After a few people left, Pei Shuo also moved a chair over and sat side by side with Lu Zhinian beside the hospital bed. Both of their eyes were focused on the little person on the hospital bed.
Pei Shuo looked at the skinny Jiang Suchu and vaguely remembered his childhood.
He said calmly, "A-Nian, do you still remember what you were like when you were a child?"
Lu Zhinian turned his head slightly to look at Pei Shuo, only to see him looking at the hospital bed. He turned back, looked at Jiang Suchu's face with a lingering look, and curled the corners of his mouth.
"Remember."
How could he forget that Jiang Suichu who was as warm as a little sun.
Pei Shuo looked at Jiang Suchu and seemed to be reminiscing: "I still remember when we were in the first class of kindergarten. At that time, the teeth had just started to change."
As he spoke, he chuckled, "The key is that she actually lost her upper and lower front teeth together. She can't speak at all, and she spits everywhere when she speaks. We laugh at her, but she doesn't allow it. She is very domineering."
At that time, Pei Shuo liked to tease her, so he laughed at her all day long, saying that she was a little old lady with missing teeth. When Jiang Suchu was a child, she was a beautiful and face-loving little girl, and she couldn't bear to hear Pei Shuo say that about her. Every time, Pei Shuo would get angry and chase him all over the classroom with his little fists. If he couldn't catch him, he would ask Lu Zhinian for help.
Lu Zhinian remembered this, and thought of the way she was so angry at Pei Shuo that he raised the corners of his lips silently, and the dimple on his right cheek dented a shallow mark. When he was a child, Jiang Suichu wore two pigtails and neat bangs, and his big eyes were always looking at him with bright eyes.
"Every year, Lele bullies me, saying I'm an old lady. Wuwuwu~~" She held Lu Zhinian's arm with her chubby hand and shook it, pretending to cry, but in fact she didn't shed a single tear.
She always treated him like this, acting coquettishly at first, then acting coquettishly when her coquettishness failed, and then coercing and tempting him. If Lu Zhinian didn't help her, she would throw his arm away, fold her hands in front of her chest, and look at him menacingly.
"Nian Nian! If you don't help me, I will go home and tell Aunt Yuan that you are bullying me too."
If you don't help her, you're bullying her.
Forget it, she has always been so unreasonable.
Does he dare not to help? If he doesn't help her, maybe she will make things worse for Shu Yuan when she goes home. Then he will be the one who suffers. Helpless, he could only obey her order, capture Pei Shuo and pin her down on the desk, letting Princess Sui Sui handle her.
There was only one wall lamp at the door turned on in the ward, making the room a little dark.
Pei Shuo looked at Jiang Suichu's thin little face in the dim light, as if he was seeing the little girl who was missing a few front teeth and whose cheeks were bulging because of him.
He lowered his head and smiled bitterly, his eyes falling on Jiang Suichu's hand that was undergoing infusion.
The scar on the back of the hand is spread across the tiger's mouth. Although it has faded a lot, it is not difficult to see how deep the injury was originally.
Pei Shuo lowered his head, reached out his hand and gently touched the scar, his voice was a little hoarse.
"A Nian."
Lu Zhinian watched the movements of his hands, his Adam's apple rolled slowly, and a single syllable escaped, "Yeah."
Listen carefully, the voice seems to be trembling a little.
Pei Shuo: "You said that Sui Sui loved beautiful people so much when she was little. How uncomfortable it is for her now that she has so many scars on her body."
Yes, how uncomfortable is it?
Lu Zhinian felt a dull pain in his heart when he thought of what Shu Yuan and the other two said in the corridor.
He couldn't imagine how painful it would be for her to be so afraid of pain when the cigarette butt burned her body. He couldn't imagine how scared and desperate she felt when those people broke her ribs.
Lu Zhinian couldn't think about it anymore. He closed his eyes and managed to suppress the sourness in his heart.
"Send a message to Jiang Minghao."
He wants to know everything that happened to Jiang Suichu these years. He would repay everyone who had bullied her one by one for her.
