Evening Stars Chapter 9
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 9
Of course, that was just a joke. How could he possibly walk more than twenty kilometers back?
Fang Shiyou said the hospital had ample parking spaces, both in the front and back yards. Xu Nanheng had already guessed as much, especially given the lack of no-parking signs in the village. Still, he felt it necessary to mention it as a matter of courtesy.
It was mentioned in yesterday's meeting that the opening ceremony would be held in the front yard. Although neither the principal nor the teachers had brought it up, Xu Nanheng realized as soon as he stepped out of his first-floor classroom that his car took up too much space in the yard, so he hurried off to park it at the hospital.
Afterward, Xu Nanheng lazed in bed chatting idly with Fang Shiyou. Many people, including the teacher he'd interned under at the main school in Beijing, his mother, and other volunteer teachers, had asked him how the first day of school went. But Dr. Fang's question was more to the point.
[Can you match the students' names to their faces now?]
[That's actually one of the reasons I wanted to order uniforms.]
Most Tibetan names were auspicious phrases. For example, there was a girl in class named Lobsang Lhamo, which meant ‘kind-hearted fairy/goddess.’ There were already three girls named Lhamo in the class alone, which was giving Xu Nanheng a headache trying to keep track. There was no way he could remember them all so quickly. But with uniforms printed with their names, it would be like players having their IDs floating above their heads in a game, making them much easier to remember.
Fang Shiyou laughed for a good while. He told Xu Nanheng that most children in the county villages get their names from lamas in the monastery, though some were named by their parents. The first two or last two characters of a name could be used when addressing them. For instance, Teacher Dawa Gyatso could simply be called Teacher Dawa. He'd get used to it after a few days.
After a bit more small talk, Fang Shiyou mentioned that his mentor had an aortic dissection surgery scheduled and he was the first assistant, so their conversation ended there.
Xu Nanheng got out of bed, stretched, and walked over to his desk. He took off his watch and began writing lesson plans. For Xu Nanheng, removing his watch served as a signal to ‘get serious.’ He was someone who needed such cues to shift into focus mode.
The next day, a new young girl joined the class.
By coincidence, she was the same girl Xu Nanheng had run into a few days earlier on the road between the hospital and the school.
The girl was also surprised to see Xu Nanheng. Teacher Tsering said her name was Dasang Choedon. She hadn't come on the first day because her grandfather had fallen off the roof a few days earlier. Today, her parents returned from the county town to look after her grandfather, so she was finally able to come to school with peace of mind.
Xu Nanheng remembered seeing her running to the hospital that day. Teacher Tsering added that although Choedon's grades were average, she was very well-behaved and obedient.
By the second day of school, every child in the class was still paying attention. The homework collected, however, was a bit of a mess. Simple linear and quadratic equations were all over the place, and one student had even used pi.
Xu Nanheng decided to slow down the teaching pace. He glanced at his watch. There was still five minutes before the bell, but everyone was already present.
“Alright, let's not waste time. We'll start five minutes early today. Let's go over yesterday's homework.” Xu Nanheng opened his workbook and remembered that Dasang Choedon hadn't been in class yesterday. “Dasang, you can follow along and write as we go. If anything's unclear, come ask me after class.”
Dasang Choedon got flustered when her name was suddenly called. She lowered her head and quickly opened her workbook. The children here were not like the ones in Beijing. Most of the students Xu Nanheng had encountered at the Beijing school were more self-assured, at least much more so than he had been during his own school days. This kind of composure was something that came from their family upbringing.
The children here were a little shy and fearful in front of teachers. Beijing children tended to become mentally independent much earlier, so while they treated teachers with respect, they weren't servile. They would nod, greet the teacher with a smile, and then look away and continue walking.
After class, Xu Nanheng decided to head to the cafeteria to lend a hand. The head chef today was the principal, Sonam Tsomo, who was also Tashi Dolkar's mother. Tashi Dolkar was the youngest girl in the class, and Xu Nanheng didn't understand why she had been placed straight into the third year of junior high. While the principal was stirring the pan, he asked, “Teacher Sonam, can I ask you something about Dolkar?”
Sonam Tsomo seemed to have anticipated the question. She smiled and added some oyster sauce to the spoon. “You want to ask why Dolkar is only 13 but is already in the third year of junior high, right?”
“Yes,” Xu Nanheng said while tearing up a cabbage. “You could have sent her to the county town to attend the first and second years of junior high.”
“That's not possible,” Sonam Tsomo replied with the same gentle smile. “Dolkar has to stay by my side, and I have to stay at this school.”
