Chapter 114

Ye Qingshui cried and laughed all at once. When she finally pulled away from Xie Tingyu’s embrace, she realized she had smeared her tears and snot all over him. Xie Tingyu didn’t mind at all; he simply reached out and gently rubbed her head.

“I’ll go give Mom and Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa the news so they can stop worrying,” he said.

Ye Qingshui quickly pulled him back. “Don’t, let me do it.”

Xie Tingyu was someone the hospital had officially diagnosed as being in a vegetative state. If he placed the call himself, the shock might be too much for the elders; they might be so overwhelmed with joy that they’d stop breathing, turning a celebration into a tragedy.

As Ye Qingshui helped him change his clothes, she murmured, “Do you know? Whether it was Grandpa and Grandma or Mother, they all believed you were going to sleep for the rest of your life. That’s why this call has to come from me.”

Xie Tingyu felt a pang of guilt hearing this. His large hand enveloped his wife’s. “I’ve made you all worry for too long. I’m sorry.”

Ye Qingshui took a deep breath and dialed Grandma Xie’s number.

“Grandma, I have good news to tell you.”

On the other end of the line, Grandma Xie didn’t seem too surprised. She began her usual nagging: “What kind of good news could there be? Did that refrigerator project of yours get results? Let me tell you, don’t keep forgetting to eat. You’re young, but it’s easy to end up with a body full of ailments later…”

“No, it’s not that. Grandma, listen to me—you need to prepare yourself. Take slow breaths. No matter what I tell you, don’t get too over-excited…”

Grandma Xie muttered strangely, “What kind of odd thing is this, telling me not to get excited? You, don’t always think I’m so fragile. My mental strength is quite high, I—”

Xie Tingyu leaned into the receiver. “Grandma, it’s me, Tingyu…”

Xie Tingyu’s voice was highly recognizable. Even through the radio waves of the telephone, the deep, mellow, and slightly raspy quality of his voice remained intact. The line crackled with static. Suddenly, from the other end, came the sound of sharp, ragged gasping.

Ye Qingshui’s eyes nearly turned red again. “Grandma! Take your medicine quickly! It’s in your left pocket!”

Xie Tingyu let out a small smile.

It was a long time before a calm, steady voice finally drifted back through the phone. “I’m fine… I’m just too happy. You and Tingyu wait for me at the hospital. Grandpa and I are coming to get you.”

Grandma Xie hung up the phone, and tears fell unexpectedly. She took out a handkerchief to wipe them. Though the corners of her mouth were turned down in a sob, her eyes were smiling.

Within a short while, everyone in the work unit knew that Comrade Yan’s grandson had woken up in the hospital.

“Finally, heaven didn’t rob us of a great talent.”

Among those in the capital’s education and cultural circles, who didn’t know Xie Tingyu, the famous prodigy from Peking University? He was brilliant at mathematics, spoke fluent English, could ride and shoot, and had brought great pride to the people of China when he represented them during a visit to the U.S. No one expected him to get into a car accident the moment he returned.

Grandma Xie called her husband and told him tremulously, “Old Xie, I need to discuss something very important with you. Our Tingyu—he’s awake!”

“Huh?” Grandpa Xie was stunned on the other end. After a long pause, he finally reacted: “What did you say happened to Tingyu?” The old man’s heart struggled to handle the sudden surge of joy.

The whole family rushed to the hospital in a state of agitation. Before they even reached the door, they found that Xie Tingyu was not at all how they had imagined him—weak and bedridden.

At that moment, he was crouching by the bedside, patiently peeling an apple. He sliced the fruit into pieces and carefully chilled them with ice. To finish, he picked up a fan and was rhythmically fanning the person sleeping soundly on the bed.

Outside the window, the cicadas’ chirping grew louder. Summer had arrived.

