Chasing Tides

It was rare for Ning Lan to sleep peacefully.

He is used to light sleep, waking up countless times a night is his daily routine.When I opened my eyes this time, the light coming in through the cracks in the curtains was actually white.

Its daybreak.

Still in a daze, he blinked vigorously a few times before he could make sure he read it correctly.

Suddenly a voice rang in my ear: "Are you awake?"

Ning Lan turned her head, met the face beside the bed, and froze on the spot.

Sui Yi raised his hand to touch his hair, and brushed his warm fingertips across his forehead, Ning Lan shrank her neck reflexively.

He and he also had this kind of time together, but it was too little, so little that when he occasionally recalled it, he thought he was dreaming again.

"It's me, don't be afraid." Sui Yi raised the corner of her mouth, showing a comforting smile.

Ning Lan opened her mouth slightly, and the memories of last night flooded into her mind instantly like a flood pouring out of the gate.

"I'm here, I'm not going, I'm not going, don't be afraid... don't cry."

The voice was still in his ears, reminding him together with the sore eyes - he cried yesterday, in front of Sui Yi.

Ning Lan closed her eyes in frustration and helplessness.

Everything is messed up by him.

When Granny Zhang came in with the food, Ning Lan was sitting on the bed, staring at the sunflowers on the blanket in a daze.

Sui Yi went to pick up the things in her mother-in-law's hands, but she dodged like protecting food: "This is for Ningning, not for you."

Sui Yi withdrew her hand resentfully.Of course he knew it was not for him, he just wanted to feed Ning Lan.

The mother-in-law picked up the porridge bowl and brought a spoonful to Ning Lan's mouth. Ning Lan was embarrassed to let the old man serve her, so she moved to the bed and wanted to eat by herself. into two pieces.

Sui Yi quickly picked up the broken spoon and went to the kitchen to get a new one.

The mother-in-law chanted "Susui is safe" twice, pinched Ning Lan's trembling right hand in her palm and rubbed it: "I dragged that kid's clothes all night and didn't let them go, do you know it hurts now?"

Ning Lan's finger joints are struggling to move now, as stiff as a prosthetic limb just attached, which shows that the "all night" her mother-in-law said was not an exaggeration at all.

He had to accept this fact. Apart from his eyes and hands, his head also started to ache. He wished he could go back and sleep again, treating all this as a dream that had nothing to do with reality.

Sui Yi took a new spoon and handed it to him. Ning Lan took it with downcast eyes. Under his scorching gaze, she ate like a man behind her back. Halfway through eating, she suddenly remembered something and asked her mother-in-law, "Where's Brother Lu?"

The mother-in-law said: "He left last night, I asked you to wake up and call him."

Ning Lan put down the bowl after eating, took out two bottles of medicine from the drawer, swallowed two pills each with boiled water, then took out an old-fashioned mobile phone half the size of a palm from under the pillow and dialed Lu Hao's number.

"Hey, Brother Lu...I'm fine, I'm fine...I ate, um, after dinner...I agreed to treat you to dinner yesterday, but fell asleep...Are you free tonight?... Then I'll send it over when it's ready...it's okay, I'm free at home anyway...well, okay, see you at noon."

The mother-in-law cleaned up the dishes, and when he hung up the phone, she smiled and said, "Going to deliver food to Da Lu? It's almost eight o'clock, hurry up."

Ning Lan sat up from the bed, opened the closet and took some clean clothes, passed by Sui Yi, and said, "Thank you yesterday, if you don't mind, stay for dinner."

Sui Yi didn't close his eyes all night, and described being tired. After hearing Ning Lan's words, his gloomy and gloomy face regained some light.

The dish was bought from the supermarket yesterday. The wax gourd was cut into thick slices, the pork ribs in the pot were cooked and cooked in the pot; the head and tail of the cucumber were removed, cut into thin slices, and fried with eggs; Just one dish.

Both stoves were on fire, and Ning Lan was able to add a spoonful of powder and a spoonful of water to the small soup pot at the edge, stirring quickly with chopsticks.After stirring well, the fish is steamed. Remove the steamer with the fragrance floating, put the soup pot on the stove, turn to low heat and cook until bubbling, and finally turn off the heat and let it cool.

Sui Yi went to the bathroom, washed his face and rinsed his mouth briefly, and stood by the kitchen, trying to help but couldn't find a chance.

Ning Lan put the pot into the freezer, planning to save the watermelon she bought yesterday.Lu Hao probably couldn't find a suitable place yesterday, so he put the watermelon on the top shelf. Ning Lan struggled to reach it on tiptoe. Push it out and hold it in your hand, then pass it to Ning Lan.

Ning Lan took two steps back holding the watermelon, and said dryly, "Thank you."

