Chapter 64 The Music Box All he wanted was a sincere heart, untainted by any other intentions…
Upon hearing this, Liang Yizhi's heart pounded, and her eyes darted around nervously.
"...You must not have slept well."
She quickly handed over the things she was carrying, saying, "I bought breakfast. Have some, then go home and rest. I'll take care of things here."
She stuffed the steaming buns and soy milk into his arms, then walked towards the other side of the corridor, her destination unclear, her back view extremely unnatural.
Gu Yinyan looked down at the breakfast in his arms, then raised his hand, spread two fingers, and rubbed his aching temples.
However, before he could have eaten breakfast, and before Liang Yizhi could go far, the doctor came to inform them that the patient had woken up.
Liang Yizhi couldn't care less about anything else at this point and quickly followed the doctor into the ward.
Mother Liang lay on the bed, her breath still very weak, and her lips still bloodless.
Upon hearing the sound, she immediately looked towards them.
Liang Yizhi rushed to the bedside: "Mom, you're finally awake! How are you feeling? Is there anything else that's bothering you?"
"It's nothing," Liang's mother said weakly, her lips barely moving and her blinking slow. She looked at her daughter by the bedside with a helpless smile. "It's just a small thing, why are you so scared?"
Liang Yizhi frowned and retorted sharply, "Do you think this is a small matter? If he hit his head, he might be unconscious for more than ten days and wouldn't wake up. It would really scare us to death!"
Liang's mother wanted to say something, but didn't. She felt a tickle in her throat and coughed a few times. Liang Yizhi immediately shut up.
"Okay, okay, I won't say anymore, don't worry."
Liang Yizhi went to pour water for her mother. After she left, Liang's mother looked behind her and asked in surprise, "Why...did you call Yinyan here too? Where is your father?"
Liang Yizhi said, "You had an accident last night. I was performing, and Dad asked him to come and help. Gu Yinyan and Dad stayed with you all night. Dad just went back to rest."
"Honestly, it's not a big deal, why did you call everyone here?" Mother Liang felt a little embarrassed now. "Yinyan, I'm so sorry to trouble you so much."
Gu Yinyan simply said, "It's my pleasure, Auntie."
He asked, "Is there any pain anywhere on your body now?"
Mrs. Liang said, "No, no. I'm just a little short of breath, nothing else."
Liang Yizhi remembered: "Oh right, I'll call Dad and tell him you're awake."
When did your father pass away?
About half an hour ago.
Mother Liang: "What else is there to say? Don't make a fuss. Let him rest since he just got back. I have a doctor here, we don't need him."
Liang Yizhi thought so too, so she simply put away her phone and decided to notify her father a few hours later.
At the same time, she urged Gu Yinyan, "You should go back quickly too. You haven't rested all night. My mother has woken up now and is fine."
Gu Yinyan glanced at Liang's mother and nodded politely: "Then I'll go back first and come back later. Auntie, please take good care of yourself."
"Okay, okay, thank you, Yinyan. Go back now, you can come back in a couple of days, I'm still alive and kicking."
As soon as Liang's mother finished speaking, Liang Yizhi glared at her, meaning that she should avoid saying such things and not repeat them.
Before leaving, Liang Yizhi reminded her again, "Hey. You must eat the breakfast I bought for you."
"Okay, let's eat at home."
"No, eat it now, while it's hot. You just stayed up all night, you need to replenish your energy so you can sleep well when you get back."
Seeing her serious expression, Gu Yinyan nodded perfunctorily.
After Gu Yinyan left, Liang Yizhi stayed with her mother for a while until she fell asleep again.
In the afternoon, my mother was also transferred to a regular ward.
When Mr. Liang arrived, he brought them lunch. Mrs. Liang ate very plain white porridge, while the father and daughter sat not far from her, moved a small stool to serve as a table, and ate large amounts of fish and meat, the aroma of which filled the air.
Mrs. Liang waved her hand: "You're just showing off. I don't have an appetite right now, and I have absolutely no interest in what's in your bowls."
“Even if you’re interested, you can’t eat it all,” Mr. Liang said seriously. “This is a good opportunity. Stop worrying about work and focus on internal and external care to improve your physical condition.”
