Chapter 74: About the flourishing branches and leaves outside the death window...
Beyond the window, behind the lush green trees, lay a deep blue sky, dotted with a few cotton-like clouds. The wind slowly pushed the clouds along, tugging at the swaying leaves. The glass window blocked out the chirping of cicadas.
Zhou Shudie sat on the hospital bed, his face lifeless beneath his ink-black hair, his eyes staring out the window with emptiness.
She couldn't go out and experience the bright summer weather, trapped in this dark, cold hospital ward. Her dreams and her life were buried in this vibrant midsummer, like a nightmare.
The ward door was opened, and after the sound of footsteps, a fresh and elegant fragrance slowly spread to the tip of the nose.
Zhou Shudie knew that it was the scent of gardenia, but she still did not feel moved at all.
Chen Song placed the gardenia on the cabinet beside the bed, sat down on a stool nearby, and placed a book next to Zhou Shudie.
"Xiao Die, I brought you gardenias and this book in advance." Chen Song clasped his hands in front of his thighs.
Zhou Shudie's eyes were fixed on the window. He reached out, picked up the book and threw it towards the window. The book opened several pages in the air like a butterfly spreading its wings, and fell to the ground in an instant.
She tried to smash the glass window with the book, but she didn't have enough strength, and the book just fell to the ground.
Chen Song was neither angry nor disappointed. He calmly picked up the book, sat back on the stool, and wiped the dust off the book.
"I read this book when I graduated from high school. There is an excerpt from it in the high school Chinese textbook. You should be in the first year of high school, I don't know if you have learned it." Chen Song flipped through the preface and table of contents page by page, finally stopping at the first page of the main text.
"A week before the college entrance exam, my father became a vegetable and my mother left with another man. I didn't know how to live on, and I thought about death. Until I read this book."
Chen Song spoke calmly, as if describing a commonplace matter. Yet, the content of his speech was profoundly tragic.
Zhou Shudie didn't know why Chen Song could so calmly expose his pain to a stranger. It was like a pair of gentle yet powerful hands quietly smoothing out a certain spot in her rugged and wrinkled heart.
Zhou Shudie reacted a little and blinked slightly.
Chen Song took in this subtle movement and continued, "If you don't have the energy to read, I'll read it to you. After you finish reading this book, you can think about the proposition of life and death."
"Then I'll start." Chen Song's gaze fell back on the book.
"I have mentioned an abandoned ancient garden in several of my novels..."
For the next few days, Chen Song didn't wear his white coat. He took a leave of absence from the hospital and came as a visitor. He changed into a clean short-sleeved shirt and jeans. Every day, he would go to Gu Xingjue's place to have breakfast with him. After breakfast, he would go to Zhou Shudie's place to study, staying there all day. In the evening, when he returned home to rest, he would visit Gu Xingjue again.
No matter how late Chen Song studied, Gu Xingjue would wait for him. Gu Xingjue felt sorry for Chen Song being so tired, but he just waited silently and did not stop Chen Song.
This kind of life continued until Chen Song finished reading the book.
On the day it ended, the sky was still clear, as bright as the day he brought the gardenias and read for the first time.
Chen Song closed the book and placed it next to Zhou Shudie's hand. Just like the first day, Zhou Shudie did not throw the book away.
In the girl's eyes, the ice-blue sky and bright green branches outside the window gradually blurred and blended into one.
Every once in a while, Chen Song would replace the nearly-dead gardenias in the vase with new ones. Today was no different, except he brought a larger bouquet of fresh flowers. These were dried flowers he had made from the nearly-dead gardenias.
Each shriveled petal was once again gathered into a beautiful, full flower shape, and the dried flowers were tied together again into a retro and elegant bouquet. The bouquet was placed on the sofa under the glass window.
Chen Song glanced at the bouquet of dried flowers and said, "I dried the gardenias that were recently delivered. I didn't throw them away."
"Look, they haven't dried up, they're still blooming."
"There will be many more such novel touches in life. Death is not something that needs to be rushed. What remains is to consider how to live."
"A flower can bloom in a hundred ways. If you want, it can be a thousand or ten thousand ways."
“No one is born with their own value and meaning. We are all searching for it. There may be many changes on this journey that you cannot bear. So take a break. Time will give you the answers to the questions you can’t figure out.”
“Whether it comes quickly or slowly, as long as you keep walking on the road, you will always find the answer.”
Zhou Shudie clutched the quilt tightly, her tears soaking the area. She finally spoke her first words after the amputation: "But Dr. Chen, you won't understand what it's like to lose a pair of legs and be unable to walk again. Everyone understands this, but once you've truly experienced it, will you still be able to remain so calm?"
"I really haven't had such an experience yet," Chen Song said, wiping her tears with a tissue. "I understand your pain, but I can't empathize with you."
"But there must be someone in this world who can empathize with you. The author of this book is so full of emotion, you must be able to feel it. He can survive, so why can't you? He also spent countless days and nights to figure out so many problems."
"You can do it, too. I believe in you, your mother believes in you, and your friends believe in you."
"With advancements in technology, we've introduced technologies that can allow you to walk and dance again. You want to dance because you love it, right? So, what does it matter if you're good at it or not? As long as you keep dancing and enjoy the process, that's all that matters."
Zhou Shudie cried, her long-suppressed emotions bursting out, and she choked and couldn't catch her breath. Chen Song held her and wiped her tears, rubbing her back again and again to help her breathe, just like Gu Xingjue comforted him.
"I want to see you dance, too. Can you dance for me next time?"
