She suddenly remembered an old love philosophy: It is easy to fall in love, but it is difficult to live together.
As soon as she got off the plane, she went straight to the hospital. Father Sang was still in the intensive care unit with an oxygen tube inserted into his nose.
Mother Sang said that when they were watching TV that day, Father Sang suddenly complained of a headache and then fell into a coma. He was sent to the hospital, where the doctor said it was a brain stem hemorrhage. If he hadn't been rescued in time, there would have been no hope.
It would take at least a week for Mr. Sang to pass the critical period, but now he seems to have recovered well and is awake and able to talk. Mrs. Sang is a very capable person, managing everything by herself in an orderly manner.
The doctor said: "Luckily we got him there in time. If it was a few minutes later it would have been too late."
"Will there be any sequelae?" Sang Wuyan asked.
"If the bleeding occurred in the left or right brain, it could cause hemiplegia, but the patient had brain stem bleeding and his breathing stopped at the time, which is the most serious case of cerebral hemorrhage, but he was also the luckiest. It seems that there is nothing wrong so far. But if it happens again, we won't be so lucky. We have met some patients who are old when they get sick and have no one around them, so it is often too late to send them here."
Sang Wuyan returned to the ward and looked at her father's temples, which were graying while he was sleeping. She looked like her mother, and her figure was the same as her mother's when she was young, small and energetic. But her hair was inherited from her father, black and thick. In the past, when her father would put her on his shoulders and play, she would help him pull out the gray hair when she saw it. However, when she went to high school and college, she would find that the gray hair was increasing every time she went home, and it was no longer a problem that could be solved by pulling out one or two strands.
Dad was always loving, completely different from Mom.
Dad used to be a key member of the company. The company sent him to study abroad at public expense several times, but he declined because he couldn't bear to leave his daughter and family. When she was a child, she didn't understand much, but she just pulled her father's clothes, wiped her tears and said, "Dad, don't go, don't go, don't go."
"Yanyan, isn't your mother here?" said Father Sang.
"I don't want a mommy, I want a daddy. I only want a daddy." Little Sang Wuyan cried.
"Okay, okay. Dad won't go."
Later, when I grew up and started to take the college entrance examination, I realized how rare this opportunity was for my father.
It was late at night, and Mother Sang insisted that Sang Wuyan go home, "I'll keep watch."
"Mom, I'll keep watch, you go back and rest."
"Go away, go away. What do you know as a child? Go home and go to bed."
"Mom - I'm really not a child anymore. I can contribute my part, I can do this. I have a share in this family."
I thought that after hearing these words, Sang's mother would be angry with her again, but her mother looked at her and asked quietly: "Your father needs to turn over every two hours, can you do it? The intravenous drip needs to last until two or three o'clock at night, and the nurse needs to be called when each bag is almost finished. Are you sure you won't fall asleep? Can you use the bedpan under the bed? Is it not just lip service? Your only mission is to come and see your father, so that he will be happy to see you, and just have a thought in mind. If it were me lying here, you could come back or not, and you could go to whoever you want. Others raise their children to take care of them in their old age. We all have pensions, so we don't need you to take care of us. We just hope that you can support yourself in the future."
"Mom—" Sang Wuyan's eyes became moist.
"I don't have the extra energy to be angry with you, and I don't want your dad to hear it. I've told you all the good and bad things, and if I say too much you'll think we're hindering your life. That day your dad was lying in the intensive care unit, and the first thing he said after he recovered was that he was talking about you and couldn't let you go. He blamed me for saying those words about not caring about you. Wu Yan, he was about to die, but he was still thinking about you, but what about you? Is parental love so worthless, and it should be taken for granted?" Mother Sang sighed.
Sang Wuyan sat in the taxi on her way home, feeling an unbearable pain in her heart. She checked the time and it was already past midnight. Su Nianqin hadn't called her yet, maybe he was still angry with her.
He is three years older than her, but when he loses his temper he is even more like a child than her.
