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Ning Junyan had an operation in the afternoon. It was only when it was time to suture that he left the operating table, took off his blood-stained gloves and left the operating room.
In the corridor outside the operating room, Ning Junyan met a familiar doctor, nodded calmly, and walked toward the dressing room.
After he took a shower and changed clothes, Ning Junyan put on a white coat over his shirt, buttoned up while walking toward the elevator, and went back to the department office.
There was a private small refrigerator in his office, and there were only a few bottles of mineral water when he opened the refrigerator. He took a bottle, turned around and sat on the office chair. He unscrewed the bottle cap, raised his head and took a gulp.
He had the habit of drinking ice water all year round, and he couldn’t remember when he developed it.
After he drank the water, Ning Junyan sat on the chair and looked to the front indifferently. His slender fingers still had a warm touch, which was the touch of human flesh and blood through gloves, making him subconsciously rub his fingertips lightly.
The air conditioner was hot, and the hot water in the shower was also hot. Only the mineral water in his hand was still cold. He drank the last sip of water left at the bottom of the bottle and picked up the phone on the table.
It was almost six o’clock now.
It was at this time that Chen Yuncheng received a WeChat message from Ning Junyan, “Have you eaten yet?”
At that time, he was still watching an unfinished ball game and there was an inexplicable feeling that was interrupted, and he replied, “No.”
Ning Junyan immediately sent another message, “Wait for me.”
Chen Yuncheng was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to reply, and put the phone aside. It just so happened that the ball game on the TV was over. He stood up in the middle of the narrow counter, leaned on the counter and looked outside, but he didn’t see Ning Junyan’s Land Rover. So he sat back again, picked up the phone and replied, “Sure, I’ll buy you dinner.”
After waiting for more than 40 minutes, Ning Junyan parked his Land Rover in front of Chen Yuncheng’s small kiosk, opened the door and got off.
Chen Yuncheng stood up from the chair and greeted him at the counter with a smile, “Coming in?”
Ning Junyan replied only one word, “En.”
Chen Yuncheng said to him, “Sit down for a while.”
There was also a wooden stool in the store, just outside the counter, Ning Junyan sat down on the stool and looked up at Chen Yuncheng.
Chen Yuncheng asked him, “Do you smoke?”
Ning Junyan shook his head.
Chen Yuncheng asked again, “Just got off work?”
Ning Junyan replied, “Yes.”
Today, Ning Junyan wore a down jacket. Chen Yuncheng didn’t know what brand it was but only thought the model was nice, and it looked very thick. His down jacket was open, and he wore only a thin white shirt inside, and he didn’t seem to feel cold.
Chen Yuncheng leaned on the counter and said to him, “You didn’t tell me earlier that you are free today, so I can’t prepare in advance.”
Ning Junyan heard the words and asked, “Are you busy?”
There were only the two of them in the store, and no other customers were seen. Chen Yuncheng’s TV was always on, and it didn’t look like he was busy.
However, Chen Yuncheng smiled without changing his expression, and said, “I was quite busy in the afternoon, cleaning up this month’s bills.”
Ning Junyan nodded and asked again, “Are you done now?”
“I’m done,” Chen Yuncheng said, “What do you want to eat? I’ll treat you tonight.” After he finished speaking, he secretly prayed that Ning Junyan would never want to go to the high-end restaurant that night.
In the end, Ning Junyan said, “Anything is fine.”
Chen Yuncheng thought about it seriously, and said, “Why don’t you just eat here, I’ll go buy some food and come back, I also have a beer here, you can drink some wine.” He looked at Ning Junyan, wondering if the other party would mind.
Ning Junyan replied, “Okay.”
Chen Yuncheng went to a restaurant he frequented across the street and ordered a few dishes. He and Ning Junyan were inside the store and sat face to face at the counter for dinner.
Ning Junyan didn’t drink in the end, because he wanted to drive, and Chen Yuncheng only opened himself a bottle of beer.
“The taro chicken in this store is delicious,” Chen Yuncheng picked up a piece of taro with chopsticks and put it in his bowl, “I just don’t know if you’re used to eating it.”
“I’m used to eating everything,” Ning Junyan’s tone didn’t waver when he said this sentence.
