Thirty-Four Degrees Part 2

Zhuo Hui’s mother came out of the bathroom, put a towel on the board at the end of the bed, and put the plastic basin under the bed. She wiped her wet hands on her clothes: “There are grapefruits, they were gifts, Yunyun, sit down for a while, and Auntie will peel it for you.”

“No, Auntie.” Shi Yun quickly refused, “I really don’t feel like eating.”

She has worked hard to take care of Zhuo Hui for so long, and Shi Yun was very embarrassed to let her continue being busy every time she visited because of politeness.

Seeing that Shi Yun was not being polite, she also sat on the end of the bed and rested for a while.

They were just chatting.

Some parents are short-lived.

For example, when she was a kid, the kids in the alley liked to go to He Sui’s house to steal mulberries to eat. Every time they ate them, they would get the juices all over their hands and face.

At that time, the little boys in the alley liked to watch people from the nearby army running and doing exercises outside the alley. All of their Young Pioneer salutes were not standard, but they insisted on saluting the soldiers who were doing exercises.

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Gv vbyv vkxl, yzz vbl rlsrzl kd vbl yzzlu bye y bktbzu wdkqkle ealyx qsa obld vblu talo wr.

Fs yv vbyv vkxl, lhlausdl oswze lmlankpl okvb vbl awddkdt vlyx. Xq nswapl, vblu olal lmbywpvle clqsal awddkdt hlau qya.

Fbk Zwd oyp dsv yxsdt vblka taswr yv vbyv vkxl: pbl oswze ayvbla rknj xwzclaaklp vs lyv. Fs obld svbla nbkzeald olal clkdt dywtbvu yde fwxrkdt wr yde esod, pbl, obs eked’v zkjl vs xyjl vaswczl, dyvwayzzu talo nzspla vs Hbws Twk, obs nswzed’v xyjl vaswczl.

Fbk Zwd zlqv obld vbl pwd oyp ycswv vs ts esod. Rv byrrldle vs cl vbl vkxl qsa vbl bsprkvyz’p ekddla elzkhlau. Fbk Zwd blzrle Hbws Twk’p xsvbla zssj yqvla bkx qsa y obkzl, oykvkdt qsa bla vs ts tlv qsse.

Hbws Twk prldv vbl ldvkal yqvladssd zlydkdt sd vbl clepkel oyvnbkdt bkp xsvbla nbyvvkdt okvb Fbk Zwd, yde pllxle vs cl kd tsse prkakvp.

Fllkdt bkp xsvbla ts swv okvb vbl qalpbdlpp-ralplahkdt csoz, bl pweeldzu nyzzle Fbk Zwd.

Ekvb valxczkdt bydep, bl vssj swv psxlvbkdt. Mbkp vkxl kv oyp dsv y rbsdl, cwv y rlynl nbyax.

Rv oyp hlau sze, okvb olya yde vlya sd vbl nsadlap. Mbl qycakn oyp vsad yde vbl kddla nsal oyp lmrsple: kv pllxle vs cl y rklnl sq ryrla.

It’s probably a symbol of peace.

Zhuo Hui handed it to her: “Brother He Yun gave it to me before I moved, and now I’m giving it to you.”

As if he knew Shi Yun was going to evade, he placed the peace talisman in Shi Yun’s palm and wrapped Shi Yun’s hand with his bone-like hand.

Zhuo Hui insisted: “Take it.”

Getting the food didn’t take much time. Zhuo Hui’s body was basically unable to digest anything, so he mainly relied on injections. Sometimes Zhuo Hui’s mother would still feed him some soup, and she would eat the rest.

The food in this hospital is just that. At this time, Shi Yun has to stay for some dinner before leaving.

Shi Yun was holding the peace charm and already put her bag on his back: “I won’t eat, I have to go to the laboratory later in the evening.”

Zhuo Hui’s mother didn’t force her to stay.

When she left the hospital, it was already dark outside. People were still coming and going outside the hospital, and the car lights were dazzling. She stood in a somewhat obstructive place and suddenly stopped.

It’s still cold in the capital at the end of February, but there was no snow tonight.

A year ago, Shi Yun made a bet on whether the plum blossom tree planted by the dean would bloom. Shi Yun won. The money she earned helped an old woman mortgage her hospital bed fee for a day yesterday.

It was already the end of February; she gauged that Wei Congying would be back soon.

She took her hand out of the pocket of her padded coat and slowly opened up her fist. She looked down at the peace charm in her hand and touched the word ‘peace’ embroidered on it with her fingertips.