Xu Nanheng was puzzled. Sonam Tsomo was a school principal, after all. Even if her daughter were to transfer to the county school and board there, the school ought to grant her a spot out of respect for her mother, if nothing else.
“The plate, Teacher Xu.” She looked at the empty plate to Xu Nanheng's right.
“Oh, right.” Xu Nanheng handed it over.
Sonam Tsomo scooped the finished dish from the pan onto the plate. To her left, two other teachers were also stir-frying, their iron woks and spatulas clanging, creating a bustling, fiery scene.
In a voice only the two of them could hear, Sonam Tsomo said, “Dolkar has a heart condition. She could have a sudden cardiac event at any time. Every day she has is precious. I want her by my side, and she doesn't want to be apart from me either.”
“I…… I see.” Xu Nanheng was stunned for a moment. Thinking back, the girl was indeed more fragile, slimmer, and paler. He hadn't thought much of it before. Her small frame seemed normal for her age, and her fair skin didn't strike him as unusual. He figured she probably just made a habit of staying out of the sun.
That was something he hadn't expected. Xu Nanheng asked, “Have you thought about taking her to Beijing? To Beijing Xiehe Hospital? That hospital is first-rate. There's also Beijing Tiantan Hospital, and many other cardiothoracic hospitals, Teacher Sonam.”
“A doctor in Beijing have already seen her,” Sonam Tsomo replied.
For a moment, Xu Nanheng wanted to say that if the problem was the cost of the surgery, out of all the volunteer teaching posts in the world, it was no coincidence that he, a wealthy young master from the capital, had come to Tibet. Maybe he had been sent by the gods to save a life.
But he focused on the main point and asked, “Which doctor? Are they reliable? Teacher Sonam, you should still get more opinions, consult a few specialists.”
“Dr. Fang Shiyou from Beijing,” Sonam Tsomo said with a smile as she continued heating oil in the pan.
“Oh……” Xu Nanheng nodded.
“Cabbage, Teacher Xu.”
“Oh, right!” Xu Nanheng quickly tore the leaves.
After the meal, the students lined up at the taps to wash their own bowls, with the teachers standing at the very end of the line. Xu Nanheng held his bowl in one hand, his chopsticks tucked under his thumb, while his other hand held his phone.
He messaged Fang Shiyou on WeChat to ask about Dolkar's condition. At the same time, he was very glad he had spoken out of turn and asked the principal. Otherwise, if the situation got intense later and he did something that agitated her, leading to some grave misfortune, the guilt would have driven him straight into the sea.
Fang Shiyou replied with a short voice message: ‘Wait for me for an hour.’
Xu Nanheng replied: ‘Okay.’
He ended up waiting for two hours. However, Xu Nanheng understood that the medical profession was like that. So after returning to his dorm, he first put the kettle on to boil water. By now, he had become very skilled at using a plastic basin to bathe in the bathroom. Since the weather wasn't cold yet, he could mix half a basin of cold water with half a kettle of hot water, pour one round, wash his hair with shampoo and rub on body wash, then rinse off with two more pours.
After showering, he corrected homework, glanced through the textbooks, and considered when to give the class a test. Two and a half hours passed in no time.
Fang Shiyou called him directly.
The first words out of his mouth were, “Sorry, I had a last-minute meeting here.”
“It's fine,” Xu Nanheng said. “It's not anything urgent on my end.”
Xu Nanheng heard the ‘thud’ of a car door closing on Fang Shiyou's end. Immediately afterwards, his tone softened. The enclosed space of a vehicle could provide a sense of security, helping people relax.
Fang Shiyou said, “Tashi Dolkar is Principal Sonam Tsomo's daughter. I started my rotation at the small hospital three months ago. Because this is an underdeveloped village, the medical aid program for Tibet included free checkups. The cardiovascular director, who's also part of the medical aid program, checked Dolkar's ECG and said she might have myocardial ischemia. We did Color Doppler Imaging and other tests. Her left ventricular ejection fraction is only 30%. A normal person has at least 50%. She was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy.”
Xu Nanheng listened quietly as Fang Shiyou explained in the simplest terms he could.
Fang Shiyou continued, “Honestly, it was my oversight. Since Dolkar is in your class, I should have told you earlier.”
Hearing this, Xu Nanheng quickly said, “Don't be silly. Can I really rely on you for everything?”
Fang Shiyou chuckled. “I had originally intended to bring it up, but then something came up with a patient in the county, and I completely forgot.”
“So what treatment options does Dolkar have right now?”
