Ye Ci really doesn't have much of a smoking habit.
He usually doesn't smoke much, but these days he has been so troubled by a lot of things, so he couldn't help but rely on nicotine to soothe his nerves.
As soon as the signs of addiction appeared, Huo Tinglan nipped them in the bud.
As soon as Ye Ci got close to the sanatorium, he could no longer hide his anxiety. When passing by a convenience store, he wanted to ask the driver to stop so he could buy a pack of cigarettes. But before he could say anything, he reflexively recalled that scene: Huo Tinglan's thin lips held the wet and slightly deflated filter tip, and white smoke swept across his dark eyebrows...
His tone and demeanor were calm, and he certainly looked like someone who was reprimanding a disobedient child.
Except... the puff of the half-smoked cigarette.
"Next time I catch you..."
What will happen if we catch him again
Would she continue to snatch his half-smoked cigarette and smoke it herself?!
Not sure why, perhaps out of curiosity, Ye Ci suddenly regretted interrupting Huo Tinglan.
Of course, he didn't have the courage to break the law.
Moreover, he was honest by nature, and once he promised "there won't be a next time", he felt embarrassed to buy cigarettes secretly. After hesitating for a while, the car had already stopped steadily in the parking lot of the sanatorium.
Twice a week, on Saturday and Sunday afternoons or evenings, Huo Tinglan would send a driver to take him to the nursing home to see his mother. The specific time was decided by Ye Ci himself.
Ye Ci didn't tell him explicitly, but Huo Tinglan probably knew it. He knew that Ye Ci was afraid that this marriage would upset his sick mother, so he never asked to accompany her to visit as Mr. Ye Ci.
The third floor is the VIP ward area. It was usually quiet, but today, as soon as the elevator door opened, a chaotic scene caught Ye Ci's eyes.
A patient has passed away on this floor.
There was an emergency bed parked in the corridor, with a quilt outlining a human figure, shriveled by the disease, looking flat and lonely, with a white cloth covering its face, and no longer any life.
Several family members were wailing loudly. There was an alpha man as strong as a brown bear, kneeling beside the emergency bed which was ridiculously small for him, crying like a sad child.
"mom-"
He has no mother anymore.
The setting sun shone on the white cloth covering the body's face.
So red, so desolate.
Ye Ci turned his face away, his heart sank as if it was going to fall into his stomach. He quickly walked into Ye Hongjun's ward, closed and locked the door, isolating the desolate red and death outside.
Fortunately, Ye Hongjun didn't wake up.
She wouldn't hear anything going on in the hallway.
Not sure if it was Ye Ci’s illusion, but Ye Hongjun seemed to be even thinner than last week, so thin that he looked unrecognizable. His cheekbones were like two shallow reefs that emerged after the fat and flesh receded, abruptly supporting his pale skin.
When Ye Ci was recognized as being taken back to the Chu family, he made many requests to Chu Wenlin. He used Chu Wenlin's money to take Ye Hongjun to several top hospitals in first-tier cities, and also consulted with the most sought-after experts in the industry. He also kept asking for expensive imported injections, and had tried all kinds of treatment plans that had been confirmed to be reliable.
But Ye Hongjun's time of being awake seemed to be getting shorter and shorter.
Ye Ci removed the half-wilted dianthus from the vase and replaced it with a few fresh carnations.
The fingertips holding the stem were shaking with fear after what happened in the corridor.
When I go back tonight... I must ask Uncle Huo.
What if he happens to have another way
They had only known each other for two months, but Huo Tinglan seemed to be the end of all the bad luck in his life and the beginning of all the good luck, as if it was destined.
So is it possible that Huo Tinglan could reverse his mother's serious illness, the biggest misfortune in his life
Ye Ci calmed down, not daring to think too far ahead, lest he be disappointed. He threw the carnation in his hand into the wastebasket, sat down beside the bed, held Ye Hongjun's delicate hand tightly, and called softly: "Mom..."
It is rare for a boy of his age to call her "Mom" with a double word. He is usually embarrassed to call her that and feels more comfortable calling her with a single word.
But in some vulnerable moments, the name "Mom" always allows him to draw warm and solid strength.
"Please, please... take care of yourself." He sighed deeply and rested his head on Ye Hongjun's legs.
After a moment's silence, he chatted about his recent life, blurring out some details and only talking about what he could.
I don’t know how long I talked, but I said everything I could say.
"Mom," Ye Ci rubbed his red eyelids, buried his face in the quilt, hesitated, and muttered softly, "I think I have... someone I like."
"I haven't told him yet. I have some things I haven't figured out yet." He pursed his lips. "This is such a big thing. I have to be responsible for it. What if I was just... impulsive?"
Uncle Huo can’t afford to waste time at his age.
But he didn't dare say such words.
Ye Hongjun fell asleep quietly.
"When there is a chance in the future... I want you to see him." Ye Hongjun couldn't actually hear him. Ye Ci was still sweating from fighting with the void, his face flushed. "If you don't say anything, that means you agree to wait and see him."
…
After visiting Ye Hongjun, it was already dark when Ye Ci returned home.
Along the way, he was thinking about how to bring up this matter to Huo Tinglan and had prepared several drafts in his mind.
