Chapter 6: The Garden
Found Him
The next morning, Yuan An checked out of his hotel room and took a taxi to Hejiang City First Hospital.
After completing his examinations and going through the admission procedures, Yuan An moved into a double-occupancy ward.
It was just past two o’clock in the afternoon, and he was the only one in the room. The two hospital beds were separated by a pale yellow curtain. The bedding on the other bed was already laid out, and daily necessities like a basin, a towel, and a thermos flask were arranged beneath it.
Yuan An hadn’t been sitting in the ward for long before a nurse brought over fresh sheets and pillowcases to change his bed. Before leaving, she reminded him, “We’ll come to draw blood around nine tomorrow morning. Remember to fast until then.”
Yuan An nodded. After the nurse left, he grabbed his wallet and phone, following the route in his memory to the small supermarket on the first floor of the hospital to buy some daily necessities.
By the time he brought his things back to the ward, the patient from the other bed had returned.
It was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, looking quite haggard. His wife was at his bedside, taking out some soup she had stewed.
Both of them looked a bit surprised when they saw Yuan An enter the ward.
“Young man, are you the one assigned to this bed? To be so young and already…”
Before the man could finish, his wife patted his hand, gesturing for him to stop talking nonsense.
The auntie looked at Yuan An and said apologetically, “Young man, don’t take it to heart.”
Yuan An smiled to show he didn’t mind. The afternoon sunlight streamed through the window onto his dark chestnut hair, making him look incredibly soft and gentle.
He put away his things. Smelling the fragrance of the auntie’s stewed soup, he realized he hadn’t had a chance to eat anything all day.
Ever since his rebirth, Yuan An hadn’t really felt like eating. The pain of terminal stomach cancer seemed to still linger with him, making him instinctively reject food whenever he saw it.
However, the dull ache radiating from his stomach told him that fasting wasn’t an option.
Yuan An greeted the uncle and auntie, then walked down to the hospital cafeteria to buy some light, bland food, eating it slowly and deliberately.
After eating, Yuan An didn’t rush back to the ward. Instead, he chose to take a walk in the garden below the inpatient building to let his food digest and cool off.
Spring in Hejiang City was quite warm this year. Even though it was only early April, the peak temperature was already approaching thirty degrees.
There were plenty of people who shared the same idea as Yuan An. Consequently, every few steps in the garden, he could see people resting in the shade or working out on the exercise equipment.
Seeing that the pavilion was already fully occupied, Yuan An paused in his tracks and turned toward a quiet corner of the garden.
Very few people came here. There was only a narrow path barely wide enough for one person, lined on both sides with shrubs and green plants; the scenery was nothing spectacular.
Following the memories in his head, Yuan An arrived at the corner and spotted a familiar long black bench.
At this moment, a man was sitting on that bench. From Yuan An’s angle, only his back was visible.
The man wore a mid-length, basic thin trench coat without any extra adornments. Yet, his excellent head-to-shoulder ratio managed to make the completely ordinary coat look incredibly luxurious.
Yuan An’s heart seemed to skip a beat. Shifting his gaze slightly, he spotted a cane resting by the man’s side.
A black cane with a low-key silver pattern on its handle, exactly as he remembered.
Yuan An walked over slowly, catching sight of the man’s crossed long legs and a face so peerlessly handsome it resembled a deity’s.
In an instant, his thoughts were pulled back to his previous life.
It was mid-July back then, and his stomach cancer had rapidly deteriorated to the terminal stage. Once Lu Chengyue and Lu Shengheng found out, they arranged for him to be hospitalized for treatment at First Hospital.
One evening, he went for a walk in the garden, and it was in this very corner that he encountered the man.
Back then, the man was much thinner than he was now, and his aura was significantly gloomier.
In the beginning, they would merely sit on this long black bench to rest without saying a word, neither of them taking the initiative to speak.
Until one day, Yuan An painted a watercolor piece in this corner.
“It’s beautiful.” Those were the first words the man had ever spoken to him.
Flattered and overwhelmed, Yuan An looked up to meet the other’s slightly appreciative gaze. He stammered for a moment before finally replying shyly, “Thank you.”
With that first conversation out of the way, everything afterwards seemed much smoother. Even if they only talked about the environment and atmosphere of First Hospital, the two could find plenty to discuss.
