Jiang Zhixia had just smoked a cigarette, and there was still a faint smell of tobacco on his lips. His hands were a little cold, but his lips were soft and warm. Because it was a test, he didn't dare to go deeper, and only touched Xia Zhixia's lips lightly before breaking away.
"Can you still feel it when I kiss you now?" He held her face and rubbed their noses together gently.
Xia Zhi hadn't recovered from that light kiss yet, and his expression was unusually dull.
This was probably the purest kiss between them, but the throbbing it gave Xia Zhi was even more intense than their first kiss. His heart was beating like a drum, and even his body began to heat up slightly.
Xia Zhi was a little annoyed. He wasn't sure if it was because he felt too empty after being single for eight years or if he had become more innocent. Just a kiss as light as water aroused the long-suppressed desire in his heart, and he couldn't help feeling a little depressed.
Naturally, all his changes did not escape Jiang Zhixia's eyes.
Feeling the gradually increasing heat in the palm of his hand, Jiang Zhixia gently pulled up the corner of his mouth and deliberately moved his lips closer to his, maintaining an ambiguous distance between them.
"You don't seem to be without feelings." Jiang Zhixia said confidently.
This sentence successfully turned Xia Zhi from being depressed to being angry and embarrassed. With a sullen face, he pushed the person in front of him away and stood up angrily: "I feel the same as if I kissed a pig! Get out of the way!"
Jiang Zhixia was pushed and staggered back two steps. She did not chase after him. Her fingers gently brushed across her lips, with a smile in her eyes.
Xia Zhi entered the room furiously, angry at Jiang Zhixia's somewhat provocative words, but at the same time, she couldn't help but recall the wonderful touch of two lips touching each other for a long time. Lying on the bed, her index finger involuntarily touched her lips, and there seemed to be a faint smell of tobacco at the corner of her mouth.
The door was suddenly quietly pushed open. Xia Zhi knew that it was Jiang Zhixia who came in, and quickly closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. Although he slept in the innermost room and Jiang Zhixia slept in the outermost room, it was impossible for him to come in, and the room was so dark that he couldn't see anything clearly, but he inexplicably felt guilty.
Xia Zhi closed his eyes. In the extremely quiet atmosphere, his hearing seemed to become more acute. He heard Jiang Zhixia's light footsteps. He walked to the bed quietly and sat down. Then there was the sound of him taking off his clothes. Finally, he got on the bed. The old bed board made a short groan, but soon there was no sound. The bedroom was quiet again.
Xia Zhi opened his eyes and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ding Dong—" The screen of the mobile phone next to the pillow suddenly lit up.
Xia Zhi was a little confused—who would send him a WeChat message so late at night
Open it and take a look—
Jiang Zhixia: Good night.
"… "
Thanks to him, Xia Zhi had another sleepless night, which made him doubt the real intention of Jiang Zhixia's good night.
The next day, Xia Zhi woke up with a pair of huge dark circles under his eyes, which scared Sang Luo.
"Are you suffering from insomnia again?"
"Yeah." Xia Zhi yawned while hugging the quilt.
Sang Luo reached out and ruffled his messy hair: "Your sleep quality has been very bad recently, is it because you have too many worries or is it because I sleep so badly that I disturbed you?"
"No, you sleep well and don't make any noise at all." Xia Zhi didn't intend to tell him about the accidental kiss by Jiang Zhixia last night, so he just ignored it and said, "Maybe I'm used to my bed. I can't sleep well in an unfamiliar environment."
"Getting familiar with the bed." Sang Luo stroked his chin thoughtfully, "Then it seems that I have to try my best to get familiar with the environment."
Xia Zhi hadn't woken up yet, and his head was feeling groggy at the moment. He didn't have the energy to ponder over Sang Luo's meaningful words.
Yesterday they agreed with Aunt Hua that they would go to the hospital to see them the next day, so after breakfast, the five of them drove the car arranged by the program crew and set off for the county town.
Everyone rushed to the hospital and the doctor had just arrived at work.
When everyone entered the ward, they saw the doctor who examined Uncle Hua yesterday talking to the couple.
Uncle Hua told the doctor that he was fine now and asked if he could leave the hospital today.
The doctor held his eyes and said calmly: "You can leave the hospital today, but I suggest you have another liver function test."
When Xia Zhi heard the word "liver function", his heart sank. It was exactly as Jiang Zhixia had guessed yesterday.
Uncle Hua and Aunt Hua were also confused when they heard that they had to do another examination.
"I'm already well, why do I need another checkup?" Uncle Hua waved his hands again and again, "No, no, it'll be a waste of money, and I have to get back to work in a hurry. I can't delay any longer. Doctor, just discharge me directly."
Aunt Hua was a little nervous: "Doctor, is there something wrong with his liver?"
"We can only know this after inspection."
