For a moment, Tang Liu Yuan felt a little suffocated, as if all the blood in his body had rushed to the spot behind him, causing a scorching numbness, and his brain went blank due to a short term lack of blood.
He couldn’t help but feel a little dazed, as if he was still on that basketball court back then, youth, sunshine and grass.
“……Liu Yuan?” Xia Cheng Lang’s voice was full of surprise and disbelief, his voice sounded a little lower than before, but still pleasant to the ear.
Xia Cheng Lang also recognised him.
Tang Liu Yuan closed his eyes, took an inaudible breath, and then turned his head with a cold expression, raising his eyes slightly to look at Xia Cheng Lang.
Even though Tang Liu Yuan had prepared himself mentally, he was shocked when he saw Xia Cheng Lang at first sight, as he was even more handsome in person than in photos. Compared with his previous youthfulness, his temperament became much more restrained. When Xia Cheng Lang saw Tang Liu Yuan turning his head, his eyes suddenly brightened, just like every time he saw Tang Liu Yuan that year.
If he hadn’t been wearing a white coat, Tang Liu Yuan would have forgotten that five long years had passed between them, and that they were no longer the two ignorant teenagers they had been back then.
Their eyes collided and after a moment, Tang Liu Yuan took the lead and looked away, ending the first stare-off since meeting.
Xia Cheng Lang opened his mouth for a long time before speaking with difficulty: “Long time no see.”
“En.” Tang Liu Yuan nodded indifferently, putting his hands into his pockets while remaining calm, his fingers squeezing the pen in his pocket, pushing the cap out and pressing it back on, repeating this action over and over again to ease the throbbing uneasiness in his heart.
“Long time no see.” He tried to sound as if he was facing an ordinary old school friend, but his voice was unconsciously a little dry.
Five years was really long, long enough for them to grow into adults, and it should also be long enough for him to forget those memories, good or bad, so when he saw Xia Cheng Lang now, there should be no more undue emotions or ripples.
Xia Cheng Lang stared at Tang Liu Yuan carefully, as if he wanted to make up for all those five years, and for a moment neither of them spoke, instead, Chen She was the one who opened his mouth first.
“Liu Yuan, hi!” Chen She stood behind Xia Cheng Lang, just now he was so surprised to see Tang Liu Yuan that he didn’t react for a moment, only now did he finally remember to greet him, he still felt a little embarrassed and guilty because of what happened back then, so he stumbled over his words.
Tang Liu Yuan raised his eyes to look at him and nodded gently, his eyes moved to his arm and asked: “What happened to your arm?”
Chen She had a bloody cut on his arm, which had stained his entire sleeve, looks like it should be a knife wound.
Before Chen She could answer, Xia Cheng Lang spoke up and explained: “I returned to the country today, this kid came to pick me up, and ended up meeting an armed robber on the way, he acted bravely for a just cause, that one over there……” Xia Cheng Lang raised his chin towards the hospital bed that was pushed past him at great speed, and on top of that hospital bed there was a patient who had been stabbed in the abdomen and was already unconscious because of excessive blood loss, “He was the one who saved the passerby.”
Chen She covered his injured arm and smiled a little, “I’m a police officer, these are what I should do.”
Xia Cheng Lang gave him a whack on his uninjured arm and teased, “Worthy of being Captain Chen ah.”
Tang Liu Yuan nodded and didn’t look at Xia Cheng Lang, just looked up and said to Chen She: “Come with me.”
He was on duty today, and such an emergency should have been handled by him, so he walked ahead and led them straight to the emergency room.
Xia Cheng Lang followed behind him, his eyes falling on his white coat. Tang Liu Yuan always gave people a kind of very clean feeling when he wore clothes, which he used to do when he wore his school uniform, but he still did now in his white coat. His waist is straight and his body is slender, and the ordinary white coat has a unique taste on him. The more Xia Cheng Lang looks at it, the more he likes it.
Even though Chen She was bleeding profusely and was now dizzy, he could not stop the gossiping spirit inside his body from coming closer to Xia Cheng Lang’s ear and lowered his voice to ask: “Xia Ge, what’s the situation? It’s only the first day back and you’ve already met, tell me, have you been planning this for a long time?”
“Shut up, if you scare him away for me again, I’ll find you to settle the score.”
