Chapter 3 Chapter 3 A Beautiful Fable

This gray and white low house is on a hillside near the university, and you can go to school on foot.Xu Hongzhi and Su Minghui rented an apartment on the second floor.Although the area is small and there are no rooms, there is a long window sill. Sitting on it, you can overlook the grass and trees under the hillside and the station, and you can also see the sunset in the sky and a short road leading to the university. The landlord knew that Xu Hongzhi was a student, so the rent was considered cheap, and he left furniture and electrical appliances behind.However, the monthly rent is always a big burden for them, but they can't help it.She has graduated and can no longer live in a dormitory.

With the joy of living together, they whitewashed the house.He built a row of bookshelves out of old boards, and the skull still hangs next to the bookshelves, like an old friend of theirs.I heard that it was an African before its death, and only in such a barren country would someone sell its bones. People in love always believe in coincidences.It is countless coincidences that make two people meet in the vast world, and it is also many tiny coincidences that make lovers believe that they are a natural pair, with a heart-to-heart and a predestined relationship.She also added a bit of affection to this pair of African bones.She likes to playfully hang the Little Red Riding Hood that she has taken off on its head.

A later coincidence made her believe that what people thought was a coincidence might not be a coincidence.A flower needs soil, sunlight, air, rain, and a butterfly with pollen on its foot to settle just in time to produce a flower.All our unexpected encounters, coincidences, all our tacit understanding, and even the steps we met may all be because two people have already walked on the same track. One day, when she was packing up her boxes of old things that she hadn't had time to sort out since she moved, she found a stamp book with a red velvet cover and iron rings.She opened the old and yellowed stamp book. Every page in it was covered with stamps, which she collected before she was thirteen years old.

For a while she was obsessed with collecting stamps.At that time, she cut down on food and clothing and saved her pocket money to buy stamps.Some of them were exchanged with her classmates, some were given by her grandmother, and some were found when she was in Africa.All these stamps became a part of her childhood life.Every stamp is a commemoration, a happy time that will never return. Maybe, she thought, maybe she could take the stamps and sell them.After so many years, those stamps should have appreciated in value and can be exchanged for a little money. Get on at University Station and get off at the seventh stop.There is a stamp shop next to the station called "Little Mailbox". The owner of the shop is a small middle-aged man with shrewd and snobby eyes, who seems to be a man of knowledge.

Little Eye casually flipped through her childish stamp book and said: "These are worthless." Pointing to some of the stamps, she said: "These will appreciate in value." Little Eyes shook his small round head and said: "These are not good stuff." Unconvinced, she pointed to a Kenyan postage stamp showing an impassive, muscular lion with a beautiful golden mane. "This one is limited," she said. Little Eyes returned the stamp book to her and said: "There is nothing valuable in Africa except diamonds." She knew that there was no room for bargaining this time, so she had no choice but to take the seven hundred yuan and sell her childhood memories.But she took that Kenyan stamp.

When she went back, she bought some things for the house and bought half a dozen socks for Xu Hongzhi, all of which were worn out. "I won't sell it anymore." Xu Hongzhi asked the other party's stamp book back and pretended to leave. The small-eyed stamp dealer just flipped through the stamp book he brought, and when he saw a few stamps, his eyes shot a greedy light, and he immediately restrained himself, for fear that this look would cause him to pay more. money.In the end, the profiteer actually told him that these stamps were worthless. Seeing that Xu Hongzhi was really going to leave, Xiaoyan finally said:

"Uh, let's make a price." "Ten thousand yuan." Xu Hongzhi said. "I will only give four thousand yuan at most." "Seven thousand yuan." Xu Hongzhi said. Xiaoyan simply picked up a newspaper on the counter to read, and said nonchalantly: "Five thousand yuan. You can't sell it for this price anywhere." He knew that this cunning businessman had lowered the price, but things that were in a hurry to sell were never worth much.He left the stamp book in the store and went home with five thousand dollars. This stamp book was found in a pile of old books when he moved.He almost forgot about it.He was obsessed with stamp collecting as a child.Some of these stamps were given by his father, some were given by his mother, and there were also rare stamps given to him by his elders who knew he was collecting stamps.

Someone, like Goethe, once said: "A collector is happy." During the days of collecting stamps, he sat seriously at the desk every night, picked up stamps with pliers, and looked at them under the lamp. He never imagined that one day he would be able to sell them for money.He knew that these stamps were worth more than 10,000 yuan, so why did he need money? Medical books were very expensive, and moving house cost a lot of money. He is glad that he has learned to negotiate, although not very successfully. When Xu Hongzhi came back, she just put the newly bought socks into the drawer.She turned to him when she heard the door knock.