Uncle Hua insisted on not doing it, and kept saying that he was in good health and had nothing wrong with him, and that it would be a waste of money to have a check-up.
However, Aunt Hua has always been very concerned about her husband's health, and the doctor would definitely not ask them to do a check-up for no reason, so she insisted on doing this check-up.
Sang Luo and the others also followed to persuade.
In the end, Uncle Hua couldn't win over the six people on the other side with just one mouth, so he finally agreed.
Aunt Hua and Uncle Hua are both old, and are not very familiar with many procedures in the hospital, so Cheng Yunan, Xiao Han and Sang Luo accompanied them to the examination.
Jiang Zhixia was kept in the ward because of his public figure status. As for Xia Zhi, he was kept because he had insomnia last night and had been listless since he got up in the morning, so the three of them let him stay in the ward to have a good rest.
But they didn't know that the one who stayed in the ward with him was the culprit for his insomnia. When the two of them were alone in the same room, Xia Zhi couldn't help but think of the kiss last night, and couldn't rest at all. So he curled up in the chair in the ward and yawned, but couldn't fall asleep.
Jiang Zhixia seemed like nothing had happened. After waking up this morning, she regained her usual calmness and composure, as if nothing had happened last night.
Xia Zhi rolled his eyes silently, complaining in his heart - He is indeed an actor, he acted really well.
Jiang Zhixia went out for a while, but Xia Zhi didn't ask him. He took the opportunity to take a nap. But he didn't sleep for long because Jiang Zhixia came back with a Starbucks bag in her hand.
Xia Zhi casually asked, "Are you hungry?"
"I bought this for you." Jiang Zhixia took out a cup of iced American coffee from the bag. "This will refresh you."
“… Thank you.” Xia Zhi took the coffee and drank it quietly.
Jiang Zhixia sat down next to him and suddenly whispered, "The doctor just arranged some tests for Uncle Hua, some of which are for liver cancer."
"…" Xia Zhi bit the straw and asked in a softer voice, "Could it be liver cancer?"
Jiang Zhixia folded his hands and said nothing.
The two waited in the ward for a long time. As time went by, Xia Zhi felt more and more uneasy. Until Sang Luo called.
"Come here, something is wrong." Sang Luo's tone sounded a little serious.
Xia Zhi's heart sank a little.
The two of them rushed over to meet up. The doctor seemed to have already seen the results. At this moment, several people were standing in the corridor. Aunt Hua was crying with her face covered. Uncle Hua was also unusually silent, but he did not forget to hug his wife in pain and comfort her. Sang Luo, Xiao Han and Cheng Yunan all looked more solemn than each other.
"Come over." Jiang Zhixia walked up to him and patted him gently on the lower back. Xia Zhi then came back to his senses.
The two of them walked over quietly. Aunt Hua and Uncle Hua were immersed in their own emotions and did not notice their arrival. Sang Luo winked at them, and the five of them walked away.
Jiang Zhixia asked in a low voice: "What was the result?"
Sang Luo shook his head, his face solemn: "It's liver cancer."
Xia Zhi's expression was slightly gloomy. The worst result still happened.
Jiang Zhixia asked again: "Which issue?"
"Phase II."
Jiang Zhixia was probably the one who knew the most about liver cancer among all the people present. He had been observing his expression since the beginning. Seeing that his frown seemed to relax a little when he heard that Uncle Hua had stage 2 liver cancer, he couldn't help but feel a little hopeful. The situation should not be too bad.
Sure enough, Jiang Zhixia continued, "Stage II cancer should still be resectable through surgery."
"The doctor also said so. If you undergo surgery, the chances of recovery are still very high. But," Sang Luo paused here, looked helplessly at the couple on the bench, and said to them in a low voice, "Uncle Hua doesn't want to have surgery."
Xia Zhi frowned and looked towards the bench.
Aunt Hua didn't know how long she had been crying, her eyes were already red and swollen. She lay in Uncle Hua's arms, crying and leaning on his chest, sobbing and begging, "Let's do the surgery, okay? Didn't the doctor say that it might be cured by surgery?"
"Why do it? There's no need." Uncle Hua said sullenly, "Didn't the doctor say that even after surgery, the disease may relapse. This is a terminal illness, there's no cure, you'd better go home and wait to die."
Aunt Hua shuddered. The word death was a switch that triggered her deepest fear. She suddenly cried even harder, burying herself in Uncle Hua's arms and wailing, "What will I do if you die? Wuuuuuuu. Can you bear to leave me alone? Yinyin and the others are gone too. I might as well go with you."
Uncle Hua's eyes instantly turned red.
Everyone felt very upset watching this scene.
Xiao Han was the most sentimental. His eyes were already wet at this moment. He choked up and said, "Let's persuade Uncle Hua again. He obviously has hope of survival and can't give up in vain. If they are worried about not having enough money, we can help him."