Because it was late at night, there were not many cars on the Third Ring Road, so the taxi was driving a little fast. She looked at the street scene passing by outside the car window, and remembered that when she was a dreamer, she had imagined that the man she would love in the future would be tall and handsome, and would love her, cherish her, and spoil her, tolerate everything about her, and never get angry with her. As long as she wanted it, he would pick it up even if it was the moon, and he was too perfect to be a mortal.
These principles were taught to her by Xu Qian, who was immersed in romance novels.
But what about reality
The next day, Sang Wuyan went to the hospital early in the morning.
While Sang's mother was away, Sang's father took her hand and said, "Wu Yan, I heard everything you and your mother said yesterday."
Sang Wuyan nodded awkwardly and continued peeling the apple.
"Your mother, don't I know her? She is a person who is hard on the outside but soft on the inside. In fact, she has figured it out a long time ago. She also told me that your life is your own, and your daughter will always fly away when she grows up, and she can't force the right path on you just because she thinks it is right. In the future, if you get married, you can come back to visit us occasionally with your family."
"No way." Sang Wuyan said, "What do you mean by coming back to see you guys occasionally? I'm going to bother you every day. You'll want to chase me away."
Father Sang laughed.
During those one or two days, while staying by her mother's side and taking care of her father, Sang Wuyan slowly realized that people also grow old. Whether it's parents or anyone else, they will gradually grow old without her noticing.
Thinking of this, she suddenly felt as if a burden was placed on her shoulders.
Especially for them, the only children who have been raised by two generations since childhood, while soaking in the honey, they suddenly realize that the parents who have helped them support the sky have already grown old.
Walking to the hospital garden, she called Su Nianqin, but the call went unanswered.
I called again in the evening, but the tone was still busy. Then I thought of contacting Yu Xiaolu, and after finding her number in the address book, Sang Wuyan thought about it and gave up.
When I was having dinner with Mr. Sang in the hospital, I suddenly received a call from City A.
Yu Xiaolu said anxiously, "Wu Yan, please come back. Nianqin's father is dying. I'm afraid Nianqin can't bear it."
"Xiao Lu, don't be anxious, tell me slowly, what's going on?"
“Mr. Su was diagnosed with liver cancer a month ago and had been receiving conservative treatment. However, his condition suddenly worsened yesterday. Thinking about him… Thinking about him…” Yu Xiaolu, who was always methodical, also began to choke up.
Sang Wuyan stood up from his seat so suddenly that he knocked over his bowl, the food spilled all over him, and his chopsticks fell to the ground.
"What's up with him?"
"He sits outside the ward, refusing to eat, drink or talk. He ignores anything anyone says and we don't know how to deal with him. So... Wu Yan... can you come back? I beg you." Yu Xiaolu said.
Sang Wuyan hesitated.
Father Sang smiled and said, "If you have something to do, go ahead. I'm fine."
"But, Dad, I don't want to leave you."
"If your dad asks you to go, just go. You're just in the way here anyway," said Mother Sang.
"I...but..."
"Don't say but, just do whatever you want." Mother Sang continued, "You were not such a weird child before."
Father Sang sneered and said, "Your mother is just too harsh on you. She can even say nice things to you like this."
She had just shaved him in the morning, and Dad Sang's chin was clean and he looked very energetic. Dad used to like to poke her tender face with his beard as soon as he got home.
"Wu Yan," Father Sang called her, "Be careful on the road."
Sang Wuyan looked back. Father Sang smiled at her, his wrinkles wrinkled because of the smile. No one knew that this glance was a farewell.
Later, Sang Wuyan thought, if she hadn't left just like that for Su Nianqin, would the ending have been different
Knowing that there were no more flights, Sang Wuyan rushed to the expressway station again. It was already dark at that time, and he just happened to catch the fastest bus to City A. The bus had to travel on the expressway for eleven hours and would not arrive until the next morning.
The car was not a regular station operating vehicle. The air conditioning was broken, and we dared not open the windows on the highway. There were also many people smoking, so the car was stuffy and smoky.
Sang Wuyan didn't care about all this and just prayed in his heart that there would be no delay.
Thousands of miles away, Su Nianqin was lying on a hospital bed.
