It Seems There is Light

Visiting

Shi An liked to sleep curled up on his side.

Because of the IV drip in his hand, Yan Liang was afraid that he would roll over and press his hand, so he refused to let him turn on his side.

After suffering from the medicine for a while, Shi An’s consciousness began to blur again, his eyes were almost unable to open. In a haze, he habitually turned over to the left.

He couldn’t turn it to the end, he felt Yan Liang put his hand on his shoulder and gently pulled him back.

The position of lying on his back made Shi An very uncomfortable. Every time he was about to fall asleep, he would instinctively want to turn over, but Yan Liang just wouldn’t let him turn over.

The scene on the hospital bed in the first half of the night was Shi An persistently turning over and Yan Liang persistently pulling him back.

Every time he was about to fall into a drowsy dream, he would be woken up by Yan Liang.

Shi An’s mind was so drowsy that he couldn’t sleep and couldn’t wake up. When he tried to curl up on his side again, Yan Liang rolled onto the bed and restrained his movement with his arms.

In his drowsiness, he heard Yan Liang whispering in his ear, “Be obedient. Turn over after the infusion, okay?”

He was wrapped in Yan Liang’s arms; his warm breath softly sprinkled in his ears, and on the tip of his nose was Yan Liang’s faint scent of lemon soap.

But in this situation, Shi An had no thoughts.

He just wanted to sleep.

Shi An bit his lips and began to struggle, his eyelashes fluttering violently, angry and anxious, like a cat with blown hair.

“Ouch ancestor, you give me a break, if you move your hand again it will be swollen!” Yan Liang had no time to smooth the cat’s hair, and hurriedly held Shi An’s left hand down, “Don’t move, don’t move! Eh! No, no, no…”

Shi An couldn’t get rid of it, panting slightly, frowning and pursing his thin lips, as if he was aggrieved.

After a drowsy night’s sleep, not knowing how long it took, Shi An woke up and tentatively rolled over to the side.

Just waking up, Shi An’s body was still a little soft. He turned over for the first time; Yan Liang didn’t stop him from moving.

Was Yan Liang gone?

Shi An was a little lost, but at least there was no one to stop him from rolling over.

He moved his left hand and found that the needle had been removed at some point. He was just about to turn over for the second time when an arm came up next to him and gently wrapped around him, bringing his body over.

The tip of his nose was full of the soft smell of old cloth brocade and dessert; it was the smell of Jiang Yuan.

Changing to a side-lying position, Shi An was finally able to curl up and was so comfortable that he almost fell asleep again.

Wait a minute.

Jiang Yuan!?

Shi An was so frightened that he came to full consciousness and opened his eyes with a jolt. He was met with Jiang Yuan’s warm, soft eyes.

The old woman was sitting on the edge of the bed, the wooden hairpin loosely holding the silver hair and the broken hair lingering in his ears. Outside the glass window behind her was a small square of gray sky across several black wires.

Shi An immediately tried to sit up, but Jiang Yuan reached out to stop him.

With his arms unable to support the half-lifted posture, Shi An froze for a while, then fell back on the bed.

Shi An’s eyelashes twitched and he noticed that Ling Yue was also here. She was sitting by the window and raised her eyebrows at Shi An when she saw that he was awake.

Shi An took a deep breath and looked into Jiang Yuan’s eyes, “…Why are you here?”

Jiang Yuan frowned in a rare moment: “You kid, why didn’t you tell Grandma anything? You’re just lying in the hospital by yourself?”

Jiang Yuan reached out her hand and gently smoothed Shi An’s hair: “I really don’t know what to say about you…can this be called nothing? Why don’t you know how to cherish your body…”

Shi An lowered his eyes and didn’t respond. Jiang Yuan rambled on for a while as her eyes started to redden.

“…” Shi An reached out and tugged the tissue box from the bedside and put it on Jiang Yuan’s lap, lowering his eyes a bit more.

Jiang Yuan was a little amused to see him like this. She sighed as she reached out and gently touched Shi An’s cheek and earlobe.

