In the evening, the sunset in Songxueyuan is particularly charming.
Next to the lawn downstairs of the blood hospital, Si Lei took a stack of test results and looked at them one by one. People passed by her one after another - children, the elderly, patients sitting in wheelchairs and patients trotting on their way. Visitor or nurse... But she didn't raise her head, she just compared the data in her hand without saying a word.
In a ward high up, Mei Sinan stood by the window and looked down at Si Lei's back. He turned back and whispered to the boy on the hospital bed, "Yes, she is downstairs."
The young man on the bed was only sixteen or seventeen years old, but his skin looked strangely withered. His skin color was extremely dull and unusually dark. The outline of his bones could be faintly seen on his thin torso, and his half-open eyes held a quiet smile.
Several bottles of water hung above his head, and the infusion tube passed through the isolation cover of the hospital bed and hung by his hand. The hand hung weakly on the edge of the bed, and the skin near the indwelling needle was covered with purple and dark yellow bruises.
"...The situation must be bad," the young man on the bed whispered, "but in fact she doesn't have to go that far."
"No, if your condition is not good, you won't be transferred out of the intensive care unit." Mesnan said with a smile, "Maybe in two weeks, we can go out for a walk together."
The young man smiled slightly and did not refute.
Mei Sinan sat back on the stool in front of the hospital bed. Neither of them spoke for a while. Only a small speaker placed by the bed was playing piano music.
Behind the stereo, a modern painting made of thirty-six small matchboxes was placed against the wall and housed in a clean square glass box.
The sick young man listened intently to the music and followed the golden sunset outside the window with his eyes.
At the end of the song, he raised his head slightly and said, "...Is this the new song you mentioned last week?"
"Yeah." Mesnan nodded, "I wrote it very quickly."
"It sounds nice...what's its name?"
Mesnan was silent for a while, his eyes slightly lowered, "The Hesta girl staring at the sunset."
"Who is this?" asked the young man, "your new friend?"
"Not yet... no," Mei Sinan put his fingers together and gently rubbed his fingertips, his voice slightly lowered, "I just met a few times..."
The young man on the hospital bed looked at his friend quietly, "What kind of person is he?"
"She..." Mesnan whispered, "She has a pair of blue eyes."
"like you."
"Shallower than mine, like an eagle." Mesnan whispered, "When a pair of eyes like this stares at you, you will clearly feel her sensitivity, even sharpness..."
"Is this person very vicious?"
"...I don't know," Mei Sinan murmured, "but at least, when watching the sunset, she is calm...reminiscent of the mountains under the sunset."
"Then has she heard this piece of music?"
"Not yet," Mesnan took a deep breath. "The day I met her, I thought that maybe I could find a chance to tell her the next time I see her..."
"I won't see you again."
"No," Mesnan shook his head, "I saw him the next night, but it was at a new friend's family dinner. It would have been too abrupt to say this on that occasion."
"……Then what?"
"I thought, let's wait until next time, but we met again last Sunday, in the city hall."
"town Hall?"
"I went to wait for someone," Messnan replied, "because another friend said she knew a choir that needed a piano accompaniment. She couldn't find anyone at once and asked me if I wanted to give it a try... I just had time. , so I went to try it.”
Mesnan's body leaned forward slightly, his fingers intertwined and pressed together hard.
"That occasion...isn't it appropriate?" the young man on the hospital bed asked.
"It's hard to say. Because there was no chance to speak... She was going to attend a presentation specially prepared for new residents of Orange Town. According to the arrangement, as soon as the presentation was over, she and her companions would take a bus to travel around the city. ...But that day was really coincidental, because when my friend and I packed up our things and were about to leave, we found that she was still in the corridor.
"Her companion was crying at the time, and she comforted her. I originally thought I was going to miss it again, but my friend invited them to go to the choir to be the audience. At that time, I suddenly realized that this might be a great opportunity: what do I do? Needless to say, I just need to find a break to dedicate this piece of music to her and play it completely in front of her... that's enough.
"When I thought about this possibility, my palms began to sweat: I have never prepared for this, and I don't know if it is possible to find such a time in subsequent rehearsals... But I think, maybe during rehearsals There will be some rest, because my friend said there is a tea break in the choir - but such a gap may be fleeting, and I must seize the opportunity."
"Then what."
"...She refused." Mesnan whispered, "She said she had to go back soon...so she didn't go to the choir."
"How could this happen?" The young man on the hospital bed couldn't help laughing. "Isn't this... still missing out?"
"So I'm bringing the speaker with me now," Mesnan let out a breath, "so that when I see her again next time, I won't be unable to do anything."
"Okay." The young man on the hospital bed nodded, "I hope you go well..."
"Stop talking about me," Mesnan said with a smile, "How are you getting along with Ms. Si Lei this week? Do you like this mother?"
The young man sighed and smiled shyly.
"Like it?" Mei Sinan asked.
"I... don't know how to say it," the young man looked out the window, "Actually... I'm still a little unfamiliar, and I'm usually very reserved when talking... but I can't chat like we do now."
Mesnan was a little surprised, "Is that so?"
"This feeling is quite strange," the young man frowned slightly, "You clearly know that the person in front of you is connected by blood, but... the strange feeling is very real."
"I don't know if this is the right thing to say," Methnan said hesitantly, "but I understand a little bit of this feeling."
"...Before this summer, I had only seen pictures of her. Over the years, she occasionally wrote to me, but never told me her number, address...not even a video call. I don't understand why. .”
The young man paused for a moment.
"Several times, she was sitting here, sitting in your seat, peeling apples... I almost asked, but suddenly I felt that there was no point in asking now," the young man whispered, "It sounds like Like a reproach."
"...Maybe you just need time," Mesnan whispered, "Maybe Ms. Si Lei also needs time."
"Time," the young man sighed again, "I don't know how much time I have..."
