4 Chapter 4
◎Doctor Friends◎
Li Muyuan is a doctor.
As we all know, some exceptionally handsome CEOs, celebrities, directors, etc., always have a doctor friend by their side. He takes care of them, acts as both father and mother to them, and does so without expecting anything in return.
Unfortunately, Li Muyuan was a veterinarian.
He opened a private clinic in the alley, and because of his affordable prices, many furry friends come to him for treatment every day.
Unable to drive into the alley, Xiao Ji had to walk along the bumpy cement road. Before he even reached the clinic, he heard the sounds of cats and dogs jumping around.
Li Muyuan reached out and grabbed a large, fat orange cat that was trying to escape. The cat let out a sharp cry and raised its paw to scratch him. In an instant, cat hair and screams flew everywhere.
Amidst the swirling snowflakes, Li Muyuan spotted Xiao Ji with a dark expression.
He stood five meters away from him, looking at the cat hair all over the ground, his brows furrowed, unwilling to take another step forward.
Li Muyuan held down Daju, not having time to cater to his germaphobia, and said in a hurry, "Junior Uncle is playing games inside, go find him yourself."
Xiao Ji wasn't keen on going in, so he said, "Tell him to come out."
Li Muyuan chuckled, "Do you know what level my junior uncle is at? People line up to see him all the time..."
Xiao Ji said, "I'll cover your round-trip airfare."
Li Muyuan secured the chubby orange to the table, looked up and shouted, "Junior Uncle, Xiao Ji is here!"
A few minutes later, a grumpy-faced teenager came out of there with his phone in his hand. The teenager looked young, maybe seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a white T-shirt, black shorts, and flip-flops. He stood in front of Xiao Ji, his eyes glued to his phone, and pulled a red string from his pocket and threw it at him.
"two hundred."
Xiao Ji took out a wet tissue, put the red string inside, and stroked it twice before gathering it in his hand. He glanced at the boy, not commenting too much on his overly childish face, and said, "Have Li Muyuan send me your bank card number. I'll deposit it into your account along with the plane ticket."
The boy finally looked up. "Can't I use WeChat QR code for payment?"
"..."
Xiao Ji paused for a moment, then said, "Okay."
The boy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, I'm not an adult yet. My master manages the card. If it were in the card, I don't know how much he would have swallowed."
Li Muyuan finally settled Daju down and walked towards them while patting its fur. He said to Xiao Ji, "Junior Uncle just finished the college entrance exam and has been addicted to games lately. My grandmaster is worried that he will spend money on games, so he is keeping a close eye on him."
The boy wore a sour face when his past was exposed to his face.
"Don't underestimate my uncle just because he's young. He's very skilled, but they all have rules and don't usually make a move easily. I even had to beg him for that rope."
Xiao Ji hooked the red string in his pocket with his fingertips.
As time passed, the rope was warm from his body heat. He opened his mouth to ask something, but Li Muyuan saw him and interrupted, "Don't ask. I asked about your friend's matter, and he said he couldn't tell either. Perhaps the time is not right yet."
The boy put away his phone, scratched his messy head, stared at Xiao Ji for a while, and suddenly said, "I can't tell anything about your friend, but you have a very strange smell about you."
He twitched his nose. "It looks like a ghost, but not quite, yet it's not a living spirit either. It's so strange..."
Xiao Ji moved his hand at his side and took a step back without making a sound. He said calmly, "I am an atheist."
Li Muyuan's eyes widened. "An atheist like you coming to ask for a red string?"
"The bracelet is more important; it gives me peace of mind."
"..."
Is this what they mean by "you can not believe it, but you can't live without it"?
Having obtained the items, Xiao Ji was unwilling to linger. He bid farewell to Li Muyuan and the young man before heading back. Before leaving, the young man gave him a talisman.
"Take this. Although I didn't sense any malice from the thing on you, it's safer to have this just in case."
Remembering that he said he was an atheist, the boy added, "Just for peace of mind."
He then smiled and said, "The price is very reasonable, only one hundred and fifty."
Xiao Ji looked at it for a while, and finally accepted it.
Li Muyuan escorted him out of the alley, tugging at the cat hair on his body as they walked, until he stopped when he saw a car parked at the intersection.
