What had been before him were two different puzzles.
Each is incomplete, and each wants to know the whole. In the process of putting together the puzzle, I felt that some pieces were familiar to each other, but I didn't think deeply.
until now.
Only now has he discovered that they are actually two different parts of the same picture.
The whole picture suddenly became complete in front of my eyes, and it was terribly clear. The man on the screen walked down, walked to his side, and walked into the world he was in.
Although the rain is still hurriedly falling in this world, it is freezing cold.
And they were under two different umbrellas. There is no intersection between umbrellas.
The fifteen-minute journey was surprisingly long, because neither of the two opened the conversation.
This kind of silence stretches the wet asphalt road in front of you infinitely, twisting and turning between the streets and alleys, as if you can't reach the end no matter how you walk.
On the cloudy and rainy days of the weekend, in addition to the stalls selling breakfast, many shops are still closed. On weekdays, the lively alleys are deserted. Occasionally one or two cars run over the puddles and make a creaking sound, and there are only two left. The sound of raindrops beating frequently on the umbrella.
Qi Jin walked ahead because he had to lead the way.
Shen Yan was obliquely behind him, accompanying him silently all the way.
When Qi Jin involuntarily slowed down to see if he was still following, they would form a situation of walking side by side. At this time, Shen Yan would always slow down accordingly, allowing the two to stagger their positions and return to the original distance.
Not long after the clinic opened, there was no one in the waiting room, only a person who looked like a cleaner came out sleepily carrying a few garbage bags.
Qi Wei was asking the worker where the doctor was now, but Shen Yan focused on the garbage bag the worker had just brought out of the ward. Those were just ordinary small plastic bags of different colors, with animal hair and bloodstains faintly visible under the film, mixed with medical gloves.
He frowned slightly and followed Qi Jin and the worker to the doctor's office.
The doctor who received them was the doctor who gave the diagnosis to the little returnee yesterday. It seemed that he woke up not long ago, his hair was half-turned, and the buttons of his white coat were both wrongly buttoned.
When Qi Jin asked about the little return date, he chuckled: "If you get cat plague, you will have to hang up for at least a week. It's very early."
At this moment, Shen Yan, who was standing by the side, suddenly said, "Do you mind if we take a look at the kitten?"
The other party agreed: "Of course, of course. But the hospitalization must continue."
While selling Qi Jin which imported medicine would be more effective, the doctor led them to a small ward. After opening the door, the stench of animal feces hit his face, Qi Jin frowned slightly, and subconsciously covered his mouth and nose. However, Shen Yan had already stepped into the house like a habit.
There are about a dozen cages, large and small, in a nine-square-meter ward, and the small ones are transferred to one of them when they return.
It was still covered with the little blanket of Qi Jin, its eyes were closed, and it was sluggish. Sure enough, there was a drip bottle hanging next to it, and it was connected to one of its front paws through a thin infusion tube.
Seeing this, Shen Yan looked solemn and said solemnly, "Are you sure this kitten has cat plague?"
The doctor nodded: "Of course, the test strip and the white blood cell count have proved it."
Shen Yan looked straight at him, her eyes stern, which made the doctor feel a little terrified. Without saying a word, he walked to the cage and observed the appearance of the small return period, and then said: "This kitten looks at most two months old, the antibodies brought from the mother are probably still there. The probability of plague is very small. Even if it does get it, not only do you not isolate it, but you also keep it in a room with other cats and cross-infect it - a taboo for cat plague."
This clinic does not even have a special medical waste bag, and the inside is stained with blood. The disinfection and cleaning work is obviously not up to the standard, and the risk of infection is very high.
The words were so clear that the doctor finally realized that he was a colleague, and his face changed suddenly.
Qi Jin was stunned for a moment, then stared at the doctor and asked coldly, "So you're lying to me?"
"You misunderstood, this cat really has feline plague!" The doctor looked at Qi Jin as the owner, stepped over quickly, and shouted excitedly, "Do you want to believe the test report, or one side word? What if the cat died after being discharged from the hospital? Now, who is responsible for this?"
In a hurry, he actually started to talk about the life of the small return period.
At this time, Shen Yan turned over the bottle of the drip bottle, frowning at the words on it: "Even glucose and normal saline are expired. Stay here, I'm afraid this kitten will die if it can't even be discharged from the hospital. "
Things are already very clear.
When Qi Jin heard the last few words in that sentence, her heart froze for a while, and she couldn't help but deeply regret her mistakes.
If he could have found a better rescue location for the small return period at that time, it would not have suffered. If he... let go of his heart and went to see Shen Yan.
