Waiting for You in a City

Fast forward ten more days, and the rescue work had entered a stable stage. More aid teams had come in, and soon it was time for the first group of troops to withdraw.

That day, Xu Qin passed by the resettlement site for the victims, and saw soldiers boarding their cars and leaving in an orderly manner. The folks who saw them off stopped them, wanting to gift them some local specialties.

The disaster area was already short of supplies, and the army was disciplined. The soldiers refused to accept it.

The two sides made a good compromise.

Xu Qin walked past several cars. Several soldiers who had been treated by her saw her and greeted her from the car. She pursed her lips and nodded as a response.

The military vehicles drove away one by one, the fellow villagers chased the vehicles and waved goodbye.

Xu Qin walked to the end of the line and unexpectedly saw Song Yan. They were also leaving that day.

Song Yan was squeezed in the crowd, nodding his head from time to time, saluting fellow villagers, and refusing the things in their hands. It was at this time that he inadvertently turned his head, and the eyes of the two passed through the moving crowd and met each other from a distance.

After a short pause, they looked away.

She continued on her way, and after walking away a few steps, she couldn’t help but look back. Standing among the villagers, Song Yan was extraordinarily tall, with an unusually handsome and slender back.

He was ready to get in the car.

But the moment he got into the car, for some reason, he turned his head slightly and glanced in the direction Xu Qin was leaving, and happened to meet her gaze.

Neither of them expected that the other would turn around, let alone that they would be caught, and both of them were taken aback for a moment.

In the next second, Song Yan got into the car.

The car started.

Xu Qin’s heart beat like a drum.

She put her hands in her pockets, and when she turned to leave, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

After a few days, Xu Qin and the others also had to return to Di City.

When they left, they were also greeted by the villagers. Things that were not delivered to the soldiers were stuffed to them vigorously, saying that they were not soldiers, and they didn’t have such strict requirements.

The doctors and nurses didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

The villagers’ intentions were so heartfelt that they couldn’t refuse. Xu Qin finally accepted the basket containing the eggs; the others followed suit, accepting their offerings. This was the only way to let them pass.

Someone in the farewell crowd started to cry, Xu Qin was not used to such a scene, so she sat in the innermost seat of the car.

It wasn’t until the car drove a long way that she looked back at the ruined town.

Had this small town changed her a bit? She didn’t think about it much, it was too early to say anything now. Maybe we had to wait many months and many years to look back before we could see things clearly.

On the way back to the city, Xu Qin leaned back in her chair and fell into a deep sleep.

When she got home, she was still exhausted.

After washing herself thoroughly from head to toe, she went to bed and slept soundly, from the afternoon to the next morning.

Xu Qin didn’t rush to get up after waking. She lay on the bed, recalling what had happened in the past ten days, it felt unreal, like a dream.

Those who died, those who lived, the abandoned homes, and the built houses, the images flashed across her eyes like a slideshow, and finally stopped at the moment when Song Yan turned back before getting into the car.

Her heart pounded in her chest.

She grabbed her phone, pulled up his number, thought for a while, and sent a text message:

“I’m back.”

Feeling anxious, before she could put down the phone, there was almost an instant reply: “Okay.”

Xu Qin stared at the word on the screen: “……” Just as she didn’t know how to continue the chat, another message came: “Have a good rest.”

She immediately typed: “I had a good rest.”

Sent.

She added: “I came back yesterday.”

She waited for a while, but the response speed over there was slow, probably because he was caught off guard. She suddenly realized that she was not very good at chatting either, so she wanted to make amends, and quickly typed a string of words:

“What are you doing? Not working?”

“Rest.” This response was quick.

Xu Qin thought that he should still be recuperating, and was about to ask him how he was doing, when there was a beep, and the text message came again, from Song Yan:

“Want to meet?”

She stared at the screen, her face was reddened by those four words, she pursed her lips and replied:

“Yes.”

“Then come out.” He replied.

Xu Qin suddenly sat up, just about to get out of bed, thought of something, covered her forehead, grinned and sent him a text message:

“I forgot, there will be a commendation meeting at the hospital in the morning……”

“Alright.”

She scratched her hair and continued typing: “See you this afternoon? Two o’clock, downstairs at my house?”

“Okay.”

