Only when the sky was almost dark did Duan Linbai finally see a returning cable car. Through the window, he saw a dark red figure inside, and he heaved a sigh of relief. If something really happened to Fu Chen, Dad would skin me alive even if the Fu family didn’t look for me.
When Fu Chen and Song Fengwan got on the cable car, the staff let out a long sigh of relief. If they still couldn’t see them return, they would have had to call the search and rescue team.
After getting on the cable car, Fu Chen still reminded her how to deal with an avalanche in the future: Run to the side and look for a fixed object. He also said that she shouldn’t shout loudly in case the snow got shaken and triggered a second avalanche.
Song Fengwan sniffed her nose and sobbed softly. Who knew how much she actually heard.
The moment Fu Chen got out of the cable car, Duan Linbai rushed over. His face was so cold that he couldn’t feel anything, and only his tears kept flowing.
“Are you f*cking trying to scare me to death?!” The cold wind surged into his throat, so his voice was dry and hoarse, and his lips were trembling from the cold.
“You’re crying? For me?” Fu Chen raised his eyebrows.
“Screw you. I’m not wearing goggles. The tears are because of the light. Little Sister, are you alright?” Duan Linbai looked at Song Fengwan.
Song Fengwan shook her head. She was wearing goggles that covered her eyes, so he couldn’t see her red eyes.
“That’s good. I was scared to death. We come here many times every year, but there has never been an avalanche. It’s all my fault for being a jinx earlier.” Duan Linbai was speechless.
Fu Chen held Song Fengwan’s hand and walked toward the hotel.
He had been coming here for the past five or six years. Most of the time, he would come here three or four times a year, and he had never encountered an avalanche before. This was why he dared to bring Song Fengwan here. He never expected that an accident would occur this time.
But it was also a blessing in disguise, and their relationship got a little closer.
At least he knew that she had him in her heart.
On the way back, she was very quiet and didn’t say a word. It was obvious that she was overly shocked and had yet to recover. Fu Chen sent her back to her room before returning to his own.
Duan Linbai was in his room, sitting cross-legged on the floor and searching for something.
“What are you doing?” The room had almost no light, and there was only a single nightlight on. Fu Chen turned on the lights.
“Don’t turn on the lights. My eyes hurt.” Duan Linbai’s eyes were red and swollen, so uncomfortable that he couldn’t even open them when encountering light.
He subconsciously rubbed his eyes. There seemed to be something in them, giving him a sharp pain, causing tears to flow uncontrollably.
Fu Chen furrowed his brows and turned off the light. “Linbai, how long did you stand in the snow?”
“Just over an hour. F*ck, why can’t I find my eye drops?” Duan Linbai had the habit of wearing contact lenses, so he always prepared eye drops.
“Take your contact lenses out first. I’ll go find something to disinfect your eyes and get some ice to put on your eyes. You might have snow blindness.” Fu Chen pulled Duan Linbai up from the ground and laid him down on the bed.
“I took out my contact lenses long ago. Right now, I feel like my eyes are about to go blind.” The intense burning pain was like needles piercing his eyes.
Fu Chen ran to the front desk and asked the hotel staff for an antiseptic cotton cloth.
The staff here was experienced in dealing with such situations and even gave him some eye cream that could relieve the pain and thoroughly clean and disinfect the eyes. After applying the cream, covering it with the antiseptic cotton cloth, and putting an ice pack on his eyes, Duan Linbai felt better.
Song Fengwan and Huai Sheng also rushed over after receiving the news.
Song Fengwan had been scared out of her wits earlier. The avalanche had been earth-shattering, resembling a giant beast swallowing mountains and rivers. At the thought of it, her heart was still palpitating. She had yet to regain her senses, so when she heard that Duan Linbai had an accident, her eyes turned red out of anxiety again.
“Third Uncle, is Uncle Duan alright?” Huai Sheng bit his lip.
Although he didn’t really like this frivolous and flamboyant uncle, he was still so anxious that tears fell when he heard that something happened to him.
“He’s fine. He needs to rest for some time. Snow blindness will only cause temporary blindness.” Fu Chen stared at the person groaning on the bed and clenched his fists slightly.
“Uncle Duan, let me read a Buddhist scripture for you. It will let you calm down and let Buddha bless you for early recovery.” Huai Sheng sounded extremely serious.
Duan Linbai’s lips twitched. “Third Fu, if you want me to live for another two years, get this little monk away from me.”
I’ll be angered to death before I’m blind.
“Third Uncle?” Huai Sheng looked innocent.