His face, which was not often exposed to the sun, looked even more pale. His brows were tightly knitted, as if he was dreaming, and his fingers tightly grasped the white bed sheet. His breathing was even, rising and falling, and the medicine made him sleep deeply.
The air conditioner in the ward was turned up high, so Yu Xiaolu went forward to tuck him in. She thought: I hope Sang Wuyan can show up before he wakes up tomorrow, otherwise no one can do anything to him. Not eating, drinking or sleeping for two days is something a healthy person can't stand. He looks like a chronic suicide.
Yu Xiaolu closed the door gently and returned to the intensive care sterile ward on the third floor.
She saw Yu Weilan, who never left Su Huaishan's side, through the transparent glass of the intensive care unit. There is another desperate person here, Yu Xiaolu thought.
She knocked on the window.
Yu Weilan turned around, and Yu Xiaolu picked up the thermos and gestured to her.
Yu Weilan just walked out of the ward.
"I made the porridge." Yu Xiaolu opened the lid, wanting her to have some.
"Xiao Lu, I don't want him to die."
"He is the benefactor of our Yu family. No one wants him to die."
"No, you don't know, I've thought about that."
Yu Xiaolu looked at her sister and said nothing.
"On the day my father asked me to marry him, he said that Mr. Su liked me, and whether I agreed or not, he hoped that I could repay the Su family's kindness on his behalf."
"You have always felt wronged because of me." Yu Xiaolu lowered her head.
"I told you once that I liked a boy."
"I seem to remember."
"That child was a few years younger than me. He had just lost his mother and was extremely helpless. I really wanted to help him. So my pity turned into a faint liking for him."
Yu Xiaolu remained silent, but she was not unaware of this story.
"Later I realized that I just regarded him as a shadow, and the one I really loved was Su Huaishan. Xiaolu..."
"Wait until your brother-in-law wakes up, then tell him that you need to close your eyes and take a nap now." Yu Xiaolu listened to Yu Weilan's recollections while letting her lean on her shoulder to rest.
"Xiao Lu, don't be as confused as your sister. She has been in love for a long time and she doesn't even know who is the shadow and who is the real one."
"Xiao Lu, do you think he would get better if I cut my life span in half?"
"Before, when Dad was too poor to support us, he always thought money was the best thing. But now that he has money, many things still can't go as he wished. Don't you think so?"
"Xiaolu, if you have a boyfriend, you must bring him to your sister first..."
Yu Xiaolu let her talk to herself and finally waited until she fell asleep.
Apart from his visual impairment and occasional neurosis that was described as weird, Su Nianqin was always noticed by others in terms of his appearance, temperament and family background. Sometimes even the disability that made him feel resentful was the target of others' attention.
He never goes to the mall to buy clothes, which means he never goes shopping. Yu Xiaolu takes care of everything for each season. Yu Xiaolu doesn't have much time either, so she just has the clothes delivered according to the size. The colors are nothing more than gray, white, and light blue. Even if he can't tell the colors apart and randomly matches them together, he won't make a big mistake. Every time the hourly worker at home finishes cleaning the house, he will sort the clean clothes in the order of white, gray, and light blue, and then from right to left, from light to dark. Unless they are worn out, Su Nianqin doesn't mind even if they are washed white.
They are all very comfortable and casual styles.
When Sang Wuyan and Wang Lan were shopping, they once noticed the brand Su Nianqin was wearing. She was a casual person and didn't pay much attention to fashion magazines. Only after seeing them did she realize how shocking their prices were. And Su Nianqin's clothes came from this brand.
She began to regret wiping her snot and tears on him. Last time, she took one of his camel-colored checkered handkerchiefs to wipe the table, and Sang Wuyan prayed that it was just a civilian item worth two dollars.
However, Su Nianqin seemed to be unaware of the expensiveness of her appearance.
She asked Yu Xiaolu.
Yu Xiaolu said, "Isn't it exciting to see him wearing those clothes more charming than the models walking on the catwalk in the promotional magazines? Moreover," Yu Xiaolu laughed, "and he earns all that money but has no hobbies at all. If we don't help him to be extravagant, what fun is there in life?"