The boys of this age were somewhat resistant to such intimate actions. Shi An quietly squeezed his fingertips and tried to not hide.

Ling Yue couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle.

“You have to spend the New Year in the hospital,” Ling Yue came over and put a paper bag in her hand next to Shi An’s pillow, “the doctor said you have to stay in the hospital until the third.”

Today was the new year.

Shi An was taken aback for a moment, and then he came back to his senses and turned to look at Jiang Yuan, saying: “Happy New Year.”

Jiang Yuan touched his hair again and said, “Xiao An will be safe and healthy this year, you know…”

The old people would pay more attention to these kinds of days, he was afraid that would really make Jiang Yuan worried.

Shi An turned his face to the side and buried the small half of his face in the pillow.

“Do you want to take a shower or something,” Ling Yue stretched out her fingers and tapped the paper bag by the pillow, “I brought your clothes. Grandma said you love cleanliness and can’t stand it without a shower.”

This was indeed so. Shi An sat up, pulled the paper bag in his arms, and looked at the wall clock.

It was already past eight in the morning.

There was an attached bathroom in the ward, so he went in with the paper bag in his arms and locked the door behind him.

The paper bag contained a change of clothes for him, some toiletries, and a tube of children’s toothpaste that was relatively less irritating.

After washing up, he rummaged through the paper bag and found only a small bottle of travel size body wash. It was the brand he usually used, with a vanilla scent.

Yesterday, he had a cold sweat from the pain. Shi An wanted to wash his hair, but he couldn’t find any shampoo in the paper bag.

So, Shi An simply put the body wash on his hair.

When Shi An walked out of the bathroom with his wet hair, Jiang Yuan and Ling Yue at the window were staring at him with wide eyes.

Ling Yue looked at him for a long time, with a speechless look, and only after a while did she say, “Grandma said you love cleanliness, you must wash your hair. She’s afraid you’ll be uncomfortable after washing your hair, so she specially asked not to put the shampoo…”

Jiang Yuan: “…”

Ling Yue: “I actually did not think you would wash your hair with the body wash…”

Shi An: “…”

“Quick, dry your hair,” Jiang Yuan frowned as she took Shi An’s towel and put her hand on his head, “It’s so cold, you’re still sick, why wash your hair…”

Shi An was a head taller than Jiang Yuan. He bent with a little difficulty and obediently let her dry his hair.

After wiping for a long time, the hair finally dried a bit.

“You can go back first, no need to watch over me.” Shi An folded the towel to wipe his hair while his long fingers smoothed out the folds on the towel, “It’s New Year today.”

For some small reason, Shi An didn’t like Jiang Yuan to stay in a place like the hospital.

Besides, it was New Year’s Day.

Moreover, Shi An was a little tired and wanted to lie down, but Jiang Yuan said his hair was not dry and he would get a headache if he covered it, so she just wouldn’t let him lie down.

Jiang Yuan reached out her fingers again and gently groomed his hair, saying, “Okay, Grandma won’t disturb your rest, remember to dry your hair before you sleep.”

Jiang Yuan and Ling Yue got up and left the door. Shi An sighed with relief and went back to bed.

The ward was quiet. Although the body was still a bit tired, but after a heartbreaking pain, Shi An still enjoyed the current state.

In contrast, this was really comfortable.

He turned sideways and looked out the window, looking at the small patch of plain gray sky.

It didn’t take long before the door of the ward opened again.

Shi An thought it was the family of the child in the next bed, so he didn’t turn around, but the footsteps didn’t stop and went straight to his bed.

He propped up his body and looked, it was Ling Yue who was back.

Shi An sat up straight to look at her.

Shi An always didn’t let himself look too lousy.

His waist was very straight, and this posture didn’t look stiff on him, but looked very decent.

He was wearing a white shirt, buttoned to the top. The neckline was neatly drawn, and his face was as calm as ever.

