[Chen Yu Luo Yan]: Don’t you dare buy that bag of rice and send it back.
[Fa Dan Ke Chen]: I actually asked, this rice is very fragrant.
[Chen Yu Luo Yan]: You can buy rice in the village!!!!!!! You’ve never even smelled the rice in our kitchen, how do you know ours isn’t fragrant!!!!
[Fa Dan Ke Chen]: Got it, didn’t buy it. Someone already reserved it, it’s a delivery.
Shan Yu smiled and put his phone back in his pocket.
The next second, the phone fell to the ground.
“Your phone, your phone,” the owner of the rice said, pointing at his feet.
“Ah, thanks,” Shan Yu said, picking up the phone with some difficulty.
“Put it in your inner pocket, not your pants pocket,” the rice owner said. “Otherwise, it’ll come out for a stroll again.”
“Okay,” Shan Yu said, putting the phone in the inner pocket of his jacket.
The rice owner was a very talkative older woman. Using the opportunity of picking up the phone, she quickly launched into a conversation. After finding out that Shan Yu worked in the small town, she started a one-woman monologue.
The past and present of the small town were crammed into Shan Yu’s brain by the woman in an extremely fragmented way.
If he weren’t still sitting on her bag of rice, the straightforward and almost boring rambling would have made Shan Yu really want to take out his headphones and put them on.
Fortunately, there was another auntie nearby. Just when Shan Yu was about to give up, the keyword “daughter-in-law” was triggered, and she joined the conversation.
Shan Yu quickly closed his eyes, leaned his head back against what was either a pole or a wooden frame, and started to feign sleep.
“Oh, my daughter-in-law is about the same,” the auntie said. “Young girls these days don’t know how to do any work, just lie in bed and play on their phones all day…”
“What about your son?” the first woman asked.
“They lie there together!” the auntie cursed angrily.
The conversation became more interesting with the auntie’s addition. Shan Yu couldn’t help but smile.
“Then you can’t blame the young girl for being lazy,” the first woman advised her. “Your son is lazy too. They’re both lazy.”
“Young people these days are all lazy!” the auntie continued to rage.
That’s not necessarily true. Our manager isn’t lazy. From the time he started working at Dayin until now, all his rest time added up wouldn’t even make two weekends…
When he got off the shuttle bus, Shan Yu felt like his whole body had been compressed. He stood on the roadside for a good while before slowly stretching out.
His phone buzzed. He took it out, thinking Chen Jian had timed it quite well.
But the message was received on his “work account.”
[Ru Wu]: Are you on the train?
[Dan Ren Du Yu]: No.
[Ru Wu]: I’m at the station.
Shan Yu was stunned when he saw this sentence and couldn’t help but open his ticket information again to confirm that he hadn’t missed the train.
[Ru Wu]: I was afraid of hitting rush hour, so I came early.
“Two and a half hours early,” Shan Yu sent him a voice message directly. “Why didn’t you just buy a ticket and come pick me up?”
[Ru Wu]: There’s a train leaving in 20 minutes, can’t make it.
[Dan Ren Du Yu]: Get lost.
He was probably infected by Liu Wu. Shan Yu, who always boarded last, used the business class boarding lane for the first time today.
He sent a message to Chen Jian telling him he was on the train, then told the attendant, “I don’t need anything, just wake me up when we arrive.”
Ever since he decided to go home, he had barely had a good night’s sleep. Even if Director Lu hadn’t come that day, his headache was about due anyway.
Now he had to use these two hours on the train to catch up on sleep.
Chen Yu Luo Yan sent a message back. It was a picture of Mushroom curled up asleep in his doghouse.
A line of text was added above it: Little dog sleep spell.
Shan Yu’s lips curled into a smile. He adjusted his seat, put on his headphones, played some white noise on his phone, and closed his eyes.
When the train arrived, there was no need for the attendant to wake him. Liu Wu’s call came directly. “Have you arrived, bro?”
“You’ve been standing at the exit for two hours. There’s a huge display screen. Can’t you see if I’ve arrived or not?” Shan Yu said.
