Life-Saving Days by the Husky’s Side

Zhou Li and Zhou Luwen stood side by side in the stairway, like middle school students standing in detention.

Zhou Lubo stood in front of them and watched the two with an extremely cold expression. “Driving away without saying a word at night, one steals the keys, one drives without a license; both are quite capable.”

Although someone vaguely heard the sound of a car engine starting up last night, they all thought it was Father Zhou or Zhou Lubo who had gone out for some company matters or something business-related, so no one suspected the two boys. As a result, they didn’t see either child in the dining room this morning. When asking one another, they discovered that a car had driven out the night before and the whole family turned over the house like an earthquake. Only after they called the boys’ numbers did they learn that they were in the hospital.

Two very capable people stood silently, quiet as chickens.

A playful child ran by with a grin but suddenly looked at Zhou Lubo’s eyes. A shiver ran down his spine as the air around his body grew colder and he turned his head and ran off just as quickly as he had come.

Zhou Lubo retracted his gaze and directed his eyes to the brothers again, coldly stating, “Are your phones for decoration only? Is it that difficult to call the police? Did you watch too many movies and wished to be one of those heroes in speeding cars? I will go back and hire someone to cast two medals, one for each of you. Do you want gold or silver?”

Zhou Li: “……”

Zhou Luwen: “……”

This was a rare occasion where Zhou Li lost face*.

[T/N: literally ‘lost the light on his face’]

Last night, his brain had been lit on fire, and in addition to not knowing if his intuition was accurate or not, he completely forgot about reporting to the authorities. Although Zhou Luwen remembered this on the road, they had already driven most of the way at that time so in the end they didn’t bother calling anyone.

Fortunately, they didn’t call, which Qian Duoshu’s face-saving personality would’ve been thankful for. Once this matter becomes known to everyone, he’ll probably be too afraid to even lift his head anymore in the future. However, this was the first time he discovered that besides Zhou-dage’s cold and untalkative attributes, there was also the skill of a poisonous tongue.

Zhou Lubo: “Do you have nothing to say for yourself?”

Zhou Li understood the current situation he was in. “I was wrong.”

Zhou Luwen followed closely, “Don’t blame him, I got too nervous and forgot to call the police.”

Zhou Lubo stared at them, flicking his eyes over their figures twice and feeling that this lesson was enough. He said, “This will be the only time, not as an example.”

The two of them hurriedly left the “interrogation room” as if they had been granted amnesty.

At this time, Qian Duoshu had already awoken.

As soon as Zhou Li and the other teenager arrived at the door of the ward, they heard Father Zhou’s voice echo from inside, a roar made of suppressed anger. “…can’t you think about your two kids; the ones who know think it is because you lost your job, the ones who don’t think it is because the children refused to follow you and drove you to your death! If you’re happy with your actions, what should they do in the future?”

The two stopped in their paths and did not knock on the door for now.

Father Zhou pointed at the person on the bed, his hands shaking with wrath.

Useless. This was the first time he has met such a useless man.

It is true that he can’t understand Qian Duoshu’s personal feelings, which can be taken for granted by bystanders. However, as a father, even if he falls ill, even if he loses his job, he must at least think about his own children instead of killing himself and abandoning them.

But even if he’s scolding him, he can’t scold too badly, so as not to irritate each other even more.

So he walked around the room twice, forced himself to swallow his anger back, then sat on a chair with a pissed-off expression.

Qian Duoshu’s eyes were red and he silently gazed at the ceiling without saying a word.

Zhou Li listened from the outside for a while then raised his fist to knock on the door, walking in and looking at Father Zhou. “I want to talk to him for a bit.”

Father Zhou nodded and patted him on the shoulder as if to comfort him, then went out with a sigh.

Zhou Li pulled the chair out and sat down, watching Qian Duoshu. The latter’s eyes lightly grazed his figure and quickly flicked away, not daring to look at him.

Zhou Li also refused to speak, choosing to just sit where he was.

The ward quickly fell silent. The two were more patient with each other, as if they could stay like this until the end of time, although there was a vague sense of confrontation.

After a long time, Qian Duoshu took the initiative to speak.

‘This second personality has no affection towards him’; this sentence felt rather strange to say. They obviously have only known each other for a short while, but perhaps it was because this child was too calm, or perhaps because the kid knows all about his condition; whatever the reason, he’s always had a sense of peace in front of him, and all the words he wanted to say came out naturally.