Although Yuan An did most of the talking, the man never showed the slightest impatience and would give timely responses.
From then on, they would chat for a long time every day, sometimes even from six in the afternoon until nine at night.
Gradually, the man stopped treating him with his initial coldness, and Yuan An would also tell him about his father and eldest brother.
At that time, Lu Chengyue and Lu Shengheng already knew he had been diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer. Perhaps out of guilt and a desire to make amends, the two treated him very well.
And Yuan An was deeply immersed in their belated familial affection, completely failing to notice anything amiss. Like a child who had recovered a lost treasure, he kept sharing his joy with his only friend at the time.
One day, he accidentally let it slip that Lu Chengyue and Lu Shengheng had never cared for him like this in the past twenty-two years. The man’s expression grew a bit solemn upon hearing this.
After he finished speaking, the man spoke up unhurriedly, “A sudden change of heart can sometimes mean they are plotting something.”
Yuan An was left utterly bewildered, but back then, he thought the man was just throwing cold water on his happiness. He merely gave a dry laugh and said, “They are my father and eldest brother…” He didn’t believe they could be so wicked. He was already dying anyway; what could his father and brother possibly plot to take from him?
At that time, the man only stared at him fixedly for a long while before averting his gaze, saying, “Suit yourself.”
After that day, Yuan An never came to this corner again. Even when he occasionally snuck over, he never saw the man again.
Only when he found out before his death that Lu Chengyue and the others had treated him well solely to get him to sign the heart donation consent form did Yuan An realize the man’s warning back then had been right.
It was just a pity that he never got to apologize to him in person before he died.
He hadn’t expected to see him again in this life, four months ahead of schedule.
Seeing that the man was currently resting with his eyes closed, Yuan An didn’t want to disturb him and involuntarily lightened his breathing.
Qin Sixing wasn’t actually asleep. He had noticed someone approaching long ago and initially thought the person would leave on their own.
But to his surprise, not only did the person not leave, but they had also been standing there staring at him for this long.
Frowning with impatience, he opened his eyes and looked at the youth standing nearby.
Caught off guard by those cold dark eyes, Yuan An was startled. He immediately realized how rude it was to have stared so blankly at someone, so he hurriedly explained stammeringly, “I… uh, I… sorry. I didn’t realize someone was here.”
This voice… sounded so familiar.
Qin Sixing’s eyes flickered slightly. Looking at Yuan An’s deer-like eyes, which had widened even further from shock, a complex emotion welled up in his heart.
These eyes looked very much like the little person he had imagined in his mind as well.
The moment this thought cropped up, Qin Sixing knitted his brows tightly. He simply turned his head away and closed his eyes to resume resting.
Seeing this, Yuan An let out a small sigh of relief and sat down on the other end of the bench.
Neither of them spoke.
As the minutes ticked away and the sky began to darken, Yuan An finally plucked up the courage to speak. “Sir, are you also hospitalized here?”
After he asked, the man didn’t reply right away, causing the atmosphere between them to fall back into silence.
After a moment, he finally heard the other person’s deep, detached voice: “I’m not hospitalized. Just an examination.”
Yuan An had originally thought the man wouldn’t respond to him, so he felt a pleasant surprise upon hearing his voice.
Glancing at the cane by the man’s side, he thought for a bit and asked, “Sir, is there somewhere you’re feeling unwell?”
Hearing that familiar voice ring in his ears continuously, Qin Sixing’s thoughts grew increasingly chaotic.
He hadn’t wanted to answer this person, but by some bizarre twist of fate, his heart told him it would be wrong not to. After wrestling with his thoughts for a long time, he coldly spat out two words: “Leg injury.”
Hearing this, Yuan An frowned slightly.
When he met the man in his previous life, the man was staying in the hospital to recuperate from a car accident. In their later chats, Yuan An also learned that his accident had occurred roughly in April, though he didn’t know the exact date.
Seeing that the man’s leg injury wasn’t as severe as it was when they first met in his past life, it meant the car accident hadn’t happened yet.
Recalling the painful expression the man would occasionally wear in his previous life when trying to support himself with his cane, Yuan An’s heart tightened.
