Chapter 65: Cosmic Latte (17) Xia Xia, Happy New Year’s Eve…
Neither of them spoke for a while, only the sound of heavy breathing could be heard one after another.
Finally, it was Lin Xia who spoke first. She cleared her throat and asked in a muffled voice:
"Have you returned to Shenzhen?"
"Yeah, I'm back."
"Is everything going well?"
"fine."
"How do you know my phone number?"
He Chuan paused, somewhat helpless:
"Xia Xia, your WeChat ID is your phone number."
Lin Xia was stunned, and then burst out laughing, thinking that she was really stupid.
His breathing sounded a little rapid, and there was a faint sound of wind. She was a little confused:
"What are you doing......"
He Chuan interrupted her and asked:
"Where are you now?"
"I......"
If I say I'm in Shenzhen, what if he wants to meet her? So Lin Xia gritted her teeth and lied:
"I went to a classmate's house in Quanzhou to celebrate the New Year."
"It sounds so quiet over there. Don't they set off firecrackers during the New Year in Quanzhou?"
Should we say it's the lawyer's professional sensitivity and meticulousness? But she wasn't a party to the case. How could she know whether Quanzhou set off firecrackers or banned fireworks? Lin Xia had no choice but to bite the bullet and say:
"I'm indoors, and there aren't many people around here."
He Chuan didn't comment, but just said something without any context:
"Give me a moment."
Lin Xia took the opportunity to rack her brains for a countermeasure. As expected, one lie required countless lies to cover it up. Quanzhou wasn't far from Shenzhen, and staying at someone's house wouldn't be easy for too many days. She could hide it for a while, but not forever. She should have said she was somewhere farther away...
bite--
Suddenly, the elevator arrival prompt sounded behind me, and at the same time, this crisp sound also came from the receiver next to my ear.
Lin Xia seemed to realize something and turned around.
She saw the elevator door not far away slowly open in front of her, as if a frame from an old movie was replayed. There was only one figure standing in the empty elevator car. His hair was slightly messy, and he wore a white shirt, which was always meticulously made, with the collar slightly open and the sleeves rolled up high. He had no tie, and his suit jacket was tucked into the crook of his arm. His other hand was holding a mobile phone to his ear like Lin Xia.
He Chuan stepped out of the elevator and stared at the person in front of him. He breathed a sigh of relief. He adjusted his breathing, which had been disordered by running, and spoke softly. His voice was transmitted through the air and electricity at the same time, which seemed to be a relief, but also a sigh:
"Xia Xia, happy New Year's Eve."
.
The moment she saw He Chuan, Lin Xia's tears burst out and she could no longer hold back.
It was as if it was a replay of the scene in the Beijing hospital many years ago, except that this time, their roles were reversed. She was the one who escaped and acted stubbornly, and he was the one who ran thousands of miles to get there.
Through her tearful eyes, she saw He Chuan walking towards her. She didn't dare to use force, didn't dare to touch the blade, so she just gently put her arms around her shoulders, carefully held her in her arms, and coaxed her in a low voice:
"It's okay, Xia Xia, don't be afraid, I'm here, by your side."
Not only fear, but also grievance, sadness, and hatred for my own incompetence.
Obviously, she is strong enough, brave enough, and confident enough to face all difficulties independently, but the moment she sees him, all her defenses are always broken, revealing the most vulnerable and cowardly self inside, leaving her disarmed and defeated. It will always be like this, forever.
Lin Xia leaned her head on He Chuan's chest and cried silently for a while, until the nurse on duty came over to check on the situation with confusion. She then pushed He Chuan away embarrassedly and spoke with a heavy nasal voice:
"I'm fine..."
After all, she was not a teenager anymore. By the time He Chuan helped Lin Xia back to the ward, her mood had basically calmed down.
"Why did you come here suddenly?"
"I met your colleague who was returning to the company to pick up her computer. She told me about the guy I met in the elevator before... that guy..."
Lin Xia understood: "Youyou."
Youyou is a local. Lin Xia and his colleagues who are working on overseas projects have a holiday during the Spring Festival, while others who are working on domestic projects have to work overtime online for the Spring Festival.
Thinking of Youyou's Halloween costume, Lin Xia couldn't help but laugh, which touched her wound and made her gasp in pain.
He Chuan helped Lin Xia lie down, helped her adjust the bed to the most comfortable angle, pulled a stool over and sat beside the bed, held her hand, and gently stroked the back of her hand that was covered with pinholes and blood vessels, and said bitterly:
"I'm sorry, I thought you were home."
He did not question her concealment, nor did he ridicule her lies, as if everything was natural.
"No," Lin Xia shook her head. "My parents... they're divorced, and I don't want to go back."
He Chuan's heart choked and he couldn't breathe for a moment.
During this period, he took over a large-scale foreign patent dispute for the agency, and was so busy that he only returned to China the day before yesterday. If nothing unexpected happens, he will have to go on a business trip again in a few days. After all, it was the Chinese New Year, and he thought she had returned to Wangchun, so he didn't go to find her right away. Overseas people don't celebrate the Spring Festival, which means they can't rest either. Today, he gave his assistant and other colleagues a day off and worked overtime alone in the office, coordinating evidence with overseas companies until dark. He walked out of the almost empty building with a hungry stomach and met Youyou, who was cursing and holding a computer. He originally wanted to ask about the other party's MT's holiday arrangements, but he didn't expect to get completely unexpected news.
