Seeing this message, Chen Zhao’s feelings were mixed and complicated.
He hadn’t expected that at this critical juncture, the very first person to learn about his illness and care for him would actually be Qin Er.
However, he wasn’t in the mood to take medicine right now and just intended to brush him off perfunctorily.
Wanwan: 【I’ve taken it, Brother. Don’t worry.】
Just as he was about to toss his phone aside, another message arrived.
QE: 【Send me a picture of the pill box.】
Huh?!
Chen Zhao rolled out of bed, walked over to the desk, and grabbed his backpack. He pulled out the box of Omeprazole from inside, the one Qin Er had given him yesterday, which he hadn’t taken yet.
Damn it, how on earth did Qin Er guess that he hadn’t taken it at all? Does the man have foresight or something?
Fearing that the other party would keep asking questions, Chen Zhao quickly popped out a pill, swallowed it, and took a photo to send over.
Wanwan: 【Look, Brother, I didn’t lie to you (Smug Cat)】
QE: 【Mm.】
Chen Zhao let out a sigh of relief and lay back down on the bed.
Right now, however, he felt that his stomach no longer hurt. It felt very comfortable, the medication was taking effect.
Chen Zhao turned over. The chirping of summer cicadas outside felt like natural white noise, lulling him into a peaceful sleep.
The next day, Chen Zhao slept until broad daylight around noon. His whole body felt refreshed, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had slept so comfortably.
He picked up his phone to check for new messages and discovered an unread call from Master Zhong’s son from an hour ago.
Chen Zhao quickly called back. Master Zhong’s son picked up. “Is this Chen Zhao?”
“Yes!”
“I asked around for you. My father’s apprentice is in Yulin Town. He should be in his seventies by now. I managed to get his address, so you can go there and try your luck.”
Yulin Town was located right in Jiangcheng. Chen Zhao opened the map to search for it, it was a relatively remote village, but the fact that it was still within Jiangcheng was already very fortunate.
Grandma Chen called him from downstairs to eat. Chen Zhao called back in response and headed out his room to go downstairs.
Today, there was no annoying person eating at the table with him, which made Chen Zhao very happy. Combined with the fact that his stomach wasn’t hurting, whereas before he could only manage less than half a bowl of rice, he ate a whole bowl today.
Chen Zhao chewed his food, swallowed it, and said, “Grandma, I found news of Master Zhong’s apprentice. He’s in Yulin Town. I’ll head out this afternoon.”
Zhao Yixin nodded. “Going to Yulin Town requires taking the high-speed rail, right? Are you staying overnight there today?”
Chen Zhao: “Mm, I’ll stay for one night and come back. Grandma, wait for me to bring back some Yulin Town specialties.”
Zhao Yixin chuckled. “Even if you bring back air, I’ll still be happy.”
After finishing his meal, Chen Zhao set off. He packed his luggage and headed to the high-speed rail station. Upon arrival, he took a photo and sent it to Chen Meng.
Shiri: 【Sis, I found out the master who can repair pocket watches is in Yulin Town. I’m setting off right now!】
Mengmeng: 【You really are working too hard. You’re stopping at nothing just to make Qin Er fall in love with you.】
Shiri: 【That’s a must (Proud Cat). Once Qin Er falls in love with me, just watch how I mess with him. That’s the price he pays for being the third party!】
Mengmeng: 【As expected, when people do bad things, they don’t care about the trouble at all, hahaha.】
Shiri: 【Talk later, I’m boarding.】
The broadcast was currently announcing ticket checks for the train. Chen Zhao pulled out his ID card, scanned it, and entered the station.
Throughout the morning, Qin Er was extremely busy.
One coronary stent implantation surgery after another required his utmost concentration.
The shadowless lamp shone brightly overhead, and everyone was clad in surgical scrubs.
Inserting the guide wire via radial artery puncture, the angiography catheter followed the guide wire into the coronary arteries of the heart. Injecting contrast agent allowed them to view the narrowed artery. Through the guide wire, a stent was placed into the narrow spot to expand it, restoring most of the blood supply to the heart’s coronary arteries.
This was the most common surgery performed in the cardiology department, as well as the most effective surgical treatment for patients with coronary heart disease.
