sewer rat
Fang Huai returned to the ward and saw Kong Lingyu looking guilty. He asked, "Tell me, what's wrong?"
After spending the past few days together, he had a thorough understanding of this guy's character. Helplessly, he faced Kong Lingyu's gaze and picked up his phone.
Kong Lingyu handed Fang Huai a glass of water in a flattering manner and said, "Maimai, you were out just now and someone called you, and I accidentally answered the phone."
"But the other party didn't say anything. After hearing what I said, he hung up."
"Huh?" Fang Huai clicked on the missed call interface and found a missed call from Li Xuan and another from an unfamiliar number. He frowned and guessed that the new number might also be from Li Xuan.
"I see. I'll go out and answer the call." Fang Huai chose the familiar number and called, but no one answered. He chose the unfamiliar number and called back, and before leaving, he reminded Kong Lingyu: "Don't move."
Kong Lingyu looked at Fang Huai's back and responded softly, "Yeah."
"Fang Huai." Suddenly, Kong Lingyu called Fang Huai's name. Fang Huai almost didn't react. He turned around and looked at Kong Lingyu in confusion, "What's wrong?"
Kong Lingyu smiled and said, "I'll wait for you here, okay?"
He patted the quilt, and the color of his lips had returned to normal. Fang Huai saw from a distance that Kong Lingyu was smiling, but the corners of his mouth were slightly turned down.
"Kong Lingyu, why are you acting so weird?" Fang Huai asked in confusion, holding his cell phone.
But Kong Lingyu didn't answer. He just looked at Fang Huai with a burning gaze that was hard to ignore. Finally, Fang Huai nodded and said, "Okay."
"Maimai is so nice." Kong Lingyu smiled and watched Fang Huai leave with peace of mind this time.
Fang Huai walked out to the corridor, looked at the old tree with yellow leaves downstairs, and waited for Li Xuan to answer the phone.
He waited quietly, and while waiting, he counted a few yellow leaves blown by the wind. He was certain that Li Xuan would answer the phone.
The phone vibrated on the desk. Li Xuan slowly turned around and looked at the flashing phone with a gloomy expression.
He looked at the shattered phone, then at the phone on the table, a sarcastic smile appearing on the corner of his mouth.
"Li Xuan?"
After the call was connected, Fang Huai's hesitant voice came out.
Fang Huai didn't hear any response, so he called out again tentatively, "Li Xuan."
Li Xuan's eyes were dim, he stared at the shattered phone, and said "hmm" in a deep voice.
Fang Huai was obviously relieved. He stood outside the corridor, pursed his lips, and asked, "Did you change your number?"
There was no response from the other party. Fang Huai took a deep breath, tried to make his tone natural, and spoke again: "Is the work finished?"
The only response he got was silence, endless silence. Fang Huai hunched over at his side, clutching the hem of his clothes.
A strong wind blew by, and countless yellow leaves were rolled up and swirled in the air. Fang Huai suddenly reached out to catch the yellow leaves in the air.
"Who are you with lately?"
Li Xuan's voice echoed with the whirring of the wind. Fang Huai lowered his head to examine the yellow leaf in his hand. The veins had long since withered and yellowed, and the leaves curled up weakly. He gently tossed the leaf into the wind. His cool eyes held a mixture of relief and a hint of loss.
Fang Huai's light voice, carried by the wind, reached Li Xuan's ears, "With Kong Lingyu."
"Why didn't you lie to me?"
After a long time, Li Xuan didn't say anything, and Fang Huai almost thought he had hung up the phone.
"Why..." Li Xuan's voice was hoarse, "Why didn't you lie to me?"
Fang Huai shook his head out of habit, but then realized he was on the phone and asked seriously, "Why would I lie to you?"
"I..." Li Xuan didn't know the reason either. The countless questions that had just appeared in his mind collapsed along with his anger after Fang Huai spoke. Now he was at a loss, unable to do anything.
Fang Huai smiled and told Li Xuan what had happened during this period. He said he was panicked when he heard that Ding Ling was in trouble, he was angry at Ding Donghai, he felt desperate when Ding Ling fell, and he was relieved when he caught Ding Ling.
And Kong Lingyu's helplessness when he was stabbed, one thing after another. Although Fang Huai tried hard to control his voice and not let it tremble, Li Xuan could still hear the fear in his pretended calm tone.
"Li Xuan, I met many people and went through a lot. Kong Lingyu protected Ding Ling and me, and I also protected Ding Ling."
Fang Huai looked up at the gradually darkening sky and said, "Li Xuan, I don't want to lie to you, and I won't lie to you, Li Xuan."
I raised my hand to block the light of the setting sun. The scratches on my palm had faded and soon they would no longer be visible.
"Li Xuan, we should talk things out clearly." Fang Huai sighed softly.
Li Xuan felt like there was something stuck in his throat, as if Fang Huai was sentencing him. He frantically tried to find excuses and words to delay the verdict, racking his brains to find an excuse to change the subject: "Sorry, my student is looking for me. Can we talk about it next time if there's anything?"
"Can we talk next time?"
Li Xuan said this almost pleadingly, and all the anger accumulated in his chest disappeared, leaving only confusion.
He seemed to have forgotten his anger just now.
He didn't want to hear Fang Huai's rejection, so he hung up the phone in a hurry, stood up suddenly, walked to the window, and looked at the sky outside.
The figure looked lonely and desolate, as if it was about to melt into the darkness. After a long moment, Li Xuan sighed slowly and murmured, "It's going to rain."
Fang Huai was not annoyed when the phone was hung up. He returned to the ward with his normal expression.
