Evening Stars Chapter 23
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 23
The man in the photo gave off the same impression as he did in person. His face was handsome, though a little weary today after performing a long surgery.
Back at that small hospital, while operating on the patient with the rebar through his chest, Xu Nanheng vaguely sensed that Fang Shiyou was a very stubborn person who stuck to his own beliefs. Such a person didn't have it easy in the professional world.
In today's society, most people preferred to play it safe. This was especially true for doctors, given the enormous cost of their education and the high barriers to entry within their medical profession. If something went wrong, selling Chinese crepes might honestly be the best available option.
Those who followed the rules were the ones protected by them. But Fang Shiyou only followed what he believed was right. Xu Nanheng, having grown up in a business family, knew well that people like him usually suffered for it.
So Fang Shiyou's personality wasn't exactly endearing. He was opinionated, rigid in his convictions, governed by every principle he'd ever been taught. Like a robot forever executing its ‘start command,’ nothing could sway him once he believed something was right.
Xu Nanheng tucked the photo into the pocket of his coat and stood up. “I'll get going then.”
“You're not even gonna let me see?” Fang Shiyou screwed the cap back on his bottle, stood up with him, and joked, “Come on, let me at least see how it turned out.”
“Oh.” Xu Nanheng pulled the photo out again and handed it over.
They each held one corner, tilting it slightly so the light didn't reflect off it. Fang Shiyou glanced at it, then let go. “I'll give you a ride. You're heading back to the county school, right?”
“Mm.” Xu Nanheng nodded, slipped the photo away again, and checked his watch. “Yeah, I should head back.”
He put the Polaroid back into its pouch and held it by the strap. He could've just taken a taxi back, since the county town wasn't big, and the distance wasn't far. Besides, Fang Shiyou had just finished a full day of surgery and was probably exhausted. Xu Nanheng didn't want to trouble him to drive, so he said, “No need to drive me. You should rest.”
Fang Shiyou shook his head and picked up his coat. “Can't rest yet. I've got to head back to the hospital anyway. Just came out for a breather. Let's go.”
The drive back to the county school was quiet. Thinking about it now, Xu Nanheng realized that keeping someone else's photo was actually a little strange. But he was just that kind of person. He couldn't hide things. If he wanted to keep it, he kept it, without overthinking.
Xu Nanheng, belatedly feeling awkward, sat somewhat stiffly in the passenger seat. When Fang Shiyou glanced toward the side mirror on his side, he would deliberately avert his gaze to avoid any sudden eye contact.
“Ahem.” Fang Shiyou cleared his throat. “Do you still have evening self-study tonight?”
Xu Nanheng straightened up and answered with energy, “Yeah! We'll just have a twenty-minute review summary.”
“You teach physics and chemistry too?”
“Ah.” Xu Nanheng paused. “I'm not great at chemistry. I mean, it's enough to teach junior high, but I can't get past my own standard.”
He turned to look out the window, feeling slightly embarrassed. Then, after a moment's thought, he asked, “Do med students have to study chemistry?”
“Yeah. It's part of the exams.” Fang Shiyou steered left, merging into another lane, and waited at the red light.
“Did you ever fail chemistry?” Xu Nanheng asked.
Fang Shiyou shook his head. “No.”
“……” Xu Nanheng looked at him in disbelief, then sighed. “You're really something.”
Fang Shiyou chuckled. “It's…… it's not that impressive. Most of it was just memorization.”
“Don't be modest,” Xu Nanheng said. “But doctors have to train their physical stamina too, right? Surgeries last for hours.”
“Yeah.” Fang Shiyou nodded. “A lot of my colleagues work out, but it's not just about getting fit. It's more about combating the physical strain from sitting or standing for long periods.”
“That's true,” Xu Nanheng agreed. “I think my neck's already giving out.”
They were almost there, and Fang Shiyou slowed the car. It was nearly dismissal time, and a few rickshaws were rolling up to the gate, setting up stalls selling candied hawthorns and cotton candy.