He thought it over and said, “Sir, your leg injury looks quite serious. You must be very careful when crossing the street. Be careful when riding in a car too, and make sure to fasten your seatbelt…”
“Careful of what?” Qin Sixing cut him off.
Yuan An paused for a moment. “A car accident…”
Qin Sixing couldn’t help but sneer. “My leg injury was left behind by a car accident a few years ago. I know better than you do to be careful.”
Yuan An was left utterly tongue-tied by his words.
He knew the man was a bit displeased. But then again, anyone would be unhappy if a stranger walked up and blurted out such things.
Especially since the other party had already been through a car accident.
Silence descended upon the space between them once more.
The sky had fully darkened. Qin Sixing glanced at his phone, then picked up the cane beside him and left without another word.
The hospital lights couldn’t reach this corner, and the surroundings were dead quiet. Yuan An let out a deep sigh.
Suddenly, he heard his Penguin call ringtone sound.
It was Xingxing.
Yuan An quickly answered. “Hello, Xingxing.”
After he greeted him, Xingxing remained silent on the other end for quite a long time.
Yuan An looked at his phone screen in confusion.
It hadn’t disconnected, so why was there no sound?
He pressed the receiver to his ear again and called out, “Xingxing?” once more.
Only then did Xingxing finally speak up: “An’an, what are you doing right now?”
His voice was as steady and gentle as ever, yet Yuan An felt as if it carried a trace of agitation and excitement.
Yuan An replied, “I was just clearing my head outside. I’m getting ready to head back now.”
After speaking, he stood up, intending to head back to the ward from a different direction.
Yuan An didn’t notice that not far from the bench, the man who had just left with his cane was standing there holding his phone, staring straight at his retreating back.
Qin Sixing had never imagined in his wildest dreams that he would run into the person he had been looking for under such circumstances.
Upon hearing the Penguin ringtone, he had halted his steps and turned back to look toward the bench. He never expected to immediately hear the voice of the person at the bench overlapping perfectly with the audio coming from his phone receiver.
He stood frozen in place holding his phone, completely unsure of how to react. The image of the little person in his mind merged perfectly with the face of the man just now, jumping out in front of him and calling out crisply, “Xingxing.”
Qin Sixing felt as if his head were spinning.
Seeing Yuan An get up to leave, his first instinct was to chase after him, to reveal his identity, and to tell him that he was Xingxing.
But before he could even take a step, the tapping sound of his cane hitting the ground seemed to jar him awake. He suddenly remembered exactly how he had just treated Yuan An.
Furthermore, he was someone who had lost touch “without reason” for nearly a year. Coming up to Yuan An out of the blue like this, what could he possibly say?
In the end, Qin Sixing merely gritted his teeth, tightening his grip on the cane to suppress the urge to give chase.
“I’ve just come back from clearing my head too. Spring is quite warm this year.”
Yuan An nodded. “Is spring very hot in Jingshi this year? It’s pretty warm in Hejiang City too. I reckon it might rain in a couple of days.”
Whether spring was hot in Jingshi this year, Qin Sixing had no clue. He only knew that his body and his entire heart felt burning hot right now.
He chuckled, gave an “Mm,” and chatted with Yuan An about some everyday things.
Once Yuan An’s figure could no longer be seen from where he stood, Qin Sixing turned to leave the garden, heading toward the car parked at the hospital entrance.
He said goodbye to Yuan An before getting into the car, then hung up the phone.
A curly-haired youth in the passenger seat cast a glance at him, signaled the driver to start the car, and asked, “Cousin, how did your examination results go today?”
Leaning back gently against his seat, Qin Sixing watched the lights passing outside the window and replied casually, “Same as usual.”
He paused for a moment before adding, “Book a room for me at that hotel near the hospital. I want to stay there for a few days.”
Song Chucheng froze. “Brother? I’m only bunking at your place for a few days, you don’t have to go this far…”
Qin Sixing knitted his brows.
Seeing his expression, Song Chucheng hurriedly burst into a laugh to change the subject. “Brother, you went to all this trouble to come to Hejiang City. Did you find the person you were looking for? Do you need my help?”
The moment his words left his mouth, a stretch of silence fell over the car.
Just as Song Chucheng was wondering if he had said the wrong thing again, he heard his cousin suddenly let out a low chuckle.
“I found him.”
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