He said, “I… Yesterday, I couldn’t help but throw a tantrum on company grounds.”

Zhou Li asked, “The reason?”

Qian Duoshu vaguely muttered, “Just some things relating to personnel matters.”

Zhou Li gave a simple “en”. He understood.

Yesterday, it was possible that the human resources department approached him to discuss his dismissal, which stimulated him.

Qian Duoshu dumbly said, “I smashed the office, and I feel that they all…know something is wrong with me.”

Zhou Li: “You’re thinking too much.”

Qian Duoshu shook his head. “I have a feeling they know.”

He looked at Zhou Li. “You have found your biological parents and Xiao-Wen is also under their care. You don’t need me. If I’m alive, all I do is hold you back.” He spoke while turning his head away, unable to control his chokes. “I don’t want you guys to hear someone say you have a neuropathic dad.”

“So you just wanted to apologise, once and for all*?” Zhou Li nodded. “That’s fine too, but have you apologised to everyone? You called for Liye yesterday, but am I him? You didn’t even say a single thing to him, you just said a sorry and left. When he comes out and hears you’re dead, what else will he be left with besides detesting you even more?”

[T/N: ‘一了百了’: death ends all one’s troubles]

Qian Duoshu stretched out his hand to cover his face and finally cried. It was both depressing and overwhelming.

Zhou Li looked out the window and faintly let out a sigh of relief.

He had spent enough time lying around in a hospital in his previous life. He didn’t like this place all that much, especially with matters related to life and death.

He lightly said, “You know that in the case of dual personalities, it’s very likely that the second personality will only appear once or twice in a lifetime and never appear again in the future?”

Qian Duoshu was startled suddenly and raised his head to look at his face.

Zhou Li: “It’s just an illness, not a terminal illness. You at least have a future. I don’t have a future, I can’t even live or die. Why are you rushing?”

Looking at Qian Duoshu, he forcibly poured chicken soup* into his mouth. “Isn’t there a nice saying? The pain we experience now is nothing; wait until we live for another ten or-so years, then we will understand that the most painful experience of them all is yet to come.” 

[T/N: motivational quotes]

Qian Duoshu: “……”

Zhou Li quickly grabbed it back to taste test and realised he had accidentally served a bowl of poisonous chicken soup. He zipped his mouth shut.

The two looked at each other for a few moments. Qian Duoshu blew out a sharp breath, like a short, incongruous laugh.

Zhou Li said, “Anyway, I’ll only save you this time around. Figure out the rest by yourself.”

He stood up. “In fact, truthfully speaking, you are not only worried about holding us back, you are more afraid that your son will be disappointed in you in the future and that the people in your neighbourhood will avoid you, so my advice is this: when an environment causes you to feel uneasy or pained, just change to another. I don’t like the hospital. I’m leaving.”

Then, Qian Duoshu called out his name for the first time. “Xiao-Li.”

Zhou Li paused.

Qian Duoshu opened his mouth and subconsciously wanted to thank him.

But in his mind, saying thank you to a child was too corny. Unable to let these words out, they turned over in his mouth before coming out as, “Why are you leaving?”

Zhou Li: “Going home to sleep.”

Qian Duoshu: “Oh, then…then you should be careful on the road, go home and sleep after eating, don’t go to bed on an empty stomach.”

Zhou Li hummed, accepting his unvoiced “thank you”. He opened the door and left without looking back, then turned to Zhou Luwen who was looking over and said, “I’ll leave him to you.”

He already did what he could and didn’t want to deal with whatever was left.

Maybe there was even a suicide note left by Qian Duoshu at home, but he wasn’t interested in reading the contents.

Zhou Luwen answered, “En, if you’re tired then you should go home ba.”

Father Zhou happened to be heading off the company so he left his eldest son here to accompany Xiao-Wen and took Zhou Li away.

With his hands stuffed in his pockets, Zhou Li slowly made his way out of the emergency department. His eyes squinted as they grazed over the bright sun in the sky.

The morning sun was bold and dazzling and across the lawn, several sprinklers were doing their jobs of watering the flowers. A small rainbow emerged in the air, accompanied by the soft rustles of giant sycamore trees, occasionally mixed with one or two cheerful sparrow chirps. Everything was bursting with life.

In just a few more days was the arrival of autumn, in exchange for the end of this summer.

