With a bang, the door was slammed shut. Lu Shenxing's eardrums hurt. Such a temper, he was like a child.
At noon, a lanky young man in blue and white sportswear walked in on his long legs. He took off his earphones and his eyes were clear, "Xiao Shu."
Lu Shenxing raised his eyebrows. It was Cheng Tiandao's adopted son, Cheng Zi, a talent in the field of architecture. There were very few plot points about him, he only knew of his future career success.
He hummed.
Cheng Zi pressed the button on the side of the bed to raise it, then he put the insulated lunchbox in his hand on the table and reached out to unscrew the lid.
He had white hands, slender joints, and round and clean fingertips, the methodical movements were very pleasing to the eye.
When the porridge was taken out it spilled a little and Cheng Zi frowned, and took out a tissue from his pocket to wipe his hands.
Lu Shenxing watched Cheng Zi wipe his fingers over and over again, his eyelid twitched. When he was about to wipe them for the third time, Lu Shenxing said slowly, "There is a bathroom on your left."
Before he'd even gotten all his words out, Cheng Zi turned and left. He walked much lighter when he came out again.
"Uncle, call me if you need anything."
Cheng Zi sat down on the chair next to him, put on his headphones, and closed his eyes. His profile was clean and clear.
Lu Shenxing raised his undamaged arm, held the spoon and picked out all the small green onions in the porridge, then he took a sip of the porridge.
The bright sunshine came in from the window, from behind Cheng Zi to Lu Shenxing. It was warm.
When the bowl of porridge was half finished, Lu Shenxing wiped his mouth, "Cheng Zi."
No response. He raised his voice and called again.
Little master Cheng finally raised his eyes lazily, took off an earphone on one side, and looked at him in askance.
"Help Xiao Shu fetch the urinal." Lu Shenxing thought for a while, "It should be under the bed, you can find it."
There was a slight change on Cheng Zi's face, and he couldn't hide his surprise, "What?"
"Urinal." Lu Shenxing said.
"I'm going to call for the nurse." Cheng Zi turned his head after speaking but before he could take a step, there was a man's sorry low laugh in his ear, "Can't wait."
The temperature in the ward dropped suddenly, and the uncle and nephew, who usually couldn't understand each other, looked at each other without moving.
"Fuck!" He cursed, Lu Shenxing tried to pull at his pants with his hands. His forehead was sweating, and he couldn't hold back much longer, "Help quickly."
Cheng Zi tightened his lips as he cleaned up the small table, took out the urinal, bent down and stretched out his arms. His head tilted toward him and the flaxen hair on his forehead swept down, hiding the emotions rolling in his black eyes.
Seeing him stiff and motionless, Lu Shenxing said impatiently, "Bring it over."
The smell of medicine and masculine hormones intertwined and filled his nose, but he was unable to retreat. The blue veins throbbed in Cheng Zi's forehead at the sound of water in his ears and, as if there were thousands of ants crawling on his skin, half of his body was covered in a layer of goosebumps.
Finally Lu Shenxing blew a cheerful whistle and he hummed a comfortable sound. Cheng Zi immediately went to the bathroom, wishing to rub a layer of skin off his hands.
Lu Shenxing saw from the bed that the young man's hands were rubbed red. It looked painful, "Go back."
Responding casually, Cheng Zi carried the thermos away with no flaws in his face, but his quickened pace revealed his mood. He didn't want to wait around any longer.
Out of the hospital building, Cheng Zi found out his phone vibrating, "Dad."
Cheng Tiandao on the other side just finished his meeting and asked uneasily, "Son, did your Xiao Shu eat a lot for lunch?"
Avoiding the oncoming traffic, Cheng Zi went to stop under a tree, "I think he has a good appetite."
"Is that so." Cheng Tiandao uncrossed his legs. "He told me this morning that he wouldn't interact with that Luo Yang kid anymore."
"Do you believe him?" Cheng Zi scoffed.
Cheng Tiandao heard his son's contempt, and he sighed, "Look, I don't know if it's true or not."
After hanging up the phone, Cheng Zi stood there for a while. He put his hand in his pocket and walked towards the parking lot. That old man regarded Luo Yang as his lifeblood, and he was fascinated as if the kid was a drug.
On the weekend, Cheng Tiandao called his son out of bed and urged him to go to the hospital again. He scratched his messy hair and said, "Dad, Er Shu, are they busy?"
Knowing what he meant, Cheng Tiandao frowned and said as expected, "Your father is the eldest brother, and the eldest brother is like a father."
"I couldn't agree more." Cheng Zi left him with this sentence and went to brush his teeth and wash his face.
His words evoked Cheng Tiandao's thoughts. There were seven brothers, no matter how hard things were, they all endured side by side together. But when the days get better, they become estranged, and their relationship becomes unclear.
After eight o'clock, the sun was very strong. Cheng Zi put on a T-shirt and beige slacks, and went to the hospital by bicycle with his backpack. He parked in the parking lot, pulled out a handkerchief from the backpack, wiped his hands, and made a call.
"Xue Jie, sorry, I have something to do in the morning, so I can't go into your company."
"It's okay, I also have other arrangements today." A crisp laughter came from the phone, "You'll have to come the next time you have a chance. Several of my colleagues want to meet you."
"Okay." Cheng Ziqing raised his eyebrows. Her disappointment was so obvious, he couldn't understand her duplicity.
At the nurse's station in the inpatient department, several nurses were chatting, and when the handsome young man came by, they all looked twice.
Cheng Zi stopped at the door, his raised fist pausing as a soft voice came from inside, "Qi Ye, is this strength okay?"
The next moment he heard the man's command, "Lighter, go lower."
Cheng Zi put down his hand and was about to leave when the door opened. The young man who came out was still blushing and flustered.
He noticed his gaze and walked away awkwardly.
Cheng Zi walked in and subconsciously scanned the trash basket, bed, quilt, the old man's medical dress, and pants.
Lu Shenxing, who was still feeling uncomfortable, said to Cheng Zi, "You're here. My back is itchy. Come and help me scratch."
Cheng Zi was irritated by his tone of voice, and he tightened his chin with a look of 'who do you think you are?'
Lu Shenxing gave him the answer, "I'm your uncle."
The sun came out from the west, and Cheng Zi raised his eyelids, "Why did you let the caregiver go?"
"He couldn't control his own hands." Lu Shenxing sneered. "Even though your uncle likes men, he won't just settle for anyone."
As soon as the extremely natural words came out, Lu Shenxing's expression was full of consternation, this kind of statement...since when was it so easy to say?
Cheng Zi wasn't surprised at all. This uncle of his had a lot of real estate, a high-profile life, and loved to show off. He wore gold and silver when he went out, as if he was scared that some people didn't know he was rich. There would definitely be people who wanted to pounce on him.
But with Luo Yang in the picture, everyone else could only look on from a distance.
"Left, more left, that's it, right there. Try harder." Lu Shenxing half-squinted his eyes, the hand that held the brush was much more comfortable for scratching.
His fingers moved across the old man's back, and the feeling of rubbing skin with his fingertips made his scalp numb. Cheng Zi felt that he could go directly to the psychiatric department later.
On the way back, Cheng Zi almost rode his bike into the river. After this he'd stop going to the hospital no matter what Cheng Tiandao said.
Luo Yang didn't show up again until Lu Shenxing was discharged from the hospital. He'd been waiting for him to come to the door and coax him with quiet words, like he used to before.