Shijia Bridge was just on the roadway. For safety's sake, Li Zhuiyuan stood beneath the bridge by the roadside, occasionally looking south to see if the car had arrived and glancing at Uncle Qin standing beside him.
Uncle Qin noticed Li Zhuiyuan's eyes frequently falling on him and lowered his head to ask, "Is there something you want to ask?"
"Uncle, was the movie last night good?"
"Hmm, it was good. It's just a shame; you and Ah Li sat too far and off to the side, so you probably couldn't see it clearly."
"I saw it clearly, and it was good."
Li Zhuiyuan stopped speaking then, no longer looking at the person beside him. Uncle Qin straightened up, expecting the boy to ask about other things, but he didn't. The kid always seemed to know his limits, making him quite likable. However, upon deeper thought, it seemed that whenever critical moments arose, he would unhesitatingly break those boundaries, like last time and this time.
A black sedan slowed down as it approached the bridge, the window rolled down, and a woman with wavy curls poked her head out, "Hello, are you Li Zhuiyuan?"
"Yes."
"Engineer Luo sent me to pick you up, get in."
The car turned around and stopped. Li Zhuiyuan and Uncle Qin got in, both sitting in the back seat. Due to a need to hurry, the car sped along, sometimes sharply steering or braking suddenly to avoid bicycles and tricycles without lights. After a while, Li Zhuiyuan started feeling uncomfortable, getting carsick.
With the urgency of the situation, he felt uneasy asking the driver to slow down. Instead, he tried turning the small handle on the car door to open the window for some air. He kept turning it, but the window didn’t move. After a few more attempts, the handle came off in his hand, leaving him helplessly leaning back in his seat.
At this point, Uncle Qin leaned over, placing his hand on the car window. With a nerve-wracking screeching sound, the window was forcibly pulled down, letting fresh air rush in. Li Zhuiyuan exhaled a sigh of relief. However, he still worried the driver might get angry, but she seemed too focused on driving to notice the change behind her.
Li Zhuiyuan then tried reversing the handle and discovered he could roll the window up again, finally setting his mind at ease. After opening the window, Uncle Qin closed his eyes, seemingly taking a nap. Li Zhuiyuan turned his head slightly, resting it against the seatback, attempting to doze off.
Yet somehow, the car vibrated with an unusually loud sound, particularly pronounced since his ear was pressed against the seat. Initially, Li Zhuiyuan attributed it to the wind rushing in through the open window. He closed the window a bit, leaving just a small gap, but when he resumed his position, the wind noise persisted as if unaffected.
Perplexed, he wondered why this Japanese car seemed as flimsy as paper. He curiously pressed the seat back, and it left a dent that didn't spring back. Finally, he decided to sit upright, awake until they reached the hospital. Looking out the window, the rural road lacked streetlights and was dark outside, but passing through a town allowed glimpses of shops and slightly denser crowds.
Despite this, the light from these shops was harsh. It felt as if the brightness wasn't seeping through the window but that the entire car glowed. Yet, this wasn't the city center, and there weren't any clusters of neon lights. As the car left the rural road and entered the city, traffic conditions improved, but more vehicles appeared on the road. Many of these cars didn’t follow traffic rules, changing lanes without signaling and cutting others off, making the driver honk and mutter in grumbled curses.
A thick accent in the Nantong dialect had Li Zhuiyuan thinking his grandfather, Li Weihan, didn’t speak as authentically as these locals. The journey was challenging, but finally, they spotted the outline of the People's Hospital building ahead. At that moment, Li Zhuiyuan noticed the driver staring through the rearview mirror at them, their eyes meeting in the reflection without returning to the road ahead.
This puzzled Li Zhuiyuan because the driver appeared fixated on them through the mirror, not slowing down as if unaware of the oncoming truck ahead. "Watch out!" Li Zhuiyuan shouted when he saw the car swerve into the wrong lane with a truck heading straight toward them.
Yet, the driver didn't alter her gaze, ignoring the brakes, even accelerating. Uncle Qin opened his eyes, raising both feet to stomp downward. "Bang!" Li Zhuiyuan's eyes widened as he saw Uncle Qin's feet breaking through the car floor!
