Chapter 28#
Chapter 28 Visiting the Sick and Peking Opera
The next day, Gu Chenzhou went to see He Hailou neither early nor late, exactly at nine o’clock as he told Wei Xiangjin yesterday.
But unexpectedly, at this time which was neither here nor there, besides He Hailou, there was actually another person sitting in the ward.
Seeing the old man sitting by the hospital bed suddenly, Gu Chenzhou was really surprised, but he didn’t forget his manners: “Uncle He, hello.” He was wondering why he didn’t see the guard outside, when he saw the old man sitting by the bed with some silver threads in his temples nodding. His face was resolute and sharp, and his eyes were bright and piercing, but the layers of wrinkles at the corners of his eyes made him look much older than his actual age—although his actual age was also over sixty:
“The people below just told me you came. Are you here to see Hailou?”
“Yes, Uncle He.” Gu Chenzhou spoke concisely and didn’t say much—He Nanshan had no direct descendants, and even his nephew He Hailou only came to the capital when he left three years ago. Without the friendship of three generations as a bridge, Gu Chenzhou, like others, mostly saw this high-ranking old man on TV. Now naturally, the less said, the fewer mistakes.
“Hailou is usually impetuous. I feel more at ease when he is with you.” He Nanshan said, “This time was quite good. Young people should do more serious things.”
Usually calm and composed, Gu Chenzhou was also speechless when he heard this sentence: How messed up must He Hailou be usually for He Nanshan to call camping ‘doing serious things’? He glanced at He Hailou on the hospital bed, but saw that the other party didn’t pay attention here at all, and was teasing a bald monkey tied with a chain on his own.
He Nanshan actually didn’t pay attention to He Hailou either. After explaining this sentence like assigning a task, he stood up with his cane and walked out of the ward.
Now Gu Chenzhou couldn’t just stand and watch. He hurried forward to support the other party: “Uncle, I’ll see you off.”
He Nanshan waved his hand to indicate that it was not necessary: “You guys chat.”
At this time, the guard also walked in from outside, stood familiarly beside He Nanshan, and escorted the old man out of the ward.
Gu Chenzhou then turned his attention to He Hailou.
Not seen for a day, He Hailou’s face no longer looked sickly. He was wearing a blue and white hospital gown, half sitting and half leaning on the pillow. The surrounding cabinets and sofas were basically occupied by various fruit baskets. Gu Chenzhou inevitably piled the fruit basket he brought on top.
“Does Young Master He feel better?” He walked to the bedside and asked. His gaze moved to the particularly eye-catching pink monkey that was jumping up and down in the ward, being teased by He Hailou.
…This should be the monkey He Hailou brought back.
Gu Chenzhou looked at the pink monkey whose hair all over its body had been shaved off, leaving only a small tuft of yellow hair on the top of its head, thinking uncertainly.
“Couldn’t be better.” He Hailou held a large purple grape in his hand and dangled it in front of the monkey’s eyes. The pink monkey’s neck was tied to the corner of the cabinet by a thin chain. It just jumped onto the bedside table but couldn’t take a step further towards the hospital bed. He Hailou’s finger was placed in the seam between the hospital bed and the bedside table. Every time the monkey’s claws were about to reach it, he shrank back slightly. When the monkey was discouraged and withdrew its claws, he handed the fruit forward a little bit… After a few times, the monkey hated it so much that its teeth were ground flat. Finally, it ignored the food in He Hailou’s hand and directly bared its teeth and claws at the person on the bed.
This time He Hailou was satisfied. He picked an apple casually and threw it at the monkey’s head, then turned to look at Gu Chenzhou: “Haven’t thanked Young Master Gu for taking care of me in the past two days.”
“These words—” Gu Chenzhou smiled, “I invited Young Master He, and I prepared the route and items. Finally, I let Young Master He enter the hospital. Forget about thanking.”
He Hailou raised the corner of his lips, with some casual romance: “Young Master Gu has too high requirements for himself. After the day of hunting, I remember what I did, but not very clearly…” He looked at Gu Chenzhou.
“Young Master He doesn’t remember?” Gu Chenzhou said, “Didn’t do anything, fired two shots, jumped a big step.”
He Hailou seemed to be thinking about something and didn’t answer immediately.
