In fact, this world did not belong to her. These people in front of her had nothing to do with her. Even though she and Baohua were classmates and very good friends, it was only between the two of them. Before October last year, or even later, she should have had nothing to do with these people.
But there was a thin figure beside the bed, which made her fall and stay there forever as soon as her eyes were fixed on it.
Everyone in the room looked at Xu Shiqi. It was obvious that she was the only outsider. But this outsider was the only person the old lady on the bed asked to see. The old man at the head of the bed looked very bad, and everyone's eyes were somewhat puzzled.
Silently making way, Xu Shiqi approached the bedside. The old lady closed her eyes and seemed to be asleep. Her face was dark and her lips were an ugly color.
Wen Jialuo slowly moved aside to make room for her. One was the old lady's favorite granddaughter, and the other was a "friend of different ages" whom the old lady had accidentally made. Their silent backs were so similar, both of them were slightly hunched over, half leaning over the bed.
The old lady opened her eyes very slowly, and her usually clear and kind eyes were covered with turbidity. She stretched out her leaf-like hand and slowly grasped Xu Shiqi's.
"Grandma... what I miss most... is... the song... you... sang for me..." the old lady murmured, with a hint of melancholy on her lips, "Take grandma... back... to her youth..."
The hand holding him was weak, with veins on the back of his hand showing, almost purple. Xu Shiqi carefully grasped the old lady's light words in the air, and a main string in his heart was plucked, emitting a buzzing heavy sound. His whole body felt like it had been fried in fire and soaked in water, and it was hot and cold.
The other hand was also held, the familiar touch, the warmth that was usually soothing now felt like fire. Xu Shiqi didn't need to turn his head to feel the girl's eyes on him. There was confession, desire, and pain that was being suppressed.
Xu Shiqi closed his eyes, and the thought that had been hanging in his mind since the car accident suddenly collapsed. There was no loud sound, it just landed lightly on the ground without stirring up a speck of dust. The two hands holding him did not give him any pressure. Yes, it was just that he suddenly figured it out.
Even if he was standing behind her, perhaps watching her every move, it would not be something that could make her nervous.
First there was a long sigh, vague in everyone's ears, and it disappeared before they could catch it, so vague and unreal. Then there was a hoarse voice, like trekking through thousands of miles of deserted yellow sand, as difficult as if the yellow sand had covered the face and blocked the breathing.
"General... draw your sword... rise from the south sky, I wish to be... the long wind... circling the battle flag..."
The whole ward was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
This is the sound of the water being cut off. People who listen to it feel as if there are fine sands grinding in their ears, and then slowly crushing into a swirling wind. The flowing water is blown into the night sea, and it is no longer there when you try to find it. However, this sound is also like a precious sword that is hidden deep in the ground and whose careless owner fails to take good care of it, leaving brown rust on the blade. It is not smooth at all, cannot hurt anyone, and is alone and secluded.
The winding, graceful and affectionate tunes I heard in the past seem to have gone through the changes of time, with a bit of vicissitudes, and the heart that could not be excited has become calm, but the deep affection remains.
The old lady almost held her breath as she listened to Xu Shiqi stumbling over the song. She suddenly let go of her hand and a smile appeared on her lips.
"Seventeen, can you speak now?" Wen Baohua was so surprised that he couldn't help but shout from behind.
Luo Linyi still looked at the scene beside the bed in great surprise. Her daughter had always been so concerned about Xu Shiqi's voice that she was obsessed with it, but now her daughter had no reaction at all - the back of her head made her inexplicably uneasy. Luo Linyi couldn't help but turn her head to look at her husband, but she didn't expect that her husband's face was slightly cold and his brows were slightly twisted.
After singing a line of the song, the blankness left behind was as unbearable as a year. Grandma responded to her and looked very relieved; Baohua behind her was also very happy. She could almost feel the emotions flowing from everyone, but the girl next to her seemed to have disappeared out of thin air, and the hand holding her became very unreal.
