She didn't know what to say at all, so she spit out six words straight: "What am I responsible for?"
He looked at her softly, restrained the sudden eagerness just now, and lowered his voice: "I'm just kidding, don't be nervous."
The operation lasted until evening. Fortunately, everything went well. After Wu Wei was pushed out of the operating room, he was transferred to the intensive care unit. His other relatives and friends came one after another. Since the postoperative visit time was only half an hour, only those who were very close to him were allowed. Family members enter, and idlers are all isolated outside.
Bai Ziren stood a little far away, looking at the row of beds behind the big glass and the people suffering from illness, there were middle-aged people who were hoarse and screaming for pain, and some were silent as dust, with their eyes closed, completely watching. An old man with no signs of life, and even a child about the same age as Mu Zibei, with a thing covering his whole head, connected to a large instrument by a few wires, as if he was doing a test, his mother fed her fruit juice one bite at a time of juice.
Cheng Jingbo came to her side.
"What's wrong with that child?"
"Pediatric brain tumor."
Bai Ziren couldn't help being startled, feeling uncomfortable all over. She had read an article before, saying that most of the brain tumors in children were malignant tumors.
"He is Dr. Cheng's patient. At first, he just had a headache and tiredness. Gradually, he had a severe headache, blurred vision, and fell down inexplicably when he walked. He was diagnosed after an examination." Cheng Jingbo's eyes moved to the child's face , "He was brave and didn't cry during the lumbar puncture."
"Will he be cured?"
"Will do."
Bai Ziren still felt uncomfortable, he couldn't bear to watch it for a while, lowered his head, and heard him say again: "Life, old age, sickness and death are often beyond the reach of human beings here."
She looked up, as if she could see some old sorrow from his sudden eyes, but the sorrow had already settled, or had been fully accepted.
"Aren't we lucky to be alive?" He suddenly smiled.
"Yeah." Her gloomy mood was brightened by his extremely healing smile.
"You can think about meaningful things when you are alive, such as what to eat for dinner."
Awakened by his words, Bai Ziren felt a little hungry, thinking of the family bucket at noon, she only ate a third of it and then stopped embarrassedly, and the rest was shared by Dr. Cheng To the nurses in the department.
"I want to drink porridge." She thought that in the cold winter, a bowl of warm white porridge would be delicious with a dish of pickles.
"No problem, I'll take you there."
Originally, I just wanted to find a nearby small restaurant where I could drink porridge, but Cheng Jingbo drove her halfway around the city and took her to a well-known casserole porridge restaurant. The doctor greeted them eagerly: "You two? There are seats inside."
After sitting down, Bai Ziren said, "The place you chose is too grand."
"So grand? This is just a place to drink porridge, but it tastes good." He handed her the menu, "You order."
Bai Ziren opened a menu as thick as an English-Chinese dictionary, and glanced over it. The attached pictures are accompanied by introductions. The details are exquisite, but the prices are generally high. I don’t know how to start. I pondered for a while: “Here is a tofu, green vegetables and egg dumplings. All right."
Seeing this, Cheng Jingbo on the opposite side reached out to take the menu: "Let me order."
As a result, he ordered a creamy yellow fresh shrimp porridge, four side dishes and a dim sum, which filled the table.
When the porridge was served, it was piping hot all over the table, and Cheng Jingbo filled a bowl for Bai Ziren.
Bai Ziren looked at the porridge and rice in the bowl, it had been boiled so hard that its contours could not be seen, it was as thick and white as rice milk, after taking a sip, it felt thick and gelatinous, full of aroma, light and sweet, it fell into the spleen and stomach very well warm.
Cheng Jingbo pushed all the side dishes in front of her again, motioning her to try them.
Bai Ziren asked, "Why don't you eat together?"
"Seeing you eat makes me a little full."
One sentence almost made Bai Ziren choke, put down the bowl, wiped it with a tissue, and looked at him suspiciously. Through the hot air, it was difficult for her to see what was expressed in his eyes, and she didn't know what the sentence just now said. Are the words teasing or something else.
"I read the post-reading review you sent, and it's very well written." He changed the subject to let her be more natural.
"Because that book is really good-looking, and I like it very much."
"Which part do you like better?"
"It's the final chapter. After he discovered Jiezi, his wife urged him to write a paper and publish it to the world, but he felt like a traveler resting in a small teahouse on the top of a hill, not thinking about the road ahead. .”
"I also like that passage." Cheng Jingbo said, "He is a very interesting person, a genius as well as a mortal. Shy kid."
"I'm also amazed that, as a great man, he has so many moments of insecurity."
"On one road, very few people will never doubt themselves from the beginning to the end. Doubt is not a bad thing, it will help you find the answer. What is rare is that when he decided to be a scholar, he did not waver."
Bai Ziren listened carefully.
"A scholar is devoted to the Tao, what he pursues is a truth, and he has no other thoughts."
"Do you think he loves his wife?" She suddenly wondered what he thought of such a great scholar in terms of affection.
He thought for a while and said: "There are very few details about his relationship in the book. I'm not sure about this, but I think he respects his wife very much. They belong to the couple who were ordered by their parents and respect each other as guests for a lifetime."
"What if it were you? Would you accept your parents' ideas and be with someone who is suitable in all aspects?"
"It's just fit, not love, I won't accept it."
Bai Ziren was thoughtful, and asked again: "Have you ever liked someone before?"
"Did I say you didn't believe me?"
"... not very convinced."
"It's a pity, there really isn't one." His tone was calm but serious, "I can't provide you with any good opinions on this aspect for the time being."
