Chapter 75 Collapse
Everyone in the Cheng family was shocked. The little grandson of the Cheng family, who had not cried or spoken for three days and three nights, was standing there watching his grandmother enter the combustion chamber. The next second, he knelt on the ground and spit out a large pool of blood from his mouth, staining the floor red.
The young man who had been following him cried and called Cheng Che's name, asking Cheng Che to come back and not leave him.
Someone was shouting for help and the family room was in chaos.
The older generation said that when a person dies and there is someone they particularly can’t let go of, they will come back and take that person with them.
The old lady of the Cheng family was most worried about her little grandson, so she wanted to take him away on the day of cremation. However, the way she took him away was really cruel. The little kid knelt on the ground and vomited blood, as if he wanted to spit out all the blood in his body and return it to his rotten father.
Fortunately, Mrs. Cheng couldn't bear it anymore and asked the doctor to send her grandson to the emergency room, where he was saved.
On the day of the burial, perhaps the old lady wanted to see her grandson for the last time, so the grandson who had been in a coma for several days woke up on this day.
This experience completely broke his body. The young man, who was less than 20 years old, was so thin that only bones were left. His face was pale and blue, and he could not even walk steadily. It was the young man from Beijing who carried him on his back as he walked in front of the team. He half-closed his eyes and looked at his grandmother's ashes, still without crying or saying a word.
After the ashes were completely buried, the little grandson of the Cheng family got off the young man's back, kowtowed three times to Old Lady Cheng, and was then taken away by the young man.
After that, people in the community rarely saw the Cheng family's grandson come back. They only heard that he was doing well in Beijing, working as an architect and making a lot of money.
He would only come back once during the Chinese New Year, bringing that well-behaved young man with him to visit his grandfather. He also bought a house for the Cheng family's younger daughter after their divorce and gave her a lot of money to take care of the elderly.
The unworldly people in the community gradually learned that the unmarried grandson of the Cheng family had been with the young man from Beijing for many years.
Yes. Two men. They've been together for years.
Later, the old man of the Cheng family passed away, and the little grandson never came back.
Yang Mingxi found out about what happened in Cheng Che's family half a month later. It was Li Zimai who went to the college to ask for a long vacation for Cheng Che. It happened that winter vacation was one month later.
Yang Mingxi brought Cheng Che's things from the dormitory to the apartment. The moment he opened the door and saw Li Zimai, he felt inexplicably sad. He had never seen the school star look so embarrassed and haggard. Yang Mingxi couldn't even call out "Li Shen".
When he entered the room, Li Zimai asked him to sit in the living room while he went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Yang Mingxi glanced into the room. The exposed half of the mattress was wrapped in a messy quilt. It looked like there was someone lying there, but also like no one was there. He walked closer and saw a little bit of a head sticking out from the pillow. Yang Mingxi's eyes turned red for some reason, even though he hadn't even seen Cheng Che's face.
"Have you eaten yet? Let's eat together."
Li Zimai's voice was a little hoarse, as if he had not rested well. Yang Mingxi asked him if Cheng Che had been sleeping and whether he was in good health.
Li Zimai walked over quietly and closed the door, then said, "The doctor has seen me. I need to rest for a while."
He said that his voice was very unstable for a period of time. Yang Mingxi knew without asking any further questions that there was a serious problem with Cheng Che's health, and it would not be completely healed in a short period of time.
Yang Mingxi turned out the bag, explained what was where, and fished out two rings from his pocket, "I found them under his pillow."
Li Zimai held the two rings in his hands without saying a word. Yang Mingxi saw that his eyes were red and felt bad. "I didn't mean to scold you last time. I was just anxious."
It was not until Yang Mingxi returned home that day that he realized that he had scolded Li Zimai in front of so many people in the corridor of the teaching building. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was wrong. He shouldn't have scolded people without knowing the reason. Fortunately, Li Zimai was a good person with a good temper, otherwise he would not know how to retaliate against him.
Li Zimai suppressed his emotions and replied, "It's okay, I deserved the scolding."
When Yang Mingxi was sitting alone in the restaurant eating, Li Zimai brought porridge to the room. After a while, he came out and had only taken a few mouthfuls of the porridge.
Yang Mingxi himself had no appetite and said he wanted to go in and see Cheng Che. Li Zimai asked him to be quieter, saying that Cheng Che was not in good spirits and a loud noise would scare him.