Just after ten o'clock, Zhang's canteen set up tables for lunch early.

After taking two bites, Ning Lan put down her chopsticks, split the watermelon on the chopping board, and dug it into the transparent lunch box with a round spoon to seal the lid.Another lunch box with compartments is filled with white rice, cucumber scrambled eggs, winter melon pork ribs from bottom to top, and finally a sausage cooked with rice from the rice cooker, cut into slices and placed on the rice, two lunch boxes Pack separately in foam bags.

There were no sausages on the table, only fish, which Sui Yi didn't like.The sausage was obviously prepared for Lu Hao alone.

Sui Yi felt like he had a lump in his throat, and his mother-in-law was still moaning and rolling her eyes at him. Even if the food was cooked by Ning Lan herself, she couldn't taste anything.

He hurriedly finished the white rice in the bowl, stood up and wanted to go out with Ning Lan.

"What are you doing?" the mother-in-law shouted loudly.

"Send him."

Sui Yi rushed out the door, took out the car key from his pocket, got in the car and started it in one go.

The rain stopped at midnight last night, and the water on the ground quickly evaporated as soon as the sun came out.

Sui Yi followed all the way unhurriedly, Ning Lan would rather be exposed than take his car, so she walked to the edge of the bus platform and stood there.Sui Yi found an open space to park the car, and waited for the bus with him.

The frequency of intercity buses is low, and it took a while for a bus to arrive. Ning Lan swiped his card to get on the bus, Sui Yi followed, and took out 100 yuan from his pocket. The driver waved at him impatiently: "I can't find it, I can't find it. .”

Ning Lan had already sat down, but she stood up and walked to the door to swipe Sui Yi's card.

Back on his seat, the lady next to him who also got on the train from Quanxi Station asked him, "Is this your friend, Ningning?"

As soon as Sui Yi got into the car, the driver hurriedly pulled the handbrake and started. He was knocked so badly that he almost couldn't stand still. He supported Ning Lan's seat back and just sat down in the back row when he heard Ning Lan say to the lady next door: "The old lady from the past colleague."

"Former colleague" Sui Yi stabilized his mind, followed Ning Lan to get off the bus in the urban area, and then went to transfer to the subway with him.

It took some time to go to the service counter to exchange small notes and buy a one-way ticket. When I went down to take the subway, the door was about to close. Sui Yi stepped in with long legs and stood shoulder to shoulder with Ning Lan.

This line is full from morning to night, but fortunately, the passengers on the bus are all looking down at their mobile phones, and no one pays attention to a big star who stands out from the crowd next to the seat for the elderly, weak, sick and disabled.

After getting off the subway, Sui Yi still followed step by step, turning to the boulevard leading to the hospital, Ning Lan finally couldn't help it, and turned around and said, "Why are you following me?"

Sui Yi stood still, unable to find a suitable answer for a while.

Ning Lan didn't expect to wait for his response, and said, "I took the medicine, and I won't get sick. You don't have to follow me."

When Sui Yi heard the word "morbidity", his eyes froze, and he even slowed down his steps.He watched Ning Lan get on the elevator and waited for him by the flower bed on the first floor.

Wait until half afternoon.

Several times I went up to find a doctor surnamed Lu, and the answer I got from the nurse was "Dr. Lu is operating".Sui Yi ran upstairs and downstairs several times but couldn't find Ning Lan, so he called Aunt Jiang's house. Aunt Jiang went to the canteen to investigate and came back and told him: "Ning Ning has returned, just arrived home!"

While Sui Yi breathed a sigh of relief, he also felt helpless.

He waited at the door of the consulting room until Lu Hao returned from the operation.

Lu Hao didn't seem surprised to see him, so he invited him into the office, took out the two empty lunch boxes and washed them before sitting down and talking with him.

Sui Yi strikes first: "What's wrong with Lanlan?"

Lu Hao looked at him with raised eyebrows: "I should ask you this, what did you do to him to make him like this?"

Although Ning Lan's mental state has not been very good, the only apparent symptoms are insomnia and memory loss. She has never been in a state of losing control like last night, and she can't listen to anything. It is almost hysterical. Sui Yi refused to let go, crying and begging him not to leave.

The psychiatrist was right, Ning Lan's cheerfulness was all a disguise.His strength comes from his heart, and it is also from the inside that he begins to fester and collapse.If it weren't for the situation yesterday, maybe by this time next year, he still wouldn't be able to see Ning Lan's crux.

"In the past, I treated him...not well." Sui Yi said in a low voice, with shame in his eyes, but also unbearable embarrassment, "I didn't know he was sick, if I knew..."

If so?Ning Lan won't leave?

No, it will still go.Because he never trusted him, never tried to understand him, never even let go of his position as a controller and talked to him properly.

