82 | Crazy Christmas
Guess who it is. There’s a prize if you’re right!

“You home? Any problems on the way back? Mm, nothing happened, that’s good.”

Shark sat at the entrance to his barbecue shop, smoking as he spoke on the phone. “Yeah, I told her, but nothing too specific. I just said that you were dealing with some things lately that were very troublesome, so you probably won’t contact her for awhile. I told her to study and get better, and don’t worry too much about you.”

Gu Mingxi sounded a bit hoa.r.s.e. “What did she say?”

“What would she say? She cried, she cried like a maniac. She cried for an hour, just standing on the street. No matter what I said, she wouldn’t stop. In the end, she finally stopped, but I couldn’t bring you up again. If I mentioned anything, she would start wailing again. It even made me want to cry.”

Gu Mingxi, “…”

“Kid, as for you, what is there that you can’t get through.” Shark was about to console him, but Gu Mingxi cut him off. “Yeah, Shark, there’s nothing that we can’t get over. So Pang Qian will get better. Don’t worry.”

Gu Mingxi returned to Li Han’s side, back to the small rental house in the provincial capital of S City. His life immediately returned to those mundane pa.s.sing days that smelled of hospital disinfectant.

When they stayed in the hospital, sometimes there were no relatives available to visit and take care of Li Han. Gu Mingxi spent money to hire a caretaker. After all, he was male and he didn’t have arms. He really couldn’t stick around and take care of Li Han. When they weren’t in the hospital, if Li Chun or Huang Lingli didn’t come, Gu Mingxi would take care of the things around the house.

He bought groceries, he washed the clothes, and even prepared food to suit Li Han’s current diet. He was naturally slower at all these tasks than most people would be, but what could he do. He just had to get up early in the morning and start doing these things slowly, one by one and overcome them, one by one. If there were truly things he couldn’t handle, Gu Mingxi would ask the neighbor to help out. Their neighbor was a very kind-hearted older woman, and seeing Gu Mingxi in this state really made her heart hurt. Usually, she would be lend a helping hand. And so, day by day, things pa.s.sed like this.

Li Han’s insurance reimburs.e.m.e.nt had already been refunded to her account. After the first reimburs.e.m.e.nt, Gu Mingxi figured out a new method. He told Shark that after each quarter, he would mail all the relevant information to Shark. Then Shark would help him to go E City to submit the papers for a reimburs.e.m.e.nt.

He’d brought back 100 thousand dollars from E City, 70 thousand from Gu Guoxiang, 20 thousand from Pang Shuisheng, and 10 thousand from Shark. Gu Mingxi recorded all these numbers very carefully in his account book, along with the money that Li Han’s relatives and friends had given them.

These were all favors, and they had to be repaid.

The fees for medical treatment were like a bottomless pit. One container of IV medicine cost 500 dollars. One IV a day, and the patient had to pay for all of it. Family members of other patients all told Gu Mingxi that this medicine was really good, so he could only bite the bullet and buy it for Li Han.

One of the patients also introduced Li Han to a traditional medicine doctor in Kunming. They said that this doctor was very skilled. There were many patients whose doctors said that they couldn’t be saved, but after seeing this traditional doctor and taking medicine for two months, they were living well.

Gu Mingxi didn’t really believe these words too much, but Li Chun and Li Mu were both convinced by this brilliant sounding propaganda and both invested in this doctor. Li Chun immediately said she would accompany Li Han to Kunming, as if going there to take some traditional medicine would cure her then and there. Gu Mingxi couldn’t talk them out of it, and ended up buying three tickets to accompany them.

This trip to Kunming took three days and two nights. They spent 80 thousand dollars out of their own pockets. Li Han ordered three months of traditional medicine, and the doctor would send it over every half month.

Inside the rental house, there was always the scent of incense in the air. Gu Mingxi was responsible for brewing the medicine for Li Han. He’d already become very familiar with his feet in the kitchen. He could even clean a fish with his two feet. As an effect of learning those skills though, his feet were covered in scars, big and small. Some were from holding a knife, some from cutting vegetables, some were burns from pots, and there were even sc.r.a.ped from picking up broken dishware.

