Chapter 57: Just a tattoo

"What to see." Qingcheng Xie finished washing his hands, took two tissues to wipe them clean, and glanced at Yu He lightly.

Teenager Yu He then asked, "Dr. Xie, on your wrist ......"

Qingcheng Xie's eyes darkened and he looked down and noticed that his sleeves were rolled up too high, exposing the upper part of his wrists, and immediately tried to lower them.

But Yu He has already asked the second half of the question, "What is the text?"

"......" Qingcheng Xie paused for a few seconds, stern face to loosen the cufflinks, cuffs ripped flat, eyebrows indifferent, "The long sleeper here, the name of the water on the book."

"Why text this? You like graves?"

Qingcheng Xie rolled his eyes and raised his wrist to put the cufflinks back on: "I like Keats."

Yu He was not talking back to Qingcheng Xie at that time, although he was thinking "you don't need to put his epitaph on your arm even if you like Keats", but when he saw Qingcheng Xie's face had an unpleasant look, he obviously didn't want to talk to him, so he didn't ask any more questions.

Probably Xue Xie likes his brother's bizarre taste of carrying an epitaph on his body.

With this in mind, the teenager went to a tattoo parlor near the school that evening.

The smiling shopkeeper greeted him, holding several thick atlases for him to look at, and he lowered his head and searched for a while among the pages full of Gods and Buddhas and sprites and puffballs, interrupting the shopkeeper's loquacious recommendation.

"Is there an epitaph?"

"The most popular one is this flying dragon tattoo, look at the finger claws, this - ah? Epitaph?"

Such a bizarre thing, of course, the tattoo store does not have samples, but the shopkeeper has seen a lot of cattle and ghosts, to tattoo customers have made a thousand strange requests, so only after a brief surprise, then enthusiastically recommended him: "Epitaph no, if you like a little cooler text, the six words are quite hot."

Yu He smiled sagely, "Then I'll find it myself."

He ended by giving the shopkeeper three lines of poetry -

Nothing of him that doth fade.

But doth suffer a sea-change.

Into something rich and strange.

"So long may hurt for a long time, and there are a few more lines of text, or find a shorter one?"

Yu He said, "It's okay, I'll take this one."

In fact, there is a shorter Latin epitaph on the poet's tomb, but he wanted the same long lines as Qingcheng Xie's, which are held on his wrist like a bracelet, so he chose the poem carved on the tombstone.

Nothing about him ever goes away.

Just sinking into the fickle ocean of

Turned into a prosperous and splendid treasure.

The shopkeeper rolled up Yu He's sleeve and was surprised: "Oh, you have many scars here! How did you get them, handsome? Did someone bully you at school? It looks like there are scars all over?"

Yu He frowned: "Can't you write with a scar?"

"Yes, of course, or I'll give you the text on this most obvious scar, but also to cover ......"

"No need to cover it, I want the text to be a little bit above the wrist." Yu He gestured, "This is it, please."

The verse text was ready, burning hotly on the teenager's wrist, the finely torn flesh flushed red, the slightly tilted text seeped into the skin by a special potion.

Yu He looked at it, felt satisfied, paid the money and left the small store.

But how could he not have imagined that he would be allergic to the tattoo potion?

When I woke up, I was so drowsy that not only was the handwriting on my wrist red and blurry that I couldn't see it clearly, but even my head was burning with pain from an allergic reaction.

Jiwei He and Zhishu Lv were both in Yanzhou with their second son, and even then, Zhishu Lv made seven or eight phone calls asking Yu He to remember to turn on the computer and video tape with his brother...

"You, an older brother, and always a role model for everyone, should always wish your younger brother well in his studies, right?"

Yu He's aloof, very dignified, what soft words weak words are reluctant to say, plus his own attitude towards his parents is very distant, naturally it is impossible to tell Zhishu Lv he is sick. So brace yourself to get up and hug a laptop, curl up on the sofa, turn on the camera at the appointed time, cover up the flawless fake face, very decently send congratulations to the person on the opposite side of the video, and then ......