Although he had only slept for less than two hours, he could still muster a wave of morning grumpiness even with just ten minutes of sleep.
“You were sleeping, weren’t you?” Liu Wu asked.
“Sleeping my ass, I’m running,” Shan Yu said, glancing at the time. “Ten minutes to go, wait for me.”
“Still the north exit, don’t go to the wrong one,” Liu Wu reminded him.
“Mm,” Shan Yu sighed and hung up.
Then he sent a message to Chen Jian.
[Fa Dan Ke Chen]: Almost there, Liu Wu is already waiting at the exit.
[Chen Yu Luo Yan]: Did you sleep?
[Fa Dan Ke Chen]: I did. Now I’m full of energy and can curse out Liu Wu eight times over.
[Chen Yu Luo Yan]: Are you going straight home after getting off?
[Fa Dan Ke Chen]: Don’t know yet, I’ll see what the situation is when I see Liu Wu. I don’t know if he’s told my parents.
[Chen Yu Luo Yan]: Mm.
After sending that, he probably remembered what Shan Yu had said before, so he quickly added another one.
[Chen Yu Luo Yan]: Don’t be afraid.
One extra word.
[Fa Dan Ke Chen]: If I go home, I might not have time to contact you until the evening.
[Chen Yu Luo Yan]: Mm, okay.
The word count was so forced, he might as well have just sent “good,” “mm,” and “oh” together.
Getting off the train this time, he didn’t have the emotional感慨 of a long-awaited reunion. His body was filled with apprehension.
He even felt a bit of comfort when he saw Liu Wu.
When Liu Wu ran towards him with his arms spread as if about to take flight, Shan Yu also opened his arms and hugged him, patting his back and reminding him, “We haven’t been apart for long, don’t get too emotional.”
“Was the journey tiring?” Liu Wu took his bag from his shoulder.
“How tiring can it be when I slept the whole way,” Shan Yu said.
“My back hurt from sleeping when I came back,” Liu Wu said. “It’s been three days and it’s still not better.”
“That’s because you sleep from morning till night,” Shan Yu said.
“I really don’t!” Liu Wu said. “I’ve been going to parties since the day I got back! Partying every day!”
Shan Yu smiled but didn’t say anything.
The five or six-minute walk from the station exit to the parking lot, Liu Wu talked excitedly the whole time—about school, about classmates after coming home…
But he didn’t mention anything about family.
He also didn’t ask about his itinerary this time. Although Liu Wu already knew he was planning to go home this time, given Liu Wu’s personality, he should have been asking about it constantly.
But Liu Wu didn’t mention it once.
It was a very obvious avoidance.
Something was a little off.
But Shan Yu didn’t ask either. Some relationships were like rusty switches, incredibly difficult to turn.
And he didn’t dare to turn it.
So he just procrastinated with Liu Wu in the most obvious way.
It wasn’t until they were in the car and the engine was started that Liu Wu, unable to drag it out any longer, finally said, “Let’s go to my place first, bro.”
“Why,” Shan Yu asked.
“There’s no one at your house right now,” Liu Wu said.
“How old am I?” Shan Yu asked again.
“Twenty-six,” Liu Wu thought for a moment. “Twenty-seven after the new year, but you haven’t had your birthday yet…”
“A twenty-six-year-old can’t stay home alone?” Shan Yu glanced at him.
“Aiyo, you’re going around in such a big circle…” Liu Wu sighed.
Shan Yu turned to look out the car window, then turned back to look at him. “Spit it out.”
After a semester of university, Liu Wu seemed to have matured a lot.
At this moment, after hearing Shan Yu’s words, he fell silent, staring straight ahead, his hands tapping on the steering wheel. After a long while, he sighed and turned off the engine.
Then he turned to the side and looked at Shan Yu. “Bro.”
“You haven’t had a chance to perform this deep and connected move for any girl yet, have you?” Shan Yu looked at him.
“Huh?” Liu Wu was stunned.
“Polish it a bit more, it’s over the top,” Shan Yu said.
“I wasn’t performing!” Liu Wu shouted. “I’m really hesitating! My mom told me not to tell you.”
