Evening Stars Chapter 25
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 25
The way he was addressed as ‘benefactor’ made Fang Shiyou chuckle to himself. He knew that Xu Nanheng was just being glib and was perfectly clear about the situation. Still, people were like that. If it sounded pleasant to the ear, it felt good.
Because the snow was heavy, Fang Shiyou drove slowly. Yang Gao had noticed the snowfall around two in the morning. Luckily, he hadn't gone to bed yet, crouched beside the radiator playing on his phone, and was able to call Fang Shiyou right when the snow began to fall.
Yang Gao had been in Tibet for quite some time, so he knew that once it started snowing here, it usually lasted the whole night. To avoid delaying his shift at the county hospital, he immediately contacted Fang Shiyou.
As doctors, they rarely kept their phones on silent, even when sleeping. It was only because Fang Shiyou went to fetch that unlucky colleague in the middle of the night that he ended up rescuing Xu Nanheng.
Still, Fang Shiyou hadn't expected Teacher Xu to be this carefree, traveling all the way from Beijing on his own, then leaving a broken door lock unrepaired for half a month. Thinking about it, Dr. Fang sighed quietly to himself.
It wasn't until the car was nearing the county that Xu Nanheng's phone buzzed twice in his pocket. He took it out and finally saw Fang Shiyou's earlier WeChat messages. There were two of them:
[Is the wind slamming the door open?]
[Wait a bit, I'll come pick you up.]
Xu Nanheng put his phone away. He lowered his eyes, recalling how Fang Shiyou had looked at him while standing in the doorway earlier. The doctor must have been anxious then. The white mist forming from his lips showed that his breathing was very rapid.
He didn't know what he must have looked like from Fang Shiyou's perspective. Thinking of it, he frowned slightly. Damn, he'd been curled up in the chair, hugging his legs. He must have looked like a little lamb.
Xu Nanheng shut his eyes in despair. Fine, he admitted he had been genuinely scared at the time. With that thought, he secretly glanced to his left, taking in Fang Shiyou's profile. Even though today's situation was pure coincidence, there really was an indescribable sense of security about Fang Shiyou.
It felt as if nothing else mattered when he was there.
The car drove into the county. Yang Gao asked to be dropped off at the hospital. He planned to nap in the lounge for a bit before heading to the outpatient clinic that afternoon.
After dropping him off, Fang Shiyou kept driving. Xu Nanheng recognized the route. They were heading toward Dr. Fang's apartment. The snow still showed no sign of easing. By the time they reached the area, Xu Nanheng's phone finally regained signal. He had missed a call from Sonam Tsomo earlier due to poor reception. Once the car stopped, he got out while calling the principal back.
Fang Shiyou came over to help carry his backpack just as the call connected.
Xu Nanheng: “Hey, Principal, I'm fine, I…… No, no, no, I'm not at the school anymore. I came to the county with Dr. Fang…… yes, really, don't worry about me. Okay, thank you.”
After hanging up, Xu Nanheng followed Fang Shiyou upstairs. As they climbed the stairs, he said, “The snow came out of nowhere. The principal said once it gets colder, she wants me to stay at her place instead of the dorms. Tibetan households heat with those boilers, you see. It's much warmer.”
“It's fine,” Fang Shiyou said ahead of him. “The hospital is close. You can stay there.”
“No need, that's too much trouble. The dorm's fine. I've got an electric blanket, and if it's too cold, I'll just burrow under the covers to grade papers and read,” Xu Nanheng said.
Fang Shiyou didn't press the matter further. He took out his keys and unlocked the door.
The apartment had a furnace. As soon as he stepped inside, Xu Nanheng felt like his whole body could unfold. He no longer had to hunch over and shiver. He sighed. “Beijing really spoiled me. I never realized before, but central heating is such a blessing. What a great invention.”
“You should go get some sleep first. You've been up since four and haven't closed your eyes, have you?” Fang Shiyou set his backpack on a chair. “The bathroom's over there. Use anything you need. The bedroom's that one. You can find some clean clothes in the closet. I've got to head out.”
“You're going out again?” Xu Nanheng turned to look at him. “You haven't slept all night either.”
Fang Shiyou smiled. “I can last a whole day on four hours of sleep.”