Xu Shiqi turned her head slowly with a pale face, but before she could see clearly what was in front of her, her eyes were blurred and she was roughly pulled into a trembling embrace.
Wen Jialuo bit her ear, and tears flowed down their cheeks as they were close to each other. Xu Shiqi felt as if she was being burned.
There was a brief moment of confusion in her mind. Xu Shiqi let Wen Jialuo hold her in front of everyone. When her earlobe was bitten, she suddenly woke up and tried to push her away, but the girl held her tighter.
"Don't move." Wen Jialuo closed his eyes and said in a low voice.
Xu Shiqiu didn't dare to turn his eyes to see the reaction of the Wen family. Fortunately, Wen Jialuo was still rational and restrained, and turned his head towards grandma's bed. Everyone could only see them hugging, but they might not find out what else the girl did. - But grandma would see it. Xu Shiqiu suddenly felt that the ear that was bitten began to heat up fiercely, and even the top of his head was about to smoke.
Fortunately, Baohua was also very excited. He came over and hugged them both: "That's great, Seventeen, say something else."
The interrupted hug ended. Xu Shiqi didn't dare to look at Wen Jialuo. This girl was almost becoming demented. She could not do anything except looking at her.
"Bao... Hua." Xu Shiqi spoke slowly, her fingertips against her neck, her throat trembling slightly. This wonderful experience made her cry a little, but her eyes slowly turned, and when they fell on a person, it was as if ice was stuffed into her throat, blocking her breathing. She slowly lowered her eyes, her fingertips were also cold.
She broke her promise.
"You all go out, I have something to say to Shi Qi." The old lady suddenly spoke.
Her voice was very calm, completely different from the weak and feeble old woman just now. Everyone looked at her in surprise, especially the old man who knew her health very well, whose face was extremely grim.
"What's wrong with you?" The old man groaned and lowered his head, complaining, "You never let me speak. Can you explain it to me now?"
The old lady smiled, still showing the gentleness of her youth. She coaxed him, "Be good, go out first. I'll explain to you later."
"Hmph, how can that old guy know something that I can't know first?" The old man was still in a bad mood, but there is always a way out, so he took the lead and walked out, his steps still firm.
The last one walking was Wen Jialuo, she couldn't move at all.
The old lady had already sat up. She used her fingers to comb her messy hair and patted her granddaughter: "Jia Luo, you should go out too."
Wen Jialuo didn't move. She just looked at Xu Shiqi. It was like they had just crossed the Tanggula Pass. The oxygen was so scarce that she couldn't help but breathe deeply. She tried hard not to see dark in front of her eyes, and she didn't miss any of the woman in front of her.
“… Go… out.” Xu Shiqi gently pushed her. Her ears were still red and her face was still a little wet from her tears. All these softened her heart and she stopped thinking about other things for the time being.
The girl stood up slowly. There were only three of them left in the ward. She suddenly came to her senses, grabbed Xu Shiqi's hand, and said hurriedly to the old lady: "Grandma, I love her. I want to be with her forever."
The old lady felt faint. She was too young to bear such passionate words. She couldn't help but stroke the back of her head and angrily waved her hand to drive her granddaughter out.
It took Xu Shiqi a while to get her mind back to the girl's words. After being teased by the girl, she didn't know how to face the old lady. She sat on the edge of the bed awkwardly, lowering her head and carefully controlling her breathing.
"Silly girl, you must be scared by me." The old lady held her hand with some pity and sighed.
Huh? Xu Shiqi looked up blankly, and saw the old lady blinking mischievously, which really made him a little dumbfounded.
The old lady sighed again.
She originally wanted to let things take their own course. After she first knew on the plane that her granddaughter had such a crush on someone, she began to slowly eliminate the candidates. Although it was a misunderstanding at the beginning, judging from her granddaughter's expression, it might be more difficult than this.
Then the car accident happened, and the girl he liked very much suddenly came into his sight, and he couldn't avoid it no matter how hard he tried. Slowly, he understood the things between them little by little, and he didn't even need to ask them or find someone to investigate. If he thought about it carefully, I'm afraid anyone could see it.
