Chapter 23 He can hear
Chapter 23
Wang Hongjuan, the doctor who treated Yu Pan, was a gentle and kind-hearted woman. What surprised Shen Yanzhou the most was that she knew sign language.
This is so important to them.
Yu Pan sat in the consultation room, watching Dr. Wang's sign language gestures, her eyes brightening.
In his life, the only people he could use sign language with, besides his uncle and aunt who could occasionally use sign language to talk about eating and sleeping, were Shen Yanzhou and Teacher Ji, who taught him sign language.
This was the first time he had ever encountered a stranger who could use sign language.
Wang Hongjuan didn't rush to ask about the illness; she simply chatted with Yu Pan like a friend, and Yu Pan didn't mind this kind of interaction.
When Wang Hongjuan mentioned that she liked reading, Yu Pan quickly gestured and said, "I like reading too."
The fifty-minute consultation time passed quickly for Yu Pan.
As he left, Shen Yanzhou saw that Yu Pan's eyes were light and cheerful, which put him at ease.
Yu Pan didn't reject the doctor; on the contrary, she was quite willing to get close to him, which was a good sign for them.
However, being willing to accept a doctor is one thing, but feeling uneasy inside is another.
They now go for psychological counseling twice a week. By the time Yu Pan went for the sixth time, she was already quite familiar with Dr. Wang, but she still couldn't do without Shen Yanzhou.
Once, when Wang Hongjuan asked Shen Yanzhou to go outside to get some water, Yu Pan became visibly uneasy as soon as the door closed. Her gaze kept drifting towards the door, and she couldn't concentrate on communicating with her.
"Take your time," Wang Hongjuan said to Shen Yanzhou.
As Lanzhou entered late autumn, the temperature dropped significantly. By this time, Yu Pan had been undergoing treatment for two full months.
The progress is also obvious.
Now that Shen Yanzhou doesn't have to stay with him in the consultation room all the time, Yu Pan can remain calm and composed even if he leaves for only 10 or 20 minutes at a time.
In addition to sign language, he and Dr. Wang also exchanged ideas on writing and painting.
It was Wang Hongjuan who noticed that Yu Pan always liked to draw a few strokes next to his writing, a discovery that made him very happy.
Most people with stress disorders close themselves off and refuse to share their feelings, but Yu Pan is the opposite; he seems very willing to express his emotions through writing and drawing.
It was Tuesday again, the day for her appointment. On the way back from the hospital, Yu Pan gestured to Shen Yanzhou, "Director Wang said that I can try writing a diary in the future and bring it to her to read next time."
"Wow, can I see that, brother?" Shen Yanzhou gestured and then ruffled his hair.
Yu Pan nodded, "Of course, that's fine."
Since he lost his hearing, he has rarely written anything. Yu Pan felt that he should apologize to the old man at the bookstore when he got back. The old man had told him not to forget what he liked, but he hadn't done what he liked for so long.
Yu Pan became more and more cooperative with the treatment, partly because he didn't want to waste the large sum of money Shen Yanzhou had spent on consultations, and partly because he genuinely enjoyed chatting with Director Wang.
Director Wang always manages to offer different perspectives on a given issue.
Director Wang is very knowledgeable; she went to university. She said that there is a building in the university specifically for storing books, called the library. There are chairs inside, and students can go there to read and study, and they can also borrow books without spending money.
Yu Pan was extremely shocked. He had only seen some authors mention libraries in books, but they hadn't explained it in detail. He gestured, "Is the whole building used to store books? Can people just browse around?"
"Yes, as long as you're a student at the school, you can go," Wang Hongjuan said with a smile. "Do you like going to school?"
Yu Pan froze for a moment, scratched the back of her ear, and gestured: "Everyone at school calls me mute."
"So you like going to school, right?" Wang Hongjuan pressed.
Yu Pan bit her lip. "I like it. My brother was planning to send me to school, but I couldn't hear him at that time."
"What happened back then?" Wang Hongjuan asked him.