Hearing that, Fang Shiyou's professional reflex kicked in. “If you experience dizziness, you should get it checked. Take a standing full-spine X-ray, both frontal and lateral views. It costs 200 yuan, and the results are ready in half an hour.”
Xu Nanheng blinked. “……Oh, okay.”
“Do you?” Fang Shiyou asked as he eased the car toward the curb.
“Huh?”
“Do you get dizzy? Or feel nauseous?” Fang Shiyou asked.
“N-no.” Xu Nanheng looked at him.
Fang Shiyou parked the car and unbuckled his seatbelt. “Get out. Let me take a look.”
“Huh? No…… I-I'm actually fine, I was just saying it casually……”
“Just let me check.” Fang Shiyou's tone was steady. “I once performed a preliminary diagnoses for the director of orthopedics at the main hospital.”
“It's not that I don't trust you. I just feel bad for always bothering you……” Xu Nanheng said as he unfastened his seatbelt. He meant it. Fang Shiyou had taken such good care of him that he honestly felt a bit guilty about it.
They got out from either side of the car. Fang Shiyou walked around the front. He hadn't put on his coat and looked quite thin in his shirt in the wind. He quickly walked over to stand in front of Xu Nanheng.
“Stand straight.”
Instinctively, Xu Nanheng straightened his posture. Fang Shiyou's hand was warm, and his palm felt smoother than Xu Nanheng had imagined.
The instant the palm settled on the back of his neck, Xu Nanheng unconsciously held his breath. Fang Shiyou pressed gently along the lower part of his nape. His thumb and forefinger gently traced the sides of Xu Nanheng's cervical vertebrae, the force not too light nor too heavy.
“Your neck's fine,” Fang Shiyou said. “Do you swim? It's good for the shoulders and neck.”
A small, self-conscious smile touched Fang Shiyou's lips as he realized his concern might have been excessive. But in truth, he and Xu Nanheng were quite alike. Once they accepted someone, they couldn't help but be straightforward with them.
“Yeah, I swim. It's the only kind of physical exercise I can do.”
Seeing that he wasn't taking it too seriously, Fang Shiyou relaxed a little. He glanced toward the bus parked by the school gate and said, “Alright then…… be careful on your way back.”
Then his eyes flicked toward Xu Nanheng's unzipped windbreaker. “You should zip that up.”
Xu Nanheng let out a small laugh. “Alright, I'll listen to the doctor.”
However, he was holding the bag with the Polaroid. It was a bit heavy since there were extra film packs inside. He fumbled with the zipper, missing the alignment on the first try.
On his second try, another pair of hands appeared in view. Teacher Xu's fingers were long, pale, and delicate. They were the hands of a young master who'd probably never done any rough work, perhaps having wrung out a face towel at best. Fang Shiyou's hands, by contrast, were strong and defined, yet steady enough to stitch a seven-millimeter blood vessel.
Those hands helped him align the zipper and pulled it up smoothly, stopping at his Adam's apple.
Xu Nanheng froze for a moment. Helping someone zip up a jacket could be perfectly casual or quietly intimate, depending on how one chose to interpret it. And when it came to interpretation, as Xu Nanheng would say, ‘If you give me enough known variables, I can deduce how the universe exploded.’
That was an exaggeration, of course, but what was important was the level of detail provided by those known variables. And right now, two possibilities came to mind: either he sees me as a younger brother, or something's off about him.
With such vague premises, Xu Nanheng preferred to play it safe.
So he smiled. “Haha, thanks. I'll get going. Drive safe.”
“Mm.” Fang Shiyou nodded and took a step back. The weather in Tibet was unpredictable. Just like in Lhasa, clouds could gather thick and dark, then suddenly give way to endless blue skies. When they'd gotten out of the car, the breeze had been gentle. Now, as if time had sped up, the clouds and wind seemed to move in reverse.
The sky grew darker. Wind swept between them, lifting dust and leaves off the sidewalk. It pressed Fang Shiyou's white shirt close to his skin. For a moment, Xu Nanheng was dazed, and Fang Shiyou, too, didn't move.