"Okay." Pei Shuo took out his mobile phone and was about to send a WeChat message to Jiang Minghao when he saw Tang Zi sending him a message. Ask him what Jiang Suichu's ward number is.
Pei Shuo replied the message and put away the phone.
Pei Shuo: "Tang Zi said that they and Jiang Minghao are already on their way to the hospital."
Lu Zhinian nodded. He had no intention of thinking about why Jiang Minghao was with Tang Zi and the others.
Pei Shuo looked at Lu Zhinian, who was expressionless, and said in a low voice with anger: "A-Nian, is this the case with Sun Feifei?"
Lu Zhinian slowly raised his head and looked at him, his pupils suddenly shrank and his eyes became stern.
"never mind?"
How can we forget it?
Although the school had punished Sun Feifei, it was not enough for Lu Zhinian.
His tone seemed a bit sarcastic, his teeth were clenched, but the dimple on the right cheek was stretched into a line, and his expression was a bit sinister.
"I will make her pay a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times."
Every bit of pain Jiang Suichu is suffering now, he will return to Sun Feifei.
A flash of surprise flashed in Pei Shuo's eyes. It seemed that he hadn't seen such a ruthless side of Lu Zhinian for a long time.
The last time seemed to be because of Suisui. In the alley over the old city, Lu Zhinian almost beat to death the gangster who bullied Jiang Suchu.
In the eyes of outsiders, Lu Zhinian was excellent in character and learning, modest and polite. But Pei Shuo knew that he was not as gentle as he seemed. Once his restricted area is touched, he will also have a ruthless and sinister side.
Pei Shuo paused and asked him, "What are you going to do?"
Jiang Suchu was in pain and kept sobbing quietly. When Lu Zhinian heard her voice, the coldness in his eyes instantly disappeared. He stood up and took the water glass on the bedside table, and gently dipped a cotton swab into her lips.
While moistening Jiang Suichu's chapped lips, he whispered: "It seems that provincial leaders will come to inspect the school next week."
He said this without any hesitation. Pei Shuo was stunned for a moment, thinking that their school had also issued a notice. It seems that the leaders of the Provincial Education Bureau visited Yun City colleges and universities, and the first and fourth middle schools were all inspecting the rankings.
"It seems so. Our school has also sent out a notice." After Pei Shuo finished speaking, he seemed to realize what Lu Zhinian was planning to do.
Pei Shuo looked at him and said, "A-Nian, are you planning to make Sun Feifei drop out of school?"
Jiang Suichu's lips are very small and the shape of her lips is a beautiful M shape. After being moistened with water, the lip color reveals a light pink color, which looks crystal clear under low light. A drop of water on the cotton swab fell on her lower lip, and the droplets quickly slid along the seam of her lips to the corners of her lips. Lu Zhinian bent down, gently touched her cheek with his slender fingers, and then gently wiped away the drop of water from the corner of his lips with his thumb.
Then he looked at Jiang Suchu's brows, which had been frowning tightly because of discomfort. The soft color in his eyes gradually cooled down, and he returned to his previous ruthlessness.
He stroked her delicate brow with his thumb and said, "It would be too easy for her to just drop out of school."
He wanted her to be expelled from the school, not that she dropped out of school voluntarily. He wanted Sun Feifei to have no chance to enter any higher education institution in Yun City after she left No. 1 Middle School.
He also wanted her to taste what it felt like to have her pride and self-esteem trampled into the mud.
Lu Zhinian always meant what he said, and since he said so, it meant that he had planned everything in his heart. Pei Shuo didn't need to ask anymore. When he needed him, he knew that Lu Zhinian would not be polite to him.
This is a tacit understanding that the two have grown up with together.
——
Jiang Suchu's consciousness was chaotic. She seemed to hear the voices of Lu Zhinian and Pei Shuo, but she couldn't see where they were. The surroundings are shrouded in white mist, and you can vaguely see the riverside behind the family compound.
