Jiang Lin took the iced lemon tea handed to him by the waiter and walked towards the entrance of the plank road in front.
The wind was strong at the beach, and the hair under the brim of the hat was blown by the wind. After walking a short distance, large drops of water seeped out of the wall of the iced lemon tea cup. Looking at this sweet drink, Jiang Lin hesitated before biting the straw.
He had a bad stomach and usually refrained from eating raw or cold food, but he was in a really bad mood at the moment, and he had drunk half a dozen beers the night before, so he stopped worrying and started drinking in big gulps.
The ice cubes collided with each other as the sucking action progressed, and the cold liquid rushed through the esophagus, quickly subsiding the heat all over the body and soothing the boredom in the heart.
This cup of iced lemon tea is made in authentic Hong Kong style, with a sweet and sour taste that brings out a subtle bitterness, almost the same as the one Lu Zhe usually makes for him. Remembering that today is the day Lu Zhe goes home, he sends a message on his mobile phone: [What time will you arrive in Hong Kong? ]
He swiped his finger to the left and returned to the screen, his eyes fell on the top avatar frame. He hesitated, clicked on Ji Minglun's dialog box, and looked at the time displayed on the last message.
It’s been fourteen months now.
For fourteen months, they had not spoken another word to each other, until today.
Although Ji Minglun's attitude was very cold, he could fully understand the man's feelings. After all, it was he who did not give him any chance to explain. During that period, whether Ji Minglun called him or blocked him at his doorstep, he avoided him and even blocked him on WeChat.
If Ji Minglun had done the same to him, his reaction would probably have been even greater.
Before his depressed mood fully revealed itself, he was distracted by the two boys next to Ji Minglun.
Ji Minglun was not a person who would do anything reckless in the past. Could it be that he let himself go in this year
Jiang Lin found Chen Nidan's WeChat and pressed the voice button to send a message. Chen Nidan quickly replied, saying that the baby-faced boy he was asking about should be on the school basketball team. If he remembered correctly, he was a junior in the history department and had a girlfriend.
Jiang Lin asked the long-haired boy again. Chen Nidan had no impression of this boy, so she asked him to describe him in more detail.
In fact, he himself didn't see the other person's appearance clearly. Last night in the car, the person was wearing a black hoodie and he thought it was a girl. He just found out that the other person was a man. Although the person was wearing a mask covering his mouth and nose, he always felt that he looked familiar.
Air entered the straw, making a sizzling sound. Jiang Lin came to his senses and saw that he had finished the ice lemon tea without realizing it.
He put the empty cup down, thinking he would throw it away when he left, but when he raised his arm he felt a familiar tingling sensation.
Frowning, he clenched his left fist and placed it just below his chest.
This year he was studying in Los Angeles. Due to academic pressure, he often couldn't eat on time, and his stomach began to hurt frequently. Fortunately, he met his current roommate Lu Zhe, who was a kitchen expert. He cooked different dishes every day and invited him to eat with him, which gradually helped him to recover his stomach.
He lowered his head and endured it for a while, but the pain became more and more severe. He thought that sitting here was not a solution, so he stood up and went back to the car. However, he slowed down after walking for a while, and then he bent over and held onto the wooden plank to catch his breath.
It was almost noon, and the hot sun burned his skin, and soon he broke into a sweat. He gritted his teeth and continued walking. When he finally saw the parking lot, he already felt tired even to move his legs.
He hadn't experienced such a severe symptom in half a year, and couldn't help but regret his willfulness. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he couldn't drive in this state, so he walked to the opposite intersection and finally stopped an empty taxi in the sparse traffic.
When the driver heard that he was going to the nearest hospital, he turned around and saw that he was as pale as paper and sweating all over his head. He was worried that something might happen to him in the car. He explained with difficulty that it was just a stomach ache, and the driver stepped on the accelerator and took him to the hospital as fast as possible.
When he entered the emergency room of the First Hospital, he was in so much pain that he could hardly stand. Fortunately, he had extensive medical experience, and as soon as he saw the nurse, he briefly described his symptoms and medical history. The nurse helped him to the triage desk, measured his blood pressure, and called a doctor to take a look first.
The doctor ordered several tests for him and found out that he had not yet fully recovered from the jet lag, had drunk a large cup of iced lemon tea on an empty stomach in the morning, and had been exposed to the sun when he came. So the doctor told him that he had sudden gastritis, prescribed him some medicine, and wrote an order for an infusion.
The nurse came in, took the form, and helped him out to register his ID card. He wanted to take his wallet, but when he touched it, he remembered that he had left his chest bag in the car.
Knowing that he didn't bring any ID, the nurse said she could prescribe medicine for him first, but asked him to ask relatives and friends to bring it to him immediately. He sat in the row chair by the wall, his nerves tortured by the pain were so fragile that they seemed to break if bent. On the contrary, Ji Minglun's face became clearer and clearer in front of him, which reminded him of the man who always accompanied him meticulously every time he came to the hospital.
The feeling of regret seemed to permeate his heart, and the guilt and longing could not be shaken off. After struggling for a while, he took out his cell phone.
