Chapter 42

  The repeated character "" (fā) is a Chinese onomatopoeia that mimics the sound of something being sent or dispatched repeatedly. In English, it could be translated to "dispatch" or "send", but in this context, it seems more like an expression of excitement or emphasis, similar to "wow" or "whoa".

  The author has something to say: Tomorrow is Sunday, take a rest as usual! Let's meet at 7 o'clock on Monday evening, the next chapter is the highlight of the show! Hmm, slightly abusive!

  Anti- Withdrawal Notice

  He reached out to grab He Song's neck and pulled him onto the sofa, deliberately trying to take the underwear from his arms, He Song was so annoyed that his face scrunched up.

  "Fine, fine, if you don't want it, then forget it. You're not a treasure or anything." He leaned back with his hands clasped behind his head and muttered softly, "I'm hungry."

  "Are you hungry?" He Sheng hastily stood up, ran to the luggage bag, rummaged through it for a while, and took out two packages. Then he walked over to Yuan Zhi and said with a smile: "Chicken legs, I brought them especially before we set off."

  "Not bad, so considerate." Yuan Zhi took it over and skillfully unwrapped it and stuffed it into his mouth, mumbling: "Remember this for next time."

  "Hmm." He Sheng stuffed a paper towel into his hand and pointed to the corner of his mouth. "There's something here."

  He wiped himself clean, turned around and walked in front of Yan Bai, handed over the remaining small chicken leg to Yan Bai, "Big Brother Yan, you eat too."

  "Kids' stuff! Yan Bai helplessly rubbed his brow and shook his head. "Thanks, I don't like eating this."

  He Sheng was stunned for a moment, lowered his head and hands, and Yan Bai said again: "Do you know not to eat these snacks in the next few days?"

  "Good."

  He patted He Song's shoulder, "I'll leave first, I'll come see you again tomorrow, take a good rest."

  "Goodbye, Brother Yan."

  Yuan Zhi threw the chicken bones into the trash can and wiped his hands, saying, "You'd better not come again, it's annoying to see you."

  "This shows you're still immature." Yan Bai turned to He Song, "Goodbye!"

  He turned around and walked out immediately.

  Yuan Zhi threw the tissue into the trash can with a cold face and beckoned to He Sheng, "Chicken leg, I want more."

  He Sheng handed over the chicken leg, and Yuan Zhi took it and educated her, "Good things just remember to give them to me, what's the point of thinking about that person!"

  Yuan Zhi took another bite of the greasy chicken leg, knowing his mouth was dirty again. As he chewed, he puckered up and said, "Wipe me clean."

  He Shuang handed him a tissue and said, "Eat slowly, or it won't be easy to digest."

  "Good girl!" Yuan Zhi smiled and patted her head.

  Pulling the person to sit down beside him, the hospital room door was lightly knocked on. The two of them turned their heads together to look over, and Yuan Shuyun stood timidly at the doorway, wearing a loose hospital gown, her face pale.

  Her long hair was still there, still soft and hanging down her back like before. He Sheng stood up again, "You... are you okay?"

  "Uh-huh." Yuan Shuyun smiled and said, "I live next door, I knew you guys were coming so I came over to say hello."

  He Sheng nodded, "Come on in and take a seat!"

  "Is that okay?" She shifted her gaze to Yuan Zhi on the side, whose good appetite had disappeared, and threw everything in his hand into the trash can, wiping his hands mechanically with a tissue.

  "It doesn't matter, come on in!" He Sheng said again.

  Yuan Shuyun hesitated for a moment, forced a smile, and finally walked in.

  It wasn't until they got closer that they realized the other person had lost a lot of weight, with a band-aid on the back of their hand to stop the bleeding after an IV drip, and faintly visible were the dark purple bruises all over.

  Noticing He Song's gaze, she withdrew her hands into her sleeves and hung her head in embarrassment.

  "Sit down!" He Sheng said again, "I'll pour you some water."

  "It's okay." Yuan Shuyun hastily stopped her, "Don't bother."

  "It's okay, sit down!" He Sheng helped the person to sit beside Yuan Zhi and smiled: "Yuan Zhi must be thirsty too, let's have a drink together."

  Yuan Zhi, who was leaning against the sofa in silence, finally raised his eyes and glanced at He Sheng, "It's just a drop in the bucket, yet you're drinking it like it's fine wine."

  He Sheng scratched his head and went to boil water with a silly smile.