“Heart failure is a bit like a ticking time bomb. Most of the time, there's nothing unusual. Even exercise or emotional swings might be fine, but once symptoms appear, they're sudden and aggressive. Dolkar is currently on medication and getting regular check-ups, and she has already been registered for a heart transplant.”
Fang Shiyou paused, then asked, “Do you want to sponsor her?”
At this point, Fang Shiyou felt there was no need to feign ignorance. Traveling alone to the Southern Tibet, carrying about him an air of casual ease and unfettered freedom, plus that ‘there's no point pretending’ remark he made on that day when he came to the hospital to borrow an internet cable for a video conference, it seemed natural.
Xu Nanheng did feel an impulse to help.
But since he knew little about medical matters, he lowered his voice and asked tentatively, “Dr. Fang, how much would her surgery cost?”
Hearing him speak so quietly, Fang Shiyou couldn't help but laugh. “Teacher Xu, no need to whisper. It's just the two of us.”
That was true. Fang Shiyou was alone in the car, and Xu Nanheng was alone in the dorm. Still, Xu Nanheng hesitated. “Tsk, you have to whisper when you're inquiring into matters, right? Just give me an estimate.”
“Honestly, I can't give you an exact number. The ideal treatment for Dolkar is a transplant. The surgical fee alone at our Beijing hospital is probably…… I can't remember exactly, but around four hundred thousand yuan, I think.”
“Oh—”
Xu Nanheng's ‘oh’ was quite telling. He subconsciously let out a small sigh of relief. He had tried very hard to sound nonchalant, as if he were just hearing a piece of news, but he couldn't hide things. Not immediately following up with, ‘So it's only that much?’ was already a sign of his recent maturity.
Fang Shiyou noticed, of course. He didn't react, only said, “I'm not very clear on the exact cost. There's probably some fluctuation, but it shouldn't be too much.”
Xu Nanheng said, “Mm, that's fine, as long as it's not three or four million.”
Fang Shiyou added, “But you don't need to worry about Dolkar. The medical insurance here in Tibet covers a very high percentage, sometimes up to 95%. If the situation becomes truly dire, we can ask you for help then.”
Xu Nanheng opened the dorm door. Outside was a hallway with a railing that came up to his chest. He had come out because he wanted to smoke a cigarette, but he held back since he was on school grounds. He rested his arms on the railing and continued chatting with Fang Shiyou.
“Alright, if you can't raise enough money, you must come to me. After all, a teacher for a day is a father for life.”
Fang Shiyou laughed. “That's not the right way to use this saying, is it, Teacher Xu?”
“Ah, you're not my student, so I don't have to be precise with you. I can misuse it all I want,” Xu Nanheng said with a smile.
Fang Shiyou, pretending to be hurt, said lightly, “Oh, so it doesn't matter when it comes to me.”
“Exactly. Ah, Dr. Fang, there are so many stars in Tibet. I haven't seen this many or this bright in over twenty years in Beijing.” He looked up from the second-floor corridor.
Fang Shiyou also looked up, gazing out through his car's windshield. “Mm, the air on the plateau is clean, and the light pollution is low.”
Holding their phones, the two of them looked up at the same star-filled sky and fell into a short, comfortable silence.
Xu Nanheng was silence by the brilliant starscape. The moment he looked up, the starry nights he had read about in his old Chinese textbooks transformed from words into a vivid image.
A moment later, he remembered the sound of the car door closing at the start of their call, so he asked, “Where are you now?”
“Oh, I'm in Shannan. I just finished a meeting,” Fang Shiyou said. “My mentor has a surgery at the city hospital tomorrow, and I'll be his first assistant. I'm about to drive to a hotel.”
“Then you should rest. I won't keep you,” Xu Nanheng said casually.
“Okay.” Fang Shiyou's reply was equally brief. After exchanging a quick good night and goodbye, they hung up.
However, after the phone call ended, neither of them moved.
They were only a little over two hundred kilometers apart, and the conversation had lasted barely ten minutes. Xu Nanheng leaned against the railing, holding his phone, still wanting to smoke.
He also wanted to talk about the new girl in class, Dasang Choedon, discuss the differences between the children in Tibet with those in Beijing, and even mention that a student had used pi in a math problem today.
All of this could easily be shared in the group chat with the other teachers, but for some reason, he just wanted to tell Fang Shiyou.
On the other side, Fang Shiyou's car ignition remained off for a long time.
He licked his lips. On the passenger seat sat the eye-care shadowless desk lamp he had bought for Xu Nanheng from Shannan. By the time he realized it, he had already paid for it, thinking it would be useful for Teacher Xu.
After a long moment, Fang Shiyou finally started the car and drove toward the hotel.