Yang Mingxi initially thought that Li Zimai was exaggerating. In his impression, Cheng Che was a strong and hardworking person. Even though Cheng Che broke down and cried in front of him that time, he was able to calm down quickly and control his emotions.
But what Yang Mingxi didn't expect was that Cheng Che had become so thin after just half a month of not seeing him. The half of his face exposed from the quilt was sunken, making his eye sockets appear deep and his cheekbones high. His eyes were half open, looking at him blankly, as if all his energy had been drained away, and he looked half collapsed.
Yang Mingxi suddenly couldn't bear to watch it anymore. He never knew that a healthy person could become like this overnight. The "Brother Che" in his impression just disappeared like that.
Li Zimai covered him with the quilt and whispered in his ear, "Brother Xi is here. Do you want to get up and talk to him?"
Cheng Che didn't respond and closed his eyes tiredly.
Li Zimai shook his head at Yang Mingxi, motioning him to go out and talk.
Yang Mingxi choked up and said, "...Why is Cheng Che like this?"
He could no longer call out the words "Brother Che".
Li Zimai closed the door, as if to comfort Yang Mingxi, but also as if to comfort himself, "Don't worry, he will be fine, he's just too tired after so many years, he needs a good rest."
Grandma's death was like the last straw that broke Cheng Che's back. His body reacted first and suddenly collapsed, and then his emotions that had been suppressed for many years completely collapsed.
"Don't give up on him. Cheng Che really needs you. He calls your name every night."
Yang Mingxi said, "I don't know what happened to you, but please don't give up on him during this period, okay? Wait until he gets better and then you can talk about other things..."
Li Zimai forced a smile and said nothing.
That night, Li Zimai packed up the things Yang Mingxi brought back, put the pairs of painting tools and toiletries back to their original places, and hugged Cheng Che and said softly, "Cheche, Brother Xi asked me not to give up on you. Isn't it funny? How could I give up on you?"
What Li Zimai regretted most was the idea of running away that night. Was it because of this that God wanted to punish him and take away Cheche's beloved grandmother to punish him for breaking his promise?
Why would he think of running away? Why would he think of running away just because Cheng Che no longer loved him?
Li Zimai gets up every morning and prepares breakfast first, then carries Cheng Che to wash and feed him. After dinner, he takes him downstairs to walk around in the sun. Every few days, he takes him to the supermarket to buy groceries, and then makes lunch for him when he comes back. In the afternoon, he either accompanies him to the movies or takes him out for a walk. In the evening, he plays the cello for him in the room.
The reason for playing the cello was that Cheng Che couldn't sleep. Although the doctor prescribed sleeping pills, Cheng Che felt nauseous and vomited after taking them. Li Zimai didn't want to hurt his stomach any more, so he thought of many ways to coax him to sleep.
One night, he casually said, "Can I play the cello for you?" Cheng Che, who hadn't responded to him for a long time, nodded for the first time. Although the angle was small, Li Zimai felt it. He hurried to the music room to take out the cello that had not been used for a long time, and sat by the bed to play for him.
Because he hadn't practiced for a long time, he played a few notes wrong at the beginning. Li Zimai was so embarrassed that he blushed, but Cheng Che didn't react at all. He probably didn't hear it. When Li Zimai finished playing and looked at him again, Cheng Che had already closed his eyes.
After that, Li Zimai returned to his old job and practiced the piano in the house every day when he had nothing to do. Cheng Che often sat next to him and watched him play the piano. Sometimes he would come over and touch his hand, as if he wanted to try it out. Li Zimai would then hold him on his lap, hold his hand and teach him to play the piano.
After coming a few times, Cheng Che got used to it. Every time Li Zimai played the piano, he would come over and sit on his lap. At the beginning, Li Zimai could teach him seriously, but later his mind was completely distracted, and the messy images in his mind seemed to be an insult to art.
On New Year's Eve, Li Zimai received a call from Jiang Xun asking him to come back in the evening to celebrate the New Year.
In the past two months, Li Zimai has hardly left Cheng Che's side. Cheng Che has not spoken for two months. The doctor said it was aphasia caused by psychological reasons. Li Zimai dared not leave him for a moment.
"I really can't leave."
Jiang Xun said, "Bring Cheng Che back with you. He'll get better faster if he can interact with more people."
The doctor also said so, so Li Zimai would take Cheng Che out for a walk, but Cheng Che would get scared when he was in a crowded place and would hold his hand and refuse to let go.
Li Zimai had always wondered when Cheng Che would take the initiative to hold his hand on the street, but he never expected that under such circumstances, he would not want such a hand-holding.
