novelaction Chapter 1353 Yun Rui Juanchen: Don’t get involved in Gu’s family affairs
Chapter 1353 Yun Rui Juanchen: Don’t get involved in Gu’s family affairs
At three o'clock in the morning in the hospital corridor, the smell of disinfectant mixed with the cool night breeze filled the empty corridor.
The green light of the emergency light was like a layer of gauze, wrapping a figure in a black hoodie. The footsteps were as light as a cat, and every step was in the blind spot of the surveillance camera.
He stopped in front of the glass door of the VIP ward area, his fingertips pausing for two seconds on the cold metal handle.
The nurse on duty in the security room was dozing off on the table. The blue light from the fluorescent screen reflected her drooping eyelashes. The work badge on her chest was swaying, and the smiling face in the photo looked particularly abrupt in the silence.
He leaned slightly to the side, his hat pulled lower, the half of his face exposed gleaming coldly in the green light. He fished a small decoder from his pocket and pressed it gently against the electronic lock. The soft beep was drowned out by the distant sirens of an ambulance.
When he pushed the door, the creaking sound of the hinges startled the sensor light at the end of the corridor, and the warm yellow light instantly pinned his shadow to the wall - very tall, with broad and upright shoulders, like a silent tree.
Ye Muxue's ward was at the very back, and the hum of the ECMO machine was particularly clear in the silence.
A figure stood at the door, looking inside through the glass. The old lady was lying on the hospital bed, the oxygen mask on her face had been removed, and there was still some unwiped ointment at the corner of her mouth. It was her perennial cheilitis. Gu Yunxi used to joke that she looked like she had "stolen jam."
His fingers gently stroked the glass, stopping at the old lady's gray temples.
Pinned there was a small pearl hairpin, a gift that Qi Ruixiang and Gu Yunxi had picked out for her last birthday. The old lady smiled so hard her eyes narrowed into slits and said, "You have such good taste."
The monitor suddenly beeped, and the green heart rate curve jumped and then returned to being flat.
The figure took a half step back, bumping into the metal cart behind him. The crisp sound of the iodine bottle rolling down sent ripples through the corridor. The cough of the nurse on duty came from a distance, and he immediately dodged sideways into the shadow of the emergency passage.
He waited until the footsteps faded before re-emerging and heading towards the next ward. Gu Mingcheng was still unconscious, the white mist from the ventilator rising slowly in the moonlight, like an old man's breathing.
There is an enamel cup on the bedside table with the words "Model Worker" printed on the cup. It was an award that Gu Mingcheng won when he was young. He always likes to use it to make strong tea, saying that "it is more refreshing than the coffee you young people drink."
The figure's gaze swept across the ward and landed on the wheelchair in the corner.
For some reason, a scene of mutual support immediately flashed through my mind.
Gu Mingcheng pushed Ye Muxue for a walk in the yard. The old man's back was already very hunched, but he insisted on pushing the wheel himself, saying, "I'm an old woman, and I'm in pain myself."
The phone vibrated in my pocket, and the screen lit up with the name "Xiaotang" followed by a cat avatar.
He flicked off the screen, and the temperature of his fingertips suddenly grew cold. Yang Xiaotang's late pregnancy symptoms were becoming increasingly severe. Tonight, before bed, she'd said, "I keep dreaming of Mom making soup for me in the kitchen." He coaxed her by saying, "It's just Nian Nian missing Grandma," but he didn't mention that he'd already asked someone to check the hospital's visitor list.
The elevator in the hallway dinged open, and a cleaner entered, wheeling a disinfection cart. The figure immediately turned and headed for the stairwell. As he passed the nurses' station, he caught a glimpse of the digital clock on the wall—3:40. It was still two hours before Yang Xiaotang's early wake-up time, plenty of time for him to rush back as if nothing had happened.
Arriving at the hospital entrance, the morning mist was thick. He lowered the brim of his hat and blended into the crowd delivering breakfast. His black hoodie gradually emerged in the orange morning light, and Qi Ruixiang's face flashed in the moonlight.
