Chapter 3
Ji Ruan couldn't sleep that night.
He always thought that he had accepted himself well with his hearing impairment, and often voluntarily removed his cochlear implant to enjoy the quiet.
But when being quiet becomes a necessity, I feel a little panicked.
As he lost the cochlear implant in his right ear, he could hardly hear any sound, but he could still hear some sound with his left ear. However, these sounds became abstract and fragmented in the middle of the night, like the whispers of ghosts, disturbing Ji Ruan and keeping him awake at night.
Obviously he slept well after having his cochlear implant removed. Ji Ruan didn't understand why he felt so uneasy just because he couldn't reach out and touch the small black external device.
Perhaps for people with hearing impairments, any hearing aid device is no less than an addictive substance.
The next day, Ji Ruan got up very early. When he was washing up, the person in the mirror had dark circles under his eyes, like an eggplant hit by frost, without any energy at all.
After a night, a bruise appeared on his collarbone and ribs where the cat had pounced on him. It was sore and painful, and his back also hurt, but he couldn't see it and didn't know whether it was blue or purple.
Ji Ruan sighed in his heart. He didn't have many clothes, and after searching for a long time he could only find a small round-neck T-shirt to change into, which barely covered his collarbone.
Maybe it's due to his physical condition, his physical condition is easily reflected on his face. If he is a little uncomfortable, his complexion will look very bad.
For example, now, Ji Ruan knows that there is nothing wrong with him, but he looks like a desperate employee who has been exploited by 996 for a whole month.
Ji Ruan stared at the mirror for a while, and finally took a basin of hot water, wet a towel and rubbed his face vigorously a few times. The hot steam managed to make his cheeks a little rosy.
It seemed like someone came into the room. Ji Ruan was afraid that his hearing was not good and he could not hear someone knocking on the door, so he simply did not close the door today. He put down the towel and walked out of the bathroom, just in time to meet Gu Xiuyi and Special Assistant Song who followed behind him.
Gu Xiuyi was already dressed neatly, wearing a white shirt and a dark gray suit, looking neat, clean and elegant.
Ji Ruan's bangs were wet, with a few strands stuck to his forehead. He brushed them away casually, walked towards the two people at the door, and smiled symbolically, "Good morning."
Special Assistant Song immediately responded with a proper smile: "Good morning, Mr. Ji."
Gu Xiuyi didn't say anything. His gaze stayed on Ji Ruan's face for a moment, then moved to his hair. The boy's hair was frizzy from waking up early, and there were a few strands of hair on his forehead that were wet, making him look rather sloppy.
Gu Xiuyi pursed his lips tightly, trying to endure for a moment, but finally couldn't help it. He took a few steps closer and reached out to smooth Ji Ruan's sticky hair.
While stroking his hair, he said seriously: "Even if you are not in good condition, you must always maintain your best image in front of outsiders."
He was close, and every word he said was heard by Ji Ruan's left ear. Although it was not completely clear, at least he could hear it clearly.
The tone was like a leader's inspection at a morning meeting.
Ji Ruan, who had never worked before, was treated like this for the first time in his life and was speechless for a moment.
But Special Assistant Song behind Gu Xiuyi actually nodded repeatedly in agreement, with such a serious expression that Ji Ruan suspected that if he had a notebook, he would immediately copy down the quotes and save them in the collection of Mr. Gu's classic quotations and recite them over and over again.
Have you been exploited to the point of losing your mind?
Ji Ruan didn't say anything more and went back to the bathroom to continue washing and tidying up. After everything was ready, he took all his documents and put them in his bag before going downstairs with Gu Xiuyi.
The two walked side by side without speaking. Ji Ruan hesitated for a moment and said, "My cochlear implant..."
Gu Xiuyi was walking on the right side of Ji Ruan. When he heard his words, he was about to answer. He paused, took a step back and moved to Ji Ruan's left ear before saying, "Let's go to the hospital now and get you a new outdoor unit."
Ji Ruan didn't expect this answer, and his eyes widened slightly: "What about getting the certificate?"
Gu Xiuyi took out his phone and swiped it, then said, "I asked the doctor, and it won't take long to put the device in place, so we'll have enough time to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau after it's done."
It is indeed not very convenient for them to communicate now.
After all, Ji Ruan could hear some of it, and sending messages with his mobile phone was useless, but if he wanted to talk, Gu Xiuyi had to be very close to him.
Even though he had only said two sentences, Ji Ruan's ears were tickled by his breath. When she raised her head slightly, she could even see the lines at the corners of Gu Xiuyi's lips clearly.
