Chapter 42
Yu Luocheng disliked hospitals . The air here was thick with the smell of formalin . There was a period of time when his father Yu Jing was hospitalized, and Yu Luocheng had to visit the hospital regularly . He’d never gotten used to the smell .
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At the moment, he paid it no heed as he rushed to the ward to find Li Yun .
She was out in the corridor, deep in discussion with a man in doctor’s clothing . Seeing the forlorn look on her face, Yu Luocheng guessed that his father’s condition was even worse than the last time .
“For now, just look after him,” the doctor was saying . “When the head doctor arrives tomorrow, you can discuss this matter with him further . He told me the patient’s condition has gotten worse . He should have been coming here for regular check-ups and treatment long before this . ”
And then the doctor was gone, leaving Li Yun alone in the corridor with a mask of distress, holding back a breath full of questions she didn’t know how to ask .
“Mom . ” Yu Luocheng walked up to her, and took a peek inside the ward . Inside, he saw his own father lying on a sterile white bed, hooked up to an IV drip . He didn’t go in .
“How is he?” he asked .
Yu Jing had been in poor health for a while now, something about his liver .
The problem had been discovered some time ago, but Yu Jing kept insisting that he felt fine . He didn’t pay much attention to his health after being discharged from the hospital, and went right back to work at the factory .
It should just be his liver acting up again, but Yu Luocheng had a terrible feeling of foreboding, especially after hearing what the doctor had said .
“The doctor says his condition is severe, but we’ll have to wait until the head doctor shows up tomorrow for us to get a definite idea of what’s going on . ” Li Yun’s voice was heavy with worry .
Yu Jing had been to the hospital several times on account of his liver, but it had never really been that big a deal . Certainly, it had never involved an ambulance .
“You look exhausted, Mom . I’ll take over here, so you can go home for now . ”
“Alright . I’ll be back later tonight . ” Li Yun didn’t object . After urging Yu Luocheng a few more times to look after Yu Jing, she hurried away .
This left Yu Luocheng alone in the ward with Yu Jing, silently lying in bed .
Yu Jing’s face was the color of dark copper, his skin coarse and wrinkled . Perhaps he was in pain—his lips were drawn and pale .
His thick eyebrows were set in a fierce expression, making him appear stern and unrelenting, even unconscious as he was .
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After an interminable amount of time, Yu Jing’s brows knit together in an expression of discomfort . A fine sheen of sweat appeared across his forehead .
Seeing him like this pained Yu Luocheng . He fetched a towel and wiped the sweat off his forehead for him, although that wouldn’t do anything for the agony he was suffering .
The pain seemed to have awakened Yu Jing . When he opened his eyes, they were morose and somber . He turned and looked at Yu Luocheng, unsmiling and sour as ever .
“Where’s your mother?” he asked .
“She’s gone home to rest . She’ll be back later . Are you okay, Dad? It looks bad . ”
“What’s so bad about it? Just something acting up again . Can’t keep me down . ”
“The doctor says it’s really serious, this time . ”
“Doctors always exaggerate . ”
With nothing more to add to this, Yu Luocheng fetched a cup of plain water and fed it to Yu Jing .
“When will your exam results come out?” Yu Jing inquired . No one was more concerned about this matter than him . Even lying in a hospital bed, it was the first thing on his mind .
“Not so soon . The 20th of June, at the earliest . ”
“I’ve checked out a bunch of schools for you . ”
“Alright, alright . Don’t talk so much, you should get some rest . ” Yu Luocheng cut him off, and made to lay him down in bed .
“I said I’m fine!” Yu Jing snapped angrily .
There was nothing for it, that was just the way his father was . However, Yu Luocheng often felt that his dad was much like a temperamental child, always insisting on being tiresome .
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“Very well, say your piece, then—but my results haven’t even come out yet, there’s no hurry to find me a place to go . ” Yu Luocheng acquiesced to Yu Jing’s behavior . “I’d guess you’ve only been looking at the best schools . If it turns out I’ve only gotten second- or third-class grades, what a waste of time it’ll all have been . ”
“You screw up like that, it’ll be my duty as your father to fix your wagon but good,” Yu Jing declared grumpily .
