Chapter 15
Qiao Yi tripped and fell at home.
Yan Qing rushed to Anchuan People's Hospital, where Qiao Yi's right elbow had already been bandaged. Besides the orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Lu, the neurosurgeon who had been treating Qiao Yi's brain tumor, was also at his bedside.
Dr. Lu pulled Yan Qing aside and said earnestly, "Qiao Yi's current condition is no longer suitable for living alone. It's fortunate this time it was just a sprained arm, but what about next time?"
Yan Qing remained silent.
Dr. Lu said, "If it's inconvenient for family members to live with you, you should find a caregiver as soon as possible."
Sitting on the bus from the hospital back to the waterworks residential compound, Yan Qing stared out the window in silence. Qiao Yi extended his still-intact left index finger and carefully poked her shoulder.
"The light bulb kept flickering, so I just wanted to change it. Who knew it would be so useless? I accidentally stepped into a hole," Qiao Yi explained guiltily.
Yan Qing ignored him.
Qiao Yi said again, "I'm fine, nothing's wrong."
Yan Qing remained unresponsive.
Qiao Yi pleaded, "Don't be angry, I was wrong, okay? I'll be more careful next time."
Yan Qing, who had been facing the window, finally turned around slowly. To Qiao Yi's surprise, she didn't blame him. Instead, she asked as if nothing had happened, "Is the light bulb fixed? I'm staying at home for a few days, and the light can't be out of order. I'm afraid of the dark."
"Okay..." Joey said in disbelief, still speaking cautiously, "You...you're really not angry?"
Yan Qing pushed away his large head that was too close to hers: "Don't bother me, I'm thinking about work." Then she turned her face to the other side.
The bus stopped in front of the waterworks staff quarters. Yan Qing glanced at her phone and turned off the screen. A minute earlier, she had sent a WeChat message to Shen Hanyang: "Mr. Shen, something has come up at home. I need to take three days off. Please approve."
However, she still hadn't received a reply from Shen Hanyang by evening. Having no other option, she dialed Secretary Gao's number.
Upon hearing that Yan Qing wanted to take three consecutive days off, Secretary Gao raised her voice eight octaves: "Don't you have anyone else at home? Is it someone else who can't live without you?"
"I'm sorry, there was really no other way..."
"What do you mean there's no way? What about Jiaming's classes?"
"I will catch up on the missed lessons as soon as I get back."
Yan Qing's assurances did not satisfy Secretary Gao, who spoke sharply: "I might turn a blind eye to a day or two of leave. Three days? What were you thinking? What organization would give you such a long leave so easily? It's not you who's sick or injured; the reason of taking care of a patient is hard to convince me! Besides, you didn't even give me a formal request in person; you only called me after you were in Anchuan. Is this asking me for permission or informing me? Are you playing the game of acting first and reporting later?"
In the past, Yan Qing had endured many difficulties in her various part-time jobs, and she had long been accustomed to bearing them. Faced with Secretary Gao's reprimand, she felt guilty and unconsciously lowered her voice, "I'm really sorry, it happened so suddenly, I didn't have time to ask you in person. I will..."
On the other end of the phone, a distant voice came through the receiver: "Sister Gao, the drinks are ready!" Secretary Gao said "Coming" and hung up.
Yan Qing held her phone, standing there blankly for a moment.
She turned around and saw Qiao Yi looking at her from behind.
"I've become disconnected from society. Do I really need to be this subservient to get a job these days?"
"You have to be polite when talking to your boss." Yan Qing put her phone in her pocket and walked to the dining table to casually peel and eat peanuts.
Qiao Yi followed and sat down opposite her.
"If it's inconvenient for you to take leave, then don't. I can take care of myself," Qiao Yi said.
Yan Qing unwrapped another fruit candy and put it in her mouth: "What's inconvenient about it? Everyone has emergencies sometimes. Leaders are human too, they can understand."
“Girl,” Qiao Yi cleared his dry throat, “why don’t we call it quits?”
Yan Qing raised her eyelids and stared at him coldly: "What do you mean?"
Qiao Yi lowered his head for a moment, then raised it again, as if gathering his courage: "I'm a hopeless person, don't waste your energy on me. One day when I see my mother down there, and she knows that I've dragged you down like this, she'll definitely slap me twice across the face."
Mentioning Jiang Xiaoman brought a pang of pain to Yan Qing's heart. She took a deep breath, forcing back the tears welling in her eyes.
"Qiao Yi, you only broke one hand, and you're saying such discouraging things? I don't get angry if you don't take care of yourself or if you fall down, but your attitude of threatening to kill yourself at the drop of a hat really makes me angry!"
"Girl..."
“You know my situation, and you know what you mean to me. I’m not afraid of hardship, but I’m afraid of facing your pessimism and weakness! You once said that this would always be my home. Now, it’s just the two of us left in this home. Instead of thinking about sharing the family responsibilities with me, you’re trying every possible way to give up and desert! Don’t you think about me at all? Do you really want to see me go back to that helpless, lonely life without companionship?”
"Of course not! I... sigh!" Qiao Yi was anxious, but didn't know how to express himself, so he could only sigh repeatedly.
"Qiao Yi, didn't you say you'd always be my support? Didn't you say you'd buy me gold bracelets and gold necklaces when you made money writing novels?"
“I’ve never changed. I want to buy you gold bracelets and necklaces, I want to buy you new clothes, to make you look beautiful. But I’m afraid… it’ll be too late…”
Yan Qing sneered: "I'm afraid it's not that it's too late, it's that you want to back out, isn't it?"
