Evening Stars Chapter 45 (Part 2)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 45.2
The next day, after his overnight shift and a short meeting, Fang Shiyou waited in the ward corridor, lying in ambush for his father.
Before long, Professor Gu appeared, holding a cup of tea, wearing his white coat, followed by two doctoral students and two residents on training rounds. Fang Shiyou timed it perfectly, stepped out, took two quick strides to his father's side, and blended naturally into the group. “Good morning, Professor.”
Professor Gu shot him a sidelong glance and instinctively covered the pen in his chest pocket. “What do you want?”
Fang Shiyou smiled. “Nothing, just saying hello. You're doing rounds?”
“No,” Professor Gu said calmly. “I'm going to mop the floor in the ward.”
The students behind them all lowered their heads, stifling laughter.
Of course he was doing rounds. What else would someone be doing in the inpatient corridor at this hour?
Fang Shiyou pressed his lips together. “I've finished mine. Mind if I tag along and learn a bit?”
This time, Professor Gu didn't guard his pen. Instead, he gave him a different kind of wary look. “If you're really that idle, go to the emergency resuscitation room and see if they can use your help.”
In the hospital, Fang Shiyou and Professor Gu weren't outwardly close. To outsiders, it simply looked like Professor Gu was Dr. Fang's mentor. Fang Shiyou gave a dry laugh, nodded, and didn't actually follow them into the ward.
At noon, Fang Shiyou went home to shower and sleep. By evening, he got up and made dish of tomato and beef brisket served over golden omelette rice, packed it in a thermal lunchbox, and drove to the affiliated high school. The school offered voluntary evening self-study sessions for the first-year and second-year students, with an hour-long dinner break in between.
Fang Shiyou parked the car, and a moment later, the passenger door opened and Teacher Xu got in. As soon as he sat down, he groaned, “Ugh, my neck.”
Fang Shiyou handed him the lunchbox, then reached over to massage the back of his neck.
“Come over this weekend and I'll give you a proper massage.”
Xu Nanheng shook his head and opened the lunchbox lid. “What would it look like if Professor Gu saw that?”
“He has outpatient duty at the Haidian branch on Monday mornings. He usually stays at his old place in Haidian over the weekend. Oh right, I found a place I like.”
“Really?” Xu Nanheng scooped up a mouthful of rice covered with tomato sauce and egg. Fang Shiyou held his phone out in front of him
A 350-square-meter duplex in Chaoyang District, fully furnished and ready to move in. Xu Nanheng nearly choked on his rice. “Dr. Fang, you have quite an appetite. What happened, did the hospital promote you to director?”
Fang Shiyou replied seriously, “No one gets promoted straight from attending physician to hospital director.”
“Then why are you looking at a thirty-million-yuan apartment?” Xu Nanheng asked. “I think a two-bedroom's enough for us. Do you really think I'm going to have three kids for you?”
Before clocking out at noon, Fang Shiyou had already talked to Professor Gu about it. Earlier that morning, his furtive behavior in the inpatient corridor had made Professor Gu think he'd done something that could land him in jail, like ‘prescribing an external topical application as an IV push, and the nurse, failing to notice, actually administered it.’
Turned out, he just wanted to borrow money to buy a house. This almost gave Professor Gu, at sixty years old, a systolic blood pressure over 150.
Only then did Professor Gu tell him that he had bought an apartment in Fang Shiyou's name when he was an undergraduate. That place had since been demolished, and the compensation money had remained untouched. When he asked how much Fang Shiyou needed, Fang Shiyou told him the truth. He planned to add his own savings for the down payment. After all, his housing fund was quite decent now.
Professor Gu's view was that buying property in Beijing was no small matter, and they ought to seek input from Xu Nanheng's parents. Although the house was ultimately for the two of them to live in, at the very least, his partner's parents should be informed.
Fang Shiyou relayed Professor Gu's message to Xu Nanheng. Xu Nanheng licked the bit of tomato sauce from the corner of his lips, nodded, finished the last bite of rice, closed the empty lunchbox, and took out his phone.
Right there in the car, he called home and arranged for Fang Shiyou to come over that weekend for dinner.
Fang Shiyou took a deep breath in the driver's seat, then nodded as if accepting some epic mission. “Alright.”
“Come early in the afternoon,” Xu Nanheng said, pulling a tissue to wipe his mouth.
“Got it,” Fang answered firmly.
Xu Nanheng added, “That lihua cat's been sneaking into my place again, picking fights with Pangpang. Come early, and we'll catch it together.”
“……”
So that was what this was about.
After finishing his meal, Xu Nanheng got out of the car and crossed the street back toward the school. He happened to see Tan Xi coming out of the fried chicken shop. The teacher looked troubled, so Xu Nanheng patted his shoulder. “What's wrong? Class 10's one of the elite classes, isn't it?”
