Plague (3): Don’t want to refuse

Renting a place and buying things cost quite a bit of money. After some thought, Tan Xiao realized that in order to prove he wasn’t just a freeloader living off his parents, he needed to earn some money.

Just then, the fruit shop owner’s wife was looking for a part-time worker in the morning. The job mainly involved helping to unload and arrange the goods and sell fruits, and it included lunch. He went to the fruit shop every morning at seven to help out, earning 20 spirit coins per hour.

When he received the cash, Tan Xiao was momentarily stunned, feeling that the bills he remembered using weren’t like this.

But the customers also used spirit coins, so he chose to ignore this small issue.

In the afternoon, he would chat and laugh while grinding in a game, taking on orders to play on behalf of others. He even casually opened an account on a live streaming platform to do faceless game streaming, combining physical and mental activities.

The part-time job at the fruit shop earned the least, but he could see Dr. Wen coming to work at the shop entrance.

The teenager’s smile was bright and sunny: “Good morning, Dr. Wen!”

In just a few days, everyone nearby knew that a particularly handsome and charming young man with an infectious smile had come to the fruit shop near the hospital, and even the fruit shop’s business had improved quite a bit.

Tan Xiao had it all planned out; in a couple of days, once he earned two thousand yuan and it was Wen Yi’s day off, he would take Dr. Wen out for dinner and a movie.

By then, he could confidently say that whether it was for gifts or dates, the money spent was all earned through his hard work.

However, plans always fall behind changes. Early this morning, not long after Tan Xiao came out, he saw a somewhat timid middle-aged man at the entrance of the fruit store.

The man’s hair was messy, and on this hot day, he was wearing a cotton mask and an old denim jacket stained with oil. He had his right hand tucked into his pocket as if hiding something, and his other hand was holding a pickled vegetable bun from a nearby breakfast shop.

Tan Xiao gave the latter a polite smile, but received a fierce glare in return.

The man’s eyes, showing the whites, were filled with spider web-like red veins, and his pupils bulged outwards like an enraged bull.

This person gave him an uncomfortable feeling, his whole body filled with hostility, exuding an invisible negative energy.

Tan Xiao quickly shifted his attention because he saw Dr. Wen coming to work.

He cheerfully waved vigorously at the other person, “Good morning, Dr. Wen!”

The handsome young man still had a bright smile, his emotions full.

Last night, Wen Yi finished a particularly grueling surgery. When he came back, he was exhausted and starving. As he took out his keys to open the door, his face was pale, looking like he was about to faint from low blood sugar.

As a good neighbor, Tan Xiao quickly brought him a steaming bowl of vegetable and pork rib porridge: “I made too much porridge at home and can’t finish it. Dr. Wen, have some to fill your stomach.”

“This lunchbox is new; I haven’t used it before.”

The porridge he made in the clay pot didn’t take much effort; it had been kept warm in the small pot. After handing the food to Dr. Wen, Tan Xiao closed the door.

Wen Yi looked at the steaming vegetable porridge in his hands. The rice porridge was thick and white, the chopped green vegetable leaves were a vibrant green, and the pork ribs were tender and pink, looking very fresh.

For someone who was almost starving, it was hard to resist such a warm and comforting dish in the middle of the night. He hesitated for a moment but still accepted Tan Xiao’s kind gesture.

Before long, Tan Xiao heard someone knock on the door. He opened it and saw that Dr. Wen’s door was closed, but there was a bag hanging at his own doorstep.

The porridge had already been finished, and the bag contained a clean glass food container and a small bag of cherries weighing about a pound.

Successfully sending out something he had made, Tan Xiao felt that his relationship with Wen Yi had taken a big step forward.

Sure enough, today Wen Yi finally didn’t pretend not to hear. He turned around, his eyes slightly curved, and said, “Morning.”

Tan Xiao revealed his cute tiger teeth and two dimples: “Today is truly a great improvement!”

When Wen Yi entered the hospital, that somewhat eccentric man followed him in.

Tan Xiao hesitated for a moment, his intuition telling him that the man might be problematic. He turned to the store and said, “Aunt Zhao, I have something urgent today, I need to take a leave.”

Huaxi Hospital was a very large hospital, and there were already many patients queuing for registration in the morning.

Tan Xiao followed the middle-aged man like a little tail, got into the elevator with him, and then went all the way to the fifth floor of the inpatient department.

Perhaps the emotions had accumulated to a breaking point; the red-eyed man sitting in the waiting area finally made a big move.

In the midst of casual conversation, a flash of silver caught his eye. The man suddenly pulled out a sharp watermelon knife from his denim jacket and viciously swung it at a kind-looking female doctor: “Bitch, you killed my mom. Give her back her life!”

“Dr. Wen, watch out!”

Nurses and doctors in the hospital immediately screamed and fled.

Wen Yi was originally discussing the situation of last night’s surgery with the female doctor when he encountered this violent medical dispute. He instinctively took a knife for his colleague.

However, the young Dr. Wen was also flesh and blood, and the thin white coat couldn’t protect him from the blade.

The sharp watermelon knife directly cut his arm, staining the clean white coat of Wen Yi with blood.