Sang Wuyan thought: No wonder Ye Li and the others said he had an aristocratic air, it turned out that it was all created by the luxury goods.
She still finds it funny when she thinks about it.
She changed her sitting position and felt her legs were a little numb. She bent over and rolled up the bottom of her jeans and saw that they were a little swollen. It was not easy to maintain a posture for a long time in a small space.
A child in the back finally stopped crying, and the man's snoring came to her ears again. The smell in the car was so bad that she couldn't stand it. Her clothes were sticking to her body like mucous membranes, and they had long been soaked by sweat, then dried, and then wet again. She tried to open the window a little, but she used too much force and pulled a big gap. The whistling air poured in, making it almost impossible for her to breathe. Other people's things in the back seat were also blown over, which immediately attracted complaints. Sang Wuyan hurriedly closed the window, leaving a small gap.
She put her nose to the tiny gap and breathed in eagerly, enjoying the cool breeze as if she had found a spring. She didn't have time to take anything except enough money in her pocket. Sang Wuyan wanted to check the time, so she touched the watch. It was a mechanical watch for the blind, which could be opened to tell the time. She searched for a long time before she bought one that was very similar to the one Su Nianqin was wearing. She took off Su Nianqin's watch, put it on her own hand, and gave him the new watch.
"Now your precious watch belongs to me." Sang Wuyan smiled and put it on his hand. The surface of the watch was very bright, but the strap had scratches. "Trade in the old for the new, you made a profit."
Su Nianqin touched the old watch on Sang Wuyan's wrist with some nostalgia, "It's a little big on your hand, not delicate enough."
"It's very fashionable now for girls to wear men's watches, especially when they are so unique."
Su Nianqin smiled faintly, "As long as you like it."
Sang Wuyan rested her head on the backrest of the front seat while reminiscing, stretched out her wrist, and put her face against the surface, as if she could feel Su Nianqin's body temperature. She had never been such a strong person, but for him, she seemed to have to be strong.
In the middle of the night, an alarm suddenly sounded in another intensive care unit.
Medical staff hurriedly pushed instruments and medicines over, and Yu Weilan was awakened.
"Not my brother-in-law." Yu Xiaolu said, taking a long breath.
Yu Weilan stood up and looked out the window at the man lying quietly on the bed. His hair was a little gray, and his weak breathing turned into bursts of white mist in the oxygen mask. Various instruments made tiny sounds.
"What time is it?" Yu Weilan rubbed his cheek.
"It's not daybreak yet." Yu Xiaolu suddenly thought of the eight-treasure porridge she had cooked. No one had eaten it yet when it was served. However, at least it could be eaten even if it cooled down.
She served some to Yu Weilan.
Yu Weilan took it, saw another box, and asked, "Your brother-in-law can't eat either, why do you make so much?"
"There is a copy of Nianqin."
Yu Weilan was startled, "By the way, where is Nian Qin?"
Walking to another ward and seeing Su Nianqin’s sleeping face, Yu Weilan felt a little sad.
He had lost a lot of weight and had a stubbled beard, which made his features darker and he looked more haggard.
Su Nianqin stayed in the corridor all night for two consecutive nights. He caught a cold and had a high fever, but he refused to take medicine or eat. The doctor was afraid that he would be exhausted, so he gave him an IV while he was unconscious.
Yu Weilan sat on the bed, stroking his face, muttering, "Nianqin, I remember the first time I saw you was at your mother's funeral, and my father was still Huaishan's driver. You were very small at that time, not even as tall as Xiaolu, and you were also so thin. You fell to the ground, and I wanted to help you up, but you refused..."
When Su Nianqin woke up, it was already dawn. He raised his hand and found a foreign object. He touched it and found it was a needle for infusion. He was immediately annoyed and was about to call for help when he suddenly felt the quilt on the other side was a little heavy and heard someone breathing shallowly.
"Wu Yan?" He felt very complicated when he called out this name.
The other party did not respond to him and seemed to be sleeping soundly.
So, he carefully reached out to touch her hair, and his fingertips trembled—it was Yu Weilan.