Manhattanhenge

The snow in Seattle was getting heavier and heavier, and Su Hui walked on the sidewalk alone, without direction.

Liang Wen called three times, and the last time he got through, he was talking about the glasses, but he inquired about the ins and outs very freely, and told him that it was difficult to book a room for Christmas, and asked Su Hui to go to his house for a while Night.

Su Hui wanted to refuse, but she was afraid that her poor condition would affect tomorrow's exhibition, so she agreed.Liang Wen went downstairs to pick him up, saw that his expression was very bad, and gave him a comforting hug.

Bathtubs, hot water, soothing aromatherapy and slow-paced marine life documentaries, everything that can ease Su Hui's depression, Liang Wen generously provided.

"Why do you like the sea so much?" Liang Wen stood beside the sofa with a dry martini in his hand.

Su Hui was wearing a blanket, staring blankly at the sea in the projection.

"Living by the sea will be very happy. If I can choose, I would like to grow up in a small fishing village." He replied flatly.

He was restless all night.Even if he returned to the quiet guest room, lying on the soft and empty bed, Ning Yixiao's face would always appear before his eyes.The quieter the surrounding, the noisier his heart became.

He will vaguely hear Ning Yixiao's voice, and hear him say, "I thought you had forgotten me, after all, I almost can't remember either. ]

The heavy snow outside didn't stop for a moment, Su Hui stayed up all night, as long as he closed his eyes, the painful memories would be regurgitated over and over again, without leaving any room.

He forced himself to get up, take medicine, and change clothes. Liang Wente drove him to the exhibition hall and greeted the organizer's staff. The other party asked Su Hui to stay a little longer, which he did.

The other exhibitors were very enthusiastic, and Su Hui felt more and more boring and useless, so he could only carefully observe his surroundings and pretend to be positive.Liang Wen bought coffee for him, Su Hui took it and smiled politely back.

He occasionally raised his head and stared at the butterflies he folded with his own hands, feeling dizzy again.He would suddenly think of Ning Yixiao hiding in the cocoon with him, but it was only for a certain moment.

Don't worry about grandma being alone in the apartment. As soon as the exhibition is over, Su Hui will take the opportunity to return to New York.

While waiting for the plane, he received a call from the organizer, who told him that his exhibit had been purchased by a private collector.

This news caused a ripple in Su Hui's dead heart.

"Excuse me, did the other party leave an email or other contact information?"

Su Hui opened her mailbox and found a new email. After clicking on it, it was still the engagement banquet invitation from the previous person. She worked tirelessly, as if if she couldn't invite him, the exquisite food at the engagement banquet would be boring.

Without clicking on the information, he directly closed the invitation email, and said to the staff on the other end of the phone, "I want to write an email to thank the collector."

"Unfortunately, the other party requested anonymity, and we cannot provide his personal information here." The staff comforted him, "It's okay, Eddy, the other party likes your work very much, and will pay you soon, you can check to see if it arrives account?"

Su Hui did as he did, and there was indeed an extra sum of money in his bank card account, [-] US dollars, which was expensive.

The money came in time and saved him a lot of trouble.

Su Hui paid the rent and paid off the credit card bills he owed for buying medicines. These things that made him anxious disappeared for a while.

He lived in an exquisite cage since he was a child, with rights and money he didn't want, and without the freedom he longed for.Now everything is upside down, Su Hui is still living a mess.

On the plane, he looked at the clouds outside the window and thought of Ning Yixiao's appearance in the hotel.He seemed to have got what he wanted, which comforted Su Hui.

Without herself, Ning Yixiao would only live better.

The cramped cabin was suffocating. After the flight, Su Hui landed in New York.He turned on his cell phone and found that there were three missed calls, all from the landlord, so he immediately dialed back.

The snow here is heavier, the weather is bad, and it is impossible to get a car.The phone was finally connected, and the landlord's voice was anxious.

"Come back quickly, your grandma fainted, and you just took her to the hospital!"

The brain went blank for a moment.

He didn't have time to think about it, so he rushed out of the airport, searched for a long time in the heavy snow, and finally got a car.

The temperature in the car was extremely low, and he couldn't tell whether his frozen hands were frozen, or the somatic symptoms of depression.

Su Hui tried to type, but couldn't do it at all, so he could only call back the landlord's phone very reluctantly, asking about the situation at that time in a panic.

