passenger

When Qiao Hao came home that day, he didn't expect his mother to be there.

The aroma of the food coming from the kitchen made him in a trance for a moment when he entered the door, as if he had returned to the world, and what he experienced in the hospital was just a nightmare.

He took off his shoes, walked to the kitchen, leaned against the door and stared blankly at his mother.

"So you came home today. I called you several times and didn't answer. I thought you were busy! It's fine when you come back. You can eat ready-made meals instead of warming them up." Wearing an apron, he was busy in the kitchen Qiao's mother turned her head and smiled when she saw Qiao Hao. She shoveled the spatula while resisting the sound of the range hood, and said loudly to her son.

"En." Qiao Hao was still leaning against the door, as if he was too tired to move away.

"I'm very tired, look at your complexion. I cooked your favorite braised pork, and I also stewed corn short rib soup. The ribs in your vegetable market are not good. I bought them early from the vegetable market at home! "Ma Qiao pointed to the steaming pressure cooker at the side. Indeed, the whole kitchen was filled with the aroma of pork rib soup.

Qiao Hao forced a smile, but it was difficult to maintain the curvature of the corners of his mouth when his mother turned around.

Not long after, Mother Qiao called for dinner.

On the dining table in the living room, four dishes and one soup were sumptuously placed, and even the fruits after the meal were cut and arranged in advance. Qiao Hao knew that this was the result of his mother's busy morning.

He picked up the rice in front of him, but he couldn't arouse his appetite even though he hadn't eaten anything since morning.

"Your dad keeps talking at home, saying that you are busy with work alone, and you don't know how to cook, so he asked me to come over and cook for you. You learned from your sister, and ran home to eat when you have nothing to do. I Look in your refrigerator, there's only one bottle of milk left, it's from last week." Mother Qiao put a piece of braised pork into her son's bowl while nagging.

Qiao Hao lowered his head and stuffed the piece of meat into his mouth. The meat was fragrant, but he couldn't chew it.

"Oh, look at my memory. I forgot to ask you to drink a bowl of rib soup first. You used to drink a bowl of soup before eating at home. I'll serve it for you." Qiao Ma put down the bowl and chopsticks and clapped her hands together. He patted his apron to get up.

"Mom, forget it, that's it. I've been busy all morning, and I can't eat anything." Qiao Hao held her back, and found that he didn't seem to have the strength to speak.

"Aren't you really tired and sick? You have to clean these dishes at home..." Qiao's mother looked at her son worriedly, with undisguised love in her eyes.

"No, I'm just a little tired." Qiao Hao quickly explained.

"Have a rest in the afternoon? After eating and sleeping for a while, you see your eyes are red."

"Well," Qiao Hao rubbed his eyes deliberately, he couldn't let his mother realize that the bloodshot eyes in his eyes were not caused by lack of sleep, "However, I still have a night shift at night, so I won't be at home for dinner in the afternoon."

"Are you in such a hurry? Your hospital doesn't treat doctors as human beings too much. How can you be so day and night." Qiao's mother frowned, eating the rice in the bowl depressed.

Qiao Hao didn't answer the call. In fact, he didn't have work at night. He just hoped that his mother could leave early, so that he didn't need to pretend.

"By the way," Qiao's mother seemed to think of something suddenly, "Since you have to go to the hospital today, why don't you bring some pork rib soup to Dongdong later, I stewed quite a lot today, and before it's fresh overnight, corn Pork rib soup is also very good for patients, it is light and nourishes vitality."

"Hey..." Qiao Hao responded, and then buried his head to pick up the meal. When he heard Shi Dongdong's name, he felt an indescribable pain in his heart, and then worries and fears slowly came over him. That person's name can still be mentioned, he doesn't know when this name will be dusted, and then everyone will slowly forget it.

"...Xiao Hao, are you listening to me?" Mother Qiao tapped her son's bowl with the back of her hand holding the chopsticks.

Qiao Hao raised his head abruptly, only to realize that he hadn't been listening to his mother. He seemed to have missed something.

Qiao's mother shook her head, but quickly forgave her son's absent-mindedness, and repeated what she said before, "It's the young female doctor in your hospital, what do you think of her?"

"You mean Molly?" Qiao Hao frowned, "She's just an intern."

"Look, you'll know who it is right away. It's really different. The interns should be in their twenties, right?" Mother Qiao stopped chopsticks, her face full of anticipation.

Suddenly, Qiao Hao felt extremely irritable. He lowered his head and stuffed all the vegetables in the bowl from his mother into his mouth, not allowing himself the space to speak.

"Don't be in a hurry to eat, but tell me. Dongdong told me that she doesn't have a boyfriend. I think she is very interesting to you. Last time I saw me, my aunt is long and my aunt is short. My mother is from here. , the girl's mind can still be seen a bit. But you, you are almost thirty, don't delay any longer, look at my mother, classmates and colleagues, all of them have grandchildren in their arms, I am really envious! I It looks like Molly is a pretty girl, not like some little girls nowadays, who are skinny..." Mother Qiao couldn't stop talking to herself.

Qiao Hao finally swallowed the food in his mouth. Because of too much food, he almost choked. The feeling of congestion in his throat made him feel like all the blood in his body was rushing to his head. Started desperately attacking his eye socket.

"Mom..." Qiao Hao managed to squeeze out a word.

Qiao's mother finally recovered from the babbling, and was startled when she saw her son's strange reaction, "Why are you choking?"