She didn't wear shoes and walked barefoot along the river. The soles of her feet were sore from the stones, but she couldn't care less. Because she seemed to hear her father's voice, she looked back at the source of the sound. There seemed to be a beam of light at the end of the white mist, and in the light there was a figure of her who was thinking about her day and night.
It's dad! It's dad!
She ran towards the light excitedly and recklessly. Even though the soles of her feet were scratched by rough stones, she seemed to feel no pain.
She only knew that she had to go faster, even faster.
As she ran, she saw the white fog around her gradually dissipating. Her body gradually became lighter, and when she finally saw the face of the figure in the light clearly, her body had transformed into what it had been like when she was a child.
She cried and threw herself into the man's arms, hugging his neck tightly, "Dad, is it really you, dad?"
Jiang Zhiwei smiled and touched her head, then picked her up and said, "Of course it's dad."
"Little slippery boy." Jiang Zhiwei pinched the tip of her red nose from crying and said with a smile, "Did you make your mother angry again? You ran out without wearing any shoes."
Her round, almond-shaped eyes were filled with water, and she stared blankly at the young and handsome father in front of her.
It's a dream.
This is a dream.
It is impossible for dad to come back.
In his dream, Jiang Zhiwei looked at his daughter's dazed look and smiled. He stretched out his index finger and tapped her eyebrow gently, "Daddy, would you like to take you to play in the water?"
Jiang Zhiwei's hand holds a gun all year round, and his palms and fingertips are covered with a thick layer of calluses. The moment his finger touched her forehead, Jiang Suchu truly felt the warmth from his father's fingers on his skin.
At that moment, she thought, if it was a dream, then never let her wake up.
"Little fool." Jiang Zhiwei rubbed his daughter's furry head lovingly, then lifted her above his head with both hands and let her sit on his shoulders.
Jiang Zhiwei grabbed her short legs, raised his head slightly, and said to her with a smile: "Let's go play in the water."
When her father is around, her favorite thing is to ride on his shoulders. At that time, she felt as if she could see very far on her father's shoulders. She likes to open her hands and catch the wind passing through her fingers.
Dad smiled, and so did she.
Her father took her to the shallows where she used to play in the water when she was a child. He played with her shirtless and raised her arms. She was thrown up hard by her father, caught again, thrown up, and caught steadily again.
Every time her father threw her high, she could feel the river breeze blowing by her ears.
Gently and softly.
"Sui Sui, be brave."
"Open your hands bravely, only by opening your hands can you catch the wind."
Dad's voice seemed to be getting farther and farther away from her.
"Dad?" She looked down and saw that her father was nowhere to be seen.
In an instant, her body fell into the water as if weightless.
There was a grunt.
What followed was the chaotic sound of cold river water pouring into her ears, and she heard someone shouting on the shore.
"Help, help, help."
The voice was sharp and urgent, but there was no trace of anxiety.
She struggled instinctively in the water, and then she saw a hand with a silver ring on its ring finger reaching out to her. She thought the hands were coming to save her, and she struggled to reach them. However, just when she grabbed the hand, the man threw her away.
Then she heard her aunt's shrill voice: "Oh, what can I do? I can't hold her back."
At that moment she realized that her aunt had no intention of saving her.
The past two years kept flashing through her mind. Her father passed away, her mother abandoned her, and her grandma had a bad relationship with her aunt because of her.
It seems that her existence is a mistake.
Suddenly, she didn't want to struggle anymore.
So be it!
She stopped struggling and allowed her body to sink. She looked up at the sparkling water and slowly closed her eyes. Just when she felt that the oxygen in her chest was about to disappear, she heard her grandma crying.
What would grandma do if she died? How sad she would be.
No, she can't die like this.
She opened her eyes and struggled upward with her last breath. When her last bit of strength was exhausted, she saw a hole in the water surface, and a lean boy swimming towards her quickly.
Jiang Minghao.
As if she saw a savior, she reached out but did not grab his hand, but grabbed the jade Buddha that he wore around his neck all year round.
