Home/ The Selfish Gene/ Chapter 4
The male nurse was dozing off, but was awakened by the sound of me pushing the glass door open, he rubbed his eyes and looked up.
“I’m here to see Dr. Ji.” With my hands in my thin woolen coat, I was panting unconsciously as I was running a little too fast just now.
Perhaps my familiar and natural tone caused the other party to misunderstand. The male nurse pointed to the stairs leading to the second floor and said, “Is this Dr. Ji’s friend? He just went upstairs for rounds.”
It’s the first time I heard that veterinarians still need to make ward rounds.
I strode upstairs. The second floor is well lit, and the huge space is divided into three small rooms. Iron cages of different sizes are placed against the walls of each room, some of which house animals, while others are empty.
A few barks came from the ward facing the stairs. I felt that Ji Chenfeng was there. When I went over to look, I saw that he was checking the drip for a Pomeranian with his back turned to me. Teddy next to him might have been woken up, he kept pawing at the iron door, whimpering continuously.
“I’m not always like that.”
Ji Chenfeng shook his hand and slammed it on the cage beside him, making a loud noise. In an instant, the puppies in the ward started barking excitedly. In a chain reaction, the dogs in the other two wards also started barking.
I frowned and got a headache from the noise, so I simply closed the door of the ward where Ji Chenfeng and I were in, to isolate the noise from outside.
Ji Chenfeng stabilized the machine that was almost knocked down by him, then he turned around and looked at me, the wrinkles between his brows were deeper than mine.
He didn’t speak, but those eyes were full of condemnation to me.
“Sorry for scaring you.” Although I didn’t feel guilty, I still took the initiative to apologize to him.
“On the second floor, only medical staff and pet owners are allowed to come up.”
The subtext is to drive me away?
He is really difficult.
“The nurse downstairs asked me to come up.” I explained to him, “Do you remember me? My tortoise is hospitalized here, and I came to see it.”
He nodded and stretched out his hand towards the doorknob over me: “It’s not upstairs, I’ll take you there.”
The small and cramped space, coupled with the smell of fresh tobacco on his body, made the addiction in my body stirred up. I involuntarily took a deep breath, feeling that the smell of cigarettes suits him better than the smell of cheap soap.
The space in the ward is already narrow, so he tried his best to turn his body sideways so as not to touch me. Since neither of us is short in stature, he almost had to squeeze past me.
I was so close to him that I could clearly see the small green light on the cochlear implant.
I tried to beautify myself as much as possible, adding oil and vinegar: “That person touched my brother in the convenience store, so I just taught him a lesson for my brother. Usually, I am not such a violent person.”
I imagined Ji Chenfeng’s many reactions, but none of them were like this – before I finished speaking, he covered the cochlear implant on his ear, closed his eyes and mouth tightly, as if he was enduring some great pain.
“Are you okay?” His reaction was too intense and weird. I wanted to get closer to see his situation, but he pushed me away in the next second.
My whole back hit the iron cage heavily, I lost my balance and staggered and sat down, triggering another barking from the dogs.
Low blood sugar, being cut in line, being pushed down inexplicably… Even if I tell myself to be patient again and again, I can’t bear it anymore.
I raised my head and looked at Ji Chenfeng: “Are you sick?”
Seems like he didn’t expect that he would attack me suddenly, Ji Chenfeng’s face was blank for a few seconds, then he tore off the cochlear implant and stuffed it into the pocket of his white coat.
“Sorry, there seems to be something wrong with the instrument.” He held out his hand to me, “Are you okay?”
I can open his hand, refuse his apology, and walk away. This is what I really want to do, and it’s one of the things I do most often. But like quitting smoking, once the effort has been put in, I hate it more when it falls short. At this juncture, it will be refreshing to walk away, but what I want is not this momentary pleasure. I want to solve this “big trouble” once and for all.
So, I shouldn’t lose my temper.
“It’s okay.” I muttered, held his hand, and stood up with strength.
Without waiting for me to stand still, he withdrew his hand, as if he would be infected with horrible bacteria that could not be cured if he was in contact with me for a second longer.
This guy hates humans so much, how does he get along with his classmates and colleagues?
Cursing in my heart, I followed him silently, went down to the first floor, and saw Xiaocao lying quietly in a glass tank in a small room that seemed to be an office.
The white coverings around Xiaocao’s eyes have subsided a lot, and it looks in good spirits overall, with a high probability that its life is not in danger.
“Not bad…” I was about to turn around and praise Ji Chenfeng, when I found him leaning against the door, a little absent-minded.
Without the cochlear implant, he lost the ability to communicate and could no longer receive any information from the outside world.
So troublesome. In just a short time, I got tired of such a difficult way of getting along. From this point of view, no wonder his boyfriend broke up with him, maybe this is part of the reason, after all not everyone can tolerate a lover who cannot give emotional feedback in time.
Ji Chenfeng may have sensed my gaze, and looked up at me.
“Speak slowly, I can understand from looking at your mouth,” he said.
I directly took out my mobile phone and motioned him to scan my business card.
He hesitated, but added my contact information.
【Xiaocao seems to be recovering well, thank you, Dr. Ji. 】
The moment after these words were uttered, Tang Bian’s voice came faintly from outside the office.
“I’m here to find someone, and it’s the person who just came in who looks very bad-tempered…”
I yelled out the door: “Here!”
Tang Bian paused for a moment, then came over.
