Chapter 54: This is how old school romance is done
The first time I met little Philip, their convoy was hit by a rockfall, injuring several people. A handsome young man, bleeding profusely from his head, held his jacket to his head. His brows were sculpted, and his green eyes, shadowed by his brows, emitted a faint glow. Li Wenjing glanced at him several times. He seemed to have a knack for catching people's gazes, and he glanced back, asking her name.
Li Wenjing explained that their construction team was passing through and was dealing with a wind erosion and landslide problem in the area, and they were there to deal with it. He said he should wear a hard hat like hers next time to avoid being hit. As he spoke, the blood from his head began to flow more and more, seeping through his clothes and leaving a red patch on his shoulder, which dripped onto the car. Li Wenjing quickly told him to stop talking, folded down the seats in the van for the injured to lie on, and drove to the camp hospital.
On the way, Li Wenjing asked his name, and he said his name was Philip. Li Wenjing looked out the window, her mind a jumble of emotions. She was terrified that Gu Weiyi was at the hospital, and yet, he was on duty today. When they arrived at the camp, Gu Weiyi treated them all. She observed his expression, but he said nothing, seemingly unconcerned. He instructed the nurses to send the seriously injured to the operating room, while the less seriously injured remained for bandages and stitches.
"Charles!"
Little Philip called his name, his tone light and cheerful, leaning toward him. Gu Weiyi remained expressionless as he turned to retrieve his toolbox. Li Wenjing sat in the corner, her eyes never leaving Gu Weiyi. Seeing that she hadn't left, Little Philip turned and flirted affectionately, asking if she cared about him.
“Get far away from her.”
With a loud bang, Gu Weiyi slammed the toolbox onto the table, startling Li Wenjing. Little Philip raised his eyes, his reflection like a lake, reflecting him and her own. He raised his hand and said, "OK, OK," smiling as he looked at Gu Weiyi. Li Wenjing felt as if Gu Weiyi was frozen in place at that moment. Like a robot, he removed the clothes covering his head, stopped the bleeding, disinfected the wound, administered anesthetic, sewed it up, and bandaged it. Little Philip kept complaining that his hand was too heavy and it hurt him.
After treating his wound, he didn't stay a second longer, picking up his toolbox and leaving. Little Philip joked with Li Wenjing, asking if he liked her. He said they used to be friends, and they could go out for a drink together next time. They had just spoken on the phone last week. Li Wenjing asked why he called him, and he said that the refugee camp was short of an oil drilling rig, and that he had come today to negotiate about this matter. He was very grateful for her help in bringing him to the hospital, and he felt relieved to have the drilling rig in her hands.
Li Wenjing said nothing, not even nodding. Her heart felt like it was being torn apart, a dull ache. She didn't want to think about it. If she did, the tolerable dull pain would become a knife, tearing her heart apart. Little Philip, still smiling, rummaged around, took out a pen, and wrote his phone number on the medicine box she had left behind. He wanted to thank her properly. She didn't answer, but got up and left. She didn't find him in Gu Weiyi's office, so Anna said he might have gone to the pharmacy.
"Where is the bathroom here?" Li Wenjing asked her.
Gu Weiyi was indeed in the bathroom again, giving himself an injection. His hand was shaking violently, and the needle couldn't penetrate, so he just stabbed it into his arm, as if to self-harm. Two syringes were already discarded by the pool. Blood flowed from his arm into the filthy water, and his face twitched in the mirror. He hadn't seen him for a few days, and he looked so haggard. His high cheekbones were protruding from his thin face, and he hadn't shaved, the shadows under his eyes as dark as his beard. He didn't insert the third needle, and he pulled it out, a string of blood spurting out. Li Wenjing grabbed his hand. A bruise formed around the needle hole, and her nose instantly felt sore.
"If you weren't a doctor, I would have thought you were taking drugs. How do you look any different from someone taking drugs now?" Li Wenjing tried hard to make a joke to ease the atmosphere, but when she felt his hand trembling in her palm, she still couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat.
