"What's wrong?" Zeng Li asked when he saw Ai Jingchu, "Did you find it?"
"No."
"A few cars were leaving just now, and your parking spot was blocking the road, so I drove to the garage." She hadn't brought her cell phone with her, so she had no way to contact him, and she was afraid that he couldn't find his car. Seeing that he hadn't come downstairs for a long time, she came up to find him.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked again.
"It has been several months since I last saw the child. He is so old now and has long passed the best time for correction. His condition is quite serious. He has difficulty in pronunciation and eating, and it may even affect his ears." He explained lightly, with regret in his tone.
As he said these words, the elevator door closed again, stopped for a short while, and then started to move downwards again.
Zeng Li frowned, thought for a moment and said, "If you want to find him, maybe I can give it a try."
Ai Jingchu was puzzled.
Zeng Li explained: "I am a moderator of a website and have organized some activities to interact with poor children in the past. When we met the child this afternoon, there were several older children beside him, one of whom looked familiar to me. If these children are always together, we should be able to find them."
"Thank you." Ai Jingchu said.
Hearing his words, Zeng Li smiled and said, "Finally you have the chance to thank me."
Ai Jingchu smiled slightly and didn't respond.
"But," Zeng Li didn't understand, "the boy I'm talking about has parents, so why would he be with homeless children?"
“Perhaps they are not orphans.”
"Then how ..."
"I once took over a patient with the same situation. Some of them are not orphans, but are rented out by their parents to other people in the village, who come to the city specifically to beg."
"Rent?" Zeng Li was surprised.
"Some have physical disabilities, and some have too many children to raise. Usually the rent is calculated per person, and the monthly rent is a certain amount. Some rent for the whole year, while others rent for the winter and summer vacations and go back home when school starts."
Zeng Li didn't say anything for a long time, and then he sighed, "How can there be parents like this, caring about giving birth but not raising their children?"
Ai Jingchu stood up and was about to turn around and tell her to leave, but he looked down and saw Zeng Li biting her lip. He was standing and she was sitting, so he could see clearly from above, and he quickly said softly, "Don't move."
Zeng Li didn't know why and didn't understand what he meant, so he was stunned.
"Let me see." After he said this, he reached out his hand, lifted her chin with his index finger, and pressed down lightly with his thumb. Her lower lip turned slightly outward due to the force.
The light was right above their heads, and Ai Jingchu's shadow fell on Zeng Li's face, blocking most of the light. So he squatted down, moved closer to them, and let the light out.
Now, the Z-shaped wound was exposed to Ai Jingchu's sight. Zeng Li bit his lower lip unconsciously, and his front teeth bit the wound, so the wound split open again after being pulled, and blood was oozing out.
"The braces cut my skin," he said.
He squatted in front of her, a little lower than Zeng Li who was sitting, but the two of them were very close. Zeng Li was a little embarrassed. He usually treated patients at a closer distance than this, but he always wore gloves and a mask, and also wore a uniform, which was slightly different from the atmosphere at this moment.
Her cheeks felt a little hot, but because his hand was still holding her chin, she didn't dare turn her face away.
Zeng Li's flushed face made Ai Jingchu slightly stunned. Only then did he realize the impertinence of his action. At the same time, he also noticed that she really loved to blush.
When she blushed, she always lowered her eyes and dared not look at him. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, and a thin layer of blush quickly spread to her face, even to her ears.
So he withdrew his hand.
At the same time, his eyes lingered on her lips.
She pursed her lips uncomfortably.
At this moment, he wanted to kiss her.
The heart moves as it pleases.
He stretched out the hand he had retracted, supported the side of her face, and quietly closed the distance between them.
He squatted and she sat. Her face was higher than his, so he leaned forward a little, straightened his body, and raised his head slightly.
Zeng Li had a premonition of what was about to happen, but she didn't dare to move, nor did she dare to be sentimental. She just stared at him stupidly.
In the past, she just thought that Ai Jingchu's facial features were particularly good-looking, but she never noticed that his eyes were so attractive. At this moment, his eyes were like a pool of rippling lake water, sparkling and crystal clear, making people unable to look away for a while.
That moment seemed as long as several hours to Zeng Li.
She wondered for a moment if he was going to kiss her, and then was immediately shocked by her own thought. She suddenly remembered a phrase, "Princess syndrome", which might be the most appropriate phrase for her at this moment.
She often saw this statement in forums and heard Wu Ying say it from time to time. It was usually used to describe women who were difficult to serve and considered themselves noble.
One time, she went to Wu Ying's hospital to do an electrocardiogram. The doctor was a man, who coldly asked her to lift her clothes above her chest. She gritted her teeth and tried several times but failed. Finally, the doctor said, "It's better to take off your underwear."
This matter has always bothered Zeng Li.
Later, she went to see Wu Ying and met the male doctor again in the office of Wu Ying's department. Zeng Li resolutely refused to enter. Wu Ying was puzzled, so Zeng Li had to confess everything. She said: "There are indeed some scumbag doctors in this world, but most doctors have very strong professional ethics. During surgery, they usually have to expose their breasts to insert tubes and attach instruments. Who cares whether the patient is flat-chested or soft-chested? We also have male doctors in the obstetrics department. However, they treat female patients in the same way as I treat male patients, just like specimens in the anatomy room. You have no reason to be a 'princess' and think too much."
