Where my heart was at peace

Brute force worked miracles.

Twenty minutes later, Ding Ding sat opposite the doctor with a look of utter despair, waiting for an order to get an X-ray.

Bai Congming seemed very familiar with the hospital. After taking the order, he even borrowed a wheelchair from a nurse and pushed Ding Ding downstairs in the elevator.

He seemed to have everything under control, but Ding Ding could still feel the slight trembling in the hands behind him.

Ding Ding turned to look and saw a tense, flustered face. He remembered that Bai Congming had seemed the same way the last time he brought him to the hospital, stiff from head to toe.

Ding Ding simply assumed he was afraid. After all, no child would like a place like this.

"Go wait outside," Ding Ding said. "I'll come find you in a bit."

Bai Congming pressed his lips together and shook his head, refusing to speak.

"Be good. I can manage on my own."

Bai Congming shook his head again. He pushed Ding Ding to the X-ray room, helped him lie down, then obediently leaned against the glass to look inside.

Before Mom passed away, she had spent a long time in the hospital.

The hospital's disinfectant smelled awful, with a whiff of death. Bai Congming refused to sleep there, so Mom hired a three-wheeler to bring him over every morning and take him away at night.

Apart from the bad smell, Bai Congming actually quite liked the place.

Every doctor and nurse was kind when they saw him, and they even gave him sweet little cookies.

But the place where he had lost Mom still made him inexplicably anxious, reminding him of the person he could not wake no matter how much he called.

The day Mom could no longer wake up, a few of the nurses he knew came over especially to give him a hug.

Bai Congming did not understand the comfort in those hugs. He only felt a calming strength in them that supported him as he kept going.

Auntie Zhou told him that hugging was a very intimate thing, and he must not casually hug people from then on.

Of course, no one came to give this lonely fool a hug anyway. He spent years alone, then met Ding Ding.

Brother Ding hugged him and kissed him, with such force that it was as though he wanted to meld him into his own body.

Bai Congming loved that feeling, as though a fire had been lit inside him, then a pool of clear spring water poured in just as he was about to burn to death, gently lifting him from the brink of destruction.

In a daze, he felt as though he had become a precious treasure, held tightly in someone's grasp.

The results came back. Ding Ding had no broken bones, just a slight hairline fracture that needed a cast to hold it in place.

Ding Ding felt he was truly lucky to be alive. He had fallen from quite a height yesterday, then dragged his injured leg such a long way, yet the examination showed only a hairline fracture.

Relieved to learn that Ding Ding would not have to sleep in the hospital, Bai Congming watched the doctor wrap Brother Ding's leg up tightly.

The doctor gave them a long list of precautions, which Bai Congming forgot as soon as they went outside. He pointed at the main road outside the hospital.

"No ride. Walk."

Hongfang Street was not too far from this hospital. Penniless, Ding Ding nodded.

"Whatever you say."

Fortunately, Bai Congming knew how to care for someone too. Supporting Ding Ding, he kept him out of the sun, walking very slowly, one step at a time along the foot of the wall.

"Have you... been doing well lately?"

Bai Congming pursed his lips, unsure which part of his life Ding Ding meant.

He thought he was doing very well. He had enough to eat every day, had met Sunflower Sister, and had gotten comic books he really liked. The flower nursery kept him busy, no one came to bother him, and every day was carefree.

But he also felt he was not doing so well. His chest felt empty, and sometimes Brother Ding would run around inside it, where he could neither see nor touch him.

Without waiting for him to speak, Ding Ding began talking about his own experiences, regardless of whether Bai Congming could understand.

"I sold fabric. You know what fabric is, right? The clothes you're wearing were made from the fabric I sold."

"If you'd met me sooner, I definitely would've treated you well. Bought you a car and a home, put money aside for you, invested it, and given you a good life!" At this, Ding Ding sighed. "Then when something like this happened, maybe you could've even helped me..."

Bai Congming blinked at him. "Help you!"

Ding Ding smiled. "But I hadn't met you back then, and you hadn't met me. What do you call that?"

"A good... thing!"

Bai Congming could not make that final curled-tongue sound as smoothly as Ding Ding, and could only give his tongue a stiff little curl.

Ding Ding laughed. "True. Meeting each other was a good thing."

Countless people had passed him by, yet he, Ding Ding, really had found himself a treasure. How fortunate he was.

"That worker who hurt you-I had him locked up at the police station for three days. I wanted to make him pay compensation, but his mother needs medication, so I thought about it and let it go. You're not angry, are you?"

"Angry!" Bai Congming clenched his fists. "Bad man! Hit Brother Ding!"

"He's not bad," Ding Ding said. "I was in the wrong. I owed him wages. Tell me, did I deserve a beating?"

Ding Ding was deliberately teasing him, but to his surprise, Bai Congming actually frowned and thought it over.

"Talk. No hitting!"

Ding Ding smiled and pinched his cheek. "See? Who says we're fools? We know to talk things out nicely, don't we?"

Praised, Bai Congming smiled too and answered loudly, "Yes!"

"I have nothing left now. The company, the factory, the house, the car, the money-all gone..."

Sensing Ding Ding's sadness, Bai Congming tightened his hold on the arm he was supporting. "Have money!"

"I have money!"

Ding Ding sighed. "That little bit of money you have... You spent a lot today, didn't you?"

Bai Congming repeated the same words. "Have money..."

Ding Ding murmured in agreement. "You do have money. Without that one yuan of yours, I might've lost my life."

"..."

The road was long. Ding Ding talked a lot, and Bai Congming responded, the conversation going back and forth in a rather pleasant atmosphere.

"Back then, I thought I'd go back and figure something out. Even if I could salvage a few scraps, I'd be able to come take you away. But now there's nothing left, and I don't know what to do..."

"Don't go!" Bai Congming shouted. "You and me, live together!"

Ding Ding's eyes reddened. "How can we make a life with nothing?"

"Have things!"

Bai Congming looked very anxious. He spoke loudly, as though desperately trying to shout away the gloom hanging over Ding Ding.

But even after racking his brains, he could not find anything nice to say. He could only repeat the same words over and over.

"Have money! Marry you! Live together!"

"..."

Ding Ding sniffed. "You want to support me?"

"Yes!"

Bai Congming thought that he could take very good care of all those different kinds of flowers in the nursery. There was no reason he could not take care of one Ding Ding.

"Support you! Treat you well!"

"I court you. You like me!"

"Don't go!"

Ding Ding burst out laughing and reached up to brush a finger down his nose. "Who taught you that?"

Bai Congming's eyes darted to the side. "Xiao Hu!"

"...Who's Xiao Hu?"

Bai Congming could not explain clearly, so Ding Ding simply assumed he had made a new friend and did not pry.

Once they entered Hongfang Street, Ding Ding stopped talking. Supporting each other, they walked to the doorway, where Ding Ding paused.

He did not know whether this was right or wrong, nor what their future would look like.

But right now, he truly did not want to let go of this person who burned as hot as the sun.

Selfish or self-serving, whatever it was-a man who had drifted at sea for half his life had finally sighted land, with solid ground just one step away. Who could resist such a temptation?

Seeing him stand still, Bai Congming tugged at him. "Don't go!"

Ding Ding heard himself say, "Then... sorry for the trouble."

"..."