As she said that, she got up to pour water, but Qiao Hao grabbed her arm, "Mom, what else did Dongdong say?"

"Dongdong? Didn't say anything, I just asked him if Molly had a boyfriend." Qiao's mother looked at her son suspiciously, not understanding why he asked Shi Dongdong in vain, and the expression on his face was so painful.

"In the future, don't mention this in front of him, Mom, I beg you." Qiao Hao still held his mother's arm tightly, like a wayward child for a while, as if his mother would never let go if he didn't agree. of.

"What's wrong with you?" Qiao's mother was completely confused by her son's reaction, so she had to sit down again, waiting for Qiao Hao's explanation.

"Mom, what Dongdong suffers from is not an ordinary illness. He may...do not have many days left." Finally, Qiao Hao choked up and said it. Ever since he entered the house and saw his mother, he wanted to say it abnormally. What he heard from Shi Chongshan, and what he experienced this morning, he felt that it was beyond what he could bear alone. If he didn't speak out, he felt that he would be driven crazy.

"What did you say?" Mother Qiao asked in disbelief.

"The tumor in Dongdong's brain is at an advanced stage, and it has reached the fourth grade. I checked before... glioblastoma, and the average survival time will not exceed one year, so Dongdong... will not be here again. How long have you been by my side, Mom, I'm so scared!" Qiao Hao said, leaning his forehead against his mother's arm, and buried his face.The tears that hadn't shed all morning finally poured out uncontrollably at this moment.

"Is what you said true? That child, so young..."

"I should have asked him about his illness, otherwise, I wouldn't have wasted so much time... Otherwise, I would have spent more time with him, and I wouldn't have been angry with him all the time. I really, don't want to Losing him..."

"Mom knows that you are an emotional child, and he is your good friend, but this is fate, there is no way." Qiao's mother sat closer to her son, and she was shocked by the sudden news. She slowly patted The son couldn't help twitching his shoulders, trying to comfort him.She could feel the wetness on her arms, and Qiao Hao had never seen him cry like this since he grew up.She began to feel uneasy in her heart, but she didn't want to go into it.

However, Qiao Hao didn't give her a chance to escape.

He finally raised his head and looked at his mother with sad and unhesitating eyes, "Mom, in my heart he has never been just a good friend."

Qiao's mother couldn't understand the meaning of these words for a while, but was shocked by her son's resolute gaze.

"You mean..." She started in a daze, suddenly a little afraid of the explanation she was about to get.

"Mom, I may not let you hold a grandson or granddaughter like other people of the same age..."

"What kind of nonsense are you talking about?" Mother Qiao raised her voice involuntarily, and her body trembled involuntarily.

"It's not stupid, I've always wanted to tell you, but I don't have the courage. Mom, I can't have a marriage or a child in my life, because I won't fall in love with any girl. What I... like is Same sex." Qiao Hao finally said it, his sad emotions were like alcohol, only giving him infinite courage, there are some things he can't lie to for a lifetime, so it's better to say it now than to make his family have illusions all the time.He didn't want anyone to be hurt, but if he didn't say anything, unpredictable injuries might destroy everything, and now, he didn't have the energy to face such consequences.

"So you like Shi Dongdong?" My mother finally came back to her senses and asked blankly.

"Yes, I like him, I've always liked him, since junior high school... It's not a love between friends." Qiao Hao felt a little incoherent, he didn't know how to express his feelings for Shi Dongdong clearly, he could only be simple He repeatedly repeated the word "like" to his mother. He restrained himself from saying "love" because he found that his mother's expression was undergoing a terrible change. Accepted resistance.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Qiao Hao's heart tightened, he jumped to his knees and knelt on the ground, the stool behind him was overturned, making a loud noise in the quiet room.Qiao Hao lowered his head, held his mother's hands and begged, "Mom, I have tried my best to be your good son since I was a child. I never want to let you down, but there are some things I can't control...I just want to be with you now. Look at him, he's different, and maybe, maybe there really isn't much time left."

"Then why did you say it? He's dead, let him be taken into the coffin, you are still my good son..." Mother Qiao bit her lip and looked at her son who knelt down to her in pain.

"Please don't say that, Mom, I really want your approval, I think you know what kind of person I am, I don't want to hide anything from the people closest to me, especially when I am the most vulnerable... ..."

"Don't you think you are selfish?" Mother Qiao shook off her son's hand, "You are really my good son, who likes men... likes a man who is dying! Do you think I can accept it? Do you still I want to go with you to see him die, and then you will never marry from now on, and I will comfort you, praise you, and say that you are a good boy who is infatuated?!"

Qiao Hao shook his head desperately, and went to hold his mother's hand again. Originally, he just wanted to confess, and only wanted someone to understand his feelings at this time. He thought that his mother would be the most tolerant and doting person, but he didn't expect his sudden confession would make her resist like this.

"Or, you just want to tell me, give you time, after Dongdong leaves, you will come back... get married and have children, live a normal life, and be my good son again? If that's the case..." Qiao's mother squatted She fell down and rubbed her right hand into her son's hair. Like Qiao Hao, she was also crying, and her tears slipped through wrinkles and dripped on the ground.

"Mom, Dongdong won't die, he won't die." Qiao Hao knelt on the ground, unable to raise his head for a long time.

For a moment, Qiao's mother was a little desperate. She stood up with difficulty, but when she just stood up, she was hit by a dizziness and collapsed.