He looked at Xiao Ji, hesitating to speak, "Um... what did the doctor say about Song Jinyu?"
Xiao Ji stood in front of the car. The morning sunlight cast a long shadow of him. He was wearing a long trench coat, and a cold wind swept past his hair. His narrow eyes held a deep, unyielding expression, and his face remained indifferent.
"That's how it was. He wasn't injured, and there were no problems with his body, but he just wouldn't wake up."
Li Muyuan didn't know what to say, so he could only pat him on the shoulder.
Li Muyuan had only met Song Jinyu two or three times in total.
He and Xiao Ji were roommates, but their relationship wasn't very good at the time. Mainly because Xiao Ji was too cold and seemed to care about no one. After living together for two years, Xiao Ji still couldn't remember his name.
When freshmen started their junior year, Li Muyuan was pulled in to help with welcoming them for free. He saw Xiao Ji among the crowd of freshmen.
It was almost 30 degrees Celsius. The other person was wearing a black T-shirt, and his exposed skin was very white. Without even trying, he could be seen standing there, his white skin practically glowing. With his exceptionally handsome face, he stood out in a crowd.
In just a few minutes, Li Muyuan had seen four or five freshmen go up to ask for directions and contact information. Perhaps feeling annoyed, Xiao Ji eventually put on his headphones.
Later, Song Jinyu arrived.
Everyone else was carrying large and small bags of luggage, but he was different. He was only pulling a medium-sized suitcase with a skateboard on top. He was wearing a white T-shirt and black shorts, revealing straight and well-proportioned calves. He was slightly shorter than Xiao Ji. His arms and legs were different colors, which showed that he had hardly spent any time at home during the summer vacation. He held an ice pop in his other free hand, and his round eyes looked around curiously.
Xiao Ji walked up behind him.
The person who used to wash his hands after shaking hands with others reached out and grabbed the boy's collar in the sticky, 30-degree heat.
Startled, Song Jinyu shrank back and stared wide-eyed behind her.
Xiao Ji took a piece of paper to wipe the popsicle that had dripped onto his hands, and then took the suitcase from his hands.
Li Muyuan stood at the door and greeted the two people who came in.
Song Jinyu, holding a skateboard, was very enthusiastic towards everyone. When he greeted her, she grinned, revealing a set of bright white teeth, "Hello, my name is Song Jinyu, the Jinyu from 'it's raining today'."
Li Muyuan asked curiously, "Are you friends with Xiao Ji?"
Song Jinyu glanced back, then pouted, "We're not close at all, who's friends with him?"
That was the first time Li Muyuan met Song Jinyu.
The second time was on the basketball court during freshman orientation. The opposing team was wearing jersey number 9 and soared through the arena like a nimble cheetah, with cheers rising one after another.
Li Muyuan surveyed the area and spotted Xiao Ji sitting in the crowd, keeping score.
No matter how lively the atmosphere outside was, he always had an aura that kept strangers at bay. His emotionless eyes were fixed on the boy who was high-fiving his teammates. Whenever he scored a point, his slender, clean hand would silently flip the card with a light, quick arc.
At that time, Li Muyuan found it very strange. Xiao Ji and Song Jinyu seemed to be from completely different worlds, and even their personalities were worlds apart. How did two people with such different personalities meet?
He never imagined that Song Jinyu, who seemed so passionate, would one day be lying in a hospital.
-
Xiao Ji drove to the hospital as soon as he got the rope.
The ward was quiet in the morning. The cleaning lady was mopping the floor, and the smell of disinfectant became stronger with each pass.
He's been guarding this place for two days, and today is no different from the previous two days.
Zhou Qingwen sat by the hospital bed, peeling an apple while muttering, "Your sister's coming home for her monthly leave soon. Didn't you promise her you'd take her to that barbecue place she wants to eat when she gets her leave? If you don't wake up soon, Song Jinrou will scold you, and then I won't help you anymore..."
She said a lot, but the person on the hospital bed remained unresponsive with their eyes closed. As she spoke, Zhou Qingwen could no longer continue, stopped, and silently wiped away her tears.