"Pop".

No sooner had the communication screen ended than a long, bony hand came out from behind him and closed the notebook resting on his lap without a word.

Yu He was surprised and turned his head to look up and saw Qingcheng Xie standing behind the sofa.

Qingcheng Xie broad-shouldered long-legged poker face, drooping peach blossom eyes, looking at him condescendingly: "Sick, rest well."

Yu He : "I just got halfway through talking to them."

Qingcheng Xie stood behind the sofa and reached out to touch the forehead of Yu He who was looking up at him from the sofa.

His hand is slightly cool, touching Yu He's hot skin on the indescribable refreshment, Yu He instinctively breathed in, subconsciously squinting his eyes and pressed forward, his head gently arching against Qingcheng Xie's hand, so comfortable that he could not say the next words for a while.

"Kid, you have a fever."

Qingcheng Xie finished touching his forehead and leaned over to pick up the thin notebook from Yu He's lap, who was sitting on the couch.

Yu He rubbed halfway back to his senses: "My computer ......"

Qingcheng Xie didn't intend to return the computer to him, but said, "It's just an admission celebration, but you yourself, how come you suddenly had such a high fever and didn't even say a word to others."

"It's okay, this is a small matter, you don't have to care so much." Yu He tried to reach the notebook in Qingcheng Xie's hand again.

Qingcheng Xie held his hand higher: "You are my patient, if I don't care about you, who else can I expect to care about you."

"......"

Yu He clutched Qingcheng Xie's arm across the back of the sofa and stared at him, trying several times to say something in rebuttal, but unable to find the right words.

The two men just sat, one sitting, the other standing, he reached out and tugged at him, he looked back at him. The dusk wind blew the snow-white curtain, and the heavy oil painting-like light streamed in through the slightly open window edge.

Perhaps at that time, the sick and lonely boy was too pitiful, Qingcheng Xie's eyes, which were always cold and unfeeling, had the illusion of being more or less soft.

" Yu He ." He said, "You live too tightly, you can't be perfect in everything."

Yu He : "Dr. Xie, you're just a doctor, you don't have to think about these things for me, just give me back my notebook, I have to finish my work."

They confronted each other, but finally Qingcheng Xie lifted his laptop and tapped Yu He's forehead: "Follow the medical advice."

Then Qingcheng Xie's eyes dropped and he inadvertently swept up a small section of skin vaguely exposed under the corner of his sleeve.

He frowned, "What's wrong with your hand?"

Yu He was electrocuted and immediately withdrew the hand that was holding Qingcheng Xie's and tried to pull his sleeve back.

But Qingcheng Xie had already clutched Yu He's arm with his backhand before he did, and then lifted Yu He's long sleeve--

Qingcheng Xie : "......"

Yu He : "......"

Qingcheng Xie : "Did you get a tattoo?"

Yu He : "No."

"You're not a tattoo potion on this wrist?"

"......"

"Do you have nothing to do? How old are you? Does the school allow you to do that?"

"......" Yu He doesn't say anything, but the invisible dragon's tail slaps violently and anxiously behind him.

Qingcheng Xie's eyes bounced back and forth between his wrist and his face, and after a long time, he seemed to understand: "...... Yu He , are you ...... imitating me? "

This one really stepped on the little dragon cubs.

The boy was immediately anxious and white face, but could not say a word, but only fiercely plucked at Qingcheng Xie with his eyes, the face was ugly like eating a highly poisonous mushroom.

"Are you taking after me?"

".................." Yu He jumped up from the couch and was about to leave. "It was designed by a tattoo artist, who wants to learn from you, you're not handsome at all, you don't look good at all, I don't like your taste at all ......"

But he may have overestimated his own physical condition, not two steps, his feet were floating, as if stepping on cotton, and then the world spun before his eyes, and when he reacted, he had been picked up by Qingcheng Xie like when he was a child, carrying a sack on his shoulders.

The problem is that Yu He was really small at that time, not even the waist of Qingcheng Xie.

And now ......