Amid the arguments of the doctors and nurses, Qi Jin resolutely chose to be discharged from the hospital.
The doctor insisted that his diagnosis was correct, but he could not produce the blood test report and test strip results of the day, saying that it was disposed of after the examination. He couldn't even take the basic data with him, and the money he had paid was regarded as a heavy lesson.
The small return date after the needle was pulled out looked more haggard than before being sent to the hospital. The secretions from the corners of his eyes had already stuck together, making him unable to open his eyes, and his limbs were hanging like collapse. At his repeated requests, the nurse reluctantly gave him two new disposable diapers and a disinfectant wipe.
Shen Yan sat silently on the side, wiped the dirt around the eyes and the needle opening with a wet towel, and then wrapped it in two layers of diapers as a temporary warmth.
After a night of tossing around, the little blanket was stained with cat hair and excrement, and possibly bacteria from other cats. Seeing Shen Yan shaking her head gently, Qi Jin threw the blanket away without hesitation, planning to buy another clean and comfortable one for the little guy.
However, these atonement-like actions could not alleviate his self-blame.
Qi Jin held the little guy blankly, wrapped his small and thin body in his arms, lowered his head and pressed his cheek against its forehead. Seemingly aware of his touch, a pair of cat ears quivered, and slender fluff tickled his face.
"Sorry… "
He turned his face to the side, and his lips almost caught the little guy's ear and muttered.
The little return period seemed to hear the pain in his voice, his ears were upright, his little head moved a little, his eyes opened a slit, and he made two "meows" extremely weakly.
"I'll come." Shen Yan whispered from close range.
Qi Jin's head bowed down and nodded lightly, but she was still reluctant to let go, and hugged for a while before slowly handing it over.
They were about to leave the clinic, but Qi Jin was injured and had difficulty moving. It was very difficult to go out with a cat on a rainy day. He understood that Shen Yan was empathizing with himself, and his heart was slowly ironed out by those three words.
Shen Yan still opened the umbrella for him first, and then opened it up and went out together.
The rain outside was slightly lighter, but the sky was still gloomy, and passing vehicles on the road had turned on their headlights, illuminating the rainy road.
"You can't take the subway or bus with a cat, just take a taxi."
Shen Yan didn't say where to go, but Qi Jin was very clear.
It's not that I didn't think that I might return to that hospital one day, but I didn't expect it to be so fast, and I didn't expect that the doctor himself would come to pick him up.
Call a taxi and head to the north of the city.
Qi Jin walked to the rear door, and was about to temporarily put down the umbrella to pull the wrench, when Shen Yan suddenly leaned over silently and reached out to open the door for him.
Qi Jin was stunned for a moment, and rubbed her fingers on the umbrella handle: "...Thank you."
And the man's hand was less than an inch away from his hand at this time. When he let go of it subconsciously, he took the umbrella handle without a trace and supported it for him. The rain fell one after another, and not a single drop hit him.
"You get in the car first, and I'll collect the umbrella."
"Thank you," repeated the word mechanically. He didn't know what else to say, how to say it.
It wasn't until he got into the carriage that Shen Yan put away his umbrella, went around to the other side, and sat with him in the back seat of the taxi.
It usually takes 20 to 30 minutes to walk from here to the north of the city. In the rainy weather, the road is slippery, and the taxi driver does not dare to drive too fast. If there is a traffic jam on the way, it is estimated that the delay will be longer.
Perhaps it was because he was very comfortable to be held along the way, he twisted twice during the small return period, and fell to the ground and got up.
He opened his eyes first and looked at the strange man in front of him in a daze.
Seeing it woke up, Shen Yan didn't do anything else, just put her thumb against its ear socket, and put the remaining four fingers on top of its head, patiently stroking the fur there again and again.
Xiao Huiqi's initial reaction was still a little vigilant, struggling for a moment when the hand fell, and was terrified about yesterday. But after a long time of grooming, its slightly erect fur softened, and the tip of its tail was placed at a very comfortable angle. He raised his head and rubbed the opponent's palm a few times, and continued to doze while lying down.
- It seems that the little guy has adapted to Shen Yan.
"How is the kitten?" The two of them sat next to each other. This was the first time Qi Jin took the initiative to speak. His mood was much calmer than it was in the morning, and his voice no longer trembled. But in front of Shen Yan, it was still a bit awkward.
"I still have a fever, but the current situation is stable. The rest depends on the test results." Shen Yan's answer was also a little awkward.
Qi Jin could hear it.