"Hurry up and call me. I'll go out and wait for you. I'm always in the bathroom. It smells bad."
He nodded. "Right away."
Li Wenjing walked out. The hot wind, mixed with dust, blew into her eyes, still hurting them. She tightened her headscarf and took two steps up the hillside. Two lizards scurried past her feet. She couldn't see what they looked like, only a series of thin marks they left behind, extending into the dark bushes.
In the present moment, she couldn't think of anything, even if she should do something. Little Philip, Gu Weiyi, work—everything was jumbled together. She felt the wind sting her forehead, a whistling, fierce wind. She couldn't do anything for Gu Weiyi. What could she offer him? Love, or companionship? Sadly, neither could help him. He would still have his illness, and she couldn't stop the people from coming, not even because she had brought little Philip. Just like with her mother, she tried her best, but she was gone. She felt she had no strength left. Following the lizard's footsteps, she scattered into the empty yellow field. It was a wasteland, and the world was sucking her energy away.
"Sorry, I kept you waiting." Gu Weiyi finally came out.
"I'm sorry to bother you. You still have work to do. I'll be leaving first."
Gu Weiyi grabbed the corner of her clothes and she stopped immediately. She stared into his eyes and his face flushed slightly. "How are you doing recently?"
"fine."
"Don't be perfunctory with me. You look unhappy, just like last time you came and this time too." He said, "Did your company borrow the drilling rig?"
“No, we are still going through the process.”
"Don't worry." He forced a smile at her. "Gustav agreed to lend us one, and it will be delivered soon."
"I'm sorry to trouble you."
"Why are you saying that? Having water can help many people here, so of course I should help. Besides, I like you, so it's my duty."
"Did you only call Gustav?"
He didn't say anything. Li Wenjing looked at him and said, "You don't have to do this."
"Gustav told me everything about your mother. I'm sorry I shouldn't have quarreled with you. I wasn't there to accompany you when you were sad."
"What's the point of saying all this? What's the point of you coming here? You can save a lot of people by staying in Africa. What can you do by coming with me?"
"Anyway, I'm glad I could help you."
"You're not happy! Why are you getting a shot if you're happy?"
Li Wenjing couldn't hold back her emotions and tears started to fall again. He hugged her. There was a heavy smell of disinfectant on his body, which had never changed. But Li Wenjing felt that he had changed. The needle holes on his arms also made her feel hurt.
"Wenjing, it doesn't matter. I'm sick, I torture myself, and it doesn't matter what happens to me, as long as I can help you and protect you. I'm sorry your mother passed away, I really didn't know it, or it was Gustav who told me that I should be with you, but I can't do anything. I just live like this, with an empty head, constantly making mistakes, going astray, wasting my life, and it will be the same no matter how I live. I'm very grateful to have met you, and you tolerate me like this. Thank you, I thought I was hopeless, but now I still want to struggle, just like falling into the water, floundering around, just in case I can still float..." Suddenly, he smiled at her, "Isn't this what you call hope?"
Li Wenjing looked at him, with many words stuck in her heart but unable to speak, so she could only ask him to take care of himself.
"What does it mean to take care of myself?" he asked.
"Well—eat well, rest well after work every day, and don't overwork yourself. I'm not a doctor, so I don't understand your injections. But I still want to say, control the dosage. I'm really afraid that the people around me are leaving me..."
"Okay, I get it." His hug comforted her. "Next time, can we have dinner together?"
"You want to ask me out?" Li Wenjing subconsciously said stubbornly, "Look, I'm very busy."
"Please give me a chance. I want to start over with you. I want to treat you to a meal, go on a date with you, confess my feelings to you, and pursue you. That's how old school relationships are."
"Then wait until the project isn't so busy."
"Of course, now that you're not busy, I have fewer patients and I have time to go to town..."
"Charles!"
When little Philip's voice came, Li Wenjing felt him tremble suddenly again. He let go of her hand, but she held him tightly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com