Urban Tales of Demons and Spirits
Vol 1 Book of Thunder - Chapter 59 Hospital (2)
Translator: Linc
Editor: Draygan
First Published on Chaleuria.
Chapter 59 Hospital (2)
Since it had come to this point already, there wasn't any way for me to deny it. I could only gather up my courage and face it head-on. "Yeah… so what?"
As soon as he heard, my male cousin seemed amused, crossing his legs and watching me. "They all said that my auntie raised you into a homosexual, I never imagined it to be true!"
My anger welled straight up, but since I was faced with my blood cousin, I forced the feeling down and didn't go off on him.
I didn't imagine that giving him an inch would mean he would take a mile. He came in closer. "Don't you feel disgusted going to bed with a man? If it were me, I think I would definitely be sick. You're amazing."
The hand curled into a fist next to me, out of sight, my nails biting deeply into the flesh of my palm. "I don't feel it, thank you for your concern."
My male cousin probably noticed my tight expression and pulled an unsatisfied face, muttering, "Oh. I'm just joking with you? Why can't you just take it as such?"
Me?
I'm unable to take a joke?
I was completely speechless thanks to him, inside I felt both angry and like laughing at the same time. But my male cousin completely didn't notice my attitude, continuing on with another topic altogether.
"Oh, do you know why your mom left in such a hurry?"
I hesitated. "Didn't she had some sort of contract to sign…?"
"That's right, I'm talking about that contract. You don't know what sort of contract do you?"
I shook my head. "I haven't been home in a long time, so I'm not too clear on what's happening in the family."
He looked at me disapprovingly. "What sort of son are you? Don't even know what big things your mother is up to. But, since you're not getting married, there's not much point in telling you anyway. Be careful though, after a few more years, you might not even be able to get any inheritance at all."
This time, I actually rolled my eyes, resisting the urge to punch him in the face. I stood up. "What did you want to actually say? If you're not going to tell me, then I'm leaving."
My male cousin stopped me, extremely puzzled. "Hey—why are you angry again? You're so strange. I'm just concerned about you. So, your mom's small fashion business, it's about to become a large player in the market."
"What?" I frowned.
"Really! Just before you came back, she was telling us this at home." My male cousin mumbled. "It seems like she met a big boss and that boss really admired her business and wanted to sign a long time contract with her. It's basically set in stone now. Auntie is pretty lucky, being able to climb up to such a high position with such ease. She's also a divorced single woman, so it's super fortunate that the big boss didn't judge her for it."
My male cousin's tone held both admiration and jealousy, two very distinct emotions. As to the unspoken meaning behind his words, it was something that everyone could understand.
I wasn't angry or frustrated, merely nodding seriously. "That's right. It's no wonder that you'd never have a chance like this. You're a guy after all, and you seem to feel disgusted at being with another man. It's normal, quite normal."
As I spoke, I pretended to console him by patting his shoulder.
My male cousin's face flushed, alternating between white and blue. He shoved out of his chair with a screech, and if looks could kill, I would be dead.
"What's the matter?" I asked, looking at him with astonishment. I put on an innocent expression. "What are you doing? I'm just joking around alright? And you call yourself my older brother, you're so petty you can't even take a joke."
"I'm going to the bathroom!" My male cousin said, angrily, and then turned and left. I couldn't help but smile victoriously.
Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded behind me. "Looks like this time, it's all resolved even without me coming to the rescue?"
My mouth immediately turned downwards, saying with ill humor, "Who needs rescuing? I have never needed anyone to rescue me, do you understand?"
"Oh, my young master is very fierce." Wen Jiubo smiled, eyes squinting, looking like a fox. "I'm very impressed."
I rolled my eyes, complaining, "Why is it that you don't have a serious word to say when you appear? How is the situation inside?"
Wen Jiubo sat down next to me. "Still the same. The old lady is like stone, sitting not moving on the bed. Even though she's not trying to escape or struggle, but no matter what the doctors do, she still has a death grasp on her own face and doesn't want to let go. Just before, Shanqiu tried to feed her some porridge. Quite a few people combined their strength and forced her hands away, but any porridge they fed her was quickly just spat out again."
My heart sunk, and I couldn't help but ask, "Then… if my grandmother continues on like this, what will happen?"
"She'll die," Wen Jiubo said with certainty. "She'll starve herself to death."
My heart sunk even further suddenly, but before I could say anything, I saw my grandmother's hospital room being pushed open. My second aunt, face pale, walked out from inside.
"Everyone, it's a little too late in the day, there's no need for you to stay overnight. Please go home and catch some rest. It'll be enough that I stay around here to keep an eye on things, go on home."
The few relatives still sitting around all looked at each other, no one daring to speak first. From their expressions, you could tell that none of them wanted to stick around, but it was as if whoever spoke first was the least filial of them all.
In the end, it was still my youngest second female cousin who spoke first. "Eh… indeed, I still have work to do. Sorry to trouble you, second aunt, we'll be going now."
"Go on, I'll be fine by myself."
This entire group seemed to have long finished their preparations to leave. They grabbed their bags, packed up their phones and without even a polite goodbye, they all just promptly left.
My second aunt sat down in a chair, seemingly exhausted. She looked at Wen Jiubo and me, saying gently, "You two should go back as well. If you leave now, you can still get some rest. Just leave everything here to me."
While I was still hesitating on how to respond, Wen Jiubo interrupted me, speaking first. "How could we leave just you, a lady, here alone in such a big hospital? Gu Yu and I will stay."
"B-but…" My second aunt seemingly immediately started worrying, even her words started stuttering.
"Anyway, on the off chance that something does happen here to the old lady, you won't be able to take care of everything by yourself." Wen Jiubo said calmly but his tone brooked no argument. "This guy is full of enthusiasm anyway, there's nothing to worry about."
At the same time he spoke, Wen Jiubo also reached out a hand to ruffle my hair. I made a noise of protest, extremely put out.
My second aunt saw Wen Jiubo's attitude and knew immediately that she would not be able to convince him. Instead, she lowered her gaze and smiled. "Jiubo, from then til now, you really haven't changed a bit."
I had long heard that when my second aunt was young, she had a lovely visage blessed with dazzling beauty. At that time, even the tiniest hint of her smile could move countless of men's hearts. Although she was now older and her beauty had faded, her smile still held hints of her charm from back then; even I stared, entranced.
But Wen Jiubo seemed completely unmoved at all. He just smiled faintly, responding, "But your change, on the other hand, has been extraordinary."
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