Life is Like a Journey – Chapter 70
by Little PandaVolume 2: Inheritance
Departure
Gathering and parting, life has always been this way
She never imagined that Fang Zhiyou’s promise to stay with her through difficult times would actually come true. The young woman spent the entire morning running around outside, then excitedly took her hand and splashed through the rain puddles to look at apartments.
It was a half-hour walk from the subway station. Yu Gui, wearing a mask, followed behind her step by step until they were pulled into a cramped tubular building in the urban village.
They climbed the stairs plastered with colorful small advertisements. On the first floor was a small fruit shop, on the second floor was a closed massage parlor with a sign for recycling old appliances, and from the third floor up, doors were packed tightly together with residents. People were washing clothes in the public water basin, and half-grown children in “open-crotch pants” (traditional pants for toddlers) ran back and forth. Their home was on the fourth floor.
Fang Zhiyou pushed open the door, and dust settled all over them. Yu Gui started coughing, waving away the dust that hit her face.
The room was about ten square meters, with a hardwood bed and an old red sofa. The bathroom and kitchen were separated by just one door, and the sink was full of grime.
“The apartment is a bit small and rundown, but at least it has a private bathroom. It’s not far from the subway station by bike, and there’s a table where you can read and write conveniently…” Fang Zhiyou said, patting the uneven table. The table and chair creaked, and a leg fell off.
She looked embarrassed, but Yu Gui laughed.
“I’m sorry… This is the best I can afford with my current ability…”
Yu Gui reached out and gave her the first voluntary hug in days.
“It’s okay, I really like it.”
On moving day, several colleagues came to help. Hao Renjie helped her carry the last box of books into the car.
She handed him a can of cola: “Thank you.”
He took it, opened it, and drank in a somewhat effeminate manner: “In the future… will you still be a doctor?”
She had promised Lu Qingshi to return in a month, but Zhiyou’s appearance made her waver. She was not only living as Yu Gui but also as Fang Zhiyou’s girlfriend. Even without a marriage certificate, after so many years, they had become an inseparable part of each other’s lives. She could never forget what she had said that day at dusk when they were crying together.
“Xiaogui, please don’t be a doctor anymore, okay? I’m really worried about you… Just thinking that such things might happen again makes my heart ache to the point where I can’t breathe… We’ve been together for so long, I really can’t bear the consequences of losing you… Please think about your parents too, if they knew about this, how devastated would they be…”
She couldn’t argue. She thought she might never become like Lu Qingshi; she had too many attachments.
“I don’t know… Probably not…” the young man said, finishing the cola. He crumpled the can and bounced off to help.
“Thank you,” Fang Zhiyou handed Liu Qingyun a cigarette and lit one for herself.
All of Yu Gui’s belongings were loaded onto the tricycle. She jumped onto the back seat and waved goodbye to everyone. The doctors in white coats stood in the wind, waving back at her.
Yu Gui shouted: “Senior, Good Person Sister, Chen Jie, head nurses, goodbye!”
She raised her eyes to see the gray-black sky gradually lowering, the prominent sign of the emergency center still standing there, becoming one of the landmarks of this city.
Renji Medical University First Affiliated Hospital Emergency Center, goodbye.
Teacher Lu, goodbye.
“Not going to see her off?” Qin Xuan sat on her desk and put down a can of coffee.
Lu Qingshi didn’t raise her head, writing medical records: “No.”
“You know, the little dummy is actually quite nice, hardworking and ambitious. Skills can be practiced slowly, no one is born…”
She chattered on, and Lu Qingshi suddenly stabbed her pen on the table: “Are you done talking?”
The force was so strong that half of the pen nib broke on the table. Qin Xuan shut her mouth, feeling that if she said any more, her face would be that table.
“Alright, alright, I’ll shut up. I was just lamenting that there’s no one to get food for me anymore… Ah, my fragrant chicken leg rice, here I come!”
As the person walked further away, Lu Qingshi sighed in relief, wiped the ink off the table with a tissue, and threw the broken pen into the trash can.
“Yu Gui is gone, and suddenly all the work is piled on us few. This morning was exhausting enough…” Several interns and nurses sat together, eating and chattering.
