Re-engraving the Spring - Chapter 41

Once Xu Ling left, the ward was instantly quiet.

Lu Ming had already roughly guessed the reason why the rose was not thrown away, but he didn’t think it was a big deal.

In fact, Chi Qiu liked roses, or Chi Qiu liked to receive flowers, those were things that could be told directly to him, there was no need to hide them.

But Lu Ming didn’t ask more, he didn’t want to make Chi Qiu uncomfortable.

The roses in the corner had changed from being unnoticed to being very eye-catching. Chi Qiu caught sight of it out of the corner of the eye, and it made his ears hot several times.

Chi Qiu sat down again, hands clasped together, feeling a little embarrassed. He tried to explain something; the fingertips rubbing against each other, and the words coming out of his mouth intermittently: “I didn’t know it was crushed, I brought it back because I thought it was not damaged, isn’t it a pity to throw it? Besides, it’s already hard for Secretary Xu to come all the way here, so it’s better not to bother him with such trivial matters.”

“En.” Lu Ming didn’t push him.

Chi Qiu heard Lu Ming’s response and felt that there was nothing wrong with it. He handed over the glass of water from the bedside table again and changed the subject: “Lu Ming, your voice is a little hoarse, drink some water to moisten your throat.”

Before, Lu Ming tried not to drink water in order to avoid going to the toilet, but now he was indeed thirsty. He thought to himself that Xu Ling did his job fast, and he should be able to find a caregiver soon, so he drank a whole glass of water in one breath.

Seeing the tired look on Chi Qiu’s face, Lu Ming put the water glass aside: “You go to bed and sleep for a while, a caregiver will come to take care of me later, you don’t have to worry. In a couple of days, when I can get out of bed, we will go back to Xingxi City immediately.”

“There’s no hurry. I’m afraid that if I sleep now, I won’t be able to sleep at night.”

The corners of Chi Qiu’s mouth were hooked up, smiling gently. He never thought that his tired state would be noticed by Lu Ming.

After all, Chi Qiu had been guarding Lu Ming’s bed for about a day and a night. What happened in the past two days was so outrageous that Chi Qiu, who had never stayed up all night since he was a child, was exhausted.

About two hours later, the caregiver came.

Because the search was too impromptu, this had been the best candidate selected by Xu Ling within two hours. Whether the nurse was good or not, they had to be used first.

Fortunately for Xu Ling and Lu Ming, the short-term caregiver they hired this time was more professional. He was a kind-looking middle-aged man who had received several training sessions, so the price for a day was higher, but Lu Ming was not bad for money.

He stood in front of Lu Ming’s bed, his small eyes were always squinting when he smiled, and he looked good-tempered. He was the first to say hello. Then he took his travel bag and took out the toilet non-slip mats one by one from inside, as well as the plastic sticky wall handrails for easy cleaning later, and hoofed it to the bathroom to get busy.

According to the situation of Lu Ming and Chi Qiu, these jobs were within the scope of his service.

…………

Today’s dinner was delivered by Ji Yanchen. He asked the hotel kitchen to stew yam and wolfberry pork ribs soup, and then made a few light stir-fry dishes, tightly packed in a thermal box.

As soon as he arrived in the ward, Ji Yanchen opened the lid of the box, sat down together, and helped Chi Qiu with vegetables: “Eat more baby pork back ribs. You see your face is not good at all, eat more supplements.”

“Thanks.” Turning his head, Chi Qiu said to Lu Ming, “Lu Ming you eat more too.” He picked up the baby ribs and put them into Lu Ming’s bowl, holding up his chopsticks in a confused search for direction.

Ji Yanchen was really speechless, so he had to give Chi Qiu a piece and also give Lu Ming a piece.

Lu Ming looked at the bowl full of baby ribs, and he was a little confused.

Because Ji Yanchen brought too much food, they ate this meal very slowly. Even the caregiver had to have two extra bowls of soup so as not to waste it.

Lu Ming looked at the time, it was quite late.

Ji Yanchen left knowingly and asked the two of them what they wanted to eat tomorrow morning. He planned to deliver meals every day.

It seemed that Lu Ming had dipped in Chi Qiu’s light. In the next few days, it was guessed that his stomach would not suffer any grievances.

At the urging of Lu Ming, Chi Qiu, who was sleepy, simply took a shower, and reluctantly walked back to the next bed from Lu Ming’s side, and lay down to rest obediently.

“Lu Ming, I’m going to sleep first.”

Lu Ming opened the laptop that Xu Ling brought: “Okay, good night.”

Chi Qiu was uneasy: “If you have anything to do, just call me.”

Lu Ming didn’t even look up from his paperwork: “There’s the caregiver, you can sleep.”

Chi Qiu opened his lips, and then made a small ‘en’.

There were bed curtains between the two beds, and Lu Ming asked the caregiver to help pull the curtains up. He did not want the light from the screen to interfere with Chi Qiu’s sleep when he was dealing with his work. He knew that Chi Qiu’s right eye was still sensitive to light.

