Chapter 28: Contact information

This was the first time Ke Ni had been so distracted at Professor Wang’s house, so seriously distracted that Professor Wang lightly tapped the surface of her desk and called her name twice before she barely snapped back to attention.

Professor Wang had a stern face with high brows and a square jaw, pushing up his glasses, but his tone was very gentle: “Ke Ni, what do you think of this project?”

On the whiteboard was a project simulated by Professor Wang, written in black ink, along with an analysis diagram:

Several points connected into three triangles.

Red, black, and blue ink each drew the circumscribed circle of these three triangles respectively.

If Ke Ni had been paying attention to the topic, given her comprehension skills, she should have easily filtered out the distracting information and analyzed that this project applied the concept of the Delaunay triangulation.

Song Yi had told her over the phone that Jing Sicun’s father was in a very dangerous condition.

The emergency room doctor said that if they had been a few minutes later…

Thinking of the twitching smile on Jing Sicun’s father’s face, Ke Ni felt unsettled.

She stared at the project for a moment, then shook her head in shame: “I was distracted just now.”

Professor Wang didn’t criticize her at all. He said kindly, “Luckily, this isn’t a competition setting. Alright, let’s continue the analysis. Since this project examines Delaunay triangulation, we know the related functions are…”

Ke Ni forced herself to focus and followed Professor Wang’s train of thought, persevering through the entire class.

After class, Professor Wang kept Ke Ni behind and asked if she had been too tired from exam preparations lately.

“Thank you for your concern, Professor Wang. Actually…”

Ke Ni hesitated for a moment, then chose a friendly term that didn’t require further explanation: “A senior in a friend’s family has fallen seriously ill. I just heard about it today.”

Professor Wang said, “I see.”

Ke Ni bowed, “I’m sorry for getting distracted when you’re still giving us lessons in this heat. I’ll make sure to finish my homework seriously once I get home.”

Professor Wang replied, “Good. Take care on your way back.”

Ke Ni changed her shoes. “Goodbye, Professor Wang.”

“Ke Ni, your father is too nervous about your participation in the show. I actually hope you all just relax and have fun. It’s okay to not put so much pressure on yourselves.”

Hadn’t someone said something similar before?

Ke Ni nodded obediently and said goodbye to Professor Wang.

Lin Xirun hadn’t left yet; she was waiting by the stairwell door, looking somewhat anxious.

It was no wonder Lin Xirun was worried.

During the last recording, Lin Xirun’s ranking wasn’t as high as Ke Ni’s.

Recently, Feng Zi’an had been increasingly passive-aggressive in class.

Ke Ni stepped out of the stairwell.

Lin Xirun immediately caught up to her.

“Ke Ni, you don’t look well. Did something happen?”

Ke Ni knew Lin Xirun’s concern was only about seventy percent genuine; the other thirty percent was probably worry that she might stop attending classes because of her state.

Ke Ni shook her head, “It’s nothing.”

Lin Xirun let out a relieved breath. “I wonder when the next recording will be.”

Ke Ni suddenly grew impatient and dodged Lin Xirun’s concern: “Professor Wang’s classes won’t stop. If there’s nothing else, I’m going home now.”

On the way back to her rented apartment, Ke Ni thought about contacting Jing Sicun but decided against it.

First, she had no contact information for Jing Sicun.

Second, at this moment, other than some superficial greetings, there was really nothing she could say or do to help.

Considering all this, Ke Ni only sent a message to Song Yi, wanting to ask about Jing Sicun’s father’s condition.

Song Yi was probably busy too, as he didn’t reply for a long time.

Back at her apartment, Ke Ni completed two practice projects simulating the competition.

At lunch, Song Yi finally called.

“Ke Ni, you were trying to reach me? My phone was on silent, so I didn’t notice earlier.”

Ke Ni asked, “Where are you?”

“Just left Jing Sicun’s house.”

Ke Ni felt a bit relieved. “Has Jing Sicun’s father been discharged?”

Song Yi sighed, “No. He’s still in the CCU, and the situation isn’t looking good. I went over to help deliver regular medications to Jing Sicun’s grandmother.”

