He heard his own voice asking Fang Pingjun, “What happened?”
In the silent night, Fang Pingjun’s voice sounded especially sorrowful. Chi Baoguang heard him say, “He took sleeping pills.” In the hospital, Fang Pingjun rubbed his face hard and said in pain, “Half a bottle…”
Chi Baoguang put down his chopsticks completely.
The night was a little dark.
Lisa cooked a bowl of noodles for him and went back to her room to sleep. At this moment, he was alone in the hall. The lights were not all on. He only turned on a row of small lights on the chandelier in the dining room. Chi Baoguang sat under the light with a silent expression. His shadow was elongated by the light and fell crookedly on the table stool beside him.
In an instant, Chi Baoguang thought of many things.
Actually, when he first came to the Fang family, Fang Pingjue treated him very kindly. At that time, the two of them had many topics to talk about. The two of them always liked to bully the silly Fang Pingjue together. He did not expect that in the end, the person he had worked with since he was young would become the one who betrayed him.
Chi Baoguang had been cursing Fang Pingjue to die. He felt upset that Fang Pingjue was really going to die.
Chi Baoguang, who was not addicted to cigarettes, smoked a cigarette that night.
Lisa was not asleep. Without Chi Baoguang around, it was always difficult for her to fall asleep. Seeing that Chi Baoguang did not enter the room after a long time, Lisa was worried. She got up and put on a thin jacket over her pajamas. She wore her slippers and went to the living room. She did not see Chi Baoguang in the hall. Instead, the glass door to the connection between the living room and the balcony was open. The lights were not on on the balcony, but Lisa saw a figure standing there. She stared at the person, frowned, and slowly walked over.
Before Lisa could get close, Chi Baoguang sensed her.
Having lived on the cliff for many years, Chi Baoguang was very sensitive to the changes in his surroundings. He did not turn around and confessed before Lisa could ask. “Fang Pingjue is going to die,” he said. Chi Baoguang’s tone was very calm.
Lisa stared at the flames dancing a few centimeters in front of his fingertips and knew that Chi Baoguang’s emotions were not as calm as his voice.
He must be in a mess.
Lisa walked over and asked him, “Do you mind if I smoke?”
Chi Baoguang shook his head. “No ladies’ cigarettes.”
“Then give me a man’s cigarette.”
“It smells strong.” Chi Baoguang still disagreed.
Lisa said, “Then don’t smoke.”
He tilted his head and looked at Lisa. In the dark night, Lisa’s side profile was beautiful, but the faint traces of her eyes could not be seen clearly. It was as if Chi Baoguang thought that the person standing beside him was still the young Lisa. She seemed to have never aged and would always live young.
Chi Baoguang’s fingers suddenly wrapped around Lisa’s fingers.
Lisa looked down at their intertwined fingers. Her lips pursed in confusion. “Huh?”
She heard Chi Baoguang say, “We have to die on the same day.”
Lisa wanted to say that it was inauspicious, but they were not young anymore. They were long past the age to believe in ghosts and gods. One day, they would face death. Now, being able to talk about death calmly actually felt quite romantic.
When you were young, it was romantic to receive a fresh flower. When you were old, it was also romantic to have someone promise to die with you.
Lisa shook her head and smiled. She sighed with a smile. “Sure, we can hold hands and die together. It won’t be lonely on the road to hell.”
“Yes.”
There was a sudden silence.
After a while, Lisa said, “Let’s go see him. He’s about to die. We won’t have any regrets if we go see him.”
Chi Baoguang felt relieved when he heard this.
“Okay.”
He had been thinking about whether he should visit the dying man. Lisa had helped him make the decision, and he agreed readily, which meant that he was thinking the same thing. Chi Baoguang packed his things and planned to go alone.
Lisa said that she wanted to accompany him, but she was rejected by Chi Baoguang.
His reason was, “It’s one thing if I’m willing to see him, but it’s another if I’m willing to bring you along.” In fact, Chi Baoguang was not willing to bring Lisa along. Fang Pingjue’s wild ambition made Chi Baoguang worry.
Even if Fang Pingjue was going to die the next second, his dying wish was to see Lisa. Chi Baoguang would not allow it.
He was just that petty.
Lisa understood Chi Baoguang’s possessiveness and expressed her understanding. “Then drive slowly and call me when you arrive.”
“Okay.”
“Let me know if you’re coming back for breakfast tomorrow morning.”
“Okay.”
Chi Baoguang went to the hospital. At home, Lisa could not sleep either.
Within an hour, Lisa received a message from Chi Baoguang and felt inexplicably relieved. Lisa narrowed her eyes and gradually fell asleep.
…
The latter half of the night in the hospital was also very quiet. Most of the patients were resting, and only a portion of the patients who had just undergone surgery or had advanced cancer occasionally hummed. In the corridor, Chi Baoguang strode towards Fang Pingjue’s ward. Standing at the door, he heard a conversation in the room.
It was Fang Pingjun, Liu Yu, and Xu Pingfei talking to their son.
When Chi Baoguang arrived, Xu Pingfei was discussing with Fang Yu’an if they should call Fang Yuqing.
He pushed the door open and entered.
His arrival made the room fall silent for a moment. Soon, they came back to their senses and greeted him. The voices sounded again. Chi Baoguang walked to the bed and glanced at Fang Pingjue. Seeing that his face was pale and his breathing was weak, he asked, “What exactly happened?”
Fang Yu’an explained the situation to him.
“At night, Dad did not go to dinner because he was not feeling well. When the butler was patrolling in the middle of the night, he saw that the lights in his room were not turned off. He knocked on the door but did not hear any reply. Worried that something had happened to Dad, he opened the door with the spare key. In the end, when he opened the door, he saw Dad lying on the bed as if he had fallen asleep.”
Fang Ping added, “The doctor pumped his stomach. He’s fine for the time being, but I don’t know if he can survive it.”
After hearing this, Chi Baoguang only said, “It’s very easy for someone who wants to die.” Whether he could survive depended on Fang Pingjue’s desire to live.
However, Chi Baoguang felt that Fang Pingjue would definitely not be able to endure it. He no longer wanted to live. He had lost his nostalgia for this world.
Not wanting to disturb Fang Pingjue, the group left the room and walked out to talk.
Fang Ping asked Fang Yu’an, “Yu’an, why did your father commit suicide all of a sudden?”
Fang Yu’an had mixed feelings.
No matter how overboard that person was, he was still his father. If Fang Pingjue died, Fang Yu’an would have no father. He thought for a while and said, “I think he might be lonely. Coupled with his depression, he wanted to die.” In the past year, Fang Pingjue had suffered many blows.
He was already disabled. Later on, Chi Baoguang, Lisa, and Fang Yusheng’s matters, Xu Pingfei’s divorce from him, and the children moving out of the Fang family one after another all gave him a fatal blow. It was not surprising for a disabled person to suffer from depression without any family members.
His condition might be very serious, so he took the initiative to take medicine and seek death.
