Chapter 45
When Jian Wu arrived at the animal hospital, Jian Wenming was already in surgery. He immediately spotted Song Shuci sitting outside, waiting. The man’s head was slightly lowered, his brow furrowed. Jian Wu’s heart sank, and he rushed over: “How is he?”
Song Shuci instantly put away his dejected expression and looked up at him: “He’s in surgery, don’t worry.”
“Will he… die?” Jian Wu pinched the web between his thumb and index finger, trying to stay calm, “Just tell me, it’s okay.”
Song Shuci looked at his pale face, was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice: “The doctor said it’s dangerous.”
Jian Wu’s vision blurred, and he almost lost his balance. He reached out and grabbed the metal back of the chair, his hand stinging from the cold.
“Careful, sit down for a bit,” Song Shuci quickly stood up, offered him his seat, and moved to the side.
Because the seat had been warmed, Jian Wu didn’t feel the cold when he sat down.
He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and interlocked his fingers, clenching them into fists. “How did he get hurt?”
Song Shuci’s hand hovered above his back for a moment, then gently landed on his shoulder, squeezing it.
“I was working in the living room this afternoon, and there was a bird chirping on the balcony. Wenming saw it through the window and started chirping too. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but after a while, he flew over and crashed into the glass.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose: “We probably cleaned the windows too thoroughly last week, he didn’t realize it was glass.”
Jian Wu’s eyelashes trembled, his voice shaking slightly: “Was it a bad collision?”
Song Shuci didn’t want to upset him and apologized instead: “I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I should have opened the window for him.”
“It’s not your fault,” Jian Wu said, “Just tell me… was it a bad collision?”
Song Shuci hesitated for a long time, then carefully said: “When we brought him here, the doctor said he was still breathing.”
That meant it was very serious, Jian Wu thought.
He closed his eyes, his mind in turmoil. Perhaps because he was too stressed, the back of his head started throbbing.
This wasn’t the first time he had brought a bird to the animal hospital. He couldn’t help but wonder if he was somehow incompatible with birds.
The last time was a nest of swallows that had built their nest on the balcony of his rented apartment in City A.
He wasn’t in a good mood during that time and would often space out on the balcony. One day, he suddenly noticed two swallows. Perhaps because humans were generally friendly towards swallows, they weren’t afraid of Jian Wu and would sometimes fly over and stare at him.
So he observed them as they chirped and chose a location every day, then started building their nest, bringing back more and more mud from outside, clumsily building a small, not very pretty, but functional nest. Then they laid eggs, and the two swallows became a family.
He would often take photos of them and sometimes even catch insects for them.
Just as the baby swallows were almost grown and they were about to move out, one of his roommates moved out, and the landlord, having lost his job, also moved back into the apartment.
He quickly discovered the little creatures living on his balcony and, with a stick, destroyed the entire nest.
The baby swallows, who hadn’t fully learned to fly, fell down with pitiful cries. When Jian Wu rushed to the balcony, the landlord was still cursing, preparing to sweep them into the trash can.
Jian Wu immediately took them to the animal hospital. He had also waited outside the operating room like this, emptying his wallet, calling Song Shuci a dozen times, but no one answered. In the end, he could only borrow money from Cheng Xian.
But he still couldn’t save them.
And Song Shuci finally replied to him after the doctor announced the swallows’ death: “Busy, talk later.”
When he returned home, the parent swallows had also come back from hunting. The two small birds circled the spot where their nest used to be, as if not understanding why their home and children were gone after just a short trip.
And the landlord was chasing them away with a broom, saying he was afraid they would build another nest or poop and stain the clothes drying on the balcony.
The two birds, not recognizing the landlord, kept flying towards Jian Wu, whom they were familiar with, chirping loudly and anxiously, as if pleading for help.
Jian Wu, who usually avoided conflicts, couldn’t help but snatch the broom from the landlord.
Everyone in City A was tired, and some people, exhausted, became less empathetic. So, when Jian Wu intervened, the landlord’s attack on the birds quickly turned into an attack on him.
“Seriously, you can barely take care of yourself, and you still have the time to worry about birds? This is my house, if you’re so capable, buy your own apartment, don’t rent! If you’re here because it’s cheap, then don’t tell me what to do. Do you know how expensive the rent is here? Why should I share my apartment with animals? It’s not my fault, it’s their own fault for not being capable, for not finding a better place, for crowding into my house!”
Jian Wu knew who the landlord was referring to with the sarcastic “animals.”
That day, he protected the two adult swallows as they flew away and buried the baby swallows under a tree in the complex. He sat by their small graves until almost midnight, until Song Shuci came home. He said seriously: “I’m leaving City A.”
Song Shuci, forced to rush his progress because his paper had been scooped, was exhausted every day, working tirelessly in the lab, writing papers. After an hour-long subway ride home, hearing this, he couldn’t help but get a little angry: “What’s wrong again? Didn’t we agree?”
After the hospital proposal, Jian Wu had compromised again and agreed to stay in City A, initially planning to find a job, then either retake the postgraduate entrance exam or apply for a fully funded PhD program abroad and go with Song Shuci after he graduated.
But his job search wasn’t going well. It was the off-season for recruitment, and with a few years of gap in his resume and no fresh graduate status, he was at a disadvantage. The employment bottleneck for biology majors was fully exposed at this time, and the tutoring industry was also declining due to policy changes.