Xiao Ji stood at the door and knocked.
Zhou Qingwen wiped away her tears and forced a smile. "Xiao Ji is here. Come in and sit down."
Xiao Ji restrained himself from looking at the hospital bed.
"Aunt Zhou."
Zhou Qingwen pulled out a chair and placed it in front of Xiao Ji. "Sit down." She then picked up the unfinished apple that was lying to the side. "You've come so early. Have you eaten anything? Auntie will peel an apple for you."
Xiao Ji didn't like apples, but she didn't refuse Zhou Qingwen's offer. She needed to find something for her to do so she wouldn't keep overthinking.
As he was thinking, his eyes involuntarily drifted to the side.
The person on the hospital bed was breathing evenly. His eyes, which were usually wide open, were now closed quietly. His lips were so pale they were almost bloodless. After a few days, Xiao Ji noticed that the soft flesh that could be squeezed out when he smiled was gone, and he looked much thinner than before.
He lures people into a dream without warning, and no one knows whether they will ever wake up.
Zhou Qingwen chimed in, "Xingxing has always been a lively and energetic child; he can never stay still. Otherwise, his father wouldn't have let him study sports. He's very healthy and rarely gets sick. I never..."
She paused, her voice slightly choked, "I've never seen him so quiet before."
Xiao Ji's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
The ward was quiet for a moment.
Song Huaishan came in from outside carrying breakfast. He wasn't surprised to see Xiao Ji inside. He cleared his throat to make his voice sound normal.
"Come and have breakfast. The doctor said there's no danger to his life. Why are you looking so long-faced? If you ask me, just burn all those figurines in his room. Who knows, they might even come up and cause trouble when they turn into ghosts."
Zhou Qingwen threw the apple peel she was holding at him, saying, "How can you talk like that?"
After throwing them away, she hesitated again, "Do you think burning them will really work? What if Xingxing doesn't wake up after burning them, but wakes up later?"
Song Huaishan placed the breakfast on the cabinet. "Make it cold. Just say it was cooked by Song Jinrou."
Zhou Qingwen: "..."
Xiao Ji coughed and said, "Aunt Zhou, Uncle Song, I'm going out for a bit."
Song Huaishan called out to him, "Eat before you go. I knew you were coming, so I bought an extra portion."
"I've already eaten." Xiao Ji glanced at the time. "I'm going to see Uncle Wang. I'll be back later."
The "Uncle Wang" he mentioned was the doctor who treated Song Jinyu.
Wang Liang had surgery at ten o'clock and was waiting for Xiao Ji in his office. When he saw him arrive, he gathered the documents in his hand and said to him, "Come, sit down."
Xiao Ji didn't sit down, and Wang Liang didn't mind. He got up and closed the door. "I called you here to talk about Song Jinyu. It's strange. I went to check, and the flower bed was only about 30 centimeters deep. He didn't fall headfirst, and he didn't have any injuries. The friend who brought him here said he lost consciousness on the spot..."
Wang Liang took a sip of tea to moisten his throat before continuing.
"You might not believe it, but after working in a hospital for a long time, you're bound to encounter some strange things. These kinds of things definitely can't be talked about outsiders, and as a doctor, I can't tell patients' families either. But you call me 'uncle,' and you're someone I've watched grow up. Today, putting aside my identity as a doctor, I'm saying this as an elder..."
He looked at Xiao Ji and said, "He hasn't woken up for several days. You should try anything, even if it seems hopeless, and find someone to take a look at him. You never know what might happen..."
Wang Liang was pressed for time, and as soon as the nurse called, he hurriedly left Xiao Ji behind and left.
Xiao Ji sat with Zhou Qingwen and Song Huaishan for a while, then went to the hospital's convenience store to buy a bottle of coffee.
He got into the car with the coffee, and wiped his hands with a wet wipe before unscrewing the cap.
Bottled Americano doesn't taste great, but the unique bitterness of caffeine helps him stay awake.
He just leaned against the car, watching the garage lights flicker silently.
After drinking half a bottle of coffee, Xiao Ji took out his phone.
The red mushroom in the potted green ivy flashed, and the next second, the scene of the living room appeared on the phone.
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