The two women chatted with Liang's mother for a while, and Aunt Mao also came to visit her.
In the afternoon, Mr. Liang and Aunt Mao both had work to do, so they left first. Liang Yizhi lay down beside her mother's bed. The afternoon light was soft, and the ward was unusually quiet. She also fell asleep by the bedside.
As evening approached, Gu Yinyan arrived, bringing them a lot of food.
Mother Liang asked, "Yinyan, have you eaten yet?"
"not yet."
"Then take Yizhi with you to eat." Liang's mother patted Liang Yizhi beside her. "You've been sitting here all day. The hospital is full of viruses. Go out and get some fresh air."
Liang Yizhi asked worriedly, "Can you manage by yourself?"
Liang's mother said, "I'll just lie here. What's wrong with that? Go on, go and have something good to eat."
Liang Yizhi couldn't persuade her otherwise, and only left after giving her repeated instructions.
When she came in the morning, she brought some things she needed for the ICU from home, but now she doesn't need some of them.
Liang Yizhi asked, "Could you take me home first? I need to put my things back."
"Let's go."
After Gu Yinyan dropped her off at her parents' house, he followed her inside. Liang Yizhi put her belongings back in their place and then went to her room to get a tablet, intending to take it to her mother at the hospital to keep her entertained.
In the short time it took her to turn around, Gu Yinyan had followed her upstairs. He stood outside the door with his hands in his coat pockets.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Liang Yizhi ignored him and said as she walked outside, "Alright, let's go."
"Wait a minute," he said.
"Let's go. I'm hungry, I want to eat soon, otherwise we'll have to wait in line."
"No rush, just five minutes, you won't go hungry," Gu Yinyan said calmly. "I have something to ask you."
He asked, "Why did you do that in the hospital corridor this morning?"
Liang Yizhi really wanted to bang her head against the wall.
"What?" she continued to play dumb.
Gu Yinyan remained silent. His gaze was always the same, carrying a hint of warmth, but not a burning intensity.
When I lifted my eyelids and looked at her, it was like simmering her in lukewarm water. Coupled with silence, it was truly torture.
Liang Yizhi was defeated and had no choice but to muster up the courage to admit: "I was bewitched. Just think of me as having lost my mind. Don't think too much about it."
Gu Yinyan was hard to dismiss: "Even if I'm bewitched, I want to know the reason."
Liang Yizhi didn't understand why he was so persistent.
Or perhaps she simply didn't want to explain the real reason to him.
"Does the reason matter?" she asked.
“It’s important,” Gu Yinyan answered clearly. “If you’re just trying to give me a ‘nice guy’ card out of gratitude, then I can’t accept it.”
"I can only accept that you chose me because you like me, not out of gratitude, guilt, or a desire to make amends. None of those are necessary."
Gu Yinyan explained it very clearly.
All he wanted was a sincere heart, without any other emotions mixed in.
Even so, Liang Yizhi was unable to clarify her feelings in a short period of time.
She only thinks of him when something happens, feels moved when she sees him serving her diligently, and is the first person she wants to confide in when she is sad.
Undeniably, she had a deep emotional dependence on him. He was like a safe and secure cradle beside her, but she couldn't quite explain what that strange feeling was.
If she could, she really wanted to ask Gu Yinyan how he managed to analyze her heart more thoroughly than she could analyze her own.
"Alright," Gu Yinyan said, pulling her wrist and interrupting her thoughts just as she was flustered and distracted. "What's more important now is to fill your stomach first."
-
And so, after more than a week in the hospital, my mother was finally discharged.
Before returning home, Liang Yizhi repeatedly reminded him: "Don't do any dangerous sports for the next six months. If you really can't stay still, take a walk around the neighborhood, or come find me."
Having experienced a rollercoaster ride, the safety of her loved ones is now of paramount importance to her.
Mrs. Liang agreed, "Okay, okay, I understand. I won't go anywhere, alright?"
Before she left, her mother called her back again.
She handed her a small cloth bag: "By the way, when you get back, give this to Yinyan."
"This is?"