He was already accustomed to such things, so he had bandages prepared, along with burn medication and gauze. When he hurt his foot, he would rinse it off with water and then apply medicine. He rarely asked anyone to help him.

Li Han looked a lot better after the surgery. When they went to the hospital for IV drips afterwards, all the other patients would say that her surgery was a success, that Heaven really helps those who are worthy. Li Han chuckled as she leaned against Gu Mingxi. She said to them, “Of course I haven’t lived enough, my son still hasn’t graduated from college yet. Even if I must die, I should at least wait until after my Mingxi gets married and has children. I have to make sure there’s a good woman to take care of Mingxi before I can leave with an easy heart.”

By her side, Gu Mingxi spoke up unhappily, “Mom, what are you saying.”

“What was I saying?” Li Han reached out to tug on Gu Mingxi’s empty s.h.i.+rt sleeve. She smiled and said, “My son doesn’t have arms, but look at how handsome he is. Tall and smart. If he had arms, there would be countless girls chasing him.”

After her sickness, the often said silly things. Gu Mingxi saw the other patients with an expression like a smile, but not quite a smile, and he silently turned away.

Everything seemed to be changing for the better. But at the end of November, at Li Han’s checkup four months after her surgery, the CT scan showed that there was another 3 cm tumor in her liver. That meant the cancer had relapsed.

 

Christmas Eve 2004 just happened to be a Friday, so her roommates wanted to go out. Yang Lu wanted to drag Pang Qian out, but she didn’t agree.

“Give me some face. I told Sheng Feng that I’d definitely bring out you.” Yang Lu pulled at Pang Qian’s elbow, swaying back and forth. “Come on, let’s go.”

“I said I’m not going!” Pang Qian was very annoyed. It was the first time she’d gotten angry at Yang Lu. “Why do you keep helping Sheng Feng?! What do you get from it? I already said that I don’t like him! I said that there’s a boy that I like! I already told Sheng Feng so clearly. Does he not understand? Even if he doesn’t understand, do you not understand either?!”

Yang Lu was dumbfounded, and their two other roommates were also very startled. And then Yang Lu cried. She wiped her tears away and walked out of the room.

Xue Wenwen chased after her. Wu Feiyan sat down next to Pang Qian and said, “Alright, Crab. I know that you’re in a bad mood, bit don’t spray your fire at us. If you want to get angry, get angry at Sheng Feng. Or why don’t you go find your missing boyfriend.”

Pang Qian felt regret and gloom, her face scrunched in a scowl. Wu Feiyan continued, “To be honest, Sheng Feng really has perseverance. If it were someone else, the boy would have let go a long time ago or they girl would have already agreed. But you two still haven’t found a resolution even after half a year. But I understand you. You don’t like him. No matter how good he is, it doesn’t matter.”

Pang Qian looked over at her gratefully. Wu Feiyan said, “But still, you shouldn’t say that to Yang Lu. You really haven’t realized? Yang Lu… She’s kind of interested in Sheng Feng.”

“Ah?!” Pang Qian was shocked.

Wu Feiyan said, “Sheng Feng said before that he wanted to find a girlfriend from E City. After graduation, they could stay in Shanghai together if they wanted, or they could go back home if they wanted. They could even go off and get married. Lu Lu is from Shanghai and she’s an only child, so she definitely won’t be able to follow Sheng Feng back to E City. So she didn’t say anything. But everyone in the dorm is a girl, we can feel it, right?”

Pang Qian was struck. She didn’t feel anything at all. She just knew that Yang Lu had pushed Sheng Feng into her sights. At her first sign of trouble, Yang Lu would notify Sheng Feng.

Pang Qian decided to go find Yang Lu to apologize. She didn’t dare to mention about her liking him, but she agreed to go out with them. Yang Lu’s tears turned into smiles, and she immediately sent a text to Sheng Feng.

Three boys from the same cla.s.s were waiting for them at the bottom of the dorm. When Pang Qian arrived there, she could feel her head exploding. There was Sheng Feng, holding a teddy bear that was half the size of a person. The other two boys shuffled over to her.