"Okay... Thank you, Dr. Chen."
After Zhou Shudie's prosthetic limbs were approved, she recovered for a few days before being discharged. Because of Li Shan, Zhou Shudie's situation alarmed the entire hospital. The subsequent incidents of Zhou Shudie's situation further attracted the attention of the entire hospital. The new shareholder's injury and hospitalization, among other things, pushed Chen Song to the forefront of public attention.
Everyone knew Chen Song was a prominent figure, and some even said behind his back that he had connections. But some also said that Chen Song's medical skills were excellent, and he could have gotten in even without connections. Not to mention that he was able to coax that stubborn little girl this time.
Patients like these are the most challenging, and the medical staff dread encountering them. Chen Song didn't act like a hands-off manager, but actively communicated with Zhou Shudie and ultimately resolved the incident, preventing further escalation of tensions between the hospital and the patient. This made Chen Song an instant celebrity throughout Yile, and everyone who saw him had to greet him.
This left Chen Song, who usually worked quietly, feeling somewhat overwhelmed. He couldn't walk more than a few steps without someone greeting him. He was naturally shy about strangers, and he couldn't remember many faces. Calling the wrong name was also a nuisance, which was a bit of a struggle. Fortunately, he got used to it over time, and it became much more natural.
Gu Xingjue was just waiting for that brat, Zhou Shudie, to be discharged soon so Chen Song could stay with him. But even after finally getting Zhou Shudie out, Chen Song didn't stay much longer, even shorter than usual. He used to have breakfast with him before leaving, but now he's gone with a quick goodbye. It's like clocking in and out on DingTalk, with Gu Xingjue being the clock-in machine.
It’s all because Chen Song has returned to work and is busy with work.
Gu Xingjue was as depressed as the scorching summer heat. Even though it was time for him to be discharged, he still refused to leave, insisting that his wounds were still aching, delaying for weeks. Seeing that Chen Song was about to get angry, he finally agreed to be discharged in two days.
Just when he was discharged from the hospital, an unexpected incident happened.
Tang Shihe brought food to Chen Song and Gu Xingjue today. After they finished their meal and chatted for a while, Tang Shihe was about to go back. After Chen Song went downstairs to see her off, he passed by the front desk and heard Wu Xuan calling him.
"Doctor Chen! You're here at the right time. There's a patient here who wants to see you." Wu Xuan winked at Chen Song, telling him that this patient was very strange.
Chen Song stopped walking at the sound and turned to see a tall, middle-aged man staring at him. His expression was solemn and dignified, his gaze like a lion examining its prey intimidating. Chen Song showed no signs of discomfort. He approached the man calmly and said gently, "Hello, sir. May I ask what's wrong with you?"
"You are Chen Song," the man answered irrelevantly, paused and added, "Doctor?"
"Yes, I am Chen Song."
The man's sharp eyes were complicated for a moment, and he didn't know what he was considering. Until his eyes fell on the work card in front of Chen Song, he repeated the words on it: "Chen Song, doctor in the orthopedics department."
"What's wrong? Do you know me?"
The man withdrew his gaze and looked up at Chen Song without comment.
Chen Song had encountered many patients with eccentric personalities and was already very adept at handling them. He patiently repeated, "Are you feeling unwell? I'll take you to make an appointment first."
The man thought for a moment and said, "My bones are hurting. Please show me."
"Where are the bones from?"
"Head."
Chen Song frowned and looked serious. If he raised his head, the situation might be more serious.
"Let's go get a number first, and I'll show you. After that, go straight to the X-ray. Are you here alone?"
"Yeah." The man's eyes were still sizing him up, almost seeing through Chen Song. "My wife is crazy, and my son ran away with his lover."
Chen Song was stunned for a moment. He thought that men were difficult to approach, but he didn't expect that he would reveal his true self right from the start. He said it so lightly, like a casual conversation. When someone asked him if he had eaten lunch, he would answer yes.
Chen Song couldn't help but feel sorry for the middle-aged man, so he said, "Then I'll take you there."
The manual registration area was crowded, so Chen Song took the man to the self-service machine to help him register. Chen Song asked the man for his ID card, and the process went smoothly. However, when he casually glanced at the man's name, his mind froze for a moment, and he looked back at the man.
Gu Yan.....This man's surname is Gu.
"What's wrong? Can't you do it?" Gu Yan didn't notice that there was anything wrong with Chen Song.
Chen Song shook his head, shaking off the strange and ridiculous thoughts in his mind, and said, "It's done. Let's go and shoot the film. After the filming, I'll show you what went wrong."
Gu Yan said "hmm" and followed Chen Song. The line for the filming was very long, and Chen Song also patiently accompanied it, waiting for his number to be called.
Chen Song was a man of few words, and Gu Yan just looked at him a few more times without saying anything. The two of them had no extra communication except for communicating about the illness.
After the filming, Chen Song said, "Come to my office. There are a lot of people filming right now, so it will take a while for the results to come out."
Chen Song originally planned to have a day off today, but he was worried that many patients would come for check-ups, so he had no patients lined up and his office was now empty.
"Okay." Gu Yan said.
They hadn't walked a few steps when they met someone.
Gu Yiming stopped in his tracks in shock. Chen Song asked him what was wrong. He was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses. He stared blankly at the man next to him and said woodenly, "Dad...why are you here?"
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The author has something to say: The book mentioned is "I and the Earthen Altar", and the following paragraphs are also from it.
I have mentioned an abandoned ancient garden in several of my novels.
Death is not something that needs to be rushed.
The only thing left is to consider how to live.
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