After calling the police, Ye Sibei returned to the hospital.
Huang Guifen and Zhao Chuchu had already left, leaving only Ye Ling in the hospital. Ye Sibei lay back on the bed and asked the nurse to give him another injection. He turned to Qin Nan and said, "You go back to the store. I'm fine here."
Qin Nan nodded and pulled the quilt for her: "I'll go take a look and be back soon."
"It's okay." Ye Sibei shook his head. "Just give me an IV drip, and my dad will watch over me."
Qin Nan didn't answer her. He took the clothes from her and walked out.
After he left, Ye Sibei closed her eyes. Ye Ling sat next to her and thought for a while. He whispered, "You should have told me earlier."
As he spoke, he seemed to realize that what he said was useless. He thought for a moment and began to urge her again: "Just sue me. Qin Nan is a good man. You should be more accommodating to him in the future..."
"do not talk."
Ye Sibei interrupted him, she closed her eyes: "I'm sleepy."
Ye Ling was stunned. After a moment's pause, he nodded: "Well, then you should have a good sleep."
In the evening, Zhao Chuchu came to take over the shift. After she and Ye Sibei sat for a while, Zhao Chuchu suddenly said, "Sister, I'm sorry."
Ye Sibei was looking down at the job posting on his phone. When he looked up, he saw Zhao Chuchu with red eyes: "I should have sent you home that day."
Ye Sibei thought for a moment after hearing this and said, "You are a girl. If you were the one who sent me home, maybe I would be the one saying sorry now."
"That day," Zhao Chuchu's eyes were red, "When I got off the car that day, I really didn't notice you..."
"You're drunk," Ye Sibei knew what she was going to say, raised his hand and patted the back of her hand, "It's all over, I only blame myself, don't blame yourself."
As he was talking, there was a sound at the door. Qin Nan came in with an insulated box. Zhao Chuchu saw Qin Nan coming in and quickly stood up: "Brother Nan."
"Yes," Qin Nan nodded, put the thermos box on the table, took a small bowl, and poured out the porridge, "Have you eaten?"
"I'll go eat when you come over."
Zhao Chuchu explained: "I just came here to accompany my sister."
With that, Zhao Chuchu said goodbye to the two of them: "I'm leaving first."
Ye Sibei watched Zhao Chuchu leave before turning to look at Qin Nan. Qin Nan sat next to her, scooped up the porridge with an iron spoon, blew it cool, and brought it to Ye Sibei's lips.
Ye Sibei quietly looked at the person in front of her who was taking care of her. She actually had a lot of questions to ask and a lot of things to say, but in the end she swallowed them all, leaned forward, and took a mouthful of porridge with a spoon.
At night, Qin Nan set up a small bed and slept next to her. Ye Sibei turned her head to look. She stared at the outline of this person for a long time before looking away and closing her eyes.
After staying in the hospital for three days, Ye Sibei felt much better when he woke up on the third morning. Huang Guifen came to replace Qin Nan's shift and helped Ye Sibei take a walk in the hospital.
She was still a little soft, and there was nothing else she said. Huang Guifen, who was usually talkative, said only one sentence the whole time. Ye Sibei knew that Huang Guifen was angry with her, but she didn't pay any attention to it. Instead, she felt much more at ease.
The two walked in the yard for a while, and when they were on their way to the ward, they heard someone talking nearby: "You know, Fuqiang seems to have had an accident."
Upon hearing this, Ye Sibei and Huang Guifen stopped walking and watched two old ladies passing by and talking. One of them said in a vivid voice, "A police car stopped at the door early in the morning, and the police called many people in for questioning."
"What happened? Someone's dead?"
"No one is dead," the old lady who passed on the news said mysteriously, "One of my nephews works there, and they said there might be a girl who was raped."
…
The two old ladies walked over while talking. Huang Guifen's eyes were red. She supported Ye Sibei and lowered her head: "Go back and lie down first. I'll ask the doctor if you can be discharged."
As she spoke, she helped her walk into the ward, her steps becoming much faster.
Ye Sibei had no expression on his face. When they arrived at the ward, Huang Guifen went to ask the doctor. Ye Sibei sat on the hospital bed. She thought for a long time and finally took out her cell phone.
As soon as she opened WeChat, she saw that her work group had exploded with all kinds of pictures and messages. She swiped through them one by one and saw that people in the work group and small groups kept asking questions.
"Who called the police?"
"Is it Sibei?"
"Is Ye Sibei here? What's going on? What happened to you?"
"Mr. Fan has been taken away? Who should I ask for signature?"
"Chu Chu and Xiaoyang were also questioned. Everyone who was present that night was called in by the police."
…
The group was buzzing with excitement, and only a few people chatted with her privately.
Some people really have interactions with each other, while others seem to be here to gather some information, asking tentatively: "Xiaobei, did you call the police? What's wrong with you?"
She quietly flipped through the information. Not long after, Huang Guifen came back trotting, looking somewhat happy: "Xiaobei, the doctor said that as long as you feel fine, you can leave and go home for observation. I have just completed the discharge procedures."