This is not the polite distance that should be maintained in a marriage agreement.
Ji Ruan silently approved of Gu Xiuyi's decision and smiled with relief: "Thank you."
Only then did Gu Xiuyi look up from his phone and glance at Ji Ruan.
He was tall and stood very close to Ji Ruan. The light in the corridor was dim, and the fluorescent light from the phone screen made his originally smooth jawline look even colder and harder, giving him an indifferent yet sharp appearance.
Ji Ruan didn't understand his expression.
Gu Xiuyi only looked at Ji Ruan for a very short moment, then put down his phone and looked away, saying lightly: "I told you not to be so polite. It was my cat that was too noisy and hurt you. I should apologize to you."
Hurt him?
Ji Ruan was in a daze for a moment, then he came to his senses and lowered his head. Sure enough, his collar was a little crooked, revealing a small bruise.
So is Gu Xiuyi watching this?
The man walked away without waiting for Ji Ruan to answer. Ji Ruan stared at his back for a while and then didn't think about it anymore. He stood there and calmly straightened his collar before following him downstairs.
·
An hour later, in the lounge of a private hospital.
After Ji Ruan finished the routine checkup, he and Song Ling sat on the sofa and waited. The nurse squatted beside Ji Ruan and asked softly, "Do you need a glass of milk?"
The beautiful girl spoke softly and with a smile, and Ji Ruan thought he had walked into the wrong department and entered the pediatric department.
Song Ling laughed and joked, "Lily, be normal. You are an adult now."
The nurse named Lily glanced at him and said, "How can I not see that? Stop nagging me." Then she turned to Ji Ruan and smiled, "Do you want milk?"
Ji Ruan pursed her lips and smiled, then waved her hand gently: "No, I'll just drink plain water."
"Just plain water, right? OK, I'll go pour it for you. Wait a minute~" Lily stood up and walked towards the water dispenser, looking back every two steps.
Song Ling waved his arms to chase him away: "That's enough, stop staring at me." Then he turned to Ji Ruan and said, "Don't mind it, these girls just like good-looking guys like you."
Song Ling didn't speak as close to Gu Xiuyi as he did, but he deliberately slowed down his speech and pronounced his words clearly, so Ji Ruan could mostly understand him. He smiled and responded, looking around, he casually said, "Do you all know each other?"
In Ji Ruan's opinion, a hospital is just a place to see a doctor. Even when he was seriously ill before, he had a deep resentment towards this place.
But as soon as he arrived here today, Song Ling acted like he was quite familiar with everything. The nurses coming and going greeted him, and Gu Xiuyi was chatting with a doctor in a white coat not far away.
Song Ling followed Ji Ruan's line of sight and laughed, "Yes, that's the doctor who will check your ears later, Li Suian, a friend of our boss."
Ji Ruan raised his eyebrows slightly. Sure enough, there was a doctor friend who was a standard for domineering CEOs. Ji Ruan found it interesting no matter how he thought about it. He chuckled and said to himself: "What a friend..."
Song Ling caught this sentence, but he didn't know what Ji Ruan was thinking. He thought the young lady was curious, so he quickly said:
"Yes, in fact, the entire hospital is under the umbrella of our group. In recent years, the old man - oh, that is, Mr. Gu, has been ill and his ears are not working well, so he went to see Doctor Li. Our Mr. Gu is very filial. He goes to the hospital every few days and takes care of him day and night. Isn't it that we have become familiar with each other..."
Song Ling couldn't stop talking once he started. The more Ji Ruan listened, the more he felt something was wrong. He always had the illusion that he was being sold a product, and the main product was still Gu Xiuyi himself.
This strange feeling made Ji Ruan frown and tried to interrupt: "Assistant Song..."
"how?"
Ji Ruan gave a fake smile: "You don't have to tell me so many details."
"Huh?" Song Ling's eyes widened in surprise, "The boss also said that!"
Ji Ruan didn't understand: "Why did he say..."
"——Ji Ruan." Gu Xiuyi's voice came from behind, interrupting Song Ling who was about to answer.
Ji Ruan turned around and saw Gu Xiuyi approaching with the doctor in a white coat. He gently pushed off the sofa and stood up.
"Let me introduce you," Gu Xiuyi stood in the middle, "Li Suian, your attending physician. Ji Ruan, my marriage partner."
The contract clearly stated that this marriage was open. Dr. Li in front of him obviously knew about this and did not show any surprise. He said to Ji Ruan in a familiar manner: "Congratulations, you are really beautiful, so well-matched, it's simply a match made in heaven!"
