Sheng Xia, Cheng Liang

The security guard quickly arrived, and the on-duty police officer from the guard booth downstairs also came along.

The middle-aged man who was just showing off his might in the ward just now instantly became timid. As he was leaving, he cursed reluctantly, poking his finger at Auntie Liu’s forehead, “What’s the use of fucking hiding? You’re about to die, what are you doing hugging those things?!”

Auntie Liu remained silent. She pursed her lips and clutched the bedsheet tightly. Her sallow and charred face was expressionless.

The middle-aged man was taken away by the police, and the crowd of onlookers, who had nothing more to watch, also dispersed. The entrance of the ward, which had been as bustling as a market a few seconds ago, suddenly became empty. Sheng Xia spotted Cheng Liang standing not far away.

He was still the same, with his eyelids half-drooping, and his whole person was written with a large “exhausted and sleepy”.

And this exhausted and sleepy person waved at her after meeting her eyes.

“This is the video I took when that person was causing trouble in the ward just now.” Cheng Liang handed the phone to Sheng Xia. “He rummaged through several places. Check if any of your belongings are missing.”

“There’s a public security booth downstairs. If anything is missing, you can report it directly to the police,” he said.

The video was taken by him. He held up his phone and took it amidst the crowd. The bottom of the video was filled with the heads of the people watching the excitement. When the video was taken, the man had already been rummaging through the ward. Auntie Liu grabbed the man’s hand. She didn’t have as much strength as the man, but she kept trying to stop him from touching her cabinet. She kept speaking in dialect, saying that those were other people’s things and he’d have to compensate if he damaged them.

The ward was turned into a mess, but her things were indeed not touched much.

Sheng Xia watched the video in silence.

She was originally very surprised. Cheng Liang didn’t seem like someone who would meddle in others’ affairs. In fact, she vaguely felt that this person should be about the same as what the two doctors said earlier. He was probably too lazy to even care about his own affairs, let alone others. It didn’t seem like he would be the kind to go out of his way to record a video and remind her that she could report to the police if she lost something.

However, after watching the video, she understood.

Auntie Liu had been protecting her belongings from being taken away by the man, and she had been shoved by the man several times in the process.

“Our ward has been very busy lately.” Sure enough, Cheng Liang was also very straightforward. ” Auntie Liu’s family are a bit troublesome, but after this time, the security should prevent him from entering the ward and causing trouble again.”

“You can also apply to change wards, but there are no available beds in the short term.”

“The inpatient department has security, and there are also police officers on duty downstairs. The safety of the inpatient department is still guaranteed.”

“Of course, if you’re still concerned, I can arrange for you to be discharged from the hospital, and then you can be readmitted when there’s an available bed.”

“But given your ongoing chronic cholecystitis and persistent low fever, I still suggest that you stay in the hospital for observation.”

Sheng Xia: “……”

This person took the video and showed it to her just because he was afraid of trouble.

He was telling her that there was no danger, so she should not apply to change wards, and they could just let bygones be bygones.

“Thank you,” Sheng Xia returned the phone to Cheng Liang, deciding to agree with his suggestion. “I will report to the police if anything is missing.”

She was also afraid of trouble.

Requeuing for admission was equivalent to adjusting her plans, which was something she disliked the most.

Cheng Liang was satisfied. He tossed his phone back into his pocket, nodded at Sheng Xia and the two remaining nurses, and then casually walked away, hands in the pockets of his white coat.

He seemed happy.

For some reason, Sheng Xia suddenly had such a feeling.

Perhaps because of her cooperation, and also because this matter wouldn’t escalate any further, he seemed happy.

His tired and swaying figure seemed to carry the melody of a lively tune.

***

Auntie Liu moved quickly. Before Sheng Xia entered the ward, Auntie Liu had already started cleaning up the mess left by the man, and her movements became even faster once Sheng Xia entered.

Sheng Xia helped arrange the chair in front of the bed. Auntie Liu secretly glanced at Sheng Xia, who did not meet her eyes and acted like nothing happened, casually washing an apple for herself and, without making it obvious, washing one for Auntie Liu as well.