“Did you even get four hours of sleep today?” Xu Nanheng asked, taking off his coat.
“……” Fang Shiyou pressed his lips together.
That's the thing about teachers. They always saw things with piercing clarity. You couldn't fake anything in front of one. Whether the homework was forgotten or simply not done, whether an exam paper was copied or not, a teacher could tell with one glance.
Xu Nanheng hung his outer jacket on the back of the chair and said, “Dr. Fang, you're in no shape to see patients like this. Get some sleep first and then go. These two hours won't make a difference.”
Then he grinned and added, “Don't go leaving scissors or drills in someone's stomach and stitching them up after.”
Fang Shiyou laughed. “That would be…… a medical malpractice.”
“Exactly,” Xu Nanheng said. “No driving while tired, and no doctoring while tired either.”
“I'll just make a quick call first,” Fang Shiyou said.
The teaching profession was truly magical. It seemed capable of holding its own against any other job, meeting it on equal terms. When teachers turn on their aura, there was a subtle sense of authority about them.
Especially since Xu Nanheng's eyes were striking. When he looked over, it was hard not to meet his gaze. In that moment of eye contact, Fang Shiyou felt as if he were a patient on the operating table being anesthetized, counting to himself: one, two, three…… and then his mind went blank.
He called his colleague at the county hospital to ask if they needed his help right away, mentioning his own situation. The hospital told him it was fine and that he could come in after he'd rested.
The situation then entered a new, awkward phase. After hanging up, Fang Shiyou looked at the bathroom door. Xu Nanheng was taking a shower inside, and his bedroom only had one bed. Although it was a 1.8-meter-wide double bed……
Dr. Fang had to ask himself honestly if he could lie down beside Teacher Xu with a clear conscience.
The sound of the shower continued in the bathroom. Fang Shiyou sat down on the chair where Xu Nanheng had hung his coat. Once he sat, he realized how truly exhausted he was. He wished he could properly think about what kind of feelings he ultimately harbored for Xu Nanheng, but he was simply too exhausted.
The night before, a family of three had been rushed into the ER after a car accident. The youngest was only eleven. Thankfully, they had all survived. Dr. Fang hadn't returned until after ten that night and had barely slept a few hours before Yang Gao's call came.
After traveling back and forth, even an iron-willed surgeon couldn't hold out much longer.
Xu Nanheng washed quickly. About ten minutes later, he came out and saw Fang Shiyou slumped in the chair, looking spent. Warm from the steam, Xu Nanheng walked over and lightly tapped Fang Shiyou's shoulder with his fingertips. “Dr. Fang?”
Dr. Fang lifted his head.
Xu Nanheng clicked his tongue. “Ten minutes apart and you already look this worn out.”
“I'm tired,” Fang Shiyou said. For the first time in his life, he let down all his defenses. He looked up at him miserably as he called out, “Teacher Xu.”
“Yeah.” Xu Nanheng's eyes showed helplessness. “The bathroom's still warm. Go take a shower and get some sleep.”
“Okay.” Fang Shiyou nodded and stood up.
Most of the time, Fang Shiyou considered himself a sufficiently strong person, not just physically but mentally. His harshest stretch had been thirty-nine hours of nonstop work, after which he slept five hours and went straight back to the operating table. After finishing surgery, he'd even gone to the ER for another consultation.
He had always kept himself in peak condition, just like his sixty-year-old mentor. His mentor once told him that a doctor was the patient's most tangible hope. They stood between the patient and the divine. If medicine could no longer save them, the only thing left for patients to turn to was God.
Fang Shiyou had taken those words to heart. Having studied medicine for ten years and worked ever since, he remained meticulous and exacting in everything he did. Like every one of his colleagues, he upheld his best energy and focus every single day, allowing no mistakes.
He could last a whole day on four hours of sleep, and then someone asked him, ‘Did you even get four hours of sleep today?’
The bathroom was still warm, and the hot water pouring down over his head was deeply soothing. The Chinese fondness for hot water was something coded in their DNA. Hot water truly was comforting. Fang Shiyou allowed himself a brief moment to clear his mind under the hot stream, then quickly showered and dried his hair.
Meanwhile, Xu Nanheng sat at the foot of the bed, asking in the volunteer teachers' group chat whether it was snowing where they were too.
