It is a simple two-bedroom apartment. It can be seen that the furniture has been used for many years, but it is very clean.
Teacher Sun led them to the bedroom, always looking past Pang Manyun who was walking in front and looking at the person who was a step slower behind.
"Old Ban, I'm here to see you. How are you doing?"
Pang Manyun walked forward naturally and squatted in front of the bed. Before the person on the bed could answer, he continued impatiently,
"Old Ban, look who I brought to you today."
With that said, she moved away from where she was squatting, pulled a stool over, pulled Zhang Xueqing, who was at the door as soon as she entered the bedroom, and pressed her onto the stool.
Only then did Zhang Xueqing look at the person on the bed.
He was already so thin that he looked almost naked, with high cheekbones, sunken eye sockets, and a pale complexion with a faint purple tint.
Without looking carefully, she couldn't believe that this was the old classmate who was chasing the boys in the class on the playground with a ruler.
Zhang Xueqing's nose was sore and tears welled up in her eyes. She still held back her tears and said slowly,
"Laoban, I'm here to see you. I'm sorry, I'm late."
After saying this, the tears couldn't stop anymore.
The old classmate who used to be high-spirited, gave humorous lectures, and always liked to show off her compositions and reading notes to the entire class, now he can't even sit up.
The person on the bed gradually started to stir, and looked at her little by little. There was a little bit of clarity in his cloudy eyes, "Is it Zhang Xueqing?"
Laoban’s voice was weak and hoarse, but his articulation was still very clear.
"I'm sorry, old classmate. I failed to live up to your expectations. I have no shame in coming back to see you. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Zhang Xueqing choked with sobs and couldn't hear clearly what she said. She just apologized blindly, feeling deeply guilty in her heart.
Lao Ban's spirit seemed to be getting better again, and he tried to raise his hand to wipe her tears. Zhang Xueqing hurriedly wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and held Lao Ban's hand.
It couldn't be called a hand anymore. It was just a piece of skin wrapped around the bones. The bones were clearly defined. The back of the hand was covered with bruises, and it didn't look like a hand at all.
Zhang Xueqing carefully held Lao Ban's hand between her two hands, for fear of hurting him with just a little force.
"It'll be good to come back, it'll be good to come back."
The hoarse voice, with some comfort, tugged at Zhang Xueqing's heart.
"Old Ban, don't you blame me? Don't you think I let you down?"
This has always been the question that troubles Zhang Xueqing the most.
"Silly, kid, as long as you are healthy, my old classmate will be very happy, cough, cough, cough..." my old classmate started coughing, and Teacher Sun hurriedly stepped forward to help him up, and vomited a mouthful of blood on the other side of the bed. side.
Teacher Sun's eyes were slightly red, but he still held back his tears and kept them from falling. He turned his back, secretly touched the old class's back, and then gave him some water to rinse his mouth. Put the person down slowly and lie down again.
"I'm old and useless!"
Laoban laughed at himself while lying on the bed.
Zhang Xueqing endured the fatigue and shook her head, muttering to herself, "No, no."
The two of them spent the whole day at Lao Ban's house. When Lao Ban was tired, Zhang Xueqing went to help Teacher Sun clean up the house. When Lao Ban woke up, she chatted with him for five or six minutes.
"You kid, I didn't even recognize you when you walked in. Why would you be so embarrassed to come back when you're sick? Your old class has often talked about you these years."
Teacher Sun said with a smile while picking vegetables.
I learned that the teachers had never put so much pressure on her. Rather than letting her go to a good university and bring glory to the school, I hope she can have a good future, don't have to live so hard, be healthy, and be safe. All strong.
Only then did Zhang Xueqing recall the ulterior secret that she had always buried deep in her heart.
After graduating from high school, she received an admission notice from her ideal university. Just when she was full of fantasies about heading towards her ideal life, something strange happened to her body. Her ankles suddenly swelled, her joints all over her body were sore and weak, and it was even difficult to walk. , and even more unable to go to school.
Reluctantly, Zhang Xueqing called the school, took a year off from school, took a leave of absence from the owner of the hotel at the construction site during the holidays, and dragged her somewhat heavy body back to the village.
When her uncle and aunt first saw her, they felt that this was not an ordinary disease, and she didn't look like she was tired, so they took her to the hospital. After some examination, it turned out that she was the immortal cancer - rheumatoid.
She didn't quite understand what kind of disease it was at the time, so she just thought it would be cured by just taking care of it, and didn't take it seriously.
But in the following days, her illness became more and more serious day by day, and she could not even get out of bed.
At first, her aunt would take care of her, and her uncle would find some home remedies for her to eat.
But later on, everything changed.
When her uncle was not at home, her aunt would criticize her and say that she was a waste and that she could make herself sick even if she went to school. It was a waste of money to support her in school for so many years.
They expected her to get ahead and lead her family to a good life, but she ended up having to take care of a disabled person. "I don't know how to shoulder the burden of the family, and it's still holding me back. What's the use of living? It would be better to die in vain."
These were her aunt's original words, and she still remembers them deeply.
It was this sentence that made her pack her bags again and walk nearly 2 hours on the mountain road to the town. Then she found a kind person to take her to the city.
She wants to cure her illness and survive, and she doesn't need to rely on anyone else, she can do it herself.
In this way, Zhang Xueqing found a handyman job in an advertising company next to a traditional Chinese massage parlor.
Make money while doing traditional Chinese medicine treatment.
In about a month, her health improved significantly and she was getting better and better, which made her happy.
This lasted for a year. I worked in an advertising company during the day. Occasionally, when the senior designers in the company were not busy, I would go up and ask for advice. Seeing that she was eager to learn, the boss lady gave her a basic design book and taught herself when she had time. .
After get off work in the evening, I went to a traditional Chinese medicine clinic for physical therapy. A year later, she gave up and went back to school, focusing on design.
Gradually, she was promoted from a handyman girl to an intern designer and then to the design director. In more than ten years, she spent her entire youth here.
Until it strikes again.
Not going to school due to illness was the thing she felt most sorry for her old class. She failed to live up to the teacher's expectations of her. She did not dare to return to the village or school. She was afraid of the disappointed look in the teacher's eyes when he saw her.
"Teacher Sun, I am sorry for my old classmate. I failed his cultivation of me." Zhang Xueqing stood up and solemnly bowed and apologized to Teacher Sun.
Teacher Sun put down the food in his hand, pulled Zhang Xueqing to sit next to him, and asked with concern, "How is your illness now? Do you have any plans? You are still young and cannot spend your whole life in this poor ravine."
Zhang Xueqing didn't know how to explain her purpose of coming back, so she sat on the stool and remained silent.