Following this, Uncle Qin grabbed Li Zhuiyuan by the neck, lifting him. It felt strange because despite being in the car, he seemed disconnected from it, and what followed defied his understanding of physics. "Crash, crash..." The seat, the rear window, the trunk—all crashed past him. He felt the impact, a bit painful, but not overwhelming. The next moment, he found Uncle Qin had lifted him from the road, and what had just passed was a sedan with its rear seat punched through, charging toward the truck.
Yet the expected collision sound didn't occur. Much of the sedan disintegrated on impact, with the remaining parts crushed beneath the truck. Debris and colored paper flew everywhere—it turned out the car was made of paper! Uncle Qin quickly sidestepped, carrying Li Zhuiyuan up the steps as the truck rumbled past. They saw the truck driver rubbing his eyes vigorously, doubting whether fatigue had led him to hallucinate.
Uncle Qin put Li Zhuiyuan down, who took a deep breath and asked, "Uncle, what kind of car were we just in?"
"The kind you’ve seen before, down on the first floor at home."
"But...” Li Zhuiyuan looked around again, then at the hospital building ahead, “Are we really at the People's Hospital?"
"We are."
Li Zhuiyuan instinctively reached out to touch Uncle Qin’s arm, uncertain whether this Uncle Qin was real or another illusion, fearing that once again Uncle Qin wouldn't save him. Uncle Qin pointed forward, "The hospital door is right there, aren't you going in?"
"But, are we really here?" Li Zhuiyuan still didn’t understand.
"What do you think?”
“How was it done?”
Li Zhuiyuan frowned, grasping the idea of paper turning to flesh and all the fantastical elements in dreams. Yet he couldn’t comprehend genuinely riding a paper-made car from Siyuan Village to the city!
"It was her who brought us," Uncle Qin said softly, patting his shoulder.
"Huh?"
Uncle Qin seemed disinterested in explaining further, "Let's go in. If we delay any longer, your big friend might die."
“Oh, right.” Li Zhuiyuan tucked away his thoughts and walked into the hospital with Uncle Qin, heading to the emergency room to ask for directions. However, on the steps beneath the building, he saw the lady driver from before, wearing the same clothes and curls. She held documents or test results in her hands, looking anxious and questioning passing medical staff. Importantly, she seemed oblivious to him and Uncle Qin, even when they were so close by.
"Uncle, is she alive?"
"Yes."
Li Zhuiyuan approached, asking, "Auntie, could you tell me where Xue Liangliang is?"
"Who are you, little one?"
"I’m Li Zhuiyuan. Director Luo asked me over."
"Director Luo... the car I arranged just left a little while ago? You came on your own?"
"Yes."
"Alright then, I'll take you two upstairs."
The woman led Li Zhuiyuan and Uncle Qin upstairs. During a brief chat, Li Zhuiyuan learned that although Xue Liangliang had just undergone rescue, his condition was critical with potential organ failure. In the ward, Luo Tingrui stood by Xue Liangliang's bed, looking worriedly at him.
He really couldn’t fathom how an accidental fall into water from a tilting boat, followed by a swift rescue, could lead to this situation. Xue Liangliang lay there, pale, mumbling nonsensical words: “No, no, no, I don't want to stay here. I won’t become a live-in son-in-law.”
Luo Tingrui adjusted his glasses, baffled at why Xue Liangliang would talk about becoming a live-in son-in-law. He hadn't even introduced his daughter to him yet, and had no interest in taking a son-in-law. So who’s forcing him? Yet who could really force him?
Luo Tingrui was aware of Xue Liangliang’s dealings at college; he was pretty good at making money and didn’t plan to stay at the school or in town nor even join a prestigious unit. He was adamant about heading to the southwest after graduation for construction work. Honestly, with a Haihe University Outstanding Graduate Degree, plus the favorable job conditions and working environment in the southwest, they would welcome him with open arms, no need for underhand dealings or connections.
But as bizarre as the rambling speech was, it was at least comprehensible. Earlier, Xue Liangliang had been muttering, “Don’t lock me up, don’t beat me, don’t strangle me, I’m in so much pain, please let me go, stop tormenting me...” At that point, Luo Tingrui even started suspecting whether Xue Liangliang had endured inhumane abuses in his childhood, casting a long shadow over him.