"I have something for you." They said almost simultaneously. "You take it out first." She said with a smile. He took out the five thousand yuan from his wallet and handed it to her. "You haven't paid your salary yet, why do you have money?" "I sold some stuff." He put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "What did you sell?" She looked at him suspiciously. "I sold stamps," he replied shyly.He had never sold anything for money, so it was a bit embarrassing when he said it. She looked at him in surprise and asked: "Do you collect stamps?"

"It happened so long ago that I almost forgot, and I found it in that pile of old books," he replied. Then, he asked expectantly: "What do you have for me?" She smiled, and that smile was a bit complicated. "What the hell?" he asked. She walked towards the desk, opened a book on it, took out the Kenyan stamp inside, and placed it carefully in his palm. He was stunned: "Do you also collect stamps?" "A long time ago. I just took it to sell. This one, I can't bear to sell it. I like the lion on it." "Why have you never heard of stamp collecting?"

"Like you, I almost forgot. Who did you sell it to for so much money?" "It's the 'little mailbox'." She covered her mouth, unable to believe that they almost met there today. "You're going there too?" He had already guessed. She nodded. "He must have lowered your price?" he said. She nodded angrily. "That profiteer!" he said through gritted teeth. "My stamps are worthless in the first place, so it's not a pity to sell them," she said. He looked at the distant postage stamp in his hand.It's beautiful, but unfortunately, he doesn't have a stamp book to collect anymore. "Don't sell anything again," he said to her. Again, she nodded. Are those sold stamps a coincidence?Is it by chance?She would rather believe that it was part of their story.They exchanged their childhood memories for another memory that they could never forget in their youth. They undercut the price and made more. There is a small kitchen in the apartment, and they can cook for themselves, but they are both too busy.In order to save time, she often cooks all the dishes in one pot, or simply eats them at school.He had to deal with the heavy homework and graduation exams in the fifth grade, and he also had to tutor the students.In order to make more money, he extended the tutoring time by one hour every day. She became the assistant director of the school library.She loves the job.The curator is a strict middle-aged woman, but she seems to appreciate her.When other students ran away after graduation, she stayed instead.She was even glad to stay.Everything here is familiar to her, and with Xu Hongzhi by her side, life is not much different from before. The set of animal documentaries is over.She took on another documentary, also about animals.She still has some articles to translate. Some people may say that this kind of life is a bit bitter.She knew that one day in the future, she and Xu Hongzhi would miss this bitter and sweet day, and even the Yipinguo they dreaded would become an unforgettable good taste in their lives.That naturally takes a little time to understand.They have plenty of time. On the day she moved into the apartment, Xu Hongzhi leaned on the window sill and read Sherlock Holmes' "Detective Case of the Masked Tenant" to her.He joked that this story was read for a new home. By the time the yellow leaves are flying, they have almost finished reading all the Sherlock Holmes stories. "Which book do you want to hear tomorrow?" he asked that night. "Didn't we agree that what book to read is up to you to decide?" He smiled: "I'm just asking casually, and I may not necessarily listen to you." "Have you ever read Barry Markham's Flying West by Night?" she asked. He shook his head. "It's the most beautiful flight literature! Even Hemingway said he was no longer fit to be a writer after reading it. It is said that Saint-Exupery and Bai Ruier were in love!" She said. What she said made him a little ashamed, and asked quickly: "What about the book?" "I can't find that book anymore. I don't know if I borrowed it from a book thief. I never returned it." After a pause, she said longingly: "I'll look for it. That's the story of the land of Africa." When did he fall in love with Africa? If love is a kind of nostalgia, when we look for the other half, what we are looking for is the long-distance homecoming in life.So, isn't the nostalgia of falling in love with the one you love the happiest double nostalgia? The next night, when he left the medical school