What about the invitation to share a house? Are you going to support me?
In a few moments, Cheng Sizhou returned to the ward, wrapped in the unique hot air of summer, carrying large and small bags of things.
"The doctor said your gastrointestinal function hasn't recovered yet, so you need to eat liquid food. I bought some porridge, sweet and salty." He brought out the small table on the bed and set it up in front of Wen Zichuan. "You're from Fengbo, so you should prefer sweet food. If you think it's not sweet enough, there's also sugar."
"How do you know I'm from Fengbo?" Wen Zichuan majored in broadcasting and hosting, and his Mandarin is top-notch, so he shouldn't have an accent.
"That day... I saw your ID card." Cheng Sizhou had a silly expression, afraid that the other party would misunderstand him as a pervert doing a human flesh search. "If you mind, I apologize."
Wen Zichuan said seriously: "Aren't we friends? Why would friends care about this?"
Cheng Sizhou's ears turned red. He tried to evade his father's words, but how could Teacher Wen take them seriously? "Then the sweet porridge is for you. Sick people have a bitter taste in their mouths, so sweet porridge is easier to swallow."
The two of them had lunch face to face. When Cheng Sizhou picked up the food scraps and threw away the garbage before returning to the ward, he heard Wen Zichuan talking on the phone.
The voice on the other end of the receiver was extremely loud, and Cheng Sizhou could hear it clearly even from a long distance away.
"You didn't go to class today, did you? We checked in with the student, and he had no idea what the course was about! You didn't go to class, and you didn't report back to the academic administrator in a timely manner. If we hadn't called back, how long were you going to play outside?! As a teacher, you have no sense of responsibility! As an employee, you're completely disorganized and undisciplined!"
Wen Zichuan was about to explain when he was immediately interrupted: "Go and apologize to the parents in person right now! If this student asks for a refund, you won't get a single cent of your tuition wages!"
The scolding voice mixed with the noise of electricity caused a buzzing in his ears, and the mobile phone in his hand was suddenly snatched away by Cheng Sizhou.
"What's your fucking attitude?"
"Who are you? What does it have to do with you?"
"Xu Jiaxuan is a poor family in your place, right? You guys just replace the student you can't serve with a new one, right? An apology is out of the question. If you don't settle Teacher Wen's salary, we'll see you in labor arbitration!"
"Threatening me?! If you're so capable, why are you still working? Get lost!"
After hanging up the phone, a message came on WeChat immediately that Wen Zichuan was fired.
Cheng Sizhou was stunned on the spot.
"I'm sorry, I..." Admittedly, this wasn't his intention, but things still went wrong. "I just feel that you have had it so hard, and no one should rush to bully you. I want to, I want to help you..."
What kind of crappy organization is this? Why would they fire people just for a disagreement?
Wen Zichuan watched his embarrassing state carefully, so carefully that even if ten or twenty years had passed, he could still recall his appearance today as soon as he closed his eyes.
"Brother Zhou."
"Ah? Um, I... I'm sorry..."
"It's just a rubbish job, I'll just quit it," Wen Zichuan interrupted him, "I was planning to go to the agency to discuss resignation after the IV drip, so now's a good time, it saves time and effort, and I don't have to go."
Cheng Sizhou was stunned for a moment: "Really..."
"Yeah." Wen Zichuan raised his taped hand and said, "I'm almost done. Can you call the nurse for me?"
"Okay, okay, I'll call a nurse for you!" Cheng Sizhou almost ran away.
As the nurse entered, she caught sight of two full shopping bags on the counter. "So many snacks? Don't eat anything strong or indigestible lately. Wait until you're better."
Wen Zichuan looked at Cheng Sizhou, who was standing in the aisle and was 1.85 meters tall. He said, "Don't block the way. Come sit over here."
How could Cheng Sizhou dare not disobey? He walked around to the other side, sat down with half of his butt on the edge of the bed with his head down.
The nurse was quite curious: "What's wrong? I've never seen Mr. Cheng like this before."
Wen Zichuan said: "He did me a favor, and before I could thank him, he got upset."
The nurse laughed again: "That's strange. When you were little, you wore a big red flower and said you should do good deeds without leaving a name. But now you grow up, you start to care about it?"
Cheng Sizhou was depressed and didn't dare to say anything. He just hoped that the nurse would finish quickly and leave, and stop embarrassing him.
The nurse removed the needle and reminded me, "The medicine is for three days. Remember to come for an IV drip tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. When you feel better, take a taxi and leave. Don't go out in the sun. It's 40 degrees today."
"Thank you." Wen Zichuan pressed the back of his hand to stop the bleeding, then turned to Cheng Sizhou, "Thank you too. I'm much better now. I'll leave now."
"I send you."
"No need, I'm not a three-year-old child."
"No matter what, I must send it."
…
The result was that Wen Zichuan left empty-handed, while his backpack, medicine, and snacks were all hung on Cheng Sizhou.
The taxi headed west. The tall buildings outside the window became increasingly sparse, the road became narrower, and even rows of lush green vegetable fields appeared.
Cheng Sizhou thought, this is already the urban-rural fringe, right? Doesn't he live on Limin Road? Has he moved again? It's a good thing I didn't let him come back alone. If anything happened, no one would know.
The car drove into a particularly remote old residential area, with several large chimneys emitting white smoke nearby.
