“I wonder what happened between Scholar Jiang and Brother Si.”
“Brother Si, get some rest first. I’m going out for a bit.”
“Okay.” Xu Si leaned against the pillow and pulled the blanket over himself. Though he couldn’t sleep, he closed his eyes.
Soon, Yang Shikun returned with food. He put the yam and millet porridge on the table: “Brother Si, drink some and rest after.”
Xu Si made a sound of acknowledgment.
“I also bought sausages for Yuan Yuan.” Yang Shikun reached out to the cat, but Yuan Yuan ignored him.
“Did it hear me laughing about its black fur before?”
“It did.”
Yang Shikun fell silent for a moment.
“I won’t laugh at you anymore. Have some sausage.” Yang Shikun waved the sausage at Yuan Yuan.
Yuan Yuan ignored him and buried its head in Xu Si’s arms.
Feeling defeated, Yang Shikun noticed the IV bottle was almost empty and called the doctor.
The doctor changed Xu Si’s IV: “After this bottle, there’s one more.”
Yang Shikun looked at the bottle: “That’s quite big.”
“Yes.”
Xu Si told Yang Shikun: “It’ll probably take another hour or two. You should go home.”
“No, I’ll stay and watch the IV for you.”
Xu Si glanced at Yang Shikun but didn’t say yes or no.
“Why is your clinic the only one open when all others are closed?”
The doctor sighed: “That’s a long story.”
“Give us the short version.”
“I used to close at 10 PM. One day I closed early because something came up. A child hit their head and was bleeding heavily. The ambulance would take time to arrive. His mother usually came to my clinic, wanting me to stop the bleeding first, but I wasn’t there. There weren’t many community hospitals back then. By the time the ambulance arrived, the child had died from blood loss. Maybe I couldn’t have changed anything even if I was there, but I still regret it.”
Yang Shikun felt moved by the story.
Xu Si said: “It wasn’t your fault.”
“I know it might not be my fault, I just feel regret.”
“So now you stay open late every night?”
“Yes.”
“I see.”
The doctor smiled at them: “Keep chatting, I’ll wait outside.”
Xu Si drank some of the porridge and asked Yang Shikun: “Is it okay for you to be out so late?”
“It’s fine. My mom’s at my cousin’s second aunt’s third sister’s cousin’s nephew’s wife’s place, don’t know when she’ll be back.”
Xu Si couldn’t follow the string of relations but just said: “Okay.”
After the IV finished, it was deep into the night. Xu Si felt the dull pain in his stomach had lessened. He checked the time – it was past 1 AM.
“Brother Si, want to stay at my place tonight?”
Xu Si shook his head: “No need, I’ll take you home.”
“Don’t bother, I can just grab a cab.”
Despite Yang Shikun’s protests, Xu Si saw him home. Yang Shikun waved: “Brother Si, text me when you get home.”
“Okay.”
Xu Si took another cab back. When he arrived, he found both the front and back doors locked. His fingerprint wouldn’t work either.
He received a message from Yang Guan.
[Yang Guan]: Old Master locked the doors, says he won’t let you in.
Xu Si replied “okay” after seeing the message.
He took Yuan Yuan to a nearby internet cafe and paid for five hours. As soon as he sat down, he got a message from Yang Shikun.
[Yang Shikun]: Brother Si, are you home? [Xu Si]: Yes. [Yang Shikun]: Can you get in? If not, I’ll come get you to stay at my place. [Xu Si]: Can’t get in. Don’t worry about it. [Yang Shikun]: Where are you now? [Xu Si]: Don’t come. Go to sleep. [Yang Shikun]: I’m free anyway, I’ll get Datou to come find you with me. [Xu Si]: Don’t. Sleep.
Yang Shikun could imagine his expression from the messages.
[Yang Shikun]: Stay safe then. I’ll find you for breakfast when it’s light. [Xu Si]: No need. We’ll eat another time. [Yang Shikun]: Get some rest tomorrow then. I’ll treat you to something nice with my New Year’s money when I can. [Xu Si]: Okay.
Xu Si turned off his phone and looked down at Yuan Yuan: “We can’t go back tonight. Sorry you have to spend the night here.”
Yuan Yuan nuzzled against him.
Xu Si patted its head.
He hadn’t received New Year’s money for a long time. Li Shimin used to give him some, but not anymore.
In all the years since Li Shimin left, Xu Si never asked Xu Hengyu for money. Most of what he spent came from staying up all night doing gaming services. Li Shimin left him a bank card with enough money to last through university.
He randomly picked a movie. Perhaps because it was boring, or because he was exhausted, Xu Si fell asleep.
When Xu Si woke up, the computer screen was already off. It was past 5 AM, still dark outside.
Xu Si walked the streets carrying his cat. Some shops were already open. If it were earlier, he might have seen sanitation workers.
Xu Si walked aimlessly, not knowing where to go, where he should go, where he could go.
The breakfast shops were steaming with fresh food. The roads weren’t busy yet, though some people were heading to work for a new day.
Xu Si returned to the Xu house. The door opened immediately.
He saw Xu Hengyu sitting downstairs in a blue suit with a white shirt and gold-rimmed glasses, eating breakfast leisurely. Seeing Xu Si, he looked up: “Where were you fooling around?”
“Weren’t you the one who locked me out?”
Xu Hengyu looked at him: “Out all night fooling around, of course I locked you out on purpose. You can’t study well, always messing around, no discipline.”
“Oh.” Xu Si went upstairs with his cat.
Around 7-8 AM, Shen Yuchun woke up. She brought breakfast to Xu Si’s door.
Xu Si opened the door, saw her and the breakfast: “Not eating.”
Shen Yuchun tried to persuade him: “Don’t blame your father. He was just angry because you came home too late. He means well.”
Xu Si replied coldly: “Are you done?”
Shen Yuchun was stunned.
“If you’re done, leave.” Xu Si closed the door.
Angry because he came home late? It would be more believable if they hoped he never came back at all.
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