Chi Qiu, however, was reluctant: “Can I leave it up?”

Lu Ming’s gaze rested on the computer screen. “Xu Ling just gave me the file, I want to read it before I sleep. The light on this laptop is rather harsh, it’s not easy to adjust, it will wake you up.”

“It won’t wake me up, I’ll be a little scared with the curtains drawn.”

His words were aggrieved, causing the caregiver to turn around and glance at Lu Ming.

Lu Ming stared at the computer screen for a moment, and finally closed it: “I’m tired too, let’s go to bed early.” The work at hand was not urgent, he could do it tomorrow. But Chi Qiu was obviously very tired, Lu Ming did not want to waste his energy.

Lu Ming put the notebook aside and said to the caregiver, “Please help me go to the bathroom.”

Chi Qiu saw that the caregiver moved skillfully and helped Lu Ming get up quite skillfully. His tall stature and just the right strength made Lu Ming stand firm with ease.

Chi Qiu blinked his eyes and fought with his eyelids, and only then did he fall asleep at ease.

Lu Ming slowly walked to the bathroom door with the help of the caregiver.

The caregiver asked, “Do you need me to go in with you?”

“No need.”

The anti-fall measures in the bathroom had been arranged. Besides, Lu Ming was not seriously injured, he was just having some difficulties moving today. There was no need to even have someone to go to the bathroom to take care of him.

By the time he came out, fifteen minutes had passed. He moved quickly; brushing his teeth, washing his face, and shaving his stubble by himself.

The caregiver was happy that he saved himself the trouble and took a look at Chi Qiu, who was already deep in sleep, and told him, “Your brother is already asleep.”

Lu Ming did not explain.

The caregiver supported him, as he once again looked towards Chi Qiu. He smiled faintly and said softly, “My son is about the same age as him, also can’t see.”

Lu Ming still did not respond, so the caregiver no longer talked. He helped Lu Ming to the bed, handed over half a glass of water, brought a basin of hot water, wrung out a towel and handed it to Lu Ming. While Lu Ming was wiping himself, the caregiver then prepared a foot bath.

He crouched down to help Lu Ming wash his feet, but Lu Ming hurriedly stopped: “I can do it myself.”

“Oh, oh, okay.” The caregiver stood aside.

Lu Ming left the foot basin after a short wash, he did not have the habit of soaking his feet.

The caregiver helped him spread out the quilt and asked again and again to make sure there was nothing else to do before he pulled out his own folding bed beside the hospital bed.

“Mr. Lu, wake me up if you need anything.”

“Okay, thanks.”

In the hospital room, only a small, faint light was left on, and the moon was hazy outside the window.

Chi Qiu in the next bed was exhausted. Once he fell asleep, he snored slightly, one after the other. Finally, Chi Qiu completely fell into a deep, quiet sleep, no more snoring.

Lu Ming closed his eyes and felt a slight headache. He probably had insomnia, his heart could not be quiet.

He thought about the bunch of roses that were crushed during the day, and about Chi Qiu’s hands that were held together.

Lu Ming suddenly asked the caregiver in a low voice, “Why is your son blind?”

It took a long time for the caregiver to react after Lu Ming asked him. He turned around and answered honestly. “There was a car accident on the way from school. Our family did not have much money at that time, so the follow-up treatment was delayed.” Speaking of this, the caregiver seemed extremely self-blame, and after sighing, he lifted up his spirits. “Now I’m making money outside, and my wife is taking care of the child while doing handicraft work back home. We both think, we have to continue to give him a treatment.”

Lu Ming looked at the ceiling and listened without uttering a word.

The  caregiver seemed to have lost his sleep, and in a few words he accidentally lost his sense of proportion and talked more: “Eyes blind, is really bitter, bitter for life.”

He sighed and continued. “When my son first lost his eyesight, he was always crying and very depressed. I didn’t understand him and argued with him every day. Until one day, I took him to a psychiatrist, who, seeing my lack of patience, gave me an assignment. She told me to blindfold myself and try to live my son’s life for a day.”

It was at this moment that he realized, to his horror, how lonely the world of the blind could be. It was the unknown and the fear of everything you couldn’t see, and every step you walked was like exploring the edge of a cliff.

“I was only blinded for half a day, but I couldn’t stand it…” The caregiver’s eyes were a little moist, and he waved his hand, not wanting to keep mentioning it. He asked Lu Ming, “Mr. Lu, your brother’s eyes——”

Before he could finish asking, Lu Ming said, “It was also a car accident.”

The caregiver sighed in his heart, and the two kept silent in unison.

After a while, Lu Ming said, “He is my partner, not my brother.”

The caregiver was stunned, and then sat up to apologize. His voice was a little louder and nearly woke up Chi Qiu.

Lu Ming interrupted his apology, “It’s late, go to sleep, ba.”