It lasted only a few seconds, but it felt like years. Then both of them snapped back to reality and muttered a stiff ‘bye.’ One turned toward the school, the other got back into the car.
On the bus ride from the county back to the village, Xu Nanheng slumped into his seat, feeling drowsy, and kept his eyes closed.
The first Polaroid photo was of Fang Shiyou sitting on that old sofa by the window. Xu Nanheng didn't quite understand what was happening to him. This fear of the unknown came from all directions, and right now, he was honestly scared. What if he really liked him?
After all, he knew very little about Fang Shiyou. He just knew that the man was a twenty-nine-year-old doctor at a Grade A tertiary hospital in Beijing. Xu Nanheng had also seen his driver's license and registration.
What he lacked was the most crucial piece of information. A twenty-nine-year-old man like that could very well already be married, and he might even have children.
That wasn't just speculation. Although people on the internet might shout about never marrying or having kids, in reality, the obstetrics wards in Beijing were still overcrowded. Even among their own university alumni, plenty had younger siblings.
Besides, Xu Nanheng was strict in this regard. He would never get involved with someone who had a family. And more than that, the other person was a man. But then…… as that thought hit him, Xu Nanheng's eyes suddenly flew open.
Right. Fang Shiyou was a man.
Just then, the bus jolted over a pothole, and the whole vehicle lurched. Xu Nanheng's head smacked hard against the window.
“Ow……” The impact woke him up completely, banishing all sleepiness.
No matter what, time kept moving forward.
The second Polaroid photo was of Sonam Tsomo and her daughter, Tashi Dolkar. In it, Dolkar sat atop a yak while Principal Sonam stood on the ground, supporting her legs and looking up at her.
On Thursday, Fang Shiyou came back. When he did, he acted all secretive, telling Xu Nanheng to come over to his place after class.
This had made Xu Nanheng a little nervous. Right after class, he grabbed his books and went straight over. Okay, fine. If he was being honest, he was actually more curious than anything else. He knew the way around the small hospital by now and went straight to Fang Shiyou's on-call room. He knocked, and Fang Shiyou came to open the door.
Xu Nanheng lowered his voice. “What's up?”
“Why do you sound like you're here for a secret meeting?” Fang Shiyou stepped aside to let him in.
“Well, what else am I supposed to think after that message?” Xu Nanheng said as he entered. “You texted, ‘Come by after class. Come alone. I've got something for you.’ I'm a law-abiding citizen from a respectable family. The way you worded that WeChat, even emphasizing I ‘come alone,’ what exactly are you giving me? Is it something that could get me a prison sentence?”
“……” Fang Shiyou was speechless. “I'm a law-abiding citizen too, Teacher Xu.”
“Who knows these days.” Xu Nanheng gave him a complicated look. “So, what are you giving me?”
Fang Shiyou closed the door, took the textbook and workbook from Xu Nanheng's hands, and set them on his desk. “Sit.”
Xu Nanheng sat down.
Then he suddenly jumped to his feet. “Holy shit! Fang Shiyou!!”
This was the first time Xu Nanheng had called him by his full name.
Honestly, just calling him by his full name showed that Teacher Xu had excellent psychological composure.
Because Fang Shiyou had just lifted a box labeled: Medical Biological Transport Thermostatic Container.
“What's wrong?” Fang Shiyou asked.
“What's in there?!” Xu Nanheng was stunned. “It's not an organ, is it? Are you…… are you giving me a kidney?”
In Xu Nanheng's limited understanding, a medical insulated container that size, with a display screen for monitoring internal temperature, was used to store organs.
“……” Fang Shiyou stared at him in silence, then set the box down beside the desk, opened it, and pulled out…… a bag of McDonald's.
Fang Shiyou explained, “This is a retired warming box from the main hospital in Beijing. When we got busy, we'd put our meals in it so they wouldn't get cold.”
He added, “They used to put a sticker over the label to cover it up, but the sticker fell off later.”
Xu Nanheng immediately wiped all expression from his face, pressed his knees together, and sat properly in his chair. “Sorry.”