On the passenger seat of the car sat a thermos containing the lotus seed soup Yang Xiaotang had been harping on all night. As he started the car, the hospital building in the rearview mirror resembled a silent behemoth, devouring the night and the unspoken words.
In fact, when he first received the news about the Gu family, he was installing the crib guardrail. The screwdriver fell to the ground with a dull thud, hitting the freshly laid crawling mat. When Yang Xiaotang asked him what happened, he picked it up and said, "My hand slipped." But when she turned around, he had been staring blankly at the instructions for half an hour...
It's not that he didn't react, it's that he couldn't react. Yang Xiaotang's fetal heart rate had just stabilized, and Yang Bin's eyes were still scrutinizing him. At this critical juncture, any concern for the Gu family could be interpreted as "unforgettable feelings." He couldn't afford to gamble, and he couldn't afford to lose...
When he opened the gate, Yang Xiaotang was standing in the corridor, sick from morning sickness. Yang Bin was beside her, patting her back with a cup of water. The old man saw him and frowned, "Where have you been?"
"Buy breakfast." Qi Ruixiang raised the bag in his hand, his smile natural as if he had practiced it a thousand times. "Xiaotang said she wanted to drink the soy milk from the shop in the south of the city."
Yang Xiaotang took the thermos bucket and felt his cold hand touch her fingertips. She was stunned for a moment: "Why is it so cold?"
"It's foggy this morning, a bit cold." Qi Ruixiang pulled his hand back and tidied up her hair that was messed up by the wind. "Come in quickly, don't catch a cold."
Yang Bin looked at his back and suddenly said, "Don't get involved in Gu family affairs."
Qi Ruixiang paused, without looking back: "I know."
As he entered the kitchen, he stuffed the unopened package of soy milk and fried dough sticks into the trash can. Amid the rustling of the plastic bag, he seemed to hear the ECMO machine in the hospital corridor again, like a fine needle piercing the softest part of his memory.
Yang Xiaotang sat at the dining table, sipping lotus seed soup. Sunlight filtered through the window lattice onto her slightly swollen belly, casting a warm glow. "Rui Xiang," she smiled, her eyes curved into crescents. "I just had a good dream. I dreamed that Nian Nian could call me daddy."
Qi Ruixiang walked over, sat down beside her, and gently placed his hand on her belly. The little one cooperated and kicked, not with much force, but like a small stone, it sent gentle ripples through his heart.
"Then he will definitely follow you, sweet talker."
"No, whatever." Yang Xiaotang pinched a lotus seed and fed it to his mouth. "Were you worried about something last night? I saw you standing on the balcony smoking in the middle of the night."
Qi Ruixiang opened his mouth to take it, the sweetness of the lotus seeds melting on his tongue. "No, I was just thinking about the color of the baby's room. Do you think light blue is more suitable for a boy than light yellow?"
"I think they all look good." Yang Xiaotang leaned on his shoulder, her voice soft, "As long as it's what you choose, I like it."
The morning light climbed onto the dining table, overlapping their shadows. Qi Ruixiang looked at the wedding photo on the wall. Yang Xiaotang was smiling brightly in the photo, and his own eyes were gentle enough.
But only he knew that, where he turned and couldn't see, there was a figure in a black hoodie, still standing in the hospital corridor, looking at the two closed ward doors, like a sentinel abandoned in time.
Breakfast stalls were set up one after another at the entrance of the community. The shouts, bicycle bells, and children's laughter mixed together like a noisy song.
Qi Ruixiang picked up a spoon and served Yang Xiaotang a bowl of lotus seed soup. The steam blurred the lenses of his glasses and also blurred the complex emotions that flashed through his eyes.
Some farewells are destined to be completed late at night. Some concerns can only be hidden in the shadow of turning around. All he can do now is to hold the hand of the person in front of him tightly, letting the warmth of this bowl of lotus seed soup overshadow all the unspoken thoughts.
In the hospital's VIP ward, a nurse was wiping Gu Mingcheng's body. Suddenly, the old man's fingers moved, and his fingertips traced the bed sheet, as if writing a name.
The curve on the monitor jumped and then returned to stability, as if it was just a silent sigh that dissipated in the morning mist.