“Ah,” Shan Yu nodded. “That’s more like it. Hurry up and say it. Don’t make me hit you. It’s better for everyone if we can be a loving family.”
“…My aunt is in the hospital,” Liu Wu gritted his teeth. “If you had come back a few days later, she would have been discharged.”
Shan Yu felt his heartbeat freeze for a few seconds, followed by a wave of palpitation.
“It’s a check-up, don’t worry. She just has to go to the hospital for check-ups and treatment every month,” Liu Wu said quickly, trying to get the next sentence out. “She’s fine now…”
“What’s wrong with her?” Shan Yu asked. “Can you get to the point when you talk?”
“That’s why they all said to let my mom tell you. She was afraid I wouldn’t have the right skills to say it…” Liu Wu’s face wrinkled as he furrowed his brows.
“Can speaking skills cure diseases?” Shan Yu said.
“My aunt initially found a nodule in her lung,” Liu Wu said with difficulty, glancing at him every two words. “They suspected it wasn’t good so… she had surgery…”
“Lung cancer?” Shan Yu asked directly.
“…Mm,” Liu Wu hesitated and nodded, then quickly raised his voice. “But it was discovered very early, no spreading or metastasis or anything. The surgery was also very successful. She’s just in post-operative treatment now…”
“When did you find out?” Shan Yu asked.
“I only found out when I came home this time. If you hadn’t chosen to come back during her treatment time, they probably wouldn’t have told me either, maybe they were afraid I’d have a loose tongue and tell you…” Liu Wu said in a rush, without taking a breath.
Shan Yu said no more, only feeling that breathing was a bit difficult.
He turned his head and lowered the car window.
Cold wind whipped into the car, but it didn’t provide much relief.
It was afternoon, and the sun was bright outside, but he felt the surroundings slowly dimming, like an old photograph.
“Bro,” Liu Wu called him, his voice sounding a bit distant. “Shan Yu? Are you okay?”
He gently waved his hand but found that it was shaking violently.
He closed his eyes and slowly regulated his breathing.
After a while, the surroundings slowly brightened, and sounds returned to his ears. He heard Liu Wu’s voice, anxious and on the verge of tears. “I didn’t say it too suddenly… If I didn’t tell him, he would definitely beat me up…”
“Give it to me,” Shan Yu held out his hand and beckoned with his finger. “Let me talk.”
“Are you okay now?” Liu Wu put the phone in his hand.
“I was fine to begin with,” Shan Yu took the phone. “Auntie, it’s Shan Yu.”
“Little Yu,” his aunt’s voice came through. “Come to my place first. After dinner, I’ll go to the hospital with you.”
His aunt’s voice was still quite warm. Although his aunt was the one who had the biggest opinion when Liu Wu used to follow him around as a kid, after not seeing her for several years, hearing her worried voice still made him feel a lot of感慨.
“I’ll just go directly. It’ll save a detour,” Shan Yu said. “No need to go to all that trouble.”
“Then… okay, have Little Wu drive,” his aunt said. “Your uncle and I will head over right away too.”
“Mm,” Shan Yu replied.
After hanging up, he glanced at Liu Wu. That scare just now probably frightened Liu Wu. His face was still very solemn.
Actually, after Liu Wu had hurriedly pointed out the key point—”Although it’s cancer, it was discovered early, it’s not a big problem, she’s already fine”—Shan Yu was already very clear about the extent of his mother’s illness. This matter would make him nervous, but it wasn’t enough to cause such a big reaction.
What had suddenly plunged him into panic was another emotion.
No one had told him about this.
If he hadn’t come back, or if he had come back at a different time, he might never have known.
Everyone thought he shouldn’t know.
Or rather, everyone thought it was okay for him not to know.
His mother, being sick, having surgery, undergoing treatment, everything was happening in a state that didn’t require him…
No one needed him. His closest relative, when facing such a major event, didn’t need him either.
Shan Yu adjusted his seat back, leaned against the backrest, and closed his eyes.
“Bro, I’m closing the window?” Liu Wu asked as he drove out of the parking lot.