building and went to the library to pick her up, he saw her sitting on the steps from afar, with her head resting on her hands, looking very tired. He ran up and asked: "Have you been waiting long?" "Not long." She stood up and said with vigor.Then she shook a book she was holding at him. He had already guessed that it was "Night Flight Westward". "The library has this book." She rubbed her eyes and said with a smile, "I use my power to borrow it indefinitely until you finish reading it." He turned his back to her, bent down, and told her: "Climb up!" Still standing she said: "you are tired." "Climb up!" he repeated. She got on her stomach.Like a naughty baboon climbing onto a person, her two slender arms tightly hooked his neck, making him carry it back. "Am I heavy?" she asked. He shook his head, carried her on his back, and walked into the deep night. On the way back, she pressed her chest against his back and buried her head in his shoulder. "Have you ever read that story? During the fire, a blind man escaped with a lame man on his back," she said. He felt sore and said: "There are neither blind nor lame here." "It was a story that encouraged people to help each other," she continued. He held her back even tighter, as if he wanted to always keep in mind the weight that only held her lightly, but weighed on his heart. "I've changed my mind. I'm not going to do neurosurgery," he told her. "Why?" she asked in surprise. "I want to do ophthalmology," he replied. She felt her body go limp and held him tighter. "I'll heal your eyes," he said. "Yeah!" She nodded vigorously. In a moment of despair, being with someone on a bleak hope and trying to convince the other person that one day it will come true.This kind of painful joy can only happen in love, right?she thought. "Library work is exhausting," he said pitifully. "No." She whispered. Her eyes were tired and she wanted to sleep on top of him.Xu Hongzhi was right, but she didn't want to admit it, and she didn't want him to worry. "When I graduate, you can do whatever you want," he said. "I want to be a parasite." "Social, or personal?" "Someone's." "Okay. You can eat whatever I eat, that's what parasites do." He puffed out his chest. She slept, carefree, deep sleep. In the middle of the night, Su Minghui woke up from the bed and found Xu Hongzhi lying beside her.He fell asleep, like a precocious child, pursing his lips, sleeping very seriously, holding the "Night Flight Westward" in his arms.She gently took the book away and turned to him, Looking at him in the dim light of the bedside lamp, quietly. She was afraid that one day she would not be able to see him like this again. When that day came, she could only close her eyes and recall how he was sleeping soundly. That day may never come, he had said. He was talking about the day when her eyes were out of sight. At this moment, what she thought of in her mind were two days. The first day may or may not come. The second day will come eventually. When we love someone so much, we imagine his death. When that day comes, he will leave her. She would rather trade the first day for the never-coming second day. She squeezed his hand that was close to hers tightly, and put the other on his chest. Then one day, Xu Hongzhi went to class, and she was busy at home translating the English manuscript sent by the publishing house.She promised others, Do it well in two days.When Xu Hongzhi was in the house, she couldn't do this job, for fear that he would find out.There are no amplifiers in the library.She could only wait until he was asleep or out. On this day, he suddenly ran back. "The professor is sick, and the afternoon class is cancelled." He said as he entered the room, glad to have half a day with her. She hastily stuffed the stack of manuscripts into a desk drawer. "What are you hiding?" he asked. "It's nothing." She pretended to be okay, but she didn't know that one of the translated pages fell at her feet. He went up and bent down to pick up the paper. "Give it back to me!" she said, standing up. He ignored her, turned his back to her, and read the page. "Do you have any other interpreters?" He turned to her and asked reproachfully. She didn't answer. "How long have you been hiding it from me?" He said sullenly. "I just didn't tell you specifically." He looked at her angrily: "You're going to break your eyes like this!" "My eyes don't hurt from using too much!" she retorted. Then, she walked up, wanting to return her manuscript. "Give it back to me!" she said. He hid the manuscript behind his back and looked