[I'm receiving an IV in the emergency room and I forgot my ID card in the car. Do you have time to get it for me? ]
Jiang Lin edited this message three times. His weak fingers easily pressed the wrong keys, so he deleted and deleted a lot in the dialog box before pressing send after a few minutes.
After the message was successfully sent, he stared at the screen nervously. Fortunately, the system did not pop up a red exclamation mark to remind the other party that he had been blocked.
Subconsciously heaving a sigh of relief, he endured another wave of tingling. The thin skin on his left hand, which was pinching the phone, turned pale. Every second after the message was sent became very difficult to endure. He couldn't help but think about how Ji Minglun would react when he saw the message.
The burning feeling in his stomach was getting out of control again under this tormenting emotion, and even his lower abdomen began to hurt. He couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to ask the nurse to give him painkillers first, but the watch on his wrist vibrated at this time. He looked up and saw that it was a WeChat notification from Ji Minglun.
Without even bothering to unlock his phone, he immediately clicked on the message.
There was only one line of words on the screen: [Which emergency room? ]
"Is there an emergency?"
The voice beside him interrupted Ji Minglun's concentration. He put down his phone, paused his gaze at the temporary parking sign more than 100 meters ahead, and said to the person next to him: "A friend of mine is in trouble and needs to go over there now. Can you take a taxi back?"
"Okay," Su Yan responded straightforwardly, "Put me down. I just want to go to the supermarket."
When Su Yan was receiving the infusion just now, his temperature had dropped to 37.8 and he looked much more energetic. Ji Minglun stopped the car out front and dropped him off, telling him to call him if he had any problems.
Su Yan waved his hand and said with a smile: "You are just as long-winded as him, hurry up and leave."
After closing the car window, Ji Minglun turned around at the intersection ahead and returned to the hospital he had just left in less than ten minutes.
Su Yan was receiving an IV in the outpatient clinic just now, and Jiang Lin was now in the emergency room. He parked the car and walked towards the emergency building. When he entered the IV room, he saw a person sitting in the corner, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and resting.
There were quite a few patients in the emergency infusion room. Ji Minglun stood at the door for a while and was bumped into on the arm by two people coming in and out.
The second person who bumped into him was a middle-aged lady. She must have been annoyed by his height and blocking the door, so she couldn't help but mutter something. He didn't react at all, but just stared at the figure.
Accompanying Jiang Lin to the emergency room was once a familiar task for him. Both of their families were of a type that was difficult to describe. Even though they had grown up in an environment where they had no worries about food and clothing, they also lacked the company of their parents and relatives.
I can't remember the first time I accompanied Jiang Lin to the emergency room, I just remember that I was 11 or 12 years old. At that time, Jiang Lin's mother was taken to the emergency room by ambulance. In other families, the adults were busy and the children were hiding to watch, but they had to listen to the instructions of the medical staff and run around to pay the fees and sign.
That night, the doctor issued two critical illness notices in a row. Jiang Lin's fingers were shaking with worry, but he was so stubborn that he didn't shed a single tear from beginning to end. When he asked whether to notify Jiang Jianchen, Jiang Lin kicked the wall tiles in the corridor hard.
Later, he hugged Jiang Lin to comfort him. Jiang Lin leaned on his shoulder and finally uttered a word after a long time.
"Why didn't Jiang Jianchen get cancer?"
The memories in his mind were like a bunch of roses that had withered for too long, no longer suitable to be shown in front of others. He walked over to Jiang Lin and looked at the hand resting on the armrest.
The infusion needle was fixed on the back of the fair hand. Several thin blood vessels were a little swollen due to the infusion. The skin near the nails of the index and middle fingers was slightly red, and there were more than a dozen not-so-obvious sesame-sized blisters on them.
My eyes stayed on those tiny bubbles, and before I could figure out what they were, the owner of the fingers retracted their fingertips and hid them on the back out of sight.
Ji Minglun turned around and met Jiang Lin's eyes.
Not wanting to pay attention to the overly pale complexion on that face, Ji Minglun stood up and said calmly, "Why are you in the emergency room again?"
"I have gastritis."
Jiang Lin's eyes followed Ji Minglun, and the two of them changed to a perspective of one looking down and the other looking up.
There was no emotion on Ji Minglun's face. Just when he was expecting Ji Minglun to say something caring, the man reached out to him and said, "Give me the car keys."
Jiang Lin put the car key in his left trouser pocket. He was receiving an IV with his left hand and reached out with his right hand to take it out. However, because the pocket was deep, he couldn't reach it in this reverse position. He had no choice but to say to Ji Minglun, "You take it."
After looking at him, Ji Minglun bent down, reached into his trouser pocket, and felt for the car keys along his thigh.
Jiang Lin stared at Ji Minglun's actions. He was clearly in the busy emergency infusion room, and it was clearly just a normal action of taking out keys, but his mind inappropriately remembered some beautiful dreams related to the person in front of him.
But before he could think any further, Ji Minglun pulled his hand away, turned around and walked away.