“Now’s not the time to fuss over such things . You’re in a hospital now, you’ve got to look after your own health . Sure, it’s your own body, no one knows better than you how you’re feeling right now—but you came here in an ambulance . Mom and I have been climbing the walls with fright this whole time . ”
Chastised so by his own son, Yu Jing fell silent .
Yu Luocheng was done speaking, as well . It wouldn’t do to make a habit of talking down to his old man . Disaster lay down that road . Much like chasing after Singed, it could quickly lead to the tables turning against yourself .
At length, Yu Jing sighed . “You just don’t know what it was like, after I finished high school…”
“You had finals exams, back then?” Yu Luocheng cut in .
“Why not? They’d just brought it back!” Yu Jing puffed himself up . “You know, I was always top in my high school . ”
“How many people even made it into high school, back in those days…” Yu Luocheng muttered .
Yu Jing harrumphed at Yu Luocheng’s contrary manner . “In those days, getting into a university was a hundred times tougher than it is now . There were only a handful of options available . ”
Certainly, during the eighties, a university graduate was worth their weight in gold . It was a real feather in your cap .
The university graduates from those days were now government officials, cabinet ministers, or captains of industry . Yu Luocheng had always wondered about this: His father was a university graduate from that era, himself—how was he still just a laborer in a factory?
He’d wondered about this for a long time . To this day, he still didn’t have a clue—so he asked .
Yu Jing replied, “I didn’t make it . I failed by three points . ”
As they spoke, the door was gently pushed open .
Li Yun walked in with an air of weariness, but she was clearly relieved to see that Yu Jing was up . She pulled up a chair to sit by the bedside .
“Yu Luocheng, you can go home now . I’ll stay here with your father,” she said .
“I’m okay,” Yu Luocheng replied . “Not like there’s school tomorrow . ”
“All the same, everyone crowding in here will only make it hard for your father to relax . Go on, run along,” Li Yun insisted .
On second thought, Yu Luocheng felt that might be the right idea . If Yu Jing started on this story about his past, it might take a while . Not to say he didn’t want to hear it, but it wouldn’t help him to recover any faster .
“I’ll be back tomorrow morning, then . ”
(Translator’s Note: The author mostly refers to Yu Luocheng’s parents by name, rather than ‘mother’ or ‘father’, so I’ve been following suit . I’m not sure if that sounds unnatural to anyone . )
Yu Luocheng left the ward, closing the door quietly behind himself . It was only when he’d walked out of the hospital that he realized he’d left his phone by the sick bed .
Hence, he turned back .
He heard Li Yun’s voice when he returned to the ward . For some reason, his hand froze over the door handle .
“That brother of yours, some family he is . He’s the elder brother, but he’s making such a big fuss over lending us this tiny amount of money, even now that his own flesh and blood has been hospitalized . ”
“Never mind, it’s no big deal . ”
“No big deal? I’ve just spoken with the head doctor . He says they’ll have to operate . There’s no way Doctor Fong would lie about this sort of thing!”
A silence fell over the ward .
“How much will that cost us?” Yu Jing asked .
“We’ll only know tomorrow . At least five figures, maybe more, they said…”
“Is Yu Yu having any problems?”
“She’s doing fine, don’t worry about her . ”
“But we’ll also need to set aside some money for Yu Luocheng to go to university . ”
“That’s months away . Put it aside for now,” Li Yun said .
“No! Put it aside? I’m not putting it aside!” Yu Jing raised his voice .
“Your health takes priority . Our family isn’t so helpless . In two or three months, we’ll be able to raise enough money for his tuition fees . If he gets a scholarship, we’ll barely have to pay for anything . Oh, look at you . What am I supposed to say? Look, times have changed, now . People have changed . ”
“And if things don’t go that smoothly?”
“You just can’t let go of what happened to you . ”
Yu Jing made no reply to this .
“Money matters can be settled later . First, we’ll see you cured . Let’s have no more fuss out of you!” With that stern declaration, Li Yun decided the issue .
Neither of them noticed the door quietly being closed shut, nor the faint footsteps disappearing down the corridor .
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