Auntie Liu didn’t take it, fidgeting with the hospital gown, and said, “You…… see if there’s anything missing.”

“I keep valuable things with me.” Sheng Xia smiled and held up the apple again.

Auntie Liu took the apple and lowered her head in silence.

That man had made a grand scene robbing the ward. Sheng Xia’s belongings remained untouched, but Auntie Liu had a few bruises on her hands, the cup she used for drinking was broken, and the hospital’s rented hot water bottle, which cost ten yuan each, was also broken.

The shattered pieces included Auntie Liu’s self-esteem.

For the entire night, she dared not speak much, lying in bed, pulling the curtain to hide herself, and spending a long time checking and rearranging her belongings, and then hiding them again one by one.

The ward was not that big, and there weren’t many places to hide things. With a plastic bag and some tape, Auntie Liu crouched down, sticking a bag of things under the cabinet, and finally straightened up.

“That man from tonight is actually my husband,” Auntie Liu said hesitantly, sitting on the edge of the bed, there was an embarrassed smile on her face.

In her opinion, Sheng Xia, this young girl, was too calm.

She really didn’t check if her belongings were missing anything, and unlike others, she didn’t gossip or sneak around her. After entering the ward, she put on her earphones, started watching videos, and doodled in her notebook as if nothing had happened.

Even when talking to her, her attitude was the same as when they first met at noon—polite, amiable, and not giving off a false impression.

Such a girl made Auntie Liu want to confide in her.

“I have liver cirrhosis, it’s in the late stage, and my stomach is full of ascites.” Auntie Liu tugged at her oversized hospital gown.

Only when the gown was pulled tight could it be seen that she was very thin, with only her stomach protruding.

Sheng Xia took off her earphones and listened quietly as Auntie Liu continued.

“This disease is exhausting. In the past few years, I’ve been in and out of the hospital. I have had several surgeries, but I can’t get better or die.”

“Actually, our family is quite well off. Our children have their own families now, and my husband and I run a breakfast shop. Our customers are all old neighbors, and the income is not bad. We also have savings.”

Auntie Liu sighed.

“But we can’t afford to spend tens of thousands of yuan in the hospital every now and then. Besides, my body is not cooperative. Shortly after cutting off the hardened part, ascites started forming again. The breakfast shop couldn’t be run anymore, and there was no income.”

“So my husband got anxious. He was afraid that I would spend a lot of money in the hospital again, so he wanted to take out the property deed and money from the bank and let him take care of it……”

Auntie Liu’s tone was very casually, even though this whole situation sounded absurd, like a tragedy.

She never mentioned her child, who already had their own family, nor did she explain why her health was not good and their family’s breakfast shop couldn’t continue, and she even said with a bit of guilt that her husband was afraid of her spending a lot of money, so he wanted to transfer their money and property.

She was protecting her family.

Even thought that man said in front of so many people what the point of was having all of these things when she was going to die.

Those were her life-saving money.

Yet, her family no longer agreed to continue saving her life.

So she could only sit here, holding a stomach full of ascites, arching her back as she talked to a stranger she had only met for half a day, saying that she had been sick for too long and that her illness was too tiresome.

She couldn’t die either.

The emotions hidden behind those four words made Sheng Xia, for a brief moment, avoid Auntie Liu’s gaze.

This was a helpless stranger who had been abandoned by her family. She wanted to live, so she carefully hid her money.

She hadn’t been cared for a long time, so the set of disposable toiletries Sheng Xia had casually given her when she first came was treated like a treasure, neatly placed in the drawer and carefully wrapped in a plastic bag. Amidst her own belongings, which were now in disarray, that particular item given by her was always given by her was always protected by Auntie Liu, held in her hands.

Sheng Xia felt uneasy.

She thought that perhaps the little nurse who scolded Auntie Liu at noon for being noisy might also feel uncomfortable. That’s why she couldn’t bring herself to truly be stern with Aunt Liu.