He took his grandmother to rent an old-fashioned apartment in Queens, and lived on the same floor as the landlord.

The landlord is a 50-year-old Caucasian woman who gets along very well with her grandmother. They often cook and chat together, and today is no exception.When the landlord went to get the flour, grandma suddenly fainted and went into shock.

Su Hui felt worried, curled up in the back seat, and had difficulty breathing.He tried to make himself more normal, but his body was out of control, so he could only open the window and use the cold wind to clear his mind.

The wind mixed with snow messed up Su Hui's slightly long hair, and a burst of tinnitus hit him. He frowned and closed his lips tightly.

The driver in the front seat noticed something was wrong and asked him if he needed help. Su Hui shook his head, grabbed the seat with his hands, his eyes were full of guard and anxiety.

Until he got off the car, he tried to get rid of his pessimistic premonition, believing that grandma would be fine, but it was like a lingering cloud, projecting on Su Hui's heart.

In the hospital, he found the landlord.The other party was very anxious, and felt relieved after seeing him.

She accompanied Su Hui to wait for the doctor's treatment results, but the time was too long, one hour, two hours passed, and the lights in the operating room were still on.

Su Hui couldn't let the landlord stay with her forever, so she kept thanking her and asked her to go back to rest first.

The incandescent lights in the hospital were blindingly bright, and there was only one suitcase left to accompany him alone.

During the waiting process, Su Hui thought for a long time that the medicine he took had lost its effect. He felt weak and nauseous, imagining himself like a puddle of melted rubber, flowing on the floor, sticking to the doctors who approached and left.

He knew he was abnormal, but he couldn't control his abnormality.

Until one o'clock in the morning, the attending physician appeared in front of him, and pronounced the verdict on him calmly and cruelly.

"Primary liver cancer, medium stage, complications leading to shock."

This result was like a death sentence, and it hit his heart hard.

Su Hui froze in place, her brows were slightly frowned, and a lot of emotions burst out of her big and empty eyes in an instant.He wasn't sure he really understood, and he didn't know what to ask.

"Are you a family member of a patient?"

Su Hui nodded slowly, "She is my grandmother."

The doctor nodded. He had seen this kind of situation too much, and he was no stranger to it.

"Now the patient is in critical condition and needs to be admitted to the ICU for emergency treatment. We need to explain the cost to you in advance."

Su Hui immediately said: "Any amount is fine, please treat my grandma..."

"Sign this notice." The doctor handed over the critical illness notice, "I have to explain other things to you."

"There are many treatment options for liver cancer. For patients in the middle stage, we need to check to see if the patient can undergo surgery before deciding on a plan. Therefore, even if they are rescued, they will need to be hospitalized for a week for examination.

If surgical conditions are available, we will immediately arrange resection.If there is no surgical condition, there is nothing we can do, only conservative treatment. "

"Surgery..." Su Hui's throat was dry, "Can surgery be cured?"

The doctor obviously avoided his gaze, and replied conservatively: "The cure rate of liver cancer is very low. If surgery is possible, the probability will increase, and there is a high probability that life can be delayed."

Delay life.

This was not the answer he wanted.

Su Hui's nose was sour, she lowered her head unnaturally, cleared her throat, "Then... what do I need to do now?"

The doctor asked the nurse to take Su Hui to register and pay the hospitalization fee.During the depression period, it was difficult for him to adapt to the fast pace of the hospital. As soon as he could barely keep up, the nurses had many problems, and the first blow was medical insurance.

"Are you a US citizen and do you have insurance?"

Su Hui was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head, "No, no."

The nurse took a look at him, looking at his pretty face and old coat, "Then your medical expenses will be very high, very high."

"How much do you need?" Su Hui asked.

"Not necessarily." The nurse stared at the computer to register, and said casually, "Everyone is different, you should ask your attending physician."

After finishing speaking, she handed the receipt to Su Hui, "Pay the ICU fee first, [-] US dollars."

This price is almost sky-high for him now, but Su Hui didn't hesitate, swiped his credit card and asked, "Will my grandma live in immediately after paying?"

"Someone will notify you." The nurse glanced at him, "Why do you act like you have never been to the hospital?"

Su Hui lowered her eyes.

The hospital is probably the place he is most familiar with, but this time, the person who needs to be treated is no longer him.