When the ward door opened, Li Zhuiyuan led Uncle Qin inside. Luo Tingrui nodded at Li Zhuiyuan but focused on Uncle Qin. Dismissing the child was typical; he surmised that the one capable of aiding might well be this middle-aged man. Earlier, doctors had assured no more could be done. Although monitors showed vital signs, they could only passively observe, awaiting further deterioration with potentially dire outcomes.
Luo Tingrui wasn’t close-minded. Considering Zhao Hequan still hospitalized and what happened to Xue Liangliang before, he speculated the reverberations from that statue incident weren’t over. "You should step outside," Luo Tingrui suggested.
"Yes, Director." The woman left the ward upon Luo Tingrui’s instruction. "Do I need to leave?" Luo Tingrui then asked, pointing to himself.
Uncle Qin said nothing, walking directly to the opposite side of the bed, placing his hand on Xue Liangliang’s forehead, massaging gently. Soon, cold sweat broke out on Xue Liangliang’s face, soaking the pillow almost immediately. Luo Tingrui picked up a towel to help him wipe the sweat, only to find it unusually slick, resembling lubricant used in workshops.
How could human sweat feel like this?
Uncle Qin then suddenly clenched his fist, aiming at Xue Liangliang’s abdomen. “No!” Luo Tingrui barely had time to react. “Bang!”
Li Zhuiyuan noticed that Uncle Qin’s fist stopped short of landing on Xue Liangliang, but the bed covers quickly sank. A piercing cry echoed through the ward. Li Zhuiyuan covered his ears, but it didn’t help. His eardrums ached, and it felt like his brain was bashed by an iron hammer.
Luo Tingrui only faintly heard a strange sound, then glanced curiously at Uncle Qin, finally landing his gaze on the young boy shrinking in the corner; he wondered what was wrong with this kid. Uncle Qin's eyes shifted to Li Zhuiyuan as well. Utterly surprised, Uncle Qin realized how sensitive Little Yuan was to such phenomena. In his mind resonated Liu Yumei's instruction: Just teach him basic martial skills.
Uncle Qin swallowed hard.
Could this child really only be taught basic martial skills?
After a sweat was drawn and a 'shadow punch' delivered, Xue Liangliang didn't regain consciousness but looked much relieved. Luo Tingrui finally exhaled, closing his eyes in relief.
“Ah...” The screaming eventually stopped, yet Li Zhuiyuan still heard a buzzing reverberating through his head. As he attempted to straighten up, he spotted a pair of embroidered red shoes in the southwest corner of the ward. Above was a pale ankle, then a red hem. He dared not continue gazing, seeing death more than once, but none bestowed such acute dread and pressure.
She wasn’t someone he could observe, not even in stealth. If he kept watching, something dreadful would happen. The "Records of Strange Tales in the Martial World" described uniquely powerful spirits where just meeting their gaze spelled disaster. They used 'disaster,' not 'death,' but sometimes 'disaster' was more dreadful. Making eye contact with this presence meant tragedy would swiftly befall you.
Uncle Qin noticed that Li Zhuiyuan crouched down facing a different direction. He tracked Li Zhuiyuan's previous line of sight, then eyed him once more. At that point, Uncle Qin felt his mouth dry.
It wasn't due to what stood in the ward's corner. But instead,
Little Yuan, you can even see her, can't you?
He knew Ah Li could see such things, but what use was it if Ah Li could? She sealed herself off in her world, hardly interacting with the outside. Yet this little boy could speak, act, and live energetically!
Li Zhuiyuan heard footsteps; it was Uncle Qin, approaching the corner. Uncle Qin was confronting the woman. Indeed, in Luo Tingrui's view, the middle-aged man stood facing the wall, silent, like pondering his errors. Luo Tingrui was bewildered, knowing that comprehending such matters was beyond his current position.
Xue Liangliang, showing improvement, began mumbling again, obediently and sternly: “I won’t stay here. I’ve got projects, dreams to achieve. I can’t remain here, I won’t accept it!”
Luo Tingrui puzzled if boosting Xue Liangliang’s condition also fortified his speech. Li Zhuiyuan turned his back on the corner, inching toward the bed, observing Xue Liangliang. He'd missed the earlier mumbling, gathering incomprehensible clues from this fragmentary speech.