straight at her. She stared at him angrily, and said: "Xu Hongzhi, listen, I want you to pay me back!" He stood there motionless.She rushed behind him to snatch the paper back.He grabbed hold of her and refused to let go, backing away from her. "Let go!" She wanted to grab his hand, but accidentally tore the piece of paper in his hand in half. "Uh, sorry." He apologized. "Look what you did!" She stared at him. "What did you do again!" He was angry with her and himself. "You don't have to worry about my affairs!" "Then I don't care about it from now on!" His face turned pale with anger. He had never been so cruel to her.Her heart twitched, and she ran out angrily, leaving him regretful. He looked around for her.Until dark, still not found.He blamed himself for speaking to her in that tone.What did she do wrong?It was all his fault.He underestimated the difficulty of life, thinking that he could get by on his meager income.He finally understood why she always went to bed later than him, and finally knew how she got part of her money.Why did he lose his temper with her so much? She will not forgive him. Frustrated and defeated, he returns home to find her in the kitchen. At the sound of his coming home, she turned to him.She was wearing an apron and was busy cooking.With an apologetic smile, she said: "I bought fish fillets, green vegetables, eggs and vermicelli, and I'm going to eat Yipinguo again tonight!" She said this as if she were an incompetent housewife. He looked at her with shame, glad to see her again, here, in their home together. The next morning, when she opened her sleepy eyes and woke up, Xu Hongzhi had already gone out.He said the day before that he would go to the ward early this morning. She got out of bed, stretched herself, and walked towards the desk, only to find a stack of thick manuscripts lying there.She picked it up to read, it was Xu Hongzhi's handwriting. He translated all the manuscripts she stuffed into the drawer yesterday, quietly and neatly, and put them on the desk before she woke up. He must have not slept last night. She wiped her wet nose with her hands, sat in the morning light, and read his manuscript carefully. Yesterday, after she ran out, she walked to the station and boarded a train that had just stopped. As the train moved forward, she looked up the hill and saw their gray and white apartment building trailing behind. She was free and so was he.She can't bear this kind of love anymore. At the seventh station, she got off the train unconsciously. She walked out of the station, past the stamp shop.There is a small red post box outside the store to attract customers.Opposite the store, there is a real red mailbox.She sat down by the mailbox. How many coincidences does it take that they arrive here on the same day with their childhood stamp books? How many times will they meet by chance? Just the night before, they were sitting on the window sill, and Xu Hongzhi read "Flying West at Night" to her.She always wanted to tell him the fable about the race against life. Bai Ruier, the free Bai Ruier who grew up on a farm in British East Africa, had a local Nandi playmate named Jibi.She wrote the story Gibby told in her book. Xu Hongzhi read out leisurely: "'Here's the thing,' said Gibby. 'When the first human being was created, he wandered alone in the forest and on the plains.He is worried because he cannot remember yesterday and therefore cannot imagine tomorrow.The gods saw this and sent a chameleon to send a message to this first human (he was a Nandi) that there would be no such thing as death, tomorrow would be like today, and the days would never end. 'Long after the chameleons set off,' said Gibby, the gods sent the egrets with a different message, that there would be a thing called death, and when the hour came, tomorrow would not come again. "Which message reaches the ears of man first," God warns: is the true message. " 'This chameleon is a lazy animal.Thinks of nothing but food, and only uses its tongue to get food. It dawdled along the way for a long time, and it turned out that it only reached the feet of the first human being a little earlier than the egret. ' 'The chameleon wanted to speak, but couldn't.The egret came soon after.The chameleon, eager to convey its message of immortality, ends up stuttering and just foolishly changing colors.Therefore, Egret conveyed the death message calmly. 