Just because I could hear it, the bitter taste in my heart would be like a drop of ink falling on rice paper, gradually fainting, and the more it dispersed, the bigger it became. He knew he didn't want this embarrassment.
Even before the umbrella was opened, they were still greeting like old friends.
Obviously until last night, they were still chatting and talking naturally.
Mingming... once laughed in front of him.
Don't want to, speechless like now.
"It's called the return date." When he spoke again, he felt the gaze cast by the other party towards him.
The time his gaze stayed was as short as the time he paused.
"The little guy's name." Qi Jin added. He tried his best to sound like he used to chat, calm and gentle, "I didn't think about it when I picked it up, so I used the last two words of my ID."
"Return date." Shen Yan repeated in a low voice.
It just sounded like calling himself. Qi Jin was a little uncomfortable, and reminded friendly: "You can... add a word 'small' in front of it."
Having said this, the man sitting next to him seemed to smile.
With a very soft laugh, Qi Jin felt that the air in the car was flowing more naturally.
"Would you like to touch the small return date and comfort it?" Shen Yan asked.
Qi Jin gave a "hmm", thinking that Shen Yan was going to hand the little guy back to him for hugs, but he didn't move, but released his hand from the top of the cat's head to make way for a place. They were sitting very close together, and Qi Jin was sitting on his left side, so it really only took a little reach to touch.
- Just touch it lightly. Qi Jin thought so.
Reached out his hand, crossed the distance between the two, and finally touched the head of Xiao Huiqi. The fluffy, soft and smooth fur is very comfortable against the fingers.
The little return period probably smelled the master's breath, turned over and raised his head to lick his palm. Qi Jin was teased by it and smiled slightly, and was about to pinch its ears and rub the place on top of its forehead, but the little guy's two front claws were suddenly pinched from side to side, and a few fingers that hugged him would not. Willing to let go.
Qi Jin was startled and wanted to slowly withdraw his hand.
But the little return date cried out quite bleakly, and his heart softened along with his fingers, so he had to leave his hands behind.
However, the place where the cat lay was Shen Yan's chest.
When Qi Jin's hand was released like this, the back of his hand could not help but gently press against it.
Originally wanted to retreat a little, but unexpectedly, the whole body was pressed over by the small return period, and the fingers were pressed and unable to move. He slightly adjusted his sitting position to a more natural state, but the effect was not great, and the weight of half of his arms still fell on the man's arms.
"Sorry, that..."
"fine."
An unexpected touch was hurriedly passed in just six words.
It's all your fault. Qi Jin smiled bitterly and pinched the meat pad of the little return period, but the little return period was stunned and completely confused, so when the master pinched it, the two claws were more tightly bound.
In this case, Qi Jin tried to start touching it lightly.
The range of motion of the fingers was limited, and the highest it could touch was the little guy's neck, so he scratched his chin with two fingers. The cat especially likes to be touched by this place, and is completely obedient and raises its head for him to play with.
It's just that every time he makes a move, the back of his hand will wipe Shen Yan's clothes.
Because the jacket was given to him, Shen Yan was only wearing a long-sleeved shirt, and the body temperature was easily transmitted through only a layer of fabric.
So slow down—
Just slow down, don't stop.
Qi Jin felt that she had made a rather clumsy excuse to let her own selfishness go.
He was used to Yan Beixiang's voice and Shen Yan's people appearing at the same time, the boundary between the two impressions began to blur, and he could no longer tell who was who.
In this cramped car, it felt closer to him than under that roof.
In other words, it is not that the physical distance is shortened. It was the idea of wanting to approach that became clear.
While not knowing what the consequences would be, he had plenty of excuses to use. For example, the coldness of the rain, the warmth of the other party, and the short half-hour stay in the car.
Another example is that he is not yet cured.
Qi Jin felt a little dizzy, which he attributed to another excuse.
It's normal to have a fever, isn't it
He leaned back in his seat, and the feeling that he was about to fall into a coma surged in his consciousness. He couldn't help but close his eyes and pause to think.
The warmth from the back of the hand was like anesthesia, and the body began to become paralyzed from there, probably not even the throat, so the breathing was somewhat uncontrolled and a little short.
In order to wake himself up a little, he opened his eyes again.
The line of sight just fell on the rearview mirror in the car, and I could see the people around me. The people around him can probably see him, because the eyes of the two people happened to meet in the mirror.
Qi Jin was surprised.
He subconsciously let go of the kitten and pulled it out from Shen Yan!
Before it could be fully retracted, Shen Yan's hand suddenly lifted and grabbed his hand firmly in midair.