Chen An ran red lights all the way, driving the car to the brightly lit hospital. The emergency room doctor on duty was flirting and joking with a nurse in the lobby when an ashen-faced Chen An interrupted them: “Doctor, save her quickly.”
It was rare that there weren’t many people in the emergency room today. The doctor had him place her on a single bed, shone a flashlight on her pupils, checked her heartbeat, and after smelling a faint trace of alcohol, asked: “Does she have a history of alcohol allergies?”
Chen An’s chest kept heaving: “I don’t know. She didn’t drink before age eighteen.”
The doctor thought this was quite segmented, and asked: “What about after eighteen?”
Chen An shook his head, suddenly remembering she seemed to have drunk at Zhong Ming’s bar, but now he wasn’t quite sure whether what she drank at the time was actually alcohol. He wanted to call Zhong Ming, but Zhong Ming’s phone number had been deleted seven years ago. Even if he hadn’t deleted it, the contact information might not have stayed the same.
The doctor also asked if she had any drug allergies. Because of the previous question, Chen An answered very cautiously: “No allergies before age eighteen.”
Seeing that he couldn’t get a clear answer out of him, the doctor stopped asking and directly arranged for oxygen therapy and an allergy test.
Chen An had carried her all the way in. His forehead was covered with dense beads of sweat, and he had even forgotten to take off his jacket. He just stood foolishly by the bed in his stuffy clothes, watching the nurse set up the oxygen device and pulse oximeter.
Cheng Lele lay motionless, letting the nurse manipulate her. Even when she was pricked with a needle, her expression didn’t change at all, as if she had completely lost all connection with this world.
During the seven years, there actually hadn’t been zero news about Cheng Lele. A teacher from Taigao had inadvertently revealed which university she had ultimately chosen; a college classmate had posted graduation photos online; by following all her classmates’ updates, he could always fish out a few scraps of information about her from the mass of data. Cheng Lele seemed not to be good at making friends in Beijing. This information was extremely scarce, but at least he wouldn’t wildly imagine and wonder if she had disappeared from the face of the earth.
However, at dawn today, Chen An had a very vague dream. He dreamed that his godfather and godmother were in a vast, silent place, reaching out their hands toward Cheng Lele not far away. Just as their fingers were about to touch, he woke up startled, and the dream instantly disintegrated. He originally couldn’t recall it, only remembering that in the dream he had been silently shouting and calling out. Now, with Cheng Lele lying on the bed in a near-death state, he instantly remembered all the details of the dream. Pieced together, it seemed like some kind of ominous premonition. And this premonition was being verified.
The doctor on duty came over again to check on the patient’s condition. Seeing the nearly six-foot-tall family member with a deathly pale face and fists clenched so tight his veins were bulging, he couldn’t help but console him: “It’s anaphylactic shock caused by alcohol. You brought her in timely. After injecting hormones and administering IV fluids, she should be fine. I suggest transferring her to the inpatient ward for observation for a few more days.”
Chen An numbly nodded and asked: “If I hadn’t brought her in time, would she have—”
The doctor on duty glanced at him, then looked at the person on the hospital bed: “I’ve encountered a couple who had a fight before. One drank themselves into the afterlife.”
Chen An pressed his lips together. His eyes were full of red bloodshot veins.
After four or five bags of saline were administered, Cheng Lele’s eyeballs finally moved, and she woke up. What rushed into her nose was the once very familiar smell of disinfectant. This made her dazed for a moment, thinking she was back in the oncology department accompanying her mother for chemotherapy. That oppressive, despairing mood surged up with it. She groaned painfully, turned her head slightly, and saw the IV bag, with the infusion tube running all the way down to her left hand.
Her head was still dizzy and heavy. She vaguely remembered that she had drunk a bottle of alcohol and seemed to have lost consciousness not long after. She had never properly drunk alcohol before. Before age eighteen, she had grown up almost entirely under the supervision of two fathers, so naturally she never touched a drop. Her university graduation party coincided with her mother’s serious illness, so she also missed the opportunity to get thoroughly drunk with all her classmates. After entering the company, Huang Tiangou had unclean hands and feet. Afraid of being taken advantage of, she firmly insisted she was allergic to alcohol at the first drinking occasion. Old Yellow Dog didn’t believe it and made her take a few sips. Her skin immediately broke out in red rashes. To teach him a lesson, she even deliberately took an extra day off. But in reality, she happened to be allergic to willow catkins at that time and already had a reaction on her body. She had just gone along with it and put on an act, confusing even herself.
She didn’t smoke or drink. If suffering could really be endured through these harmful substances, she would probably become addicted and turn into a chain-smoker and alcoholic. She didn’t want to degenerate, so she refused the beginning of all bad habits.