'From now on,' said Gibby, 'all men must die. Our people know this fact.' At that time, naively, I kept thinking about the veracity of this fable. Over the years, I have read and heard more academic articles discussing similar topics: only gods become unknowns, chameleons become, egrets become, and life goes on and on until death gets in the way.All the questions are actually the same, just with different symbols. The chameleon is still a happy, lazy fellow, and the egret is still a beautiful bird.Although there are better answers in the world, anyway, I still prefer Gibby's answer now. " "Chameleons aren't that bad," she told Xu Hongzhi. "I had a chameleon named Afate when I was in Kenya. It was like a mood ring. The protective color is their mood." "That's just a fable," he said with the scientific mind of a medical student. She likes fables. She would rather believe that life decays and decays, that death is inevitable?Or would you rather believe that it was a beautiful egret that slid across the sky with the message of death in its mouth, and arrived gracefully? On the day grandma left, she believed that a pair of wings picked her up. Fables are beautiful.The red mailbox and the small mailbox in front of me are a fable.One day, Xu Hongzhi flew towards her with a message of love in his mouth, and dropped the letter to her. What was mentioned in the letter was a fable. Allegory is free and can be interpreted as or as it is. She has loved freedom since she was a child.I don't know if it was inherited from the strong and independent grandmother, or from the parents who went far away.That is an exercise in life.She is used to being free. She comes from freedom.Knowing Xu Hongzhi, she can only be more free. To have eternity in one short life is freedom. It was already dark.If he didn't go back, Xu Hongzhi would be worried. He must be hungry. It was a cold winter night.After eating only one sandwich from morning to night, Xu Hongzhi was starving.After graduation, he became an intern for more than half a year. He was responsible for drawing blood, administering drips, prescribing medicines, and writing reports for patients every day. He also had to work shifts with other interns. He only had a few hours of rest every day, and he could sleep standing up.During my internship in the internal medicine ward last month, a patient just passed away and the body was sent to the morgue.As soon as he left, he fell asleep on that bed. The intern has to practice in four different wards in a year. He has been in the surgical and medical wards, and he just transferred to the pediatric ward two weeks ago.Today, he was on duty, and it was another long night. Just finished writing all the reports, he looked at his watch, it was almost nine o'clock, he hurriedly took off his white robe, and ran back to the dormitory. These interns are assigned to the dormitory next to the hospital.After receiving an emergency call from the ward, he can run back at the speed of a good sprinter in the shortest possible time. If he was lucky that day, he might be able to sleep in a dorm room for a few hours.He has already practiced a skill: he can fall asleep at any time, and he can wake up at any time. No duty days, no matter how tiring.He still preferred to drive home.He bought a red car, which is more than ten years old, and a colleague from the hospital gave it up very cheaply.With this car, he and Su Minghui can drive to play during holidays.She doesn't have to be stuck in the library and at home all the time. She no longer works as a translator.Although the salary he got was not high, with hers, it was enough for the two of them to live a better life than before. They moved to a two-room apartment, owned by the same landlord, near the one they had rented before.He is an intern in a university hospital, and it is very close to his home. What they feared hadn't happened, and perhaps, as he thought, that day would never come. Su Minghui leaned on the railing on the second floor of the dormitory and waited for him.She holds a basket of bento made by herself in one hand and a pot of hot soup in the other. She is wearing an off-white pullover sweater, brown hakama, brown socks and a pair of green sneakers. A fuchsia wool cap, hair much longer than a year ago. Seeing him, she met him with her eyes, exhaled a cold mist, and said: "It's time to eat!" "Why don't you go in? It's cold in here!" he said as he opened the door. Trembling, she rushed into the house and said: "I want to see you come back." "What's for dinner today?" He asked greedily. "I'm afraid it's too rich!" She said as she took out the food and spread it out on the table. There were steamed chicken with mushrooms and cloud legs, steamed fish with