Jian Wu hadn’t expected that with his 985 university degree, he wouldn’t be able to find a decent-paying job. And the dead swallows and the landlord’s sarcastic remarks were like the last straw, breaking him completely.
So Jian Wu didn’t even have the desire to explain, just said to him: “I’m sorry, I broke my promise, but I have to leave this time.”
Song Shuci naturally tried to stop him, but this time, he didn’t want to compromise anymore. During the argument, he smashed the perfume bottle and broke up with him.
And Song Shuci, after looking at him in silence for a long time, picked up his clothes, turned around, and slammed the door.
The landlord, woken up by the noise, came out and cursed at him, and Jian Wu had the pleasure of hearing the full extent of human vulgarity.
Song Shuci, angry and upset, could go back to school, back to his dormitory.
He had nowhere to go.
He could only stay in his room, listening to the landlord’s curses.
This was probably one of the most embarrassing moments of his life. Even after so many years, thinking about it still made his heart ache.
He hoped Wenming would survive. Although the little bird loved to curse, they had developed a deep bond after all this time.
He hoped Wenming would survive because he didn’t want to face the death of a once vibrant life alone again.
A tissue suddenly appeared beside him. Jian Wu turned his head, and Song Shuci took his hand.
Perhaps because his fingers were too cold, Song Shuci’s hand felt warm against his. He subconsciously flinched, but Song Shuci held on.
“Your hands are too cold,” Song Shuci said, “Don’t catch a cold.”
He paused and said “thank you,” then took the tissue.
Song Shuci thought he would cry, but the swallow incident had taught him that crying wouldn’t solve anything.
Jian Wu crumpled the tissue in his hand and looked towards the operating room again.
An hour later, the operating room door finally opened, and the vet came out cheerfully, shouting: “Where’s the bird’s owner? Your bird should be okay, you can come and see him!”
Jian Wu immediately jumped up and followed the vet inside. After looking around, he quickly spotted Jian Wenming in an incubator. The usually feisty bird was now listless and dejected, looking like it had been bullied, its head wrapped in gauze.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he comforted the bird in the incubator, “Don’t be afraid.” Seeing it trembling slightly, he asked the vet: “Can I touch him? He seems scared.”
“Gently,” the vet said.
Jian Wu carefully avoided its head, preparing to comfort the frightened Jian Wenming, but just as his fingertips were about to touch the bird, he remembered: “My hands are too cold.”
He turned to Song Shuci: “Touch him for me.”
“Okay.” Song Shuci nodded, reached out from behind him, and gently stroked Jian Wenming’s feathers. The little bird let out a few whimpers, unusually affectionate towards Jian Wu.
“Fortunately, the collision wasn’t too serious,” the vet looked at the two, “And you brought him here in time. I saw this gentleman had already done some first aid when he arrived.”
Jian Wu glanced at Song Shuci, then asked the vet for confirmation: “He should be okay, right?”
“If there are no complications, he should recover slowly,” the vet said, “You can take him home and bring him back for injections every day. Or, if you’re worried, you can leave him here. We have professional care, and it’s easier to handle if anything happens.”
“Then… let’s leave him here for now,” Jian Wu considered, “The journey back will be bumpy, I’m afraid it’ll affect his recovery.”
“Okay,” the vet said, “But in that case, the cost might be higher, about a thousand yuan a day for the first few days, is that acceptable?”
Jian Wu didn’t hesitate: “Yes, it is.”
“Then please go over there and pay,” the vet pointed at the cashier.
“I have to pay now?” Jian Wu asked.
“Yes, we require payment upfront. This gentleman has already paid for the emergency treatment,” he pointed at Song Shuci, then said to Jian Wu, “If you’re leaving the bird here, you also need to pay for the nursing care upfront.”
“I understand.”
Jian Wu checked his phone balance and walked towards the cashier. The vet was quite straightforward, immediately printing a bill for ten thousand yuan.
“Please pay first, we’ll refund you any unused amount later,” the cashier explained.
Jian Wu looked at his phone balance, feeling a headache. He had most of his savings in fixed deposits and stocks, he didn’t have that much cash on hand. Song Shuci, seeing him pause, immediately stepped forward and said: “I’ll pay.”
“Then I’ll pay you back tomorrow,” Jian Wu said.
“No need,” Song Shuci paid, turned to look at him, hesitated for a moment, then took Jian Wu’s hand, his expression complex, “There are some things I didn’t do well before, I should make it up to you now.”
Jian Wu looked at him, slightly stunned. Song Shuci squeezed his fingers: “I found out about the swallows later, my landlord told me… when I was moving out.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I was too careless back then, I didn’t consider your feelings.”
Jian Wu’s eyes flickered, and after a long time, he said: “I didn’t blame you.”
He knew Song Shuci was also struggling at that time, he didn’t blame him, he was just sad.
Song Shuci didn’t reply, just kept his eyes lowered, holding his hand.
Jian Wu pursed his lips and was about to pull his hand back, but just as he did, Song Shuci’s grip tightened, and his other arm wrapped around him, pulling him into a hug.
Jian Wu’s lips brushed against Song Shuci’s shoulder, his cheek against his warm neck. The man’s hand rested on the back of his head in a comforting gesture, and all the warmth flowed into Jian Wu’s body.
This was a hug four years overdue.
Although late, it still made Jian Wu’s heart ache.
Like a long-forgotten wound, across time and space, slowly showing signs of healing.