  Without He Sheng, the atmosphere in the room became even more subtle. Yuan Shuyun hadn't sat with Yuan Zhi like this for many years, and his merciless cold words made her feel afraid.

  After a long while, Yuan Zhi finally spoke up: "Do you know your own illness?"

  Yuan Shuyun was stunned for a moment, her face pale as she nodded, "I know."

  Yuan Zhi glanced at her and cleared his throat, "Don't take it too seriously, this illness is not difficult to cure now."

  Yuan Shuyun looked at the unnatural expression of the young man for a while, and suddenly realized that he was actually comforting her. Yuan Shuyun felt happy from the bottom of her heart, and the heavy feeling of oppression that had been weighing on her since she entered the house suddenly lifted a lot. She smiled and said: "Yes, I know, I will try to survive, I won't let He Song's help go to waste."

  Yuan Zhi was slightly surprised by her thoughts, nodded and said, "That's good."

  He Sheng was staring at the electric kettle on the squat toilet, a few minutes later, steam came out of the spout with a "whooshing" sound, she quickly unplugged it and poured the water into a glass cup to take out.

  The glass conducts heat quickly, and it was still cool when he just picked it up, but after walking a few steps, it became so hot that he couldn't hold it. Heo Sung hurried out, holding his breath, and put the cup on the bench in front of them, enduring the scorching pain on his fingertips.

  He quickly wiped his hands on his pants, and Yuan Zhi caught sight of him, pulling him over to take his hand. Several fingers were bright red, and they felt scorching hot to the touch.

  "Do you know that the water is still boiling and yet it's so full? Are you stupid?" Yuan Zhi couldn't help but scold her, and pinched those few fingers again, "Does it hurt badly?"

  "It doesn't hurt anymore."

  Yuan Zhi let go of her after blowing on her, at this time another person came into the ward, it was Zhu Meiyan with a worried face. Seeing Yuan Shuyun obviously relieved, she sternly said: "Who allowed you to run around in the middle of the night? Do you know that rest is the most important thing now?"

  Yuan Shuyun hastily stood up, nervously glanced at Yuan Zhi, then turned to Zhu Meiyan, "Mom, don't say anything else, I'll go back."

  She waited for Yuan Shuyun to approach, then looked at the other two and knew that Yuan Zhi didn't want to see her, so as not to cause more trouble, she just said: "You all rest early too, if there's anything lacking, tell me."

  Then he hastily took Yuan Shuyun away.

  The operation was scheduled for ten days later, and He Sheng began to undergo various checks every day, as well as intravenous infusions. Yuan Zhi inquired about the hazards of bone marrow donation and precautions, and found that it was indeed similar to blood donation, as Yan Bo had said, so he didn't worry much.

  The day before the operation, Yuan Zhi looked at He Song sitting on the bed intently reading his textbook and said, "Don't read anymore, you'll get tired."

  He shook his head without raising an eyebrow, "There's a pre-summer vacation preview of new content, if I don't work hard again after such a long time, I won't be able to keep up."

  "What's there to be afraid of? Chen Jia-yin is still out having fun and hasn't returned yet! Others aren't even worried."

  He Sheng shook his head, "I'm afraid I won't be able to keep up."

  Yuan Zhi threw the apple core into the trash can, "You can't keep up with me, I'll help you review, don't look at that." He forcibly took the book out of He Song's hand and put it aside, pushing her forehead, "Lie down, chat for a while and then sleep."

  He Sheng gazed at the book with a reluctant expression, and only slowly crawled into bed after a while.

  Yuan Zhi helped her tuck in the quilt corner, turned off the light and lay down beside the sofa.

  "Tomorrow afternoon I'll be done with it, and then I'll cook a bowl of red dates for you to nourish your blood."

  He Sheng flipped over and leaned against the bed, looking at the person on the sofa, "Don't cook it, I don't like to eat that."

  The room was dimly lit, with only a sliver of light from the corridor's lighting leaking in through the window.

  Yuan Zhi also turned around to look at He Sheng, the child only showed half of his face, his eyes were filled with a smile, but his voice was serious, "No way, you still have to drink two more bowls, otherwise your blood won't be replenished."

  "They said they would give me a blood transfusion! Faster than eating red dates."

  "Eating red dates to nourish your blood is yours, but getting a blood transfusion is someone else's, get it?"