Yu He almost turned his head in anger, and did not pretend to be a good boy, pinching the back of Qingcheng Xie's neck: "You put me down! It's so humiliating ......"

"If you don't want me to give you an over-the-shoulder slam, get your little raggedy paws off my neck."

Yu He : "...... You let go of me first! I am twelve years old!"

"Read backwards is not as old as I am, the height of the scam is also a kid in junior high school."

" Qingcheng Xie!!!"

Qingcheng Xie paused for a moment, still lightly, but his voice actually seemed to carry some cross-border laughter: " Yu He . I didn't expect you to admire me so much."

"Who worships you!!!"

"You like Shelley?"

"No way! I like graves!"

A lot of noise all the way around.

To this day, Yu He doesn't know if the light smile that was clearly not part of the doctor-patient relationship was an illusion caused by his heavy fever at that time.

What's more, too much time has passed and many details Yu He no longer remembers so well.

But what he still remembers clearly is the night Qingcheng Xie carried him back to his bedroom, gave him an anti-allergy shot, and then went to the bedroom terrace for a long phone call with Zhishu Lv.

Yu He lay on the bed, through the floor-to-ceiling glass door, could not hear what Qingcheng Xie was saying to Zhishu Lv, but he could see that Qingcheng Xie kept raising his hand and rubbing his brow bone, as if he was suppressing some emotion during the conversation, and at the end, Qingcheng Xie was clearly speaking strongly, that night, he was angry.

Qingcheng Xie stood on the balcony, holding a cell phone, and spoke heavily to Zhishu Lv, with hostility between her eyebrows -

It's really not necessary.

Yu He thought this as he watched him and his mother struggle to communicate between the pillows and blankets.

It's really not necessary.

What is the meaning of this kind of begged care and begged pity?

Later, Qingcheng Xie pushed the door in, and Yu He turned around and closed his eyes before he came in, pretending to be asleep in order to keep himself from being more distracted.

He smelled Qingcheng Xie's light and cold smell of disinfectant water, but for some reason, perhaps wrapped in the moonlit chill of the bright night, it didn't smell as bad as before.

Qingcheng Xie sat down beside him and watched him for a while. At that time, Qingcheng Xie also thought Yu He had fallen asleep, so his voice was very soft, but once he opened his mouth, Yu He still heard that his voice was a little hoarse, the kind of tired hoarse that argues with Zhishu Lv for a long time, but still does not help.

"Forget it." The man said indifferently.

The moon is clear and crisp, sprinkled in front of the bed, a forgettable, somehow revealing some temperature that never existed before.

"Kid ...... you get some rest, I'm fine for the next few days, I can keep you company."

"......"

That moment -

It seems that at that moment, Yu He suddenly felt an indescribable pain in his heart.

It was a taste he had almost never clearly perceived, as if a rusty knife, which had been born in one place with his flesh and blood, had been violently awakened by this sentence with a sigh, and began to twist inside his chest and try to pull it out.

He was in so much pain that he couldn't breathe, but he had to be quiet to keep Qingcheng Xie from finding out he was still awake.

He knew Qingcheng Xie was a failure to negotiate, and this result did not surprise him, except that he suddenly realized that before Qingcheng Xie, there was not even a single person who would have made such an effort for him not to be alone.

There was never a person who would choose to stand between Li He and himself and ask the parents, who seemed to be strangers to each other, a question for himself.

Why.

Yu He's face is sideways in the dark, thick eyelashes hanging quietly, in Qingcheng Xie can not see the place, slowly a tear seeped out, along the cheeks, silently dripped down the goose down pillow quilt.

He was in such a strange dull pain in the heart, kept silent, kept pretending, until finally the fake also became real, and he really gradually fell asleep.

The next morning, Yu He woke up very early with his fever gone.

The morning light shone through the gauze curtain, the birds cried outside the window, and his mind was as clear as if it had been washed -

He blinked, adjusted himself, rolled over, and was just about to get up when he saw Qingcheng Xie with his arms resting on the side of the bed and a few strands of hair hanging on his forehead.

