"You're welcome," the nurse said softly.
Feeling a bit bored later, Liu Zhi picked up a text message and read it for a while before sending two messages to Meng Yang.
Have you been eating properly these past few days?
"You go ahead and get busy, then call me back after get off work."
Meng Yang replied quickly.
"I eat in the cafeteria, I go to the restaurant in the morning, I miss your cooking."
Liu Zhi smiled without realizing it.
“Less than a day,” Liu Zhi replied.
Meng Yang replied, "What can I do? I just miss you."
"I'm not afraid of being reported for slacking off during work hours."
"I'm too bad at this game, no one is using my account right now."
The message had barely been sent out when the person who had registered Meng Yang's account arrived.
Liu Zhi typed a long message telling her to take good care of herself, but then noticed that her grandfather was staring at her. Liu Zhi subconsciously pressed the delete button and deleted everything in one go.
You can't blame Grandpa for this. He doesn't know how to use a smartphone, and the TV was showing commercials. He seemed to have nothing to do except sleep and stare at other people.
"Why are you staring at me?" Liu Zhi put down her phone, feeling a little guilty.
"You..." Grandpa paused, "Why are you smiling at your phone?"
Liu Zhi hummed in agreement, her voice rising at the end.
"I saw a funny news story," Liu Zhi said.
"What did you say?" Grandpa didn't understand Liu Zhi's words again.
"I just saw a joke." Liu Zhi said without changing his expression.
My maternal grandfather was a sent-down youth and had a wealth of knowledge. Although he was much slower to react than when he was younger, it didn't stop him from pursuing trends.
"Where's the hearing aid I bought for you last time?" Liu Zhi raised her voice slightly, afraid of waking the sleeping patient next to her.
Grandpa took it out of his shirt pocket, placed it in his palm, and handed it over with trembling hands.
"Why aren't you wearing it?" Liu Zhi asked, somewhat puzzled.
"It's uncomfortable to wear them," Grandpa said, pointing to his ears.
Liu Zhi adjusted the hearing aid and carefully helped her grandfather put it on.
"Are you speaking clearly now?" Liu Zhi's voice lowered slightly.
Grandpa nodded.
“I can’t play dumb now.” Liu Zhi smiled. “The doctor told you not to drink or smoke; you have to quit.”
"Which doctor, you?" Grandpa asked.
“Me and the doctor who treated you today,” Liu Zhi replied.
"Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut?" Grandpa turned away and grumbled, "You made me check so many things."
Grandpa's expression practically screamed "quack doctor!"
The nurse giving the injection cast a puzzled look from afar.
Liu Zhi turned her back somewhat awkwardly.
"Listen to the doctor about what tests are needed," Liu Zhi said.
She now deeply understands the difficulties faced by her colleagues and also appreciates the hardships endured by the patients' families.
"The doctors here aren't as good as you," Grandpa said, crossing his legs. "You're in the capital..."
Liu Zhi was so embarrassed that she wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground.
"Grandpa, doctors everywhere are all determined to cure their patients." Liu Zhi's ears turned red. "Please don't..."
Liu Zhi pondered for a long time but couldn't find a suitable and gentle word.
Liu Zhi felt as if she had been granted a pardon when her phone vibrated.
Meng Yang: "I was just seeing patients, I'm not going to slack off anymore, I'll video chat with you after I get off work."
Liu Zhi replied with an "okay".
A middle-aged man came along, finished his acupuncture, and sat down next to the old man, playing a video about world affairs on his phone.
The old man was so bored that I went up to him and started talking.
"This won't work, what kind of strategy is this?" Grandpa muttered.
"You didn't expect that, did you?" The middle-aged man moved a little closer to the old man.
Liu Zhi listened to their chatter while looking down at her phone screen.
Meng Yang's WeChat profile picture is a tiny penguin with its wings outstretched, looking soft, cute, and adorable.
Liu Zhi's fingertips landed on it, gently stroking it.
Suddenly, a notification popped up on WeChat.
You patted Mengyang's adorable, soft head.
Liu Zhi: "?"
"What for?" Meng Yangfa said. "I'm busy right now, let's talk when we get back."
"I bumped into it by accident," Liu Zhi replied.
Meng Yang did not reply.
Liu Zhi wanted to understand this principle, so he tapped Meng Yang's profile picture several times.
My phone froze for a moment, and the notification message didn't appear at first. Then, a bunch of messages popped up after I tapped it again.
You patted Mengyang's adorable, soft head.
You patted Mengyang's adorable, soft head.
You patted Mengyang's adorable, soft head.
...
Liu Zhi tried to undo the message, but after clicking around for a long time, nothing worked; instead, the above prompts appeared even more frequently.
When Meng Yang got home from get off work, he was a little surprised when he saw it, and then a sense of shame rose in his heart.
This message was designed during her university years, and it looks incredibly embarrassing now.
Chapter 42 Promise
After getting off work, Meng Yang called Liu Zhi.
"What's going on today?" Meng Yang asked with a laugh. "You poked me so many times."
"I don't know either, so many popped up all at once." Liu Zhi held her phone and looked back at her grandfather.
The news was quite loud on Liu Zhi's side, and Meng Yang could hear it too.
"It's very windy over there, be careful to keep warm." Meng Yang stopped and waited for the green light.
“I checked the weather forecast, it’s raining in the capital. It’s been damp and cold these past few days, so you need to keep warm.” Liu Zhi stopped and waited for her grandfather to catch up.
“You’re by the roadside, aren’t you?” Meng Yang said.
"Yes, I'm here to accompany Grandpa while he gets his IV drip." Liu Zhi helped Grandpa up and slowed her pace.
"Is it serious?" Meng Yang looked up at the traffic light.
"It's an old problem." Liu Zhi held her grandfather tightly.
"Wait a moment," Liu Zhi said to Meng Yang.
"Grandpa, shall I call Grandma Zhou and ask her to pick you up?" Liu Zhili said. "Wait a minute."
Liu Zhi explained the situation to Meng Yang, hung up the phone, and called her grandmother.
This time, Grandma answered the phone quickly. Liu Zhi explained the arrangements, and after understanding, Grandma, leaning on her cane, went next door to ask Grandma Zhou for help.
Grandma Zhou is a kind-hearted person. Without saying a word, she drove her tricycle over to pick up Grandpa.
The tricycle was small, so after settling her grandfather in, Liu Zhi walked home by herself.
Liu Zhi stood under a sycamore tree by the roadside, looking at her phone screen.
Several notifications popped up on WeChat.
Meng Yang patted Liu Zhi several times.
Liu Zhi had never discovered this feature and had always left it in its default state.
“You’re so boring,” Meng Yang said. “You’re like a woman in her forties or fifties.”
Liu Zhi replied with an "oh".
How is your grandfather?
“He has bronchitis, it flares up every year, it’s normal,” Liu Zhi replied. “The doctor wanted to keep him in the hospital, but I insisted on bringing him back.”
After a while, Meng Yang made a video call to Liu Zhi.
"It's more secure to live here." Meng Yang was also walking, glancing at the screen and then at the road conditions.
"Look at the road, there are a lot of people over there." Liu Zhiyi said through a voice message.
Meng Yang watched the video frame disappear and silently shifted his gaze back to the surface.
The rain was getting heavier, and she didn't have an umbrella.
Meng Yang jogged along with the crowd, covering his hair with his bag.
"It's so cold," Meng Yang said, panting.