Perhaps because she learned about it slowly, and she had prepared for all kinds of difficulties in her heart from the beginning, when she found out that the person her granddaughter liked was that girl, she felt strangely relieved. Afterwards, she also blamed herself. The person her granddaughter chose was so difficult to choose. She didn't even dare to think about how they would be treated in society without the protection of adults. Therefore, resistance was replaced by worry, and she had acquiesced from the beginning.
However, she really wanted to let it go. But the last time she talked to her granddaughter, she realized that it would be difficult to separate the two. Besides, for whom did her granddaughter play the role of a secret love and lie so big? After all, the anorexia days of her granddaughter were still vivid in her mind. The old lady was distressed after all. Now seeing her granddaughter in deep pain because of the girl's voice, she couldn't help but be shaken.
So, after thinking it over, she decided to just go with the flow.
In fact, when it comes to acting and lying, who can be more experienced than these people who have experienced the world. The old lady made up her mind and called her old friend, the old dean. After an in-depth conversation, the old dean disagreed but could not change the old lady's determination and had to turn a blind eye and let her pretend to be seriously ill. If necessary, he would get some medicine to stimulate her.
——In fact, the old director fled the ward and hid in his office to drink tea. When he thought about the old man knowing that he had become such an accomplice, the tea became bitter. The old director couldn't help but hold the teacup and tilt his head 45 degrees to the sky. He is a doctor, he has good medical ethics, how could he lie. So he didn't say anything in the ward just now. If he gave those children any illusions, it was because they had problems understanding, really, it was not his fault.
"Jia Luo said that lying is actually very easy, as long as you believe it yourself." The old lady stretched her waist and touched her heart, which was still beating a little abnormally. "Well, I think she makes sense. Shi Qi, what do you think?"
Xu Shiqi listened in a daze and smiled bitterly. Perhaps because she had been silent for too long, she did not speak immediately, but leaned over, put her arms around the old lady's waist, and gently rested her face on her belly.
"It seems like you've suffered a lot." The old lady said softly, patting her on the back and humming a song.
Listen carefully, it is the song "Knowing Friends".
"Grandma, how could you...scare us like this?" Xu Shiqi's eyes became moist again, and her nose seemed to be blocked. She had a premonition that she would have to deal with tears for a long time.
"That's because you all have grandma in your hearts." The old lady laughed, "To be honest, grandma said she wanted to listen, and you really sang. Grandma is very happy."
Xu Shiqi closed her eyes, tears falling onto the quilt. She felt a little hot, with sweat on her forehead, but she didn't want to get up. She was very touched, but couldn't express it for a while. Besides being touched, her heart was also twisted. She sang, but...
"Grandma thinks you can talk, right?" The old lady held up Xu Shiqi's head with her hand and asked softly and slowly, "Jia Luo once suspected that I was threatening you not to speak. Well, Shiqi, is there really such a person?" The old lady felt her whole body tremble, and thought to herself, as expected. She pretended to be sick in order to induce Shiqi to talk. Bingzhi's confidence came from the heart this girl had for herself. But she didn't believe that Shiqi really couldn't speak all this time and was suddenly stimulated by herself. This possibility might require more coincidence than a person with amnesia suddenly remembering everything. In contrast, she believed in another explanation. This girl can speak but can't, but will she speak to satisfy her wish of being seriously ill
The old dean asked her, what if the girl didn’t speak
If someone really threatened her, even though she ignored my illness, she at least loved Jialuo deeply so she would never speak. She was forced to do so.
Wouldn't it be proof that she doesn't like Jia Luo that much if she spoke up
No, if she speaks up, this child will be truly loyal and righteous. In that case, no matter what she faces, I will help her.
After hearing her two answers, the old dean stroked his forehead and sighed, saying, "In the end, you have to help her."
Yes, the old lady also sighed, but at least I hope my little granddaughter won’t suffer anymore.