“At that time…” Yu Pan frowned and gestured, “Uncle Shen and Aunt Shen had just passed away not long ago, and my brother went to work at the fireworks factory. That job was very dangerous… Everyone in the village said that if the gunpowder wasn’t handled properly, it could explode and kill people… I was supposed to go…”
"You were very worried about your brother back then, weren't you?"
Yu Pan nodded, her eyes red.
…
During Yu Pan's treatment, Shen Yanzhou didn't stay idle either. He found a temporary job at a nearby construction site, doing manual labor such as moving and unloading goods. He was paid every two days and could earn two yuan a day.
With their savings, he and Yu Pan are doing alright now. Yu Pan's medical expenses are covered by their savings, and the money they earn from the construction site is used for daily household expenses, so they are not living beyond their means.
That afternoon, the foreman suddenly shouted that leaders from above were coming to inspect and told everyone to work quickly and to put all the tools away neatly.
Shen Yanzhou had just finished unloading half a truckload of cement, his body covered in dust and sweat. Before he could even wipe his face, a safety helmet was thrown at him and made to put it on.
Not long after, a black sedan stopped by the construction site. A young man wearing a shirt and jacket and shiny leather shoes got out of the car. The foreman hurriedly went up to him, bowing and scraping as he spoke.
Shen Yanzhou was carrying two bags of cement on the other side. His gaze swept over the crowd and he suddenly felt that the young man surrounded in the middle looked somewhat familiar.
Just then, the other person also looked over at the worker, and when their eyes met, both of them were stunned for a moment.
A look of surprise and uncertainty flashed across the young man's face.
He took a few steps closer and tentatively called out, "Shen Yanzhou?"
Seeing the puzzled look on Shen Yanzhou's face, the young man quickly said, "It's me! I saw you on the road in the neighboring county before!"
Shen Yanzhou frowned and racked his brains, finally managing to recall an image that barely matched the person in front of him. "Lin Siyuan?"
"It's me!" Lin Siyuan said happily, then looked at Shen Yanzhou's dusty appearance with surprise, "What are you doing in Lanzhou? And... doing this here?"
"I brought my brother here for treatment," Shen Yanzhou said succinctly.
"Treatment? Is there anything I can do to help?"
Shen Yanzhou declined his offer, saying, "I'm recovering."
Lin Siyuan was a sensible man. He didn't ask any more questions, took out his wallet, pulled out a business card and stuffed it into Shen Yanzhou's hand. "This is my company address and phone number. If you need anything, just come and find me."
Shen Yanzhou held the sturdy business card in his hand, watching Lin Siyuan being surrounded by people and walk away. A coworker next to him leaned over and asked, "Shen Yanzhou, are you very familiar with him?"
"I've met you."
"I've only seen him before? He doesn't look like him," a coworker sighed. "He's the second young master of Hengmao."
The construction site where they are working now is the one that Hengmao bought to build its headquarters building.
Shen Yanzhou didn't answer him. He put away the business card, carried the cement, and continued walking inside.
His coworker, who had tried to talk to him, clicked his tongue in disapproval at his behavior.
-
As the weather gets colder, they have been in Lanzhou for almost four months.
Lanzhou is located in the northern part of the country, and the wind is particularly strong in winter. After several waves of temperature drops, they discovered that the windows near the balcony were drafty. Even with the doors and windows closed, the house was still chilly, and they had to wrap the blankets up to their chins to sleep at night.
The next day, Shen Yanzhou contacted the landlord, who brought a bucket of cement that evening to repair the windows.
The old and new cement were different colors, and the repair marks were very obvious. Yu Pan frowned as she looked at the irregular cement marks around the window, and Shen Yanzhou thought about nailing on a curtain to cover it up.
After informing the landlord, Shen Yanzhou accompanied Yu Pan to the hospital for treatment the next morning.
When talking about the recent weather, Wang Hongjuan smiled and gestured: "It snows occasionally in Lanzhou in winter, and when it snows, it can accumulate into a thick layer, making a crunching sound when you step on it."