He knew that appendicitis was just a minor surgery with basically no risks. He also knew that after several days, she would have recovered enough and might have been discharged long ago. But he still drove over without hesitation. He couldn't bear the short distance of a few hundred meters from the parking lot to the inpatient building, so he ran over in one breath.
When the elevator door opened, he could not describe his feelings when he saw her for the first time. The little girl who was about to cry because of a broken skin, who would never go to the hospital, and was heartbroken because she lost a hundred yuan and soiled her beloved skirt, was now standing there in a loose hospital gown, thin and haggard. On the night of the Spring Festival Eve, behind her were the lights of thousands of families, each with their own happiness and reunion, but she was just alone, with nothing.
The human heart is so strange. Even though we're not related by blood, even though we've been separated for so many years, we still feel sadness or joy for someone other than ourselves, for everything that happens to this body. I know she's brave, I know she's strong, I know time has made her so strong and beautiful, but I still can't help but feel heartache, for all the suffering she's endured along the way, and the overwhelming self-blame.
You haven't been with her all these years. Where have you been all these years?
"How are you now?" He Chuan asked softly, "Does the wound still hurt?"
"Actually, I'm almost well. I was the one who stayed in the hospital." Lin Xia smiled and suddenly remembered something. "Didn't you go back to your mother's place?"
"No."
"Where is your mother now? Is she still in Beijing?"
"I don't know." He Chuan was silent for a moment, then said slowly, "We haven't been in touch for many years."
Lin Xia was stunned: "Why?"
He Chuan's face showed no sadness or joy: "Because... I have lost the value of my existence. She no longer needs me as her son."
Lin Xia couldn't understand it. Lin Haisheng was dead, and He Chuan should be He Ping's only support. Now that he was on the rise in his career, how could he be worthless in He Ping's eyes?
Both of them were silent for a moment. Time had passed, but their families were still in such a mess, even worse than before.
Now, they are all homeless.
It was a big holiday, and it was really terrible to talk about this. He Chuan adjusted his mood and asked Lin Xia:
"Have you eaten? Can you eat now?"
Lin Xia nodded: "I can now eat semi-liquid food. I ate some just now and I'm not hungry now. How about you?"
He Chuan said he had eaten, but Lin Xia saw through his lie: "You didn't eat, right? You're still working overtime on New Year's Eve. I really... I've never met a workaholic who works harder than you!"
Even if takeout was more popular, which store would be open tonight? Even the convenience store in the hospital was closed. In the end, the nurse on duty gave him a bag of instant noodles, added the leftover pork rib soup from Lin Xia, and heated it up in the microwave. It felt like there were few people in the whole city who were more miserable than them.
After barely finishing the New Year's Eve dinner, the two of them watched the Spring Festival Gala in the ward and chatted idly.
This was the second Spring Festival the two of them had spent together. The last time was in Beidaihe when Lin Haisheng was still alive. Compared to the last New Year's Eve, this New Year's Eve was much simpler. There were no dumplings, no fireworks, no family reunions, and even the Spring Festival Gala on TV was much uglier than it was back then.
People in the south rarely watch the Spring Festival Gala, but Lin Xia is from Northeast China. The Spring Festival Gala is one of the must-see events during the Chinese New Year. Even if it is not good to watch, people have to watch it patiently, as if it is a kind of ritual.
Seeing an outrageous scene in a skit, Lin Xia couldn't help but want to complain to He Chuan, but after several attempts, there was no response. Lin Xia turned around and saw that He Chuan had fallen asleep with his head tilted against the wall. The folding chair for family members to accompany the bed was very narrow, and He Chuan, tall and long-legged, looked a little pitiful when he was huddled on it.
Lin Xia burst out laughing. Just now this man was telling her not to stay up too late because her health was important, but in the blink of an eye he was fast asleep. Who was visiting whose sickness?
But on second thought, he had just returned to China and probably hadn't even adjusted to the jet lag yet. He had been working overtime for so long and was physically and mentally exhausted. He then rushed to the hospital and forced himself to chat with her until now. He must have reached his limit.
Lin Xia was also very tired at this time. She gently covered He Chuan with a quilt, turned off the TV, dimmed the lights, lowered her own bed, and prepared to go to sleep.
There's no need to stay up all night tonight; their rare reunion at this moment is already the greatest comfort. May the new year be better than the old. In the coming Year of the Rat, I hope they can all be healthy, safe, and more relaxed and fulfilled than before.
Before falling asleep, Lin Xia vaguely recalled that the number that had just called her looked familiar because it was He Chuan's old number. In the summer of 2009, outside the gate of the red brick factory building of the Tongzhou Art Studio in Beijing, under the dim streetlight, he had personally entered the number into her still-folding, non-smartphone.
In the blink of an eye, ten years have passed.
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