The sound of flowers blooming

The hospital was Bai Congming's least favorite place.

But because his wife was holding his hand, Bai Congming thought he could like it for a little while.

"Why, come here?"

Bai Congming asked cautiously, gripping Ding Ding's hand tightly and constantly shrinking behind him whenever they encountered anyone.

The wound on his head had stopped bleeding, and with how carefree he looked, Ding Ding thought it probably wasn't serious.

The nurse cleaned the dried blood off Bai Congming's face with an alcohol-soaked cotton ball, revealing a clean, fair face.

"Oh my, how did this happen?"

The wound wasn't large, but on Bai Congming it seemed especially heartbreaking, and the nurse gentled her touch.

"Ask the doctor for some scar cream later. A scar wouldn't look good on such a pretty face."

Bai Congming knew he was being complimented and smiled shyly.

"You're pretty too."

The nurse laughed, and Ding Ding couldn't help smiling at the sight either. His head, numbed by the arguing in the conference room earlier, felt much clearer, and the corners of his mouth lifted without his noticing.

Bai Congming stared, transfixed by the smile that hadn't yet faded.

"Wi... Ding... Ding is good-looking too. The best-looking."

The character had many strokes. Bai Congming had spent a long time learning it, and only after he had learned to write it and shown it to Auntie Zhou had he found out how it was pronounced.

Ding Ding froze, then stingily turned away, refusing to let him look anymore.

"All done," the nurse said, putting away her tools. "Go get some medicine. Once the wound scabs over, you'll be fine."

Ding Ding thanked the nurse and took Bai Congming to the pharmacy. The prescription was long, and his hand paused.

"Did you bring money?"

"Money! Yes!"

Bai Congming took off the little bag on his back, dug two red banknotes out of the bottom, and handed them over. "For you."

Ding Ding rubbed his hands together and took one banknote. "I'll pay you back in a bit."

After collecting the medicine, Ding Ding took him to the car and only then began questioning him.

"How did you find me?"

Bai Congming touched the gauze on his head. "You gave me... address. I came to find you."

"Address?" Ding Ding frowned. "What address?"

"This."

Bai Congming fished a business card out of his pocket, pressed it fondly against his cheek, then waved it twice in front of Ding Ding. "This."

Ding Ding fell silent, then asked where he had gotten it.

Bai Congming smiled and said the wall at home had been repaired, said his wife had left money and his name, then asked why he hadn't told him himself.

"..." Ding Ding didn't know what to say, though he knew he must have pulled it out along with the money back then.

It was noon, and the little restaurants outside the hospital were sending out wafts of food aromas. Bai Congming's stomach rumbled right on cue.

Ding Ding said no more and took Bai Congming into a small restaurant that looked reasonably clean.

After ordering, Ding Ding stood up. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

The restaurant was a little crowded. Bai Congming was visibly anxious and clung to the hem of Ding Ding's clothes, refusing to let go.

"I won't wait. I'll go!"

The white gauze was too glaring. At that moment, Ding Ding couldn't summon even a trace of temper.

"...Can you count?"

"Count...?"

"From one to a hundred. Can you?"

Bai Congming nodded, then heard Ding Ding say, "Once I leave, start counting. Count from one to a hundred three times, and I'll be back."

Bai Congming blinked. "Can I count from one, to three hundred?"

"...Yes."

Ding Ding moved quickly, fetching his bank card from the car and finding a nearby bank counter to withdraw everything in the account.

A few months ago, he could never have imagined that he would end up this strapped for cash.

A little over thirteen hundred yuan and a car he had driven for two years were everything he owned now.

Ding Ding returned when Bai Congming reached two hundred and seventy-six.

"You're so fast!"

Ding Ding grunted in acknowledgment, took out two banknotes, and set them in front of Bai Congming. "Here's your money back."

"No, no!" Bai Congming waved his hands. "Bad people want money! Give it to them! I don't want it!"

"Just take it when I tell you to!" Ding Ding clicked his tongue and forcibly stuffed the money into Bai Congming's bag. "If you don't, I'll get angry!"

Bai Congming stuck his lips out in a huge pout. "Don't be angry, don't be angry! I'll take it."

He looked so endearing that Ding Ding couldn't resist reaching out and pinching his cheek.

There wasn't much flesh, and it felt lousy, yet for some reason Ding Ding didn't want to let go.

He even brought both hands up to knead his face, squeezing Bai Congming's lips into a pout.

Even more endearing.

The owner came over with their food and even remarked on how close the two brothers were.

Bai Congming escaped Ding Ding's hands, took a small towel from his backpack, dampened it with water from his own bottle, then took Ding Ding's hands and wiped them meticulously.

He was quite particular.

Ding Ding didn't resist. He watched him wipe all four of their hands clean before handing over the chopsticks.

"Eat! Eat!"

The food at the little restaurant was quite good. Bai Congming ate quickly, his cheeks bulging with food, and kept putting meat into Ding Ding's bowl.

"Eat more meat! Grow tall!"

Thirty-year-old Ding Ding didn't have much appetite, but perhaps for the sake of growing taller, he still finished every last morsel Bai Congming put in his bowl.

Everything had piled up lately, and Ding Ding hadn't had a proper meal in a long time.

Now, eating with the fool, he found himself with a hearty appetite for once. They didn't even leave the sauce on the serving plates, splitting it between them to mix into their rice.

They ate without a shred of decorum. Two drops of oil splashed onto Ding Ding's clothes, but when he turned to look at the fool, he was still perfectly clean.

"..." Feeling embarrassed himself, Ding Ding simply started lecturing the fool. "Can't you eat more slowly? Anyone who didn't know better would think you hadn't eaten in ages!"

Bai Congming's eyes shifted, and he swallowed the food in his mouth before speaking aggrievedly.

"Hungry! This morning, didn't eat."

Ding Ding didn't pay much attention and asked casually, "Why didn't you eat?"

"Came, to find you. In a hurry."

Hongfang Street wasn't far from the business park, but the journey was a hassle. It took several subway transfers, followed by a walk.

But however much of a hassle it was, an hour should have been more than enough. How could it have taken the whole morning?

Ding Ding sighed. A fool was still a fool.

"What did you come to find me for?"

Bai Congming seemed stumped by the question, stammering for ages without managing an answer.

Ding Ding ate the last fried meatball, then got up to pay the owner.

By the time he returned, the foolish Bai Congming had thought of an answer.

"Find you, be good to you."

"...What?"

Bai Congming wiped his mouth clean with a tissue. "Came to find you. To be good to you."

The restaurant was full of noise: pots, bowls, and utensils clattered as food was cooked in the kitchen, while diners chatted and laughed out front.

Amid all that, a sound that had no business being there simply appeared.

For a moment, Ding Ding even thought it was a hallucination, because the sound seemed to exist only inside his head.

Soft, fleeting, indescribable, stirring the heart.

If flowers made a sound when they bloomed, surely it would be something like this.

Once again, Ding Ding thought to himself how nice it would have been to meet this fool sooner.

"Let's go."

"..."