Song Yi also said that Jing Sicun had discussed with him and decided to keep all this from He Zhi.

He Zhi had finally relaxed a bit these days; he had even happily spread cake the other day.

They worried if they told him now, he might become overly anxious.

It was rare for Song Yi to sigh like this: “Ke Ni, could you please contact He Zhi?”

Ke Ni replied, “No problem.”

As Song Yi was about to hang up, Ke Ni suddenly spoke: “Song Yi.”

“Ah? What’s up?”

After the two drinks at the grocery store and that night filled with the sweet scent of cream…

Ke Ni couldn’t just ignore it: “If anything happens with Jing Sicun’s father, could you let me know? Or if Jing Sicun needs help with anything, he can contact me anytime.”

Song Yi said, “Sure, I’ll tell Jing Sicun.”

Following Song Yi’s request, Ke Ni carefully edited several times before sending He Zhi a message with a white lie.

She said she’d been busy lately, so the dinner invitation might have to be postponed.

He Zhi replied with a voice message, cheerful: “No worries, Ke Ni. Actually, it wasn’t really about you treating us. Just wanted to find a time to get together more. Dai Ge called me today too and said something came up and he can’t make it, so we can wait until you’re all free to have dinner together.”

Did Dai Fanze really have something come up?

Maybe it was to help conceal the situation about Jing Sicun’s father.

In the evening, Song Yi messaged Ke Ni on WeChat, saying he had already passed those words on to Jing Sicun.

Jing Sicun said “Thanks.”

Ke Ni hadn’t spent much time with Jing Sicun like Song Yi and the others, so the next two days, she received no further news from his side.

***

On the third day at 10 a.m., Song Yi sent Ke Ni a photo of the hospital.

In the picture was just a door.

The sign on the door read “CCU” and “Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.”

It seemed Jing Sicun’s father still hadn’t been discharged.

Her phone rang twice more with notifications:

“Ke Ni, can you take the call?”

“Jing Sicun wants to discuss something with you.”

What did Jing Sicun want to discuss?

Ke Ni replied: “I’m available.”

Then, feeling she should sound more concerned, she quickly typed: “Please tell me.”

At the moment she hit send, she realized she’d made a typo.

She often joked with her close friends, frequently sending messages with playful insults.

Her input method remembered her habit.

Now, it was completely sent to the wrong person.

She quickly retracted it.

Song Yi had already sent a voice call invite. Ke Ni accepted it.

Jing Sicun’s voice was a little hoarse: “Ke Ni, this is Jing Sicun.”

Ke Ni licked her lips: “I know.”

Jing Sicun even chuckled: “You’re really critical of me, huh?”

Ke Ni said, “…No, I was just typing too fast and made a mistake. How is your uncle… I mean, how is your father’s condition?”

“It’s okay.”

Jing Sicun didn’t elaborate on his father’s condition but only mentioned He Zhi and the dog, Tuesday.

He Zhi had been staying at Song Yi’s place these past few days.

Song Yi’s frequent mysterious outings had made He Zhi suspicious.

Since no one was caring for Tuesday on Tuesday, but Song Yi couldn’t take Tuesday with him, Jing Sicun planned to leave Tuesday at the grocery store and asked Ke Ni to help feed him or take him for walks nearby when she had time.

Ke Ni said, “If Tuesday’s willing, he could actually come back to my apartment with me. At night, I’d bring him to the grocery store to play with his cat friends.”

Jing Sicun cleared his throat, as if he hadn’t drunk water in a while: “Thanks.”

Ke Ni recalled the first day of recording the show, when the competition rankings were revealed on the big screen.

The contestants whispered among themselves, all turning to look at Jing Sicun, who was ranked first.

At that time, Ke Ni was sulking and didn’t want to look at him at all.

She heard Song Yi say, “Damn, if you hadn’t said anything, would you have just gone up there and played casually?”

Playing casually and still topping the list—that was Jing Sicun.

Now, there was exhaustion in his voice.