It's not that he was afraid of being rejected if he didn't say it well, but he just felt a hurdle in his heart - he had asked for such a big thing from someone, and if Huo Tinglan agreed, it would inevitably involve money and energy. He had no idea how to calculate and repay these bills for the time being, but he couldn't help thinking about it. After all, he didn't want to take Huo Tinglan's efforts for granted just because he said he liked him.
Ye Ci got out of the car and walked into the gate of Huo's house. He kept thinking about things in his mind. He was absent-minded. He didn't even look up when he stepped into the entrance and almost bumped into Huo Tinglan's arms.
This man received the driver's report in advance and blocked people at the door.
"Don't move." Huo Tinglan, wearing an expensive white shirt, closed the door and squeezed Ye Ci into the narrow gap between the door and the entrance. The door was behind him and Huo Tinglan was in front of him with his hands in his pockets. His face was stern, the corners of his lips were straight, but there was a barely detectable smile in his eyes. "Surprise inspection."
"Check... what?" Ye Ci was stunned and stood at attention subconsciously.
Huo Tinglan tilted his head slightly and leaned forward gracefully.
The straight nose bridge moved closer.
Then, he gently sniffed Ye Ci's suddenly closed lips.
You can tell how soft it is without touching it. When you hold it up, it looks like a deformed petal.
"No smoking?"
Ye Ci froze, thinking Huo Tinglan was going to kiss him on the mouth. His heartbeat was so intense that his vision went dark. It took him three full seconds to realize that Huo Tinglan was just trying to smell whether he smoked or not. His face immediately turned red like a ripe fruit, and he lowered his head in shame, but he still whispered, "No, I promised, I won't smoke anymore..."
An honest child. In fact, Huo Tinglan knew it without asking.
Ye Ci was the same in his previous life, with an honest character. He would either keep silent like a taciturn person or keep his word if he spoke.
"Not bad." Huo Tinglan showed approval and made way for him. Before he could think about it, she asked with concern, "Did you go to see your mother this afternoon?"
Ye Ci fell down on the shoe-changing stool and changed his slippers limply: "Hmm..."
"How is she doing lately?" Huo Tinglan was intending to talk to Ye Ci about his mother and led the conversation in this direction.
Mentioning Ye Hongjun, the scene in the corridor in the afternoon suddenly came into his mind. Ye Ci clenched his hands tightly, not giving himself time to hesitate, and blurted out: "Uncle Huo, you said a few days ago that you wanted me to... take the initiative to ask you a request... Can I ask it now?"
"Of course." Huo Tinglan softened his voice, "You go ahead."
"Can you, can you help me... save, save my mother?" Ye Ci's chest rose and fell violently several times. He spoke to Huo Tinglan, and it was not as difficult as he had imagined. There was no sharp pain of frustrated self-esteem. On the contrary, the moment he said this, he felt an unprecedented sense of relief and fatigue.
The long-sealed area in the mind had a hole, and the pressure that had already expanded to the limit rushed out. Something that was stretched hard and deformed quickly deflated, became soft, and returned to its original appearance. With that reckless and happy energy, Ye Ci poured out all the words in his stomach, fearing that if he didn't say it now, he would be unable to say it later: "I took her to all the big hospitals that could be run, and tried all kinds of treatment plans. Really, I don't know what else to do. I feel that she may not survive this year. I really think, I'm scared when I think about it... I'm especially scared, Uncle Huo..."
As he spoke, his already poor language expression ability completely collapsed, and Ye Ci was so incoherent that he didn't even know what he was saying. The floodgates were opened, and the bitterness flowed out, and he couldn't stop it.
The hardships and difficulties in the long journey to seek medical treatment in recent years, the exhaustion of working several jobs a day to raise medical expenses, the disappointment and despair when the test results were not what he expected, the hard and cold benches in the hospital corridor, the steamed buns softened in the kettle lid, the empty desk in the classroom that once belonged to him... There were too many sorrows and grievances, and he was used to holding them in tightly, never daring to confide them. Otherwise, once he let out all the anger, he would become deflated and soft. Who would be able to support him
Finally he can talk, let him talk.
He didn't know how long he had been talking, he stuttered, his mouth was tired and his face was sore, Huo Tinglan was next to him, in order not to interrupt, he squeezed shoulder to shoulder with him on the bench in the entrance where they changed shoes. He listened quietly, occasionally echoing to show that he was still listening carefully, his strong arms around Ye Ci, patting his back again and again, as gentle and patient as coaxing a child.
After completely venting his emotions, Ye Ci felt his head was empty and numb.
He had never confided in anyone so openly in his life. After the impulse passed, he felt embarrassed belatedly and slowly moved his little head away from Huo Tinglan's shoulder. In an attempt to cover up his mistake, he wiped the wet spot on Huo Tinglan's white shirt with his sleeve.
Huo Tinglan raised his hand and rubbed his messy and soft black hair. After a long silence, he said softly, "No problem."
“… Hmm?” Ye Ci sniffed muffledly, not yet reacting.
"Your request," Huo Tinglan patted his shoulder and stood up. "I was planning to find time to talk to you in the next two days... Come with me."