Ling Yue pulled over a chair and sat by his bed. She took out her phone from her pocket and opened an interface before looking at him.

Shi An took the phone and lowered his eyes to look at it.

What Ling Yue opened was her chat with Yan Liang.

“…What are you doing talking to him about this?” Shi An frowned slightly and handed the phone back, “Shen Qiaoqiao and I are just classmates. There’s no need to tell him about this kind of thing.”

“Did you not see his reaction?” Ling Yue took the phone and tapped on the screen full of exclamation marks and question marks.

Shi An’s movements paused for a while before he glanced at Ling Yue and said slowly: “He’s just a particularly… protective person, he didn’t mean anything else.”

Ling Yue raised her eyebrows.

Unlike the relatively gentle looks of southerners, Ling Yue’s eyebrows were somewhat thick and looked very heroic. She locked her phone screen and put it on the table casually, saying, “I don’t think so.”

Ling Yue had always respected Shi An’s need for distance, which was why Shi An didn’t reject her, but she was really weird today.

Shi An faintly stared at her, giving her a deep look, bringing some warning meaning.

“Shi An,” Ling Yue leaned back in her chair, sighing, “You are really hard on yourself… to be honest, I feel that I am doing myself a disservice by talking to you about this.”

Shi An did not answer.

“I don’t like to meddle in other people’s business, but I really think,” Ling Yue took back her gaze that was looking elsewhere and landed on Shi An’s face, “it’s a pity for people to miss each other.”

Ling Yue’s good look was very distinctive; her eyes were a little close together, her pupils were very dark, her features were not too soft, but her expression at the moment looked, in fact, a little frustrated and fragile.

Shi An looked at her expression, slightly stunned.

“Are you really satisfied with the current situation?” Ling Yue’s deep eyes looked at Shi An, like a microscope observing the cells, “You really don’t feel bad?”

“…Yes,” Shi An’s eyelashes twitched slightly as he relaxed his body a bit and leaned against the bed board, saying in a warm voice, “Go home for the New Year, it’s been a hard day.”

Ling Yue knew that if she said anything more now, she would probably lose the opportunity to communicate with Shi An forever.

“There is no such thing as so much indifference in the world” Ling Yue bent down and set her chair against the wall. “That’s why you can’t help yourself.”

Shi An lifted his face slightly.

“Rest well,” Ling Yue reached out and ran her hand through her ponytail. Her face had returned to its usual pleasant and gentle look, “I can feel free to make delicious food without you in the store.”

Shi An: “…”

He felt that in these three days, Ling Yue could smash his house’s sign.

Today would be New Year’s Day. The hospital sent lanterns and greeting cards to all wards, so Shi An also received one.

He held the fist-sized lantern and turned his head to look aside.

In the next bed was a little boy of eight or nine years old, holding a plastic stick of a lantern in his hand. His eyes were fixed on the one Shi An was holding.

“You want it?” Shi An’s fingertips loosely pinched the lantern’s stick and handed it to the little boy.

The boy looked up at him timidly.

“Take it.” Shi An said in a warm voice, sending the lantern forward again.

“Thank you gege,” the little boy took the lantern and smiled at Shi An with raised eyes, “You are so kind, da gege.”

Shi An gently bent his eyes and leaned back to the bedside.

At nine o’clock, the nurse came to give him an IV drip.

The long, thin needle stuck into the greenish-blue veins were clearly visible under the cold white skin.

Shi An lowered his eyes for a while and noticed some bruising on the back of his hand.

He leaned back on the bedside again, and couldn’t help but think of the chat history between Ling Yue and Yan Liang, as well as the screen filled with symbols sent by Yan Liang.

Did this mean that Yan Liang actually cared too?

Why would it be such a reaction?

Did Yan Liang…not want him to fall in love? If he had a girlfriend, would Yan Liang be a little bit, even if only a little bit, unhappy?

Shi An thought for a while but couldn’t figure it out.