At this point, the atmosphere is always a lot more ambiguous, it seems that there is a layer of gauze between each other, and there is a distance between them that seem to be very close.
He didn't speak any more, and put a pile of dried shredded rice in her porridge: "It's more delicious this way."
After a meal, Bai Ziren was completely full, and looking at Cheng Jingbo's bowl, he didn't eat much.
He drove her back to the dormitory, and learned that she would pack her luggage and go home early tomorrow morning, and asked her if she needed his help, she said no, Uncle Mu would drive her back tomorrow morning.
"What are your plans for the winter vacation?"
"Not yet, I should just read at home and help take care of my two younger brothers."
"Do you have time to come out?"
"Have."
"I'll call you when the work I'm doing is over."
"it is good."
When the car passed the traffic light, Bai Ziren realized belatedly that he seemed to be proposing a date.
In order to prevent herself from misunderstanding what he meant, before getting out of the car, she specifically confirmed to him: "When will you ask me out?"
"Don't worry, you won't be kept waiting for long."
"..."
She got out of the car in a daze, and he tapped the window lightly with his fingers in the car, and said something meaningful: "Thank you for being by my side today, I am very lucky to have you here."
One sentence successfully made her dizzy for a while, as if the stars were falling from the sky and fell on her head.
"goodbye."
"... Goodbye." The words were stumbling.
As a result, Bai Ziren suffered from insomnia all night, went out for a jog before dawn, came back after having breakfast, checked the contents of the luggage one by one, and found a cardboard box for the books to be taken back, except for many professional books In addition, there are a few books borrowed from the library, and finally her eyes fell on "The River of Momo" inadvertently, and she picked it up without hesitation.
Uncle Mu drove over to pick her up, and moved the luggage and cardboard boxes to the car very thoughtfully. It was still early, and the journey was smooth, and he arrived home soon.
As soon as they entered the door, they heard the sound of fighting, accompanied by Liu Xinyu's screams.
Taking a closer look, Mu Zibei and Mu Zidong were already twisted into a ball.
"What are you doing? Are you still looking good?" Uncle Mu hurried over to tear the two apart, taking one away first.
Liu Xinyu hugged one after her.
"You idiot!" Mu Zibei shouted.
"You are the traitorous minister!" Mu Zidong shot back with a blushing face.
Mu Zibei nimbly jumped down from his mother's arms, walked up to his brother, stretched his legs and kicked him again, and then ran upstairs leisurely. I was about to cry.
Liu Xinyu looked at the mess on the carpet, and stroked his forehead wearily: "What's wrong with Beibei? I've always been in a mood lately."
Bai Ziren returned to his room with his things, put them away a bit, and went back to find Mu Zibei.
Mu Zibei sat on the edge of the bed, looked down at the floor, and didn't raise his head when he heard his sister's voice, just focusing on his frustration: "Doctor Cheng recognized me as a nephew, and my mother agreed."
"It turns out that you are unhappy about this matter."
Mu Zibei raised his head sharply, clenched his fists, and was about to cry: "Does she still treat me like a child?"
Bai Ziren was taken aback: "Otherwise?"
Mu Zibei was silent.
"You are only eight years old, and she is twenty-eight years old. She is your elder."
Mu Zibei fell down with a bang, his voice was lifeless: "I want to be alone for a while."
Bai Ziren withdrew empathetically.
When eating dinner, Mu Zibei was absent-mindedly digging into the curry rice, and said leisurely: "But the bright moon shines on the ditch."
On the opposite side, Mu Zidong was gnawing his steak and glaring at him fiercely.
Liu Xinyu asked Bai Ziren if he planned to go out during the winter vacation, and Bai Ziren said that he might go out with someone.
"With a boyfriend?" Uncle Mu said in surprise.
"No." Bai Ziren shook his head in denial.
"If there is, there is nothing to be embarrassed about. You are at the age where you should find a boyfriend, and we will help you pay attention."
"Don't pay attention to me." Bai Ziren refused.
After saying a word, everyone at the table remained silent, and even Mu Zibei blinked slowly.
Bai Ziren didn't dare to speak any more, so he quickly finished his meal and left.
Uncle Mu smiled and said, "Xiaoren has always been afraid of strangers, so wait a little longer."
After returning to his room, Bai Ziren idly flipped through the traveler's autobiography and reread a paragraph.
Tang Chuan and his wife were introduced by their parents. Before the first official meeting, he only saw her photos and admitted that he was a little tempted. After the meeting, he hardly spoke, but his wife immediately decided that it was this person, and had a Inner monologue.
"I'm a little concerned that he's being too quiet, but regardless of appearances, one thing is unmistakable, he has a thoughtful and brilliant mind, and I think I can trust him with my life."
They got married very quickly and lived together. The process was very ordinary, without any memorable romantic episodes, which is equivalent to becoming a husband and wife with almost no love, supporting each other through the years, and growing old together.
Only being with someone who suits him is like completing a life ritual, which is unimaginable for Bai Ziren, and his concept is the same as hers. He said that if he didn't like it very much, he would not accept it.
Love... Would he have such feelings for another person
She has seen the respect and courtesy he treats the elders, the gentleness and patience he treats his friends, and the gentleness and patience he treats children, but she can't think about the way he treats his beloved.
Who can reach his emotional liking? Estimated light effort is not enough.
She calmed down, she was a little relieved besides the faint melancholy, it would be great to be friends with him, as long as she thought that in her lonely world, there was one more person worth admiring, it was already a warm and proud feeling thing.