Coming to see the other party this time was mainly a formal attitude. Gu Chenzhou achieved his goal and didn’t care much about what He Hailou was thinking at the moment. He just said: “Since Young Master He is fine, I’ll leave first.”
“Take care, Young Master Gu.” He Hailou said.
Gu Chenzhou nodded and turned to walk out, but ran into a young nurse rushing in at the door!
The thick carpet absorbed the sound of footsteps, and the wall at the corner blocked the figure. Gu Chenzhou didn’t have time to turn sideways until the tray held by the nurse touched his chest.
“Oh my!” A low cry sounded with the tilting of the tray, and the prepared medicine on it was scattered all over the floor in this collision.
“Are you okay?” Gu Chenzhou reached out to support the other party. The nurse in white seemed to be frightened by the sudden collision, and her whole arm was stiff.
“No, no problem,” The nurse hurriedly squatted down to pick up the medicine on the ground, “Sorry, sir.”
Gu Chenzhou just glanced at it, nodded slightly to He Hailou who looked over following the sound, then bypassed the nurse squatting at the door and continued forward.
He walked a distance, reached into his jacket pocket and took out something. It was two small white pills. He looked at them in his palm for a while, hooked the corner of his lips, and threw them in when passing the trash can.
Back in the ward where He Hailou stayed.
The nurse carrying the medicine had replaced the medicine and was standing tremblingly by the bed to change the infusion for He Hailou. He Hailou leaned on the bed and turned on the TV, but he was not watching any program, but a surveillance video of the corridor outside his ward. This surveillance video was very short, only three minutes, from Gu Chenzhou colliding with someone at the door of the ward to his figure disappearing at the corner of the stairs.
He Hailou watched the back figure throwing away the pills without hesitation in the video for a while, got out of bed and walked to the window.
The nurse who was inserting the needle into He Hailou’s blood vessel was startled: “Young Master He, wait, still—”
Answering her was He Hailou’s action of directly pulling out the infusion tube on his hand. He took out a cigarette from his pocket, walked to the window and looked down. Gu Chenzhou just walked out of the building. He was walking leisurely a moment ago, but suddenly quickened his pace the next moment.
He Hailou’s gaze moved with the figure below, seeing the other party hug a person in front, and that person…
“Didn’t expect it, right?” Wei Xiangjin stood in front of the hospital building and smiled proudly at Gu Chenzhou, but after smiling for a while, he was suddenly a little puzzled, “It’s only ten past nine now, right? Weren’t you going to see He Hailou? Why did you come out so quickly?”
The person who talked on the phone yesterday was standing in front of him today. Gu Chenzhou was in a much better mood: “Just an attitude. Did I really chat with him about everything? But why did you come back suddenly?”
“Isn’t it because of what you told me yesterday?” Wei Xiangjin said, “The team happened to have a task to report up, so I fought for it temporarily.”
“How long can you stay?” Gu Chenzhou asked.
Wei Xiangjin thought for a while: “Really not long, just signing. I fought for it specially just to say this matter face to face. I have to go back tomorrow.”
“Okay, have you finished your business?” Gu Chenzhou asked.
“Came to find you as soon as I arrived.” Wei Xiangjin shrugged.
“I drove here, just right to send you—let’s have a drink after finishing business.” Gu Chenzhou said.
Wei Xiangjin nodded, and inadvertently looked up at the inpatient building while turning around with Gu Chenzhou.
Gu Chenzhou noticed: “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing… I felt like someone was looking down.” Wei Xiangjin said, “Shouldn’t be important.”
Gu Chenzhou thought of the scene just now. He smiled slightly and put his hands in his pockets: “It is not important.”
The temporary return of a grandson working outside is a matter worthy of attention in any family.
Gu Chenzhou and Wei Xiangjin finished their business and had no time to have a drink as they said before. They went to Old Master Wei’s place for lunch, and then accompanied the two old people for an afternoon. When they were about to leave, Wei Chengbo’s call had already chased them. The two ran from Zhengde Garden to Tianrui Garden again. When they entered the house, it was just time for dinner. After dinner, it was time for Wei Xiangjin to talk to Wei Chengbo. Separated by a door, Gu Chenzhou stood outside the study and heard Wei Chengbo scolding Wei Xiangjin like a grandson with successive dirty words. He grinned, returned to Wei Xiangjin’s room, turned on the computer and played several games of StarCraft. When the time on the computer reached nine o’clock, Wei Xiangjin pushed the door in.