Xu Qin put down her phone, slipped out of bed, opened the curtains with a slam, and the sunlight shone into the whole room through the floor-to-ceiling windows. She walked up to the balcony, glanced at Wu Fang Street, smiled very lightly, looked up again, and saw the blue sky and clear weather.

The commendation meeting was held in the big conference hall. When Xu Qin arrived, Xiao Xi and the others were sitting and chatting together, and even saved a seat for her.

Everyone had gotten enough rest and seemed to be in good spirits. At this moment, they were even somewhat nostalgic for the past ten days.

Xiao Xi said: “The hospital will issue certificates to those who participated in the rescue this time. Although it is of no use, it is a commemoration anyway.”

Xiao Dong said: “Those days felt like a dream, I was exhausted to death, but now that I think about it, it was quite precious.”

Xu Qin thought about it, and said: “Everyone has gained something.”

As soon as her words fell, Xiao Bei bumped against Xiao Nan: “This one has gained a lot.”

Xu Qin’s sense of smell was dull and she didn’t realize it.

Xiao Xi spoke quickly: “She is with that firefighter named Tong Ming.”

Xiao Nan was not shy, she spread his hands and shrugged: “He is very shy, ah, I used all eighteen kinds of martial arts to chase him.”

It was only then that Xu Qin remembered that it was Xiao Nan who took care of Tong Ming when he came to the hospital with a burnt hand several months ago; this time when he injured his leg in the earthquake, it was also Xiao Nan who took care of him.

“Your parents won’t object?”

Xiao Nan: “It’s enough if I like him. If they don’t agree, just need to coax and pester them. No parents can hold out in front of their children.”

Xu Qin was a little surprised that she was so open about it. Just as she was talking, the head of the hospital came in, and the chatter gradually subsided.

The dean stepped onto the stage and sighed: “Everyone has worked hard——”

There was laughter under the stage.

The dean glanced at the crowd with satisfaction, and nodded: “This time, the medical team from our hospital performed outstandingly. They successfully performed 39 major surgeries, 78 minor surgeries, and took care of 438 injured patients……”

Xu Qin was distracted and looked down at her phone.

The chat history between her and Song Yan ended at the previous last message “Okay.”.

She swiped up the chat and stared at the sentence “Want to meet?”.

It was now half past ten in the morning, and there were still more than three hours before the agreed two o’clock in the afternoon.

The dean was still speaking in an official tone: “……It is well received by the local military and civilians. During this medical rescue operation, a group of exceptionally outstanding medical workers emerged from our hospital. They are skilled, benevolent, and always put the safety of the local people first. Such medical workers are worth learning from by all present here, and even more worthy of commendation from the hospital and society. The first individual is Doctor Xu Qin, a specialist in burn surgery who is currently on rotation in the Emergency Department.”

The dean took the lead in applauding, and there was a burst of applause in the hall.

Xu Qin’s face was slightly hot, and there was a trace of inexplicable embarrassment. She expected that she would be highly praised, and thought that she would just sit quietly and let it pass by, but what happened next was unexpected.

The dean applauded and gave way to the podium: “Doctor Xu is one of the top ten inspiring individuals selected by the news media. We invite Doctor Xu to come up and give a speech.”

Xu Qin was startled, but soon calmed down. She had made up her mind and stepped onto the podium amid prolonged applause.

Under the podium, colleagues were full of expectation, and Professor Xu Ken was expressionless.

She adjusted the microphone, without too much deliberation or hesitation, nor too much nervousness and apprehension, began to speak: “I just did what I should have done. I was also a rescue victim.”

The people in the audience were whetted and waited eagerly.

“At that time, I saw that the woman was dead, and was about to leave. But the firefighters who dug her up found that she was a pregnant woman and stopped me.”

Under the stage, the faces of everyone began to change unpredictably.

“Thanks to his reminder, I was able to rescue this child and pull myself back from the brink of a major mistake.”

There was no sound, a bunch of people were dumbfounded, it was not this version, it was widely spread now that the doctor saw the death of a pregnant woman, and insisted on trying to save the fetus in the womb.

The dean’s face turned green, and he strode over.

“At that moment, I realized how wrong I had been……”

This sentence had no effect, her colleagues were stunned by her previous speech. The dean took the microphone away: “Doctor Xu and the firefighter saved a new life together, applause.”