preserved vegetables, fried Chinese cabbage, carrot and corn soup, and an apple. She helped him scoop out the rice, and he ate it hungrily.When a person is so hungry, he doesn't care about eating. She took off her hat, smiled and asked: "Is it tasty?" He nodded appreciatively and said: "Your cooking is getting better and better!" "Tired?" "I'm so exhausted, I can fall asleep after eating now." He said to her. Seeing his tired look made her heart ache, but she was also envious.He can do what he likes.After graduating with honors, he will do more and better in the future.And she can only do some simple work. "Come and eat some, too," he said. "I have," she replied. "Do I have a set of Japanese mysteries at home?" he asked. "Looks like it is. Are you useful?" "I want to lend it to a patient who has a very poor background," he said. The patient was a thirteen-year-old boy.He suffered from asthma since he was a child, and his asthma often broke out.The boy is thin and small, with a handsome face that does not match the vicissitudes of his age, and those eyes that don't trust others are somewhat rebellious and inferior.The nurse said that his parents were the leaders of a gang of thieves. Xu Hongzhi checked the boy's medical records.His medical records over the past thirteen years are so numerous that they can fill several boxes. The boy had a large, uneven scar on the back of his right hand, which was burned by his father when he was seven years old.The shameless father is in prison for child abuse.After being released from prison, the couple continued to be thieves until they were arrested again a few years later.In the first two years, the two men did not return home after they were released from prison.The boy was sent to a boys' home, and no one, except the social worker, ever visited him in the hospital. The boy's medical records also showed that he had suffered several fractures.The boy said that he accidentally fell down.Xu Hongzhi deduced with his Sherlock Holmes detective mind that it was his parents who beat him up.As for the subsequent fractures, they should have been injured by other children in the boys' home. What will happen to a child who grows up in this environment?The boy seldom spoke, and when he did, he didn't mean it.He really wanted to isolate himself, as if he didn't need others, but it was more likely that he was afraid of being rejected by others. The first time Xu Hongzhi played against the boy in the ward, it didn't go well. That day, he was going to draw blood for the boy. With a hostile look in his eyes, the boy said mockingly: "Are you an intern? You interns are all bad! Don't hurt me!" Before he finished speaking, Xu Hongzhi found a vein on his arm neatly, and stabbed it with a needle without any pain. The boy was speechless for a moment, and looked at him dejectedly. In the next few days, when Xu Hongzhi gave him an injection, he obviously didn't hurt him, but the boy yelled and said that it was in pain, which made Xu Hongzhi very embarrassed.At that moment, the boy will smile smugly. Sometimes, the way the boy stared at Xu Hongzhi made Xu Hongzhi feel that it was the jealousy and hatred of an underage boy towards an adult man.That kind of jealousy comes from the jealous one who feels that he can't grow up right away, and is also the unfortunate one. Jealousy and hatred overwhelm a boy unable to choose his own destiny. Xu Hongzhi didn't avoid him, nor hated him, which made the boy feel strange instead. They became friends from that night. That day, Xu Hongzhi was on duty.In the middle of the night, he finished watching a patient who had just been sent up, and was about to go back to the dormitory.As he passed the boy's ward, he saw a light.He walked in quietly and found the boy lying on the bed, reading with relish by the dim light of the flashlight.The book that the boy immersed himself in reading was "A Thief Should Be Ambitious" by Akagawa Jiro. If there is such a thing as a black comedy in life, what is happening to the boy at this moment is a black comedy.He couldn't make fun of the boy for reading the book, it wasn't funny in itself.However, the boy chose this book, which made the onlookers dumbfounded. "So you like Akagawa Jiro." Xu Hongzhi said. The boy was startled, and immediately put on a cold face, and said disdainfully while watching: "Who says I like it? I'm bored! It's poorly written." "I think he has a great sense of humor." The boy didn't look at him and said, "Shallow!" "This book doesn't seem to be yours," he said.He remembered that the book had been placed in