Qiao Yi forced a pathetic smile: "Girl, I know you're trying to encourage me to cheer up. How I wish I could spend more time with you! But alas... the decision of life and death isn't in my own hands; I have no choice in the matter."
Yan Qing bit her lip, her last defense crumbling. Two lines of tears slid down her face.
Seeing Yan Qing cry, Qiao Yi quickly raised his left hand in a gesture of surrender: "I won't say anymore, I won't say anymore." Then he slapped his own mouth: "This damn mouth of mine has no sense of propriety! Girl, don't worry, I will definitely cheer up, get well soon, and focus on my writing. As soon as I earn money, I'll get you a bracelet, necklace, and earrings—all made of pure gold—as your dowry. And you, you should find a good husband as soon as possible, bring him home, and let me vet him so I can feel at ease."
Yan Qing picked up an empty peanut shell and threw it on his forehead: "Even you are pressuring me to get married!" She laughed through her tears and pushed the plastic fruit plate containing peanuts in front of Qiao Yi: "Peel peanuts for me."
"As you command, Miss." Qiao Yi pinched a peanut between his left thumb and forefinger, and with a forceful rub, the shell came off. In no time, Yan Qing had a small handful of red-skinned peanuts in her palm. She smiled, and Qiao Yi smiled too, their smiles carrying an unspoken bitterness.
That night, after Qiao Yi fell asleep, Yan Qing spread out a sheet on the old sofa in the living room, lay down fully clothed, but couldn't fall asleep for a long time.
By the faint moonlight, the outline of the room was vaguely visible. Directly opposite the sofa was Qiao Yi's bedroom, the door ajar, revealing only a narrow, dark crack. Qiao Yi slept soundly behind that cramped gap.
Yan Qing was filled with turmoil. Qiao Yi had already undergone two surgeries, but the tumor cells parasitizing his brain were as stubborn as weeds; neither surgery could eradicate them completely. These evil cells not only firmly occupied Qiao Yi's brain but also invaded Yan Qing's dreams like ghosts. In her dreams, they grinned and pounced on her, telling her that they could never be completely eradicated.
Yan Qing woke up from a nightmare, covered in a cold sweat.
The doctor's words reminded her once again that leaving Qiao Yi to live alone was a very risky thing to do. But tuition fees, living expenses, and Qiao Yi's medical expenses were already overwhelming her, and she simply couldn't afford the additional expense of hiring someone to take care of him.
Yan Qing's educational journey is a story of a tug-of-war with a meager financial situation. From the moment she stepped into university, she devoted all her spare time to working. To earn money, she endured all kinds of hardship. She handed out flyers in 40-degree weather, and because she couldn't afford a two-yuan bottle of mineral water, she ran to the mall's tap to drink water when she was almost collapsing from the heat. In winter, she helped a timber merchant watch over furniture samples displayed outdoors; the biting wind pierced through her cheap down jacket, chilling her to the bone. She tried to warm her frozen hands with a hot water bottle, but her fingers itched unbearably from skin to bone, later discovering she had frostbite.
Over the years, she has lived a life of poor eating and rest, constantly worrying about Qiao Yi's illness. Having endured until today, she has reached her physical and mental limits, yet the path to light she so desperately seeks remains hidden from her sight.
She felt as if she were holding Qiao Yi's withered hand, standing at a foggy crossroads, completely at a loss as to which way to go.
A sigh came from the darkness.
She got up, put on her coat, and pushed open the balcony door, letting a cool breeze into the room. The old wicker chair was still in its place. She nestled into it, opening her notebook to proofread the manuscript. The manuscript was part of a middle school math workbook, covering only some basic, not-too-difficult formulas and theorems. This posed no challenge for Yan Qing, a math major, and was even within her most familiar area of expertise. She temporarily forgot her worries and immersed herself in her work, unaware that it was already one in the morning.
After working through the night to finish the manuscript entrusted to her by Zhuge Xiaoxiang, she had completed all the proofreading. After hesitating for a moment, she sent the revised version to Zhuge Xiaoxiang via WeChat. She wanted to deliver the completed work as soon as possible, as she had many other things to do in the next two days, and she was afraid she wouldn't have time for anything else.
To my surprise, I received a reply immediately after sending the message.
"Thank you for your hard work, junior." Following the text message was a transfer of 20,000 yuan, with the note: Manuscript proofreading - Yan Qing.
Yan Qing was taken aback; this was much more than the amount they had agreed upon. She messaged him, "Did you enter the wrong amount, senior?"
The other end quickly replied: "That's right. This book was pre-ordered and bought out by a well-funded training institution, which made a profit. The 20,000 yuan is the junior student's share."
"But you haven't even checked my revised draft yet."
"I'll take a closer look at the manuscript in a few days. The money is rightfully yours, so accept it. I'm going to sleep now, you should get some rest too, goodnight."
Yan Qing typed and deleted the words "Goodnight" in the chat box, hesitated for a long time, and finally did not send it.
But Zhuge Xiaoxiang sent the message first: "What do you want to say?"
Yan Qing sent: "Thank you, senior. You have no idea how much you've helped me."
For a long time afterward, the chat window displayed "The other party is typing." Then, she received this message: "I just did what I should do. If I accidentally helped you, I'm happy. I feel a sense of closeness with you, junior. I hope you consider me your most loyal friend and don't treat me like a stranger. I also want you to know that whenever you encounter difficulties, I will always be the first and last person you can ask for help. It's getting late, go to sleep, no need to reply."
Yan Qing stared at the text on the screen, momentarily lost in thought.
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