“Master, it’s all done. That uncle is fine. I put some money in his pocket and helped him to the wine shop. The boss knows him and promised to look out for him until he sobered up.” He glanced out of the corner of his eyes and when he saw the glass tank on the desk, he suddenly became excited, “It’s the little turtle! The little turtle is really alive!”
He rushed over and looked at the glass jar again and again, as if to confirm whether this tortoise was the same as the one he knew.
Since Tang Bian came in just now, Ji Chenfeng immediately retreated from the door to the corner, showing a strong unwillingness to socialize.
【This is my younger brother.】
I sent him a message.
He glanced at the phone, then looked up at me, and typed back to me with one hand.
【It should be possible to be discharged from the hospital in three days. 】
Three days, what can possibly be done in three days? In these three days, I have to think of other ways to interact with him. Otherwise, after three days, if I find other reasons to approach him, he will definitely find it suspicious.
【OK, thanks】
After I politely replied, I turned my head and said in another tone: “Hey, puppy.”
Tang Bian looked back at me and he was already very used to me calling him that.
“Let’s go.” I lifted my chin towards the door.
“I’ll see you next time.” He rubbed the turtle’s box and said goodbye softly.
Tang Bian walked out of the office humming like a mentally retarded person, while Ji Chenfeng just leaned against the corner without saying a word the whole time, as if shrinking himself into an inconspicuous dot as much as possible so that no one would notice his existence.
【goodbye】I stopped in front of him, and while sending the message, I waved to him.
He looked up at me, and quickly lowered his eyes.
“Goodbye.” He spoke back to me with jerky pronunciation.
The croissant is soft and sweet, and when it gets into the stomach, there is a sense of satisfaction that has never been felt before.
After eating four in a row, I wiped my hands and threw the remaining half bag of bread in the backseat.
“Master, you seem to like the croissants here?” Tang Bian raised his voice, trying to cover up the rushing wind.
Raising the car window, I carefully recalled the few croissants just now. Strictly speaking, the taste is not very good. It is just because my stomach is empty, so anything I eat would taste delicious, so I didn’t dislike it. In normal times, this kind of stuff is impossible to appear on my dining table, let alone eating it on my own accord.
Just like… Ji Chenfeng. If I hadn’t had to, and I wouldn’t want anything to do with people like him.
“I don’t like it, don’t buy it next time.” After I finished speaking, I adjusted the back of the chair, closed my eyes and rested.
Because of the new doctor, I was summoned by Sang Zhengbai after a long absence. The meeting place was in the Michelin restaurant in his own shopping mall, and only one hour was reserved because he still had important clients to meet.
In the elegantly decorated box, I sat opposite Sang Zhengbai across a 1.5 meter round table. Tang Zhaoyue stood quietly behind Sang Zhengbai, shaped like a perfect wallflower.
As far as I can remember, she is Sang Zhengbai’s secretary. She has been with Sang Zhengbai through ups and downs all these years, and they are the best partners in career.
Except for appearance, Tang Bian has nothing in common with Tang Zhaoyue. Even if Tang Bian has a bit of fucking intelligence, he would have used by Sang Zhengbai, and he wouldn’t have to be treated like a dog by me.
“The new doctor’s surname is Zhou. He came back from abroad and is only a few years older than you.”
There was a basket of traditional snacks on the table. Although it was six o’clock, I didn’t wake up until four o’clock. I had no appetite at all, tired and sleepy, and I just wanted to end the topic and go back to sleep.
“People of the same age should have a common language. Go and meet him tomorrow to see if he suits your eyes.” Sang Zhengbai picked up a shrimp dumpling and put it in his mouth. I know he was not discussing with me, but just informing me.
I didn’t move my chopsticks, and just touched the table with my index finger irritably. No matter how impatient I was, I obediently nodded in agreement.
“I know.”
“Look at your face, did you stay up late last night and go to the nightclub again?” Sang Zhengbai put down his chopsticks, and said in a deep voice, “I told you to avoid dealing with Zheng Jieyuan and the others, why didn’t you listen?”
As long as he asks Tang Zhaoyue to inquire a little bit, he should know that I haven’t seen Zheng Jieyuan and the others for more than a month. My complexion is poor, purely caused by insomnia.
Ever since I was a child, he has always pretended to care about me, but in fact it was too troublesome to even ask me about my recent situation.
He always finds a new psychologist for me, not because he really wanted me to be well, but because he was afraid that I would go crazy again one day and embarrass him.
Looking at the straight and serious face of Sang Zhengbai opposite, another younger and more handsome image gradually overlapped with it. Although they don’t look alike, their indifferent expressions are surprisingly the same. Should it be said that they are father and son?
“Didn’t you say that you already have very little contact with each other, so don’t make too much trouble, after all, he is Uncle Zheng’s son.” Picking up the small cup, he drank it in one gulp, slightly suppressing the anger in his heart.
As always, I spent the whole meal with him lecturing me. When the time came, Tang Zhaoyue stepped forward to remind him in a low voice, Sang Zhengbai wiped his mouth with a napkin, got up and said, “Eat slowly, I’ll go first.”
Without waiting for me to say anything, he walked away quickly, and left.
Eat a fart.
Glancing at my unmoved bowls and chopsticks on the table, I snorted coldly, picked up the small cup and put it in front of my eyes for a closer look.
It is pure and flawless in appearance, delicate and smooth in touch, it is a good choice.
With a sudden throw, the teacup hit the ground heavily and fell to pieces. Just like my current mood, it is also a mess.
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