Teacher Dai was in Fujian, where it was still hot in October. Teacher Tan from the Daliang Mountains said it hadn't snowed yet, but the weather had turned cold. Teacher Su from the Qaidam Basin said it had been overcast lately, as if it was about to rain.
Xu Nanheng briefly described the situation on the Tibetan plateau, shared the story of how his door had broken, and mentioned how he'd almost frozen into part of nature today.
Teacher Dai teased him: ‘Are you really that fragile, young man? Last year, when Teacher Su was attending a lecture in Shanghai, it was -9 degrees Celsius, and she didn't even wear long johns, just a pair of jeans.’
Xu Nanheng typed back in disbelief: ‘Does Teacher Su have some kind of divine protection?’
Su Yu replied: ‘In a place like Shanghai, wearing long johns is pointless. You wore them, Teacher Dai, and what happened? Both of us still caught a cold.’
Teacher Dai responded with a tongue-out emoji.
Just then, Fang Shiyou entered the bedroom, and Xu Nanheng's eyes immediately zeroed in on…… Fang Shiyou's body.
Living alone had made him careless. Fang Shiyou hadn't brought clean clothes into the bathroom, so he had no choice but to come out wrapped in a towel.
As a surgeon, he worked out regularly. Fang Shiyou was three or four centimeters taller than Xu Nanheng. Normally, when they stood together, the height difference wasn't very noticeable, but with his clothes off, it was clear that Fang Shiyou was more muscular and had a bigger frame.
It was a little embarrassing. It was only when Xu Nanheng looked up a second time that his eyes met Fang Shiyou's. In other words, at that first glance, Xu Nanheng had been staring at his chest. Xu Nanheng blinked and said, “Dr. Fang, your…… muscle mass and density are impressive. They could satisfy the nutritional needs of our plateau wolves here.”
This comment sounded exactly like the kind of absolute nonsense someone would write after staying up all night on a thesis paper, only to get up the next day and not understand a word of it.
Fang Shiyou looked a bit lost himself. “Are you too sleepy?”
“Yes.” Xu Nanheng nodded. “But you've only got one pillow.”
“Oh, that's because…… I took the other one to the on-call room,” Fang Shiyou said, turning to the wardrobe to grab his pajamas. “It's fine, I'll fold the blanket. It'll work the same.”
He was probably referring to the Doraemon blanket. Xu Nanheng turned around and saw it balled up by the bed. “I'll sleep on the inside so it's easier for you when you have to leave.”
“Okay.” Fang Shiyou put on his pajamas, and Xu Nanheng climbed up from the foot of the bed, lifting the quilt and lying down.
He did it naturally, without any visible reservation. Fang Shiyou reached for the blanket, folded it a few times, and set it down where the pillow should be before lying beside him.
Due to the snowstorm, the sky was dark, with layers of heavy clouds hanging low. The biting cold of the blizzard was, at this moment, the best sleep aid.
Xu Nanheng wasn't actually as calm as he appeared. He'd already spent the time during Fang Shiyou's shower mentally preparing himself for this. Still, the sight of Fang Shiyou's startling physique suddenly made Xu Nanheng lose his composure. The only thing he could do was immediately shut his eyes to block the world and go to sleep.
But the two of them were truly exhausted.
Although the curtains weren't blackout, the world outside was dark and gloomy. Flakes of snow danced chaotically in the air. The two didn't even exchange another word and both fell asleep.
Xu Nanheng slept very comfortably, both because of the warmth and the sense of security.
About two hours later, he stirred, sensing movement beside him. Fang Shiyou had gotten up, inevitably making the sound of fabric rustling.
Xu Nanheng cracked his eyes open slightly, his mouth tucked under the blanket as he mumbled something.
Fang Shiyou said softly, “Go back to sleep.”
“Mhm.” Xu Nanheng shut his eyes and turned over. He felt Fang Shiyou tuck the quilt around him a couple of times.
Then, in a half-slurred, sleepy voice, Xu Nanheng murmured, “Be careful on the road.”
“Alright.” Fang Shiyou resisted the urge to lean down and kiss him. He sharply dug his fingernail into his palm and quickly left the bedroom.