Chapter 89
At 10 a.m., the nurse came to administer the IV drip and medication as usual. Because Wang Shuai was weak, the group did not want to disturb him for too long, so they said goodbye and said they would come to see him again in a couple of days.
Stepping out of the lobby on the first floor of the inpatient department, sunshine and wind rushed in, and as far as the eye could see, there was lush greenery everywhere.
The few people who were just laughing and joking in the ward could no longer keep up their masks and revealed their sorrow and solemnity.
"How could this happen? In just two or three months, how could someone who was so lively and energetic suddenly be lying here like this?"
"No wonder this guy always makes excuses about being busy and never video calls us. I think he's afraid we'll see him sick. That bastard..."
"Li Rui, did you ask Auntie what her problem was?"
Li Rui had been walking ahead with his head down. Upon hearing this, he wiped his eyes, turned around, and his eyes were red.
“The tests did find some problems, but they all said it shouldn’t have such a big impact on her health. My aunt said she’s been to almost every major hospital, and she really…” He paused, then spoke again, his voice choked with emotion, “We’re really at our wits’ end.”
Li Rui and Wang Shuai have known each other the longest; they've been friends since childhood and have the deepest bond.
Seeing him like this, whether out of heartache for their friend Wang Shuai or sympathy for Li Rui's distress, everyone felt a tightness in their chests and remained silent and repressed all the way to the hospital gate.
The group agreed to visit Wang Shuai together the day after tomorrow.
The patient's emotional state is very important, and as friends, all they can offer now is emotional support.
The group took a taxi back.
Chi Jun, Li Rui, and another boy are going the same way, so they'll ride in the same car.
Now only the three of them were left. While waiting for the car, Li Rui remained silent, then suddenly sighed:
"I really didn't expect it to turn out like this."
He turned to look at Chi Jun.
Seeing that Chi Jun didn't speak, her gaze fell on him, but it seemed as if she wasn't looking at him at all.
Li Rui frowned slightly: "What's wrong with you?"
He recalled that Chi Jun had seemed a bit off in the ward earlier, remaining silent and staring blankly, as if deep in thought. Could it be that he was frightened by Wang Shuai's condition?
Too.
People who always seem carefree may not actually be that open-minded inside.
In retrospect, Xu Jun may have been more sentimental than many others.
However, even he himself found it difficult to extricate himself from the sadness. He wanted to say a few words of comfort, but he didn't know where to begin. After all, any words of comfort seemed pale and unconvincing at this moment.
Li Rui wiped his face hard, didn't ask any more questions, patted Chi Jun's shoulder, and turned to look at the distance:
"The car is here."
The taxi slowly came to a stop. The boy opened the door and got in first, followed closely by Li Rui. After sitting down, Li Rui turned around and saw that Chi Jun was still standing outside the car without moving.
"Xu Jun?"
Chi Jun blinked, walked up to him, bent down, but didn't go in.
He placed his hand on Li Rui's shoulder.
"You guys go first, I left something in the ward and need to go back and look for it."
"Varied……"
Before the boy could finish speaking, Li Rui interrupted him: "Okay, then we'll be going now."
"Um."
The car door closed.
Chi Jun slowly straightened up and looked at his hands.
The faint black aura swirling around his hands came from Li Rui's body.
When Li Rui and Wang Shuai came into contact in the ward, the black aura quickly spread to Wang Shuai. Now, upon encountering Chi Jun, it was like a shark smelling blood, eagerly abandoning Li Rui and pouncing on him.
However, when it came to Chi Jun, it was as if he had suddenly lost his goal, rushing around aimlessly like a headless fly.
Chi Jun suddenly gripped his hand tightly.
With a sharp, whistling sound, the black mist vanished instantly, disappearing into the air.
*
When Chi Jun returned to the ward, Wang Shuai's mother had just fed her son a bowl of oatmeal. When she saw him come back and say that she had something to say to Wang Shuai, she didn't ask any questions, made room for him, and took the bowl to the washroom to wash it.