He suddenly felt like an unreasonable child who insisted on putting himself in a miserable situation, as if this would really attract someone’s attention, when it was obviously just his own wishful thinking.

In fact, Shi An was occasionally misled by Yan Liang.

Yan Liang was too good to him, so good that sometimes he forgot how absurd his thoughts were, so good that he wanted to throw away his armor, shake off his unnecessary stoicism and sanity, confirming his absurd thoughts.

Was there really someone who played guitar for his friend and said the song would always be played only for him?

Would anyone really say that they were born to be the sun of their friends?

Was there really someone who lied to the public for the sake of casual words as a child?

Was there really someone who was so anxious about his friend’s illness that his hands were shaking and he ran to the hospital with him on his back in the dead of winter and stayed there for most of the night?

Obviously Yan Liang was this person.

Shi An withdrew his gaze from somewhere in the void and looked toward the bed.

Ling Yue brought him several books, stacking them on the bedside table. Shi An picked a hardback book with a nice cover, holding it in his hand and flipping through it casually.

Shi An used to turn the pages with his left hand, but he had an IV in his left hand, so it wasn’t easy to move it.

He flipped a few pages in his way and then stared a little bitterly at the needle that was under the vein for a while.

Really wanted to pull it out.

He hesitated for a moment before turning his head to turn the knob controlling the drip faster and then lowered his head to look at the book again.

The book was quite good. Shi An sat and read it until about ten o’clock as he was really fascinated. The door of the ward was opened from the outside yet again.

This time there seemed to be a lot of people coming in, and the sound of footsteps was a little bit more complicated.

Shi An frowned, raised his eyes and took a look. After seeing the visitor clearly, he was a little surprised.

Zhou Yuan strutted ahead and opened the door, Yan Liang followed him, as if he was a little sleepy, covering his mouth and yawning, and the last person to enter was Shen Qiaoqiao, who was biting her lip and looking at Shi An cautiously.

What kind of magical combination is this?

Shi An looked at Shen Qiaoqiao, and then at his two childhood friends, forgetting to put the book away.

The visiting trio stood in a row in front of his bed, like soldiers on parade.

Shi An: “…?”

The ward was quiet for a while.

Yan Liang narrowed his eyes slightly to look at Shen Qiaoqiao and then turned his head to look at Shi An.

Zhou Yuan raised his hand to cover his lips, pointed to Shen Qiaoqiao, and lowered his voice to ask Yan Liang, “Who is she?”

The ward was not large; Zhou Yuan thought he was asking very quietly, but in fact everyone heard him.

Shen Qiaoqiao bit her lip and looked at Shi An.

Yan Liang lowered his eyes to look at Shi An. Zhou Yuan also confusedly turned his head to Shi An.

“…” Shi An raised his hand and gently closed the book, looking up at them, “…You came together?”

It looked like they didn’t seem to know each other.

Although it was Shen Qiaoqiao who called Yan Liang last night, but perhaps the situation was rather panicky and Yan Liang had no time to care about the others.

“…I, am I disturbing you guys,” Shen Qiaoqiao’s fingers twisted the corner of her coat, her fair cheeks were slightly flushed. She looked at Yan Liang and said, “I recognized him…just, just followed along…”

She looked at Shi An’s light-colored eyes, followed by a somewhat panicked explanation, “I, I, I still have your phone…I’ll send it over to you, I’ll leave after…”

Shi An looked into her moist eyes and sighed.

He gently pressed the book in his lap with his left hand, leaned over and pulled the chair next to the bed over, saying slowly: “Thanks. You sit.”

The chair was placed a bit far away by Ling Yue, so Shi An could not quite reach it. Yan Liang walked over quickly and bent down to pick up the chair. He did not look at Shi An, only said: “Don’t move, watch your hands, I’ll do it.”

Yan Liang looked like he was not very happy.

“Classmate, sit down,” Yan Liang put the chair down, straightened up and looked at Shen Qiaoqiao’s reddened cheeks, and said in a light voice, “I’m sorry to trouble you with this trip.”