However, she didn’t know if her brain had short-circuited yesterday—she actually had the impulse to drink, and immediately got herself into trouble.
Cheng Lele felt stifled. She realized there was still a mask on her face and wanted to raise her hand to remove it. The hospital room door opened. Chen An came in with a damp towel. Seeing her struggling, he held down her restless hand.
Cheng Lele glared at him, as if she had something to say.
Chen An saw that her complexion was several shades better than when she was brought in at dawn. He let go of her hand and removed the mask for her. Cheng Lele took a big breath and asked: “Did you return it?”
Chen An thought she was going to say something important. He didn’t expect that as soon as she opened her mouth, it was still about this matter. He couldn’t help but find it both funny and exasperating.
In the past, Cheng Lele relied on Chen An’s ability to earn some pocket money. The two were also intimately inseparable, so she had no concept when it came to spending money. When she went out to buy things, she didn’t look at prices, only at needs. The small county town didn’t have luxurious, expensive consumer goods. As long as she took a liking to something, Chen An would consciously become a mobile ATM. However, many years later, Cheng Lele lived simply and was especially serious about money matters. As early as when she bought the membership card at the haunted house, he had noticed signs of this. But at that time, he thought Cheng Lele was saving money for him in his bankruptcy. Now thinking about it, with his godmother seriously ill for five years, medical expenses would naturally be considerable. Cheng Lele had experienced economic hardship and living paycheck to paycheck, which was why she could be so calculating now.
Chen An sat down and gently wiped her hand with the towel: “Lele, do you still remember? Many years ago, I established a company in the provincial capital. That company still exists and is operating fairly well.”
Chen An was not being modest when he said this. In the turbulent and unpredictable investment world, whoever dares to call themselves God today will have to meet God tomorrow. He was accustomed to being low-key and cautious, and had always maintained a calm and modest attitude toward his own achievements.
Cheng Lele was willing to listen to this kind of good news involving money, and asked: “What degree of ‘fairly well’ are we talking about?”
Chen An said something that couldn’t be faulted: “At least enough to afford buying handbags.”
It took Cheng Lele a long time to fully digest this statement.
So her little brother wasn’t down and out after all. Then all her previous painstaking efforts to save expenses were like her wishful thinking, inviting suffering upon herself. Of course, saving money for the boss was what an employee should do as part of their duties. This had nothing to do with whether the boss’s circumstances were good or bad. She had no right to lose her temper.
After a long while, Cheng Lele spoke: “If your financial situation isn’t as bad as I imagined, then that’s better than anything.” She lowered her eyes and continued, “How you allocate your money is your freedom. In this consumer age, using handbags to please women is a method that’s hard to go wrong with. There’s nothing wrong with you doing this. But you don’t need to use such tactics on me.”
Cheng Lele intentionally wanted to draw a clear line with Chen An’s girlfriend, but Chen An misunderstood again, thinking she was accusing him of crossing the line.
In his mind, he had just experienced a life-and-death separation with Cheng Lele, and had become more accepting of many things. When the bottom line retreats to the end, there is no bottom line.
After hearing this, he even tried to force out a smile and said: “I came in such a hurry that I forgot to bring your phone. I’ll go back to get it later, and by the way, have Zhong Ming come see you.”
If Cheng Lele didn’t feel that wearing the mask was really uncomfortable, she would want to put the mask back on and play dead right now.
Sure enough, once there’s a romantic interest, friendship goes out the window. She had just woken up in the hospital, and he was already anxious to leave.
She pulled at the blanket, turned over, and said in a nasal voice: “Whatever.”
Chen An saw she was tired, tucked her in, and went downstairs.
When he got to the parking lot downstairs, Chen An took out cigarettes again. He originally didn’t have a smoking addiction, but recently he’d been tormented to the point where he could barely go without cigarettes. He pulled out one and put it in his mouth without lighting it. First, he looked up “Ming” bar’s landline number on the Dianping app. After finding it, he called.
The bar was clearing out at this time. The phone rang many times before someone picked up. Chen An didn’t care who was on the other end and said directly: “Tell Zhong Ming that Cheng Lele is in the VIP ward on the 12th floor of the County People’s Hospital inpatient building.”
After saying this, he hung up the phone, picked up his lighter and lit the cigarette. He smiled self-mockingly, started the car, and the radio automatically played. At five or six in the morning, even the traffic station was just playing random music. From the hospital to his home, the radio played a series of melancholy love songs one after another. The lyrics seemed tailor-made for him. After getting out of the car, Chen An felt like he had chewed a pound of bitter herbs. His heart was desolate and wretched. When he got home, he collapsed on the sofa to nurse his wounds.