That was the first time he saw Qingcheng Xie sleeping.

Very calm, very light, quiet and translucent as if a thin soul, like the first ray of morning glory that falls in front of the window pane after the night has passed.

His eyes involuntarily moved down and fell on Qingcheng Xie's wrist.

Qingcheng Xie sleeps with his left arm on his pillow, because the button is loosened when sleeping, the cuff is open, the section of the skin and bones of the thin wrist is exposed, pale and a little blinding.

Yu He looked at the line on his wrist that he had glimpsed before, but never looked at word for word -

"Here lies one whose name was written in water"

The long sleeper of this place, the name of the water on the book ......

.

Yu He left the club, his heart in turmoil, walking aimlessly.

All along the way, he was thinking about these messy things, but - and why was he remembering these past events?

No matter what happened in the past, no matter what kind of mood Qingcheng Xie was in, and he said, "Kid, it's okay, I can stay with you, it's all false.

Qingcheng Xie was so touched at that time that when he resolutely left, he was stabbed deep and hard in the heart.

In fact, over the years, Yu He has not failed to think about why Qingcheng Xie had to leave in the quiet of the night.

Is he not doing enough?

Was he not as normal a person as he wanted to be?

The day of the third year, fourteen-year-old him standing in front of Qingcheng Xie, hard pestle, did not even have the courage to ask the man a - Qingcheng Xie, you tell me, the words you said to me that day, you gave me the temperature, is it that I thought wrong?

Did I misunderstand?

That's all there is to it, a simple, dry doctor-patient relationship as you call it, isn't it?

Seven years.

Qingcheng Xie, you stopped by to give a homeless dog medical attention, should see a little bit of emotion, right?

Then why can you separate so clearly, why can you go so crisply ...... why can you be full of reasoning, talking about employment, contracts, rules - and as if forgetting that you have also occasionally revealed to me, that a star and a half, perhaps should not belong to The doctor's compassion and warmth.

He felt so humiliated after being left behind.

His pride was hurt badly, and he felt that Qingcheng Xie was a hot slap on his cheek.

So much so that Yu He later never wanted to think about the past - it was just his own self-interest anyway.

He has too little, from others to get a little side scrap-like feelings, will be cherished, ridiculous treasures, and thought to get a priceless treasure.

How conspicuous and humiliating.

Yu He's arrogance allows him to strangle the little touches of the past with his own hands, and then ruthlessly seal the coffin.

Until this moment -

Yu He closed his eyes, the coffin of memories was opened, and the scene of Qingcheng Xie arguing with his mother on the terrace without being overbearing or humble came back to him, and the sigh that landed on his pillow when he wearily pushed the door in.

Forget it.

Little Ghost.

I'm fine these days, I can keep you company.

"......"

Qingcheng Xie gave him faith and companionship, but then Qingcheng Xie left so completely and heartlessly that he could always be calm and clear, weighing the pros and cons clearly. He will be willing to study psychiatry, but also because he does not want to be the next Ciyan Qin to leave the hospital, he will say good things about treating psychiatric patients equally, while saying that there are precious and cheap human lives, and that the life of a doctor is much more valuable than the life of a psychiatric patient.

Qingcheng Xie This person is too complicated and contradictory.

Yu He actually felt that apart from the man who was literally tortured to the point of powerlessness under him last night, no aspect of Qingcheng Xie was real.

It's all fake.

It was a kaleidoscope of people and he was too young to see through him.

The teenager walked irritably for a long time with no destination in sight, and when he came back to his senses, he found that he had unknowingly walked near Qingcheng Xie's house.

--

"Get out of the way! I have something at home, I want to go home!"

The words that Qingcheng Xie had left behind when he was arguing with him just now echoed in his ears at this moment.

Yu He stood on the side of the road, his hands in his trouser pockets, looking blankly at the chaotic scene at the entrance to Strange Rain Lane from the road, where there were even many police officers.

He probably knew what was going on at Qingcheng Xie's house.