“Indeed, I spent the whole morning organizing medical records until I was dizzy. I sent them to Dr. Lu for review, and in less than three minutes, she sent them back to be redone,” the doctor said, looking like he was about to cry.
“Who do you think will be Dr. Lu’s next apprentice?” They looked at each other.
“No, no, not me. I think Dr. Xu is quite good.”
“Me too, me too. I think Dr. Zhang is also nice to me.”
“No need, no need. I don’t want to suffer under Dr. Lu…”
“They say Dr. Lu is the bane of interns. One comes, one goes. Yu Gui lasted quite long…”
“How so? Tell me more…”
As the gossip spread, Lu Qingshi carried her tray to a window seat and ate alone, chewing slowly. She came late today, and the chicken legs were sold out. She quickly finished her meal with white rice and some leftover dishes, then returned to the operating room.
“Here you go, your express delivery,” she picked up the package from the delivery room at the entrance of the community. It was a new bed for French Fries. As the weather was getting cooler and it was gradually growing bigger, it needed a more spacious and warm cat house.
Lu Qingshi held the huge cardboard box in one hand, carried a shopping bag in the other, and also held an umbrella. The bell of the bicycle behind her rang.
“Watch out!” Gu Yanzhi pulled her back to his side with one hand while catching the box that rolled out of her arms.
“What did you buy that’s so heavy?” She lifted it over her shoulder and walked up the stairs with steady steps.
“I bought a cat house for French Fries,” Lu Qingshi followed behind, taking out her keys.
“Thank you for your trouble.”
Gu Yanzhi helped her carry it through the door: “There you go again, partners don’t need to be so polite.”
Lu Qingshi smiled: “I bought steak. Why don’t you stay and eat together?”
The rain outside hadn’t stopped. The steak was semi-prepared and easy to fry. Lu Qingshi thought this might not be enough for her to eat, so she ran to the balcony with her phone to ask what else she wanted to order.
Gu Yanzhi, with her jacket tied around her waist, was working, holding a wrench and turning screws, sweating profusely: “Just eat whatever. Or you can leave it, and I’ll cook something when I’m done.”
The cat villa bought for French Fries came with a climbing frame half as tall as a person. She installed the sisal posts on the base board. Lu Qingshi wanted to help but was brushed off: “No need, the balcony is so small. You go do your things.”
Lu Qingshi pressed her lips together: “Alright then.”
She was a person who didn’t like to owe others favors. Since Gu Yanzhi was helping her with the work, she would cook a meal for her.
Lu Qingshi opened the refrigerator, looking for ingredients she could use. There were carrots, corn, and pork ribs; she could make a corn and pork rib soup.
There was also chicken breast she had bought to supplement French Fries’ diet; she could make Kung Pao Chicken.
Her fingertips swiped across the screen, looking up recipes one by one. Carrots cut into “rolling knife” cuts — uh… she could cut them horizontally, vertically, and even split them in half from the middle, but what was this “rolling knife” cut?
Lu Qingshi hesitated, watched the video again, and still didn’t understand. She gritted her teeth, thinking it wouldn’t kill anyone to eat it anyway.
She brought the knife down with too much force, and half of the carrot flew off the cutting board and into the sink. Laughter came from the doorway.
Lu Qingshi was annoyed: “What are you laughing at?!”
“I’m laughing at how you cook like you’re going to war,” Gu Yanzhi came in, washed her hands clean, and took off Lu Qingshi’s apron to put it on herself.
“Alright, give it to me.”
Lu Qingshi reluctantly let go, both hands still gripping the knife handle. Her eyes were clear and bright, and she asked softly again: “Hmm?”
Only then did Lu Qingshi release her grip, lowering her eyes: “Then let me help you wash the vegetables.”
“Okay.”
She instinctively felt that this person wasn’t in a good mood today. Although she didn’t say anything on the surface and everything seemed normal during dinner and while playing games, she still felt a kind of deep-seated loneliness in her, which she had sensed from the first moment they met, but it was particularly profound today.
“What’s wrong?”