Like a homeless ghost, Su Hui wandered back to the floor where her grandmother was, watching her being sent to the ICU ward, but she couldn't go in to accompany her.

He didn't dare to leave for a second, so he could only sit on the stairs in the corridor, without sleep all night.

Su Hui didn't know whether this was a nightmare or reality, after all, the starting point was Ning Yixiao, which can only be seen in dreams.

Every second he wondered whether he was ill or hallucinating. Maybe his grandma was still at home at this time, wrapping wontons and waiting for him to go home with peace of mind.

In the past few years, he was always trying to stand up, and was always crushed by accidents. He didn't feel pain, but felt dry, and he couldn't even swallow it after chewing.

Don't know what the next sap will be.

After 16 hours, grandma was transferred from the ICU to a general multi-person ward. Su Hui was finally able to truly stay by her side, and the illusion was shattered and turned into reality.

It was so cold in the ward, he ran up and down, found a store, bought another quilt, and wrapped it up for grandma.

She was still unconscious, Su Hui held her old hand for a long time.

While receiving the water, he heard someone commenting that the last patient in the bed where grandma slept had left yesterday afternoon, and left in his sleep.

The next day, the test results came out.The attending physician told him that fortunately, grandma still had the chance to undergo surgery, but the risks and costs were high.He observed Su Hui and repeatedly asked him if he could accept this plan.

"One hundred thousand dollars?" Su Hui asked again.

"Yes, the patient's complications are dangerous and the surgery is complicated."

The doctor told him, "Surgery is not the end of the treatment. The higher cost may be the later interventional treatment, hospitalization fees and drug expenses. Based on previous clinical case experience, it is estimated that at least 50 US dollars should be prepared for this year."

Su Hui's deposit was less than [-] US dollars, and even included a sum he got not long ago, which once made him happy for a while.

"I'll try." His eyes were red, but the tears never fell, he was very stubborn, "I want to save her, it's very important to me. She... is my only relative."

He knew that he could ask someone to borrow money, he could ask Liang Wen, or Professor White, but his self-esteem was at work. These people had helped him too much and helped him too many times.

Opening the mailbox, he saw the invitation to the engagement ceremony again.

When she first received the invitation, Su Hui thought it was someone who made a mistake.He is neither a wedding planner nor a wedding scene designer, and the work he does has nothing to do with engagement.

But the other party repeatedly emphasized that the client liked his works very much, and repeatedly invited him to chat with him face to face.

During the period of unbearable depression, Su Hui was not interested in anything, and he never even opened the materials sent by the other party. He didn't want to know who was about to enter the auditorium.

Maybe it's pretentious, or maybe it's lofty, he thinks he's different.

But this time, Su Hui realized that she was no different.

He dialed the number on the email, got straight to the point, and responded to the other party's invitation.The other party was ecstatic, as if he had accomplished some great task, and offered to ask him to raise the price.

Su Hui hated money, but she still forced herself to say what she didn't want to say.

"One hundred thousand dollars, is that all right?"

The person on the other end of the phone quickly agreed, almost without thinking, as if the $[-] was not worth mentioning to them.

"Of course, no problem."

Su Hui was silent for a moment, and then said again: "I'm sorry, the fee... may need to be paid as soon as possible. I know this request is rude, but tomorrow... I will give you a draft tomorrow."

The other party didn't care, "No problem, this is not a big request, please give me your account, and we will pay the fee immediately. If my client is satisfied, you must get more than that."

Su Hui stood under the tree outside the hospital, put out a cigarette, and hung up the call.The snow has never melted, it is piled up, and it is trampled dirty.

He stayed up all night in the corridor of the hospital for the draft. He was still uninspired and curled up in the chair alone until dawn. Half asleep, he thought of Ning Yixiao, the rainy night when he met him, and the windy bus station.

Su Hui got up, lost his mind and anxiously drew everything in his mind with a pencil.

Then he fell into a loss and kept thinking about six years ago.

The contact on the other end of the phone called the money, but made an impromptu request, asking if it was possible to meet the client, Miss Jones, in person. She wanted to chat with him and keep the manuscript.

"can."

Su Hui had no bottom line to speak of. After agreeing, she hurriedly boarded the subway. The cold air smelled of moldy peanuts, and enlarged photos, advertisement titles, and slogans were everywhere, stimulating the numb hearts of every passerby.

