Chapter 12: Zhong Yi

Ji Yuan looked at the person lying on the hospital bed, reaching into his pocket to fumble for a cigarette box. His index and middle fingers rubbed against the lid for a long time, yet he never took out a cigarette.

He sat down by the bed and said, “Jian City is so big.”

He had just wanted to say, “Finding someone shouldn’t be that easy; if it were, the Ji family wouldn’t have been searching for so many years.”

But seeing the pitiful look on the person in bed, he held back and instead said, “Finding someone also takes time.”

Upon hearing this, the person on the hospital bed let his head droop. The bow tied around his head sagged down as well. He opened the lunch box and shoveled rice into his mouth, one bite at a time, remaining silent.

Ji Yuan looked at the kid and realized he was still a sentimental person, holding onto the childhood bond they had formed over a decade ago.

After a moment of thought, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. If he weren’t such a sentimental type, he wouldn’t have fallen out with his family, abandoned his business, and come to this desolate place to search for him, only to end up injured.

His sister had gone missing when she was three years old, and they had come to Jian City this time because they had received a lead; the person who had taken his sister all those years ago might be in this place.

Ji Yuan thought about it, feeling quite dissatisfied.

The twenty-six-year-old elder brother found it upsetting that someone had taken an interest in the sister he had yet to find.

The smile that had just begun to form was quickly replaced with a frown.

It was truly unpleasant to feel as if the little cabbage he had planted in his own backyard hadn’t even sprouted before a pig was eagerly trying to nibble on it.

—o—o—o—

Gu Xiaobao woke up to find himself lying in bed, his head secured in place. He turned his large eyes around a few times, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings, with not a single person in sight.

He licked his lips, feeling a bit sore in his stiff neck, and stared at the ceiling as if he could see a flower blooming in the middle of it.

When Su Nianmei walked in, she immediately saw the little bun staring wide-eyed, rigidly propped up in bed.

Gu Xiaobao heard footsteps approaching and quickly glanced toward the door, but since his head couldn’t move, he could only see a part of his surroundings.

When he spotted the person walking closer, his alert gaze softened, and he looked gently at Su Nianmei, the corners of his small mouth curling up into two little arcs.

Seeing the change in Gu Xiaobao’s expression, Su Nianmei felt a lump in her throat and placed the small jar she was holding on the table.

She raised Gu Xiaobao’s bed slightly, allowing him to sit up a bit more comfortably.

“Baby, what were you thinking just now?” she asked.

Gu Xiaobao tried to open his mouth, but it was difficult to make any sounds. After a while, he managed to utter a single word, “Sheep,” his little brows knitted together.

“Sheep?” Su Nianmei said, a bit curious.

Gu Xiaobao opened his mouth again, his throat dry and cracked. He wanted to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out, and his whole face scrunched up in frustration, nearly bringing him to tears.

Su Nianmei unscrewed the lid of the jar, scooped a spoonful of soup, and held it to her lips, blowing gently on it before testing the temperature on her own mouth. Once she deemed it suitable, she carefully fed it to Gu Xiaobao.

“Baby, we just finished surgery. There’s no need to rush to talk. Once you’re feeling better, you can slowly tell Mom everything.”

Gu Xiaobao’s wrinkled little bun face relaxed immediately upon hearing Su Nianmei’s words.

His eyelashes fluttered, looking very well-behaved.

Su Nianmei felt her heart swell.

Dad had said that if he counted to one hundred sheep, the person he wanted to see would appear.

He had just counted to ten when his Mom showed up.

Next time, he would tell Dad that counting to just ten would be enough.

Seeing the spoon Su Nianmei offered, he eagerly opened his mouth and “slurped” it in.

Su Nianmei continued, “Baby just had surgery, so you can’t eat too much. Mom specially made soup for you to drink today.”

Upon hearing this, Gu Xiaobao smacked his lips and opened his mouth wider than before.

Watching Gu Xiaobao’s hungry expression, Su Nianmei couldn’t help but smile even more.

After Su Nianmei finished feeding Gu Xiaobao the soup, she took the jar and walked toward the water sink at the end of the hallway. The hospital facilities were quite good, and the sink was connected to running water.

Just as Su Nianmei placed the jar in the sink and turned on the faucet, she heard a long, drawn-out scream echoing down the hallway. It was a sound that seemed to linger forever.

If she had to describe it with a phrase, it would be “devastatingly tragic.”

Su Nianmei turned to look and saw a figure wrapped in bandages sliding down the stairs in a wheelchair. With each step-down, the wheelchair bounced back up slightly, causing the person to jolt upwards as well.

Watching the figure come rushing down, Su Nianmei quietly shifted to the side, making sure she wouldn’t get knocked over.

She silently mourned for the mummy in the wheelchair for three seconds.

The “mummy” narrowly avoided crashing into the sink, managing to hit the brakes at the last moment and preventing a close encounter.

The entire body of the “mummy” shook three times in the wheelchair before it slumped heavily back into the seat, remaining motionless afterward.

Su Nianmei stared at the person in the wheelchair, and after a while, without any reaction, she poked the person’s arm. This poke seemed to trigger a switch; the “mummy” raised its hand and flailed it about for a moment, then let out a wail that sounded like a pig being slaughtered.

Seeing this, Su Nianmei quickly withdrew her hand and quietly turned away, pulling the jar closer to her as she prepared to continue washing.

The “mummy” somehow managed to use its upper body strength to nudge the wheelchair a bit closer to Su Nianmei. It nudged her calf with a foot wrapped in plaster.

Then, it began to push the wheelchair back and forth.

Su Nianmei continued washing the jar, not really wanting to pay attention to this person.

As she reached into the jar, one hand steadying it while the other washed it, a voice drifted over from the side, startling Su Nianmei and making her hand tremble. The jar almost slipped from her grasp.

The person said, “Excuse me, young lady, have we met somewhere before?”

Was this an innovative pickup line from the ’80s?

Su Nianmei turned her head again and saw that the person had their head down, the bandage tied into a bow on top of their head flashing as it moved.

Suddenly, the person raised their head, revealing only a pair of eyes that curved into a smile as they looked at her. “I’m Zhong Yi.”

Su Nianmei’s breath caught in her throat, and she began to cough, her face turning bright red.

Was this person really so direct?

Noticing her reaction, he coughed a few times, his voice stuttering slightly. “I—I’m Zhong Yi.”

Hearing this, Su Nianmei’s coughing gradually subsided.

After a moment, she heard him say, with a hint of pride, “I already have a fiancée. I can’t be so frivolous.”

Su Nianmei quietly shook the small porcelain jar in her hand, gauging its weight, afraid that she might accidentally drop it.

She muttered a few phrases of prayer, “Amitabha, Amitabha, refrain from killing, refrain from killing.”

Footsteps echoed down the staircase, and Zhong Yi caught a glimpse of the approaching person.

He hurriedly twisted the wheelchair, preparing to make a quick escape.

Just as he turned the chair a few times, the wheelchair wasn’t even properly aligned before the incoming person stopped him midway.

One hand pressed down on the wheelchair while a foot stepped on the brake.

Zhong Yi continued to push the wheelchair, but it remained firmly planted in place.

The newcomer wiped the sweat from his forehead, his hands still damp from washing, gripping the back of the chair.

With a somewhat stiff tone, he said, “Run? Go ahead, keep running.”

Su Nianmei looked at the newcomer, surprised, and called out brightly, “Brother Ji!”