heng spoke out the words that had been buried in his heart in the past.
"When we were little, we were brothers who always stuck together."
"He and I look a lot alike. He's like a bigger version of me. Mom always dresses us in the same clothes, one big and one small. When we walk down the street, everyone knows we're a family."
"Chen Xu has a good temper. He's very well behaved every day and sits there quietly."
"But I'm not like that. He and I have completely opposite personalities. I'm tough and active."
"Chen Xu sat outside the playground and watched me play with sand. Even if I threw sand at him, he would just yell my name in anger."
"At that time, Chen Xu took the blame for the wallpaper I tore and the floor I scribbled on."
At this point, Chen Heng smiled and said, "He was small, with his arms outstretched, protecting me behind him, and tugging at my father's clothes to stop him."
"She bit the back of Dad's hand like a puppy, forcing him to let go."
"For this, I received fewer beatings."
The more Jiang Qing listened, the more confused she became. It didn't match her expectations. Why did it sound like a heartwarming story?
"And then?"
Later - Chen Heng's brows sank, and he swallowed a few mouthfuls of bitter liquid.
"I was probably five or six years old. I don't remember exactly, but I do remember waking up in Chen Xu's crib one day. The house was pitch black and empty."
Jiang Qing couldn't help but frown. It was too irresponsible to leave such a young child alone at home.
"I called out to my brother, my mother, and my father, but there was only an echo in the empty room."
That night, little Chen Heng turned on all the lights in the room and cried while making a phone call using his watch.
There were repeated beeps, but no one answered.
He sat barefoot at the gate, hugging his knees and comforting himself, waiting and waiting from dusk to dawn, until a ray of sunlight shone on his dirty little feet, and then he heard footsteps.
Chen Heng said, "I have found the person I am waiting for."
The boy's expression was very calm, and it was precisely this calmness that allowed people to glimpse the panic and fear of the little boy at that time.
Otherwise, how could he remember it so clearly and speak so quietly.
Chen Heng turned around and said, "They are back, holding Chen Xu."
Little Chen Heng ran forward and was about to speak when his mother made a hushed gesture to him, "Keep your voice down, your brother just fell asleep."
The child was stunned and didn't dare to speak.
He wanted to say that he was scared, that he felt a little cold and very hungry, that he wanted to ask his mother why she didn't answer the phone, and that he wanted to cry and throw himself into his mother's arms for a hug.
But he did nothing and just watched his mother carrying his brother pass by him.
"I followed him." Chen Heng omitted the middle process.
Just when Jiang Qing thought that this tragedy was caused by the parents' favoritism, the boy's next words overturned the whole direction of the story.
"Mom told me that Chen Xu is sick."
"Aplastic anemia, a disease in which the entire blood is cytokine-deficient due to failure of the bone marrow to produce blood cells."
"Chen Xu can't run, can't jump, can't eat spicy food, can't eat cold food. He has to stay well behaved every day."
"That's when I realized why he was always so quiet and had white cheeks."
"He is like a piece of glass jade, which will easily break if no one takes care of him."
"Chen Xu was shorter than his peers. He sat by the window and watched me playing football in the yard. Although I didn't know what it felt like at the time, I thought, I have to start learning to be a big brother."
"He protected me before, and I will protect him from now on."
From that night on, the little child shed his youthfulness and immaturity and learned to take care of the sick Chen Xu.
I always have to get up in the middle of the night to check his breathing and touch his heaving belly.
Little Chen Heng no longer ran out to play with his friends every day, and no longer played football in the yard. He imitated the little people on TV and pulled Chen Xu to lie on the table together to do handicrafts, play twill and gobang.
Even though no one asked him to do so.
Of course, no one told him not to do this.
Chen Heng's mischievous side gradually faded away, and time sculpted him into a man who looked like Chen Xu, as if they were carved from the same mold.
Just as well-behaved, just as obedient, just as quiet.
Chen Xu was forced.
So is Chen Heng.
Everyone praised Qian Ying for raising a pair of good sons, and Qian Ying always responded with a smile. Even Chen Heng couldn't help but straighten his chest when he heard these words.
He can be a good brother and a good son, and he must do so.
As time went by, even Chen Heng himself almost forgot what he looked like originally.
It was not until he entered junior high school that Chen Xiangrong brought back a medical journal.
The first time Chen Heng saw it on the coffee table, he had a vague and shallow idea. Why not?
Yeah, why not?
He began to read various medical books, learn the structure of human organs, and come into contact with the most basic medical knowledge.
Chen Xiangrong returned with more medical information the next day.
Chen Heng absorbed this unfamiliar and obscure knowledge eagerly, and gradually, such voices began to appear in his ears.