Qin Er was the top specialist in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine and was extremely proficient at this type of surgery. Doing more than ten procedures in a single morning went very smoothly.
During a brief noon break, he went to the operating room cafeteria.
The cafeteria was filled with doctors and nurses wearing scrub suits, chatting and laughing loudly over their meals.
Qin Er used a disinfectant wipe to thoroughly clean the table and chair, opened his self-brought lunch box and utensils, and sat down. Several nearby doctors greeted him, he responded casually and tapped his phone screen.
Having not checked his phone for four hours, the chat box was completely empty. The girl’s WeChat sat quietly inside, without even a single period sent over.
Qin Er frowned, feeling an inexplicable emotion in his heart. Exiting WeChat, he lowered his head and ate a bite of food. Just then, his phone rang.
Thinking it was a message from Chen Wan, he opened it only to find it was from his mother, Qin Fang.
Qin Fang: 【Come home for blind dates this weekend. I’ve picked out several girls for you, they are all from prestigious families, well-educated, and sensible.】
Qin Er scrolled up. She had sent over a dozen pictures for him to choose from.
With a satirical smile at the corner of his mouth, he didn’t reply to Qin Fang. Instead, he set her chat to “Do Not Disturb” in the upper right corner, knowing that if she didn’t get a response, a barrage of messages would flood in shortly.
Exiting Qin Fang’s chat box, he saw the girl’s WeChat again. Qin Er tapped into it and scrolled up and down twice.
Today, the girl was unusually quiet, not calling him “Brother” at every turn as she usually did.
Staring blankly for a long while, Qin Er realized that he had zoned out for a moment.
This wasn’t like his usual self.
Qin Er closed his eyes and mentally recited cardiac vascular anatomy several times to calm himself down.
An hour later, Chen Zhao arrived at Yulin Town.
The infrastructure in Yulin Town was somewhat old, featuring traditional Chinese style architecture along with small bridges and flowing streams along the way. Possessing a good ecological environment, it had become a popular internet famous check-in spot in recent years.
Chen Zhao followed the address to search for Master Xia’s home. Along the way, he saw many young ladies dressed in Hanfu taking photos.
Heading down a small path covered in green moss, he saw a small wooden door pasted with an inverted “Fu” (Good Fortune) character. This was Master Xia’s house.
Chen Zhao knocked on the door, waited a moment, and knocked again. Just as he thought no one was inside, slow, heavy footsteps sounded.
The door opened, and a white templed old man walked out, asking him, “Who are you looking for?”
“Hello, Grandpa. I’m looking for Master Xia. May I ask if he is in?”
Hearing Chen Zhao’s intention, the old man waved his hand. “He’s not here.”
Seeing that he was about to close the door, Chen Zhao quickly blocked it with his body. “Then Grandpa, may I ask where Master Xia is? I have a pocket watch I want to ask him to repair…”
“He’s dead,” the old man said.
Dead???
Chen Zhao’s eyes widened. “When did this happen?”
The old man. “A few days ago. So off you go, he can’t help you anymore.”
With that, he went inside and shut the door.
Looking at the inverted “Fu” character on the main door, Chen Zhao felt as if he were being mocked.
When others got good fortune, why was he plagued with bad luck? After traveling all this way, Master Xia turned out to have passed away.
The wind on the narrow path was strong, blowing Chen Zhao’s clothes full of air and making him look precarious and swayable.
Despondent, Chen Zhao sat in front of Master Xia’s door, intending to rest a bit before heading home.
Suddenly, a loud bang sounded from behind him.
Chen Zhao turned his head. Stunned for two seconds, he leaned close to the door and tentatively called out. “Grandpa?”
He called out twice, but no one responded. Feeling a bit worried, Chen Zhao didn’t care whether it was trespassing or not, he pushed hard twice against the door and shoved it open.
Lunging inside, he almost fell to the ground. Chen Zhao raised his head, only to see the old man standing in front of a table, with a shattered glass bowl at his feet.
The old man looked at him. “What are you making such a big fuss about?”
Chen Zhao was so angry he scrambled up. “If you’re fine, why didn’t you make a sound?!”