Pang Qian felt irritated, especially with Yang Lu beside her. She glanced over at Yang Lu, but her face didn’t relay anything out of the ordinary. Pang Qian didn’t want this bear at all, but they were all standing at the dorm and it was Christmas. If she didn’t accept it, that would be too petty.

Just as she was feeling strangled to death, Pang Qian’s phone rang. It was as if her reinforcements had arrived. She picked up and called excitedly, “Hey!”

Note: If the author wants to write random words in English, that’s fine. I’ll carry them over (in italics). But oh, it sounds weird.

“Merry!” A young man’s voice rang in her ears. It sounded very good. “Guess who it is. There’s a prize if you’re right!”

“Ah!” Pang Qian called out loudly, startling the cla.s.smates beside her. The person on the phone asked, “What is it? You scared me to death! Crab, are you at school? I’m at the school gate. I’m spending Christmas in Shanghai. Let’s meet up!”

Reinforcement had really come! Pang Qian had never been so brazen before. Face filled with emotion, she said, “Dearest! You’re finally here! I missed you so much! I’ll wait for you at the bottom of the dorm. Hurry, hurry!”

The person on the other end of the phone, “…”

Pang Qian gave him the address and then hung up. The others looked at each other with dismay. Sheng Feng’s face fell. Pang Qian said, “I’m sorry, my boyfriend’s here. I can’t go out with you guys.”

No one motioned to leave, and Yang Lu just watched Pang Qian quietly. A moment later, a tall boy walked over leisurely.

He was wearing a black jacket. He looked just like a model, with a cool hairstyle and handsome face. He walked over to Pang Qian and grabbed onto her shoulders. Laughing, he said, “Ey, you’re really pretty now.”

Pang Qian followed along and looked at him shyly. She turned to the rest of the group and said, “Let me introduce you guys. This is my boyfriend, Xie Yi.”

Xie Yi smiled. “You can call me In.”

Xie Yi drove Pang Qian to a bar. He’d come with some friends to play in Shanghai. There were boys and girls, but Pang Qian didn’t know any of them. She couldn’t join in their conversations, so she just sat quietly on the side. She didn’t drink alcohol. She just sat there on her own, drinking juice.

Xie Yi saw she wasn’t happy, just sitting there the whole time. He asked, “What’s wrong? You don’t seem like the Crab that I know.”

Pang Qian smiled. “It’s nothing. I’m happy to see you.”

“The one who was wearing the gla.s.ses, is he pursuing you? Little Crab’s doing well on the market.” Xie Yi was wearing a a v-neck, knitted cardigan that showed off his chest. Pang Qian felt that he looked very good. She said, “Even if my market’s good, it’s not better than yours.”

“Don’t change the topic. Tell me, why are you unhappy?”

“…”

“How are you and Gu Mingxi now?”

It would have been fine if he didn’t mention Gu Mingxi. Once he did, Pang Qian’s tears just started to fall. Xie Yi was caught off guard by her crying, and quickly found some napkins for her.

After sobbing and sniffling for a long time, Pang Qian stammered out her story to Xie Yi. When he heard everything, he asked, “You haven’t contacted him in the past three months then?”

“He canceled his phone number,” Pang Qian said. “How am I supposed to contact him?”

“Isn’t he studying at B University?”

“Yeah. I called B University but they wouldn’t say anything. I want to find him, but I don’t know how to. I know his grandma’s address since I sent him something before.”

Xie Yi thought for a moment, and then suddenly asked, “Did you bring your ID card with you?”

Pang Qian was startled, “Yeah.”

He grabbed her hand and pulled her up, and then he tossed her coat to her. “Let’s go! It’s easy to find someone. I don’t believe that we won’t be able to find him.”

Pang Qian asked with surprised, “Where are we going?”

Xie Yi smiled, “Didn’t I say you’d get a prize if you guessed right? I’ll take you to go find him!”

Xie Yi drove Pang Qian to the airport and then bought two tickets to S City. Pang Qian’s mind was blank as she followed him onto the plane. At 2 AM, the two of them arrived at the S City Airport.

When they walked out of the airport, brightness s.h.i.+ned into Pang Qian’s eyes. It was clearly the middle of the night, but why did she feel that it was so bright? The world was covered in a layer of white. There’d been a big snow storm in S City.