"You are very talented in medicine. It would be nice for you to be a doctor in the future."
"It's not easy to have a hobby of your own. Xiaoheng must stick to it."
"Xiao Heng, Xiao Xu might depend on you in the future."
......
At that time, Chen Heng didn't think there was anything wrong with these words.
He was immersed in the so-called honey, the so-called hope.
Yes, Chen Xu was sick, why couldn't he be the one to cure him?
He diligently studied the symptoms of aplastic anemia, always reminded himself of his patients' illnesses and taboos, and regarded himself as a professional caregiver.
During those years, Chen Xu rarely had to go to the hospital because of his care.
Everything seemed to be moving in a good direction, and that would have been the case on the surface if Chen Heng hadn't known about those things later.
"Chen Xu is sick. In my heart, I consider myself his brother. I take care of him and care about him because he is my relative, my family."
Chen Heng's voice was hoarse, "But I'm not a tool."
"I'm not a tool," he muttered, tilting his head back and chugging a large bottle of beer.
His brain felt swollen and something seemed to be squeezing his chest, making it so tight that he couldn't breathe.
"Jiang Jiang," the boy looked up, his face wet. Jiang Qing couldn't tell if it was tears or alcohol. "He was diagnosed with the disease when he was one year old. He is two years older than me."
"Aplastic anemia," he said, his smile hinting at madness. "It requires umbilical cord blood."
"Do you know what this means?" he asked.
Jiang Qing's heart sank for some reason as the boy spoke. She thought vaguely, she was so smart, of course she knew.
Chen Xu was diagnosed with the disease when he was one year old, and the following year, Chen Heng was born.
What else could it be?
"I was born because of Chen Xu!" Chen Heng suddenly threw the beer bottle to the ground, and the broken blue glass exploded all over the ground.
"Ha," he stumbled, holding onto the table, "how ridiculous!"
"I am this person," he pointed at himself, "from top to bottom, inside and out."
"Even my life was given by Chen Xu!"
Chen Heng was laughing when suddenly tears started streaming down his face.
His feet felt weak and he stumbled, trying to grab onto something.
Jiang Qing quickly stood up and wanted to help the person, but she felt dizzy as soon as she stood up.
She was caught off guard and fell back into the chair. Unable to react for a moment, she covered her buttocks and stared blankly at the boy opposite her.
Chen Heng was drunk. He felt as if the world was spinning and he felt powerless all over.
He fell to the ground, opened his legs, and grabbed the girl's clothes with one hand.
"Jiang Jiang, they want me to study medicine," he trailed off, "They want me to study medicine..."
Perhaps because she had just stood up and exercised, Jiang Qing slowly realized that the alcohol was starting to take effect and she seemed to be drunk too.
Noticing that Chen Heng had fallen silent, she pulled the boy's hand away.
Slowly walked around to the front of him, squatted down, and looked out.
She moved her rosy face closer and held Chen Heng's face in her hands.
The boy's black eyelashes were stained with moisture, his eyes were drunken and hazy, his face was full of sadness, the corners of his eyes were slightly red, and his face looked broken.
As Jiang Qing watched, she suddenly exerted force with her hands.
With a "smacking" sound, Chen Heng was forced to pout his lips like a duck.
Even though he was drunk, Chen Heng could still feel the pain. He frowned, opened his eyes, and his head couldn't help but struggle.
"Don't move!" Jiang Qing scolded.
Chen Heng's eyelashes trembled, and he stared blankly at the serious-looking girl in front of him, and indeed he did not move.
Seeing that the other party was well-behaved, Jiang Qing nodded with satisfaction.
The little hand passed through the pocket three times but did not enter, "Where's my phone?"
She lowered her head in confusion, "My phone..."
Chen Heng struggled to lift his heavy hands and yanked the girl's cell phone out of her pocket in a daze.
Jiang Qing took it and pinched Chen Heng's face with one hand to prevent him from moving.
"Okay, it looks good," she said, her tongue twisted unconsciously. "I'm taking an artistic photo."
"Free, no charge, no money required."
But the pink old phone didn't allow her to do that. Jiang Qing fiddled with it for a long time but couldn't get the camera out.
She was so anxious that she was sweating all over.
As Jiang Qing was fiddling with it, she got angry, opened the dial-up interface, entered the numbers, and made a call.
After a "beep", the call was connected.
"Lin," Jiang Qing's eyes began to water and her voice was hoarse.
"Jiang Jiang, what's wrong?" Hearing the girl's crying voice, the boy's voice became anxious.
"Wow... I can't take pictures..."
Jiang Qing suddenly felt extremely aggrieved while holding the phone.
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