Zhou Li took a deep breath and steadily exhaled, feeling the turmoil in his heart finally dissipate.

He couldn’t hold back the urge to snap a photo of a flower that held drops of water on its petals and posting it to his circle of friends with the caption: It really is great to be alive.

The little brother were all awake and rushed to comment and like the post. 

Er-ge: Of course it’s great to be alive, just look at the flowers grown by a rich family!  

Lao San: When are we gonna start studying? Yesterday, I dreamed that I got a scholarship and my dad took our family to kowtow to our ancestor’s grave. Kowtow, kowtow, even my teacher came to kowtow. I woke up from my own laughter.

Xiao Liu: Hahahahaha

Fa Cai 7: What type of flower is this? Is it expensive?

Zhou Li was having trouble deciding whether to laugh or cry from their antics and didn’t give an explanation. He refreshed the page, finding a new message.

Ji Shaoyan: What’s wrong?

He slightly startled but smiled and replied: Nothing’s wrong. I was just a little overwhelmed with emotions.

 On the other end, Ji Shaoyan looked at this reply and began to wonder what this “emotion” was.

A WeChat notification sounded. Silly Fool had sent a message directly.

Zhou Li: I’m truly very sorry today. I will definitely visit you tomorrow.

Ji Shaoyan’s mood plummeted at the mention of this, but since he needed to be a (mentally) stable person, he replied thoughtfully: It’s okay. If you have something to do, you should take care of it first. You can come here anytime.

Just after the text was sent, he heard a “click” from the side. The nurse opened the door and walked in, placing the specially-ordered dessert that was delivered on time by his side. He raised his head and looked at the nurse with a kind gaze.

The nurse blinked and asked, “Will you still eat this?”

Ji Shaoyan sighed. “No.”

The nurse thought about how busy he had worked this morning but ultimately ended up with nothing when the expected guest did not come, and suddenly felt a some pain in her heart. She hurriedly ran out with the dessert, lest he gets plagued with unpleasant memories just at the sight of the sweet treats.

At the same time, Zhou Li had sent another message.

Zhou Li: I’m free tomorrow. This time, it’s set in stone. I will go even if I get stabbed.

Ji Shaoyan felt his mood finally stabilise and the dissatisfaction calmed down by just a little. He replied with a single “okay”.

As luck would have it, the weather changed in the middle of the night. He woke up the next day, only to be met with the still-pouring rain outside. Water flooded down the streets relentlessly*, creating a wet wonderland.

[T/N: ‘as if water was free’]

He sat silently in front of the French windows and watched the weather, thinking about how a certain someone might’ve been born as a crow*.

[T/N: jinxes everything he says]

He held his phone in one hand, wanting to send Zhou Li a quick message telling him not to visit, but after turning this idea over in his head, he felt unwilling to do such a thing and ended up leaving it alone. While he was stuck in his hesitation, Zhou Li messaged him in first. The text he received was short and straightforward.

Zhou Li: See you at the hospital.

In an instant, the corners of Ji Shaoyan’s lips hooked upwards. In the end, he replied: If the rain’s still this bad later, you don’t have to come over.

Zhou Li: It’s fine, I can drive slowly.

Ji Shaoyan didn’t insist, and replied: Then, be careful on the road.

With the rain, there was no way to see the view outside. Fortunately, this was a high-end private hospital and there was a resting area in the lobby on the first floor of the inpatient department, where patients and visitors can read a book and drink tea. The two agreed to meet in there. 

Ji Shaoyan changed his clothes and arrived downstairs twenty minutes early. He deliberately chose a quiet and well-lit space, then sat on a chair facing the entrance. After a while, he finally saw Zhou Li’s figure.

Before he could stop it, his eyes curved into crescents.

It’s the same as before, a brilliance that even the rain can’t conceal. Even though they have only been separated for a few days, he felt like it has been forever. 

Zhou Li followed the directions in the text he received and looked around. He quickly found the young master.

This was the first time he’s met the real person. After a secret ‘he really is as handsome as they say’ note to himself, he smiled and greeted, “Hi.”

A small smile made itself present on Ji Shaoyan’s lips. “Hello.”

It’s the same, he thought.

This feeling* was exactly the same.               

[T/N: sensation]

He wanted Zhou Li’s eyes to forever stay on him.

Regardless whether he is a husky, or a human.

The author has something to say:

Ji Shaoyan: However, a human is inferior to a dog*.