The nights in the mountain village were too quiet and mundane. Since coming here, Gu Wenxi had gradually developed a habit of going to bed early. As usual, he leaned against the bed at nine o’clock, browsing his phone to prepare for sleep.

Jiang Chen still sent a few messages every now and then, but Gu Wenxi only replied occasionally. He didn’t like this; even good friends should have some space for themselves, and Zeng Bo Nian was better at maintaining boundaries. It was okay before, but Jiang Chen’s attitude had become increasingly strange since he started dating Liang Qian. Yet he denied loving Liang Qian, which was hard to understand.

Yawning twice, about to close his eyes, he vaguely heard a hurried doorbell ringing, as if it was coming from the corridor. He hadn’t heard the guesthouse’s doorbell before; during the day, the front door was always open, and there were no visitors at night.

Was someone visiting tonight?

At this time, it was probably urgent. Even though it had nothing to do with him, Gu Wenxi couldn’t help but go out and take a look.

He quietly tiptoed downstairs and, when he reached the place where there were still five or six steps to the lobby floor, he heard Du Yunyan speaking in a low voice to someone. Only one light was on downstairs, and the figure of the old man Uncle Sheng was concealed in the shadows. Gu Wenxi squinted and realized it was the neighbor living next door.

“Uncle Sheng… Don’t worry,” Du Yunyan comforted him, but he also began to speak haltingly, “I… I’ll call an ambulance.”

“What’s wrong?” Gu Wenxi hurriedly descended three steps at a time.

“Aunt Liu suddenly fell ill,” Du Yunyan explained, “very suddenly—”

“What illness?”

“Probably acute gastroenteritis.” It wouldn’t matter much if it were a young person; they could tough it out, but Aunt Liu was older, and even minor illnesses could lead to problems, especially when there were no medicines at home. Uncle Sheng was anxious and didn’t know what to do, so he came to find Du Yunyan.

Gu Wenxi was relieved that it wasn’t a stubborn illness like a heart attack or stroke. As long as she was sent to the hospital early, she should be able to recover in time. So he suggested to them, “It’ll take a long time for the ambulance to come, right? Why don’t we take my car?”

Du Yunyan’s gaze shifted from him to the old man, “Uncle Sheng, let’s do as Mr. Gu suggested.”

The old man made a gesture of gratitude to Gu Wenxi, which was easy to guess.

“What are you waiting for?” Gu Wenxi urged them, “Let’s go quickly.”

“I’ll go with Uncle Sheng to pick up Aunt Liu. You bring the car out, no need to turn around.” Du Yunyan told him.

As soon as Gu Wenxi parked the car at the door, Du Yunyan came over with Aunt Liu on his back. Gu Wenxi quickly got out of the car and helped settle the old lady in the back seat. Du Yunyan sat in the passenger seat, and the car’s headlights lit up the dim village road.

“Is the county town far? Or should we go to the hospital over there?” There was probably only a clinic in town. Gu Wenxi thought it would be better to go to a bigger place since they had a car.

Du Yunyan glanced back at Aunt Liu, who was in pain but still conscious, and said to him, “Not far. I’ll tell you how to get there.”

There were few vehicles on the road, and they smoothly arrived at Ping County Town, which was under the jurisdiction of Pingliang Village. The lights in the hospital’s emergency room were on, and several motorcycles hovered at the entrance, waiting to pick up passengers. A taxi was parked on the side of the road with the engine off, and the driver was probably asleep.

Gu Wenxi parked the car, and Du Yunyan jumped out first, helping Aunt Liu down, preparing to continue carrying her.

“Let me do it,” Gu Wenxi said to him, “Uncle Sheng has trouble speaking, so you go with him to call the doctor and handle the procedures.”

Du Yunyan didn’t have time to think carefully, and this arrangement was indeed the most convenient, so he nodded, “Thank you.”

“What can you do that I can’t?” Gu Wenxi squatted down.

Du Yunyan and Uncle Sheng walked ahead and went to the lobby.