Ke Ni’s throat tightened. “I really like raising dogs. Tuesday is so obedient, just leave him to me. Where should I pick him up?”

Jing Sicun said, “Song Yi will contact you later.”

The doctor called for the patient’s family; the call switched to Song Yi.

Song Yi and Ke Ni arranged to meet at the grocery store entrance in the evening.

Ke Ni arrived half an hour early, scanned to pay, and boiled water to make a cup of instant noodles.

During the three days Jing Sicun’s father was hospitalized, Ke Ni occasionally stopped by.

She fed the cats with canned food she bought;

sprinkled fish food into the goldfish tank;

sat at the door watching the elderly play Go;

or simply zoned out.

Ke Ni met the aunt who had once delivered frozen dumplings to the grocery store.

The aunt was still delivering food.

Opening the fridge, she placed a large bag of vacuum-sealed sausages inside.

Ke Ni peeled off the lid of her instant noodles and suddenly heard the aunt ask warmly, “You’re a friend of Xiao Jing’s, right?”

Ke Ni nodded.

The aunt probed, “Is she your girlfriend?”

Ke Ni quickly denied, waving her hand in the air: “No, no! Just ordinary friends.”

The aunt took out a pack of sausages. “I heard Xiao Jing is on a TV show again?”

This was about Jing Sicun, and Ke Ni wasn’t sure if she should speak about it without permission.

She hesitated, saying nothing.

The aunt saw Ke Ni’s dilemma: “Xiao Jing grew up with us, old neighbors.”

The aunt pressed the sausages into Ke Ni’s arms.

“He’s the first from around here to be on TV—what do they call it, the screen’s prodigy. Very impressive. Sigh, but the family situation is really…”

The aunt shook her head.

“I’m off now. The sausages are homemade. Try some.”

Ke Ni wanted to refuse. “I couldn’t possibly…”

The aunt pressed the sausages harder into her arms.

“Kids nowadays are too thin. Skinny arms and legs and eating instant noodles. Eat more!”

Ke Ni was stunned for two full seconds before chasing after her, holding the sausages: “Thank you, Auntie!”

Ke Ni carried the sausages back into the grocery store.

The instant noodles should be almost done.

She stared blankly at the wall plastered with posters, her gaze falling on a patch of paper that looked whiter than the rest beneath some clippings.

In that moment, Ke Ni suddenly realized why everyone was hiding the truth from He Zhi.

Under these circumstances…

Could Jing Sicun still continue participating in the show?

A black SUV drove into the alley.

Ke Ni turned to look—

Jing Sicun was back?

The SUV stopped at the grocery store entrance, and Song Yi stepped out from the driver’s side door.

The car window was open.

Ke Ni glanced inside. Apart from Tuesday, there were no other living creatures.

Song Yi briefly greeted Ke Ni, then opened the trunk and showed her Tuesday’s dog food and usual pet supplies.

On that late night when they celebrated Ke Ni’s birthday, Ke Ni had squatted in front of Tuesday, smelling sweetly of cream.

She said, “Tuesday, come home with me. I’ll definitely treat you better than that other dog.”

Jing Sicun smiled, squinting his eyes, and asked which dog she meant.

Ke Ni had been joking then.

She never expected her words to come true.

Tuesday wagged his tail energetically as always.

Song Yi quieted down: “Good thing you’ve raised a dog before.”

Ke Ni asked, “How is Jing Sicun’s father today?”

Song Yi sighed deeply, “Hard to say.”

The instant noodles had swollen and lost their elasticity.

Ke Ni sat at the grocery store entrance, listening to Song Yi talk about Jing Sicun’s father’s specific condition.

Jing Sicun’s father suffered from diabetes and uremia and had two strokes before.

His heart wasn’t in good shape either.

If his body had been able to withstand surgery, he should have had a cardiac stent placed last year.

Song Yi leaned on the Go board: “Jing Sicun was supposed to go abroad. It was all planned according to the study abroad track. But then family illnesses came one after another, so he ended up going to the young talent class at the Polytechnic University instead.”