Chapter 10 My heart beats ten times and I have a husband
The noisy atmosphere suddenly died down, and even the music was turned off by someone.
The wind seemed to be stronger, shaking the light falling on the blanket, and the swaying light and shadow climbed up the corners of the drooping suit pants, and the slightly moving cuffs were pressed down by a big hand.
He just sat there calmly in their sight, with a smile on his face.
"Wen Huai, A Jing, do you know her too?"
Nandy was drunk and couldn't see his expression clearly. She said to herself, "I'll send her a WeChat message right now."
Silence followed, and several people looked at each other, not knowing what was going on.
Seeing that the person beside him didn't respond, Gu Kuangchi reminded: "Don't you want to do something?"
Xu Youjing said coldly: "What are you doing?"
He fell silent and didn't say anything else. He sat further away and raised the corner of his lips.
Really.
"Ahem."
Over there, Nandi supported Xi Guan and barely stood up. He cleared his throat and said to the phone with some hesitation, "Secretary Wen, long time no see. Do you still remember me?"
Some of the people watching the fun were vomiting, while others laughed at him and said he had a big motorcycle in his throat.
"Go away, what do you know? This is all my tricks, okay?"
Nandi put down his phone and picked up his wine glass and said to Xu Youjing: "Ajing, you haven't told me whether you know her or not."
The man with the smooth lines of his profile opened his mouth, but his words were interrupted by someone else. The other person said, "You haven't even finished your story yet, and you're already bothering others. Why don't you just let us see what the other side has to say?"
"What else can we do? Just take it." Someone chimed in, "When has Nandi ever failed?"
They were laughing and joking, not noticing that the man sitting on the sofa in the evening breeze was looking at the screen several times.
Gu Kuangchi, who had a panoramic view, looked up at the sky and suddenly said that he could not see the moon tonight, but there was a thick layer of dark clouds.
"No." Nandi excused himself, "I guess he's busy."
Xi Guan also said: "Then send another one, maybe he didn't see it."
"I think so too."
Another pretentious voice message was sent, and before anyone could say anything, the red exclamation mark that appeared before the message made the faces of those who looked over vary.
They looked at each other, held back their laughter, and returned to their seats without mentioning it again.
Gu Kuangchi, unaware of the situation, asked what was going on. Nandi waved his hand and put his phone in his pocket: "No signal. I'll check later."
Amidst a burst of laughter, Xu Youjing's palm shook.
Looking down, a message appeared at the bottom of the screen:
[Sorry to bother you so late.]
[I want to ask, can I still go to grandma's birthday party?]
-
Two hours ago.
Elevator room in Mingwan Community.
Wen Huai's phone rang before he even pressed the floor number. He smiled when he saw it was Lu Miaomiao. Before he could say anything, he heard sobs coming from the other end. His face changed, and he pressed the door-opening button with his slender fingertips and slipped out of the elevator.
"Miao Miao, what happened?"
"...Xiao Ai, my grandpa...is dying..."
“…”
Thirty minutes later, Wen Huai arrived at the First Central Hospital and saw a curled up white figure in front of the ward.
She came jogging, her breathing unsteady and her nose stuffy. She wanted to raise her hand to rub it, but she wiped the sweat from her forehead instead.
The stickiness on her fingertips brought her back to her senses a little. She stood in the corridor, holding the shoulder strap of her bag, looking at the bright and cold-blooded hospital corridor. Fear climbed into her heart, soaking half of her back.
Lu Miaomiao and Wen Huai said they would be back tomorrow, but they actually came back today to give her a surprise. He planned to leave his suitcase at home and then come find her, but he found his grandfather unconscious in the bedroom and couldn't be woken. He was rushed to the hospital, but it was too late.
On the phone, Lu Miaomiao blamed herself and regretted not coming back earlier. Wen Xu tried to comfort her, but she realized how pale her words were.
Lu Miaomiao and Wen Huai have known each other since childhood. Her father died early, and her mother also... She was raised by her grandfather, so much so that her grandfather is like his own grandfather to Wen Huai.
When her father was diagnosed with terminal cancer, her grandfather, despite his limited mobility, still took a taxi to visit him... It has only been a short time since then, and everything has changed.
Moving his heavy legs forward, Wen Huai opened his mouth: "Miao Miao."
She realized that her throat was hoarse, so she called out again, and the figure squatting in the corner moved.
Lu Miaomiao stood up with the help of the wall, wanting to laugh but unable to: "You're here."
"I am coming."
Wen Huai held her cold hand, only to find that his own hands were also very cold.
At this moment, the door behind them opened and the two of them hurried over.
The doctor's face was heavy. "I'm sorry, we've done our best. Please spend the rest of your time talking to the old man."