Xia Cheng Lang’s eyes still fell on Tang Liu Yuan and did not want to leave. He did have plans of coming to see Tang Liu Yuan, but in his vision, he should appear in front of Tang Liu Yuan in a glamorous way, not sending Chen She in to the emergency room like now.
When he heard Xia Cheng Lang’s words, Chen She honestly withdrew his voice. He had been feeling guilty all these years, if he had been more careful, perhaps Tang Liu Yuan would not have found out, and Xia Cheng Lang and Tang Liu Yuan would not have turned out like this. He has seen Xia Cheng Lang’s longing for Tang Liu Yuan all these years, always unhappy in his heart.
The nurse in the emergency room, Zhu Xue, was so shocked to see Tang Liu Yuan walk in with Xia Cheng Lang that she almost couldn’t speak. They had just been discussing Xia Cheng Lang at the nurses’ station, how could Xia Cheng Lang suddenly appear here?
“Dr. Tang?” Zhu Xue asked as she looked at Tang Liu Yuan, she couldn’t help but peek at Xia Cheng Lang frequently, trying to hold down the excitement in her heart, this was the head of the Xia family, usually it wasn’t easy to even see a picture, and now she was actually seeing him in person!
“Prepare to stop the bleeding, stitches may be needed.” Tang Liu Yuan ordered indifferently, told Chen She to sit down, and first examined Chen She’s wound.
When Xia Cheng Lang saw Tang Liu Yuan holding Chen She’s arm, he couldn’t help but give Chen She a glance, his heart was a little sour. After meeting him, Tang Liu Yuan hadn’t even given him a straight look, but Chen She was treated much better than him, he even touched Tang Liu Yuan’s hand.
Under his glare, Chen She touched his nose innocently, he is now a patient!
Tang Liu Yuan’s hand happened to be placed near his wound and he immediately shivered in pain.
“Bear with it.” Tang Liu Yuan moved sharply and lifted his sleeve, took a closer look at the stab wound and wrinkled his brows slightly, “The wound is deep.”
Chen She had suffered many injuries over the years, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to calmly walk into the hospital by himself, he smiled with a white face, “As long as it’s not disabled.”
After Zhu Xue prepared the tools and medicines, Tang Liu Yuan kicked Xia Cheng Lang out and began treating Chen She’s wounds.
Xia Cheng Lang looked at the closed door and was helpless, so he could only stand at the door and wait patiently.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhu Xue came out from inside, carrying blood-stained gauze and used tools in her hands. As soon as she opened the door, she saw the legendary shrewd and capable head of the Xia family smiling at the door, and he was giggling.
She froze for a moment, and so did Xia Cheng Lang, and the two of them stared at each other for a moment before Xia Cheng Lang slowly gathered up the smile on his face, calmly side-stepped out of the way, and asked in a serious, deep voice, “Has the wound been treated?”
“En, it’s taken care of.” Zhu Xue was somewhat excited to be able to speak to the Xia family head, but as soon as she thought of the appearance of Xia Cheng Lang giggling just now, that bit of excitement faded away.
She walked past Xia Cheng Lang with mixed emotions and couldn’t help but glance back again when she reached the corner, and then she found the Xia family head giggling at Dr. Tang’s door again.
Zhu Xue: “……” The punchline of successful people is really something people can understandable.
Xia Cheng Lang didn’t know what Zhu Xue was thinking, all he knew was that he couldn’t stop the smile on his face at the thought that Tang Liu Yuan was just a few metres away from him behind the door.
He had been abroad for the past few years and could only rely on the photos that Chen She had secretly taken of him to get a few glimpses. He had long gone crazy from thinking of Tang Liu Yuan, he didn’t know how he had survived the past few years. If it wasn’t for his inability to come back, and also worrying that it would bring danger to Tang Liu Yuan, he would have come back long ago to find Tang Liu Yuan.
But now it was all behind him and he was back.
He reached out and pinched his nose, waiting for the sourness in his heart to fade before pushing the door open and walking in. The room was quiet, Chen She’s wounds had been treated, and because of the local anaesthetic, he was lying on the bed with his head tilted and eyes closed, looking as if he had fallen asleep.