Manhattan, the dream place of many people, the tall buildings lined up silently in the snow, like a depressing cedar forest.

Cold air entered his throat until he walked to the agreed place, a well-known luxury hotel, the designer of which was also the former dean of Su Hui's college.

The greeter seemed to have been notified in advance, and when he saw him, he bowed politely and led him into the hotel.

These days, he has been staying in the hospital to take care of his grandmother. Su Hui has no time to change clothes, and he doesn't care. don't care.

The golden elevator car is like the inside of a gift box, waiting to be unsealed by the upper class.

On the eleventh floor, the first step you step into is taken over by the plush wool carpet, which is soft and quiet.The welcome staff introduced him attentively, telling him that this entire floor is used for holding banquets, and the venue is still empty with no decorations.

There are floor-to-ceiling windows all around here, and you can see the snowy scenery of the entire Manhattan, but Su Hui didn't touch it in the slightest.

The door behind the banquet hall was opened, and walking towards him was a beautiful young Caucasian lady, wearing a snow-white cashmere coat and a white beret, her eyes lit up instantly when she saw him.

"I didn't expect the artist to have such a beautiful face. If your photo appeared on any billboard in this neighborhood, I would definitely mistake it for the latest fashion blockbuster."

Although Su Hui lived the so-called upper-class life for the first half of his life, he knew clearly that he was just a bird in a cage, and he couldn't adapt to the rules of upper-class society, including praise.

"I'm Bella Jones, you can just call me Bella." Bella smiled sweetly, with delicate and beautiful golden curly hair, she stretched out her hand, "It's an honor to meet you."

"Me too, Miss Jones." Su Hui shook her fingertips neither humble nor overbearing.

"I was almost giving up hope." The joy on Bella's face was sincere, "I didn't expect you to really want to come, I'm so excited."

It was difficult for Su Hui to raise the corners of his mouth and smile, as if there were heavy shackles hanging down, he was always like this in Yu Qi, and it took all his strength to stand here.

Under his gaze, Bella's snow-white dress and hat turned into a full set of high-end wedding dress, which was extremely beautiful.

It was very inappropriate, some memories flashed in Su Hui's mind.

He said: "I like weddings very much. I feel satisfied and happy watching other people's weddings."

After speaking, Su Hui looked at Bella, "I haven't attended a wedding completely yet."

Bella clasped it in both hands, the silk gloves had beautiful folds, "It's a pity, don't worry, my engagement banquet will give you the best viewing seat."

As she said that, she took Su Hui around, "This is the tentative venue for now. Originally, I thought that a place with natural scenery like a manor or a beach would be better, but my fiance doesn't like it very much. The one who invited you didn't tell him."

Bella looked around, then approached with a cute gesture, and whispered to Su Hui, "I still think your artwork will be more spectacular when placed by the sea, right?"

Probably because people are getting more and more guilty, Bella just finished complaining when she suddenly saw the person walking in at the door, sighed, raised her hand in a dignified way, and greeted him in a very exaggerated way on purpose.

"Hi honey."

Su Hui also looked in the direction of her line of sight.

In the next second, the blood in the whole body was coagulated, and it was difficult to move an inch.

Bella smiled. She felt that the decadent artist beside her was not good at talking, so she generously took up the job of introduction, "Eddy, this is my fiancé, you can just call him Shaw."

As she spoke, she looked at her fiancé, "Shaw, this is installation artist Eddy, I specially invited here, a shining new star in the New York art world..."

Before she finished speaking, she felt something was wrong and stared hard at her fiancé's face, "Hey, what's wrong with you? You look so bad."

Su Hui felt breathless and clenched her fingers tightly.

Countless hallucinations and dreams were intertwined, and they converged into this handsome and cruel face—the client's fiancé, his ex-boyfriend.

Ning Yixiao hooked the corners of his mouth, but the gloom on his face did not subside in the slightest. He stretched out his hand towards Su Hui with a friendly tone and sharp eyes.

"Hello, Eddy."

The author has something to say:

Poor little Hui (crying)

ps: Don't scold Ning Yixiao, he doesn't really want to get married, it's an exchange of interests negotiated with the woman (only engaged but not married, and the engagement will be terminated after a period of time), the two parties have no relationship and the woman has a romantic partner, mainly malicious slander role so I have to explain a bit in advance here, sorry