Grandma Xie suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. Just by looking at Xie Tingyu’s deft apple-peeling technique, he didn’t look like someone who had just recovered from a major illness. He looked lively and energetic, his eyes full of smiles, which allowed the two elders to relax.

When Mother Ye saw this scene, she felt quite embarrassed. How could Qingshui be so inconsiderate, letting a man who just woke from a coma take care of her? She cleared her throat, preparing to wake her daughter. But as soon as she opened her mouth, her son-in-law stopped her.

Xie Tingyu placed a finger to his lips, signaling Mother Ye to be quiet. However, the slight movement woke Ye Qingshui anyway.

Ye Qingshui let out a yawn and was caught off guard by the sight of five elders all staring at her, while she was shamelessly occupying Xie Tingyu’s only bed. Her face flushed red with shame, and she scrambled off the bed as quietly as possible.

Xie Tingyu leaned down to put her shoes on for her. Ye Qingshui hesitated for a moment, nearly forgetting where to put her feet.

Grandma Xie burst into a laugh. “One look at him like this and I know he’s fully recovered.”

“How do you feel?”

Although Xie Tingyu’s body still ached faintly, seeing his wife made his heart feel as though it had been soaked in honey. He had never felt such satisfaction. Since waking up, the smile on his face had not faded.

“I’m very good, Grandma, don’t worry. I want to be discharged soon.”

Wen Zhihua looked her son over from head to toe and said through tears, “Tingyu, listen to Mother. Stay in the hospital and rest for a few more days. We aren’t in a hurry for your schoolwork. Chenchen and Guangguang are being well taken care of.”

Xie Tingyu wasn’t in a hurry to study, but he was in a hurry to hold a wedding banquet. Looking at his vibrant wife with her relaxed brow and lively spirit, he was struck by her vitality. She was no longer frustrated or lonely like in their previous life.

At no moment had Xie Tingyu ever desired to give her a proper wedding as much as he did now. Time is fleeting and life is fragile; every minute and second of this life was a gift from the heavens. He wanted to arrange everything he wanted to do, one by one. He could not leave any regrets in this lifetime.

In the past life, he always thought he had a long lifetime to spend with her, so he didn’t cherish it. He had envisioned having a child with her, having her get into university, and even growing old together, cooling off in the courtyard and eating fruit. In the end, he didn’t even get the chance to see the loquat seedlings grow up with his own eyes.

Therefore, the things you want to do most must not be delayed, and the people you love most must be cherished. Don’t always wait for “later.”

He wiped the tears from his mother’s face and said with a smile, “I’ll do a full check-up before I leave. I’ve been lying here for four months; it’s time to go home.”

“I know, I know! This boy is just in a hurry to hold his wedding feast!” Grandma Xie couldn’t stop herself from laughing. She had raised her grandson herself; to put it bluntly, she knew exactly what he was thinking just by the way he moved.

Even the usually silent and stern Xie Tingjue couldn’t help but smile now. The image most vivid in his mind was his brother lying in a pool of blood, speaking a long string of “her”s. It was clear how much weight Ye Qingshui held in his heart. Now that he was alive, he wouldn’t leave regrets like in the previous life. Perhaps only after losing something once can one truly understand what is most important.

Xie Tingjue said, “Then we should hold it quickly. We can’t delay any longer. We can use the summer break so it doesn’t interfere with anything.”

Mother Ye added, “Two years ago in the countryside, we didn’t have the conditions for a banquet; we didn’t even have decent clothes. Now that we have the means, we will definitely make it a grand and lively affair for you.”

As Ye Qingshui listened to her family members discuss it one by one, Xie Tingyu secretly squeezed her hand. her face grew increasingly red with bashfulness. She had already been married for four years, but only today did she feel the shy nervousness of discussing marriage.

In truth, when Ye Qingshui tried to look back, the memory of their first wedding banquet was very, very faint—so faint it had almost vanished. After everything that had happened, she found herself feeling a faint sense of anticipation for this celebration.

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