The expression of Jiang Suchu, who had been sleeping, suddenly turned ferocious. Her mouth was slightly open and her breathing was rapid.
"What's wrong with Suisui?" Pei Shuo was a little at a loss and ran to the other side and rang the nurse's bell beside the bed.
"Nurse, Ward 303. Come quickly!"
Lu Zhinian, who was also slightly flustered, leaned over to her and whispered in her ear: "Be good every year."
"Don't be afraid, I'm here." His hands patted her shoulders through the quilt, just like Shu Yuan used to coax her to sleep when she was a child.
Slowly, he felt that Jiang Suchu's emotions gradually calmed down and he was no longer as excited as before. She just kept mumbling something. He leaned closer to listen, but her voice was choppy and could not be heard clearly.
At this time, there were voices at the door of the ward, and Pei Shuo recognized the voices of Tang Mi and Tang Zi.
"Is it 303? Are you blind and mistaken?"
"You are blind. The ward number Pei Shuo sent is 303!"
Just as Pei Shuo stood up and was about to open the door, the door was pushed open.
It’s Jiang Minghao.
Jiang Minghao glanced speechlessly at the Tang brothers and sisters who were still standing at the door arguing softly, and felt that his ears hurt. Along the way, the two of them never stopped.
Jiang Minghao held the door with his hand, glanced down at Tang Mi, tilted his head towards her, and said, "Come in."
Tang Mi was still thinking about how to talk back to Tang Zi, but she paused when she saw his look, pouted, and walked sideways past him into the ward.
This man really talks little, and every word he speaks comes out loud.
After Tang Mi walked in, Jiang Minghao followed suit and didn't care about Tang Zi who almost hit the door behind him.
Tang Mi approached the hospital bed softly, and when she saw Jiang Suichu lying there like a lifeless doll, her eyes suddenly turned red.
When Jiang Minghao saw Jiang Suichu's appearance, his dark eyebrows tightened.
"Hey, are Sui Sui talking?" Tang Migang seemed to see Jiang Suichu's lips moving. She pushed aside Lu Zhinian, who was standing closest to Jiang Suichu, and leaned down to listen to Jiang Suichu's ear.
"Jiang Minghao~Jiang Minghao~save me~"
After hearing this clearly, Tang Mi was stunned and slowly looked towards Jiang Minghao.
Lu Zhinian's eyes suddenly dimmed when Tang Mi looked at Jiang Minghao, and the hands hanging by his legs clenched into fists.
Tang Zi saw Tang Mi's strange expression and said to her, "What's your expression?"
Pei Shuo also said: "That's right, what did Suisui say?"
"Oh~ I..." Tang Mi licked her lips and looked at Jiang Minghao opposite.
"I'm calling your name every year."
Jiang Minghao raised his eyebrows when he heard this, walked around the head of the bed and walked to Tang Mi. Tang Mi wisely took a step back to make room for him.
Jiang Minghao leaned over and the jade Buddha around his neck fell out of his collar. Before he could hear clearly what Jiang Suichu was saying, Jiang Suichu screamed as if he had a nightmare, and suddenly raised his hand and grabbed his Jade Buddha.
"Jiang Minghao, save me!"
Jiang Minghao was unprepared and almost jumped onto Jiang Suichu. Before he could react, he felt two hands holding him.
A strong hand was placed across his chest, immediately separating him from Jiang Suichu. The other hand was very soft and had no strength. After he stabilized himself, he quickly let go.
The Jade Buddha was still in Jiang Suichu's hand, and she grabbed it very hard.
Jiang Minghao had to bend his body, and Lu Zhinian had a sullen face. He only withdrew his arm after making sure that he was standing firmly and at a certain distance from Jiang Suchu.
Not a word was spoken the whole time.
Jiang Minghao looked at him and sneered in his heart.
Then he lowered his head, held Jiang Suichu's hand with one hand, and put the other hand behind his neck to untie the red rope, and took off the pendant from his neck.
"Jiang Minghao, help me~help me~" Jiang Suichu begged him over and over uneasily to save her.