The old man squatted down to pick up the shards. “Do I have to make a sound just because I’m fine?”
“Of course! You won’t always meet someone like me who trespasses into private residences. What if something really happens to you one day?”
Seeing the old man squatting with difficulty and gasping for breath, Chen Zhao hurried over to support him. “Don’t move, let me do it.”
The old man had a stubborn temper and pushed him away. “No need! I can do it myself!”
Chen Zhao pulled him up once more. “I’m not cleaning up for you for free. You have to help me out.”
The old man coughed twice. “Help with what?”
Chen Zhao grabbed the broom, swept the shards into the dustpan, dumped them into the trash can, and tied up the trash bag. “Do you know anyone else around here who knows how to repair antique pocket watches?”
Sitting on a cane chair, the old man chuckled slightly. “What kind of pocket watch is so important? Passed down from your ancestors?”
Chen Zhao: “Probably.”
Since it was such an antique item and Qin Er treasured it so much, it definitely had to be passed down from ancestors.
The old man rested both hands on his knees. “Bring it over and let me take a look.”
Chen Zhao pulled out his phone. “I only have photos.”
The old man squinted his eyes, bringing the phone closer to look. “This watch is indeed very old. It’s hard to tell how many parts are missing, it needs to be brought here in person to know.”
Chen Zhao was a bit surprised. “Grandpa, you sound pretty professional. What relation are you to Master Xia?”
The old man chuckled, getting up to walk toward the kitchen. “I am Master Xia.”
Chen Zhao stared at his back, suspecting for a moment that he had encountered a ghost.
“You’re Master Xia?” Chen Zhao followed him inside. “You didn’t die? Then why did you lie to me?”
Master Xia: “I don’t want to deal with those people carrying cameras and mobile phones.”
Chen Zhao understood that Master Xia was talking about internet influencers, and smiled. “How were you so sure I wasn’t an influencer?”
Master Xia pointed at his phone. “If it were the situation just now, those influencers would definitely be holding their phones, recording video as they came in. But you didn’t pull yours out until you asked about the watch. That shows you aren’t one.”
“Master Xia, you are so clever,” Chen Zhao marvelled.
Master Xia tapped the table. “Eat dinner before you leave. I just happened to cook a little.”
Chen Zhao couldn’t refuse the kind offer. The dishes Master Xia prepared were very simple, a pot of soft, moist rice, a bowl of clean plain vegetables, paired with savory, fragrant fermented bean curd.
It was very suitable for elderly people, but Chen Zhao didn’t have much of an appetite.
He ate a bit to be polite while waiting for Master Xia. After finishing the meal, he left his address and phone number with Master Xia, saying he would mail the pocket watch over.
Once everything was arranged, Chen Zhao set off on his return journey.
By the time he rushed back to his grandmother’s house, it was already nine o’clock at night. Zhao Yixin had already gone to sleep, and Aunty Liu had finished her shift. Chen Zhao quietly went up to the second floor alone, entered his room to wash up, and then collapsed onto the bed, completely drained of energy.
So exhausted…
Suddenly remembering that he hadn’t done his good morning and good night check-in with Qin Er today, Chen Zhao scrambled up to grab his phone. Just as he wanted to send a message, his finger slipped and he accidentally dialed a voice call.
Chen Zhao frantically tried to hang up, but the other side picked up. “Hello?”
“Brother? You’re not asleep yet?” Chen Zhao spoke in a high-pitched, delicate voice.
Qin Er’s deep voice came through. “Mm.”
“I was away for two days, did you miss me?”
“Alright, alright, stop teasing you,” Chen Zhao said. “But I miss Brother so much~”
Seeing Qin Er’s side fall silent, Chen Zhao lamented that the man was truly impossible to flirt with. Just as he was planning to say good night, the other side suddenly spoke.
“How much do you miss me?”
Chen Zhao froze for a moment, then immediately said. “Super, super much! I wish I could see Brother right away, and I can’t wait to fly back tomorrow to have a romantic candlelit dinner with Brother~”
Qin Er listened. “Mm, you said it.”
“Huh?” Chen Zhao didn’t react for a second.
The voice on the other end said. “Come back tomorrow.”