There was a faint smell of disinfectant in the hospital, making Gu Wenxi uncomfortable as he sniffed. The long fluorescent lights overhead were glaring. There weren’t many doctors on duty, and at first, they only found a nurse who said she would call someone for them.

Du Yunyan’s face was pale, and sweat beaded on his forehead, just like Uncle Sheng’s. Gu Wenxi felt that his condition was not very good, not entirely due to concern for the neighbors.

After the doctor arrived and some fussing around, they said Aunt Liu needed to receive intravenous fluids first. Since she was old, it was uncertain whether there would be other complications, so they needed to observe her.

The wards were full, so Aunt Liu was arranged to stay in the corridor of the emergency department. Although the conditions were average, she was given some medication and a drip, which made everyone feel a little relieved.

Uncle Sheng brought a plastic stool and sat close to Aunt Liu’s bed, while Du Yunyan and Gu Wenxi sat on benches a few steps away in the corridor.

“Or…” Du Yunyan looked at Gu Wenxi, “you go back first?”

“What about you?” Gu Wenxi instinctively asked back.

“I’ll stay here with them,” he said.

Aunt Liu was unconscious, and Uncle Sheng couldn’t speak, so it was better to have someone with them. But judging from Du Yunyan’s reaction, it seemed that wasn’t the only reason; his complexion was still pale and desolate.

“Before… when my mother was ill,” he could probably sense Gu Wenxi’s confusion and added, “Aunt Liu and Uncle Sheng stayed with me all night.”

“Your mother… was here—”

“Yeah, she was initially unwell, and later she passed away… all in this hospital,” Du Yunyan’s voice was very soft.

Gu Wenxi finally understood why he looked so bad; there was a slight suffocation in his chest, “Then I won’t leave. I’ll stay here too.”

“It has nothing to do with you,” Du Yunyan was surprised. “You really can go back.”

“If Aunt Liu is okay after the IV, and they can leave the hospital, how will you all go back? What if there are no cars?” It wasn’t convenient to call a car from the county town back to the village, and they might end up having to take motorcycles or three-wheeled vehicles, “Or do you plan to call me when the time comes? I’m not someone you can summon and dismiss at will.”

“You…” Du Yunyan was speechless, he hadn’t thought about it that much.

“Just let me stay,” Gu Wenxi insisted, his hands clasped on his knees, feeling regretful for his behavior during the day. He had felt accomplished for making this person angry during the day, but now he regretted his actions, and his eyes kept glancing towards him unintentionally.

Du Yunyan noticed his gaze, “What’s wrong?”

“I…” Gu Wenxi said embarrassedly, “I feel like I shouldn’t have teased you during the day.”

“What teasing?” he was puzzled for a moment, then his eyebrows suddenly furrowed, “So you know you shouldn’t have done that!”

“Yeah, that… I really plan to get along with you better in the future.”

“Humph, we’ll see if you can do it,” he suddenly realized something and asked in a low voice, “You’re not pitying me, are you?”

Gu Wenxi felt uncomfortable, remembering the conversation by the river a few days ago, when Du Yunyan’s mother gave Yangyang and Beibei their names.

The two dogs were not yet five years old, so Du Yunyan’s mother passed away not long ago.

He felt melancholic, more like some inexplicable “empathy” than sympathy.

“Everyone will go through it,” Du Yunyan said as if to reassure him, “Don’t dwell on it.”

“I know, and it’s not entirely sympathy,” Gu Wenxi said truthfully, “because I’ve experienced that feeling.”

His mother passed away even earlier, and many memories had faded away, but it was difficult for him to let go psychologically. He, too, became averse to hospitals after his mother’s death, even insisting on enduring illnesses on his own.

Du Yunyan turned his face, looking at him unusually seriously for the first time, his gaze penetrating, as if it could burn a hole.

“No one understood me better than my mother, but she’s gone, that’s just how it is,” Gu Wenxi said with a hint of frustration and resignation, his shoulders slumping. “My father won’t understand… Oh right, what about your father?”