Wang Shuai lay on the bed looking at Chi Jun with a faint smile on his face.
"What are you saying? Don't... don't try that sentimental stuff."
Chi Jun chuckled.
He pulled up a stool, sat on the edge of the bed, poured a glass of water, and handed it to Wang Shuai.
Taking advantage of Wang Shuai's lack of strength in holding the cup, Chi Jun supported his hand the whole time, with skin-to-skin contact.
As Wang Shuai drank water, the black mist surrounding him surged wildly towards him, but in an instant, the scene outside the hospital reappeared—
The black mist seemed unable to find its target, circling around Chi Jun a few times before returning to Wang Shuai.
Chi Jun's eyes sharpened, and his hand suddenly clenched in reverse.
The teacup was lifted, and the water spilled out.
Fortunately, the water was warm and not much was poured. Chi Jun quickly stood up, removed the cup, and used a tissue to wipe the water stains off Wang Shuai's chin and neck.
"Feel sorry."
Wang Shuai shook his head with a smile: "It's not your problem, it's just that I'm too... too useless right now, I can't even drink water..."
Before he could finish speaking, he started coughing violently.
Chi Jun stared at the large mass of black energy still surrounding Wang Shuai, his eyes darkening.
That force I just exerted only caused it minor damage.
*
When Xu Qingzhou arrived at the school gate, where they usually met, after school in the evening, he didn't see Chi Jun.
She first sent a WeChat message to Chi Jun, asking where he was.
After waiting for a while, there was no response.
Xu Qingzhou waited another five minutes, then sent a WeChat message to Chi Jun.
You don't need to pick me up, I'm going home now.
Putting away his phone, Xu Qingzhou walked towards the courtyard of the rented house.
Because of time constraints, Xu Qingzhou hasn't cooked a proper meal in a long time, just making whatever is convenient.
After a while, I even started to get a little itchy to do it.
So on the way back to the rented apartment compound, Xu Qingzhou suddenly decided to stop by the supermarket and buy some beef ribs and tomatoes, planning to make a pot of warm and fragrant meat soup that Chi Jun would definitely like.
It took me an extra half hour to get home, but there was no one in the small rented room.
Xu Qingzhou found it strange.
Fortunately, when she took out her phone, Chi Jun replied to her message.
Chi Jun: [Okay, I've replied too]
Xu Qingzhou put down his phone, took the meat to the sink to wash and blanch it.
I had just finished preparing the tomatoes and beef and put them in the pot to stew when I heard a woman's voice behind me:
"What delicious food is it today?"
Xu Qingzhou turned around with a smile.
It really is Xuan Li.
During this period, Xuanli often came over for meals, and she ate with great relish no matter how lavish or simple the food was, without being picky at all. In the process, Xu Qingzhou had become quite familiar with her.
Xu Qingzhou: [Tomato stewed beef short ribs, I don't know if you like it]
“I like it, I like it,” Xuanli lifted the pot lid and took a satisfied sniff: “I like anything that lets me eat and drink for free.”
Xu Qingzhou smiled.
She's so adorably honest.
Xuanli handed over a bag.
Xu Qingzhou opened it.
Inside was a cold dish of braised goose.
"I think this is delicious, so I bought it for you guys to try. It'll also save you from having to cook one less dish."
【Thanks】
Xu Qingzhou placed the braised goose on the dining table, gesturing for Xuanli to sit down and rest for a while.
Xuanli casually picked up an apple from the table, wiped it with her sleeve, and took a big bite. As she ate, she sat casually on a small chair, took out her phone, and opened a game.
Only then did she suddenly realize that someone was missing from the room, and she looked around.
"Where's Chi Jun? I haven't seen him anywhere."
Xu Qingzhou: [His friend was sick in the hospital, and he went to visit him.]
"Hospital?"
Xuan Li's expression paused for a moment.
But then she lowered her head again and casually took a bite of the apple: "Oh."