Though he found himself tangled in a mixed predicament, he felt danger yet security with Uncle Qin present.
Luo Tingrui gestured towards Uncle Qin in the corner, and Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. This small exchange kept Luo Tingrui still. As the room fell into an uneasy silence,
Uncle Qin finally broke the atmosphere. Returning to the bedside, he removed his vest, tossing it on the IV stand. Then, he began using his index fingers to trace along his arms, shoulders, and chest. Each line left bruises of varying depth.
Any mark on a regular person would hurt tremendously, yet Uncle Qin calmly painted himself as if he were applying color. His serene face reflected complete normality. Luo Tingrui didn’t grasp the man’s actions, but as Li Zhuiyuan noticed the symmetrical bruises on Uncle Qin, he understood: Uncle Qin was drawing a talisman.
Using fingers as a brush, his body as paper, the bruises formed the ink.
Once finished, Uncle Qin opened the door to the ward. He looked back at the corner he'd stood in,
speaking aloud: “I understand why the Lady asked me here: to let the Bai Family know—there are still Qin Family members alive!"
With that, he pressed his thumb on his forehead, leaving a blood mark, indicating the talisman’s final stroke was complete.
Suddenly, the ward filled with a breeze.
It wasn't strong but lightly cold. Li Zhuiyuan shivered reflexively, as did Luo Tingrui, folding his arms. This breeze reached not only the ward but the entire floor, floods of shadows sifting into Uncle Qin's body, including a red one from the ward.
Was it absorbing all the impurities into himself?
Uncle Qin stood for quite some time before moving back to the bed, putting his vest back on. Li Zhuiyuan noticed his gait slightly awkward, even his facial expressions seemed dull. Only after dressing did Uncle Qin appear to restore his normalcy—or maybe he had adapted.
The ward lights seemed immediately brighter and clearer while much of the building lit up noticeably. Hospitals at night sometimes seem dim not because of the lighting set up, but because there are things abundant in such places.
The appearance of the female driver and the paper car earlier meant that the dreadful unclean thing had long covered this hospital room, with even Luo Tingrui's actions within its sight.
Uncle Qin looked at Luo Tingrui. "I need to go somewhere and require a car."
Luo Tingrui said, "The car I sent to pick you up should still be downstairs at the hospital."
"It's not there," said Li Zhuiyuan.
"Then how did you get here so quickly?" Luo Tingrui asked.
Li Zhuiyuan replied, "We came by pedal-powered tricycle."
"Then... I'll arrange for a motorcycle. Uh, can you ride it?" Luo Tingrui asked Uncle Qin.
Uncle Qin nodded, "Yes."
"Alright, I'll arrange it immediately." Luo Tingrui took Uncle Qin out of the ward, called over the female comrade, and after instructing her, gestured for Uncle Qin to follow her downstairs to get the vehicle.
As they left, Li Zhuiyuan, who stayed in the ward, heard Xue Liangliang mumbling:
"No, I won't marry you. There's no love between us. This is the first time we've met. I'm not someone who would treat marriage so casually. Stop dreaming!"
Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but suspect if Brother Liangliang was acting out a Qiong Yao drama in his dreams?
At the time, the craze for Qiong Yao dramas had already started, and college students on campus were one of the audience groups. Li Zhuiyuan often saw the older brothers and sisters reading novels and discussing the dramas on campus.
Just then, Uncle Qin came back to the ward door. "Xiao Yuan, let's go."
"Coming, Uncle."
Li Zhuiyuan followed Uncle Qin downstairs. They fetched the motorcycle, started it, and the engine roared to life.
Uncle Qin rode the motorcycle very fast, quickly weaving through the city before heading out towards the suburbs.
For lack of a helmet and to shelter from the wind, Li Zhuiyuan, sitting in the back, pressed his face against Uncle Qin's back, gripping Uncle Qin's waist.
He was amazed. Just this afternoon, he was working the fields, and moments ago, Uncle Qin was staring down that woman in red at the hospital, yet here he was now, speeding away on a motorcycle.
Li Zhuiyuan felt the madness of this world.