"Miao Miao!"
Wen Huai and the nurse supported Lu Miaomiao, who was about to fall down, but she shook her head and refused.
"It's okay, I'm fine." Letting go of Wen Huai's hand, she said almost calmly, "I'll go in and see grandpa."
"Okay, I'll wait for you outside."
"Um."
“Pah.”
The ward door was closed, and her frail figure was the only one left in the corridor.
Leaning against the wall, the biting cold of the tiles penetrated her clothes and penetrated her skin. He seemed to be oblivious, his pale face expressionless as he stared blankly at something, lost in thought.
She maintained this posture for an unknown amount of time before a noise in her ears brought her back to her senses. She met Lu Miaomiao's scarlet eyes.
"Xiao Ai, grandpa has something to tell you. I want you to come in."
"......good."
Holding the cold handle in his palm, soft against the cold sharpness, Wen Huai gently pushed open the door. The bed in the middle of the dim room was slightly raised.
Grandpa Lu stretched out his hand towards her, but because he had no strength, he could only make a hoarse sound.
She hurried over, holding the wrinkled hand, tears streaming down her face: "I'm sorry, Grandpa. I'm sorry."
"Silly child, why are you apologizing to me for no reason?"
Tears blurred her vision, and the pungent smell of disinfectant filled her nose, pulling at the memories she didn't want to recall.
"If I hadn't come to your house to celebrate your birthday before the Lunar New Year, you wouldn't..."
His eyes, filled with the passage of time, darkened, then revealed a look of heartache. He looked at the trembling shoulders beside the bed and said with a smile, "What nonsense are you talking about? Grandpa's fate has come too. It has nothing to do with you. If you didn't come to celebrate my birthday, I would be angry with you, even if I died."
"grandfather......"
Now, he is not shy about it. He smiled with relief, but then straightened his face: "Xiao Ai, Grandpa doesn't have much time left. You must remember what I told you."
She nodded.
As if sensing something, the fear in her heart made her unconsciously clench her palm. She rubbed the back of his hand, trying her best to warm it.
"The most important things in relationships are sincerity and tolerance. Obsessing over fate will only cause more trouble and damage existing harmonious relationships. I don't know you'd connect these two things, but I can assure you that if you didn't celebrate my birthday because of those fabricated stories, you'd be deeply heartbroken and hurt the people who care about you. Those who love you won't care about such things."
"Since you were little, you and Miaomiao have been reciting ancient poems together, so you memorize them quickly. You are so smart, you must understand these principles immediately... cough cough cough..."
"I know, I know, Grandpa."
The hand in his palm was losing temperature little by little, Wen Huai was already sweating, and the more he tried to hold on, the harder it became.
Having experienced it once, she knew what it meant.
She wanted to call Lu Miaomiao, but the hand in her palm suddenly pulled her hard.
I saw grandpa looking at the half-open window, whispering or mumbling.
"Xiao Ai, grandpa is going to play chess with your dad. You and Miaomiao are doing well, eat on time, and take care of yourselves..."
It all came to an abrupt end.
The last wisp of breath disappeared in time.
The white curtains that were attached to the windowsill suddenly rippled, and the deep blue of midnight spread out by the window, dragging in moonlight as bright as day, falling by the bed and on the quiet hospital bed.
Her eyelashes trembled, and a teardrop fell on her fingertips. The skin under her wet hands was no longer warm.
Wen Huai slowly wiped away the tear, and there was a long and strange silence in his ears.
She suddenly remembered a poem she had memorized as a child:
[Everyone has experienced storms and heavy rains, but wait until the clouds clear and the moon appears.]
I looked up at the bedside and saw that the curtains were still.
...
It was already late at night when Wen Huai sent Lu Miaomiao home. He waited until she fell asleep before quietly closing the door of her room.
Sitting down on the sofa, I looked at the familiar interior decoration in the weak light from the small coffee table, and my chest felt tight.
Thinking about his grandfather's words, Wen Huai took out his mobile phone and slowly opened WeChat.
It's already half past twelve, he should be asleep, right?
She hesitated, thinking that if she sent it now she would not be able to see it until tomorrow morning.
Why don’t we talk about it in person tomorrow?
At this moment, the screen that was about to go dark suddenly lit up, and an unfamiliar avatar popped up in the list with no notes.
Wen Huai had a long list of friends. Besides classmates and friends, there were also colleagues in the same industry or bosses. To avoid confusion and causing trouble, she would always make notes when adding people, but this one didn't?
When she transcribed the voice message into text and touched upon the content, she neatly clicked three dots in the upper right corner and blocked it.
Throwing away her phone, she leaned back on the sofa in frustration.