And Dr. Cheng Liang, who always looked exhausted and sleepy, might also have been harboring such a hidden discomfort in his heart before he took the video for fear of trouble.

However, they were just strangers.

An apple and listening quietly were all a stranger could do.

Auntie Liu also understood this, so after she finished speaking, she wiped the corners of her eyes and asked with a smile if she could turn on the TV.

“Will it disturb you?” Auntie Liu was curious about Sheng Xia’s writing and drawing all night. “I see you’ve been studying.”

“No, it won’t.” Sheng Xia pointed to her noise-canceling headphones. ” I won’t be able to hear anything with these on.”

“I actually just want to watch the finale of that drama tonight,” Auntie Liu said happily, sitting cross-legged on the hospital bed and turning on the TV.

The bruises on her bone-thin arms from being shoved earlier were chilling.

Sheng Xia closed her eyes and put on her headphones.

Headphones couldn’t completely block out the sound of the TV, so Sheng Xia watched the drama’s finale along with Auntie Liu.

The drama was very lively, a Republican drama, and people with lines all seemed to be spies from opposing factions. Before the shooting, you could see the blood packets on the protagonist’s body burst open. It was crudely made, but Aunt Liu was watching it with great seriousness.

“I saw that you’ve been watching TV on your phone too…” During the commercial break, Auntie Liu’s expression had returned to normal, and her curiosity began to show.

“Yes, I’m going to major in film.” Sheng Xia replied.

Auntie Liu eyes widened: “Studying in film ah……”

It was unfamiliar to her, and she didn’t know where to put her curiosity.

“I just got into graduate school.” Sheng Xia smiled, “I’m learning how to make movies and how to analyze them.”

“……You need to learn how to watch movies too?!” Auntie Liu was even more dumbfounded.

“Yes,” Sheng Xia laughed even more happily.

“Then, after you graduate, you’re going to make movies, right?” Auntie Liu was so curious that she even spoke in her dialect, “A female director! Do those celebrities on TV have to listen to you?”

Sheng Xia tilted her head and looked at the TV, and the beautiful female star was shaking her beautiful hair, free of dandruff and not greasy.

“Hmm!” She boldly declared.

After saying that, she laughed at herself.

Auntie Liu laughed too, genuinely, giggling.

***

“Doctor Cheng?” Where they couldn’t see, Dr. Cheng Liang had just passed by their ward, “Are you on duty today?”

“Hmm.” Cheng Liang made a sound, “How’s the temperature of the patient in bed sixteen?”

“It returned to normal when I measured it tonight, 36.2.” The nurse replied.

“Measure it again at midnight.” Cheng Liang instructed, “Thank you for your hard work.”

“Yes.” The nurse answered and glanced at the two people inside the ward who were now laughing heartily, and said, “The patient in bed sixteen has a good attitude.”

She didn’t say anything when she heard that she had a low fever.

Even with the incident in the evening, there were no complaints.

Cheng Liang also looked into the ward and smiled.

For some reason, he thought of her expression when she was looking at the messy ward from outside. A young girl in her early twenties, her face was serious and a moment of panic in her eyes.

But after locking eyes with him, she immediately calmed down.

He showed her that video, indeed wanting to settle things quietly. The family members of the patient in bed fifteen had caused trouble more than once, and the scoundrel only dared to raise his fist against his wife. The head nurse had designated the bed fifteen as a high-priority patient for monitoring, and the security guard post downstairs had been informed, and they genuinely couldn’t stir up much trouble. If the patient in bed sixteen didn’t want to change rooms, it would save a lot of trouble.

He initially thought about how to approach the topic, but unexpectedly, the patient in bed sixteen understood it instantly after watching the video.

Her clear eyes stunned him for a moment, and he felt a moment of discomfort, feeling like he deliberately shot this video, as if he had a malicious intention.

He was stabbed again.

Cheng Liang looked at the window on the door of the ward, drooped his eyelids, and walked away with his hands in his pockets.