Meanwhile, back in the hospital ward, Luo Tingrui heard more of Xue Liangliang’s mumbles:
"No, coming back once a month is impossible. My future work won't allow me to leave the construction site. So much effort and energy have gone into this from so many people. I can't be so irresponsible.
Every six months is unrealistic too. The big projects we will have won't have such short timelines and cannot tolerate the slightest mistake.
My future won't be in Nantong, not in Jiangsu. I want to go to the southwest. That is my dream, my future.
So, stop dreaming. Really, I won't marry you, and don't think you can bind me here."
Luo Tingrui took off his glasses, exhaled onto the lenses to create a fog, and wiped them with his shirt.
He felt a mix of emotions—touched, saddened, and slightly amused: This kid, even in this state, is dreaming of building up the southwest.
Putting his glasses back on, Luo Tingrui sighed.
Middle-aged people are often habitually dismissive of the aura of idealism surrounding young people, seeing it as their naivety and immaturity, rarely reflecting on whether it is they themselves who may have become lost.
"Liangliang, if you recover this time, I'll personally take you to the southwest."
...
The motorcycle reached the riverbank, and Li Zhuiyuan got off. Uncle Qin propped up the motorcycle, clapping his hands and focusing his gaze on the river, filled with complex emotions.
Li Zhuiyuan recalled that Liu Yumei had mentioned her ancestry was from the river.
Throughout history, major rivers have always been the cradle of civilization.
The banks of the river are heaped with countless emotions and unknown tales and mysteries that have settled at the bottom over the years.
It's as if Brother Liangliang mentioned that the location of the Bai Family Town recorded in the local chronicles was incorrect... Facing towards Chongming Island, Li Zhuiyuan roughly estimated his position and distance.
In his heart, a guess slowly began to form:
Could Bai Family Town really be at the bottom of this river?
Uncle Qin began to undress again. Unlike at the hospital, where he only stripped to his undershirt, this time, he removed everything and carefully folded his clothes on the shore, placing a pebble on them.
Then, Uncle Qin rotated his neck a bit before gripping his hands below his ears with force and tearing.
Li Zhuiyuan heard the sound of flesh tearing. With a closer look, he saw that, under Uncle Qin's ears, five long slits appeared.
These slits, while oozing blood, opened and closed repeatedly.
They resembled... blood-colored gills.
Following that, Uncle Qin began stretching his body, each movement causing his bones to crack sharply, accompanied by some tearing of flesh.
Soon, Uncle Qin's body was covered with dense marks resembling stretch marks.
But they weren't on his stomach—they were evenly spread across his arms and legs.
After finishing his stretching routine, Uncle Qin paused, regulating his breathing, and the bloodstained slits under his ears opened and closed in rhythm with his breath.
To Li Zhuiyuan, Uncle Qin looked different. His body had undergone a clear transformation.
"Xiao Yuan."
"Yes."
"Keep an eye on things from the shore."
"Okay, Uncle."
Uncle Qin nodded, then bent down. Under the moonlight, he began to run.
His speed wasn't particularly fast, but his movements were utterly coordinated as he reached the riverbank, jumped in, and vanished instantly.
Much like a fish returning to the river's embrace.
Li Zhuiyuan glanced at the now calm river surface and then at the clothes Uncle Qin left on the shore.
Raising his hand, he lightly tapped his forehead as it finally dawned on him what had happened:
"Did he really... just go down like that?"
Li Zhuiyuan initially stood and, after a while, feeling his legs grow weary, sat down.
Time kept slipping away; Uncle Qin had been down there a long while now. There wasn't anything unusual happening on the river's surface, not even a peculiar bubble in sight.
There's nothing he could do at this point but wait.
Li Zhuiyuan yawed, looked towards the horizon, seeing how the dark night, like a well-washed garment, began to fade in color. Sooner rather than later, it would start to brighten.
Shaking his head in an attempt to drive away sleep, Li Zhuiyuan rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and stood again to gaze out over the river.
This time, he noticed something.
At the river's center, there seemed to be a figure that appeared then vanished. Just as Li Zhuiyuan thought his eyes might have played tricks on him, he saw Uncle Qin emerging from the water at the riverbank.
His body was covered in shocking wounds, many of which had turned black, oozing pus.
Most daunting was the one on his chest, so deep and long that the white bone inside was visible.