Huang Guifen started packing her things and said, "Let's go, now."
Ye Sibei didn't respond. She raised her head and saw someone secretly looking in from the door.
"The girl who committed suicide the day before yesterday was in this ward, right?"
"There was also a Fuqiang employee who came to see her yesterday. Was it her?"
Huang Guifen seemed to have heard these words. She pulled up the curtain and took clothes for Ye Sibei. After Ye Sibei changed, the mother and daughter left together.
Along the way, Ye Sibei always felt as if someone was looking at her, but when she looked back, it seemed that no one was really looking at her.
Huang Guifen kept her head down the whole way. She pulled her, thinking she was pulling all the shame in her life, and she wanted to immediately put her where others could see her.
Ye Sibei looked at her mother's anxiety, and when she reached the door, she said softly, "Mom, I'll go back by myself."
"What are you talking about?"
Huang Guifen seemed to think that she was going to cause trouble again. She was about to scold her when Ye Sibei took the luggage from her hand and said, "I feel bad seeing you like this. Don't come to me in the future, so as not to cause you trouble."
After saying that, Ye Sibei raised his hand to stop a taxi, got in the taxi under Huang Guifen's astonished gaze, and left directly.
When she closed the car door, Huang Guifen finally reacted and shouted in a panic: "Mom! Mom is..."
"Master, Jinxiu District."
Ye Sibei directly told the taxi driver: "Let's go."
As the car drove forward, Huang Guifen's words became increasingly distant until they could no longer be heard.
Ye Sibei sat in the taxi and turned to look at the pedestrians coming and going on the street.
She returned home alone and when she opened the door, she found that the house had been cleaned.
All the dirt from the wine bottles had been cleaned up, the floor had been mopped, and the originally bare lamp in the living room had been replaced with a bright ceiling lamp.
Ye Sibei stood at the door and looked around the house for a while before walking in.
I was only away for two days, but it felt like a lifetime.
She walked into the house, took a shower, and saw a lot of missed calls and greeting messages on her phone.
She flipped through it casually for a while and then put it aside.
News always spreads quickly in a small town, and by the afternoon, she felt like everyone around her knew about it.
Some relatives and friends were very enthusiastic. As soon as the phone was answered, they sent her a message:
Bei, are you okay? Can I come to your house to see you
Seeing this message, she hesitated for a moment, and finally replied: "It's fine, don't worry."
There are some people who really care about her, and she is afraid that they will worry, so she can only reply one by one.
"Very good."
"It's okay. I'm fine."
Her grandmother also knew about this and called her. When she answered the phone, she heard her grandmother sobbing.
"I'm fine." Ye Sibei comforted his grandmother, "I'm fine, don't worry, just take good care of yourself."
"It's good that you can think positively," Grandma said with a worried tone, "but you are still so young, how are you going to live in the future..."
"Oh my god," Grandma cried, "Why is it you? Why are you so pitiful?"
Ye Sibei listened and said nothing.
After a long while, she lowered her eyes and whispered, "Grandma, my phone is running out of battery. I'm going to hang up first. Don't cry, don't be sad, I will live a good life."
"Xiaobei, don't worry about it. Grandma will come to see you in a while."
"Um."
Grandma said goodbye and she hung up the phone.
She turned her cell phone to silent mode and threw it aside. She leaned over and skillfully took out a lighter from the bedside table. She lit a cigarette and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the sunset outside the window.
Before the sun set, there was a noise outside the door, and footsteps came from outside the door, but she didn't move.
The footsteps paused, and after a while, someone walked up to her and sat down gently beside her.
Ye Sibei turned around with a cigarette between his legs, saw the person coming, and smiled softly: "Are you back?"
"have you eaten yet?"
"No, I don't think so."
Ye Sibei watched the sunset in the swirling smoke and said, "Wait a moment."
Qin Nan sat next to her. He didn't say anything and just sat there. Ye Sibei felt like someone was always watching over her.
After a while, she said softly, "They should be investigating a case today. They asked a lot of people."
"Um."
“And then everybody knew about it.”
"Then what?"
"A lot of people called me to comfort me." Ye Sibei dusted off his cigarette ash, turned around and smiled, "They told me not to take it to heart, said I was pitiful, and asked me what I would do with my life in the second half of my life."
Qin Nan looked at her, his eyes were as calm as usual, without any difference, which made Ye Sibei feel much calmer. She looked at him and asked doubtfully: "What does this have to do with the rest of my life?"
"what is the relationship?"
Qin Nan asked back.
Ye Sibei smiled: "Originally there was no relationship." She turned her head and spoke hoarsely after a long while, "Because of them, there is a relationship."
"But they mean well," Ye Sibei lowered his head, "I understand."
"Change your clothes."
Qin Nan suddenly spoke. Ye Sibei turned back in confusion and saw him propping himself up and going to the closet to look for clothes for her: "I'll take you somewhere."