Jiang Minghao knew what she was dreaming about. He gently put her hand holding the jade Buddha into the quilt, and then patted her head.
He said softly: "Don't be afraid, you have been saved."
You see, there are many people who love you, and you will no longer be alone.
For a moment, the room was filled with silence.
Everyone saw the scene just now, which was a man who was once on the verge of death asking for help.
Jiang Minghao straightened up and looked around the dim ward. When he saw the wall lamp not far from the bedside, he stretched out his hand to brighten the light.
He didn't see the puzzled expressions on Lu Zhinian's and others' faces, and explained to himself: "She is afraid of the dark, and will be uneasy if it's too dark when sleeping."
He thought this was one of the reasons why she had the nightmare just now.
When Lu Zhinian heard this, he looked at Jiang Suichu's face. Sure enough, after the lights became brighter, her expression softened a lot, and her frown gradually relaxed.
He then looked at Jiang Minghao, who had one hand in his pocket and the other adjusting the infusion flow rate.
He knew her very well.
No, it should be said that they have a presence in each other's hearts that no one else can compare to.
When Lu Zhinian thought of this, his upturned peach blossom eyes slowly lowered, and endless loss flashed in his eyes.
Tang Mi had been standing behind Jiang Minghao. She put her hands behind her back and rubbed them gently with her fingers. The touch on his fingertips seemed to be the same as that time when he grabbed his wrist in the alley of the old city.
It's cool.
At this time, the ward door was pushed open, and Shu Yuan and the nurse walked in together.
The nurse took the thermometer, took Jiang Suichu's temperature, recorded the data, told Shu Yuan some precautions, and left.
Shu Yuan looked at the few extra people in the ward, especially when she saw the unfamiliar Jiang Minghao, and looked at Lu Zhinian hesitantly.
Although this young man is the same age as Lu Zhinian and Pei Shuo, he is more humane and sophisticated than them. That is not what a boy of seventeen or eighteen years old should have. It is more like something he has learned through hard work in society.
"A Nian, what is this?"
Lu Zhinian calmed down and said to Shu Yuan, "Mom, Tang Mi and the others come over to see Suisui."
After saying that, he looked at Jiang Minghao again, thought for a moment and said, "This is Jiang Minghao, my friend every year."
After Lu Zhinian's introduction, Jiang Minghao stood up straight and greeted Shu Yuan politely: "Hello, aunt."
Shu Yuan nodded and looked at him: "Your surname... Jiang?"
Jiang Minghao knew what Shu Yuan was wondering about. He nodded and said, "Yes, Suisui and I are from the same village."
"Then you..." Shu Yuan wanted to ask him about Sui Sui, but considering that there were so many people in the ward, she stopped talking in time.
She smiled and said gently: "Thank you for coming to Suisui and coming to my house to play when you have time."
Lu Zhinian's mother is a very nurturing woman. Jiang Minghao has seen too many rich people who are domineering and look down on others even if they have a little money. However, Shu Yuan's habitual arrogance and arrogance that the rich are accustomed to are completely absent.
He suppressed some of his anger and nodded in agreement.
"It's getting late. Tang Zi and Tangtang should go home early. Don't let the family worry." Shu Yuan put down the things in her hands and said to the two Tang brothers and sisters.
Tang Zi: "Okay, Auntie."
Shu Yuan reached into the quilt and touched Jiang Suchu's back. Her clothes were already soaked with sweat.
"A-Nian, you go out first. I want to change clothes for Suisui."
Tang Mi stepped forward, "Auntie, let me help you."
Suisui is still a little unconscious, so it would be really difficult to do it alone. Shu Yuan originally planned to ask a nurse for help later, but when she heard Tang Mi say this, she thought for a moment and nodded.
"Sorry to trouble you, Tangtang."
Tang Mi shook her head, "No trouble."
Pei Shuo: "Then let's go out first."
After leaving the ward, Lu Zhinian looked at Jiang Minghao with deep eyes.
"Let's talk?"
Jiang Minghao glanced at him and nodded.