Her eyes twitched.

–

Shi Yuan was curious why Shi Yun always went to the third floor these days.

Shi Yun ordered a bouquet of flowers as usual and did not hide it from Shi Yuan: “A former neighbor of mine was hospitalized. He is about the same age as me.”

Shi Yuan had a bad premonition when she heard it was on the third floor. When she heard Shi Yun say that the patient was about the same age as her, she felt even more regretful. She sighed: “Humans are still too weak.”

The human species has flourished on the earth for a long time, but life is still fragile.

Zhuo Hui had been in good condition these past few days, and it just so happens that he caught the sun in the capital. For several days, Shi Yun saw Zhuo Hui’s mother pushing Zhuo Hui in a wheelchair to bask in the sun.

Shi Yuan saw Zhuo Hui once from a distance. He was a very young boy, but he had been tortured by his illness and was out of shape.

Zhuo Hui discovered that the flowers Shi Yun bought were different every time.

There were sunflowers, carnations, lilies…

Today there is still a flower that was not repeated – calla lilies.

Zhuo Hui watched as Shi Yun took out the lilies from the day before yesterday and put the calla lilies she brought today into the translucent blue vase.

He joked: “The owner of the flower shop must have made a lot of money recently.”

After Shi Yun placed the calla lilies, he simply adjusted them with his hands to make the flowers in the vase look better.

“The flower shop owner said that there will be other flowers that I haven’t bought arriving in a few days. When they come, we can broaden our horizons together.” As she said that, Shi Yun turned sideways and asked Zhuo Hui to look at the vase, “How is it? Does it look good? “

Zhuo Hui nodded: “It looks good.”

Zhuo Hui’s mother went to the next building to get the order. She had also been dizzy these days. When Shi Yun came today, she didn’t look well so she suggested that she also see a doctor.

While Zhuo Hui’s mother was away, Shi Yun helped her take care of Zhuo Hui.

It didn’t take long, but Shi Yun was very tired.

She had been on duty for twenty-four hours. After she was finished arranging the vase, she sat on the chair and yawned several times. The sun shone in through the window and on Shi Yun’s face, hynotizing her to sleep.

Shi Yun wanted to hold on to staying awake, but fell asleep not long after sitting down on the sofa. Zhuo Hui saw she had fallen asleep, and struggled to lift up the quilt, supporting himself with the bed and slowly moving to the sofa. He picked up her coat and covered Shi Yun with it.

The face of the person on the sofa was full of weariness.

Zhuo Hui thought of the past, of when he couldn’t exercise strenuously and could only look outside through the window every day. He also had friends, but each friend would only come to play with him once or twice before never coming back again.

After all, reading a book with a sick person was too boring. It was better to play with chickens, run around, or play Eagle and Chicks¹[1] Eagle and Chicks is a fun and popular game among children. Somewhat similar to the game, Tag, all it requires is four or more people and an open space to move around in. One player is chosen as the eagle and another player is the mother hen. All the chicks must hide in a line behind the hen and hold on to the shoulders of the person in front of them. They cannot break away from the group or they will be out of the game. The eagle and the mother hen and chicks will start at two different starting points opposite of one another. A time is set for the eagle to try to get as many chicks from the mother hen as they possibly can. The eagle cannot let the hen tag them or they will have to return to the starting point. The eagle can catch the chick by tagging the player who is the chick. When the chasing begins, the eagle is free to run anywhere to catch the chick. The mother hen can protect the chicks by spreading their arms shoulder-high and trying to move the group in circles away from the eagle. If the eagle catches a chick, the game is over and that chick will be the eagle in the next game. -Source: littledayout.com with the other kids.

Notes:

[1] Eagle and Chicks is a fun and popular game among children. Somewhat similar to the game, Tag, all it requires is four or more people and an open space to move around in. One player is chosen as the eagle and another player is the mother hen. All the chicks must hide in a line behind the hen and hold on to the shoulders of the person in front of them. They cannot break away from the group or they will be out of the game. The eagle and the mother hen and chicks will start at two different starting points opposite of one another. A time is set for the eagle to try to get as many chicks from the mother hen as they possibly can. The eagle cannot let the hen tag them or they will have to return to the starting point. The eagle can catch the chick by tagging the player who is the chick. When the chasing begins, the eagle is free to run anywhere to catch the chick. The mother hen can protect the chicks by spreading their arms shoulder-high and trying to move the group in circles away from the eagle. If the eagle catches a chick, the game is over and that chick will be the eagle in the next game. -Source: littledayout.com