Everyone was so embarrassed that they clapped loudly in order to resolve it.

“Next, Doctor Liu Yang from the General Surgery Department……”

Xu Qin stepped off the stage, Xiao Dong, Xiao Xi, Xiao Nan, Xiao Bei looked at her agape and speechless.

She sat down calmly: “What’s wrong?”

The four shook their heads in unison.

Xiao Nan: “As I said before, Doctor Xu’s brain circuit is abnormal.”

Xu Qin: “……”

She didn’t care, she was relaxed, and was only waiting for the afternoon meet-up.

On the way home, while waiting for the red light, she saw a huge poster hanging outside the shopping mall at the intersection, which showed a foreign beauty with bright eyes and bright teeth, and a bright smile.

Xu Qin stared at the picture for a while, then changed her route and entered the mall.

……

At two o’clock in the afternoon, Xu Qin tidied herself up, ran downstairs and out of the courtyard, and saw Song Yan standing beside the banyan tree across the road waiting for her.

In the deep winter, the leaves had fallen, leaving only bare branches. He was wearing a gray-blue overcoat, standing under the tree, with a curling cigarette in his hand.

Like a painting.

She took a breath and ran towards him.

He saw her coming and stubbed out the cigarette.

“Did you wait for a long time?” She ran up the curb and asked.

“Just arrived.” He said.

He glanced briefly across her whole body, briefly looked at her entire face, and finally landed on her lips, which were bright red and delicately painted with lipstick.

He looked at it for half a second, and when he turned to leave, the corners of his mouth curled up and he smiled.

Xu Qin followed him: “Where are we going?”

Song Yan glanced at her sideways: “Want to watch a movie?”

Xu Qin: “Okay. Where should we go to watch?”

Song Yan: “Qi Feng Road.”

“Okay.” Xu Qin said again.

Song Yan inadvertently turned his head to look at her more, perhaps because the outdoor air was too cold in winter, her face was frozen white, and her eyes were clearer, like a bottomless stream.

He asked: “Are you cold?”

“Not cold.”

He glanced at her hand, which was in her pocket.

He took out his phone and was about to call a taxi,

“Let’s take the subway.” Xu Qin said, “The traffic jam will take a long time.”

When they got down to the subway station, Song Yan bought a one-way card for Xu Qin, but there was a small problem when passing through the gate.

The people in front went through the gate in an orderly manner one by one. But when it was Xu Qin’s turn, she stood by the turnstile and tapped the card on the sensor several times, but the door wouldn’t open.

Now that there was a lot of traffic and people were waiting behind them, Xu Qin was embarrassed and whispered to herself: “My card seems to be broken.”

Just as she was about to turn around and ask for help, there was a force behind her.

Song Yan grabbed her by the collar and gently lifted her back. She took a step back and bumped into him. His voice was deep and fell next to her ear: “Try again.”

Xu Qin tapped the card on the sensor, and this time, the door actually opened. She was stunned for a second, then hurried through and looked back at Song Yan.

Song Yan swiped his card and walked through the turnstile, leading her to the platform.

Xu Qin asked: “What happened just now, why couldn’t it be tapped open?”

Song Yan said: “There is a yellow line on the ground, people have to stand behind the yellow line to tap the card.”

And she had passed the yellow line.

The subway pulled into the platform and stopped slowly. People on the opposite side of the glass window were waiting to get off.

Xu Qin: “Why is there such a strange rule? Isn’t it a waste of time?”

Song Yan: “To prevent fare evasion, prevent two people from using one card.”

While speaking, the subway doors opened, and people who got off the train rushed down the platform.

“Fare evasion?” Xu Qin frowned slightly, and couldn’t think of an escape. She turned around and got ready to get in the subway car,

“Like this.” Song Yan lowered his head and whispered in her ear. He took a step forward and pressed against her back. He pushed forward a little, and with a force behind her, he pushed her onto the subway car.

Xu Qin’s heart thumped.

His hand reached out from behind her and gripped the vertical bar tightly.

She stood motionless in front of him, with her back pressed against his chest, the back of her head touching his chin, feeling as if she had been electrocuted, and her whole body went numb.

All around, there was still a faint smell of soap on his body. Xu Qin thought,

He must have washed his hair and showered before going out.

Coincidentally, so did she.