“Uncle needs to rest.” Fu Chen patted his head. “Wanwan, take care of Huai Sheng tonight. I’ll accompany Linbai.”
“Don’t. I’m not blind. Don’t make me look like I’m disabled. I don’t need your company.” Duan Linbai’s eyes were more comfortable now, and he spoke with confidence.
“Okay, I’ll take care of Huai Sheng tonight.” Song Fengwan’s eyes were red and swollen like walnuts right now.
“You guys go eat first.” At this moment, the sky was completely dark.
Song Fengwan didn’t have much appetite, but she couldn’t let Huai Sheng starve. “We’ll go to the restaurant first, and then we’ll bring some food back for you two.”
…
Duan Linbai had something put on his eyes, so Fu Chen was feeding him. This made him feel very smug.
“Third Fu, I’ve never even dreamed that one day you would be serving me.”
Fu Chen sneered. “Next time you encounter such a situation, you have to ensure your own safety.”
“I was too anxious, so how could I worry about so much?
“Say, apart from our school days when it worked a few times when the teacher picked me to answer questions, when has this mouth of mine ever been correct?”
Fu Chen laughed softly. It was really the case when they were in school. Every time he had a tingling sense that the teacher would pick him to answer a question, it was virtually always him.
“If it’s really that accurate, why doesn’t it give me a girlfriend as soon as possible so that my dad won’t chase after me every day?”
“I’ll send you to the hospital for a checkup tomorrow. I’ll get Shi Fang to bring Wanwan and Huai Sheng back to Yuncheng first,” Fu Chen said.
“For what? Maybe I’ll be fine tomorrow. You don’t have to bring me there. Just go accompany Little Sister-in-Law.”
“We’ll see.” Fu Chen already had a plan in mind, but he just said this to comfort Duan Linbai. With his firecracker-like mouth, he definitely won’t stop for half the night.
For some cases of snow blindness, the symptoms would alleviate, and eyesight would gradually recover after a few hours. Duan Linbai often skied, so he still had this common sense.
These symptoms would at most cause him to be blind for a period of time and not permanently, so he was actually not that worried.
However, when he woke up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet, took the ice pack off his eyes, reached out to turn on the bedside lamp, and saw the pitch-black darkness in front of him, he was utterly mute.
F*ck, is there a blackout or something? It’s so dark.
“Don’t turn on the light.” Fu Chen sat by the bed and turned off the light.
Snow blindness was sensitive to light.
While Fu Chen turned off the light, Duan Linbai had already gotten off the bed. He tripped over his slippers and fell to his knees.
“Linbai.” Fu Chen quickly went forward to support him.
“Third Fu, I think I’m blind…”
Fu Chen grabbed the goggles at the side and helped him put them on to prevent light from stimulating his eyes. He waved his hand in front of Duan Linbai’s eyes. “Linbai, can you see the number in front of you?”
“I can’t see anything! Everything in front of me is black!”
Fu Chen took a deep breath. What I was afraid of really came true.
He immediately made a call and got someone to contact the local hospital, planning to send Duan Linbai for a checkup first thing in the morning. He also got Qian Jiang, who was staying in Beijing, to look for ophthalmology specialists in treating snow blindness.
“Third Fu, calm down. This is curable. I won’t be blind forever.” Duan Linbai sat by the bed and stretched out his hands to rub his knees. The fall just now hurts like hell.
At this moment, he didn’t think much of it. It was only after some time did he realize how miserable it was to be blind.
***
Yuncheng, 8 p.m…
Qiao Aiyun was sitting at home and watching a TV drama. She originally wanted to call Song Fengwan, but Song Fengwan said that she had something going on tonight.
Qiao Aiyun shook her head helplessly. She goes on a trip and doesn’t even call. She’s really gone crazy playing.
By the time she finished watching two episodes of the drama, it was already almost 10 p.m. Qiao Wangbei had said that he was going out to look for Yan Wangchuan. He’s already been out for three hours. He’s still not back?
It got dark early in winter, and the wind was bitterly cold. At this time, if it wasn’t downtown, it was rare to see pedestrians walking around.
Qiao Aiyun yawned, rubbed her shoulders, and called Qiao Wangbei.
It took two calls to get through.
“Hey, Big Brother, why aren’t you back yet?”
“I’m drinking with Senior Brother. Come here quickly.”
“Drinking?” In her impression, Yan Wangchuan led a very rational and self-controlled life. He didn’t smoke nor drink.
“Where… where is this?” Qiao Wangbei didn’t know this place and asked the boss.