Kong Lingyu stood up, his eyes full of worry, and asked cautiously: "It's him, right?"
"It's him." Fang Huai curled the corners of his lips. Under the bright light, Kong Lingyu could keenly capture all his little emotions.
When answering him, Fang Huai's brows relaxed slightly, and he turned his head to look at him. The small mole at the corner of his eye became clearer. He was obviously smiling, but the emotion in his eyes was lost.
Fang Huai acquiesced. He smiled and said, "You'll be discharged from the hospital in a few days. Congratulations in advance."
"You don't have to laugh if you don't want to."
"What?" Fang Huai's expression froze completely, and he stared at Kong Lingyu blankly.
Kong Lingyu raised his hand, and he retreated without a trace.
Kong Lingyu also realized that he was too impatient. He withdrew his hand. Fang Huai deliberately avoided his gaze, cleared his throat, and said, "When I get out of the hospital and have a chance, I'll treat you to a meal."
"Okay." Kong Lingyu's hands, his eyes fixed on Fang Huai, opened and closed his hands covered by the quilt.
He knew that as soon as that guy showed up, Fang Huai would turn cold towards him and start to keep him at a distance again. Kong Lingyu lowered his head, hiding the emotions in his eyes, and kept telling himself: Don't be impatient, don't be impatient, don't let Mai Mai hate you.
Fang Huai was soft-hearted and not hard-headed. His previous methods were too brutal and overbearing. Since he was wrong, he had to correct it and adopt a gradual and roundabout approach that would be integrated into every aspect of Fang Huai's life.
He appeared beside Fang Huai as a friend, allowing Fang Huai to gradually adapt to his presence.
By the time Fang Huai reacted, he had already naturally taken the hot ginger tea handed to him by Kong Lingyu.
"Shall we go eat some soup dumplings?" Kong Lingyu gently raised his hand to brush off the fallen leaves on Fang Huai's head, and leaned over, his eyes full of himself.
Fang Huai's eyelashes trembled, annoyance flashed in his eyes. He looked at the hot ginger tea in his hand and nodded in response, "Okay."
"Kong Lingyu, I told you I'd treat you to dinner before you were discharged." As they walked side by side, Fang Huai held the warm cup in his hand and asked, "Are you free tomorrow?"
Kong Lingyu relied on his height and long legs to quickly walk in front of Fang Huai, turned around and bent down, with a smile on his face: "Of course I'm free."
"Hmm." Fang Huai took a sip of the sweet and spicy hot ginger tea and felt warm in his stomach.
Kong Lingyu was very smart, not as impulsive as before. Fang Huai turned to look at Kong Lingyu who had returned to his side, his eyes flashing with inexplicable emotions. The string in his heart showed signs of trembling. Fang Huai quickly looked away and took a deep sip of ginger tea.
No, absolutely not. Fang Huai walked with his head down, constantly reminding himself in his heart that he must cut that wrong string and get everything back on track.
......
Ding dang dang.
"Professor Li, you are looking for us."
"Please come in." Li Xuan motioned them in, and the five students walked up to him somewhat stiffly.
Li Xuan asked them to sit wherever they wanted. After they were seated, Li Xuan asked about their recent situation. With his patient conversation, they gradually relaxed.
"Have you had any close contact with anyone outside recently?" Seeing their reservations ease, Li Xuan spoke frankly. He had only given his new number to a few of his students and close colleagues. He always communicated with them online. Several of his close colleagues had practically lived at the institute for the past few months, so there was no way they could have leaked his number.
Excluding busy colleagues and family members abroad, the only people who have free time, opportunities to contact the outside world, and know his number are his students, a few students taught by Li Xuan himself.
"I want to ask if you have interacted with anyone outside of school recently, or leaked any personal information?" Li Xuan asked while observing their reactions. Two of the girls shook their heads firmly, and then the weak-looking boy also shook his head.
"No, I've been staying in school preparing for my thesis lately and haven't even gone to the class reunion." A girl spoke up, and the girl next to her nodded. "We've been staying in school the whole time, so it's impossible for us to leak personal information."
Wang Qilin, who is usually quite active, was surprisingly silent, sitting in the corner without saying a word.
Seeing Li Xuan's eyes on him, he immediately sat up straight and shook his head, but his wandering eyes betrayed him and his expression was not very firm. Li Xuan had the answer in his heart.
"Okay, I understand." Li Xuan smiled and lightly changed the subject to their papers. He pointed out the problems each person had and asked them to go back and continue revising.
Finally, only Wang Qilin was left. He had been sitting in his seat without getting up. After making sure that everyone had left, he slowly stood up and closed the door.
"You were the one who leaked my number?" Li Xuan's gaze was like Li Jian's. Wang Qilin shrank his neck and admitted, "I'm sorry, Professor Li."
After hearing that Professor Li was looking for them, Wang Qilin vaguely guessed that this matter might be related to him. He was worried, and when Professor Li asked about the privacy leak, his heart jumped into his throat.
"Who did you give it to?" Li Xuan asked.
Wang Qilin said a name guiltily: "Cheng Wanting."
Seeing Li Xuan's confusion, he quickly added, "Cheng Wanting, who was expelled from school due to a family incident, is in the same class as us."
Li Xuan searched his memory for information about Cheng Wanting, and finally a blurry face appeared in his mind. He remembered Cheng Wanting,
"Professor, the last time I saw her at the school gate, she was so pitiful."
"She wanted to find you, but you weren't in the country, and the school wouldn't let her in. I saw she was anxious, so I gave her your contact information." Wang Qilin asked angrily, "Professor, did this bother you?"
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