Yet Uncle Qin acted as if nothing was wrong. He squatted at the riverbank and began cleaning his body with river water.
Li Zhuiyuan brought over the clothes. Upon closer inspection, he noticed many embedded long nails and teeth in Uncle Qin’s wounds.
Seeing these made it easy to imagine how those things had swarmed over him, frantically biting and tearing at his flesh.
At the same time, Li Zhuiyuan noticed the distinct anger in Uncle Qin’s expression.
Uncle Qin was truly furious.
"Uncle, how did it go?"
"Not well."
"Failed?"
"Was about to succeed," said Uncle Qin as he plucked out a long nail from his skin with his hand.
"And then?" asked Li Zhuiyuan as he stood behind Uncle Qin, grabbing and pulling a finger deeply embedded in Uncle's back. It moved even after being pulled out, feeling like a cut piece of snake even though it was clearly a human body part.
After dropping the finger on the ground, it continued squirming towards the river, its blood-red fingernail glistening eerily.
"Smash it," instructed Uncle Qin.
"Okay." Li Zhuiyuan picked a stone and crushed down hard on it. The finger deformed but kept moving. He relentlessly smashed it several times until it turned into an unrecognizable mess and finally stopped.
"Huff huff..." Li Zhuiyuan panted, averting his eyes from the bloody mess.
"Crack!" Uncle Qin plucked another finger from his flesh and tossed it before Li Zhuiyuan, clearly signaling him to crush it.
Li Zhuiyuan had no choice but to lift the stone and repeat the process.
If an early riser happened upon this scene from a distance, they might think it a heartwarming tableau of father and son.
After clearing the filth from his body, Uncle Qin dressed in his clothes.
"Uncle, your wounds..."
"I’ll let your aunt handle it at home."
"Oh," replied Li Zhuiyuan as he nodded, then asked, "Uncle, is Bai Family Town really down there?"
"You know quite a lot," remarked Uncle Qin.
"It's Brother Liangliang who told me."
"Yes, it's down there."
"Uncle, did you just visit Bai Family Town?"
"I went in. All was nearly wrapped up, but..."
"But what happened?"
"You'll find out back at the hospital. That big friend of yours is quite the character, really fierce—too fierce."
Li Zhuiyuan sensed that Uncle Qin was angry because things hadn’t gone as planned, and Xue Liangliang seemed to be the cause.
"Get on."
"Uncle, can you still ride?"
"Want to drive it yourself?"
Li Zhuiyuan obediently got on the motorcycle.
The motorcycle rode to a suburban house before Uncle Qin stopped by a private home to exchange a bit of money for a coat from a clothesline to cover himself since his injuries were too severe for just the sleeveless shirt, likely getting him barred from the hospital.
The bike rolled into the hospital grounds, and Uncle Qin pulled to a stop.
Li Zhuiyuan dismounted, questioning, "Uncle, will Bai Family Town continue causing trouble?"
Those Bai Family Ladies are like haunting specters, and Li Zhuiyuan feared another might pop up at any time.
"They’ll be quiet for quite a while, as the main Bai Family Lady has spoken."
Frankly, despite his injuries, Uncle Qin was more vexed by the results regarding the Bai Family matter.
His job was to slap the Bai Family back into their place, yet midway through the slap, he couldn't finish.
Now, how to explain this to Liu Yumei was the real headache.
"Uncle Qin, Granny Liu was just in a bad mood today, but after sleeping, she should now have calmed."
Qin Li nodded, feeling the child was right. He also sensed that the kid was comforting him, which he had grown accustomed to.
"Come on, Xiao Yuan. Let's check on your friend, and then we’ll head home."
"Alright!"
They ascended and headed back to the ward just as Luo Tingrui exited with a thermos, "You're back! Just in time, Liangliang woke up earlier but has fallen back asleep. Look after him for me while I fetch some hot water."
Li Zhuiyuan entered the ward, finding Xue Liangliang without any equipment attached, peacefully asleep rather than in a coma.
"Uncle, is he okay now?"
"He's in big trouble."
"What?"
"Wait for him to wake up, and ask him yourself," Uncle Qin replied before heading downstairs to buy some bandages.
Meanwhile, still sleeping, Xue Liangliang ground his teeth and mumbled in his sleep:
"Two years? Two years won’t work, at least three. I’ll only guarantee visiting once every three years."