Chen Yuncheng glanced at him subconsciously, hesitated for a while but still didn’t mention the past. It was just that he later found cucumbers in the side dish of taro chicken, and he was a little dazed, and asked Ning Junyan, “Are you still not eating cucumber?”
Ning Junyan looked up at him for a while before saying, “Do you remember?”
Chen Yuncheng smiled, “I still have a little impression,” he looked at Ning Junyan, “You can give me everything you don’t want to eat.”
This sentence was what he said to Ning Junyan when he was a child. He even remembered that when they were eating, Ning Junyan picked up the cucumbers in the bowl and threw them on the table because he didn’t eat cucumbers. The foster father that sat next to him raised his hand and gave Ning Junyan a slap in the face, and said grimly, “Pick it up and eat it.”
Chen Yuncheng held the chopsticks in one hand and the bowl in the other and didn’t dare to move. He peeked at Ning Junyan and saw that half of Ning Junyan’s face was quickly swollen, but he didn’t mean to be disobedient, so he stretched out his chopsticks and picked up the cucumber on the table and ate it.
“I like to eat cucumbers,” he said.
The foster father’s shrivelled mouth chewed on the rice and hummed, but said nothing.
Chen Yuncheng breathed a sigh of relief, then sneaked close to Ning Junyan’s ear and said to him, “You can give me whatever you don’t want to eat.”
At that time, Ning Junyan just glanced at him calmly.
Looking back now, Chen Yuncheng no longer felt the nervousness and anger he felt at the time, and he could even laugh.
Ning Junyan looked at him and suddenly asked, “Do you want whatever I give you?”
Chen Yuncheng wasn’t quite sure what his question meant, “What?”
Ning Junyan said, “It’s nothing, let’s eat.”
It was past eight o’clock in the evening after dinner.
Chen Yuncheng wiped the glass on the counter with a wet wipe, and at the same time peeked at Ning Junyan. He wanted to know if Ning Junyan had any intention of leaving.
Ning Junyan obviously did not.
Chen Yuncheng had to continue to find topics to chat with him, and asked him, “Why do you suddenly think of asking me for dinner today?”
Ning Junyan’s eyes kept falling on him, looking at his fingers holding the wet wipes, and said, “There is an operation in the afternoon.”
“Huh?” Chen Yuncheng didn’t understand what he meant.
Ning Junyan’s answer seemed to have nothing to do with his question, “It’s more troublesome.”
Chen Yuncheng asked, “Is it going well?”
Ning Junyan nodded.
Chen Yuncheng said, “That’s good.”
“Doing the surgery ……,” Ning Junyan said, “Requires a lot of concentration.”
Chen Yuncheng followed his words and said, “Yeah, that definitely requires full attention.”
Ning Junyan lowered his head and looked at his hand. He held the fingers of his right hand with his left hand. The fingertips recalled the touch of fresh blood, and said in a slightly colder tone, “I want to vent after that.”
Chen Yuncheng stopped cleaning the glass and leaned on the counter, “How d you want to vent?”
Ning Junyan raised his head to look at him but did not answer the question.
For some reason, the look in Ning Junyan’s eyes made Chen Yuncheng a little uncomfortable at that moment. Just when he was about to say something, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a voice from outside the store.
A little girl looked up at him and said, “I want to buy some bread.”
Chen Yuncheng’s store had the kind of bread that was sealed in plastic packaging and had a shelf life of two or three days.
He looked over the counter and found that the little girl outside was the girl he had seen stealing at the intersection before, and the cotton coat she was wearing had not been changed for many days.
Chen Yuncheng reached out and took a piece of bread and asked her, “This one?”
The girl nodded.
Chen Yuncheng handed it to her, “Let me treat you this.”
The girl was stunned for a moment, reached out to take it, and then said, “Then I’ll buy another one myself.”
Chen Yuncheng laughed when he heard the words, “Okay.”
Notes:
So the foster mother and father are actually 嚲匈 and 嚲爸 in Chinese which could also mean adoptive mother and father, and some may translate it as godmother and godfather.. But I settled on foster mother and father since the kiddos are not willingly given by their own biological parents for these people to raise