When Tang Liu Yuan heard him walk in, he looked down and didn’t know what he was busy writing, he didn’t raise his head, he just lowered his eyes and said in a cold voice: “Go through the hospitalisation procedures for him, to avoid infection, he needs to be hospitalised for a few days for observation.”
“Okay.” Although Xia Cheng Lang wanted to spend more time with Tang Liu Yuan, he also knew that he had done wrong back then and could not rush now, so he wanted to go out first to complete the hospitalisation procedures and get rid of Chen She, the light bulb.
“Wait.” Tang Liu Yuan put the pen in his hand down and suddenly spoke up to call out to him.
Xia Cheng Lang turned around and looked at Tang Liu Yuan with some surprise.
Tang Liu Yuan looked at his right hand, which was hidden in his sleeve, and said in a voice that had no ups and downs: “Hold out your right hand.”
Xia Cheng Lang froze for a moment, hesitated for a moment, and obediently extended his right hand.
When Chen She was stabbed today, he reached out and grabbed the knife to help Chen She block it. Chen She got away but his palm was cut with a bloodstain, but the wound was not deep, so he had wanted to go back and simply treat it himself. Even Chen She didn’t realise he was injured, he didn’t expect Tang Liu Yuan to notice.
Tang Liu Yuan looked at the wound on his palm, wrinkled his brows slightly and said in a low voice: “I’ll help you take care of it.”
“Okay, thanks……” Xia Cheng Lang looked down at him, his voice unconsciously a little soft.
Tang Liu Yuan put on his gloves and acted like he was doing business, but the force of his hand was so small that he could even be called gentle.
Xia Cheng Lang kept looking at him but did not dare to disturb him, fearing to break this rare time together. His wound was not that serious and did not need anaesthetic. When Tang Liu Yuan disinfected him, his hand trembled in pain.
Tang Liu Yuan paused for a moment and pursed his lips before continuing to treat Xia Cheng Lang’s wound, slowing down his movements.
Xia Cheng Lang couldn’t help but curl his lips and asked in a soft voice: “Liu Yuan, have you been doing well all these years?”
Tang Liu Yuan’s voice was cold and icy, “Mr Xia, please don’t disturb me during working hours, and please don’t ask personal questions.”
When Xia Cheng Lang heard Tang Liu Yuan’s distant address, instead of being discouraged, he felt a little stimulated, Tang Liu Yuan calling him Mr.1先生 (xiān sheng): Mr./sir but can also be used to refer to one’s husband. Not sure if this is what the author is implying. really made his mind flood with thoughts.
He made persistent efforts and said: “Since it’s work time, is it okay if I, as a patient, have a question I want to ask Dr. Tang?”
“En.” Tang Liu Yuan responded indifferently.
“My injury is so serious, do I need to be hospitalised?”
Tang Liu Yuan looked at his ‘serious’ wounds, was silent for a moment and replied: “No need.”
“I want to be hospitalised.”
Tang Liu Yuan finally looked up at him, “Hospital beds are scarce, please don’t waste medical resources, Mr. Xia.”
Xia Cheng Lang cheekily climbed up the pole, hooking his lips and asking: “Since there are not enough beds in the hospital, can I stay at Dr. Tang’s house?”
Tang Liu Yuan paused in his hand movements and looked at him for a moment, unable to speak in anger, the cold expression he had maintained from the beginning of their meeting until now finally showed a crack.
Xia Cheng Lang couldn’t help but curl his lips, Tang Liu Yuan’s angry look was exactly the same as back then, and the feeling of estrangement between them seemed to be gradually dissolving.
He was about to laugh when he turned his head and saw Chen She, missing a heart’s eye and who was supposed to be sleeping, trembling and giving him a thumbs up with his injured hand.
Chen She originally wanted to give them the opportunity to be alone, so he was barely pretending to be asleep. At that moment, when he heard Xia Cheng Lang’s words, he couldn’t help but open his eyes and gave Xia Cheng Lang a tenacious thumbs up, feeling deep veneration for him.
Xia Ge’s ability to forcefully tease even without conditions was really admirable, and he could feel the low pressure on Tang Liu Yuan’s body visibly drop another degree as he lay here.
The next moment, he watched as Tang Liu Yuan’s hand holding the cotton swab exerted force, and his admirable Xia Ge let out a scream, almost bouncing off the stool in pain.