“That's exactly the problem,” Tan Xi sighed. “Those brats' English pronunciation is way better than mine.”
“But aren't you the physics teacher?”
“One of my students quoted a line from a top academic journal.”
Xu Nanheng was speechless and could only pat him on the shoulder again.
These kids…… he thought. Give the adults a little mercy, will you.
That Saturday afternoon, around three o'clock, Fang Shiyou texted Xu Nanheng, saying he was almost there, and that he wasn't coming alone. Professor Gu was with him.
That made it an official meeting between both families. Xu Nanheng had been in the courtyard, holding a fishing net in one hand and a cat carrier on the ground beside him. When he realized his outfit wasn't exactly suitable for greeting Professor Gu, he went back inside and changed into something more proper.
When they arrived, Xu Nanheng's parents warmly welcomed Professor Gu into the main hall. No matter how old you were, in front of your parents you'd always be that child they could tell, ‘Go play.’ While the elders talked inside, the two of them slipped out.
Pangpang had been guarding the pond for the past few days, strictly preventing the lihua cat from approaching, and losing every battle. Xu Nanheng pulled Fang Shiyou onto the terrace and hid behind a column under the veranda.
“Here,” Xu Nanheng whispered, pressing close to him. “Hide here. That damn cat always shows up around this time. It'll attack Pangpang first, then go after the fish.”
The elders' conversation inside revolved around ‘my disappointing son,’ while the younger generation outside talked about ‘if we don't catch it today, I'll quit my job and become a pond security guard.’
Finally, Pangpang's eyes suddenly sharpened. Xu Nanheng realized it was the moment. He gripped the long-handled fishing net, and Fang Shiyou held the open cat carrier. On top of the courtyard wall, the lihua cat stood tall and majestic.
It looked down from its perch, full of confidence. It had come and gone freely here many times, treating the place as if no one were around, and had always retreated unscathed.
Arrogance.
Even the cicadas in the trees seemed to be cheering it on. The lihua cat had no idea that the terrifying humans were plotting something nefarious.
As usual, the lihua leapt down in one smooth motion. Pangpang nimbly stepped back, then sprang forward, swinging a flurry of cat punches with his right paw. The lihua bared its teeth with a sharp hiss and countered with a sudden lunge, pinning Pangpang down in one swift takedown.
Xu Nanheng whispered sharply to Fang Shiyou, “Go!” Then he brought the fishing net down.
“Mrrraaeow!!”
The good news: they caught the tabby.
The bad news: the rim of the net smacked Pangpang right on the head.
It was a solid whack. Pangpang's eyes went wide with stars as he staggered, nearly tumbling into the pond if Fang Shiyou hadn't rushed forward and scooped him up.
“Damn it. Pang'er, I didn't mean to,” Xu Nanheng said while shoving the lihua into the cat carrier.
“He should be fine,” Fang Shiyou said, rubbing the bump on Pangpang's head. “But maybe we should take him to the vet just in case?”
The commotion drew the elders out of the hall.
Xu Nanheng's mother looked utterly baffled. It was common for the little cats to fight, but why had her son, and her son's boyfriend, joined the fray?
Then her son lifted the cat carrier with a bright, sunny grin and said, “Caught alive! Impressive, right?”
Xu Nanheng's parents had no idea what expression to put on. They had just finished telling Professor Gu that their son had always been a quiet, well-behaved child.
Professor Gu nodded, his voice loud and approving. “Impressive.”
Still basking in the joy of his long-awaited victory, Xu Nanheng said, “You all go ahead and chat. Dr. Fang and I will take it to the vet for neutering.”
And so, Dongcheng District lost one lihua war god, but the balance of population in the Xu family's courtyard was restored. One Xu Nanheng moved out, one lihua cat moved in.
In October, Xu Nanheng and Fang Shiyou completed the purchase of their apartment.
Xu Nanheng's parents insisted on splitting the down payment evenly between both families, and the property was registered in both of their names as jointly owned real estate.
As for the population balance in Xu Nanheng's home, after the lihua was neutered, Xu Nanheng, out of humanitarian concern, let it stay at home for a few days, supplementing its nutrition with milk and canned food.
When the lihua was undergoing surgery, Pangpang was also at the clinic. Since it had taken a blow to the head, Fang Shiyou had it checked as well. The lihua's neutering seemed to stir Pangpang's old memories. It had been sent in by Xu Nanheng the same way, and came out missing two little balls.
Thus, in the face of a shared enemy, the two cats made peace.
The lihua was adopted into the siheyuan and suddenly found itself living a life of unexpected luxury. It was given a name, Tiger, for its once undefeated, regal air. After the neutering, however, Tiger's temperament changed. It grew melancholic, sitting by the pond day after day, staring at its reflection as if mourning its former self.
Whenever Tiger fell into that state, Pangpang would waddle over, settle down quietly beside it, and sit there in silence, as if to say, ‘You'll get used to it.’