Cheng Che depended on him like a child, always holding his hand wherever he went. Once, Li Zimai went to the kitchen to cook. After a long time, he came in to call Cheng Che, and found Cheng Che holding his body and shaking. He called for a long time, but Cheng Che didn't respond. Li Zimai went to pull him, but he was so scared that he completely shrank himself and didn't want anyone to get close to him.
Li Zimai didn't dare to touch him, so he went to see a doctor and got Cheng Che a sedative. He got better after a good sleep. The doctor said it was a stress reaction from his childhood and he was afraid of being beaten.
Li Zimai suffered from heartache. His grandmother's death completely broke Cheng Che and turned him into a child. He regarded Li Zimai as the only person who could protect him and he could not live without Li Zimai.
"I really won't be back. I'll call grandma later to apologize to her and then go back to see her after a while."
Jiang Xun said something else, and Li Zimai kept nodding and waited until he finished talking before hanging up the phone.
Li Zimai looked down at Cheng Che, who hadn't woken up yet. He'd been sleeping a lot lately, sometimes refusing to get up even at noon. The doctor said improved sleep quality was a sign of improvement, but Li Zimai didn't dare relax for a moment. He brushed aside Cheng Che's hair, hesitated for a long time, and then planted a good morning kiss on his forehead, whispering, "It's New Year's Day today, so a kiss wouldn't be too much, would it?"
Every day he held Cheng Che in his arms, took Cheng Che for a walk, and bathed Cheng Che. He comforted himself that he was taking care of a patient. He did not allow himself to do things that only couples could do while Cheng Che was sick. Che Che did not agree to reconcile with him, and he had made Che Che sad that day. He asked for Che Che's forgiveness before he could take the next step.
Li Zimai dressed Cheng Che and took him to the mall to buy New Year's goods. He didn't spend a good time with Cheng Che on New Year's Eve last year, so this year he wanted to spend a New Year with Cheng Che that belonged only to the two of them.
The mall was decorated with lights and the LED screens were playing previews of the Spring Festival Gala. Li Zimai had never been to a mall on New Year's Eve and had no idea there would be so many people that day. He had clearly chosen the most remote mall.
Li Zimai took Cheng Che by the hand and wanted to take him back, but was stopped by several salesmen who were trying to sell him things. By the time he reacted, Cheng Che was gone.
A group of young people saw Cheng Che standing there alone, like a pretty fool, and both men and women wanted to tease him.
Although Cheng Che had been treated better by Li Zimai and was no longer as afraid of strangers as before, he could not stand the crowds and was frightened again. He shrank back and squatted on the ground with his head buried, not daring to look at anyone.
Those people thought he was not feeling well and wanted to send him to see his parents, but who knew that the pretty fool suddenly became furious and beat them to death.
When the security guard ran over with Li Zimai, the boy's face was already covered in blood from the beating. The onlookers didn't dare to go over, saying that the boy was a madman beating people.
Li Zimai rushed forward and hugged Cheng Che with great effort, saying, "Cheche, it's me, it's me, I'm coming, don't be afraid, don't be afraid..."
Cheng Che immediately relaxed when he heard his voice and leaned straight into his arms. Li Zimai stroked his back to comfort him. After a while, Cheng Che gradually calmed down.
The police came over and asked Li Zimai to take a statement. Under normal circumstances, Li Zimai would have handled it himself, but Cheng Che was not in a good state now, and when he saw the police, his emotions became even more out of control. He kept grabbing Li Zimai's clothes and shaking.
Li Zimai had no choice but to call Jiang Xun and ask him to send someone to handle it. Li Qing happened to be nearby and heard it, and mocked Li Zimai for being an adult when he couldn't handle anything well.
Li Zimai nodded and admitted that he was useless, and Li Qing was helpless.
Back in the car, Cheng Che was still unconscious and held Li Zimai's hand tightly. Li Zimai couldn't drive and was just about to find a designated driver when Zhou Xumao called.
Zhou Xumao, Gu Wei and Yang Mingxi originally wanted to give Li Zimai a surprise and have him come over to celebrate the New Year together at their home, but the three of them ended up coming with their bags full of New Year's goods only to find nothing.
When Zhou Xumao was ordered by Li Zimai to pick someone up, he was still wondering, it was just a person, couldn't he just drive over? Why did he have to take a taxi to pick him up?
As soon as they arrived at the basement of the shopping mall, Zhou Xumao understood that he was there to be a driver and watched the two of them being intimate in the back seat.
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