“Appropriate coldness promotes longevity,” Shan Yu said.
Liu Wu didn’t speak and silently drove forward.
After driving for a while, the cold wind whipping in made Shan Yu’s face stiff. He opened his eyes and glanced at Liu Wu. “That’s enough. I said it would make you live long, not make you a turtle.”
“You didn’t say, how would I know,” Liu Wu smiled and closed the window. Thinking again, he asked, “How long can turtles live?”
“I don’t know. The old saying goes, a thousand-year-old turtle, a ten-thousand-year-old you,” Shan Yu said with his eyes closed.
Liu Wu paused for a moment, then burst out laughing when he got it.
The road to the hospital was where he used to rent a place. A single glance at this area brought back a flood of memories.
The onslaught of various flashbacks quickly diluted his previous emotions, and he felt his state slowly recovering.
Walking into the inpatient department lobby, getting into the elevator, walking through the corridor, passing the nurses’ station, Liu Wu was talking the whole time. This kid was naturally talkative, and now, probably to ease his mood, his words were so dense that not even a bullet could get through.
“My aunt is in that single room at the end,” Liu Wu pointed ahead. “She should be in…”
Shan Yu grabbed his arm. “Wait here.”
“What’s wrong?” Liu Wu came to a sudden stop, stunned.
Shan Yu didn’t speak and walked over by himself.
The door to the hospital room was closed. Shan Yu looked at the sign hanging by the door, which had his mother’s name and the attending doctor’s name on it.
After noting down the doctor’s name, he turned and walked back.
“What’s wrong?” Liu Wu chased after him, asking.
“Let’s go to the doctor’s office first,” Shan Yu said.
“Are you her son?” Dr. He looked at him with some surprise.
“Yes,” Shan Yu nodded. “I’d like to understand her condition and treatment situation.”
“This is your first time at the hospital, right?” Dr. He asked while pulling up his mother’s examination records. “I haven’t seen you before. It’s always been your father and her assistant who come.”
“Mm,” Shan Yu replied. “I also… didn’t know before.”
Perhaps having seen too many unfilial sons, Dr. He’s attitude towards him was a bit indifferent. He probably didn’t believe this answer and casually added, “You must be very busy with work.”
“I was in prison,” Shan Yu said.
Dr. He’s hand, holding the mouse, paused. He turned his head to look at him, said nothing more, and opened his mother’s treatment file, pointing to the screen. “Her condition is relatively good. It was discovered early, the stage is also low, and the tumor’s location is closer to the edge, so the damage to the lung is relatively smaller…”
“Mm,” Shan Yu responded, staring at the words on the screen.
“The post-operative treatment has also been effective. If there are no problems with this month’s check-up, then it’s once every six months after that…”
Coming out of the doctor’s office, Shan Yu felt a lot more relieved.
When he returned to the door of the hospital room, he could hear people talking inside.
“My parents have probably arrived,” Liu Wu said, going over and pushing the door open.
“Little Wu is always like this, always dropping the ball at critical moments…” His aunt, standing by the hospital bed, was halfway through her sentence when she turned her head.
The room fell silent.
“Auntie,” Liu Wu walked over, then looked back at Shan Yu. “My brother is here.”
Shan Yu slowly walked into the hospital room. The corner of the wall at the entrance blocked the head of the bed, so the first person he saw was his aunt.
“Auntie,” he greeted.
“Ah,” his aunt nodded, then glanced towards the head of the bed. “Your mom is doing well, don’t worry.”
Shan Yu took two more steps forward before he saw his mother, who was sitting up in bed and looked quite well, as well as his father and uncle standing beside her.
Three relatives he hadn’t seen in several years were all looking at him. He gave up the process of greeting them one by one and said simply, “I’m back.”
“We didn’t tell you about this because we were afraid you’d misunderstand,” his father spoke first, offering an explanation.
“What kind of expression could make something like this be misunderstood?” Shan Yu couldn’t help but ask.
“We were afraid you’d think we were using this to tie you back, making it sound like we were making up stories,” his mother said.
“Shouldn’t you have tied me?” Shan Yu asked.