If it wasn't for yesterday's incident, they might have made a mistake again, as before, one was wrong, the other hesitated, and missed so many good times.

"It's all my fault, it's all my fault." Sui Yi repeated what he said yesterday when he was hugging Ning Lan, and raised his head to ask Lu Hao, "How can his illness be cured? What medicine should he take? Which hospital should he go to for comparison?" Okay? What can I... do?"

As long as Ning Lan is well, he is willing to do anything.

Lu Hao's face was serious, and he remained silent for a long time.

Just when Sui Yi thought the situation was serious and his mood was filled with unease, Lu Hao finally said, "You don't do anything." He took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind, "Just stay by his side it is good."

Lu Hao thinks he is a person with pride in his bones, if he had met earlier, he might not have withdrawn voluntarily in such a useless manner.

However, luckily, he wanted to be Ning Lan's safe haven, but what Ning Lan needed was the fledgling arms of the young man in front of him.

When the canteen closes at night, the last customer is still drinking coffee in the shop.

Ning Lan wiped the counter carefully, and when the rag was thrown on the small table, Sui Yi picked up the coffee cup and moved it inside, showing no intention of leaving.

After wiping the table, Ning Lan yelled into the inner room, "Mother-in-law, it's time to eat."

There are only two people in the family, one old and one young. In summer, meals are often served on the foldable table in the store. Blowing the evening breeze and eating jelly can be said to be the most relaxing and enjoyable time of the day.

Naturally, this happiness does not include Sui Yi's share.He was thrown out by his mother-in-law carrying a dustpan, and was almost covered in garbage.

"Ning Ning wanted to return your favor for the meal at noon, and you still insisted on it? Get out of here quickly, and get out wherever you came from."

Granny Zhang only protects her own children, and outsiders can be called a typical example of "throwing away after use".Sui Yi stood still, she put the garbage bag at his feet, and said with disgust, "Go out with the garbage."

In the room, after eating, Ning Lan changed her mobile phone to send a video of making jelly.

There is no WiFi at home, so he walked from the house to the store with his mobile phone, looking for a signal in every corner.At 95% transmission, kick something under the shelf.

When I took it out, it was a piano case.His mind is far from being as good as before, but he still remembers what the piano case looks like.

He looked up and looked out the window, the man was still there.

After thinking about it, Ning Lan felt that it might be a conspiracy, so she decided to get up in the morning and throw it at the door.

As a result, I baked cakes on the bed for half the night, turned on the electric fan and thought it was noisy, and turned it off and sweated again, so irritable that I couldn't fall asleep.

Ning Lan simply got up, ready to throw the piano box out in the dead of night.

The backyard door was facing a dead-end alley, so he didn't dare to go there, so he crept across the front yard to the shop, turned the door lock and pushed it out, strangely enough, it couldn't be pushed.

He thought the iron door was rusted by the rain again, so he pushed it hard with his knee, and the strange resistance suddenly disappeared, in exchange for an even weirder muffled sound.

Ning Lan was a little scared, she poked out half of her face, and saw Sui Yi sitting on the ground with one long leg propped up, covering her head and staring blankly at him.

"What are you doing here?" Ning Lan blurted out.

"Accompany you." Sui Yi lowered the hand holding his forehead, bent his other leg, and stood up with a vigorous push, adding a little embarrassedly, "Drowsed off."

Ning Lan knew that he didn't sleep all night last night, so she couldn't understand his purpose of doing so.

"I lost my temper yesterday, I'm sorry." Ning Lan went out and handed the piano box to Sui Yi, "I won't hold you any longer, you can go."

Sui Yi reached out to take the piano box, and took Ning Lan's hand by the way.

Ning Lan trembled all over, and wanted to withdraw her hand as if she was electrocuted.Sui Yi's left hand has been pressing the strings all the year round, with long and strong fingers, which wrap Ning Lan's hand very easily.

"It's not that you hold on to me." He said, "It's that I don't want to let go."

His life was supposed to follow the rules, even if he entered the mixed entertainment industry, he still did not forget his original intention, he was steadfast, one step at a time.

To him, Ning Lan was a deviant existence.They are so different, he has been surrounded by the whole world since he was a child, while Ning Lan is running desperately after the world.

Perhaps it is precisely because of their vast differences that they have an earth-shattering attraction like the bow of a ship hitting an iceberg.When he came back to his senses, it was too late to turn the rudder to change the course.

He has resisted, struggled, touched involuntarily, and hurt insincerely.

Finally, Ning Lan's hand slowly let go of his clothes, but tightly held his heart.

The pain that still persists to this day always reminds him that everything else in this world is insignificant, only Ning Lan's hand, which he will never let go of in his life.