Intoxicated Friends
Translator: Jury
Editor: NomNom
First Published on Chaleuria
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23.1 – I’ll Go To The Su Group And Help You
Very soon, Jiang Luo was discharged. The person who came to pick him up was Lei Che, who had announced that he wanted to keep playing this game between them. Yao Yuan didn’t know what the so-called ‘game’ was, but he could tell that when Lei Che’s eyes when looking at Jiang Luo were full of affection. That was enough. Yao Yuan only wanted to be sure that his good friend would be happy.
Yao Qian still lay in her sickbed quietly without any sign of waking up. Yao Yuan had quietly called his workplace in G City to let them know that he was resigning from his internship for personal reasons. The director of the G City finance channel personally called back to ask Yao Yuan to stay, even promising to give him vacation time to let him settle his family matters, but Yao Yuan still refused. He had already made other plans.
After that, Yao Yuan spent nearly every day in the hospital talking to his sister. He reminisced about their lives before, or told her about current events. Zhang Chen and Wang Jiya also visited the hospital often. Zhang Chen was always chatting away, while Jiya reminded Yao Yuan to take care of his own health. Yang Weiyu also visited once. She really cared for Yao Qian as her friend, and she couldn’t keep her tears from falling as she looked at Yao Qian lying in the hospital bed.
“Yao Yuan, if I can do anything to help, just tell me,” Yang Weiyu said before she left.
“Thank you, on my sister’s behalf.”
“No need. Yao Qian is a friend who’s helped me a lot, but I’ve never even thanked her. I know that Su Mu is getting in touch with neurologists, and I’ll reach out to my ex-classmates, too. I hope Yao Qian wakes up soon.” She gently patted Yao Yuan’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. She’ll be fine.”
Yao Yuan nodded and watched Yang Weiyu’s departing figure in a daze. Yang Weiyu had a stubborn, arrogant side—it was unavoidable, being the young lady of a wealthy family—but she was a kind woman, and he could tell that she loved Su Mu. At the same time, he knew that Su Mu was only using her. Su Mu… Yao Yuan smiled. He really was the man who deserved to be loved least in the world. To Su Mu, feelings were only collateral, but Yao Yuan was as silly as Yang Weiyu. No, Yao Yuan was sillier. He understood the man Su Mu was, but he still couldn’t keep his feelings under control.
Since that day, Su Mu hadn’t appeared before him again. Yao Yuan knew that he was busy trying to find a hospital and didn’t try to contact him. Right now, the most important thing was to locate a doctor who could help Yao Qian. As for Yao Yuan’s own matters, he would take things as they came.
The days passed quietly. One evening, more than ten days after the incident, Yao Yuan returned to Yao Qian’s shop. Zhang Chen had shooed him home: having spent the last few days at the hospital, he hadn’t properly rested for some time. When he arrived at the shop, he looked at the empty space and remembered all the times he had come here with his good friends, and how Yao Qian, unable to refuse their invitation, often had a few drinks with them. They had been happy together, drinking and laughing, but now there was only emptiness left. Yao Yuan turned on the TV and as he sat in the room, he felt no trace of sleepiness. Recently, he was troubled by many things. His sister in a coma, his incomprehensible feelings, and the changes he would have to face in the future… He took out a box of cigarettes and lit one. Night had already fallen outside and the lights in the house were off. The only faint light came from the television screen and the cigarette’s end.
Yao Yuan didn’t know how long he sat before he heard the doorbell. He put out the cigarette in his hand and went to open the door. To his surprise, he saw Su Mu whom he had not seen in more than ten days.
“What are you doing? Why didn’t you turn the light on?” Su Mu entered and turned on the light. The pungent smell of smoke in the room and the cigarette stubs covering the ground made him frown. He opened all the windows in the room, then turned to look at the silent Yao Yuan. “Are you trying to get nicotine poisoning?”
“It’s not that bad, surely. I only smoked a few.” Yao Yuan sat casually back down on the sofa.
“A few? Just look around. How many are there?” Su Mu suddenly grew angry, stepped in front of Yao Yuan, and caught hold of his collar. “What, do you want another fight?”
“Su Mu, let go of me.” Yao Yuan caught hold of his hand in frustration. “I don’t goddamn want to get caught up in your madness.”
“Madness? Who’s the mad one here?” Su Mu hauled Yao Yuan off the seat and dragged him to the mirror in the living room. “Please, look at yourself. Pale, haggard, useless. It’s been only twelve days since I last saw you and you’ve grown this thin? Are you still the Yuan-ge whose reputation reaches every corner of F University?”
Yao Yuan dully glanced at the mirror, then broke free of Su Mu’s vice grip and yelled, “What do you want me to do? What can I do? My sister is in a coma, lying in a hospital bed. Without her, I’d have been orphaned as a teenager. I might already be dead. But now the doctors are telling me she may never wake up. She’ll die in a year’s time. You can’t fucking understand how I’m feeling.”
“You’re right, I don’t understand.” Su Mu couldn’t endure it any longer and punched him. “But I know that seeing you like this makes my heart fucking hurt, too.”