Xue Liangliang turned in his blanket while continuing to mumble:
"We're not having kids, are we?"
Li Zhuiyuan was stunned, piecing together an outrageous thought, yet it seemed so impossibly absurd, he dismissed it as his imagination.
At that moment, Xue Liangliang appeared to wake, glancing at Li Zhuiyuan, who stood by his bedside, and Li Zhuiyuan gazed back at him.
Moments later, Xue Liangliang looked away, sat up, leaned against the bed head, with a dazed expression as if he had just encountered a staggering blow.
Li Zhuiyuan picked up an orange from the bedside table and quietly began to peel it.
Finally, Xue Liangliang spoke, his tone melancholy, weighted with profound longing and sorrow:
"Xiao Yuan, I have to tell you something terrifying."
"Yes, Brother, tell me."
Li Zhuiyuan finished peeling the orange, took a segment, and offered it to Xue Liangliang, who accepted it with a mouthful. His once mournful face turned a bit more sour.
Xue Liangliang, mouth agape, found himself momentarily speechless as the carefully built emotion was unceremoniously derailed.
As he tried to gather himself again to speak, Li Zhuiyuan presented another orange segment to his mouth.
"Xiao Yuan, have some too."
"No thanks, it's too sour."
"But you..." A second segment was popped into his mouth.
Tears welled in Xue Liangliang’s eyes as he chewed, a tremor in his voice:
"Xiao Yuan, your brother got married."
"Congratulations."
Li Zhuiyuan held another orange segment out, and this time, Xue Liangliang made no objection, tears streaming down his face, uncertain if it was from the sourness or true emotions spilling over.
"Your sister-in-law is actually a nice person."
"As long as she’s nice," Li Zhuiyuan confirmed, nodding. "Grandpa always said, when finding a partner, character and personality are key. Whether they’re beautiful or alive doesn’t matter."
Xue Liangliang wore a bitter expression, glancing at Li Zhuiyuan as his mouth accepted another orange segment. "Your grandpa sounds quite progressive."
"He is."
Li Zhuiyuan finally understood. Uncle Qin was the one fighting on the front lines, while Xue Liangliang was handling negotiations.
As he and Uncle Qin had rushed in from the village to the hospital and on to the river, pressure kept mounting on their adversary, getting Xue Liangliang better negotiation terms, with the adversaries continuously conceding.
This was unknown to Xue Liangliang himself.
Just when Uncle Qin was close to finishing the battle, nearly resolving the situation completely, Xue Liangliang prematurely thought he’d secured the best deal and signed off.
Had he held out a bit longer, the marriage wouldn’t have happened.
No wonder Uncle Qin was wrathful—fighting tooth and nail on the front lines only to find an unnecessary truce declared on their end.
Thus, Uncle Qin had opted to leave the ward to buy bandages, likely a pretense to avoid being tempted to punch him in anger while he lay in bed.
Li Zhuiyuan didn’t have the heart to reveal this harsh truth to Brother Liangliang, as it would be exponentially more bitter than the orange.
Once a done deal becomes fact, it’s better to persuade him to make the best of it, finding a bit of joy amid the process.
"Brother, was there a bride price?"
"No need."
"Really nice, love marriage, modern union."
"Actually, your sister-in-law offered me a bride price."
"Look, how wonderful, most can only envy that."
"But I firmly refused,” Xue Liangliang said, puffing his chest proudly like a small rooster.
"Yeah, my Brother Liangliang never compromises."
"Of course, I won’t be anyone’s live-in son-in-law."
"Admirable."
"I agreed with her, she’s fine with it, that I only have to visit her once every three years. Otherwise, I’m free to go wherever and do whatever."
"That’s great indeed."
Li Zhuiyuan suddenly realized his worries were needless. This was Xue Liangliang, after all, innately resilient, unable to be easily defeated by any problem, but rather able to quickly realign himself.
Otherwise, it’s unexplainable why his words brimmed with a strange pride, a hint of showiness, as he effortlessly turned bitter situations into something sweet.
“However, Xiao Yuan, I've made a concession.”
“Oh?”
“I promised her the second child will take her surname.”
(End of Chapter)