Qiao Aiyun originally didn’t want to go, but she was worried. She wrapped herself in a down jacket, grabbed her phone and car key, and followed the address Qiao Wangbei gave her.
***
Qiao Wangbei and Yan Wangchuan were just at a small street-side restaurant. Even the restaurant’s signboard wasn’t very eye-catching. Qiao Aiyun walked around the street twice before finally finding the restaurant.
The two of them had already drunk a few bottles of Red Star Erguotou while eating chicken hotpot.
Yan Wangchuan’s eyes were bloodshot, and the area around his eyes was completely red. It was obvious that he was drunk.
Qiao Wangbei had always been a good drinker, so his gaze was still sharp and full of energy.
“Big Brother, why did you drink so much?” Qiao Aiyun walked over.
Yan Wangchuan was feeling dizzy, and his body was weak. He couldn’t maintain his balance, so he was leaning against the chair. But as soon as he saw Qiao Aiyun coming over, he instantly straightened his back.
“I didn’t drink that much.” Qiao Wangbei took a sip of the alcohol. It was spicy and throat-piercing. He smacked his lips and took a bite of the food.
“Yeah, right. Don’t drink the rest.” Qiao Aiyun looked at the two remaining unopened bottles of Erguotou and hurriedly held them in her arms.
“I’m just at the point of enjoying it. You…” Qiao Wangbei was unhappy. “Senior Brother, don’t you think she’s going overboard? ”
Yan Wangchuan shook his head obediently. “She did the right thing.”
Qiao Wangbei was angry and put down his chopsticks. “Senior Brother, who was the one who said that he wanted to get drunk with me tonight?”
Qiao Aiyun looked at Yan Wangchuan.
He sat upright, and his face flushed, but he still said nothing.
“Senior Brother, you’ve drunk too much. Eat some carbs to help with the alcohol.” Qiao Aiyun called the shop owner over and ordered some noodles.
The two of them had drunk a lot of alcohol, so they had no appetite at all.
She paid the bill and left along with the two drunkards.
The hotel Yan Wangchuan was staying at was nearby, and it was only a two to three-minute walk away. It wasn’t easy to park in front of the hotel, and Qiao Aiyun couldn’t be bothered to move the car, so she asked Qiao Wangbei to wait in the car while she sent Yan Wangchuan back to the hotel first.
***
Along the way…
The cold wind blew. Qiao Aiyun was afraid that he would fall while walking, so she reached out her hands to support him.
Yan Wangchuan stiffened. The cold air blowing on his face dispersed some of the alcohol in him. He glanced at the person beside him from the corner of his eye. His face felt like a fire, red and hot.
“Don’t drink like this next time.” It was the first time Qiao Aiyun saw him drink alcohol. He can’t even hold his liquor, but he still drank so much.
“Oh,” Yan Wangchuan replied, looking a little silly.
“My brother has good alcohol tolerance. Why are you competing with him in drinking alcohol? Drinking like this is very harmful to your body.”
“Oh.” He still responded the same way.
“This is the first time I’ve seen you drink…”
“I’m depressed.” Yan Wangchuan thought about the text messages, and his heart began to feel uncomfortable again.
“Why are you depressed?”
“You didn’t agree to what I texted you.”
Qiao Aiyun was dumbfounded for a moment before laughing out loud. “Senior Brother, you’re drunk.”
“Yes, I’m drunk.”
“Do you know who I am?”
“The person I like.”
Qiao Aiyun stiffened. “Senior Brother, I’d better send you back to the hotel first.” He’s usually clumsy with his words, but after drinking, he’s quite glib-tongued.
“You rejected me.” His tone was cold and stiff, but he sounded extremely wronged.
“You’re really drunk.” Qiao Aiyun sent him to the front desk of the hotel, told the hotel staff his name, and asked for his room number. She wanted to send him back to his room, but he refused to cooperate. She could only call Old Madam Yan and ask her to think of a way to help.
“I’ll send you back to your room first. If there’s anything, let’s talk about it tomorrow.”
“Let’s talk today.” He had already been told off by Qiao Wangbei countless times. All that was left in his mind now was: Confess to her and express my love. I must say it in person.
“Alright, I’ll send you back to your room first.” Qiao Aiyun helped him stand in front of the elevator and wait for it.
As the elevator arrived, it made a ding!
Just as Qiao Aiyun was about to pull him into the elevator, Yan Wangchuan grabbed her hand. His face was unnaturally red, yet his eyes were extremely serious.
“I want to marry you.”
The elevator doors were slowly opening, and Old Madam Yan was standing inside, dumbfounded.
Her mouth was agape. She was clearly overly shocked.