Cheng Yunan explained to him: "Money is secondary. Uncle Hua thinks that even if he has surgery, it will only prolong his life for a few years. He will die sooner or later. For many rural elderly people, cancer means death, so instead of actively seeking treatment to survive, they prefer to return to a familiar place and calmly accept the arrival of death."
Most people's attitude towards cancer is basically the same as Uncle Hua's - negative, pessimistic, but stubborn.
For a moment, everyone didn't know how to persuade him.
At this time, Jiang Zhixia suddenly walked up to Aunt Hua and Uncle Hua.
"Uncle Hua," he squatted in front of the two of them and said slowly, "My mother also has liver cancer."
Aunt Hua and Uncle Hua were stunned, Aunt Hua even forgot to cry. Not far away, except for Xia Zhi, the other three people also showed shocked expressions.
Jiang Zhixia ignored all the surprised looks around her and continued, "Eight years ago, my mother was diagnosed with liver cancer. Like you, it was already in stage two when it was discovered. Her condition was even more serious than yours."
Aunt Hua stepped out of Uncle Hua's arms and asked with concern, "How is your mother now?"
"She underwent surgery and received timely treatment. She is now recovering well and has not had a relapse in all these years."
"Really?" Jiang Zhixia's words gave Aunt Hua infinite hope. He excitedly pulled Uncle Hua's arm and said, "You heard it, Xiaoxia's mother is fine now! Let's do the surgery too."
Perhaps because of Jiang Zhixia's personal experience, Uncle Hua no longer seems to be as resistant to the surgery as before.
Seeing that he was a little shaken, Jiang Zhixia continued, "I will help you contact the hospital. My mother was cured there. As for the rest, don't worry."
At this moment, Sang Luo and the others also came over.
"That's right, Aunt Hua, Uncle Hua, you don't have to worry." Sang Luo comforted, "I also have some connections in this area, and I will try my best to provide Uncle Hua with the best medical resources. As for the cost, don't worry, we will help you solve it, just rest assured and receive the treatment."
"Oh, how can that be possible?" Aunt Hua quickly refused. "Your uncle and I have saved some money over the years. You don't have to help us out. We are already very grateful that you can help us find a hospital."
Aunt Hua and Uncle Hua refused to accept their financial help, so everyone had to help contact the hospital first.
With Sang Luo and Jiang Zhixia around, the problem of contacting the hospital was easily solved. Everyone planned to take Uncle Hua back to City A for medical treatment another day, so they didn't stay here for long. But when everyone was about to leave, they found that Xia Zhi was gone.
"Huh? Where did Xia Xia go?" Xiao Han looked around but couldn't find Xia Zhi.
Sang Luo asked Jiang Zhixia: "Where is Xia Xia?"
"Maybe he's in a bad mood and went out to relax." Jiang Zhixia guessed, "I'll go find him, you guys go to the parking lot first."
Xiao Han looked at Jiang Zhixia's departing back and scratched his head in confusion: "How did Lao Jiang know that Xia Xia was in a bad mood?"
Sang Luo and Cheng Yunan smiled at each other, and neither of them gave Xiao Han an answer.
At this time, Xia Zhi was sitting in a lounge chair near the hospital gate, hugging his legs and staring blankly.
Xia Zhi didn't like coming to the hospital very much, because it was filled with the most realistic life situations, where countless hopes emerged and countless despairs were witnessed.
People at the bottom of society are exhausted just trying to survive, but fate will never show them mercy.
The hemp rope is broken only at the thinnest part.
Before today, Xia Zhi had never felt the meaning of this sentence so deeply. In the hospital corridor, the scene of Aunt Hua lying in Uncle Hua's arms and crying was like a stone weighing heavily on his heart, making him almost unable to breathe. He felt like he was suffocating if he continued to stay there, so he quietly left while no one was paying attention.
When Xia Zhi was in a bad mood, he liked to run to an empty corner and hug his knees and stare blankly. He originally just wanted to come out to take a breath and went in, but as soon as he came out, he saw a hidden rest chair and walked towards it involuntarily.
He sat down at the very end, first leaning against the back of the chair and sitting upright, but then he lifted his legs involuntarily, with his heels on the edge of the chair. Finally, he hugged his knees with his hands and shrunk into the chair.
This place is close to the hospital gate, but because of the wall, few people would notice him. Xia Zhi just curled up in the corner, burying his face in his arms.
He didn't know how long he maintained this posture. Then he heard footsteps around him, and then a hand stroked his head twice.
"Are you okay?" Jiang Zhixia's voice was full of gentle concern.
Xia Zhi didn't look up and answered irrelevantly: "I don't like hospitals."
"I dont like it either."
"Health is such a luxury." His voice was muffled and sounded a little sad because he lowered his head.
"So you must stay healthy." Jiang Zhixia reached out and hugged him gently, "I don't want to go through that kind of life of fear again."
(End of this chapter)