As if he had made up his mind, Wen Huai grabbed his phone and typed quickly:
[Mr. Xu, I'm sorry to bother you so late. I...]
Thinking of what Xu Youjing said in the car, Wen Huai deleted all the contents of the dialog box and typed it again carefully:
[Sorry to bother you so late.]
[I want to ask, can I still go to grandma's birthday party?]
The room was silent, and the view out the window was completely dark. The person sitting on the sofa shifted their posture, resting their phone on their lap and leaning back.
Because of his thin figure, Wen Huai looked like a piece of paper when leaning on the gray sofa. From a distance, it looked like a thin blanket was attached to it.
Closing her eyes, she recalled the events of the past two days, which seemed unreal. However, the exhaustion she felt seemed to remind her that all this was real.
I used to think nothing was more powerless than a mother's indifference. But now, having experienced two deaths in just six months, I realize that witnessing the death of a loved one is the most powerless thing in the world.
In this way, besides sadness, we should cherish those who are alive.
Things like bad fate and bad luck with relatives are just gimmicks to avoid getting close to others.
A wry smile touched his clean face, and Wen Huai opened his eyes, his eyes slightly moist. He was so stunned when the screen lit up slightly.
I looked down and saw a WeChat message on the lock screen.
Was it... sent by him?
It's so late, why hasn't he gone to bed yet?
Holding the phone in both hands and unlocking it, the name and profile picture he had been thinking about appeared before his eyes. Wen Huai couldn't help but be stunned.
Then, read his reply.
J: [I said, whatever you want.]
Simple as ever.
Remembering the voice message he sent to his grandmother in the car, Wen Huai immediately went back to look for it.
She swiped up to check the record and saw the abrupt voice in the text. She subconsciously looked towards the closed door of the room, pressed the volume down button, and put her voice close to her ear like a thief.
"I'll say it for her. Got it, grandma."
Despite being prepared, a loud male voice in the darkness still disrupted her heartbeat.
Private, secretive and exciting.
Wen Huai pinched his ear, which was burned by the audio, with his left hand, and listened to it again as if possessed by a ghost.
His voice was pleasant. It had a subtle, understated quality, yet not a touch of mature. His tone carried a touch of arrogance, yet not a smug, overbearing arrogance. It was just like the boy in Wen Huai's youthful memories.
Like the summer breeze blowing through green leaves, gentle and hot.
It is more like the ice hanging on the eaves in winter, cold but brave.
New messages pop up on top.
J: [How did you figure it out?]
She pursed her lips, incredulous that there was more to the story. She was careful not to reveal it. She replied, "Today, a close elder enlightened me. Mr. Xu, you're right. If I don't go, it will really make Grandma sad."
After thinking about it, he changed "Mr. Xu" to "you" and pressed send.
She rubbed the phone case with her fingertips, feeling nervous, and suddenly she felt the excitement of a young girl in love.
But in the end, this emotion came at an inappropriate time and was suppressed by the heaviness in my chest.
In Bustine, Xi Guan replied on behalf of Nandi:
"The girl blocked Nandi directly, haha. Brother Chi, you didn't see it, the second message Nandi sent was just a red exclamation mark, it made me laugh to death."
"Oh?" Gu Kuangchi's expression was subtle, and he reminded her appropriately, "You are being presumptuous."
Several people followed suit: "How presumptuous of you!"
Nandi was anxious: "Impossible! He must be playing hard to get. Wait for me to add it back——"
"Stop making trouble." Xu Youjing finally spoke impatiently, his handsome brows slightly furrowed. "Are you addicted to harassment?"
"?"
The people who were eating melons looked at each other.
Today the sun rises from the west.
"Why?" Nandi was puzzled. "Do you really know him?"
"No, wait a minute, the name Wen Huai sounds familiar. I just remembered it." A young man with dyed yellow hair asked, "Is he the secretary of the mining company group? I forgot his name, Peak?"
"Peak?" Xi Guan looked at Xu Youjing, "Isn't this the company managed by Brother Jing?"
The young man raised his eyebrows proudly: "See, I remembered correctly. Ah Jing, you found out about your secretary's relationship status on your first day at work. Does she really have a boyfriend?"
Several glances were cast at him, and he said without any emotion, "I don't have a boyfriend."
“…”
Several people were puzzled.
Why is that?
Just as I was about to ask, I saw him put down his long legs and look up at Nandi.
The wind on the rooftop grew stronger, mixed with a bit of chill, penetrating Nandy's back. He shivered with cold, and became mostly sober.
I also heard clearly what Xu Youjing said.
"But I have a husband."
He said.
Nandy was stunned: "Who is her husband?"
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