the bed of the eleven-year-old boy in the next bed this morning.The boy with the round face was fast asleep by this time. "I'll take it for a look! Do you think I will steal it?" The boy's tone was both dissatisfied and wary, and he said, "I won't buy this kind of book." "It turns out that you don't like to read mystery novels, what a pity!" Xu Hongzhi said. "What a pity?" the boy asked curiously, with a rare innocence on his face. "I have a set of Japanese mystery novels that I can lend you. However, since you are not interested..." "Why did you lend it to me?" the boy asked suspiciously. "Of course there are conditions." "What conditions?" "I'll give you an injection in the future, don't make trouble." The boy thought for a while and said: "Okay! I like fair trade, but your skills really need to improve, don't hurt me anymore." Xu Hongzhi smiled.He hoped that boys would fall in love with reading.Books can comfort a person's soul. Sure enough, the boy fell in love with the set of mystery novels, and these suspenseful little stories are a symbol of their friendship.Every time Xu Hongzhi went to see him, the boy still didn't mean what he said, and still loved to sarcasm him, but he was proud of being able to deal with a grown man. Then one day, when he went to see the boy, he found the atmosphere a bit unusual. Two ward nurses searched the boy's bed.It turned out that the round-faced boy's watch was missing.The nurse was naturally suspicious of the thief's son.To be fair, they also searched other people's beds, but only randomly.The boy stood by the bed, looking angry and aggrieved, without looking at Xu Hongzhi, as if he didn't want Xu Hongzhi to see his shame. Xu Hongzhi remembered that the round-faced boy had diarrhea for the past two days, so he asked the nurse, "Have you searched the restroom?" As a result, he found the plastic watch worth several hundred dollars behind the toilet that the round-faced boy had used. The boy who was wronged by others still didn't look at Xu Hongzhi.He knew it all too well, because he was the son of a thief, so everyone thought he stole the watch.This mark left on him, like the scar on the back of his hand, will never be erased. "The scar on the back of his hand is not an ordinary child abuser." Back home, Xu Hongzhi told Su Minghui. "What's that?" she asked. He looked for a book on the shelf and said: "Maybe his father wanted to train him to be a thief, but he refused, so he burned his hands with fire." "This analysis makes sense! Dr. Watson." She said with a smile. "Found it!" he said. He found a set of "Dr. Qin Doctor" by Osamu Tezuka on the bookshelf, and said excitedly: "Do you think he will like this cartoon?" "Should be," she replied. He took a towel and wiped the dust off the book.She smiled at him.She fell in love with this man, and also fell in love with his compassion for people.He was so kind, always embracing other people's misfortune with compassion. Who said it?The person you love, as long as he is good to you alone is enough, even if he is a devil in front of other people.She never believed that.If a man only cares about the women around him and ignores the pain of others, then the only one he really loves is himself.One day, when he doesn't love her, he will also become unfeeling. She sincerely respects the man she loves deeply and is proud of him.Because of this kind of compassion, he has been, is and will be nobler than her in the past.She asks herself that she loves animals more than she loves humans.She has always been a self-admired person, much more self-confident than him. She was just worried that his compassion would hurt her one day. He gave "Strange Doctor Doctor Qin" to the boy.The boy found out the Japanese mystery novel and wanted to return it to him. "You can keep it if you like," he said. "Don't pay it back?" the boy asked suspiciously. "Give it to you." The boy shrugged, trying not to look pleased. "In the future, you can also read Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie. Their detective novels are wonderful!" Xu Hongzhi said. "Who is Agatha Christie?" "She is universally recognized as the queen of detective stories! However, you have to read some more books to understand their novels." The boy looked very interested. "The books you read, no one can take away from you, they will always belong to you." Xu Hongzhi said earnestly. Before the boy was discharged from the hospital, he bought another set of Jiro Akagawa's novels for him.He bought the "three-color cat" series, not the "thief" series. The boy held the set of books