The doctor threw the game controller on the ground and lay down with her hands folded behind her head. French Fries darted into her arms, meowing.
“Sometimes I feel it’s better not to get too close to anyone.”
She had heard about Yu Gui’s situation from Qin Xuan. She also lay down, sighing: “It’s really a pity.”
“But, this has nothing to do with how close you are to someone,” she turned her head slightly, seeing her upturned nose close by.
“Gathering and parting, life has always been this way.”
Lu Qingshi closed her eyes slightly: “It’s different. If you don’t invest emotions, you won’t feel heartbroken when parting.”
She knew she wasn’t just talking about Yu Gui, but also about those past events.
Gu Yanzhi was silent for a moment: “You’re afraid.”
Her eyelashes trembled slightly.
Afraid of investing emotions only to have it end abruptly in the end, this might also be one of the reasons why she rejected herself.
Understanding this point, she still didn’t point it out, only called her name.
“Qingshi.”
“Hmm?”
“Even if everyone else leaves you, I won’t.”
More than one person had made such eternal promises in front of her, and more than one person had broken their word in front of her.
Regarding promises and such, it was enough just to listen. Lu Qingshi neither agreed nor disagreed. What she didn’t expect was that many, many years later, after the vicissitudes of fate, many people had come and gone by her side, but the only one left at the end was Gu Yanzhi.
At the night barbecue stall, even the heavy rain couldn’t dampen people’s enthusiasm for food. Xiang Nanke waved, ordering another dozen beers.
Jinzhou City had entered the plum rain season, with rain pattering loudly on the tarpaulin. The owner added another lamp to the tent, bringing some warmth. The soft light scattered on her brows and eyes, as if she herself was glowing just by sitting there.
Qin Xuan raised her glass: “Congratulations on your reinstatement.”
“Thank you,” Xiang Nanke clinked glasses with her lightly, with some worry in her eyes. She had barely touched the barbecue in front of her, just drinking continuously.
“What’s wrong?” she asked curiously.
After a long while, Xiang Nanke put down the empty beer bottle: “Let me tell you a story.”
“Until she was six years old, the little girl had never seen her father. In her memory, only her mother and grandmother were with her. Her mother said her father was a hero, but what kind of hero father would miss even kindergarten parent-teacher meetings? She had seen other children’s fathers, wearing green military uniforms, riding big horses and putting their little companions on their shoulders. She felt that was what a real hero should be like.”
“The little girl was about to start elementary school. On that day, her father finally came back to accompany her for registration. He wore dirty clothes, was unkempt, and had a scruffy beard. What kind of hero was this? The little girl felt embarrassed and let go of her father’s hand and ran away.”
“The next time she saw him was at the memorial service. Her father finally looked like a real hero, lying in the coffin wearing a brand new navy blue police uniform, covered with a bright five-star red flag. Finally, his portrait could be openly displayed in the center of the memorial hall…”
“His name was permanently engraved on the People’s Police Memorial, which was also the first time his real name was made public since he started his career.”
“Xiang Shiwen, sacrificed at the age of 32, his pre-death position — narcotics officer of the Third Team of Jinzhou City’s Drug Enforcement Squad, long-term undercover in the drug lords’ lair in the Golden Triangle.”
“The only time his identity was exposed was when he came back to see his daughter that time…”
Xiang Nanke lowered her eyes, gripping the glass tightly, with heartbreaking tears in her eyes.
Qin Xuan was stunned for a moment, not knowing what to say, and could only gently clink her glass: “I’m sorry, let me drink to you first.”
“It’s okay,” Xiang Nanke forced a smile, also raised her glass and drained it, slamming it heavily on the table.
“For a while, I hated myself very much, hated myself for why I had to let him come back. It wasn’t until I grew up and entered the police academy, saw the ugly states of various drug addicts, and even police undercover agents who infiltrated drug dealers’ lairs and got addicted to drugs, their careers ruined and families broken… Only then did I understand that I shouldn’t hate him, but the drug manufacturers and traffickers! They are the source of all evil!”
“So I will use any means necessary to solve cases.”
When she said this, her expression had calmed down, but that cold-to-the-bone feeling still inexplicably made her shiver.
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