"We're here, this is the building." Wen Zichuan stopped.
"Which floor? These are quite heavy. Let me help you carry them up." Cheng Sizhou walked into the dim corridor and looked around but couldn't find the elevator.
"Fifth floor, the stairs are this way." Wen Zichuan turned on the flashlight on his mobile phone.
"It's okay, it's okay. I can see it. Come on, lead the way!"
Only after entering the house did Cheng Sizhou get really scared.
The house was divided into five or six small rooms, each about ten square meters. The doors, windows, and walls were severely chipped, giving them a shabby appearance. Common areas like the living room, kitchen, and bathroom were smeared with grease. Worst of all, the corner near the refrigerator was a tangled web of electrical and network cables, creating a glaring safety hazard.
Cheng Sizhou had guessed what was going on without Wen Zichuan saying anything. If he had a little more money, he wouldn't have lived in such a house.
"It's terrible, isn't it." Wen Zichuan took out the key, opened the door, and invited him to his room.
Cheng Sizhou frowned and said nothing. Although there was no place to sit in the room, at least it was clean. He put his things away, then sat cross-legged on the floor against the wall.
Wen Zichuan washed the kettle three or four times, boiled water, poured it out after the first boil, and only took the second boil and poured him a glass of water.
"It's hot, let it cool down before drinking."
"Well, there's juice in the bag."
Wen Zichuan glanced at the shopping bag and found that the receipt had been thrown away, just like the last time he bought medicine.
He understood that Cheng Sizhou didn't want him to treat his kindness as something with a price tag, and he hoped he could just accept it calmly. But now, with the medical treatment, meals, snacks, and taxis, the to-do list was too complicated to count, and Wen Zichuan didn't know how to accept it calmly.
The room was so cramped that it could barely accommodate two grown men. He sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the shorter man sitting on the floor.
They had met twice, and each time the plot was so bizarre, even more twists and turns than the scripts they had recorded before. Rather than accepting the other party's kindness calmly, Wen Zichuan was more at ease because after this time, he no longer had to be kidnapped by vanity and no longer had to pretend to be decent in front of him.
He threw away his pride and he could finally be himself.
Cheng Sizhou lowered his head and thought for a long time before he said seriously, "Teacher Wen, last time and this time, I said rude words and did things I shouldn't have done. I solemnly apologize to you. I'm sorry."
Wen Zichuan looked at the swirls in his hair and said, "It's okay. I'm not that petty. I can tell right from wrong."
"Then you don't hate me, right? At least you're not annoyed by the sight of me?"
"Why do you ask?"
Cheng Sizhou raised his head, his seriousness frightening. "Now I'm serious. The city has regulations prohibiting the rental of capsule rooms like this. There are so many people living in this suite, and there's only one emergency exit between the seven floors. The wires at the door are a tangle, so it's too easy for something to go wrong."
"I know, but I don't have any money."
"Move to Willow Bank, move to my place."
"What?"
"Zhou Yitang's high school entrance exam is over, and Sister Chen and her will move back to their own home. Once they move out, most of the house will be empty. If you're willing, you can move in. We can split the rent, and it saves me from having to find other roommates."
"Yangliu'an is in the city center. Even if we split the bill, it's not cheap, right? After I pay the rent, I'm penniless. Are you going to spend all my daily expenses on you?" Wen Zichuan smiled helplessly. "Are you planning to support me?"
The word "keeping a mistress" was too ambiguous. In the scorching heat, Cheng Sizhou's hair stood on end. "No, no, no, don't get me wrong. That house was rented to me by a retired senior leader from the evening paper. I live there and help him take care of it. It's only two thousand yuan a month, so we can each pay one thousand and it's done."
One thousand per person, sounds so tempting.
Living on a tight budget for too long can really change a person. Take Wen Zichuan for example: if he's not hungry at night, he'll skip a dinner. If he gets a little extra sleep on his days off, he'll skip another breakfast. He didn't buy any new clothes this summer, relying mostly on the bus and subway. Despite this, his money is still spent, leaving him with very little left.
"I'll think about it. I'll tell you when I'm done."
"Okay." Cheng Sizhou guessed his reaction. At least "consider" sounded better than "reject." "Then I'll be leaving first. Take care of yourself."
"knew."
"Call me if you need anything."
"Um."
"You'll still be on IV drip tomorrow? If it's too boring, I'll go to the hospital with you."
"That's not good. Your doctors and nurses will remember me."
Cheng Sizhou smiled, and when he walked to the door, he couldn't help but look back.
Wen Zichuan's face still looked bad, pale and bloodless. Although he looked weak and haggard, there was clearly a smile in his eyes when he looked at himself.
Alas, he smiles so beautifully even when he is sick. If he were alive and well, he would be so charming.
So, get well soon.
After Cheng Sizhou left, Wen Zichuan walked to the only narrow half window in the room and watched the scorching sunlight give the mottled wall a layer of gold.
After enduring doubt, insult, and hurt, the dream he had gradually given up on was rekindled in this ray of light, a rebirth from the ashes. Those few words of encouragement from Xu Jiaxuan were also his own words of self-affirmation, buried deep in his heart. He valued dubbing as a profession and the identity of a voice actor more than any other job.
He shouldn't give up so easily.
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