happily and said: "That Osamu Tezuka is great!" "He was a doctor before becoming a cartoonist." Xu Hongzhi said. "It's not difficult to be a doctor! I can also perform surgery!" the boy said proudly and childishly. Xu Hongzhi resisted smiling, and encouraged him: "It's really not difficult, but you have to study hard first." When Xu Hongzhi turned to look at other patients, the boy stopped him suddenly and said: "Back to you!" Xu Hongzhi caught a pen thrown by the boy, only to realize that the pen in his pocket had disappeared at some point. "This pen is cheap, doctor, you must be very poor," said the boy old-fashioned. Xu Hongzhi smiled, and put the pen back into his shirt pocket. The next day, when Xu Hongzhi went to the ward again, he found another child lying on the boy's bed. The nurse said that the boy's parents had suddenly appeared the day before and picked him up. He wondered what would happen to the boy when he returned to that horrible family.All he could be sure of was that the boy had taken all the books.Those books might change him, open another window for him. However, the boy was not seen again until he left the pediatric ward. In the last days of his internship, Xu Hongzhi was in the obstetrics department.Women will give birth at any time, and I don't know why, most of them will give birth at night, so the work here is much more hectic than in the pediatric ward. 他的一位同学，第一次看到一个血淋淋的婴儿从母亲两腿之间钻出来时，当场昏了过去， 成为产房里的笑话。大家也没取笑他多久，反正他并不是第一个在产房昏倒的实习医生。 徐宏志的第一次，给那个抓狂的产妇死命扯住领带，弄得他十分狼狈。几分钟后，他手上接住这个女人刚刚生下来的一个女娃。她软绵绵的鼻孔吮吸着人间第一口空气。他把脐带切断，将她抱在怀里。这个生命是那么小，身上沾满了母亲的血和胎水，粘答答的，一不留神就会从他手上滑出去。她的哭声却几乎把他的耳膜震裂。 等她用尽全身气力喊完了，便紧抿着小嘴睡去。外面的世界再怎么吵，也吵不醒她。老护士说，夜间出生的婴儿，上帝欠了他们一场酣眠。终其一生，这些孩子都会很渴睡。 他看着这团小东西，想起他为苏明慧读的《夜航西飞》，里面有一段母马生孩子的故事。 等候小马出生的漫长时光中，白芮儿。玛克罕说：诞生是最平凡不过的事情；当你翻阅这一页时，就有一百万个生命诞生或死亡。 苏明慧告诉他，在肯亚的时候，她见过一头斑马生孩子。那时她太小，印象已然模糊，只记得那头母马侧身平躺在地上，痛苦地抽搐。过了一会，一头闪闪发亮的小斑马从母亲的子宫爬出来，小小的蹄子试图站起来，踉踉跄跄跌倒，又挣扎着站起来。 “就像个小婴儿似的，不过，它是穿著囚衣出生的。”她笑笑说。 人们常常会问一个问题：我们从何处来？将往何处去？ 今夜，就在他双手还沾着母亲和孩子的血的短短瞬间，他发现自己想念着苏明慧，想念她说的非洲故事，也想念着早上打开惺忪睡眼醒来，傻气而美丽的她。 他用肥皂把双手洗干净，脱下身上接生用的白色围裙，奔跑到停车场去。他上了车，带着对她的想念，穿过微茫的夜色。 公寓里亮着一盏小灯，苏明慧抱着膝头，坐在窗台上，戴着耳机听歌。看见他突然跑了回来，她惊讶地问： “你今天不是要当值吗？” 他朝她微笑，动人心弦地说： “我回来看看你，待会再回去。” 她望着他，投给他一个感动的微笑。 他走上去，坐到窗台上，把她头上的耳机除了下来，让她靠在他的胸怀里。 她嗅闻着他的手指，说： “很香的肥皂味。” 我们何必苦恼自己从何而来，又将往何处去？就在这一刻，他了然明白，我们的天堂就在眼前，有爱人的细话呢喃轻抚。 最近有一次，她又勾起了他的想念。 前几天晚上，他要当值，她一如往常地送饭来。 她坐在床边的一把扶手椅里。他无意中发现她脚上的袜子是不同色的：一只红色、一只黑色。 “你穿错袜子了。”他说。 她连忙低下头看了看自己的袜子，朝他抬起头来，说： “这是新款。” 然后，她微笑说： “我出来的时候太匆忙。” 这一夜，她做了一盘可口的意大利蘑菇饭。 “我下一次会做西班牙海鲜饭。”她说。 “你有想过再画画吗？” “我已经不可能画画，你也知道的。” “画是用心眼画的。” “我画画，谁来做饭给你吃？”她笑笑说。 “我喜欢吃你做的菜。但是，现在这样太委屈你了。你也有自己的梦想。” 她没说话，低了低头，看着自己的袜子，问： “你有没有找过你爸？” 他沉默地摇了摇头。 “别因为我而生他的气，他也有他的道理。难道你一辈子也不回家吗？”她朝他抬起头来说。 “别提他了。”他说。 “那么，你也不要再提画画的事。”她身子往后靠，笑笑说。 她回去之后，他一直想着她脚上那双袜子。 第二天晚上，他下班后回到家里倒头大睡。半夜醒来，发现不见了她。 他走出房间，看见她身上穿著睡衣，在漆黑的客厅里摸着墙壁和书架走，又摸了摸其它东西，然后慢慢的摸到椅子上坐下来。 “你干什么？”他僵呆在那儿，吃惊地问。 “你醒来了？”她的眼睛朝向他，说：“我睡不着，看看如果看不见的话，可不可以找到这张椅子。“ 他大大松了一口气，拧亮了灯，说： “别玩这种游戏。” “我是不是把你吓坏了？”她睁着那双慧黠的眼睛，抱歉地望着他。 他发现自己无法回答这个问题。 “对不起。”她说。 一阵沉默在房子里飘荡。她抬起头，那双困倦的眸子朝他看，谅解地说： “到了那一天，你会比我更难去接受。” 他难过地朝她看，不免责怪自己的软弱惊惶。 今夜，星星微茫。他坐在窗台上，抱着她，耳边有音乐萦回。他告诉她，他刚刚接生了一个重两公斤半的女娃。第一次接生，他有点手忙脚乱，给那个产妇弄得很狼狈。他又说，初生的婴儿并不好看，皱巴巴的，像个老人。 这团小生命会渐渐长大，皱纹消失了。直到一天，她又变回一个老人。此生何其短暂？他为何要惧怕黑暗的指爪？他心中有一方天地，永为她明亮。 那天半夜，她睡不着。徐宏志刚刚熬完了通宵，她不想吵醒他，蹑手蹑脚下了床。 她走出客厅，用手去摸灯掣。摸着摸着，她突然发现自己只能看见窗外微弱的光线。要是连这点微弱的光线都看不见，她还能够找到家里的东西吗？于是，她闭上眼睛，在无边的黑暗中摸着墙壁走。没想到他醒来了，惊惧地看着她。 她好害怕到了那一天，他会太难过。 在实习生活涯里，他见过了死亡，也终于见到了生命的降临。她很小的时候，就已经跟死亡擦身而过。 九岁那年，她跟母亲和继父住在肯亚。她和继父相处愉快。他说话不多，是个好人。她初到非洲丛林，就爱上了那个地方。她成了个野孩子，什么动物都不怕，包括狮子。 母亲和继父时常提醒她，不要接近狮子，即使是驯养的狮子，也是不可靠的。他们住的房子附近，有一个农场，农场的主人养了一头狮子。那头名叫莱诺的狮子，给拴在笼子里。它有黄褐色的背毛和漂亮的黑色鬃毛，步履优雅，冷漠又骄傲。 那是一头非常美丽的狮子，正值壮年。她没理母亲和继父的忠告，时常走去农场看它，用画笔在画纸上画下它的模样。 莱诺从不对她咆哮。在摸过了大象、斑豹和蟒蛇之后，她以为狮子也能做朋友。一天，她又去看莱诺。 她站在笼子外面。莱诺在笼子里自在地徘徊。然后，它走近笼子，那双渴念的眼睛盯着她看。她以为那是友谊的信号，于是回盯着它，并在笼子外面快乐地跳起舞来。 突然，她听到一阵震耳的咆哮，莱诺用牙齿狠狠撕裂那个生的笼子，冲着她扑出来。她只记得双脚发颤，身体压在它的爪子下面。它那骇人的颚垂肉流着口水，她紧闭着眼睛，无力地躺着。那是她短短生命里最漫长的一刻。 然后，她听到了继父的吼叫声。 莱诺丢下了她，朝继父扑去，接着，她听到一声轰然的枪声。莱诺倒了下去，继父血淋淋的躺在地上，手里握着一把长枪。她身上也流着血。 继父的大腿给撕掉了一块肉，在医院里躺了三个星期。她只是给抓伤了。莱诺吞了两颗子弹，死在继父的猎枪下。 不久之后，她的母亲决定将她送走。 她乞求母亲让她留下，母亲断然拒绝了。 她知道，母亲是因为她差点儿害死继父而把她赶走的。母亲爱继父胜过爱自己的孩子。 她恨恨地带着行李独个儿搭上飞机，知道自己再回不去了。 直到许多年后，外婆告诉她： “你妈把你送回来，是因为害怕。她害怕自己软弱，害怕要成天担心你，害怕你会再受伤。“ “她这样说？”带着一丝希望，她问。 “她是我女儿，我了解她。你像她，都喜欢逞强。”外婆说。 “我并不像她。我才不会丢下自己的孩子不顾。”她冷冷地说。 许多年了，给莱诺袭击的恐惧早已经平伏，她甚至想念莱诺，把它画在一张张画布上。给自己母亲丢弃的感觉，却仍然刺痛她。 是徐宏志治好了她童年的创伤。 他让她相信，有一个怀抱，永远为她打开。 送饭去宿舍的那天，徐宏志发现她穿错了袜子。 她明明看见自己是穿上了一双红色袜子出去的。 为了不让他担心，她故作轻松地说： “新款来的！” 后来才承认是穿错了。 谁叫她总喜欢买花花袜子？ 近来，她得用放大镜去分辨每一双袜子。 那天早上，她起来上班，匆匆忙忙拉开抽屉找袜子。她惊讶地发现，她的袜子全都一双一双卷好了，红色跟红色的一块，黑色跟黑色的一块。她再也不会穿错袜子了。 她跌坐在地上，久久地望着那些袜子，是谁用一双温暖的手把袜子配成一对？那双手也永远不会丢弃她。 她以后会把一双袜子绑在一起拿去洗，那么，一双袜子永远是一双。