  "Also!" He Song thought for a moment, "Then I'll have one bowl with Yuan Shuyun, two bowls are too much to eat."

  Yuan Zhi nodded silently before responding, without mentioning that Yuan Shuyun had been locked in the warehouse for a long time.

  "Yuan Zhi!" After a while, He Sheng called out again.

  "Huh?"

  "How long will it take you to go home after school starts?"

  "In a week or half a month." He smiled and said, "From now on, don't let others bully you when you're alone at school."

  "Hmm, no one bullies me now." He Song pursed his lips and smiled, "When you get back home, take a few photos of your school, okay!"

  "What's up?"

  "Let me see!"

  "What's so great about it? If you really want to see it, just go to our school directly!"

  He Sheng opened his eyes wide and leaned towards him, revealing his entire face from under the covers, "Really?"

  "Hmm, what's wrong with that?" He smiled and said, "Isn't there a holiday on the 11th? I'll come pick you up when it's time, just take the bus over!"

  "Good!" He Sheng was satisfied. She began to imagine what the school where Yuan Zhi was looked like, but somehow she couldn't quite picture it.

  The next day, He Song and Yuan Shuyun changed their clothes under the doctor's instructions and were then pushed into the operating room. The speed was so fast that Yuan Zhi didn't have time to ask a few questions. Everyone else stood in the corridor waiting. Yuan Zhi furrowed his brow and walked up to Yan Bo, asking: "Does the donation require going into the operating room?"

  Yuan Zhi fell silent for a moment before speaking again, "What about Yuan Shuyun? Doesn't she need to undergo chemotherapy in advance?"

  He hadn't seen him for a few days and thought he had already gone for chemotherapy, but today he looked very spirited and didn't seem to have been affected by the chemotherapy at all.

  "There's more..." Yuan Zhi continued, "Isn't bone marrow transplantation done directly in a sterile room? Why is it in an operating room?"

  Yan Bai raised an eyebrow and said concisely, "Each hospital has its own procedures."

  What he said wasn't unreasonable, but he still felt that something was off. His gaze slowly swept over the people around him. Zhu Meiyan was pacing back and forth, looking anxious. When she met his eyes, she quickly looked away. Yuan Chongyang seemed to have received a call and left early, leaving behind two assistants. Yan Bo leaned against the wall, expressionless.

  Yuan Zhi stood still for a while before turning around and sitting down on a chair beside him, focusing on waiting.

  The corridor is eerily quiet, even on a sunny day in June, it's still gloomy.

  He raised his head and stared at the ceiling in a daze, time passing slowly as if it wouldn't move.

  Occasionally there were nurses coming and going, but He Song had no news at all.

  At noon, Yan ordered the other two to buy food, but at this time no one had an appetite for anything. Zhu Meiyan shook her head and refused, with anxiety that couldn't be hidden on her face.

  Yan Bai furrowed his brow, "Madam, Shu Yun won't be out so soon either. At the very least, we'll need to observe for another half month. You should take care of yourself first."

  Zhu Meiyan looked at him with a hesitant expression, shook her head and didn't say anything.

  His strange expression did not escape his eyes, Yan Bai was stunned, put down his hand and looked at the operating room again, suddenly feeling uneasy.

  He furrowed his brow, staring at the ground for a long time before turning around and walking to Yuan Zhi's side. The young man's face had been getting increasingly unsightly as time passed, and he suddenly sprang up and asked, "Isn't it taking too long? It's already been over four hours, does drawing blood really need to take so long?"

  Yan Bai glanced at the time and didn't know whether he was comforting himself or others, "It's useless to rush now, we can't get in yet, let's wait a bit longer!"

  After finishing speaking, he handed over the lunch box and Yuan Zhi brushed it away with a violent expression on his face.

  Yan Bai didn't say another word, put his lunchbox on the chair beside him and walked to the window, looking out with a slight frown.

  It wasn't until after one o'clock in the afternoon that the surgical lights were finally turned off, and when the operating room door opened, several people took a few steps forward at the same time. Zhu Meiyan grabbed the doctor and asked urgently: "Dr. Zhang, how is my daughter?"

  "The surgery went smoothly, now it's just a matter of waiting for the external reaction."

  Yan Bai looked at Dr. Zhang in confusion and said, "Excuse me, isn't it a bone marrow transplant? I'm having some trouble understanding what you're saying right now."

  Before anyone could respond, a furious voice came from behind, "What have you done to her?"