Because Xu Qingzhou would sit down and write papers in his spare time, Xuan Li would wear headphones when playing games and rarely make any noise during the process.
The small rented room remained quiet for a while.
About half an hour later, Chi Jun returned.
He seemed a little listless, but when he saw Xu Qingzhou, he smiled slightly, adjusted the bag he was carrying in his right hand, and walked towards her.
"I brought you a Wei's roast chicken."
Xu Qingzhou put down his pen, stood up and took the pen, took a deep sniff of the aroma of the roast chicken, and then looked up and smiled.
Seeing her like this, Chi Jun felt as if a feather had brushed against his heart, making it soft and peaceful.
He reached out and ruffled her hair.
"Hello, hello, hello—"
Xuanli couldn't stand it anymore. She leaned back and waved her hand vigorously at the two of them, saying, "There's a perfectly healthy person right here! Can't you see me? Huh?"
Chi Jun turned to look at her.
"I've already seen it, so what's so surprising about your arrival?"
Xuanli rolled her eyes.
Because of Xuanli's sudden visit, the original plan to cook one dish for dinner has now been extended to include an extra stir-fry and a bowl of soup, in addition to the braised goose that Xuanli brought and the roast chicken that Chi Jun bought.
The small dining table was piled high with food, a truly abundant feast.
Xuanli ate her fill, but as usual, food couldn't shut her up. She kept asking Xu Qingzhou how his studies were going, and then talked about the interesting things she had encountered recently. Later, she even mentioned the male ghost.
"By the way, I haven't seen him lately. What, has he given up on competing with me for the title of 'best friend'?"
In the past, Chi Jun and Xuan Li would bicker back and forth at the dinner table, making it quite lively.
Chi Jun was unusually silent tonight.
After Xuan Li finished speaking, he even stopped eating and his expression became obviously off.
【What's wrong? 】
Xu Qingzhou gently squeezed his wrist and mouthed a question.
Chi Jun looked up at her and shook his head.
"It's nothing, I just got dragged by Li Rui and the others to play soccer for half the afternoon, so I'm a little tired."
Then you should get some rest early tonight.
"good."
Xu Qingzhou picked up his chopsticks, then remembered something, put them down again, and wrote on the paper:
How is Wang Shuai doing now?
"fine."
Have you found the cause of your illness?
“Hmm,” Chi Jun lowered his eyelashes, recalling the black aura surrounding Wang Shuai, and poked the bowl with his chopsticks: “He said there were some problems with his immunity.”
Xu Qingzhou hesitated for a moment, then asked nervously:
Is it easy to treat?
Chi Jun looked up at her and smiled.
"It can be cured, don't worry."
Hearing him say that, Xu Qingzhou felt relieved, breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, and continued to eat seriously.
Chi Jun also picked up a piece of food and put it in his bowl. When he glanced up, he noticed Xuan Li's gaze, which was fixed on him.
Chi Jun looked at her silently, without saying a word.
Xuanli remained silent.
The latter half of dinner was spent in a strange silence.
After dinner, Xu Qingzhou went to wash the dishes and told Chi Jun to go downstairs to take a shower and come back to rest early.
Chi Jun agreed, packed up his toiletries, and took a towel downstairs.
Xuanli had already gone back ten minutes ago.
At this moment, Chi Jun walked downstairs under the dim yellow corridor lights. When he reached the corner on the first floor, he did not go towards the public bathroom. Instead, he turned left and went straight to the road behind the rental courtyard.
The night was slightly cool, and the leaves cast menacing black shadows on the ground as the evening breeze rustled through the leaves.
Xuanli didn't leave.
She was sitting on the bricks and tiles behind the wall, hugging her knees, and smoking.
The red cigarette butt flickered in the night.
Hearing the noise, she turned around and glanced at Chi Jun, her expression not surprised, then patted her clothes and stood up.
"You're here?"
Chi Jun stood still, watching her.
What do you know?
Xuanli sighed.
"It seems they've finally found us."
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