Long river

Chapter 1.

Time will not stop for anyone.

It took Cen Li 20 years to figure out this truth.

He ate the noodles whose soup base had already dried out, and expressionlessly removed the lumps of noodles.

The phone rang suddenly, and he swallowed the last mouthful of noodles in the bowl before slowly picking it up.

It was the call from the hospital asking him to submit his application for regularization on Monday.The colleague on the other end of the phone smiled and said, Congratulations, Dr. Cen.

He responded with a polite thank you.

The home returned to its former silence.Cen Li cleaned up the dishes, walked to his grandma's portrait, and wiped the dust off the table.The big clock rang at this moment.

Cen Li stood there and counted quietly, six rings.

It's six o'clock, he thought.

The dim sunlight cast the dust on the table, and even it stayed there quietly, old and old like the whole house.

The clock was brought by grandma from her hometown, and it will ring solemnly every hour.

Cen Li doesn't like Zhong, but his grandma is very fond of him.When moving, the old lady held it stubbornly and wanted to bring it with her.

The bell rang like mourning and joy.He didn't dare to tell grandma, but secretly thought, it's really unlucky.

When grandma passed away, the big bell rang eight times, as if the cry and urging of death struck his heart one by one, and his heart was smashed into pieces by the bell.

His grandma looked at him with cloudy eyes. Cen Li didn't know where she was looking or who he was looking at, but he was clearly the only one in the room.The old man raised his hand and pointed at the clock tremblingly.

Cen Li didn't understand, he asked, "What?"

His grandma didn't move again, she just looked at the air heavily, blinked, and left after a while.

Cen Li leaned against the bed, took the old man's wrinkled hand, and slowly turned his head to look at the clock - only the clock was left staring at him coldly.

He didn't want to think about it anymore, so he just took a rag, wiped the desk carefully, and said in a low voice, "I'll become a full-time employee tomorrow."

There was no sound in the room, but he seemed to be waiting for a response, paused for a while, and then continued: "It will get better, right?"

The setting sun disappeared completely, and the lights in the room were not turned on, only the big clock was left moving slowly.

Cen Li had always wondered whether his own time was slower than others.Because grandma's clock is too bulky.

Heavy enough to carry all his years, he feared that the clock would one day be crushed.

But it was his grandma who was crushed first, he thought, and it would be his turn at some point.

The cold residual temperature sneaked in from the window, Cen Li shivered from the cold, and walked over to close the window.

The fallen leaves were falling from the branches in the deep shadow, and Cen Li glanced at it, it was late autumn.

Cen Li was very afraid of the cold, so the next morning, he put on a turtleneck sweater and a windbreaker over it before he dared to go out.

He works in the top hospital in the city.

Throughout college, he was trying to find ways to study and get a scholarship, and to find a part-time job to earn money for his grandma's medical treatment.Cen Li is used to being alone, and the daily part-time jobs are too exhausting for him to speak up, so he instinctively stays away from all human interactions.

The teacher who took him knew about his situation and was always extra tolerant towards him. It was also the teacher who recommended him to the Second Municipal Hospital for the internship.

He is very grateful to the teacher.

Grandma always hopes that he will make more friends, and that he can get rid of her and the pressure that life brings to Cen Li.Cen Li even felt that she breathed a sigh of relief when she died, so that she would not have to drag herself down any more, so that Cen Li could relax a little.

He squeezed the subway all the way to the hospital. As soon as he entered the department, an intern student came over and said with a smile, "Congratulations, Dr. Cen."

Cen Li smiled and said, "Thank you."

Coincidentally, Lin Feng also walked in at this time, saw him, raised his eyebrows and said, "Dr. Cen has become a regular?"

Cen Li nodded and asked, "Why did you come to work today?"

"I went to the emergency department yesterday, and I didn't go back at all." Lin Feng's brows and eyes were a little tired, "It just so happens that the director is in the office, you go and submit the application."

Cen Li looked at him worriedly: "You have a bad complexion."

"It's okay, I stayed up all night." Lin Feng smiled and yawned: "I'm going first."

Cen Li nodded and watched him walk out staggeringly.

The director and Cen Li's teacher are good friends and have always taken good care of him.After accepting the application, he smiled and asked him: "Several departments heard that you have become a regular, and they are all asking me for someone. What about you, where do you want to go?"

Cen Li looked out the window, there were already patients on the green slope doing morning exercises, the sun shone on the glass, and the weather was fine.

"I'll stay in the emergency department," Cen Li said.

The director's eyes glowed with joy, and he said, "Think it over clearly, the emergency department is tired and busy, and can't keep people all year round. Lao Zhou said, don't let me tie you up, and you can go anywhere you want."

"Yeah." Cen Li said softly, "The emergency department is pretty good."

"Of course it's good if you want to stay here." The director sighed, "Our hospital is good, but the location is remote, and it's not as busy as other hospitals."

Cen Li responded, and went back to the department after a while.

Some people came here scattered from several departments, and none of them seemed to be a big problem. A few intern students followed the doctor on duty to see the doctor.

The emergency department is almost the busiest part of the hospital, with few holidays and many shifts, but Cen Li doesn't care much about these.

He can accept any kind of lifestyle, busy and leisure, for him, it is just a part of life. He likes to pile up his life so that he can hide his ears and not get entangled in the poverty of life.

Not long after he returned to the department, someone knocked on the door and came in. He looked up and saw that there were two men behind him whose faces could not be seen clearly.He only lowered his head to check the medical card that the man handed over, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"High fever, burning all night, if I hadn't visited his house, I would have burned to death in the house..."

The people sitting outside chattered and explained the situation, Cen Li found a thermometer and said, "Let's take your temperature first."

He turned his head and handed over the thermometer, but met the eyes of the man behind him, and stopped abruptly.