The female doctor instinctively grabbed something nearby to hit the enraged thug. The medical record book hit the thug’s forehead, causing little harm, but it only enraged the disheveled, red-eyed man further.

“Die, all of you die!”

The doctor’s office was narrow, and the hallway was not spacious either, making the scene quite chaotic.

Seeing the thug’s cleaver swinging towards Wen Yi’s neck, Tan Xiao rushed in with all his might, kicking the red-eyed man against the wall, successfully incapacitating the attacker for a moment.

At the same time, he quickly snatched the bloody cleaver from the red-eyed man’s hand, threw it far away, pinned the man to the ground, and shouted outside, “Where are the security guards? Are the security guards here?”

The security guards in their uniforms hurriedly arrived at this moment. Seeing the scene before them, they wiped the sweat off their foreheads and said, “Fortunately, fortunately, it didn’t turn into a major disaster.”

The nurse who had screamed earlier immediately ran out to find the hospital security. They brought electric batons and ropes and successfully took away the violent troublemaker.

Tan Xiao let go of his hand, and before he could even relax, he remembered that Dr. Wen Yi was injured. He immediately went to support Dr. Wen, who was covering his wound.

“Dr. Wen? Dr. Wen, are you okay?”

The latter shook his head, his face pale and weak: “I’m fine.”

Tan Xiao frowned: “You say you’re fine? Look at how much blood you’ve lost!”

He looked at the bloodstains on the white coat that were continuously spreading and felt a chill run down his spine: “Don’t move around, I’ll help you to the office, and we’ll get someone to come over and bandage and examine you right away!”

Fortunately, although the situation was alarming, no medical staff were killed or seriously injured.

The most severely injured was Wen Yi, who had a knife wound on his arm that was more than ten centimeters long, exposing the bone, and there were abrasions and bruises on his waist and abdomen.

Tan Xiao stared intently at the nurse bandaging Wen Yi, learning her professional techniques, and asked, “He used a watermelon knife, with such a big wound, does he still need a tetanus shot?”

The nurse answered very gently and patiently, “Yes.”

She remembered that before Tan Xiao was a patient in their ward. After all, this boy was really very good-looking. Although they didn’t meet often, she still left a deep impression.

Sometimes, the gap between people is even greater than between people and dogs. Both were patients, one injuring others without a brain, the other heroically saving people.

She glanced at Tan Xiao, then at Dr. Wen: “Are you Dr. Wen’s family?”

Tan Xiao shook his head: “No, I’m his admirer.”

Although he saved someone, he didn’t plan to use it as leverage. He believed that his love should be pure.

With such a serious injury, Wen Yi definitely couldn’t continue working today. Tan Xiao, like a little bee, accompanied Dr. Wen, this delicate flower, to get a tetanus shot, and then watched the nurse put a cast on his injured right hand.

Wen Yi was injured in the hospital, and the female doctor who had previously been involved with him also came to visit her unfortunate colleague: “Wen Yi, thank you. I’ll drive and take you home to rest.”

Tan Xiao quickly said, “I’m Dr. Wen’s neighbor, I’ll take him home.”

His rented apartment was only a few hundred meters away, and since Wen Yi had injured his hand, not his leg, he could walk back by himself.

The female doctor, seeing Tan Xiao, was very grateful: “Thank you very much for what you did earlier.”

Tan Xiao shook his head: “It’s nothing, it’s what I should do. You are a good doctor, and Dr. Wen is also a good doctor. Don’t let some bad people get to you.”

He had heard from the nurse who bandaged him before that the female doctor was a very famous surgeon, having saved many people from the brink of death.

When the patient’s mother was brought in, her breathing had already stopped. The female doctor wasn’t a god and couldn’t bring the dead back to life.

Tan Xiao helped Wen Yi get his commuting bag and anti-inflammatory medication: “Let’s go, Dr. Wen.”

Passing by the fruit store, Tan Xiao said, “Aunt Zhao, please help me get three pounds of the best red dates.”

He also took two days off: “I have some matters to attend to these two days, so I won’t be coming to work for a while.”

Carrying a large pile of items belonging to Wen Yi, Tan Xiao successfully entered the other person’s home.

The layout of 01 and 02 was not much different, but Dr. Wen’s room obviously lacked any warmth or liveliness. The colors were just black, white, and gray, clean and tidy as if no one had ever lived there.

Tan Xiao opened the refrigerator and only saw pure water and coffee, along with a small amount of fruit. He put the bought red dates and medicine inside.

He glanced again at Wen Yi’s bedroom. The master bedroom had a very large bed, neatly made with a gray checkered bedspread and a light gray goose down comforter.

Then he turned and went next door to get his own bedding, moved Wen Yi’s comforter aside, and with a serious expression said, “You might have a fever tonight, so I’ll keep watch over you.”

Wen Yi: …Actually, he wasn’t that fragile.

Maybe it was because he had lost too much blood from his injury, maybe it was because the young man had been too brave while saving others, or maybe it was because Tan Xiao’s presence was too warm. At this moment, he didn’t want to refuse.

Dr. Wen, with his right hand in a cast, no longer resembled the refined elite he usually was. Faced with the relentless banter, he replied softly, as obedient as a small, fluffy white rabbit: “Mm.”