Du Yunyan remained silent, his hand half clenched into a fist. Gu Wenxi felt a sinking feeling in his heart, suspecting he had stepped into a sensitive area again.

“I don’t have a father,” Du Yunyan’s expression showed neither regret nor sadness; it was one of disgust. This overly emotional expression immediately conveyed his psychological state of change.

He didn’t like his father, even felt hatred towards him.

Gu Wenxi’s relationship with his father, Gu Yuching, wasn’t harmonious either, but he didn’t harbor such hatred towards him.

“Sorry,” he corrected himself, “Did I ask something I shouldn’t have?”

“It’s not your fault.”

The conversation fell into a stalemate afterward. Talking about family made them feel closer, but this closeness brought new pressure, and neither could bring up the next topic.

Aunt Liu’s condition might have stabilized; initially troubled by pain, she had been humming softly, but after a while, she gradually quieted down.

The lights in the corridor weren’t as glaring, but they still provided some brightness. Gu Wenxi had initially wanted to lean back against the chair and rest for a while, but the light kept him alert, so he ended up staring at the ceiling and the lamp.

“You can go lie down in the car,” Du Yunyan reminded him after a while.

“No need.” If Uncle Sheng, who was much older, could stay by the bed, Gu Wenxi felt embarrassed to rest in a relatively comfortable place alone.

He wasn’t sure how he fell asleep. At first, it seemed like he leaned against someone, then he was laid down, and when he woke up, he was lying on the bench, legs curled up, covered with a familiar overcoat.

He picked up the coat, remembering it was the one Du Yunyan was wearing when they got to the hospital.

It was a little past six in the morning. Gu Wenxi quickly looked towards the bed; Aunt Liu’s IV drip had finished, and she was resting now. Uncle Sheng was still sitting beside her, probably having not slept all night. As for Du Yunyan… there was no sign of him anywhere.

He sat up straight, feeling completely exhausted from sleeping on the bench all night, unable to stand up immediately.

“Awake?” Du Yunyan came over from behind, carrying a thermos.

“Where did you go?”

“To get some hot water.” Du Yunyan poured a small cup of hot water for Uncle Sheng.

“You didn’t sleep all night?” Gu Wenxi noticed his bloodshot eyes.

Du Yunyan just casually said, “It’s okay.”

In the end, he was the only one who slept soundly. Gu Wenxi blushed and lowered his head, his elbows still resting on Du Yunyan’s coat. “By the way, why did you give me your coat?”

The temperature had dropped again these past few days, and the nighttime weather was very cold. Du Yunyan had given him his coat, leaving himself with only a sweater.

“It’s easy to catch a cold when you’re asleep,” he said indifferently. “I don’t feel cold indoors.”

Gu Wenxi sneezed, sniffled twice, and returned the coat to him. “It’s not cold? Hurry up and put it on.”

“I’m not like you,” Du Yunyan glanced at him. “Aren’t you going to sleep anymore?”

“I won’t sleep anymore,” he stretched lazily; it was uncomfortable to sleep anyway. “How’s Aunt Liu?”

“She’s temporarily stable; she’ll have two more tests later.” Du Yunyan’s expression softened a lot.

“Then let me go buy breakfast for you guys?” Gu Wenxi suggested. Sitting for too long might make him drowsy again. He shifted his legs and prepared to leave.

“Wait,” Du Yunyan called him from behind, “Do you have any money?”

“I still have two hundred and fifty.”

“Forget it,” Du Yunyan pulled out a hundred yuan bill from his pocket and handed it to him, “Keep your money for emergencies.”

Young Master Gu, who had always been generous, never imagined that one day he would not only owe someone money but also have money forced into his hands. Du Yunyan ignored his dilemma and went to talk to Uncle Sheng by the bedside again.

At this time, only the hospital’s convenience store was open. Gu Wenxi rubbed his sore waist and walked in that direction.