The man also stared at him, and after a while, he called out in a low voice, "Cen Li."

Cen Li's breathing was almost stagnant, his throat was dry and hoarse, and he was suddenly speechless.That was Song Xingke.

Six years later, Song Xingke still hasn't changed much.

He didn't open his mouth to speak, he just murmured in his heart, unable to distinguish his thoughts from the messy reality in front of him, and didn't know what to think, he just looked at the other party blankly.

Song Xingke's eyes were very direct, and Cen Li couldn't help but think of him six years ago—the gentle and enthusiastic Song Xingke, the one who lowered his head and secretly talked to him in love.

Jiang Lv looked at Song Xingke, then at the young doctor in front of him, and did not speak tactfully.

Song Xingke reached out to take the thermometer that Cen Li was holding, and said, "Long time no see, Xiao Li."

Cen Li didn't know how to face the current situation, so he bit the bullet and said, "Long time no see."

After finishing speaking, the department fell into silence again. The intern Xu Nian who was standing beside him secretly looked up at the strange atmosphere, so Cen Li could only say, "Is there anything uncomfortable about your body?"

"So you studied medicine." Song Xingke didn't answer him, but said to himself.

It should be because of the fever, his voice was very hoarse, every word was like rough sand, which made Cen Li's heart ache.

He felt that Song Xingke's gaze was a little unspeakable, but he kept shaking his head in his heart, and a voice poked his heart and said, Cen Li, you are wishful thinking.

"Yeah." He could only answer dryly.

"You guys know each other?" Jiang Lu asked cautiously, turning his eyes back and forth.

"we are……"

"High school classmate." Cen Li interrupted Song Xingke, he was a little afraid that Song Xingke would give the same answer.

It might sound better for him to say these words.

Song Xingke looked at him fixedly, took out the thermometer, and said, "Yes."

Cen Li lowered his head to look at the temperature, revealing his porcelain-white nape.

He was too pale, Song Xingke thought, his blood vessels were as thin as hell, and the interrogation that made him think about it tens of thousands of times was like a stick in his throat.

The blood vessels seemed to be wrapped around his neck in circles, so that he could only speak those comforting and polite words.

"It's probably just a cold. Go to the next door and have a blood test, and then you can go to hang the water." Cen Li stopped looking at Song Xingke, tapped on the computer, and opened up his medical records.

"I don't know where the test is." Song Xingke said.

"Turn left at the end of the corridor."

Song Xingke still looked at him and asked, "Can Dr. Cen take me there?"

"I still have to work..." Cen Li was a little flustered, but felt that everything was trying to cover up.

Song Xingke's eyes were like a sharp knife, peeling off the human skin covering his body bit by bit, and he had nowhere to hide.

"The doctor next door is here too, so he's not busy now." Song Xingke said, "I'm sick, and I'm also your job."

Cen Li could no longer refuse, so he could only look at him, stood up silently and walked out.

Song Xingke followed behind him, Jiang Lu watched them go out, curled his lips, sat still, and asked Xu Nian: "Hey, is Dr. Cen interested?"

Xu Nian looked at him cautiously and said, "I don't know."

"Don't get me wrong." Jiang Lu approached him with a smile, "I'm just curious. I heard that your emergency department is very busy. Dr. Cen is such a good-looking doctor. It's a pity that he doesn't have time to fall in love!"

Xu Nian sighed, and then complained: "Yeah, I'm so busy that I'm going to die, I go back to sleep when I have time."

Jiang Lu smiled and nodded.

Before the end of the corridor, Song Xingke grabbed Cen Li's wrist.Cen Li is a little thin, and there is an obvious protrusion in the wrist bone, which Song Xingke can wrap around with one hand.

He asked in a low voice, "How are you doing?"

Cen Li panicked and wanted to take back his hand, but Song Xingke tightly restrained him, so he could only say softly, "It's okay."

A large swath of sunlight outside the window penetrated through the floor-to-ceiling windows and sprinkled on Cen Li's exposed skin, casting a cold golden color.

Song Xingke said hoarsely, "Why don't you ask me how I am doing?"

Cen Li closed his eyes, he almost thought he was crying, bit the tip of his tongue hard, and swallowed back the surging sourness.

So he asked, "How are you doing?"

"Not good." Cen Li was half a head shorter than Song Xingke, and the man looked down at him, "I'm not doing well at all."

Cen Li moved his fingers and said, "I'm sorry."

"You owe me an explanation." Song Xingke let go of Cen Li's wrist, his voice was obscure.

Cen Li turned his head to look out the window, smiled and said, "There is nothing to explain."

"How is your grandma?" Song Xingke asked.

"Passed away." Cen Li turned and walked forward, and said softly: "You still have a fever, go hang the water first."

Song Xingke looked at his thin shoulders and straight back, and followed him silently.

Cen Li was absent-minded all morning.

Song Xingke obediently went to the test to hang the water, and didn't force him to give an explanation, but he felt guilty.

Six years ago, he disappeared without saying a word, Song Xingke—just now Song Xingke said that he was not doing well.

I don't know what's wrong, Cen Li thought, whether it's just because of missing him, or whether it's because of his leaving.

Cen Li couldn't verify it, and he racked his brains but couldn't cope with the scene in front of him.If Song Xingke really wanted an explanation, what should he say?

Said that he was on the inferior side in love, said that he didn't want to spread out his plight in front of Song Xingke, said that he was fed up with the hardships and cautiousness brought by life.

He can't say that.

Cen Li has no way to expose his scars to others, let alone Song Xingke, he doesn't want Song Xingke to feel sorry for him.

It is only now that Cen Li realizes so clearly that he still seems to love Song Xingke, and still only loves Song Xingke.