"These are the jade pendant and amulet I got from a temple a while ago. I got them for my whole family. They were blessed by a master who chanted sutras for them."
Ms. Liang said, "Actually, a master had previously hinted to me that I should not do any dangerous sports recently. But at the time, I only saw mountain climbing as a kind of exercise and didn't think that much about it. I actually received a warning."
She sighed, "Although you fell while climbing the mountain, I feel that not injuring your head is a kind of good fortune. Consider it as clearing away bad karma. You two should carry this with you from now on, keep it close to your body, and keep it safe."
Liang Yizhi did as her mother asked and put the small cloth bag she had given her into her bag.
During the few days his mother was hospitalized, Gu Yinyan visited her almost every day, bringing her nourishing food and buying her many supplements.
Mr. and Mrs. Liang saw it all and remembered it deeply.
Mr. Liang added, “It’s almost Chinese New Year. Ask him if Old Gu and his wife still aren’t coming back this year. Tell him to come to our house for the New Year. It’s scary to be alone in that empty house.”
Liang Yizhi agreed to each one: "Okay, okay, I'll remember them all."
After Liang's father took her home, Liang Yizhi didn't linger for long. She called Gu Yinyan to ask if he was home. Gu Yinyan said he was out and told her to come back in an hour.
Liang Yizhi checked the time and figured it would be about time to pack up and leave.
We arrived about ten minutes earlier than expected.
Upon entering, the first person she saw was Jiang Huai.
Jiang Huai sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, fiddling with something in his hand.
He seemed to know Liang Yizhi was coming, with an expression of expectation: "Yizhi, you're here."
"You're here too?" Liang Yizhi asked.
"Yeah, we just got back from playing ball. I borrowed his bathroom, and he's still taking a shower."
Liang Yizhi sat down on the sofa, craned her neck curiously, and asked, "What's that in your hand?"
Jiang Huai held it up for her to see: "Music box, isn't it pretty?"
He held out the small music box in his hand for her to see.
The exterior is made of dark brown wood, with a layer of glass inside that reflects dazzling light from time to time when sunlight shines through it.
The moment Liang Yizhi saw the music box, she froze.
She asked, "Where did you get this?"
"Just put it on the cabinet outside."
He pointed to a spot against the wall, glanced upstairs, and seeing no one coming down, moved closer to her and whispered, "Hey, you don't know, do you? This is a gift from Gu Yinyan's ex-girlfriend."
Liang Yizhi was taken aback.
She asked hesitantly, "Why do you think it was a gift from his ex-girlfriend? Are you sure?"
“Yes.” Jiang Huai took it in his hand and turned the handle next to the music box for her, and a light, bell-like melody slowly flowed out.
Jiang Huai said, "I saw this on his table when I visited his house in the United States many years ago. I asked him where it came from, and he said it was a gift from his girlfriend. Look, it's been here for so many years."
Liang Yizhi was a little confused, and her face was also a little hot.
He cranked the handle, and the comb inside the music box rang softly. As the handle moved at varying speeds, the rhythm rose and fell accordingly, and a faint creaking sound emanated from inside the box.
The music has a dreamy, fairytale-like melody and is the soundtrack from the movie "Howl's Moving Castle," titled "The Carousel of Life."
As Jiang Huai turned the music box, he teased, "Young lady, you have such good taste. Look at this music box, it must be handmade, with lots of interesting little things inside. Anyone would be happy to receive this."
He clicked his tongue twice and chuckled, "Gu Yinyan has also fallen for this pure love trap. He's kept that little box for so long and still can't forget it. How devoted."
Liang Yizhi sat to one side, watching Jiang Huai play with the music box, without saying a word.
The music box has a wooden exterior with clear grain and a gold clasp. It's not particularly refined; in fact, it's rather rough, with some minor dents and scratches.
Upon opening, the lid is adorned with a landscape drawing in colored pencils and a few English blessings. Inside is a transparent glass lid, beneath which lies a soft pad containing broken seashells, dried flowers, pebbles of various colors, and some small ceramic items.
Liang Yizhi knew very well the origin of every little item.
Because this is a music box she made herself.
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