So every time she was with Ai Jingchu, she reminded herself not to think too much about the other person.
At this moment, in such a late night, in such a quiet hospital, Ai Jingchu's palm was touching her face. His palm was so soft that it made people feel as if they were loved.
Unfortunately, even Yu Yi is not her ideal man, so how could Ai Jingchu fall in love with her
At this moment, the elevator dinged again and stopped on this floor, and the student who was called by Ai Jingchu to check the surveillance video came out.
He got out of the elevator, looked up and saw Ai Jingchu's back, and called out, "Professor Ai."
Ai Jingchu did not respond or turn around. Instead, he calmly took his hand away from Zeng Li's face, slowly stood up and said, "Fortunately the braces didn't fall off, otherwise it would be more likely to get injured in the next few days." His words and actions were extremely calm.
Hearing his words, Zeng Li's tense nerves immediately relaxed.
The student said: "He walked out from the main entrance, and no one noticed him as people were passing by."
Ai Jingchu nodded.
The students were a little afraid of him and always felt that they had made a big mistake.
Zeng Li remembered what he had promised Ai Jingchu, so he hurriedly said to him: "Lend me your phone, I'll make a call, maybe there will be some clues."
She had to ask Ning Feng about this. He was one of the planners of the last website event, so he should know a lot about it. But she didn't remember Ning Feng's number, so she called Wu Ying.
Wu Ying picked up the phone and heard Zeng Li's voice, so she asked, "Whose phone are you using?"
Zeng Li was too lazy to explain to her and said directly: "I forgot to bring my phone. Give me Ning Feng's number. I need to find him urgently."
Wu Ying said with a grin, "Are you looking for Ning Feng—"
Zeng Li heard Ma Yiyi's roar from the receiver: "Ning Feng is playing cards with us!"
"You guys?" After riding their bikes, the two of them actually went to play cards together. Things developed very quickly.
"Yeah, Ma Yiyi lost badly." Wu Ying laughed.
"Give the phone to Ning Feng. I have something to talk to him about."
Unexpectedly, Ma Yiyi intercepted the phone midway and shouted into the phone: "Stop talking, just come here. Xiaoyu, I can't stand Pan Siyu sitting opposite me, you have to come and save me. Now! Right away!" Then, she hung up the phone without saying anything.
Pan Siyu was the little brother who had been pestering Ma Yiyi every day a few days ago.
Zeng Li held Ai Jingchu's cell phone and smiled awkwardly at the master and disciple who were looking at him.
"I have to go over there." Zeng Li said.
"I'll take you there." Ai Jingchu replied.
So, the two left the hospital together.
Along the way, Zeng Li talked about some interesting things about playing cards with Ma Yiyi. "Others think she is a big beauty and must be arrogant and hard to mess with. But in fact, after getting to know her, I found that she is honest and easy to bully."
Ai Jingchu did not speak actively, but only responded indifferently. Judging from his usual attitude towards people, this could be considered enthusiastic, but he seemed a little absent-minded.
Zeng Li thought he was thinking about the child, so he didn't care.
Little did he know that his heart was far from as calm as he appeared.
The cafe is very close to University A, but is separated from the dental hospital by the campus on the east and west sides. His car has an access pass for University A, so he went straight through the campus on this side and arrived in a short while.
Zeng Li pointed and said, "That's the place with the bright sign in front. I'll get off here."
There was a residential area on this street, where parking spaces were tight for the owners, so at night, both sides of the road were filled with private cars, forcibly squeezing the original tree-lined avenue into a one-way street. His car couldn't turn around, so he had to let her cross the street by herself.
Zeng Li unbuckled his seat belt, said goodbye to Ai Jingchu, then opened the car door and got out.
Ai Jingchu watched her quietly from his seat.
Zeng Li walked past his hood and looked around. At this time, an electric car happened to pass by, so she carefully dodged it and walked over there.
The roadside was full of small cars, one next to the other. She stood on tiptoe, turned sideways and passed through the gap between two cars. After she stepped onto the opposite sidewalk, she casually gathered her hair that had fallen to her forehead with her hands, and then walked towards a dark green lattice-framed glass door.
Ai Jingchu didn't restart the engine until he saw her push open the door and walk in.
Inadvertently, he glanced at the building again.
The five-story building has small shops on the lower floors. Zeng Li and her friends rented two shops connected upstairs and opened a cafe. The exterior walls and doors and windows were painted dark green. The lights were on inside, but the view was blurry. The most eye-catching thing was the sign, a round orange light box with a coffee cup painted on the bottom and an English word "Carol's" on the top.
Ai Jingchu was stunned.
Carol.
An ordinary name that he had encountered many times during his study abroad and teaching career. But...
He was such a sharp and intelligent person that in a flash, he went over all the past events in his mind, and the truth came to light.
Carol, Zeng Li.
Zeng Li, Yu Yi.
He sat in the car for a long time without moving.
The engine was still running and making a slight noise.
There was a long silence.