When Dr. Li smiled, his eight big teeth showed, as if he was blessing them on their marriage from the bottom of his heart.
Ji Ruan was a little dazed. For a moment he didn't know whether he really thought that the two of them were in love, or whether he was just a shrewd person who lied with his eyes open.
But Gu Xiuyi didn't express his opinion, so Ji Ruan could only continue to fake smile and lie with his eyes open: "Thank you, you are really good at talking."
Lily brought water over and gave everyone a glass. Doctor Li bumped Gu Xiuyi's elbow and joked loudly, "Are you preparing for the wedding? When are you going to get the certificate?"
Ji Ruan lowered his head to drink water, thinking that Li Suian was chatting with him, and blurted out: "Right away."
"cough--!"
Lily choked out.
“Crash——”
Li Suian's water spilled all over the floor.
Ji Ruan was suddenly splashed with water on the back of his hand. He was startled and bumped into Gu Xiuyi's arm, who helped him up without saying a word.
Li Suian didn't expect that this younger sister-in-law was quite wild. She spoke in a soft voice but somehow sounded like a queen.
"This this this--so fast?"
When Ji Ruan saw the mess, he realized that he had said the wrong thing. It seemed that Gu Xiuyi had not told his doctor friend that they were about to get the certificate.
But now that the words have been spoken, it is difficult to back down, Ji Ruan can only bite the bullet and continue: "Well... I have brought the household registration book."
The two people who were mopping the floor were even more shocked.
Gu Xiuyi watched the whole process and came out to end the conversation at the perfect time, taking Ji Ruan to the examination table: "It's not so fast. The original plan was to get the certificate yesterday."
Li Suian helped Lily clean up the water on the floor, washed his hands, straightened his white coat, sat down, and wiped the sweat off his face: "Decisive and swift, that's your style..."
He took a long breath and looked at Ji Ruan: "Let's look at the ears. Xiao Ruan, you don't know sign language, right?"
Ji Ruan nodded, thought for a moment and said, "I'm not born deaf. I got sick when I was a child and didn't go to the hospital in time. Well... I got a cochlear implant soon after and I can hear now. I didn't learn sign language on purpose."
As a family member, Gu Xiuyi sat side by side with Ji Ruan. It was the first time he heard the young man in front of him talk so much.
Before, Ji Ruan only spoke a few words at a time, and there was nothing unusual in his speech. But when he spoke long sentences, without the help of hearing aids, his speech became a little intermittent.
Gu Xiuyi noticed that he lowered his eyelashes several times, as if testing the tone of the words, and the ending sounds were drawn out, making him look even younger.
Li Suian nodded to show that he understood, and then said, "We just checked and there is no problem with your cochlear implant. We will simply buy a new external unit. When we turn it on and tune it, you may feel dizzy or uncomfortable. If you feel really uncomfortable, we will stop for a while and then continue, okay?"
Ji Ruan tilted his head slightly, looked at Li Suian's lips, listened carefully to every word, and nodded after confirming that he understood what the other party meant: "I understand."
But even though he was mentally prepared, Ji Ruan was still shocked the moment the camera was turned on.
The skin behind his ear was connected to a processor, and then to Li Suian's programmer through wires. I don't know what Li Suian clicked, but a burst of electricity passed through his scalp. Goose bumps instantly appeared on the back of Ji Ruan's neck, and the hair on his body stood up.
Then, a rustling sound began to come into his ears, like a surging tide, stimulating his senses and making Ji Ruan dizzy.
Li Suian kept adjusting something, and the sounds in his ears kept changing. Ji Ruan gradually felt as if he was seasick, with a headache and nausea that occasionally surged into his heart.
He tried hard to suppress the urge to vomit, but the headache and dizziness were unbearable, and they became more and more intense as the mechanical sounds in his ears changed.
Gu Xiuyi watched Ji Ruan's face getting worse and worse as he listened. At first, he could still give feedback on the listening under Li Suian's guidance, but later his hands were shaking.
He hesitated for a moment, lowered his head and leaned close to Ji Ruan's left ear: "What's wrong?"
Li Suian also noticed something was wrong and asked quickly, "Are you not used to it? Do you want to stop for a while?"
Ji Ruan used all his energy to resist the discomfort. Just as he paid attention to glance at Gu Xiuyi, his heart began to churn again.
In a flash, Ji Ruan's body froze for a moment, and then he pulled out the processor behind his ear, covered his mouth and forced a dry heave back into his throat.
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