“Back?” Gu Chenzhou directly quit the unfinished battle.
Wei Xiangjin looked at Gu Chenzhou a little dazedly: “…I need healing. He scolded me for two and a half hours, without repeating a word, fuck!”
Gu Chenzhou coughed twice: “I’ll heal you! Say it, what do you want me to do?”
Hearing this, Wei Xiangjin immediately sat on the computer chair steadily, and moved his mouth towards the corner very arrogantly.
Gu Chenzhou walked to the direction Wei Xiangjin indicated, opened the violin case, took out the violin and bow, put the violin on his shoulder, tried the sound and asked: “What do you want to listen to?”
Wei Xiangjin said sadly: “Want to listen to Peking Opera.”
This time Gu Chenzhou also said fuck: “I learned the violin. You want me to play Peking Opera with the violin?”
Wei Xiangjin spread his hands: “You sang it when you were young too.” This was really not fake. Yu Yayu was an old opera fan and loved to listen to opera from time to time. When Wei Xiangjin was young, Wei Chengbo was busy with work, so Wei Xiangjin often followed Yu Yayu to listen to opera everywhere. As a result, later, the Wei family found that Wei Xiangjin had an unusual liking for Peking Opera. Not only did he sing a section from time to time, but he also wrote in the composition “My Ideal” that he wanted to be a Wudan in the future. Only then did they become alert and pay attention, and quickly corrected the child.
When Gu Chenzhou came to the Wei family later, the Wei family didn’t let Wei Xiangjin follow Yu Yayu out to listen to opera much anymore. But after listening for three to five years, it was impossible to change immediately. In the first half year Gu Chenzhou was in the Wei family, he often saw Wei Xiangjin dragging his tone, taking steps and singing a sentence or two… And at that time he found it interesting and shouted a few times too… But this was indeed too long ago.
“Forgot long ago.” Gu Chenzhou said to Wei Xiangjin affirmatively.
Wei Xiangjin looked up at the time, “This is easy, you count to five.”
Gu Chenzhou immediately became vigilant and reached out to take out his mobile phone to check the time. But before he put his palm on the phone body, the sound of gongs and drums rang on the first floor.
“Report time on the hour, fair to all.” Wei Xiangjin said with a smile, tapping the beat gently on the table at the same time.
Gu Chenzhou listened carefully for a while. It was the play of Mu Guiying Taking Command.
“It’s not that I stand by and ignore the national crisis, seeing the commander’s seal brings back so many past feelings—” Wei Xiangjin hummed along with the voice, but he couldn’t sing Qingyi, so he just read two sentences flatly.
Gu Chenzhou glanced at Wei Xiangjin, put down the violin in his hand: “Suddenly hearing the golden drum sound and the painting horn shaking, arousing my ambition to break the Tianmen formation.” He sang again, “Thinking of the majestic appearance on the peach blossom horse back then, enemy blood splashing on the pomegranate skirt—”
Wei Xiangjin’s eyes fell out. Just as he was about to say something, he heard Wei Chengbo cough loudly outside.
“Uncle.” Gu Chenzhou quickly stopped his voice.
Wei Chengbo walked into the room from the corridor, nodded to Gu Chenzhou with a relaxed expression, but when he turned to Wei Xiangjin, his face was not so kind: “What were you singing just now?”
Wei Xiangjin didn’t put away the smile on his face for a moment.
Gu Chenzhou: “Uncle…”
Wei Chengbo: “Told you long ago you have no talent! Look how flat the first sentence was sung! The latter sentence was sung by some newcomer, right? Not bad.” Having listened to opera with Yu Yayu for decades, Wei Chengbo could distinguish whether the refrigerator was cooling well or not even if he didn’t act as a refrigerator to cool.
Wei Xiangjin suddenly couldn’t stop the smile on his face.
Gu Chenzhou: …
Wei Chengbo said again: “But let me tell you, if you dare to learn from others to chase some actor, I will break your legs!”
Wei Xiangjin laughed silly.
Gu Chenzhou finally: …