Yu Pan asked in confusion, "What does snow look like?"
"It's whiter than cotton, and it melts in your hand after a while."
After leaving the consultation room, Yu Pan didn't stop for a moment, gesturing to Shen Yanzhou what the "snow" Director Wang had described to her.
In the afternoon, Shen Yanzhou took Yu Pan to the market to buy curtains.
The market was bustling with activity, selling vegetables, shoes, and clothes. The fabric racks were laden with all sorts of colorful fabrics, making it hard to choose. Shen Yanzhou gave Yu Pan the choice, letting him pick one he liked.
Yu Pan wandered around the fabric shop twice before finally choosing a green fabric with small flowers. Lanzhou was too drab in winter; the leaves on the roadside trees had all fallen, and even the walls were gray and drab. This fabric looked very vibrant.
Shen Yanzhou smiled and agreed. He then went to buy thin iron wire, a box of long nails, and also picked out a wooden stick of uniform thickness, intending to nail it to the window as a curtain rod, which would be more stable than directly threading the iron wire through it.
Back in the rented room, Shen Yanzhou borrowed a high stool and a ruler from the landlord and began to hang the curtains.
He first used a ruler to level the area above the window, then drew four points with a pencil, and smoothed them with a thin wooden stick before stepping onto the stool.
Shen Yanzhou pursed his lips, holding two long iron nails and a hammer in his hand, concentrating intently on hammering the nails into the marked points.
Yu Pan sat on the bed behind him, her eyes fixed on Shen Yanzhou's working figure.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting a halo around Shen Yanzhou's silhouette. The muscles in his forearms, taut from hammering nails, showed smooth lines.
The house was warm and cozy from the sun, and their rental property had long since changed its appearance.
From an empty space with only a bed and a table when we first moved in, it's now filled with small items.
Beside the bed was a small bookcase that Shen Yanzhou had made himself. It was level with the bed and had a smooth wooden board on top that could hold a water cup, an alarm clock, and a pen holder. Hidden underneath was a small, square bucket that could be pulled out, where Yu Pan's books and manuscripts were neatly stored.
A three-tiered shoe rack stood by the door, also made of wood by Shen Yanzhou, though it was old wood. It was painted a light brown. They didn't have many shoes, so the bottom tier was used to store small items like sewing kits.
The dining table by the window was covered with a faded green and white checkered tablecloth, the edges of which were worn soft. A calendar hung on the wall, and Yu Pan would cross off the previous day every morning. Next to it was a long wooden rack with their coats and scarves hanging on it.
Shen Yanzhou wedged the wooden stick with the curtain in between two nails, shook it, and felt it wasn't stable enough, so he wanted to hammer two more nails next to the bottom nail for reinforcement.
His attention was entirely on the curtain rod, and he almost blurted out unconsciously, "Panpan, hand me two nails."
As soon as he spoke, Shen Yanzhou realized that Yu Pan was deaf.
Before he could finish thinking about it, a fair hand holding two iron nails was handed to him.
Shen Yanzhou took it subconsciously.
Yu Pan remained in the posture of handing over the item, tilting her head back and staring at him with wide eyes.
Their eyes met, and Shen Yanzhou felt as if an invisible hand had gripped his heart tightly, then suddenly released it, causing him to catch his breath.
Shen Yanzhou got off the stool, his voice trembling uncontrollably. He tentatively called out softly, "...Panpan?"
Yu Pan's eyelashes trembled violently, and her eyes widened as if she had been startled. The blankness in her eyes was replaced by confusion and shock.
He subconsciously touched his ear, then looked incredulously at Shen Yanzhou's opening and closing lips.
The sound of bicycle bells outside the window, the chatter of neighbors in the alley, and Shen Yanzhou calling his name flooded his brain like a tidal wave.
He blinked, wanting to gesture at Chen Yanzhou, but tears welled up first and streamed down his cheeks.
He can hear now.
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Author's note: Let's congratulate this young couple! [Sprinkling flowers]
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